ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Cabinet held its meeting in Islamabad on Friday during which it approved extension of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards for Afghan refugees till March 31 next year.
“Afghans are our brothers and very dear to us,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while presiding over the federal cabinet meeting, adding that adequate and concrete steps will be ensured for facilitation of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.
The prime minister directed the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions to hold broad based consultations with the national leaderships of mainstream political parties and Afghan representatives for addressing the concerns of Afghan refugees.
“We would not allow that Afghan refugees living in Pakistan to be terrified in any way,” he said.
Sharif said that Afghan refugees are our guests and their return plans will be decided in a way that does not create any negative impression in the minds of people living on both sides of the border.
It is pertinent here that a few political parties have suggested to the federal government to grant Pakistani Citizenship to those Afghans who have been living in the Country since long, and have entered in marital relationships and established businesses. The suggestion has also been endorsed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sources said that the federal government will soon take the above suggestion by political parties into account.
In its meeting, the federal cabinet also approved the Land Acquisition for Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Compensation Rates of Barren Land.
On the occasion, the prime minister said that the federal government has taken all steps for the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam. He said that construction of mega Hydel projects would greatly help in fulfilling the energy needs of the country along with mitigating the hazards of floods.
The prime minister said that the government is determined and focused on resolving the energy issues confronted by Pakistan. “Our plans include execution of short, medium and long-term projects in this regard.”
Nawaz Sharif further said that transparency must be maintained in the distribution of compensation money to the affected people of Diamer-Bhasha Dam. He said that the government has arranged the finances for Dassu project through World Bank and all the required measures are ensured for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam.
In addition, the federal cabinet approved the agreement between Indonesia and Pakistan on cooperative activities in the field of Defence.
It also approved the ratification of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between State Bank of Pakistan and Central Bank of Jordan on general cooperation in expertise and knowledge exchange in the field of banking and finance.
The meeting also approved signing of Protocol to Amend the SAARC Limited Multilateral Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
Likewise, the permission to start negotiations with Belarus for entering into MoU on Exchange of Customs Trade Data Statistics also came up in the meeting.
