ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday described the regional situation as very alarming due to the escalating armed conflict between Iran and Israel, warning that it poses a threat not only to regional but also to global peace.
Addressing a meeting of the cabinet, he reiterated Pakistan’s complete solidarity with Iran and its people against Israeli aggression and called upon the international community to make efforts to ensure an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing armed conflict.
He noted that Pakistan had strongly condemned the Israeli aggression against Iran, in which hundreds of Iranian people lost their lives and a larger number of others were injured.
“Pakistan stands in full solidarity with Iran in this critical hour,” he added.
The premier also revealed he spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express Pakistan’s unity and desire for regional peace and stability.
“The global community should ensure a ceasefire,” he stressed, and expressed optimism for lasting peace.
Expressing his views on the situation of Gaza, he said scenes there were heart-wrenching and painful as over 50,000 innocent Palestinians had been martyred.
“The brutality is being unleashed, but when will the world’s conscience wake up?” he questioned.
The prime minister further apprised that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar would be attending a meeting of the OIC foreign ministers in Turkey on 21-22 June.
On the national front, the PM said that no tax has been imposed on agriculture in the upcoming fiscal budget. He emphasised that a 10% increase in salaries and tax relief for salaried individuals has been proposed, reducing the tax rate to 1% for incomes between PKR 600,000 and PKR 1.2 million.
He stated that the government’s development programme is worth PKR 1,000 billion and that tough economic reforms have helped stabilise the economy and avoid default in 2023.
