Gilani shrugs off doubts about nukes
Gilani shrugs off doubts about nukes safety
our correspondent
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani declared in categorical terms on Tuesday that Pakistans nuclear assets were in safe hands and nobody should have any doubt about this.
He was speaking at a dinner meeting of the parliamentary parties of the coalition partners of the government here at the the Prime Ministers House on Tuesday evening.
The meeting was attended by PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, parliamentary leader of MQM and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar, as well as MNAs belonging to parties which are coalition partners of the government.
The prime minister said the government had made it clear to the US that in the future Pakistan would not accept any Abbottabad-type incident. We will not allow any one to violate our sovereignty; the protection of national interests is our first priority, he said.
Breaking his silence on the Abbottabad incident of May 2 and the terrorist attack on the PNS Mehran Base in Karachi, Prime Minister Gilani conceded that the peoples concerns about these issues were justified. However, he assured the nation that investigations were being carried out. People know that such investigations take time and there is a need to be patient and tolerant so that we are able to expose hidden hands and faces which were behind these incidents, he added.
The prime minister said any decision taken in haste was always detrimental to the interests of the nation and this was the reason why the government was moving cautiously and behaving sensibly instead of reacting emotionally. Prime Minister Gilani expressed hope that the governments efforts to use diplomatic channels would stop the drone attacks.
Commenting on the onslaught of the opposition during the budget speech of Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, the prime minister said that people did not appreciate the aggressive and unpleasant attitude of the opposition.
He said despite the offensive stance of the opposition, the government will not react in the same manner and will keep serving the people. If the opposition thinks they can win people through negative propaganda and by rumour mongering, they are sadly mistaken. By the grace of Allah we will complete our constitutional term with the support of the people of Pakistan, he added.
He said terrorism had no link with religion or Islam and the terrorists knew no religion and boundaries. We will not allow anyone to use our land against any other country but will continue to fight terrorists to the last, he declared.
The prime minister said the government was aware of the fact that the people are facing the problems of loadshedding, inflation and unemployment but all these issue were not created by the government. We are using all available resources to resolve these issue and during the last three years have taken many unpopular decisions to put the economy back on the track, he said. The government has a firm resolve to fight against terrorism with the support of people. The representatives of the people have lent their support in fighting terror, he added.
He said Pakistan had sacrificed the precious lives of 35,000 civilians and more than 5,000 personnel of the security forces while sustaining an estimated loss of more than $60 billion in the war against terror. He said terrorism had no link with religion or Islam and the terrorists knew no religion and boundaries. We will not allow anyone to use our land against any other country but will continue to fight terrorists to the last, he declared.
He said Pakistan did not have aggressive designs against any other country but would give a befitting reply to any one who dared to cast an evil eye on the country. The Prime Minister in his speech also highlighted the salient features of the budget and his view of how it would benefit the common man.