New Delhi: Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and underscored the importance of resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue process and peaceful resolution of all issues.
Shahbaz also delivered a message of goodwill from his elder brother and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while emphasising “Pakistan’s desire to forge friendly and cooperative relations with India, in the interest of peace and prosperity of the people of the two countries and of the region,” a Pakistan High Commission release said here.
Shahbaz Sharif is the No.2 in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and the meeting assumes significance given the disappointment expressed by Singh over the progress on agreed outcome of the meeting between Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistani counterpart in New York in September.
Shahbaz was accompanied by Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, Minister of State for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan and Provincial Minister for Education Rana Mashood Khan and High Commissioner Salman Bashir during the meeting which was “cordial, constructive and forward looking”, the High Commission said.
The Chief Minister also underscored the importance of resumption of dialogue and peaceful resolution of all issues, it added.
Tewari urges Pak to remove Indian films from ‘Negative List’
With a Pakistani court ordering to stop screening of foreign films and TV shows especially Indian content on country’s channels, Union Minister Manish Tewari on Thursday demanded that Pakistan remove them from ‘Negative List’ for trade at the earliest.
The Minister for Information and Broadcasting tweeted, “Pakistan jingoists should know films & TV serials are ideas & ideas can’t be barred/ banned. Pak government must remove them from ‘Negative List’ ASAP (as soon as possible).”
While staying the beaming of foreign content, Lahore High Court Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan on Tuesday ruled that Indian films and television serials be included in ‘Negative List’ under the current bilateral trade regime.
“The Indian films and other materials are included in the ‘Negative List’ which cannot be changed by issuing a Statutory Regulatory Order,” the judge had remarked.
The ‘Negative List’ contains items that cannot be traded between India and Pakistan. (PTI)
