India borrowed our economic plans: Pakistan Minister
Islamabad, May 22: India borrowed Pakistan's economic and reforms plans and implemented them successfully while "we squandered the opportunity largely because of political instability", Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said.
"During the 90s the then Indian Finance Minister Manmohan Singh borrowed economic reforms strategies from his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz and successfully implemented them in India," said Iqbal, who also holds the portfolio of Interior Minister.
He was speaking at the inauguration of Pakistan National Centre for Cyber Security in Islamabad, the Express Tribune reported on Tuesday.
Iqbal claimed that Bangladesh also successfully used the same strategies but Pakistan could not put its own plans to use as the decade was lost to political instability, the report said.
"We will have to think why many countries which were behind us are now far ahead. China's per capita income was far below Pakistan's but is now much higher. Similarly, Bangladesh's foreign reserves have reached $33 billion while we are at $18 billion. For how long, we will watch other countries overtake us."
Iqbal said tanks and missiles alone could not save a country "if it's not strong economically".
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Air India Express increases flight operations from NE destinations
Guwahati (PTI): Low-cost airline Air India Express has announced an increase in flight operations from three major destinations in the northeast – Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal – as part of its winter schedule.
This is part of the airlines’ expansion of winter services across the country, it said in a statement here.
Air India Express has increased its operations to 106 weekly flights from 63 last winter, from Guwahati.
It provides direct connectivity to eight domestic destinations of Agartala, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur and Kolkata. The airline also provides one-stop connectivity to 18 domestic destinations and six international destinations from Guwahati.
In Imphal, the airline hiked its weekly flights to 34 this season, an addition of 20 over last winter, the statement said.
Since adding Agartala as a station in September 2024, the airline has increased its flights from 14 to 21 weekly, and connects two destinations – Guwahati and Kolkata – directly.
It also offers one-stop connectivity from Agartala to 11 domestic destinations.
“The expansion not only facilitates easier travel for those wishing to explore North East, but also strengthens Guwahati’s role as a vital link with the rest of the country,” Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Ankur Garg said.
“With our fleet now exceeding 90 aircraft and rapidly growing, we are well-positioned to support the evolving needs of emerging Indian cities,” he added.
