Bringing economic stability, gov’s foremost priority: PM Kakar

NEW YORK, Sep 23 (DNA): Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has
said that bringing economic stability in the country was the foremost
priority of the government and in this regard a comprehensive economic
revival plan was in force.

He said assisting the process of elections was one of the prime duties
of the government. “We will be assisting and supporting the process, and
while doing so really try to focus on the economic revival plan. That is
the biggest challenge.”

In an interview with the US-based weekly magazine Newsweek here, the
prime minister pointed out that the caretaker government was deeply
concerned about the situation of stability. “At the moment, it’s pretty
much under control. It’s something which we fully and lawfully monitor,
and we are in charge to pull all the strings when it comes to
stability.”

With respect to Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan, he said it would
take some time to get relations with the neighboring Afghanistan’s de
facto government better. “It’ll take a bit of time, but we are quite
confident that we will be able to manage that.”

“We do have a larger perspective and outlook on the whole of the region.
But these day-to-day events do mire and complicate our relationship at
times. But we’re trying to manage it in a manner which is mutually
beneficial to both sides,” he added.

Responding to a question regarding the US’ attention in South Asian
region, PM Kakar said as a Pakistani and someone coming from that
region, he would be very much baffled if that region was being ignored
or if it deserved less attention by the United States, because this was
where actually lot of things were happening.

“A population of around 3 to 4 billion resides in that region. How do
you ignore 4 billion people? How do you pay less attention to 4 billion
people out of 8? Almost half of humanity resides there.”

He said there were potential conflicts in those areas. “It would be very
stingy on my part not to mention Kashmir, because it is a flashpoint
between two nuclear states. God forbid, if there is any sort of military
confrontation between the two nuclear powers, how would that translate
to the region? How would that translate outside the region? What sort of
implications would it have for the European continent? What implications
will it have across the planet into North America and the rest?.”

The prime minister expressed his concerns over the entire so-called
“Indo-Pacific” policy of the Western Hemisphere via the encirclement of
a regional power around the South China. “We do view it and we are
closely monitoring all the developments.”

“The so-called Indo Pacific strategy is done for the objectives which
suit Western powers…so, there is an element of concern and there is a
legitimate sense of caution on the Pakistani side, we are closely
monitoring that…and we are trying to do our own preparedness to respond
to such a challenge,” he added.