Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday asserted that the country was “on its way” to overcoming the myriad of economic challenges it has been facing for the past few months because of the “tough decisions” taken by the government at the cost of its political capital.

Addressing the passing out parade of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Academy Asghar Khan in Risalpur, the premier said, “Let me assure you that we are making all efforts to bring our economy back on track. Thanks to tough decisions at the cost of our political asset, we are on the way to overcome these challenges soon.”

The incumbent coalition government has been making tough policy decisions in the past few months —such as fuel price hikes, increase in gas rates and rising living costs leading to all-time high inflation — to meet the conditions for a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund. (IMF).

Due to the resulting criticism, the government has been wary of the IMF-mandated tough decisions ahead of the general elections that are set to take place later this year.

During today’s address, Shehbaz noted, “We live in challenging times that are being shaped by an evolving regional and global environment. The interplay of geopolitical and geo-economic factors is having a profound effect on the world.”

He admitted that the “cost of living has added to people’s woes and adversely affected all walks of life”, adding that the people could not be left “at the mercy of disruption in the global markets”.

The prime minister said the country needed to “build resilience and protect our economy from global shocks”, which he said was possible by introducing structural economic reforms.

Shehbaz further said it was the reason why he has been a “strong proponent of a charter of economy”.

The premier also reiterated Pakistan’s stance on the issue of India-Occupied Kashmir.

Noting that Pakistan was a “peace-loving nation” that wished to maintain “friendly ties with all countries, especially our neighbours”, he warned that “our desire for peace must not be misunderstood as weakness”.

“There can be no peace in South Asia without a just and fair settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, in line with the UN resolution and the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,” he said.

“We condemn the human rights violations in India-Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and urge the world to take note of the illegal changes introduced by India post-August 2019,” he said.

Praising the PAF, Shehbaz said it had been a “principal instrument of our national power” and had “jealously guarded our air frontiers”.

Referring to Operation Swift Retort when the PAF shot down two Indian planes that had violated Pakistani airspace in 2019, the premier said, “The most recent example was our befitting response to the Indian aggression in February 2019.

“The world saw how our brave sons humiliated the Indian Air Force in a show of exceptional skill and expertise,” the prime minister remarked.

“No other nation has been tested by a combination of challenges — such as terrorism, extremism and militancy — the way we have.”

He termed the PAF’s performance in “neutralising threats to national security” as “simply outstanding”.