LAHORE: The Punjab Cabinet has decided not to take foreign aid and the recommendations in this regard will be sent to PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif for approval.
Addressing a press conference after attending the Cabinet meeting on Monday, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif said, "We have to break the begging bowl and focus on trade if we want to survive well as a nation."
He said Punjab has taken the lead in making the resolve to give up dependency on aid, adding the government would shape the strategy in this regard.
He hoped that decision taken by the Punjab cabinet would prove to be the "starting point" for economic independence, sovereignty and integrity of the country.
He said that in the interest of Pakistan, the entire nation would have to sacrifice, especially the elite class.
Reiterating his concern, Shahbaz Sharif said that Abbottabad operation was spearheaded by a nation which boasts to be a superpower and the extreme act damaged country's sovereignty.
He regretted that foreign aid had proved hazardous for the country's independence, adding that economic dependence had marred the sense of integrity.
Furthermore, he said the drone attacks have taken lives of innocent people instead of eliminating terrorists, he said and added that these are against country's sovereignty.
Shahbaz said the relations with other countries might suffer due to non-acceptance of foreign aid but this would be temporary, he added.
"We have to review our priorities if we want to live as a respectful and sovereign country", he said adding that solution of all problems is "in our hands" whether it may be the issue of Raymond Davis, drone attacks or Abbottabad incident, he said.
"It is my belief that such incidents cannot be stopped by adopting protest resolutions, condemnation statements, rallies or staging sit-ins until and unless we give up dependence on the resources of others," he suggested.
Giving example of Germany, Japan and China, Shahbaz Sharif said that Germany and Japan after World War II, turned their defeat into progress through hard work and self-reliance.
He also stressed the need for national consensus on all major issues. Senior Advisor to CM Punjab Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah, education minister Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman, Zakia Shahnwaz and Sardar Dost Muhammad Khosa were also present.
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