Sit-ins destructive for Pakistan, Sharif tells Imran, other politicians

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has told political leaders of various parties, including Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that constant and repeated sit-ins will be destructive for Pakistan, and urged politicians not to create hurdles in the nation's progress.

"Rise above mutual differences and work in the interest of Pakistan," the Daily Times quoted Sharif, as saying after inaugurating the Chashma-III nuclear power plant.

He said an uninterrupted supply of electricity was a lifeline for the continuity of industrial activity in the country, which suffered a severe setback due to the power crisis. He also criticised the previous governments for pushing the country into darkness, and said those responsible must be questioned over their grave negligence.

"They must be questioned about bringing in an era of darkness in Pakistan and giving the nation a curse of 18-hour electricity load shedding a day," he was quoted, as saying.

Sharif said Pakistan is emerging out of its troubled times with the completion of development projects, improved economy and better situation of law and order.

He said that since everything was going in the right direction, all the political sit-ins and agitation were simply useless.

He said ending load shedding was his government's top priority and termed the completion of the Chashma-III nuclear power plant as another milestone achieved towards zero-load shedding. He said that Chashma-III project was a reflection of solid foundation of friendship between Pakistan and China.