Punjab cancels 18 MoUs with US
LAHORE — The Punjab government has cancelled 18 MoUs signed with the US for different development projects, provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said Thursday as he proposed the Centre to slash defence budget by up to 50 percent to end its reliance on foreign aid.
The PML-N central leader said that the Punjab government has broken the begging bowl by rejecting foreign aid, adding that the federal government should follow suit to by adopting a policy of self-reliance. He proposed the federal government to cut defence budget by up to 50 percent, saying that the major chunk of foreign aid and loans goes to the armed forces while debt servicing takes up most part of the rest. “In my opinion, at least half of the defence budget should be cut immediately. What use of such grants and loans that provide no relief to the masses? Every year the nation spends billions on defence. We need not waste money on it, as we are an atomic power and need not further expand our military activities. Atom bombs are sufficient for our defence, and there is a need to divert our main budget allocations to the uplift of the masses,” the law minister said.
To queries on ‘no to foreign aid’ slogan, lately raised by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Sana said that Punjab has cancelled 18 MoUs signed with the US in fields of education, health, water purification and road construction, adding that these projects were in the feasibility stage.
He made it clear that the new policy of Punjab solely bans the US aid but puts no bar on grants from friendly countries, including China, Japan, S Arabia, UAE, Iran and Turkey. We do not want confrontation with the US rather we wanted to convey the message that we wouldn’t compromise on our sovereignty by accepting aid.
Saying that foreign aid is not used for welfare of the masses rather on luxuries of the elite, Rana demanded the federal government say no to foreign aid, adding that in order to live as a free and sovereign nation, reliance on foreign aid would have to be given up.
He revealed that presently Punjab has foreign funded projects worth Rs18-20 billion. Their annual expenditure runs into Rs10 billion, which the provincial government can easily compensate by dropping non-development expanses and through imposition of new taxes, he added.
“The federal government can also do the same as its foreign-funded projects amounted to just Rs20-25 billion per annum. The easy and realistic way to control budget deficit is slashing army expanse,” Sana reiterated.
“We have spent billions of rupees of the poor nation on F-16s. But these proved of no use when our sovereignty was challenged in Abottabad by the American troops, as no F-16 appeared to stop them,” he maintained.
Talking on intra-institutional relationship, he said, “We should move forward and put the country on the right track, establish the rule of law and bring all institutions under civilian control,” Sana said.
The Punjab minister called for a review of ties with the neighbouring India, saying the government must stop treating India as an enemy. “We must normalise our relations with India for the sake of the people,” he said.
He said that there are huge economic benefits for both Pakistan and India in making peace for good. Our massive army budget can be curtailed to provide more funds for health, education and public infrastructure.
“Moreover, by ending drama of ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan we can better focus on our own security problems rather than fixing security problems of the troubled neighbour. We are paying very heavy price for maintaining the so-called ‘strategic depth’ in the present circumstances and (even then) getting blamed of playing a double game,” the minister said.
“Our military stocked the whole nation in Afghan war with the Soviet Union on the wishes of the US, and now we are paying the price of that war which was dubbed as jihad by our military,” Rana said, urging the ISI to play within its due limits and refraining from any adventurism as it will be not be in country’s interest. “We strongly oppose extra-institutional role of the intelligence service,” he maintained.
Referring to US-Pak relations, he said we want to have good relations with every country but no compromise should be made on sovereignty and integrity of the nation. He said that the US is talking about stopping aid to put pressure on Pakistan but the country should not bow before this pressure. “Any cut in aid could prove blessing in disguise for the country,” he said. Sana again stressed giving priority to good and durable relations with the neighbours but without compromising on core issues.
He said that following the announcement of shunning foreign aid, the matter was discussed in a meeting presided over by the CM, adding that the decision will be implemented in the next fiscal budget in its true spirit. The CM has constituted two committees to review the matter in detail and forward proposals within a week, he added.
Source: The Nation
Date:5/20/2011
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