M-2 Motorway Anniversary Recalls Start of Pakistan’s Modern Highway Era

Islamabad: Today marks an important milestone in Pakistan’s history. On this day in 1997, the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway (M-2) was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, who today heads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as its Quaid. This landmark project was Pakistan’s first-ever motorway and a symbol of the country’s entry into a new era of modern infrastructure.

According to Radio Pakistan, this 339-kilometre-long Islamabad-Lahore Motorway helped the people of Pakistan understand the transformative role that modern highways could play in economic growth, connectivity, and national progress. It laid the foundation for an expanding motorway network that continues to benefit millions today.

During the inaugural speech, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had said, ‘Highways are not merely lines of tar; they are lines of good fortune for the welfare and advancement of a nation and its civilization. The Pakistan Motorway linking Lahore with Islamabad will, God willing, prove to be such a line of prosperity for us.’

On the day of inauguration, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif also travelled in a large convoy from Islamabad to Lahore on the newly completed motorway, marking the beginning of a new chapter in Pakistan’s transportation history.