Islamabad July 4 (TNS): Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has reportedly directed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan not to go after international cricket teams showing hesitation and reluctance to play in Pakistan.
The prime minister issued the directives while interacting to the PCB chief at an event held here in honour of the ICC Champions Trophy winner Pakistan cricket team.
The premier made it clear that whichever team wants to visit Pakistan should be welcomed and the reluctant and unwilling teams should not be sought after.
Speaking at the event, the premier said that facilities will be made available to players of different sports.
In a light mood, the prime minister told the cricketers that they were heroes and actual prime ministers while he was a “titular prime minister”.
The prime minister asked the chief ministers to facilitate sports in their respective provinces to promote sports.
The premier also lauded the spirit of the cricket team and its management. The premier also mentioned that he felt much pain when he along with his colleagues were barred from playing cricket on a ground in Lahore in his childhood. “The pain was much painful than the pain of Panama Papers case,” the prime minister said in a lighter mood to a rapturous audience.
He also mentioned that Pakistan was defaulting in 2013 and before coming to power, power cuts, load-shedding and terrorism were rampant in the country and there was a chaos in the country.
“The country is marching. The economy has taken off. Load-shedding is soon going to end. Terrorism is being rooted out and the security environment is fast improving,” the premier said adding that domestic tourists have flooded the Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which a new phenomenon for a country that was facing a host of issues a few years back.
The prime minister also said that motorways, roads, new infrastructure and industries being set up in the country. “We need 30 years stability to take the country forward. A five percent GDP growth has been achieved and the 6 percent will be achieved next year,” he said.
