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KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto has expressed concerned over the worsening situation in Afghanistan, saying that Pakistan would face ‘a loss’ from the situation and there will be a severe blowback.
“If anywhere the blowback and reaction will be felt and seen, it will be in Karachi which is home to one of the largest populations of Pakhtuns,” he said while addressing a press conference after a meeting at the Chief Minister House in Karachi.
The PPP chairman asserted that Pakistan would have to face tests in the coming days and the PPP was the only political party that could handle them.
“We are doing our preparation and making our policies on how to do the kind of development and ready the kind of system in Sindh and our capital Karachi to deal with the coming influx and blowback,” he added.
“God forbid we will have to see the time of extremism and terrorism again which we had gotten out of. So we will only be able to confront it when the PPP has a stake, has a government and representation,” he claimed.
Bilawal’s statement came the same day as Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah chaired the 26th meeting of the apex committee where the Afghan situation and its potential fallout were discussed.
CM Shah ordered law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in the meeting to tighten security across the province and enhance their coordinated intelligence to deal with any fallout.
Additional Inspector General-Special Branch Ghulam Nabi Memon too informed the meeting that clashes between the Afghan government and Taliban could bring illegal immigrants to Sindh, particularly Karachi.
‘General elections’
Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto also claimed that general elections in the country “can take place at any time” and asked his party members to be prepared for such a situation.
The PPP chairman said the Sindh government had competed against MQM-P and the federal government in recent years. “Only PPP can save Karachi,” Bilawal said, adding that the party aims to resolve Karachi’s issues, including water shortages.
He further said Sindh had been subjected to injustice in terms of water supply, as the federal government had “not increased the supply by even a single percent” to date. “We have to put an end to water theft in Karachi,” he added.
Slamming Prime Minister Imran Khan for not living up to his promises, he said the premier had neither introduced new projects for the city, nor resolve the metropolis’ water issues.
“We will ensure there is no water theft in Karachi for resolving Karachi’s issues, there needs to be a political and administrative balance,” he said.
