Saturday, December 31, 2022
Friday, December 30, 2022
#Pakistan - The unrelenting hepatitis challenge
Pakistan continues to struggle to meet its targets for eliminating hepatitis.
P |
akistan may have to revise its targets for the elimination of hepatitis B and C by 2030. The country is falling behind its global promise of ensuring a fitting response to eradicating viral infections under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The major goals of WHO’s Global Health Sector Strategy (GHSS) on viral hepatitis are to reduce hepatitis incidence by 90 percent and mortality by 65 percent by 2030.
To achieve this target, Pakistan needs to treat 850,000 patients per annum. However, this year its capacity to treat viral hepatitis stands at 75,000. This makes it unlikely to meet the target within the stipulated timeframe.
“The number of patients receiving treatment has declined in recent years after all healthcare resources were diverted to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Pakistan, however, is gradually catching up with its plan to treat 150,000 patients next year,” says Dr Shahid Magsi, project director of the Punjab Hepatitis Control Programme.
The Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE) recently launched Pakistan’s National Hepatitis Elimination Profile (N-HEP). The country, as per previous estimates, has the second highest burden of HCV with 9.8 million people living with chronic HCV globally. “With recent advances in Egypt, Pakistan may now be the highest-burden country,” it noted.
Pakistan and Egypt are among 21 member states of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), where more than 15 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis C and 21 million with hepatitis B. Pakistan and Egypt together account for 80 percent of this disease burden in the region.
“Egypt, however, has adopted a very robust model of screening/ testing people, provision of medicines to patients and then following-up to ensure compliance that has put the country on course to eliminating hepatitis C by 2030,” says Prof Dr Kashif Malik, consultant gastroenterologist and head of Department of Gastroenterology at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore.
Pakistan’s commitment to eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030 has to be revised as the country’s response has been limited to targeted population in pockets alone unlike Egypt’s screening and treatment on a mass scale.
Prof Kashif Malik, who is also the president of the Pakistan Society of Hepatology, says that Pakistan does not have the latest consolidated data and demography of hepatitis prevalence to plan a response to the challenge. The last national survey, conducted in 2005-06, registered a prevalence of 5 to 6 percent of hepatitis C and 2 to 4 percent of hepatitis B in the country. The prevalence of hepatitis in Pakistan on an average has reached 10 percent. Saying the current prevalence is likely to double, he emphasises the need to establish a national registry for taking a census of hepatitis in Pakistan.
As many as 12 million people are suffering from hepatitis in the Punjab having a population of around 120 million. However, as per the Punjab Hepatitis Control Programme data, less than 20 percent of the estimated 12 million infected people have been registered at hepatitis clinics established at DHQ, THQ hospitals and teaching hospitals across the Punjab. Out of 2.242 million registered patients, roughly 20 percent (416,392 HCV patients and 46,427 HBV patients) are getting treatment at these facilities. This suggests that a majority of the registered patients are not accessing treatment while others remain unaware.
A large number of people in Pakistan suffering from chronic hepatitis remain unaware of their condition.
A large number of people in Pakistan suffering from chronic hepatitis remain unaware of their condition. Chronic hepatitis is known as a silent killer because symptoms may develop decades after exposure, when significant damage to the liver has already occurred. This irreversible stage of advanced liver disease, known as cirrhosis, can lead to liver cancer and/ or liver failure and death.
“According to an estimate, only 10 percent of people with hepatitis B are aware of their diagnosis and only 21 percent of people with hepatitis C, the world over, are aware of their infection,” says Dr Aasim Yusuf, consultant gastroenterologist at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore. He says that the treatment of liver cancer is both clinically challenging and resource intensive, emphasising the importance of prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B and C.
Unlike water and food-borne hepatitis A and E, hepatitis B, C and D are transmitted by infected blood and body fluids. Hepatitis D occurs only among patients suffering from hepatitis B. The major causes of these infections are unsafe injection practices, transfusion of un-screened blood, quackery or unsafe surgical/ dental practices, mother to child, ear/ nose piercing, barber/ beautician’s contaminated instruments and unsafe sex, etc. Lack of awareness, absence of screening programmes, non-affordability and paucity of treatment facilities make matters worse.
Acute hepatitis – hepatitis B in general and A & E in particular – has a duration of one to six months as hepatitis A & E are self-limiting. Chronic hepatitis, usually hepatitis C, goes beyond six months with no symptoms. It is only detected after screening at an early stage or development of complications at a later stage.
Hepatitis E among pregnant women is life-threatening with up to 30 percent chances of death. Therefore, it is extremely important for women to eat and drink healthy during pregnancy and get the available vaccines for hepatitis E and B.
Dr Israr ul Haque Toor, a consultant gastroenterologist at the Lahore General Hospital and president of the Punjab chapter of the Pakistan Society of Gastroenterology, says that Pakistan has one of the highest numbers of injections per patient ratio in the world, as on an average, eight injections are administered per person per year in the country. The number is linked to the risk of hepatitis B and C infection.
He says that the vaccine against hepatitis B is available and that the government has included it in the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI). Although, the EPI has considerably reduced the incidence of hepatitis B in urban areas, it is still an epidemic in South Punjab, Balochistan, interior Sindh and rural parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Therefore, he says, coordinated and sustained efforts are needed to identify missing millions, who are suffering from hepatitis without being aware of it through screening and start their treatment in order to defeat the disease.
According to the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE), Pakistan’s Covid-19 response has led to a large increase in the capacity for PCR testing, electronic health reporting and improved coordination across provinces and the federal capital as far as the pandemic is concerned. Otherwise, generally, there is a lack of coordination across federal, provincial and local governments with regards to hepatitis response. In the absence of a centralised oversight, there is also a lack of effective monitoring and evaluation of the provincial hepatitis control programmes.
CGHE claims that approximately half of all blood donors are not screened for HCV, HBV, and HIV in Pakistan; a scale-up of point-of-care testing is needed for early detection in order to disrupt the cycle of infection and transmission.
As the world commemorates the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness on December 27, given the lack of political commitment and resources, the prospects of Pakistan’s target of eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030 being met do not appear bright.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1023040-the-unrelenting-hepatitis-challenge
#Pakitsan - Population Explosion
#Pakistan #PPP - Establishment's change of role made 'selected' a political orphan: Bilawal
PPP chairman asks Imran to return to parliament; links PTI chief to rising terrorism.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the likes of him have become "politically orphaned" after the establishment decided to remain apolitical, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said Tuesday.In his address at a gathering in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh held to mark the 15th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal said: “This is the reason why there is a hue and cry in Bani Gala, this is the reason why they have resorted to the politics of violence, and this is the reason why he [Imran] hides and addresses workers via video link.”
The establishment had decided last year that it would remain apolitical and not interfere in politics, but since then, Imran has been on maligning spree against former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, accusing him of toppling his PTI government.
“Imran, in his rallies, has been using words that are tantamount to Article 6 [treason] and inciting the establishment to help him,” the foreign minister said, asking the PTI chief to return to parliament as neither he nor his party “could bear” what’s coming to them.
The foreign minister went on to say that he did not want his political opponents to endure what his party workers had to go through. “But we also have to run the system, this cannot go on.”
Terrorism and Imran
In his address, the foreign minister also linked the uptick in terrorism to Imran's election as the prime minister and slammed the PTI chief for trying to reason with terrorists during his tenure.
"Benazir Bhutto lost her life fighting terrorism. We also initiated operations against terrorists, but who gave this cricketer [Imran] permission to negotiate with terrorists?" he asked.
Bilawal asked upon whose authorisation the ex-PM "bowed down to the terrorists and indulge in negotiations with them". "Who freed terrorists from jails? Who allowed terrorists to live here and neither accept the Constitution nor lay down their weapons?"
The PPP leader added: "Today, terrorism is rising once again […] as a cricketer was turned into a prime minister."
The coalition government, he said, would use all-out measures to break the back of terrorists.
'Act like a human being'
Bilawal also said that during the PTI’s tenure, Pakistan suffered the worst economic crisis and to save his seat, “Imran committed a suicide attack on the economy”.
He added that “for the first time”, Pakistan is facing a threat of default, but the coalition government steered clear of it.
The PPP chief also said that floods were “a doom’s day before the doom’s day”. The country suffered losses worth $30 billion during the climate catastrophe and one-third of the land was inundated, he added.
“Land extending to 5 million acres was destroyed. 50% of educational institutions in Sindh were affected,” Bilawal said, adding that had such deadly floods hit any other country, political activities would have taken a back seat, but in Pakistan, it did not happen.
He once again slammed Imran for continuing to bicker against the government and holding rallies despite the people suffering at the hands of the climate catastrophe.
The FM said countries cannot run in such a manner and asked his political opponent “to act like a human being”.
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Monday, December 26, 2022
#PAKISTAN #PPP - Zardari pledges not to deviate from BB’s mission
Asif Ali Zardari said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto bravely resisted the barbaric and brutal dictators. “We are strong and steadfast on her ideology because of her teachings,” President Zardari said adding that the continuation of democracy was the beautiful dream of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. By the grace of the Almighty Allah, that dream was fulfilled. Asif Ali Zardari said that the announcement of the institutions to be apolitical is also a realization of the dream of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and it will give stability to democracy and establish the country’s credibility. Asif Ali Zardari said that BB’s followers are striving to make the country a society free from all kinds of extremism, where there is the light of knowledge, jobs for the people, equal opportunities for the youth to move forward, women free from the shackles of fear, and minorities with a respectable place in the society. This is the vision of Pakistan that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had. https://dailytimes.com.pk/1043749/zardari-pledges-not-to-deviate-from-bbs-mission/
#Pakistan #PPP - 15 years on, Benazir murder still an unsolved mystery
Masterminds of former premier's assassination yet to face justice as case lies pending in LHC.
On December 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated soon after she had addressed an election rally in the historic Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. She was reportedly killed by a 15-year-old suicide bomber.One of the most important high-profile cases of the country's chequered history still lies pending in the Lahore High Court's (LHC) Rawalpindi bench.
Over 20 party workers were killed and 71 others were seriously injured in the attack on the former premier.
In the aftermath of the incident, four inquiries were conducted into the high-profile case with the police joint investigation team (JIT), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the United Nations (UN) and Scotland Yard striving to solve the matter. However, these inquiries and investigations yielded no results as the Bhutto family did not pursue the case in the special anti-terrorism court (ATC).
A total of 12 challans were filed in this case, 355 appearances were recorded, 10 judges were changed and 141 witnesses, including 68 prosecution witnesses, testified.
Moreover, 16 people were accused in the case, but only eight of them were arrested. The main accused, Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a drone strike.
Five other accused – Nadir Khan alias Qari, Nasrullah, Abdullah alias Saddam, Ikramullah, Faiz Muhammad Kaskat – were also killed in encounters with intelligence agencies at different places.
The suicide bomber who attacked the former prime minister was identified as Saeed Blakel, who died in the blast. The police arrested five accused Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Rashid Ahmed, Rafaqat and Hasnain Gul, and dumped the debris on them.
The FIA also arrested the then-president General (r) Pervez Musharraf, former city police officer (CPO) Saud Aziz and superintendent of police (SP) Rawal Khurram Shehzad as accused in the case. However, they were later granted bail by the high court.
On August 31, 2017, Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan of the special ATC pronounced the verdict in the Adiala Jail after nine years, acquitting five accused, and declaring Musharraf as a fugitive on absenteeism, and issued permanent arrest warrants, besides confiscating his movable and immovable property.
Meanwhile, police officers – deputy inspector general (DIG) Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shehzad – were sentenced to a total of 17 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs1 million each for destroying evidence and breach of security.
However, three months later, the high court suspended the sentences and released the two officers from jail. The CPO is now retired while the SP has now been promoted to the rank of DIG.
Appeals of the accused and plaintiffs have been pending in LHC’s Rawalpindi bench for over four years, and are expected to be heard in the last week of February 2022.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari has filed an appeal in the high court against the acquittal of the five accused in the case, and has sought to increase the sentences of both the police officers and to initiate trial against Musharraf in his absence.
The FIA has also filed appeals against the acquittal of the five accused while the convicted police officers have filed appeals against the sentences.
The three acquitted accused Aitzaz Shah, Sherzaman and Rafaqat have been released from jail. Meanwhile, two accused Rasheed Ahmed and Hasnain Gul are still locked up in Adiala Jail on various charges.
Federal government’s senior prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was killed in a terrorist attack while pursuing the case.
After Benazir’s assassination, the PPP formed its government in the centre, but in its five-year tenure, the party failed to pursue this important case. Later, the case was partially disposed of during the tenure of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The case is likely to land in the Supreme Court (SC) and it is not known when the case and appeals will be wrapped up.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2392951/15-years-on-benazir-murder-still-an-unsolved-mystery
#Pakistan #PPP - BENAZIR BHUTTO!!! ....THE LEGEND
Sunday, December 25, 2022
Friday, December 23, 2022
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Pakistan, US reshaping bilateral ties, says FM Bilawal
In an interview with MSNBC, he said with consistent engagement at high levels and bilateral exchanges, the relations between Islamabad and Washington are moving ahead positively.
The foreign minister said the nations could build a sustainable long-term partnership, which is in the interest of the people of both countries.
FM Bilawal said in the past, 90% of the conversation between the two countries used to be on terrorism. However, currently, "90% of the discussion takes place on economic cooperation and other areas, including terrorism".
“This is a positive sign for Pakistan-US relations. We can’t change what happened in the past. We can learn from the past and engage with each other with realistic expectations,” the foreign minister remarked.
Regarding climate change and recent floods in Pakistan, he said the country has started to prepare National Adaptation Plan for building resilience to climate change.
The foreign minister said to become a climate-resilient country, Pakistan needs to invest in energy transition, which requires international support.
Counting on the losses caused by recent floods that have washed away 10% of Pakistan’s GDP, he stressed that adaptation is needed in a manner that if we face such catastrophe in future, we should be in a better position to cope with it.
US extends support
Later in the day, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken spoke to FM Bilawal and expressed his continued support for the people of Pakistan as they recover from the recent devastating floods, the department's spokesperson said in a statement.
The statement mentioned that Secretary Blinken and FM Bilawal Zardari shared their mutual hope for a productive International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan in January and discussed the need for close coordination.
The secretary also offered condolences for lives lost in recent terrorist attacks and underscored the United States' resolute support for Pakistan as it combats terrorism, the spokesperson added.
During a press briefing earlier, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said the US would help the country in dealing with the threats posed by the militant outfits.
“We have partnered with our Pakistani friends to take on — to help them take on this challenge. We stand ready to assist, whether with this unfolding situation or more broadly," he said when asked to comment on the situation at a counterterrorism centre in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu city.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/459881-pakistan-us-reshaping-bilateral-ties-says-fm-bilawal
امریکا سے دو طرفہ تعلقات کو وسعت دینا چاہتے ہیں، بلاول بھٹو
وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا ہے کہ امریکا سے دو طرفہ تعلقات کو وسعت دینا چاہتے ہیں، خطے میں امن و استحکام کے لیے امریکا کی کوششیں
قابل تحسین ہیں۔
واشنگٹن میں اٹلاٹنک کونسل کے جنوب ایشیا مرکز کی میزبانی میں منعقد مباحثے سے بلاول بھٹو کا خطاب میں کہنا تھا کہ مستقبل کے ماحولیاتی سانحات سے نمٹنا، متاثرین کی مدد کرنا چیلنج ہے۔
بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ ہماری تمام تر توجہ سیلاب سے پیدا سانحہ سےنمٹنے پر ہے، مجھے یقین ہے کہ ہم سیلاب سے پیدا چیلنج سے نمٹ لیں گے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ سیلاب نے تعلیم، زراعت اور صحت کے شعبوں کو متاثر کیا ہے۔
بلاول نے ایک سوال کا جواب دیتے ہوئے کہا کہ پاکستان میں 2007 کے مقابلے میں سیکیورٹی صورتحال بہتر ہے۔
Monday, December 19, 2022
EDITORIAL - #Pakistan #Bannu Attack
The clock may be silent, but the second hand is ticking away; adding more and more gravity to a fast-developing situation in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The terrifying standoff in Bannu Cannt continues where as many as 20 fighters from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are hosting a lunch party inside a counterterrorism facility.
There is a hostage crisis wherein the militants have taken possession of the gated property and made viral videos of security personnel trapped inside as they demand safe passage to Afghanistan. Talks are underway as the civilian and army leadership are presenting a united front against the TTP spokespersons in a desperate attempt to defuse the tension.
That Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been sitting on a kerosene keg for far too long and expected the providence the carve out some miraculous resolution has been reiterated far too many times to the point of sounding repetitive. However, we can still not push the unparalleled acts of valour by the law enforcement agencies as their personnel stood in the line of fire to defend the motherland. More than 107 police officers laid down their lives in the war against terrorism in the first 11 months of 2022. When generic reports come down heavily on the counter-terrorism department and its so-called inefficiency, they forget to consider the shoestring budget and the negligible deployment of higher-level officials. After all, such a crucial department cannot be run solely on willpower.
The criminal errors in the political judgement in the last few years have managed to reawaken the sleeping serpent, which appears to have gathered an even greater zeal. As for Bannu, it can only be hoped that the state would prioritise the welfare of trapped civilians and officers, who have been reduced to sitting ducks in the dirty skirmishes. Clearly, terrorism would leave the table with an upper hand but let’s just save human lives for now. Any attempt to restore the state’s credibility and sovereignty would first need a detour to the boardroom. Pakistan needs to win this existential war again. No qualms about that. Victories cannot be claimed on back-channel chatter or knee-jerk reaction. If careless politics had been responsible for opening the gates in the middle of the night and letting in the fierce enemies, only politics can help offer the armed forces solid support to chalk down a fool-proof, magnificent plan to push the proverbial genie back inside!
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6906155786122195046/1534116169024273455
Pakistani Taliban Overpower Guards, Seize Police Center
In addition to taking around ten policemen hostage, the militants have snatched weapons and taken control of the facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Several Pakistani Taliban detainees have managed to overpower their guards at a counter-terrorism center in northwestern Pakistan, snatching police weapons and taking control of the facility, officials said Monday. The militants at the detention center in Bannu, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and part of a former tribal region, also took police and others inside the compound hostage, according to Mohammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the provincial government.Officials say at least 30 Taliban fighters are involved in the takeover and that there could be as many as 10 hostages being held. The brazen action reflected the Pakistani government’s inability to exercise control at all times over the remote region along the border with Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but also allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in the neighboring country last year, as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from Afghanistan. Few other details have emerged about the incident, which started late on Sunday — apparently while police were interrogating the Taliban detainees, according to Saif. By Monday morning, Pakistan had dispatched military troops and special police forces to the area as security officials were trying to negotiate with the hostage-takers. Saif said the place was surrounded and that an operation was underway. He did not elaborate. Authorities were still in talks with the hostage-takers, enlisting the help of several relatives of the Taliban insurgents, security officials told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. The officials said some soldiers were also among the hostages. There were concerns that the military could storm the facility if negotiations fail. In a video message circulating on social media, the hostage-takers threatened to kill the officers if their safe passage was not quickly arranged by the government. Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban — also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP — confirmed the incident. He said some of the hostage-takers were members of the Pakistani Taliban who had been detained for years. Khurasani said the TTP fighters were demanding safe passage to North or South Waziristan. Those areas were a Taliban stronghold until a wave of military offensives over the past years declared the region cleared of insurgents. Since then, TTP’s top leaders and fighters have been hiding in neighboring Afghanistan though the militants still have relatively free reign in patches of the province. Earlier, in a video message, the hostage-takers had demanded they be airlifted to Afghanistan but Khurasani said that demand had been made by mistake, since their fighters were not aware — due to their prolonged detention — that TTP now “enjoys control in some” parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the Afghan border.The Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces since last month, when they unilaterally ended a monthslong cease-fire with the Pakistani government. The violence has strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, who had brokered the cease-fire in May. The TTP has waged an insurgency in Pakistan over the past 15 years, fighting for stricter enforcement of Islamic laws in the country, the release of their members who are in government custody and a reduction of Pakistani military presence in the country’s former tribal regions.
https://thediplomat.com/2022/12/pakistani-taliban-overpower-guards-seize-police-center/
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Saturday, December 17, 2022
Friday, December 16, 2022
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Why do you want to leave #Pakistan? - Desperate urge to leave Pakistan?
The question we need to ask is: why do these young men have a desperate urge to leave Pakistan?
The thing which is most striking in this scenario is that they are young boys and have a full life ahead of them. Yet the need to leave? The only thing that might make sense is that these young individuals want a better lifestyle and for that they need better opportunities. They want a better chance at life itself. Unfortunately in Pakistan, there are hardly any opportunities available for our younger generation. With a struggling economy, these educated youngsters with college and university degrees are unable to either find jobs in the first place and if they do, those jobs hardly pay well. With rising inflation, it is already difficult to make ends meet for most people but with no jobs in the market, the younger generation’s disillusionment and disappointment with the country is understandable.
Life in Pakistan is a struggle for everyone now. People want to leave the country to carve out a better financial future for their families. They choose to be away from family, leave their comfort and not live in their own homeland just to ensure that their next generation’s future is secure.
Pakistan takes pride in its men and women. Yet there is so little the governments have done to improve the quality and standard of the people’s lives. How hard will it be to provide a place filled with opportunity, a strong education system and a strong economy. Is the youth asking too much for survival? Or is it just the bare minimum? From what we see, it’s the bare minimum. Our governments and leaders have an obligation towards the youth. To provide and nurture them. To give them the belief that their motherland holds them near and dear, so that they can grow and become successful in life.
Despite trying, we are failing the youth. Maybe the problem lies somewhere else. The younger generation deserves leaders who are genuinely willing to invest in their people. We hope the future is better for the young men and women. May they always choose their country above anything else in life. May Pakistan not let the dreams of the young shatter.
https://thecurrent.pk/why-do-you-want-to-leave-pakistan/
بلاول بھٹو کی ایمل ولی کو ملنے والی دھمکیوں کی مذمت
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین اور وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے عوامی نیشنل پارٹی کے اہم رہنما ایمل ولی خان کو ملنے والی دھمکیوں کی مذمت کی
ہے۔
کراچی سے جاری بیان میں بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ ایمل ولی خان کو دھمکیاں دہشت گردی ہے جبکہ دہشت گردی کے خلاف حکومت اور پوری قوم کا دوٹوک موقف ہے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ کسی بھی جمہوریت پسند سیاسی رہنما یا کارکن کا بال بیکا ہونے بھی نہیں دیں گے۔
پی پی چیئرمین نے مزید کہا کہ یقین ہے اس معاملے میں ملوث ملزمان کو قانون کی گرفت میں لایا جائے گا، پی پی ایمل ولی خان سے ہر ممکن تعاون کو یقینی بنائے گی۔
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ متعلقہ حکام اور ادارے ایمل ولی خان کی سیکیورٹی کو یقینی بنائیں۔
FM #Bilawal urges world to have 'fresh look' at #Pakistan in maiden Singapore trip
FM highlights Pakistan's great promise in e-commerce, IT sectors, vows to strengthen country's ties with South East Asian nations.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday urged the world to develop a "fresh look" towards Pakistan and move away from its stereotypical image.The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman told The Strait, "As a young political leader, I strongly feel that the world needs to have a fresh look at Pakistan, away from its stereotypical image."The FM told the Singapore-based publication that there are "many opportunities in Pakistan awaiting the world". However, he said that the first step for utilising those opportunities is to lift the travel advisories against Pakistan. Bilawal said: "I strongly feel that the world needs to look at us more objectively, as a promising emerging market." The FM highlighted the country's young population and rapidly growing middle class. Ties with ASEAN The foreign minister specifically mentioned the Pakistani e-commerce market, saying that according to data from German research firm Statista, Pakistan's e-commerce market is estimated to generate $7.67 billion in revenue in 2022. The FM highlighted Pakistan's freelancers, who provide services in IT, telecom, e-commerce, data analytics, financial services, music, and health. "Singapore and other Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries outsource many IT-related activities and financial services and can benefit immensely from our young talent." On the visit, Bilawal stressed that ties with ASEAN countries are a priority for Islamabad. He added that Islamabad is seeking to upgrade its partnership with the regional bloc into a full dialogue partnership. "Some recent initiatives of ASEAN are of great interest to Pakistan, which we believe are bound to unlock immense trade and investment opportunities for emerging economies such as Pakistan. We believe our start-up and fintech ecosystem can contribute by connecting with Southeast Asia," said Bilawal. Bilawal is currently on his maiden trip to Singapore as the FM, where he met with his counterpart, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. According to a Foreign Office statement issued today, the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and agreed to enhance bilateral engagements and cooperation. The foreign minister told the Singapore publication that in the context of ASEAN, Pakistan places great importance on its relations with Singapore. He highlighted that Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize Singapore after independence; and how Pakistani immigrants have contributed to its development in the initial years. Bilawal pointed out how the two nations have exchanged high-level visits in the past, including former premier Benazir Bhutto's visit in 1995 and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's visits to Pakistan in 1988 and 1992. Bilawal added that the two countries lost the momentum in their bilateral relations over time, adding that his trip's purpose is "to revive that momentum and intensify our bilateral exchanges. Pakistan is keen to strengthen this relationship in all dimensions".
Meeting with President Halimah
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called on Singapore President Halimah Yacob as well today.
A Foreign Office statement read, "In the meeting, enhanced engagement and mutually beneficial cooperation were discussed while the foreign minister shared Pakistan's desire to intensify cooperation with ASEAN."
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1018345-fm-bilawal-urges-the-world-to-have-a-fresh-look-at-pakistan-in-maiden-singapore-trip