ISI briefs Imran Khan on national, regional security

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan, along with his cabinet members and top military officials, on Monday visited the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Headquarters, where they were given a briefing on the national and regional security situation.

Director General ISI Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed welcomed the prime minister and other dignitaries on the arrival. The prime minister was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Nadeem Raza, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar. The prime minister appreciated the diligent efforts of the ISI for national security and expressed his satisfaction over its professional preparedness.

Meanwhile, Imran Khan vowed to lift the commitment to uplift the weak segments of the society on the principles of state of Madina. He emphasised that the supremacy of law in the state of Madina was the ideal principle on the basis of which development was certain. The prime minister said while launching Ehsaas Saving Wallets (Ehsaas Bachat Bank Account) Initiative here at a ceremony noted that millions of people in the world had fallen below the poverty line due to coronavirus, while the Ehsaas programme has been declared as the fourth most successful program in the world. He added that the poor countries were more affected than rich ones.

Imran Khan appreciated Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant for Social Security, and the team of Ehsaas Programme. He contended that the middle and lower-middle class were most affected when the economy shut down during the lockdown.

He continued that in these circumstances, Ehsaas Programme was declared as the fourth most successful program in the world. He added that the countries which helped the affected class in a quick, transparent and coordinated manner, according to the World Bank, had a sense of Pakistan in it.

Imran Khan said that when women are brought into the financial system, poverty would be reduced. He said that it took two years to prepare various programmes and now its fruits are coming to the fore, and added that now like other programmes, Ehsaas Savings Wallets programme will also be successful.

Citing the example of China, the prime minister said that Beijing had a policy of poverty alleviation. He said that China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty in 35 years and ours is the same model.

Meanwhile, the prime minister said in a tweet that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in last three-year tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (2018-2020) recovered Rs484 billion in contrast to only Rs290 billion recovered during 1999-2017 (18 years).

“When govt does not protect the criminals and lets investigation agencies and accountability work without interference, it shows in the results being achieved,” the premier tweeted.