Pakistan can’t carry on by severing ties with US: Imran Khan

LAHORE: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday said Pakistan could not carry on by severing ties with the United States.

Addressing different gatherings in connection with the election campaign, Imran slammed the past rulers for destroying the country for their personal gains and vowed to get rid of foreign loans through revenue generation by expanding the tax net.

The PTI chairman addressed a public meeting at Raiwind and members of traders’ community led by renowned figure of Lahore Goggi Butt, who hosted a reception at a local hotel. The cricketer-turned-politician called on the business community to place its trust in him and said he would consult them in the process of economic policy formation, if his party wins the elections.

He also promised to slash taxes in order to offer incentives to individuals and corporations for investment. Imran said the Sharifs and Zardaris had always used the police against the people, adding that the confessional statement of Abid Boxer could prove very costly for Shahbaz Sharif, who eliminated people in fake encounters.

He said the PTI, on the other hand, had depoliticised the police and brought reforms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where it wasn’t used to kill any person in staged encounters. Predicting the victory of PTI in the upcoming general elections, Imran said his party would come up with even greater majority.

Responding to the criticism on PTI over its performance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Imran said his party established 59 new colleges and 10 new varsities in the province, adding that one of the universities had been set up with the cooperation of Austria. He said it was the PTI that established the first cadet college for women and constructed around 300 small dams.

Slamming the Sharifs, he said they had ruined the country while putting it under massive burden of foreign loans and spent all the money on their personal security. He added that they couldn’t set up a hospital in Punjab where they could get medical treatment for their family members. Nawaz Sharif spent Rs 1 billion on the Prime Minister’s House and spent a hefty amount on the foreign tours from the nation’s tax money.

Imran said the PTI’s first goal after coming to power would be to improve the state of institutions with public welfare and provision of clean drinking water to the population among the top priorities.

The PTI chairman said unemployment remained one of the country’s biggest problems and added that he would work to generate jobs for the youth by attracting investment.