Chairman Senate Committee on Defence Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed on Monday urged the government to initiate a normal traffic at Thar region’s Khokhrapar and in Munabao areas adjoining to Rajasthan province of India.
Addressing the house at point of order to highlight issues of public interest, Mushahid briefed the House on the recent Senate’s delegation visit to Sindh, particularly CPEC projects in Thar, Port Qasim, and others.
Senator Mushahid Hussain said Thar was a success story of the country, where non-Muslim Pakistanis were in majority, namely Hindus, and the area was linked to India along Rajasthan through Munabao and Khokhrapar areas.
“The world has changed and Thar is leading from the front. The women of Thar are riding dumper trucks under CPEC projects. They are brave, strong and blunt. There are some 1,000 dumper trucks operating in the area out of which 100 are ridden by women,” he added.
Senator Mushahid said the state “held a dialogue with terrorists” and it should also consider “improving its ties with the eastern neighbouring country”.
Pakistan in danger from internal, not external threats
He said under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, Thar was producing 5,000 MW of power; generating 12,000 new jobs; and was home to 12.8 billion tonnes of coal double the size of the oil reserves of Iran and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“I am going to address the Pakistan Navy multilateral exercise AMAN 2023 where I will underscore the importance of the hidden natural resources and blue economy potential juxtaposed together,” the senator said.
He said the country had availed of more than 23 International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes but remained unsuccessful.
“The natural wealth worth $1.3 trillion is buried in Thar and other parts. If it is used prudently then we can say farewell to IMF forever,” he added.
Senator Mushahid also extended his gratitude to the government of China for supporting Pakistan in developing CPEC projects.