ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that Pakistan\u2019s economy had left the \u201cintensive care unit\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He made the remarks while speaking in the National Assembly, during which he also talked about insecurity in Balochistan and Pakistan\u2019s role in brokering the agreement with the United States and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we [presented] the first budget, we were insolvent. There was always the danger that we would default today or tomorrow. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailed us out with strict conditions, which we are now bearing but we have become solvent. Our economy is breathing; it has left the ICU,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will not say that we are reaching the stars but our trajectory bears witness that in one or two years \u2026 we will reach a place where Pakistan achieves a growth rate of 6-7 per cent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that there were multiple \u201cinbuilt taxes\u201d in the country, adding that \u201cwe have to get rid of all these things to become solvent\u201d. He said that the tax rate should be brought to a level where the entire country was ready to pay it instead of becoming prohibitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy should we force people to search for ways to evade taxes? We should bring taxes to a level where a conducive environment is created, where people pay taxes and do so with pride,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his remarks, the defence minister also addressed the issue of terrorism in Balochistan, saying the situation had not been created \u201cyesterday or the day before\u201d but that many people had contributed to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will not take names \u2026 but it is everyone\u2019s responsibility,\u201d he said, stressing that if Balochistan\u2019s roads were not safe, the \u201ccollective responsibility\u201d also lay with the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can accuse my brothers on that side of the aisle about what happened in their time, and they can accuse me, but it goes back to the 50s,\u201d he noted, adding, \u201cIf we want to search for a solution, we have to search for it collectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis problem is not of any one party or any one province,\u201d Asif stated. \u201cIf there are problems in Balochistan \u2026 then I think the responsibility is our collective responsibility, and its solution should be such a solution that it is acceptable to Balochistan\u2019s public, whether they are Baloch or Pashtun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Afghanistan, Asif noted that people had complained that Pakistan should negotiate with the Afghans and that the leadership\u2019s approach was \u201cimpersonal\u201d and indirect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTerrorism is happening directly in Pakistan; whether in Balochistan or KP, both problems originate from Afghanistan,\u201d he said, pointing out that he had travelled to Kabul twice alongside senior delegation members, where negotiations were held with the entire leadership, including the then DG ISI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey agreed with everything,\u201d he said of the Afghan side, \u201cbut insisted that they could not give anything in writing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defence minister added that besides Kabul, he had also met Afghan delegations in Turkiye and Qatar, alongside \u201chigh-powered\u201d delegations from both those countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that when Pakistan was asked for Rs10 billion, it was \u201cready to give it\u201d but wanted assurances that if those people were settled in remote areas of Afghanistan, they would not spend the Rs10 billion and return again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asif said that 4,317 people had been martyred in the war on terror from 2022 to date, including army personnel, law enforcement agency (LEA) personnel and civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He termed it a \u201cvery big sacrifice\u201d and said, \u201cThese sacrifices are being made at whose hands? Those people who were our guests for 45 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also regretted Pakistan\u2019s previous policy of being \u201cAmerica\u2019s proxy\u201d with the expectation of big returns, saying, \u201cPakistan became a battleground. And who won that war? The people who came here, used us, and after that went back to their homes, leaving debris and weapons here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He demanded a \u201cguarantee\u201d from even those who had spoken on the matter in the House, saying, \u201cIf they make a jirga<\/em> and go there, we are ready. But then don\u2019t come back without results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t use this issue for point-scoring,\u201d Asif stressed. \u201cTwo generations are already bearing the consequences of this, and for God\u2019s sake \u2026 future generations will also bear it. The decisions we made in the 1970s and 1980s, and during Musharraf\u2019s time, this is the dividend of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFind the people on whose hands this blood is,\u201d he demanded, referring to the 4,317 martyrs. \u201cI attended 21 funerals the day before yesterday \u2026 small children are being martyred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The defence minister compared the sacrifices of personnel posted at the border in Balochistan and KP with those of MNAs, saying they regularly complain about transfers to Balochistan and even within Punjab. He questioned the \u201cinsensitivity\u201d of MNAs, asking, \u201cAre we fulfilling our responsibilities? No. We complain when the power centres shift elsewhere. Why did they shift? It was because of us; no one captured them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talking about Islamabad\u2019s role in facilitating an agreement between the US and Iran, Asif said the \u201cgreatness\u201d of Pakistan had been recognised by the world within a year, crediting the efforts of the military leadership as well as the prime minister and the \u201cwhole team\u201d working with them in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think the whole nation should be thankful to them, because they steered us [through] an issue that seemed impossible,\u201d he said. \u201cThey made the impossible possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also noted that India\u2019s Prime Minister Modi, in his statement on the US-Iran agreement, had congratulated US President Donald Trump but neglected to include Pakistan\u2019s name in the statement despite its heavy involvement in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stressed that Pakistan stood to benefit greatly from the \u201cextremely pleasant developments\u201d in relations with Iran in recent times, including from the relaxing of sanctions and removal of restrictions on Iran\u2019s oil and gas exports. He noted that the biggest beneficiary of this change would be Balochistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s see how we can proceed in this direction so that we can maximise our dividends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in the session, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on had criticised the formula of fund distribution under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award \u2014 which is based on the size of every provinces\u2019 population \u2014 as \u201cflawed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his remarks during the National Assembly, where a debate on the federal budget fiscal year 2026-27 was ongoing, Kamal noted that the NFC formula was 82 per cent population-based.Health Minister Mustafa Kamal addresses the National Assembly on June 16, 2026. \u2014 @NAofPakistan\/X<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat province will reduce its income by controlling the population?\u201d the minister, who belongs to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBalochistan is the smallest province [population-wise] and gets the lowest share [in the NFC]. If it wants to get [a larger] share like Punjab, it will have to increase its population,\u201d he pointed out, adding the distribution of funds based on population was the \u201cbiggest flaw\u201d in the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without mentioning the name of any country, the health minister added that \u201cin our neighbouring country, the weightage of population in the NFC award is 17pc,\u201d while the rest was based on \u201crevenue, backwardness, income and other areas\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his remarks, Kamal stated that \u201cneighbouring countries are growing because they have controlled\u201d their population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that if the current trajectory of population growth continued, \u201cwe will need 64,000 new primary schools\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo we have the capacity in the budget to allocate the resources for it?\u201d he asked. The minister continued that at this rate, \u201cwe have to provide jobs to 65 million young people [and] will require 135,000 new beds in hospitals\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He proposed that a \u201c32pc incentive\u201d had to be provided to every province that was trying to control its population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also lauded the government\u2019s proposal in the budget to remove tax on contraceptives, which was earlier set at 18pc, saying it would reduce the birth rate and would have a greater impact on the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also went on to highlight the issues in how funds allocated under the NFC were spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnder the current system of governance \u2026 we can\u2019t provide resources and solutions to people\u2019s issues at their doorsteps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that Pakistan\u2019s economy had left the \u201cintensive care unit\u201d. He made the remarks while speaking in the National Assembly, during which he also talked about insecurity in Balochistan and Pakistan\u2019s role in brokering the agreement with the United States and Iran. \u201cWhen we [presented] the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>Mustafa Kamal lambasts \u2018flawed\u2019 NFC award distribution formula<\/h2>\n\n\n\n