Says we have deep respect for the people of Cuba & our deep affectionate relations with Cuba

DNA

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has clarified his remarks about Cuba saying his remarks were only in the context of foreign policy.

In his Tweet Ahsan Iqbal while replying to Cuban ambassador’s Tweet said, ‘Excellency! We have deep respect for the people of Cuba & our deep affectionate relations with Cuba. We can’t forget how Cuban doctors played heroic role in after math of 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. My remarks were only in the context of foreign policy’.

Earlier the Cuban Ambassador in Pakistan Zener Caro has given his reaction in his Tweet in which he said, “Fortunately, Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s disrespectful mention of Cuba in his press conference in Lahore does not represent and has nothing to do with Pakistanis’ true respect and deep affection for Cuba’.

At a media talk Iqbal had said that Pakistan wanted to become a strong country for which it needed a strong economy and positioning with the global economy.

He said he did not want Pakistan to turn into Cuba or North Korea. “We have to set Pakistan on the path of [development, like] Malaysia, Turkey, China and South Korea,” the minister had added.