Page 10 - Pakistan Government

Pak faces internet disruption as sea-cables damaged at several points

Less than 10 per cent of internet traffic originates from the east, and Pakistani users have complained about difficulty accessing the internet, especially at night

Business leaders urge Pak PM Shehbaz to initiate trade talks with India

Pakistan business leaders in an interactive session with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged him to initiate trade talks with India to promote business and commerce which would greatly benefit the economy of the cash-strapped country. Posing tough questions during an hour-long meeting at the Sindh CM House here in Pakistan's commercial capital on Wednesday, Karachi's business community appreciated the prime minister's determination to tackle economic issues but advised him to focus on bringing about political stability to turn around the economy. The Prime Minister sat down with the business community to find ways to uplift the economy through exports but his resolve was met with apprehensions from industry leaders who said it was almost impossible to do business under the current circumstances, particularly with high energy costs and inconsistent government policies, the Dawn newspaper reported. After the prime minister's brief speech, the house was opened for a question and answer

Imran Khan's party denies secret talks with Pak's powerful establishment

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said on Tuesday that the party has no interest in engaging in discussions with anyone, firmly denying any rumours of secret negotiations with the powerful establishment. Today, I asked the party's founding chairman Imran Khan if some institutions had contacted him for the talks. Imran Khan clearly said that no one had contacted him, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan told reporters outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. He said no one had even contacted him for dialogue, nor had he received any message for talks from anyone, Gohar Khan was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. Gohar Khan's clarification came days after it was reported in a section of the media that Imran Khan had revealed that some PTI leaders were still in contact with the establishment (the military). The same is the case with the other party leadership. Even if we receive any message from anyone for dialogues, we will inform the media, he said. G

Pakistan's benchmark share index trades at record high, breaches 72,000

The index has surged 75.5% over the past year and is up 11.5% year-to-date

US warns Pakistan of potential risk of sanctions for doing trade with Iran

Iran and Pakistan have inked eight memoranda of understanding for collaboration in a range of areas. PM Shehbaz and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi witnessed the MoU signing ceremony

Iran Prez Raisi, Pak army chief Munir discuss stability, border security

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir discussed regional peace, stability and border security, months after the two neighbours carried out tit-for-tat air strikes against alleged terrorist hideouts on rival lands. Gen Munir called on Raisi, the first head of state of any country to visit Pakistan after the February 8 general elections, and emphasised the need for improved coordination against the terrorists, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army said. General Munir described the Pakistan-Iran border as the border of peace and friendship, emphasising the need for improved coordination along the border to prevent terrorists from jeopardising the longstanding brotherly relations between the two neighbouring countries, it said. The statement said that the discussion between the two dignitaries focussed on matters of mutual interest, notably regional peace, stability, and border security. "Both sides concurre

Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif set to visit Saudi to advance investment talks

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to visit Saudi Arabia soon, his second trip this month to the friendly Gulf kingdom, to advance investment talks as his cash-strapped government has presented lucrative returns on Saudi investment. According to The Express Tribune, in addition to the enticing prospects of harvesting rich dividends on investment, Pakistan has assured priority in profits to Saudi investors without any hindrances. Sharif's government has presented returns ranging from an appealing 14 per cent to an astounding 50 per cent on Saudi investment, the report said. According to government sources involved in these discussions, the indicated returns on Saudi investment are expected to allow the Kingdom to recoup its invested capital within three to nine years, depending on the nature of the project. Pakistan aims to advance the Saudi Arabia investment initiative during the April 27-28 visit of Sharif, who will be accompanied by a team from the Special ...

Cash-strapped Pak makes formal request to IMF for another bailout

Pakistan has made a formal request to IMF for seeking the next bailout package in the range of USD 6 to USD 8 billion with the possibility of augmentation through climate financing, a media report said on Saturday. Cash-strapped Pakistan also requested to dispatch the International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission next month to firm up details of the next bailout package for three years under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). However, the exact size and timeframe of the new package will only be determined after evolving consensus on the major contours of the next programme in May 2024, Geo News reported from Washington. A high-level Pakistani delegation led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is currently visiting Washington to attend the annual spring meetings of the IMF/World Bank. Although Pakistani authorities are pitching a rosy picture of the economy, the IMF in its latest Regional Economic Outlook (REO) released by Middle East and Central Asia (ME and CA) said the ...

Even Pak politicians want PM Modi as their country's leader: MP CM Yadav

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that even politicians in Pakistan say they wish their country had a leader like him. He also alleged that India got divided due to the seeds sown by the Congress. Yadav was addressing gatherings on Friday evening during the campaigning in Hoshangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. He claimed that the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) also want to become part of India as there is a crisis of survival in the neighbouring country. "Pakistan's leaders, including (former PM) Nawaz Sharif, are continuously saying that they wish Narendra Modi was there (in Pakistan). If you are a leader, then you should be such that even your enemy praises you. This leader (Modi) is making us proud," Yadav said in one of his addresses. He slammed the Congress, saying that there was a "stigma on the forehead" of the party of dividing the country into Bharat and Pakistan. "There was no BJP or Jan

5 Japanese escape unhurt in suicide bombing attempt in Pakistan's Karachi

Five Japanese nationals had a lucky escape when their vehicle was targeted by militants in a suicide attack here in Pakistan's Sindh province on Friday, police said. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) East Azfar Mahesar said the terrorists on a motorbike attempted to hit the van of the Japanese nationals near Murtaza Chorangi in Landhi. All five Japanese remained safe. However, the private security guard with them was injured, he said. The Japanese nationals were on the way to the Export Processing Zone from their residence in Zamzama, Clifton, he said. Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) DIG Asif Aijaz Shaikh told Dawn News that the Japanese nationals were travelling in a van along with two security guards when two terrorists tried to hit the van. The security guards killed one terrorist while another blew himself up in an attempt to get close to the van, the official said. All five Japanese nationals are safe, DIG Shaikh said. No one has claimed responsibility so far, the DIG said,

Ready to support cash-strapped Pak to improve its economic situation: IMF

The International Monetary Fund is ready to support cash-strapped Pakistan in key reform to help the country improve and stabilise its economic situation. Currently, Pakistan has expressed interest in a new programme in order to help the country address some of the key challenges, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF told reporters here on the sidelines of the annual Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. The current programme that was initiated ten months ago allowed Pakistan to achieve a certain number of important milestones in terms of economic stability, he said. The last review was successful and will be put forward to the board, which will end a programme that helped Pakistan address acute economic imbalances and maintain its economic stabilities, the IMF official hoped. Those measures also allowed Pakistan to increase its buffers. Currently, the authorities have expressed interest in a new programme in order to help Pakista

Make tax reforms, remove exemptions on duties, sales tax: World Bank to Pak

The report reads, "Government should implement austerity measures and promote public-private partnership in government-owned companies"

Lightning, rains kill 49 in Pak, state of emergency declared in southwest

Lightning and heavy rains have killed at least 49 people across Pakistan in the past three days, officials said Monday, as authorities in the country's southwest declared a state of emergency. Some deaths occurred when lightning struck farmers harvesting wheat. Rains caused dozens of houses to collapse in the northwest and in eastern Punjab province. Arfan Kathia, a spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority, said 21 people had died in Punjab, where more rains were expected this week. Khursheed Anwar, a spokesman for the disaster management authority in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, said 21 people died there. Rain also lashed the capital, Islamabad, and killed seven people in southwestern Baluchistan province. Streets flooded in the northwestern city of Peshawar and in Quetta, the Baluchistan capital. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in televised remarks that he had ordered authorities to provide relief aid. Pakistan's water ...

Militants kill 11 in Pak's Balochistan province in latest terror attacks

At least 11 people, nine of them from Punjab province, were shot dead by militants in Pakistan's restive Balochistan in two separate incidents, authorities said on Saturday, as the region witnessed a surge in terror attacks in recent days. Nine of the deceased were travelling in a bus on the National Highway from Quetta to Taftan when they were stopped by unknown militants, who pulled them out of the bus and killed them later, an official said. The bodies of these nine men were later found with bullet wounds in the nearby mountainous areas near a bridge, he said. The bus was going from Quetta to Taftan when armed men stopped it and after identifying passengers took the nine men to the mountainous areas, he added. The victims were from Wazirabad, Mandi Bahauddin, and Gujranwala in Punjab province. In a separate incident, a car was fired upon on the same highway in which two passengers were killed and two others injured. Condemning the attacks, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought

Terrorists don't play by rules, so country's response can't have rules: EAM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that India was committed to respond to any act of terrorism perpetrated from across the borders, and asserted that since terrorists do not play by rules, there cannot be any rules in the country's answer to them. Attacking the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) dispensation over its response to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, he said that after a lot of deliberation at the government level, nothing fruitful came out at that time as it was felt that the cost of attacking Pakistan was more than not attacking it. Interacting with youth on Friday at an event titled 'Why Bharat Matters: Opportunity for youth and participation in global scenario' here, he asked that if a similar attack happens now and one does not react to it, how can the next such attacks be prevented. Jaishankar also said that the country's foreign policy has undergone a change since 2014 and it is the way terrorism is dealt with. When asked about countries with .

Pak has highest living cost in Asia with a 25% inflation rate: ADB

Pakistan has the highest living cost in all of Asia with a 25 per cent inflation rate and its economy may grow at the fourth lowest pace of 1.9 per cent in the region, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report. The report was released on Thursday in Manila. The Express Tribune reported that, the Asian Development Outlook also painted a gloomy picture for the next fiscal year as well, projecting 15 per cent inflation rate for the next fiscal year -- again the highest among 46 countries and a 2.8 per cent growth rate -- the fifth lowest for FY 2024-25. The Manila-based lending agency stated that the inflation rate in Pakistan is expected to be 25 per cent in the current fiscal year -- the highest in all of Asia. This makes Pakistan the most expensive nation in Asia. Earlier, the cost of living in Pakistan used to be the highest in South Asia. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and federal government had set the inflation target at 21 per cent for this fiscal year but they

UN experts condemn forced marriages, religious conversions in Pak

In Pakistan, the legal marriage age stands at 16 for girls and 18 for boys

Ex-Pak Prez Alvi advises Pakistanis to start from scratch to change destiny

The people of Pakistan must "reset, alt-del and restart" to change their destiny, former president Arif Alvi has said, asserting that the "poor but hardworking" nation, polarised by political differences, deserves better. Alvi, Pakistan's president from 2018 to March 2024, took to social media platform X on Thursday to criticise the cash-strapped country's current state of affairs. "The argument by some that it has happened before and others have also done the same is no justification to continue on this path, as it is retrogressive thinking with no way forward," the 74-year-old leader said. "To change our destiny is to Re-Think, Reset, Alt-Del, Clean the slate, Re-Start," he said. "Who will do it? Who can do it? Is it even possible? I think it is, as we have the potential, and this poor but hardworking nation certainly deserves better," the dentist-turned-politician said. Bashing the deterioration of Pakistan's economy, politics and judiciary, he said that there is severe stress

Pakistan set to repay $1 bn against Eurobond to reduce stock of debt

Pakistan is set to repay a foreign debt worth USD 1 billion against a 10-year Eurobond maturing in the middle of this month which will reduce the stock of the debt acquired through the selling of bonds in international markets to below USD 7 billion. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) told The Express Tribune that it was ready to repay the bond anytime and was waiting to receive instructions to do so from the finance ministry. The move will reduce the stock of the debt acquired through selling Eurobonds and Sukuks (bond-like instruments used in Islamic finance) in international markets to below USD 7 billion. This has enhanced the country's capacity to repay all the upcoming maturing foreign debt on time. Following the repayment of USD 1 billion in April, Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves will experience a decline. However, the anticipated International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche of USD 1.1 billion, likely to be received by the end of April, is expected to restore the reserves ba

Did not denotify Gen Bajwa during his role as Army chief, says Imran Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan on Saturday said that he did not de-notify former Army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa despite his actions during the removal of PTI government in 2022 felt like a betrayal', according to a media report. Khan, 71, who was ousted from power in April 2022 via the opposition's no-confidence motion, had blamed Gen Bajwa for playing a vital role against his government. Speaking to journalists in an informal conversation during the hearing of the Toshakhana reference in Adiala Jail, Khan said: "Although General Bajwa's actions felt like a betrayal, we [the then PTI government] refrained from convening a committee to confront him. During the conversation, Khan once again called for negotiations for the betterment of the country. It's for the betterment of Pakistan, so convince me for negotiations. If I could meet Gen Qamar Bajwa twice following the removal of our government, then I could meet anyone. Right now, it is not about me, but is abou