ISLAMABAD, May 7 (APP):Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Monday called upon the international community to raise its voice against Indian oppression and urged the world leaders to unite to save the victimized and brutalized women, children and youth of Kashmir.
On the recent spate of atrocities committed by the Indian security forces in Indian occupied Kashmir, he also called upon the United Nations to play its role to stop the bloodbath of Kashmiris and enforce their inalienable right to self- determination, a statement released from the PM House said.
Prime Minister Abbasi’s strong reaction comes in the wake of recent incidents of Indian state terrorism that led to killing of 14 people in past 36 hours.
He said denial of access to the UN high Commissioner for Human Rights and the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission was a proof of Indian oppression and Indian guilt.
He said Pakistan was gravely concerned over the escalation of systematic brutalities, killing of innocent civilians, and human rights violations by the Indian security forces with impunity in Indian occupied Kashmir.
He said Indian security forces had recently unleashed a reign of terror against the Kashmiri people; the Hurriyat leadership had been arrested or detained; and peaceful protesters were being constantly terrorized and maimed by gunfire and pellet shots.
“The continued inhuman oppression by Indian of five generations of Kashmiris struggling for a just, fair and legitimate right to self-determination calls in question the collective conscience of the world,” he added.
He said, “Pakistan denounces Indian state terrorism in the strongest terms and will continue to provide moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir in their struggle for self-determination under the UN Charter and in accordance with the UNSC resolutions.”

ISLAMABAD, May 7 (APP):Former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Monday stated that nothing substantial was found against Sharif family despite a lapse of eight months of trial in the Ehtisab Court.
In an informal talk with newsmen outside the accountability court in Islamabad, Nawaz Sharif said that he had also discussed with his counsel filing an acquittal plea in the court, citing that not an iota of corruption was proved against him. He said that he had appeared for the 62nd time in this court while those who he alleged are facing cases of corruption and plunder of national wealth were not summoned even once during past five years.
He claimed that the accountability process was one-sided and the nation would give its verdict on this issue in the coming elections. The people of Pakistan are enthusiastic about the campaign regarding respect to vote and they have realized its importance.
The procedure for the appointment of judges should be revised, for which the Parliament should play an effective role, he said adding the former  premier  asserted that the standard operating procedure of Supreme Judicial Council should also be changed.
Commenting on the accountability court trial, the Supreme Leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz said that he was being “targeted,” wondering whether the graft cases filed against him, were a message for the Sharif family.
‘Only politicians are held accountable in Pakistan’ he declared and added that a new system would be introduced after PML-N secures victory in upcoming elections.
Talking about the recent defections in the party, the former PM said that the lawmakers were threatened, harassed and even pressurized for changing the loyalties, however, the faithful stood by the party.
He also stressed that the statement of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman, Imran Khan, regarding the maneuvering in 2013 elections should be investigated. He also revealed that he had a discussion with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to make the NAB laws ineffective.
Regarding the gun attack on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Nawaz Sharif said he had a telephonic conversation with Iqbal’s son and the interior minister was out of danger. He said that assassination attempt on the Intrioer Minsiter of the country was a serious issue.
Regarding the possibility of a delay in polls following the botched failed assassination attempt, Sharif replied that  the PML-N will not let general elections be delayed in the country at any cost.
To a question he saiod htat Punjab Chief Minster has not adopted a different path. He said that his opponents had forgotten that he had made Pakistan a nuclear power.

ISLAMABAD, May 7 (APP):Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday wooed foreign investors to exploit the rich potential Pakistan offers in diverse fields and benefit from the lucrative incentives offered by the country.
Addressing an investors’ conference here at a local hotel that focused on ways to raise the national GDP to 9%, the Prime Minister said the national policies for foreign and domestic investors would continue, despite the change in government.
“Pakistan has become a destination of choice,” the Prime Minister told the investors and diplomats of several countries and said “not a single company has lost money in Pakistan.”
He said Pakistan has a mature financial and legal system and was rapidly removing the bottlenecks in ease of doing business so as to attract more foreign investors into the country.
He said work was also on to provide more tax incentives to those who wish to avail the liberal policies of the country.
The Prime Minister said the reality of Pakistan was far away from what was portrayed on the international media and said the challenges of security and energy shortage have already been addressed while the country’s economy was growing stronger and international economic institutions have termed all indicators positive.
Abbasi said he looks forward to more investors in Pakistan as it promises higher returns and security to their investments.
Abbasi said work on infrastructure development programmes was progressing at a fast pace, and 1700 km long 6-lane motorways would be added to national road network by 2029. He also mentioned the progress on economic zones, sea and air ports besides improvements in the supply of electricity and natural gas.
He said the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative would help Pakistan open up to Western China and Central Asian Republics and boost its trade.
He said the PML-N government managed the long standing issue of power shortage with the fast track import of Liquefied Natural Gas and boosting the supply by 30%.
Shahid Khaqan termed the removal of sanctuaries of all terrorists as a major success of his government and said the country achieved in this war, where others failed against the same enemy at the same terrain.
He said lots of effort and sacrifices went into making Pakistan a safe place to be. He said all these measures were taken to bring peace to the country and to make it sustainable.
Minister for Finance Miftah Ismael spoke at length on the measures taken to build a strong economy and said the PML-N government has given unprecedented tax incentives and slashed the tax rates for individuals from 30 to 15 percent. He said there were tax rebates and also penalties for those who do not pay taxes. He said a non-tax payer in Pakistan could not purchase land, a vehicle or open a foreign currency account in the country.
He said by the year 2025 Pakistan would have the fifth largest middle class in the world and the international companies would have no option left but to come and invest in Pakistan. He said the over 60 per cent youth of the country were a huge incentive as they were educated, technically skilled and ready to enter the employment field in challenging environment.
He said there was a great potential for foreign companies to grow and do business, and those who do it would find Pakistan friendly and open to them.

ISLAMABAD, May 7 (APP):Ambassador (R) Inam-ul-Haque Monday said India pretended to be an emerging regional power but it could not attain the status until it sorted out its disputes with regional countries especially the issue of Indian occupied Kashmir.
He was chairing an International Seminar on “India: A Pretentious Regional Power,” organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) here at a local hotel.
Federal Minister of Defense, Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan was the Chief Guest on the occasion while other speakers included Dr. Ejaz Akram, Advisor to President National Defense University (NDU) & former Associate Professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Dr. habil. Christian Wagner, Head of Research Division Asia at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP); Ms. Laura Schuurmans, independent writer and researcher based in Jakarta; Dr. Muhammad Mujeeb Afzal, Assistant Professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) and Mohammad Waqas Sajjad, Senior Research Fellow at ISSI.
Engineer Dastgir Khan said hat India as well as Pakistan should seriously tackle non-traditional security threats that affect people’s lives and livelihoods, such as water insecurity, climate change etc.
“Understanding India as a pretentious regional power is important for both Pakistan, as well as for the rest of the world – particularly for the former so as to ensure it is prepared to meet any challenge militarily,” he added. .
Ambassador Inam ul Huq said values of a country depicted from how it treated its minorities and India had failed on that account.
He said Pakistan had, for several decades, been raising the issue of human rights abuses in Indian Occupied Kashmir, adding it was only now that the international community was beginning to notice the violence committed by Indian state agencies.
The speakers also analysed the growing economic insecurity and issues of governance in India.
Dr. Ejaz Akram said that though India had projected itself as rising power but it was still reflective of a society facing multiple problems where the highest authorities were directly or indirectly complicit in gross violation of human rights.
Dr. Christian Wagner said while India had continued to invest in hard power and its military needed to acquire global and regional power status, it should make efforts to lift the millions of its people from the high poverty levels they were enmeshed in.
In his concluding remarks Chairman ISSI, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood said that the idea of the rising Indian economy could no longer be used to sustain the argument of India as a regional power.
He said that though India did have the requisites of becoming a major power, as yet it did not have the pre-requisites of becoming that major power.
The seminar was attended by a large number of academia, bureaucrats, university students and media representatives.

ISLAMABAD, May 7 (APP):Minister of State for Interior, Talal Chaudhry on Monday described Narowal incident as “attack on Head of a political party,” saying this has sent a wrong message to world and badly damaged country’s image.
Talking to mediapersons outside Supreme Court here, he said, “We all including people of Pakistan, political parties and other forces must think in which direction we are trying to take the country.”
He said when Minister for Foreign Affairs has been removed and Interior Minister got injured in a firing incident, this is what other forces should understand.
The Minister said, “Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has a firm resolve to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the country.”
Condemning the attack on Ahsan Iqbal, he said, “We do not learn lessons from history.” He said during 1980s some false decisions were made due to which we produced extremism and added dictators did all wrongdoings to extend their rule.
Replying to a question about current circumstances in the country, the Minister said just to remove former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the country was being made to suffer, adding that conspiracies were being hatched to take leadership of PML-N away from politics.
He said during NA-120 by-election, extremist parties were brought forward and what happened on Sunday (firing incident) was a result of that conspiracies.
“We are facing hard time and will pass it, but how the country will pass. What come may, we will not allow elections to get postponed,” he said.
Answering another question, he said, Minister for Interior, Ahsan Iqbal belongs to a middle class and son of soil, who has always played his role for betterment of the country.
Talal Ch said country’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister were disqualified on unreasonable grounds.
He said in Karachi, Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) was formed to defeat Jamaat Islami (JI)and this experience was not quite wise.
Replying to another question, the Minister said artificial political leader like Imran Khan should not be produced.
Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was injured in firing incident in a corner meeting at Kanjrur in Narowal on Sunday evening.
Ahsan Iqbal was shifted to Services Hospital Lahore for surgical treatment. Reports say that the incident occurred when the Minister was going to his car after attending the corner meeting.

ISLAMABAD, May 7 (APP):Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif Monday said extremism was a big threat for the country so political leadership should sit togather for the sake of national interest and it was need of the hour.
Talking to a private news channel, he said attack on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was reflection of intolerance and extremism.
He said the PML-N had served the nation through good governance during ongoing constitutional tenure and it would win the upcoming general elections on basis of its five years’ performance.
He said the PML-N and its leadership wanted and trying to make a peacefull, prosperous and developed Pakistan for the next generations.
Replying to a query, he claimed the co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari had always kept supreme his personal interests rather than party or the country’s interest, adding that Zardari statements against Muhammad Nawaz Sharif were regretful.
He said he had never sought any kind of help from Asif Ali Zardari for PML-N government or its leadership.

ISLAMABAD, May 7 (APP):The Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Takashi Kurai, inaugurated a treatment and rehabilitation center for drug addicts in district Gujranwala, Punjab.
The Government of Japan has contributed US$ 83,040 to Mian Afzal Trust Hospital– a Non-Governmental Organization in the district which strives to prevent use of drugs and provides rehabilitation services to the affected children and adults, said a press statement issued here on Monday.
The financial assistance from the Government of Japan was essential for Mian Afzal Trust Hospital to expand its rehabilitation services to women and children in the area.
Previously, the 125-bed Trust hospital in Gujranwala had provided rehabilitation services for male drug users only. Now, with the new funding from the Government of Japan, the Trust has equipped its hospital with an additional 20-bed treatment facility which will be used exclusively by women and children.
Working since 2001, Mian Afzal Trust Hospital has expanded its outreach to a number of districts in Punjab, where it provides services aimed at reduction of drug use, prevention of HIV/Aids and treatment of male, female and child drug users.
Ambassador Takashi Kurai commended the efforts of Mian Afzal Trust on successful completion of the project. He stressed upon the need of consistent efforts to provide quality rehabilitation services for drug users so that they actively participate in the development of the country. He also expressed his hope that this project would not only contribute to improving the lives of drug addicts but also strengthening the existing friendly relations between the people of Japan and Pakistan. The inauguration ceremony was also attended by the NGO’s representatives, government officials and members of local communities.