We have to quit policy of relying on others: Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the mindset of running the country through foreign debts damaged it, and that Pakistan will have to quit the policy of relying on others.Addressing a conference of envoys here, the prime minister said yesterday that there is no respect for someone who keeps asking others for money.He stressed upon the need for eliminating hurdles in the way of foreign investment in the country.Lauding the ministry of foreign affairs for organising the conference, Khan said that a nation rises only when it starts “believing”.“We are mocked when we speak of national honour. Where Pakistan stands today, I believe that this is a great opportunity for us,” he said.He, however, said they will have to change their mindset for the country to make progress, since a fraudulent mindset had caused huge loss to it.Yesterday the prime minister said that his government will launch the biggest operation against money laundering in history.Khan was speaking with journalists at his office, where he said that the US State Department had revealed that some $10bn worth of money is “laundered” from Pakistan.“Since yesterday we have been hearing hue and cry from Sindh,” said the prime minister in an apparent jibe aimed at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), whose leaders are facing an inquiry in relation to fake accounts.He said that while the country continues to face problems, it is no longer in crisis.Following a series of actions in wake of the joint investigation team (JIT) report, the federal government has released a list of 172 suspects whose names have been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).Top PPP leaders including party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as well as former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur, are among those placed on the no-fly list.Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah are also included in the list.Yesterday leaders of Prime Minister Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Sindh demanded that Chief Minister Shah immediately resign from his post.PTI Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) Khurram Sher Zaman told the media: “The JIT report proves that the PPP was involved in the worst form of corruption in Sindh.”“The Sindh chief minister should resign,” he demanded. “We are not only demanding the Sindh chief minister’s resignation as his name has been placed on the ECL, but also because he is behind a lot of these matters.”“There has been corruption (involving) billions in every department. We cannot wait for another five years, and will raise our voice against them on every forum,” Zaman added.He further said: “We will end the PPP’s government in Sindh, and the nation should prepare as the PTI will form the government in the province.”PTI parliamentary party leader in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh, echoed Zaman’s words: “We are going to form the government in the province.”“Murad Ali Shah has been proven to be a very big thief, and will have to resign. Assets and bank accounts of all those named in the JIT report should be seized,” he added.Sheikh further alleged: “The Rs7.5bn subsidy that was given to farmers was also transferred in Omni Group’s bank account. A loan worth billions of rupees was taken from Sindh Bank, which was transferred to Murad Ali Shah.”“Corruption of Rs530mn is just a part of it, when the forensic audit of the last 10 years is conducted then more corruption will come forward,” he added.Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda said: “(PPP co-chairman) Asif Zardari attacked the Supreme Court yesterday.”“The JIT has been formed by the Supreme Court,” the minister added. “If Zardari is not involved in any corruption, then his name will cleared, no one is above the law.”“Zardari used the term ‘favoured one’ (in reference to Prime Minister Khan), but it is Nawaz Sharif who is the favoured one,” Vawda added while commenting on the former president’s address a day earlier.Yesterday PPP leader Nafeesa Shah said that Prime Minister Khan should be barred from flying abroad as he also faces a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry.Taking to Twitter, she questioned how Sindh Chief Minister Ali Shah’s name could be placed on the ECL: “How can a chief minister’s name be [on the] ECL? What if he has to visit a country on his official work?”“By this standard, Prime Minister Imran Khan should be on the ECL too, as he is under inquiry in the NAB,” the member of the National Assembly said. “This is not a government, it is a mob that is demolishing the system.”Earlier, while speaking to the media, Nafeesa Shah said: “The ECL should not be used as a means for political blackmailing. We will not allow two laws to run in one country.”Further, PPP stalwart Sherry Rehman also criticised the government’s move: “Tehreek-e-Inteqaam (movement of revenge) has shown its real face by place Bilawal’s name on the ECL.”“We are not scared of this mutual understanding between the PTI (the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of Prime Minister Khan) and the joint investigation team,” she further said.