SIALKOT: Federal Minister for Defence, Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif Saturday said defence of the country was in very strong hands and the government had successfully purged northern and tribal areas from militancy, extremism and terrorism during Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
Addressing a meeting of lawyers held at the Sialkot District Bar Association (DBA) here, the minister hailed the sacrifices and professional capabilities of the Pak Army in curbing terrorism and militancy from the country.
He said the government was committed to weed out terrorism from the country in an active cooperation of the masses, added that the nation stood united against terrorism.
The minister said parliament was getting stronger day by day which was a very healthy and pleasant sign for the constitution and the country as well.
He said the country was rapidly moving ahead towards economic and political stability due to effective policies of the PML-N government.
Khawaja Asif vowed that the government would complete the China Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) project with an active cooperation of all provinces which would made Pakistan economically strong nation.
The minister said the government had finalized project of 93KM long Sialkot-Lahore Motorway and Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would lay the foundation stone of the project within the next two months. He said this motorway would be established between Sialkot and Kala Shah Kaku which would reduce travelling time to 65 minutes between Sialkot to Lahore.
The minister said construction on the other projects of establishing underpass and overhead bridge in the city would also be started very soon.
Khawaja Asif said all national institutions were playing their role in upholding supremacy of the constitution and parliament.
He said the government had effectively reduced duration of power loadshedding in the country, adding that the government would overcome it within the next two years.
On this occasion, Khawaja Asif handed over a cheque of Rs 5 million to President Sialkot District Bar Association Maqsud Ahmed Bhatti for the welfare of the lawyers community.
Later, the minister laid the foundation stone of Rs 400 million project of construction of sewerage naullah between Kotli Behram to China Chowk here.
MNAs Ch Armughan Subhani, Rana Shamim Ahmed, MPAs Manshaullah Butt, Ch Muhammad Ikram and President Sialkot DBA were also present.
