Self-belief key to nation’s success: PM

ISLAMABAD, Dec 21 : Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday while lauding the nation’s mettle to face different testing times in the country’s history, stressed upon inculcation of ‘self-belief,’ a quality which could serve as a beacon of light in hard times. Addressing officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during his visit, the prime minister said it was the self-belief that always entailed changes. “When you instill self-belief in yourself as a nation, you can achieve marvels. When the earthquake hit the country (during 2005), the whole nation was mobilized and during floods (of 2010), the nation contributed, which reflected that the nation had the capability to always stood the tests of time,” he added.

The prime minister also referred to his cricket career and the performance of the national cricket team which achieved success when motivated with self-belief. “The country has a huge talented population of 220 million people along with 9 million overseas Pakistanis who are capable of achieving anything as they have excelled in every field,” he expressed his optimism. Minister for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other high officials of the ministry were present on the occasion. The prime minister also stressed upon a culture of rule of law and meritocracy. “No country aspires progress sans rule of law,” he said, adding certain Western countries had achieved progress and prosperity despite scant resources, as they had introduced a culture of rule of law. But on the other hand, often the resources rich countries were mired in poverty due to the absence of rule of law. Different mafias controlled those resources, he observed. He said people also helped built the cancer hospital and still making donations to meet its losses as about Rs10 billion were being spent on the treatment of poor people. Lauding the efforts of the foreign office for successfully hosting the recently concluded Extra-ordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, the prime minister said that it was made possible due to teamwork. He also praised the law enforcement agencies that made the event a success, making the nation proud, with a strong sense of self-belief. The prime minister also regretted that in the past, the elite had captured spaces as they were pampered with all facilities.

He underscored that they would have to focus to lift the poor segments of society and for this purpose, the whole nation would have to continue this struggle. Citing the current account deficit, the prime minister said it had increased pressure on rupee. The government had almost overcome the challenge, but the increasing commodity prices at the global level proved as a choking point. Expressing his resolve, he said, however, it was a temporary phase and the country would overcome it. “I strongly believe that Pakistan has a great future and the nation will become strong,” he said, recollecting that during 60s, the nation was following that path. The prime minister advised the officers of the foreign office that they must focus on geo-economics. The ambassadors should further make efforts to woo foreign investment.