Says health systems of KP, Punjab under pressure due to increase in corona patients; prices of 37 new drugs fixed; debt-to-GDP ratio consistently declining
ISLAMABAD
The federal cabinet has stressed that India should not interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan to sabotage regional peace.
This was stated by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while briefing the media about the decisions taken by the federal cabinet which met with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair on Tuesday.
Chaudhry said the cabinet also urged the international community to take notice as Indian involvement in Afghanistan’s internal affairs is aimed at creating chaos that cannot be justified in any way. He said Pakistan is playing a responsible role for an inclusive set up in Kabul and is pursuing consultations with China, Turkey and regional countries.
Fawad said, “We are trying to create the environment for evacuation of stranded foreigners in Kabul.” He said so far over 3400 people have been evacuated through air routes while 90,000 people were received on borders.
The minister said PIA has evacuated around 1,500 people. He said our air and land borders are open for the foreigners stranded in Kabul and we welcome those who are coming for valid reasons to Pakistan.
Fawad said regarding the coronavirus pandemic situation, the cabinet was informed that due to increase in corona cases almost 70 percent of oxygen supply capacity is being utilised at the moment and the health systems of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab are under great pressure due to increasing number of corona patients.
He said a high-level committee is being formed comprising Ulema, intellectuals and members of civil society to make recommendations for legislation to protect women and get rid of such incidents similar to the Minar-e-Pakistan incident on 14th of August.
The minister said that the manufacturing of 37 new drugs has begun in Pakistan, the prices for which have been fixed, whereas, the prices for 12 other medicines have been revised. Chaudhry, in his briefing, also went over some of the country’s important economic indicators and said that they are stable.
He said that inflation is “continuing to decline” while exports are on the rise. The information minister said that the “price trends” for the country are “positive” and foreign investment indicators show stability. He claimed that Pakistan’s “debt-to-GDP” ratio is consistently declining, due to which confidence in business has gone up. “The business index has recorded a significant increase of 108%,” he said.
Speaking of the incident at Minar-e-Pakistan, Chaudhry said that the prime minister has termed it “worrying”. He added that a high-level committee is being formed to aid the government on the matter.
He said that Advisor for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan briefed the cabinet about legislation on electoral reforms and electronic voter machines. The minister said it was noted that the opposition is making efforts to deprive nine hundred thousand overseas Pakistanis of their basic right to vote. He said the cabinet condemned the attitude of the opposition for creating hurdles in the government’s electoral reforms agenda.
The Minister said that PTI’s electoral agenda is in line with the recommendations of the judicial commission that was appointed for reviewing transparency in 2013 elections.
