Peace in Karachi at all costs, PM, COAS agree

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Thursday expressed the resolve that peace in Karachi would be maintained at all costs and the operation in the port city will continue without any pressure.
These views were expressed by COAS General Raheel Sharif and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a meeting here at the PM House on Thursday afternoon. They discussed certain significant developments and the internal as well external security situation of the country.
Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar was also present in the meeting. Matters relating to the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and raising of additional FC wings for the security of western borders/Fata came under discussion. The other aspects of the war against terrorism also figured in the discussions.
Meanwhile, the sources said that the meeting had an added significance in the backdrop of the revelations made by Saulat Mirza, a condemned prisoner convicted in the assassination of KESC’s former chief Shahid Hamid, the arrest of dreaded criminals from the MQM headquarters Nine-Zero and recovery of illegal weapons in a large quantity from there. Registration of a case against the MQM supremo under the terrorist laws was yet another significant point of discussion, the sources added.
Earlier, while talking to a delegation of legislators from Faisalabad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made it clear that there was no justification for anyone in the country to keep illegal weapons. The criminals convicted in heinous crimes would be brought to justice aswere taken on board and after consensus of all of them, it was initiated.
He said that the situation in Karachi had considerably improved since the start of the operation and incidents of kidnappings for ransom, extortion and target killing had reduced.Nawaz Sharif said since coming to power, as a political party, the PML-N leadership tried its best to take all the parties along on national issues.
He said the PML-N gave respect to all the political parties and considered divergence of views as a beauty of democracy in the larger interest of the nation.He said workers and leadership of the PML-N had struggled for democracy and the rule of law by giving immense sacrifices for the restoration of democracy. “Now it is binding upon us to strengthen it and remain tolerant towards others. The politicians are respecting one another and it is a sign of maturity,” the prime minister said and added that the recent by-election in Nankana Sahib had proved that the PML-N’s policies were gaining popularity among the masses because its candidate defeated the opponent with a huge margin of 40,000 votes.
He said the government had prioritised the generation of electricity in the country as it had been decided that 3,600MW LNG-based plants would be set up through PSDP funding. In addition, work was underway for import of electricity from China as well as on other projects, including the Neelam-Jhelum, Guddu, Nandipur, Diamer-Bhasha and Dasu dams. “Owing to our policies, we are hopeful of adding around 10,000MW of electricity to the national grid by the end of 2017.”
He said that directions had already been given to the Ministry of Water and Power to carry out less loadshedding during summer.Nawaz Sharif said whenever the PML-N came to power, its leadership worked for the betterment of the people, ensuring transparency and development in infrastructure and social sectors. “We want to improve the image of the country, in addition to working for improving relations with neighbouring countries.”