ISLAMABAD,:Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday inaugurated 293kms lengthy Hakla-DIKhan motorway, which is an important part of the Western route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Hakla-DIKhan motorway has 11 interchanges, 36 bridges, 33 flyovers and 119 underpasses. It would help in transforming DIKhan as one of the main business hubs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, linking South Punjab and Balochistan. It would also enable supply of agricultural produce to different parts of the country.
Speaking on the occasion the prime minister said previously the development of the country was confined only to GT road, Lahore and onwards to Karachi which were also called as Eastern route of the CPEC.
“But a country achieves progress if there is uniform development across its length and breadth. It is made possible due to long-term planning like China which has planned 30 years ahead,” he added.
The prime minister said the future planning would envisage a roadmap towards progress, embracing all parts of the country.
If few areas were developed the people living there would become rich, leaving behind other population of the backward areas in poverty. It was the biggest problem of the developing world, he added.
The prime minister recollected that during 60s, Pakistan had long-term planning as the country’s biggest projects were conceived during that period.
The prime minister said that during the last 25 years, he had been consistently maintaining that corruption had been the biggest issue of Pakistan.
He said in the past, roads were constructed at expensive costs as the money was going into someone’s pockets. “Roads were constructed for making money. How it comes that roads during 2013 were constructed costly and now being completed at the lowest costs,” he expressed his wonder. The prime minister said construction of dual roads in the past cost double.
“About 1000 billion rupees had gone to the pockets of corrupt, and it happened with a poor nation,” he regretted.
The ceremony was attended by minister for communication Murad Saeed, federal ministers and NHA authorities.
Commending efforts of the minister for communication, the prime minister said his ministry had been among the top three performing ministries.
He said revenues of the National Highway Authority had been doubled after steps taken against corruption including E-tendering, besides, recovery of NHA’s encroached land worth Rs 5 billion.
He stressed that development should be ‘always inclusive’ without focusing on a particular segment of society.
The planning should be made in a way that no area or people were left behind, he said, adding Madina had been the most successful model of the world. In that state living standards of the people were raised.
The prime minister further said people in the far-off areas, were deprived of health facilities and stressed upon provision of education and justice.
He said the people in the backward areas like Mianwali would have the facility of availing the best treatment facilities due to the health cards.
Each family would get treatment worth Rs1 million free of cost. Such initiative would also enable the private sector to establish a health network in these areas, he added.
The prime minister said Hakla-DIKhan would connect those areas which were less developed. The lack of facilities forced the inhabitants of DIKhan and Mianwali to move to developed cities which also resulted in the brain drain and flight of talent.
He expressed the confidence that the motorway would go a long way in raising the standards of living of these areas and by reducing the distance from seven hours to three hours from Islamabad to DIKhan.
The prime minister said such prospects would also augur well for the bright future of Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed said that work on Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway had been completed with the deployment of NHA personnel.
He said National Highway Authority (NHA)’s total revenues were increased by 125 percent, witnessing Rs102 billion increase in the last three years.
He said that an amount of Rs5 billion was recovered from retrieving the encroached land.
Providing further details, Murad said NHA had completed work on about 2032 kilometers of roads and planned construction of further 7889 kms roads.
He said his ministry had achieved the five years targets within three years span. Construction of dual lanes per km now stood around Rs111 million while its cost during the previous government was Rs118 per km whereas four-lane cost per km was now 170 million rupees compared with Rs370 million spent by the past government.
He said all this was achieved despite a surge in global inflation and the cost of materials.
The minister said that E-procurement was launched for transparency and also completed GIS field survey of all roads.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, unlike the previous rulers, had completed work on road projects at half cost and also started work on additional roads network, he added.
The minister said a true leadership always thought of the country and its people ahead of everything.
![PESHAWAR, JAN 12 /DNA/ - Owing to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's precarious law and order circumstances, the provincial assembly has written a letter to the Peshawar corps commander seeking an in-camera briefing on ongoing operations and the security situation in the province. "The [special] Committee desires to receive a detailed briefing from Headquarters XI Corps, Peshawar, particularly in the context of the ongoing operations being conducted by the federal government and LEAs in the merged districts of KP," reads the letter issued by KP Assembly Deputy Secretary Tariq Noor, while referring to the Special Committee (on Security) constituted by the house. The committee features more than 40 members, including the leader of the house, the leader of the opposition and provincial ministers, along with parliamentary leaders of respective political parties. The letter, dated January 8, also points out that the committee has received detailed briefings from key stakeholders, including the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary, the IGP, and now seeks a briefing as part of the consultative process. Letter written by KP Assemblys deputy secretary to Headquarters XI Corps. — Reporter Letter written by KP Assembly's deputy secretary to Headquarters XI Corps. — Reporter The KP Assembly's request for a briefing from a senior army commander comes as the province, as stated by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry in a recent media briefing, accounted for nearly 71% of all the terrorist incidents in 2025. The overwhelming share of KP in facing terror incidents, as per the military's spokesperson, was due to a "politically conducive environment and the flourishing political-criminal-terror-nexus" in the province. Noting that the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in KP was resisting counterterrorism efforts at every forum — a claim denied by the PTI — Lt Gen Chaudhry highlighted that the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) carried out 75,175 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across the country in 2025, of which 14,658 IBOs were conducted in KP. Out of the total 5,397 terrorism incidents reported nationwide in the previous year, as many as 3,811 incidents occurred in KP. The issue of terrorism and military operations has been a point of contention between the PTI's KP government and the Centre in recent times, where the former has time and again stressed a political solution and dialogue, whereas the latter has pressed on with taking action against the terrorists. This is also reflected by the KP Assembly's letter to the Headquarters XI Corps, Peshawar, which says that the Special Committee (on Security) "acknowledges the importance of security measures but considers that operation alone without broader political, social and developmental initiatives may not ensure suitable peace and stability and could risk further unrest in the province".](https://islamabadpost.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/security-forces-218x150.jpg "KP Assembly seeks Peshawar corps commander’s in-camera briefing on security situation")
