The federal government today unveiled its two-year performance report highlighting its successes on the internal and external fronts.

Cabinet members including Information Minister Shibli Faraz, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser on Finance Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar and Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar presented the two-year performance of the government at a conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.

PM Imran in his first speech highlighted the issue of occupied Kashmir: Shah Mehmood Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the Indian government had failed to isolate Pakistan internationally, adding that the “narrative has shifted on Kashmir” and that the people of the occupied territory will get the right to self-determination.

The foreign minister pointed out how Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his first speech as Pakistan’s premier, had highlighted the issue of occupied Kashmir.

“You can compare the speeches of Nawaz Sharif and before that, Asif Zardari at the UN and see for yourself how often the word Kashmir was used in their speeches,” he said.

The foreign minister said during this period, we have also revitalized our relations with our longstanding friends He said our relationship with China is transforming into a strong economic partnership. Enhancing agriculture productivity, poverty alleviation and human resource development are other important components of the second phase of the corridor project.

FM Qureshi said Pakistan has also signed strategic engagement plan with the European Union and as part of economic diplomacy also we also engaged with Africa. He said the Prime Minister’s global debt relief initiative for the developing countries was acknowledged by the world.

First two years were difficult but now the good days have started: Shibli Faraz

In his remarks, the Information Minister said the governments are answerable before the masses in a democratic set-up.

He said our aim is to transform Pakistan into a welfare state. He said it is the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to serve the masses especially those belonging to downtrodden segments of the society.

Shibli Faraz said the people have rejected the politics of vested interests. He said our enemy wants to destabilize our economy and create anarchy in the country.

He said his ministry will fully confront this challenge as a united nation without any division.

The Information Minister said the first two years were difficult but now the good days have started.

First time in Pakistan’s history, Rs250bn were provided to every city and goth: Hafeez Shaikh

Moreover, Highlighting the performance of the finance ministry, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that Pakistan was faced with a mountain of challenges when the government came to power.

He stated that Pakistan was faced with a huge current account deficit which the incumbent government had reduced drastically due to its sound fiscal policies.

The finance adviser said that the government of Pakistan, civil and military leadership both, had reduced their budgets in its bid to practice austerity in times of crisis.

Shaikh said that the government had not borrowed from the State Bank of Pakistan throughout the current year.

“The biggest point of the prime minister’s package was that cash was given to ordinary people who were impacted [by the coronavirus],” he said, referring to the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme.

Shaikh said that for the first time in Pakistan’s history, Rs250bn were provided to the people of Pakistan “in every city and goth”. “This money was provided to 100 million people,” he said.

He said that the government had not imposed any new tax in budget 2020-21, adding that the first month of the fiscal year brought about good news.

Pakistan received ‘wide recognition’ from global community on FATF targets, says Azhar

Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar in his two-year performance report said that the government brought about a construction package which was unique of its kind.

He said that the government had cut down smuggling of phones in the country through technological means. “Seventy % of the phones in our country used to be smuggled. We cut that through technological means,” he added.

Referring to the Pakistan Steel Mills, among other institutions, Azhar said that a lot of sectors had been “kept in the morgue” by previous governments.

“The Pakistan Steel Mills was given Rs35bn in salaries over the past five years and bailout packages worth rs80bn were given as well. It went from recording profits to losses and currently owes Rs236bn,” he said.

Azhar added that the government had tackled the problem “head-on” by taking big decisions and had taken the decision to involve a joint stakeholder from the private sector to manage the institution.

“We were given a 27-point strict action item by a joint group, which wasn’t previously given to any other country, in such a short span of time,” he said.