PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said on Saturday that the country stood isolated due to the flawed foreign policy.

Speaking at a press conference at Watan Kor here, he claimed that the country’s relations were strained with Saudi Arabia and China.

“There is a dire need to revisit the foreign policy,” he said.

Mr Sherpao said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project had been placed on the back burner. He said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf rulers were incompetent and did not have the vision to work for development of the country.

Commenting on recent statement of the foreign minister on the role of Saudi Arabia in the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), he said the remarks would strain relations with Riyadh.

About the ongoing peace talks in Afghanistan, the QWP chairman said that a holistic approach was needed to pave the way for restoration of peace in the war-torn country.

QWP chief says flawed foreign policy has isolated Pakistan in the world

He said that all the stakeholders should participate in the intra-Afghan peace talks to end the hostilities.

He reiterated stance of his party to lend all-out support to the Afghan peace process.

About the provincial government, he said it had made a compromise on the rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He criticised the federal government for making a cut on Rs500 million excise revenue and termed the move unconstitutional.

“As per the Provincial Consolidated Fund, the province is entitled to receive the money, but the KP government is silent on this issue,” he noted with concern.

He said the government did not fulfil the pledges with regard to the merged tribal districts, which was causing a sense of deprivation among the local population.

Mr Sherpao said power outages and rising inflation had made life miserable for the common people. He said the PTI lacked the ability to come up to the expectations of the people.

“This is a hybrid regime, which was helped by the powers that be to come to power in an effort to undermine other political forces.

“The country cannot progress unless democracy is allowed to flourish. All institutions should work within the ambit of the Constitution,” he maintained.

On this occasion, prominent political figures of Peshawar, including Waheed Kamran advocate, Kaleemullah, Arbab Niaz Ali Khan and others, announced to join QWP.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2020