ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has said all the institutions, including the parliament, executive, judiciary, armed forces and media are on the same page for socio-economic justice, corruption elimination and to remove all impediments in the way of national development.

Addressing joint sitting of the Parliament on Thursday at the start of new parliamentary year, he said Pakistan has actually reached the tipping point to move forward on the path of development. He said today Pakistan is seeing a bright future like never before. He urged the youth to pursue their religious, cultural, and social values to serve the nation.

The President was appreciative of the FATF related bills recently passed by the Parliament, saying that the House should continue to perform its functions of legislation in the best interest of the nation.

In his all-encompassing speech, Dr Arif Alvi said despite pressure of imposing complete lockdown, the government opted for smart lockdown policy, which helped protect lives and livelihoods. This visionary and farsighted approach deserves to be appreciated. He said our policy to check Coronavirus has also been acknowledged by the world community, including Japan and Philippines. He said under the Ehsaas Programme, cash assistance of 12,000 rupees each was provided to 16.9 million families.

He said our health facilities prepared to cope with the COVID-19 challenge were more than the requirements. He, however, said we still have to build the capacity to meet the challenges of Tuberculosis and Hepatitis.

Referring to the economic situation, the President expressed satisfaction that despite Coronavirus, the economy is on the positive trajectory. He pointed out that several financial institutions have also recognized the positive economic outlook of Pakistan. Enumerating the achievements on the economic front, the President said the Current Account Deficit has been reduced to three billion dollars from 20 billion dollars, while foreign exchange reserves surged to 12.5 billion dollars.

He said the government's incentives to the industry have contributed to bring improvement in exports. He said the exports for the month of July have crossed the threshold of 1.9 billion dollars, which is a 5.8 percent increase when compared with the correspondent period last year. Remittances have soared to 23 billion dollars from 20 billion dollars. The month of July witnessed 36.5 percent increase in the remittances.

Dr Arif Alvi said the agriculture sector witnessed positive growth during the last fiscal year. He said the government gave a mega package of 280 billion rupees to this sector, under which the electricity to farmers for tube wells will be provided on subsidized rates.

The President said the government announced a historic package for the construction sector, which will provide job opportunities to the youth. ML-1 project will prove to be a game changer, while work on CPEC is going ahead. He said that issues of smuggling and circular debt need to be checked.

He said the Ulema should play their role to check population growth and ensure inheritance rights of women as per Islamic injunctions. He said economic empowerment of women is important to take forward the country.

The President said the nation successfully tackled the challenges of terrorism and extremism as well as open heartedly hosted millions of Afghan refugees.

He said the government is making efforts to bring a uniform syllabus, which will go a long way in promoting harmony and cohesion in the society as well as nation building. He said the present government has given a record fifty thousand scholarships to students in one year.

The President also welcomed the recent understanding reached between federal and provincial governments to address the problems of Karachi.

Turning to the foreign policy of the present government, the President said that the Prime Minister deserves appreciation for forcefully raising the Kashmir issue at world forums, including United Nations General Assembly. He said it is the success of our foreign policy that the UN Security Council held discussion on the outstanding Kashmir dispute thrice in a year.

He said the entire country is united on Kashmir issue and we will always stand by the oppressed Kashmiri people. He said Pakistan totally rejects Indian unilateral and illegal actions of 5th August last year. He said these Indian actions are in complete violation of international laws, UNSC resolutions, human rights charter and Simla Accord.

He said this Hindutva fascist mindset will not succeed and Kashmiris will soon get independence from the Indian clutches. He said we are thankful to Turkey, Malaysia, Azerbaijan and Iran for supporting Pakistan's stance on Kashmir dispute. He also regretted over the treatment being meted out to minorities in India.

The President also appreciated Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking a categorical stance that Pakistan will not recognize Israel till Palestinian people get their rights.

Regarding relations with Saudi Arabia, the President emphatically stated that these ties were strong and will remain so in future as well.

Dr Arif Alvi said Pakistan will be main beneficiary of peace in Afghanistan. Therefore, we support the intra-Afghan dialogue for durable peace there.