https://arab.news/mu3ec
- The statement comes amid Pakistan’s efforts for economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF bailout program
- The country is also battling twin insurgencies in its western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for unity and harmony in the society to eradicate militancy and address the country’s economic issues.
The prime minister said this while addressing a National Youth and Ulema Convention in connection with Jumatul Wida in the federal capital of Islamabad.
The statement came amid the South Asian country’s efforts to recover from an economic meltdown under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program secured last year.
Pakistan is also battling twin insurgencies: one led my religiously motivated groups, mainly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan.
“Unfortunately, the society is being poisoned by disinformation and propaganda,” Sharif said. “We have a chance today as well to place our personal wishes and ego beneath Pakistan.”
According to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Pakistan is now the world’s second-most affected country by militant violence, with deaths rising 45 percent to 1,081 in 2024.
The 12th annual GTI report, published by Australian-based think tank Institute for Economics and Peace, ranked 163 countries in 2024, covering 99.7 percent of the world’s population and analyzing the impact of militant activities worldwide. Pakistan is second only to West African country Burkina Faso on the list.
Sharif emphasized that people from all walks of life, especially religious scholars, have the responsibility to play their role in ending internal divisions based on religious and ethnic divides.
“We have treasures worth billions present in our mountains,” he said. “Pakistan did not come into being so that we keep taking loans and live a life in debt.”
Sharif underscored the importance of setting aside personal desires and egos in the best interest of Pakistan, saying that Pakistan’s armed forces were making unparalleled sacrifices in the fight against militancy.
He urged the attendees to forge national unity, calling it the “only path to achieving a respectable position in the comity of nations.”