LAHORE - US Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs William R Brownfield met Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif yesterday and assured him of American cooperation in training the provincial police.
According to a handout, the US assistant secretary appreciated the vision of CM to reform police. It quoted the US official as saying: “Under the leadership of Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif' unprecedented steps have been taken for improving the efficiency of Punjab Police.”
He said that he had visited more than 90 police headquarters in the world but the standard of work at headquarters of Punjab Police is the ‘highest’, the handout read.
It further quoted the US official as saying that improvement in the policing system with the help of information technology was highly laudable.
The handout cited the visiting dignitary as saying: “The headquarters of Punjab Police is of the standard of Los Angeles, Chicago and other such headquarters and the credit for making Punjab Police a modern force goes to CM Shehbaz and his team.”
William R Brownfield said the efficiency of Punjab Police was much better than that of other provinces of Pakistan and he was happy that Punjab Police had been given a new face with the help of information technology. He said under the leadership of Shehbaz, Punjab Police has become a police force providing best services. America will provide all out technical assistance for training of police on modern lines, he assured.
Speaking on the occasion, Shehbaz said a lot of work had been done to fight off terrorism, extremism and energy crisis. “Pakistani nation is determined to win the war on terrorism. The armed forces, police and common citizens have rendered sacrifices in this war. This fight will be won with the force of unity. Besides use of force, provision of education, health and job opportunities is essential for to fend off extremism. Pakistan will be made peaceful at all costs,” the CM said.
He said a number of projects are being completed expeditiously for overcoming energy crisis.
Shehbaz said that the first counter-terrorism force in the country has been formed by Punjab government while Dolphin Force is also working for combating crimes. He said Punjab government has evolved the biggest Safe City Project of South Asia, which will be extended to six other cities of Punjab.
The Chief Minister said that revolutionary reforms for the uplift of education, health and other social sectors have yielded positive results. He said transparency is the hallmark of Punjab government. He said that technical cooperation of America in the training of police will be welcomed. He said the Punjab government has provided all resources to police for coming up to the expectations of the people.
American Consul General Yuriy Fedkiw, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Special Assistant Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Inspector General Police, Secretary Home, Secretary Prosecution and concerned officials were also present on the occasion.
(The Nation)
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