‘Sindh competes with world, not provinces’ | The Express Tribune

KARACHI:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that Sindh is not competing with any city or province in Pakistan but with the developed nations of the world, asserting that the province’s progress represents a collective national success.

Speaking at a ceremony at the Arts Council in Karachi to launch a book authored by Senator Raza Rabbani, Bilawal said that authors and thinkers live on in history, recalling that former prime minister Shaheed Benazir Bhutto also wrote several books.

“I urge senior party leaders to write as well. Those who write books are remembered forever,” the PPP chairman told the gathering, adding that the PPP too had played its part in writing Pakistan’s constitutional history.

Bilawal expressed pleasure at the presence of Syed Qaim Ali Shah, saying that the veteran party leader had established the Khairpur Special Economic Zone during his tenure as chief minister – a project later recognised by the Financial Times as one of the best economic zones. He said the PPP was the first to introduce the concept of public-private partnership, which Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had included in the party’s 1993 manifesto. “A few years ago, an international magazine ranked the world’s best public-private partnerships – and Sindh’s model stood among them,” he said.

Bilawal said Sindh’s success represented Pakistan’s success. “Sindh is not competing with any city or province but with the world’s most advanced nations. This is Pakistan’s collective achievement. Wherever good work is being done and Pakistan’s name shines, we should take pride in it,” he added.

He said the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had earned international recognition. “When I was foreign minister and visited different countries, leaders told me they were replicating our programme. It is one of the best models to care for the poorest segments of society,” he said.

He said no other country had such an efficient system to help citizens during crises. “The world was astonished at Pakistan’s ability to deliver aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though Imran Khan was prime minister then and renamed it the Ehsaas Programme, he too used it to distribute assistance,’ Bilawal said.

Recalling his time as foreign minister during the 2022 floods, Bilawal said that Sindh and Balochistan were submerged while southern Punjab was also affected. “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif immediately used the BISP to provide financial help to affected families,’ he said.

“The BISP also became the mechanism for delivering help during Covid-19 and the floods,” he said, adding that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had visited Pakistan and praised the Sindh government’s performance.

He said Pakistan was suffering losses from climate change despite having no part in causing the crisis. ‘We all have to face this challenge together,’ he added. He pointed out that Karachi’s National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) provided free treatment, including cancer care, and was recognised internationally.

Congratulating Rabbani on his book, Bilawal said the senator had dedicated it to the children of Gaza. “Pakistan and every Muslim stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Gaza,” he said. “The world has witnessed genocide there – not only of children but also of journalists, doctors and nurses. For two years, we have seen the massacre of Palestinians.”