Summary There was no need for the Prime Minister to meet Modi secretly, says Pervaiz Rashid
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for Planning, National reforms and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Friday has said that foreign powers are acknowledging economic progress of Pakistan and the government is desirous of good relations with the world.
Iqbal addressed a ceremony organised for the fresh students at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore.
The federal minister said that Pakistan wants good relations with neighbouring countries and others. He said that there is no truth to the fake revelation of meeting between Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in 2014 in Nepal.
Know more: Nawaz Sharif, Modi had secret meeting during Saarc 2014, claims Indian media
Iqbal said that militants are either retreating or are besieged in the operation by the Pakistan Army and Rangers in different parts of the country. The minister gave a special mention to India while talking about having relations with different countries. He criticised the factions who according to him have become “spokespersons of India” in matter of alleged secret meeting.
Iqbal said that the government body has a vision of making Pakistan 25th biggest economy of the world until 2025 and 10th biggest by 2047. However, he stressed the need to maintain political stability in the country for the purpose.
On the other hand, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid has rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s allegation regarding Nawaz Sharif’s secret meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Saarc 2014.
Talking to a news channel, the Information Minister said there was no need for the Prime Minister to meet secretly as both the prime ministers had met each other at different occasions in front of media.
He further asserted that it was impossible for any Prime Minister to meet another secretly as they lead a delegation and have very tight schedule.
The clarification comes a day after opposition politician Imran Khan lashed out at PM Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for holding a secret meeting in Kathmandu last year, and called both leaders ‘cowards.’
"Leaders do not need to hold meetings in secret. They do not need to lie; in fact they must be credible," the PTI chief said while addressing a leaders’ conference in Lahore.
The revelations regarding secret meeting were made in a book called ‘This Unquiet Land — Stories from India‘s Fault Lines,‘ by Indian TV journalist Barkha Dutt, who alleged that Nawaz and Modi vanished for an hour to hold a meeting inside a hotel room on the sidelines of a regional summit hosted by Nepal last year.
The meeting was allegedly facilitated by Indian steel magnate Sajjan Jindal, who is the brother of former Congress MP Naveen Jindal.
Both the Pakistan and Indian governments have rubbished reports of such a meeting, terming news reports on the matter "baseless."
