Nawaz cancels Switzerland visit

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has decided to cancel his visit to Davos, Switzerland, in the wake of the recent spike in terror incidents and the Bannu tragedy.

He said the entire nation is united against terrorism and extremism as terrorist attacks cannot sabotage the peace process and his government would not let the sacrifices of the nation and the armed forces personnel go in vain.

Nawaz Sharif contacted the military leadership soon after his arrival in the capital and discussed the situation that emerged after the military convoy’s attack by terrorists in which 20 soldiers were martyred in Bannu on Sunday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave up his other engagements in Lahore and arrived in Islamabad. The federal capital is facing an emergency situation.Soon after reaching the federal capital, the prime minister and Interior Minster Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan contacted the military leadership and discussed the situation.

Chaudhry Nisar said that the prime minister had cancelled his visit to Switzerland which was to start from January 21 owing to the changing scenario in the country. The interior minister would visit Peshawar today (Monday) to express solidarity with the martyred of the homeland.

The prime minister will himself monitor the anti-terrorism steps in the country. Owing to the emergency situation, the interior minister also cancelled his own scheduled press conference.Earlier in Lahore, the prime minister said that the terrorist attacks could not sabotage the peace process and they would not let the sacrifices of the nation and the armed forces personnel go in vain.

Chairing a meeting to discuss the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus project in Lahore on Sunday, Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack on security forces and vowed that the government would adopt practical measures for ensuring the security of the masses and peace would be restored with the elimination of terrorism.

Addressing the participants of the meeting, Nawaz Sharif claimed that it was the top priority of the government to overcome menaces like terrorism, the price-hike, and unemployment. He said the government was focused on providing maximum facilities to the masses. He said the government was enabling the youth to earn their own livelihood through the youth loan programme.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other officials attended the meeting.Shahbaz told the premier that the project would link Rawalpindi and Islamabad and provide international standard transport facilities to the people.

The PM said it was the government’s basic objective to initiate projects for solving the public’s problems and the time was not far when all the problems would be solved and the country would again attain progress and prosperity.

Online: Meanwhile, a special meeting of the federal cabinet would be held today (Monday) to review and approve the Internal Security and National Policy.According to reports, all ministers of the cabinet will attend the meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will give a detailed policy briefing in the meeting. The policy would comprise three parts. One part would be kept secret while two of them would be made public.

The cabinet agenda for Monday’s meeting comprises approval of the National Policy on Internal Security and demand of 28 billion rupees’ additional grant for implementation of this policy from the Interior Ministry, sources said.

Progress in the process of talks with the Taliban, the overall economic situation, energy, electricity import from India and the agendas of the Ministry of Defence, Interior Ministry, Ministry of Water and Power and Inter-provincial Coordination Ministry would also be reviewed by the federal cabinet.

Furthermore, the Council of Common Interest (CCI) and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved a summary by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct a fresh population census across the country.The matter will be presented before the meeting of the federal cabinet and parliament for approval.

Reliable sources said that government had already decided to conduct the sixth population census before the Local Bodies (LB) polls which was why the Punjab and Sindh governments continuously avoided polls.

State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab also confirmed the approval of the ECP’s summary and said that the matter would soon be presented before the federal cabinet and parliament.