Pak's Punjab govt will not accept foreign aid: Shahbaz Sharif

From M Zulqernain
Lahore, May 16 (PTI) Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister
Shahbaz Sharif Monday announced that his government will no
longer accept foreign aid, an apparent reaction to the US raid
against Osama bin Laden which Islamabad has described as a
violation of the country's sovereignty.
The decision was made to make Punjab province
self-reliant, Sharif told reporters after a meeting of his
cabinet.
Sharif, the younger brother of former premier and
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, said his government wanted to "break
the begging bowl and focus on trade".
"We should not bank on foreign aid as it is depriving
us of our honour," he said in the wake of the US operation in
Abbottabad that killed bin Laden on May 2.
He said the military operation in Abbottabad was
spearheaded by a country that boasts of being a superpower and
the extreme act had damaged Pakistan's sovereignty.
US drone attacks have taken the lives of innocent
people instead of eliminating terrorists, and they too are
against the country's sovereignty, he said.
"We will not receive foreign aid. The rich will have
to make sacrifices to rid the country of slavery of other
countries...If we have to live an honourable life, we will
have to get rid of foreign aid," Sharif said.
Nawaz Sharif had targeted the Pakistan People's
Party-led federal government since the US raid and demanded
that the country should review its relations with the US.
The Chief Minister's decision comes at a time when
Punjab, the country's most populous province, is grappling
with an overdraft of Rs 100 billion.