Shahbaz, UK HC discuss various issues

LAHORE: PML-N President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif discussed social sector, public welfare and other development programmes with British High Commissioner Christian Turner and Iona Thomas, political counsellor, in a video conference.

Shahbaz appreciated British development body DFID's financial and technical assistance in various education initiatives and other public welfare programmes in Pakistan, especially in Punjab. He mentioned that during his time as chief minister, he was witness to the invaluable support by the DFID for Pakistan. He said Britain and Pakistan share historic relations based on mutual trust. Britain has anyways supported democracy, public welfare and development of Pakistan and this relationship is extremely important at bilateral, regional and international levels.

He said during his time as CM, his government worked with the DFID on various public welfare and development projects in the most transparent and timely manner. These education, healthcare, public welfare and development projects, he said, are an expression of the effective and fruitful partnership between the UK and Pakistan for joint goals. The PML-N president said Britain and Pakistan will continue partnering on the basis of mutual trust, cooperation and development. The high commissioner recalled the role of Shahbaz Sharif in spearheading various DFID programmes in Punjab during his tenure and stated that Britain is committed in its support for Pakistan despite all prevailing challenges including COVID-19. Shahbaz highlighted that during the PML-N tenure, Pakistan was able to defeat terrorism, address acute energy shortage and introduced an era of progress.

The meeting ended with a note that cooperation and not confrontation is need of the hour. Dr Turner and Sharif also spoke about matters related to local government, COVID-19’s impact on the global economy, the regional situation and the FATF.