Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reitered on Friday that Pakistan “is on its way to overcoming the economic challenges that have gripped it for the past few months”.

Addressing the passing out parade of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Academy Asghar Khan in Risalpur, he admitted that “tough decisions” taken by the government, at the cost of its political capital, hurt the economy.

These decisions included a hike in fuel prices, increase in electricity and gas tariffs and imposition of additional taxes to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to disburse the next tranche of loan.

“I assure you that the government is making all-out efforts to bring the economy back on track. We are well on the way to overcome these challenges soon.”

PM Shehbaz also admitted on Friday that the “cost of living has added to people’s woes and adversely affected all walks of life but people cannot be left at the mercy of disruption in the global markets”.

The prime minister also said the country needed to “build resilience and protect its economy from global shocks”, which he said was possible by introducing structural economic reforms.

“We live in challenging times that are being shaped by an evolving regional and global environment. The interplay of geopolitical and geo-economic factors is having a profound effect on the world.”

“This is why I strongly support the charter of economy”.

Noting that Pakistan was a “peace-loving nation” that wished to maintain “friendly ties with all countries, especially our neighbours”, he warned that “our desire for peace must not be misunderstood as weakness”.

“There can be no peace in South Asia without a just and fair settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in line with the UN resolution and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,” he said.

“We condemn the human rights violations in India-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and urge the world to take note of the illegal changes introduced by India post-August 2019,” he said.

He cherished that PAF planes shot Indian jets in February 2019 when they illegally entered Pakistan’s airspace.

“The world saw how our brave sons humiliated the Indian Air Force in a show of exceptional skill and expertise,” the prime minister remarked.

“No other nation has been tested by a combination of challenges — such as terrorism, extremism and militancy — the way we have.”