ISLAMABAD: Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq on Tuesday said the Federal Government was committed to increase its cooperation with the Balochistan government to resolve the basic problems of people.
Speaking at a round-table discussion on Balochistan issue organized here by the Muslim Institute, the Senator said the situation had improved in the province after the formation of a nationalist party government as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz stepped aside.
He said the PML-N had 14 seats in the provincial assembly but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took the decision for a Baloch as Chief Minister and a Pakhtun as Governor.
"This normally does not happen in politics but Nawaz Sharif decided to take such a major step," he said and added that the PML-N let Imran Khan to form government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as he had an edge there.
Nawaz Sharif made an effort to unite Pakistan and foil designs of enemies of the country, he added.
He said in the past the PML-N remained in constant dialogue with political parties but being in opposition it was not in a position to bring some meaningful change in Balochistan's situation.
He cited a meeting of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif with his Balochistan counterpart, in which he decided to increase quantity of wheat for the province coming from Punjab to 200,000 tons from 90,000 tons.
Shahbaz Sharif without any hesitation also agreed to double number of scholarships for the students of Balochistan in engineering, medical and agriculture universities of Punjab and also establish a cardiology institute in the province, he recalled.
Talking about relations with Islamic countries, he said when Pakistan made nuclear tests in 1998, the United States and western countries imposed sanctions on it. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent him as a special envoy to hold talks with Islamic countries, which appreciated Pakistan's decision to go nuclear, he added.
He said Saudi Arabia's King Fahd without any request announced to give $ three billion oil free of charge to Pakistan and ordered that oil reservoirs at Karachi should be filled first.
Saudi Arabia also gave a credit line of $ 500 million so that Pakistan could buy palm oil and offered to give any other assistance that it needed at the crucial time, he added.
The Senator said during his visit to Iran at that time, the then President Khatami offered to buy anything from anywhere in the world to help Pakistan in facing sanctions.
Khatami commented that sanctions turned Iranians into a nation and it was also an opportunity for Pakistanis to emerge as a strong nation and stand on its own feet, he added.
The Senator urged the need to overcome sectarianism in the country so that foreign elements could not take advantage of law and order situation.
Former chief of army staff General (retd) Aslam Baig, PML-N leader Lt Gen (retd) Malik Abdul Qayyum, Rana Abdul Baqi and Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali also spoke in detail on the Balochistan issue.
They said foreign interest was increasing in Balochistan due to its immense mineral wealth, Gwadar port and prospective trade routes linking Pakistan with China, Central Asia and Gulf region.
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