Pakistan values its longstanding relationship with US: PM.

ISLAMABAD    -    Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir called on Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif separately at the PM office on Thurs­day and discussed pro­fessional matters relat­ed to the armed forces of Pakistan.

Official sources told The Nation that during the meeting, General Sa­hir Shamshad Mirza held a one-on-one meeting with the prime minis­ter and discussed mat­ters related to the armed forces of Pakistan. PM Shehbaz Sharif assured full support to the pro­fessional needs of the three armed forces.

Later, General Asim Munir also called on prime minister and discussed matters re­lated to the Pakistan army and the security situation in the context of the fresh wave of ter­rorism in the country.

The army chief briefed the PM on the security situation at eastern and western borders. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if Thursday directed the Power Division to hold a departmental action after the findings of an inquiry report held responsible the ‘human and techni­cal error’ for the country­wide power breakdown of January 23.

The prime minister gave the order as the in­quiry report of the mas­sive power breakdown was presented in the cabinet meeting. Chair­ing the meeting, PM Sharif said the nation was awaiting strict ac­tion against those re­sponsible for the inci­dent that left the country in a power blackout for several hours. The inquiry report also said that an abnormal increase in the frequency of the alternate current line tripped the auto­matic security system of power plants. It also said that the Kot Addu power plant had the facil­ity of ‘black start’, however due to expiry of the contract of the plant, it could not be made op­erational. Black Start is the pro­cedure to recover from a to­tal or partial shutdown of the transmission system which has caused an extensive loss of sup­plies. The prime minister or­dered the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to line the power system with Supervi­sory Control and Data Acquisi­tion (SCADA).

The federal cabinet was pro­posed that a special police force be deployed in areas with 60 percent and more line losses. The prime minister directed to constitute a special cabinet committee to finalize a strat­egy to end line losses, theft of electricity and solarization of tube wells. Also, Prime Minis­ter Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday underscored that Pakistan valued its longstand­ing relationship with the Unit­ed States and wanted to further deepen bilateral relations. 

The prime minister was talking to a four-member U.S. California State Assembly dele­gation led by Chris Holden that called on him. Other members of the delegation included As­sembly members Eloise Reyes, Mike Gipson and Windy Carillo, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release. 

The prime minister said Paki­stan and the US celebrated the 75th anniversary of their diplo­matic relations last year. 

In that backdrop, he said the signing of the ‘Sister-State Res­olution’ between California and Punjab on January 9 this year was a welcome development. 

Punjab and California could work together in areas of mu­tual interest, including trade, investment, agriculture, IT, ed­ucation, and cultural exchang­es, he added. 

The prime minister appreciat­ed the positive role being played by the Pakistani-American di­aspora in further strengthening people-to-people linkages. 

Chris Holden thanked the prime minister for the hospital­ity extended to the delegation during their visit and under­scored the need to further ex­pand Pak-US relations