Minister: Terrorism incidents have reduced

Iqbal says successive policies of government helped tackle militancy and extremism

Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal yesterday said Pakistan had overcome a long and dark decade of terrorist victimisation and instead of letting detractors define its identity, the country has turned around the picture from being a “victim to victor of terrorism”.

“Pakistan has showed strength and perseverance of its people through political leadership who stood united in dealing with the menace of extremism and terrorism and that Pakistan will no longer be treated as the victim of terrorism but rather a country that has established its credentials as a victor against the menace,” he said while inaugurating the three-day Islamabad International Counter Terrorism Forum (IICTF).

National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) is organising the forum to provide opportunity to portray the country’s image as a nation of courage, perseverance and resilience.

Iqbal said successive policies of the government helped tackle militancy and extremism in the country through robust measures.

“We are determined to eliminate extremism from the society in all its manifestation through adoption of appropriate counter-extremism strategies and narratives,” he said.

Iqbal said, “the road to peace and stability has been very rough and full of challenges, but I can say with pride that our efforts have borne fruits. The incidents of terrorism have fallen sharply since 2013 when the present government came to power. Our resolve to fight forces of extremism and terrorism is unmatched and will continue unabated.”

Emerging economy

The minister said the political leadership supported Nacta in all its endeavours to make Pakistan a country free from extremism and violence.

He said the government had managed to reshape the course of national economy as per the promise made in 2013, which was evident from the fact that the international rating agencies were now acknowledging Pakistan as one of the top few emerging economies of the world, earlier having described it as a sinking economy.

The minister said the country also witnessed tremendous progress in the energy sector. He said the menace of extremism had almost been eliminated, and the economy witnessed rapid growth while the energy crisis also had been overcome.

He also said the world should focus on the Kashmir issue and play their role in resolve the long-standing issue.