Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday blamed the current political atmosphere in the country for the economic crisis engulfing the nation for months.
"The challenges are topped by a combination of economic instability and the inability to settle the rules of the game. An environment of political chaos explains why we have failed to develop our economy on a sustainable basis," Sharif said in his address to the nation on the occasion of Pakistan Day.
The Pakistan premier urged the citizens to "forge unity" and keep the nation above everything else to achieve "true glory" for the country.
"Let us use this day to introspect and hold ourselves to account. Only those nations that are capable of analyzing their past, learning from their mistakes, and making amends can achieve true glory," Sharif added.
Pakistan Day Celebrations
Every year on March 23, the Pakistan Day is held to commemorate the passing of the Lahore Resolution in 1940.
Through this resolution, sub-continental Muslims set in motion the demand for a separate homeland, which eventually resulted in the partition of India, with India and Pakistan as two separate nations.
This year, the Pakistan Day celebrations commenced in Islamabad with a 31-gun salute followed by a 21-gun salute across all other provincial capitals, including Peshawar, Lahore, and Karachi.
Subsequently, Sindh Province's Governor Kamran Tessori and Provincial Chief Murad Ali Shah paid their respects to the father of the nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, at his mausoleum in the port city of Karachi.