ISLAMABAD: On the order’s of Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, his office has issued a letter to initiate a formal inquiry against the country’s embassy in Riyadh, suspended outgoing Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Raja Ali Ejaz, and recalled several members of staff following complaints by expat Pakistani laborers working in the kingdom who said their embassy had mistreated them.
A letter in this regard from the prime minister’s office was seen by Arab News, and its authenticity confirmed by a source in the PM’s office and two of Khan’s close aides.
Ambassador Raja Ali Ejaz was ordered home pending an investigation into his work and that of six other employees of the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh. Complaints against them had come from multiple expat laborers over recent months, Syed Zulfikar Bukhari, an adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, told media.
“The former Ambassador to KSA, Raja Ali Ijaz has been suspended, while all staff, who dealt with the public at the Pakistani embassy and consulates in KSA to be recalled and the process for their replacement initiated immediately by the concerned ministries,” the letter said, adding that the PM had set up a ‘Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission’ to inquire into the matter and submit its report within 15 days.
The committee has been tasked to look into “inefficiency” in the provision of services to overseas Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, “extorting and fleecing” of expatriate workers and overseas Pakistanis and a failure to resolve problems of the Pakistani community.
Raoof Hassan, special assistant to the PM for information and broadcasting, said the letter echoed what the prime minister had said in a speech on Thursday afternoon.
“Prime minister has initiated an inquiry yesterday and this has been initiated due to lack of services delivery to overseas Pakistanis,” Hassan said. “PM is determined to clean the system and ensure smooth provision of services to all Pakistanis including expatriates.”
During the current fiscal year, Saudi Arabia remained the single largest contributor to workers’ remittances by sending in $690.4 million in March. The overall inflow from the kingdom during the fiscal year amounted to $5.7 billion followed by the UAE with $4.5 billion. There are over two million Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia.
“I say this with sorrow that our embassy, the way they should appreciate these hardworking people, who put their sweat and blood into their work, and I know that these poor people sometimes work 12 hours a day, do extra shifts, save money to send to their families,” the prime minister said while addressing an event in Islamabad. “I found out that in Saudi Arabia, our embassy, did not give them the service, the way they should have taken care of our labor in Saudi, they did not do that.”
He added:
“Yesterday I set up a full-scale enquiry on this. I am opening an enquiry into the ambassador. I am recalling a lot of staff back to Pakistan. And when the enquiry’s results come, whoever is responsible, whoever mistreated our labor … I will take action against all of them.”
Khan praised Pakistanis abroad for always supporting Pakistan’s economy.
“Overseas Pakistanis have, over the years, kept our economy afloat,” he said, adding that he had been in touch with overseas Pakistanis for the past 50 years, since his cricketing days.
In a message to Pakistani embassies around the world, Khan said their “most important duty” was to look after the affairs of Pakistani laborers.
Pakistani PM establishes commission to look into expats’ complaints against Riyadh embassy
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Pakistani PM establishes commission to look into expats’ complaints against Riyadh embassy
- Ambassador Raja Ali Ejaz ordered home pending investigation into his work and that of six employees of Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh
- Complaints against them had come from multiple expat laborers in recent months, workers alleged embassy staffers had mistreated them
Two-day Pakistan-Saudi Arabia investment conference begins in Islamabad today
- The development comes amid the visit of a high-level Saudi business delegation to Pakistan
- The conference is expected to foster growth and prosperity for the people of both countries
ISLAMABAD: A two-day Pakistan-Saudi Arabia investment conference is set to begin in Islamabad today, Monday, to promote trade and investment between the two countries, Pakistani state media reported.
It comes a day after a 50-member Saudi delegation, led by Assistant Minister of Investment Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, arrived in Pakistan to explore investment opportunities.
The investment conference is expected to foster a new era of growth and prosperity for the people of both countries, the state-run APP news agency reported.
"During the first half of the current financial year, bilateral trade between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was recorded at $2,482.37 million, with Pakistan’s exports of $262.58 million and Saudi exports of $2.219 billion," the APP report read, citing a Pakistani commerce ministry official.
"Pakistan would welcome and fully facilitate investments and partnerships from Saudi Arabia in IT, minerals, textiles, food security, engineering and energy sectors."
At present, Saudi Arabia's exports include oil, plastics and organic chemicals, while Pakistan exports rice, bovine animal meat, fruit and vegetables, tents and camping goods.
The official noted Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had agreed on a Free-Trade Agreement last year and Islamabad was also planning to organize a Single Country Exhibition and Lifestyle Show in the Kingdom.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong ties rooted in shared culture, religion and economic cooperation, and have witnessed a flurry of official visits in recent weeks.
The two countries have lately been working to increase bilateral trade and investment, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion for Pakistan.
Pakistan farmers announce nationwide protest from May 10 amid wheat import crisis
- Farmers are demanding the government stop wheat imports that have flooded markets, leading to price slump
- Agriculture contributes about 24 percent of the GDP and accounts for half of the employed labor force in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani farmers on Sunday announced a nationwide protest over the wheat import crisis from May 10, a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promised to address their grievances.
Farmers in Pakistan’s Punjab province, which produces most of the wheat crop, are demanding the government stop wheat imports that have flooded the market at a time when they expect bumper crop.
They say the import of wheat in the second half of 2023 and the first three months of this year has resulted in excess amounts of the commodity in the country, leading to reduced prices.
On Saturday, PM Sharif took notice of the matter and formed a committee under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to address farmer grievances, Pakistani state media reported.
“On the 10th [of May], after the Friday prayers, we are initiating protest from Multan and this protest will be expanded to the whole of Pakistan,” Khalid Khokhar, who heads the Kissan Ittehad Pakistan, said at a press conference.
“Thousands of farmers will come, there will be hundreds of tractors, trailers. Animals, cattle and children and women will also be accompanied.”
Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and constitutes its largest sector. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), agriculture contributes about 24 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounts for half of the employed labor force in the country.
However, the prices of wheat have dropped in Pakistan in recent weeks and are much below the government’s support price of Rs3,900 per 40-kilogram bag.
“We do not have any option other than this. The mafia made Rs100 billion, Pakistan’s $1 billion worth of foreign exchange was spent and the farmers incurred around Rs400 billion losses,” Khokhar said.
“They slaughtered 60 million farmers just for the sake of corruption.”
Pakistan’s Dr. Shahzad Baig makes it to TIME’s 100 world leaders in health
- Before arriving in Pakistan, Baig was a technical adviser to Nigeria’s polio eradication effort, which remained successful
- Pakistan, Afghanistan are only two countries in world where polio continues to threaten health and well-being of children
ISLAMABAD: US news magazine TIME has included Dr. Shahzad Baig, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme’s national coordinator, to its list of 100 most influential people across the world in the field of health in 2024.
The list, titled ‘TIME100 HEALTH,’ this week honored individuals from across the world for their services for fresh discoveries, novel treatments, and global victories over disease.
Baig was recognized for his efforts for the eradication of poliovirus, which mainly affects children under the age of ten years by invading their nervous system, and can cause paralysis or even death.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio continues to threaten the health and well-being of children.
“On the front lines in the effort to stamp it [polio] out is Dr. Shahzad Baig, national coordinator of Pakistan’s polio-eradication program,” TIME wrote on its website.
“In 2019, polio disabled or killed 147 people in Pakistan; since Baig assumed the position, in 2021, case counts have plummeted, with only six children stricken in 2023.”
Before arriving in Pakistan, Baig was a technical adviser to Nigeria’s polio eradication effort, which succeeded spectacularly, according to the US magazine.
In 2020, the African country became the most recent one in the world to be declared polio-free.
“If Baig has his way, Pakistan will be the next,” it added.
Canada has ‘political compulsion’ to blame India for Sikh slaying — New Delhi
- Canadian police on Friday arrested three for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, saying they were investigating their links to Indian government
- The killing soured Ottawa-New Delhi diplomatic ties after PM Trudeau said there were ‘credible allegations’ linking Indian intelligence to crime
NEW DELHI: Canada’s investigation into alleged Indian involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Vancouver last year is a “political compulsion,” New Delhi’s foreign minister said after three Indian citizens were arrested over the killing.
Canadian police on Friday arrested the trio for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, saying they were investigating their links to the Indian government, “if any.”
The killing sent diplomatic relations between Ottawa and New Delhi into a tailspin last autumn after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” linking Indian intelligence to the crime.
India vehemently rejected the allegations as “absurd,” halting the processing of visas for a time and forcing Canada to significantly reduce its diplomatic presence in the country.
“It is their political compulsion in Canada to blame India,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted external affairs minister S. Jaishankar as saying on Saturday.
Thousands of people were killed in the 1980s during a separatist insurgency aimed at creating a Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, which was put down by security forces.
The movement has largely petered out within India, but in the Sikh diaspora — whose largest community is in Canada, with around 770,000 people — it retains support among a vocal minority.
New Delhi has sought to persuade Ottawa not to grant Sikh separatists visas or political legitimacy, Jaishankar said, since they are “causing problems for them (Canada), for us and also for our relationship.”
He added that Canada does not “share any evidence with us in certain cases, police agencies also do not cooperate with us.”
Nijjar immigrated to Canada in 1997 and acquired citizenship 18 years later. He was wanted by Indian authorities for alleged terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder.
The three arrested Indian nationals, all in their twenties, were charged with first degree murder and conspiracy.
They were accused of being the shooter, driver and lookout in his killing last June.
The Canadian police said they were aware that “others may have played a role” in the murder.
In November, the US Justice Department charged an Indian citizen living in the Czech Republic with plotting a similar assassination attempt on another Sikh separatist leader on American soil.
A Washington Post investigation reported last week that Indian foreign intelligence officials were involved in the plot, a claim rejected by New Delhi.
PCB chief announces $100,000 reward for each player if Pakistan wins T20 World Cup
- Mohsin Naqvi made the announcement during his visit to Qaddafi Stadium, where the Babar Azam-led side has been practicing
- The Pakistan side is scheduled to travel to Ireland, England for T20 tours later this month, followed by the World Cup in June
ISLAMABAD: Mohsin Naqvi, chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has announced $100,000 reward for each player in case the national side wins the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup, the PCB said on Sunday.
Naqvi made the announcement during his visit to the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore, where the Babar Azam-led side began the national camp on Saturday, according to the PCB.
He stayed there for two hours and held a detailed discussion with Pakistan players on the strategy of upcoming games.
“This reward is nothing compared to Pakistan’s victory,” Naqvi was quoted as saying.
“I hope you will raise the green flag. Play without any pressure and compete hard. God willing, victory will be yours.”
The Pakistan side is scheduled to travel to Ireland and England for T20 tours later this month.
The tours will help the side prepare for the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in the United States and the West Indies in June.
