Dar claims resumption of PIA flights to UK soon

London: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday said that the government was making efforts to revive flights to and from the United Kingdom as soon as possible as it was aware of the travel problems Pakistanis are facing nowadays.

He claimed the early resumption of direct flights between the two countries. 

“We have made every effort, even we changed the laws as per the latest requirements of the Aviation Authority of UK to solve the issue of resumption of PIA flights,” the deputy prime minister said while addressing the Pakistani diaspora here.

He said an irresponsible statement of a minister from the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) grounded all aircraft of Pakistan in Europe, the UK and the Western World.

DPM Dar, who is on his official visit to the UK, said the government was taking two more actions of privatization of Pakistan Airlines (PIA) and outsourcing of  Islamabad International Airport. He informed that the process was moving on the fast track, hoping that it might be completed by the 10th of next month.

He pointed out that Pakistan attached high importance to the long-standing partnership with the United Kingdom and the real pivot of the bilateral relationship was the Pakistani diaspora.

“I believe that the British Pakistanis have proved to be the most articulate, the most diverse and the most effective and vibrant who are contributing not only to the development of the host country but also that of Pakistan,” he added.

He highlighted that the British Pakistani community also happened to be the most politically active community among overseas communities in the UK. “We have two cabinet members, 15 members in the House of Commons, 11 in the House of Lords and hundreds of councillors, and mayors and deputy mayors.”

Recalling the worst economic and security situation in the country in 2013, the DPM said the major international financial institutions were declaring Pakistan’s economy as a politically unstable country, projecting it to default within six months. They were also projecting that it might take more than a decade to get out of the economic quagmire.

However, he maintained that only one and half years after coming into power, the PML-N government managed to streamline the country’s economy in the right direction.

He informed that the food inflation came back to only 2% from double-digit, while the GDP growth recorded 6%. Pakistan became the best stock market in Asia and 5th best in the World, he added.

By 2017, he said Pakistan became the 24th global economy. However, he said in the post-2018 era, the next government’s bad governance resulted in declining the rank to 47 in 2022, which he said was the saddest part of the country’s economy.

As regards, terrorism, the deputy prime minister said in 2013, economy, extremism and electricity load-shedding were the three biggest challenges that were overcome by the PML-N government due to its hard work and prudent policies.

The deputy prime minister expressed his disappointment over the change of policy by the PTI government in 2022 due to which violence and terrorism came back to the country.

As as result of dialogues in Afghanistan by the PTI government, he said 102 hardened criminals were freed from jails who were involved in killing school children and disgracing the Pakistani flag in Malakand.

DPM Dar expressed the government’s commitment to uproot terrorism from the country again.