Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that violence is likely to escalate in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops, reported 24News HD TV channel on Sunday. 

Addressing a press conference in Multan, the foreign minister said that Pakistan did not want a further influx of refugees from Afghanistan. He said that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) members would have to decide if it is a technical forum or a political one. “If FATF is a technical forum, then Pakistan should be on its white list,” he said, adding that India, along with some other powers, had tried to politicise the forum. He said that Pakistan had been told that if all the 27 points of FATF were met, it would be moved to the white list, adding that Pakistan had successfully implemented 26 points, so it would be removed from the grey list soon.

The minister said that the PTI-led government had come up with a separate budget for South Punjab for the first time in the country’s history. He said that work on the city's master plan was underway, while a separate budget of Rs186 billion had been allocated for South Punjab as per the government’s promise. 

“The government will ensure that every penny earmarked for South Punjab in the budget will be spent to develop the region.  It is the agenda of the PTI government to develop every city and town of South Punjab,” Qureshi said and added that that the demand for turning South Punjab into a province was above all prejudices. 

The minister said that since the production of cotton had declined in Multan, the government had decided to make the Cotton Research Institute functional again under the programmes of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He further said the Chairman of the CPEC Authority Asim Saleem Bajwa would visit Multan for the purpose next week.