Pakistan’s enemies want to sabotage CPEC: PM tells APC

QUETTA: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is chairing the All Parties Conference after arriving in the city on a day-long visit.

The APC was convened by the Government of Balochistan in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on passengers buses which claimed 22 lives in Mastung.

The prime minister was accompanied by Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and State Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Jam Kamal.

Shortly after landing in Quetta, he arrived at the Governor House for a briefing on the law and order situation in the province.

Pakistan is progressing on the path of growth and prosperity, said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. We will have to devise a strategy to defeat the enemy's conspiracies, he said.

Speaking about the Mastung tragedy, he said that the enemies of Pakistan were trying to weaken the nation. He said that the entire nation was in sorrow because of the tragedy in Mastung.

The prime minister ordered authorities to immediately arrest those behind the Mastung terror attack.

We will defeat Pakistan's enemies with full force, he said, vowing to completely eliminate terrorism and extremism from the country.

Pakistan’s enemies want to sabotage CPEC: PM

The premier was chairing an APC convened specifically with reference to the Mastung bus attack in which 22 innocent citizens lost their lives when unidentified gunmen abducted about 30 passengers from two Karachi-bound coaches in Mastung.

Speaking to participants of the APC about the Mastung massacre, the prime minister said: “Who knows what kind of elements are behind this; local, foreign or those working for their own agendas?”

He said that the country’s enemies were trying to “divide the nation” in their efforts to disrupt the planned Pakistan-China Economic Corridor mega-project.

“Our enemies want to sabotage the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. You must have seen the statement today from our neighbouring country. They told China that the CPEC project is unacceptable to them. You can tell what their intentions are with these (statements),” the premier told political representatives attending the conference.

But he said that the government has decided to bring things back to normality and peace to the country.

Sharif said that that the political and military leadership was united on matters regarding terrorism.

“Operation Zarb-e-Azb is progressing well. IDPs are returning back to their homes in North Waziristan, where the military has dismantled terrorist sanctuaries,” he said.

The prime minister asked why previous government had not started the war against terrorism earlier, adding that the country has suffered approximately $110 billion in economic losses from terrorism in the past few years.

In the conference, the government is attempting to devise a unanimous action plan to prevent Mastung-like conspiracies in the future.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to return to the federal capital in this evening.