PM not to resign at any cost: Qureshi

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said Prime Minister Imran Khan will not resign at any cost.

Talking to journalists and speaking at mass gatherings in his constituency, he said the PTI took power with a mass mandate and the opposition should respect this mandate. He said the nation is well aware of the PDM. The government is not worried about PDM agitation. The government is not afraid of PDM rallies. He questioned why the opposition is waiting for January 31 for submitting their resignations. He said the PDM held a fruitless five and half hours long meeting which ended without any conclusion as their faces and body language was regretful.

Criticizing India, Qureshi said the Modi government is following the agenda of Hindutva and it has become a key threat to regional peace and stability. He said the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is the guarantor of the country's development and the government is committed to completing the second phase of the CPEC as soon as possible. He said the government believes if there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be peace in the region. He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is giving top priority to the new trends and expansion of economic diplomacy for the development of the country. In Pakistani embassies around the world, all directions have been set. Earlier, speaking at a meeting to finalize preparations for the prime ministers’ proposed visit to Multan, Qureshi said Multan is the provincial capital of the future province of South Punjab. He said mega projects need to be started in different sectors of the city. The prime minister will announce a mega development package during his forthcoming visit to Multan. The focus is on the development of the urban and rural population of the entire district. Sewerage is the most serious problem of the Multan city, he said and added the education and health sectors need to be included in the development priorities.