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Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 238 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
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Top civil-miliTary brass vows naTional uniTy To uprooT Terrorism
ISLAMABAD
T
Mian abrar
He central apex committee (cac) on Friday affirmed that eliminating terrorism from the country was interlinked with economic recovery and political stability. according to a press release from the Prime Minister’s office issued today, the meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad and was attended by chief of army Staff Gen asim Munir, federal ministers, chief ministers, senators, heads of sensitive civil, police and military institutions, chief secretaries and other high-level officials. The cac meeting reviewed terrorist incidents in detail, particularly the Peshawar Police lines blast, the karachi Police office attack and the subsequent situation. an official handout said that representatives from sensitive institutions briefed the meeting on the kPo attack and the facts that had emerged so far about the situation. “The meeting agreed that the elimination of terrorism, economic recovery and political
stability are interlinked. Pakistan cannot afford internal instability. national unity and collective struggle are the need of the hour. In order to achieve these goals, a national consensus should be created and obstacles should be removed,” the press release reads. The meeting affirmed that national security and protection of the people’s life and property was a basic constitutional duty which had to be performed with “national spirit, sincerity, focus
and best ability”. The cac paid tribute to law enforcement agencies and officers for “showing unprecedented courage and bravery against terrorism across the country” and also paid accolades to those martyred. The meeting also deliberated on the issue of the nonavailability of funds sanctioned in the past for karachi’s police and security and directed that “obstacles in the way of completion of all projects related to police, counter-terrorism department and security should be removed without delay.” “The federation will provide full support and assistance to the provinces in fulfilling the responsibilities of peace and order,” the press release added. The cac also reviewed the progress on the national action Plan’s implementation and the decisions taken in a previous apex committee meeting. The meeting was also informed about the progress on measures to make stages of investigation, prosecution and punishment effective against terrorists.
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Grateful to ‘friendly nation’ for assistance before IMF deal: PM ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed gratitude to a “very friendly nation” for providing assistance to Pakistan even before the finalisation of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to resume a lifeline needed to avert default. “There is an allied country of Pakistan, we were all thinking that they were waiting for the IMF agreement and then they would play their part but that allied nation a few days ago conveyed to us that ‘we are giving you [this financial help] straight away’, and these things can never be forgotten. “There are many such sincere contributions of theirs in the past for Pakistan,” he said while addressing the apex committee meeting here in Islamabad. He did not name the country, the extent of the assistance that was provided, or when the said assistance took place. staff report
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Foreign reserves buoyed up by inflow of $700m from Chinese bank ISLAMABAD staff report
The State bank of Pakistan-held (SbP) foreign exchange reserves registered a major boost on Friday as Pakistan received $700 million from the china development bank. “alhamdolilah! Funds $700 million [were] received today by [the] State bank of Pakistan from [the] china development bank,” Finance Minister Ishaq dar announced on Twitter. Pakistan has been struggling to pay off its extraordinarily high levels of external debt and barely has enough dollars to cover less than three weeks’ worth of its imports, and at such a critical time, the $700 million deposit from china will act as a lifeline for the cash-strapped country. The coalition government has been struggling to boost SbP-held foreign exchange reserves — which currently stand at $3.25 billion as of Febru-
ary 17. However, amid the delay in the revival of the $6.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the government continued to face difficulty in increasing the reserves. earlier this week, dar announced that the board of the china development bank approved a loan facility for Pakistan worth $700 million, and the formalities in this regard have been completed. Taking to his Twitter handle, dar announced that the money, which would bolster the country’s diminishing foreign exchange reserves, is expected to arrive at the SbP this week. well-placed sources on wednesday informed The news that the two more commercial loans are also expected to be re-financed including $500 million and $800 million. So in totality, Pakistan is eyeing the re-financing of chinese loans up to $2 billion by the end of February or the first week of March 2023.
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Huddle aFFIrMS eradIcaTIon oF TerrorISM lInked To PolITIcal STabIlITy, econoMIc recovery g To evolve conSenSuS on naTIonal ISSueS, reMove obSTacleS In way oF naTIonal coHeSIon
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