RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Sindh minister of planning and development, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, has said that terrorism and militancy have strained Pakistan-US relations, and that our the sacrifices made in the war on terror have been ignored.

Talking to a four-member US delegation, he said that instead of censuring Pakistan the US should help normalize ties with Afghanistan and India to bring peace and prosperity to the region.

He said the delegation should meet the common people and the business community of Karachi to know the real situation. He added that within nine years the PPP government has raised the annual development budget from 70 billion rupees to 274 billion.

He said that the PML-N is making claims that it has ended load-shedding, whereas the rural areas of Sindh still face approximately 18 hours of electricity breakdowns every day.

He said that the Sindh government added 850 megawatts to the national grid through a wind energy project and that the coal project is expected to produce 660 megawatts soon. Forty-two new road projects are underway to boost economic activity in the region.

Soon Green Line and Yellow Line bus services will be running, while with the efforts of Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah the Karachi Circular Railway has been included in the CPEC project.

The US delegation seemed a bit surprised at the fact as Pakistan, a gas producing country, imports LNG from abroad.

The delegation consisted of the US embassy’s economic counselor, William Chip, economic unit chief John Robinson and economic specialist Fahad Zaidi.