Alvi blames past rulers for current economic woes

By News DeskISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said on Thursday previous rulers irreparably harmed the national economy during their regimes through rampant corruption, unjust decisions and ignoring accountability.Addressing a joint session of the Parliament amid ruckus by opposition lawmakers, the President said due to corruption, the national economy could not be re-modelled on modern lines and a large part of it went into black economy affecting the country even today.Dr Alvi said corruption was capable of destroying any society by weakening its foundations. “Unfortunately, this curse has widely spread in our society,” he remarked in his second constitutionally mandated address to Parliament since assuming the office of President in September last year.Co-chaired by Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser and Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, the joint session was attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, members of both National Assembly and Senate, while in the galleries were the naval and air chiefs, provincial chief ministers and leaders from different political parties.The President said the accountability of those who had plundered the national wealth and resources was going on. “Remember, if the society is clean and transparent, we will be able to keep alive our glorious national traditions and earn a respectful place in the comity of nations,” he remarked.On the Kashmir issue, President Alvi urged the world community to wake up to the looming threat to international peace due to India’s violent actions in occupied Kashmir and warned New Delhi to come to senses and do not create an irreversible situation.The President reaffirmed Pakistan’s support to the people of the Indian occupied Jammu Kashmir (IoJ&K) and made it clear to India that genocide of innocent Kashmiris would not be tolerated.“I want to clarify to the international community that any negligence in this regard will pose a serious threat to international peace… Even now, we warn India to come to its senses and not to cause an irreversible situation,” Dr Alvi said.He said irresponsible and aggressive Indian actions had seriously endangered South Asia’s peace and stability. He vowed the whole Pakistani nation would continue their moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmir people until they got their right to self-determination. “We will never leave them alone. We have always been with them, we are with them, and we will always remain with them,” the President remarked.The President said a Hindu extremist mindset had taken over India and the world would have to confront those fascist policies. He said the religious extremism of RSS was fast reshaping the face of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru’s India and had made the lives of minorities and moderates of India unsafe.He said the discussion on Kashmir in a special session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was “a big diplomatic triumph” for Pakistan, especially when India had made all-out efforts to prevent it.The discussion at the UNSC was recognition of Kashmir as an internationally recognised dispute, not an internal matter of India, for which the international community, especially the UNSC, had to play its legitimate role.Lauding the reaction from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the President particularly spoke high of the joint statement from the UN Human Rights Council, with the support of 58 countries, demanding from India to immediately remove all restraints in IoJ&K.He commended the recent visit of the Prime Minister to the US and said Pakistan would welcome American initiative towards mediation for the just and sustainable resolution of this dispute. “The lives of nine million Kashmiris are in danger. I appeal to the UN to send its observers to Kashmir to ascertain the true conditions prevailing there,” he remarked.Mentioning the continuous ceasefire violations by India through its unprovoked firing and bombing of unarmed civilian population across the Line of Control, the President said the irresponsible and aggressive Indian actions had seriously endangered South Asian peace and stability.He said Pakistan had always responded with patience to Indian war hysteria and repeatedly admonished it not to consider Pakistan’s desire for peace as a weakness. When the Pulwama incident transpired, India pinned the blame on Pakistan without any proof. He said India had always been involved in subversive activities and terrorism in Pakistan and recalled the arrest of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav who confessed being a serving officer of Indian navy, used to sponsor and fan terrorism in Balochistan.Dr Alvi, terming protection of fundamental rights as primary responsibility of a state, said the basic idea of Pakistan was to establish a system based on justice, tolerance and equality with every citizen enjoying liberty. “We have to make Pakistan a welfare state where employment, health, education, equitable distribution of resources and justice are available.”He mentioned that the government’s dream to set up a governance model, inspired by the Islamic history’s first welfare State of Medina could only be realised with the collective efforts and contribution by every individual of the nation.The President said being the world’s seventh and Muslim world’s first atomic power, Pakistan’s nuclear assets were a deterrent to the aggressive designs of its enemies.He said the nation was proud of its valiant Armed Forces that proved their mettle to the world by fighting a long and arduous war against terrorism.Dr Alvi mentioned that giving refuge to millions of Afghan refugees was an unprecedented example of hospitality and generosity in the world, yet it adversely impacted Pakistani economy. “In view of these matters, I would like to highlight that all major decisions should be taken by keeping national interests supreme,” he said.The President said Pakistan was desirous of friendly relations with all its neighbours and all other countries indiscriminately on the basis of impartiality, equality, mutual trust and shared interests.On Afghanistan, he said there was no military solution to the conflict and Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan through political dialogue. He termed Pakistan-China relations an expression of ideal friendship and mutual trust, which had translated into China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with potential of bright future for entire region.He said bilateral relations between Pakistan and US, which during the last few years witnessed a downturn due to trust deficit, underwent a positive trend after the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Washington DC.He mentioned Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with Russian Federation in the fields of economy, defence and culture.

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