ISLAMABAD    -    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said that Imran Niazi could go to any extreme to dis­tract attention from his culpabil­ity in the tragic events of May 9.

“Make no mistake about the evil intent behind Imran Niazi’s latest ploy to defame our law en­forcement agencies and police. Yet again, he is making mislead­ing and baseless allegations of the “rights abuses” just to dis­tract attention for his culpability in the tragic events of May 9,” the prime minister said in a tweet.

“I am not surprised by his an­tics,” Prime Minister Shehbaz said.

He said that someone who could persistently use foul lan­guage against the state institu­tions, incite people to violence and attack the state symbols and military installations, and bring down martyrs’ monuments, was capable of going to any extreme.

The prime minister said that Imran Niazi presided over a dis­information apparatus that de­ployed fake news methodically to fool the people. “Everything about him is hate, division and lie,” he remarked.

Also, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said Pakistan considered Japan as an import­ant partner for its progress and prosperity and Japanese compa­nies should avail the immense opportunities for investment in Pakistan.

The PM was speaking to Pres­ident Toyota Asia Yoshiki Koni­shi and Chief Executive Officer of Indus Motors Ali Asghar Jamali who called on him here.

Japan's Ambassador to Paki­stan Mitsuhiro Wada, Vice Chair­man Toyota Indus Motors Shin­ji Yanagi, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Indus­tries and Production Makhdoom Murtaza Mehmood, Advisor to PM Ahad Cheema, Special Assis­tants to PM Jahanzeb Khan and Tariq Bajwa and high ranking of­ficials attended the meeting.

In a briefing, the prime min­ister was told that Toyota Indus Motors for the first time estab­lished a unit for the production of hybrid vehicles in Pakistan with an investment of $100 million.

PM Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the project of Toyota to produce hybrid vehicles in Pakistan.

The production of hybrid vehi­cles in Pakistan would decrease the import bill resulting in sav­ing of precious foreign exchange, he said adding the government was providing all available facil­ities to the industries for invest­ment in modern technologies in the country.

The Japanese ambassador said leading Japanese companies were desirous of fur­ther investment in Pakistan. During the briefing, it was told that in the current year from July, Toyota Indus Motors would start export of spare parts of vehicles and these exports would make Pakistan a part of the global supply chain.

The prime minister said exports of spare parts should be enhanced by taking bene­fit of the capacity of the engineering sec­tor in the country. He said it should be en­sured that the spare parts for the vehicles to be sold in Pakistan should be manufac­tured locally. 

The participants of the meeting lauded the prime minister for his government’s business-friendly policies.

‘ILLEGAL SALE OF TOBACCO’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has di­rected the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue to ensure complete elimina­tion of the illegal sale of tobacco.

Talking to a delegation of Pakistan To­bacco Company in Islamabad on Thurs­day, he advised that installation of a track and trace system should be ensured in all tobacco factories by the 15th of the next month. The Prime Minister also gave di­rections to curb the smuggling of ciga­rettes and said that nobody will be al­lowed to inflict any harm on the national exchequer. He said stern action should be taken against elements involved in smug­gling and the sale of tax-evaded cigarettes.

‘ERDOGAN’S INAUGURATION CEREMONY’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will at­tend the inauguration ceremony of Turk­ish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on June 3, the Foreign Office said Thursday.

The prime minister is paying the visit at the invitation of President Erdogan, who was re-elected to his office on May 28. “The prime minister’s visit will be a reaf­firmation of the deep-rooted fraternal ties between Pakistan and Türkiye,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Ba­loch at her weekly press briefing.

The FO spokesperson said the prime minister would convey warm felicitations on behalf of the government and the peo­ple of Pakistan to President Erdogan.

The prime minister would also extend an invitation to President Erdogan to at­tend the 7th Meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) in Islamabad, she said.

PM SUMMONS NSC MEETING TODAY

Following the political situation in the country, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Se­curity Committee (NSC) here today.

The meeting, to be chaired by the prime minister, will be attended by Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Commit­tee (CJCSC) Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, heads of the air force and the navy, and federal ministers for defense, finance, and information. According to the PM media office, the meeting will be briefed on the violent incidents across the coun­try, resulting damages done to the pri­vate and public properties especially the Pakistan Army installations.

The meeting is expected to take im­portant decisions regarding national se­curity. The meeting comes on the heels of former prime minister Imran Khan’s dramatic arrest from the premises of the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Qa­dir Trust graft case.