ISLAMABAD: Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan convened a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) today, Monday, where the government called on all parties in Afghanistan to ensure that Afghan soil was not used by militants against any country.
The meeting comes a day after Taliban insurgents took over the Afghanistan capital without a fight. Just last week, a US intelligence estimate said Kabul could hold out for at least three months.
“The NSC noted positively that major violence had been averted thus far and called on all parties in Afghanistan to respect the rule of law, protect fundamental human rights of all Afghans, and ensure that Afghan soil is not used by any terrorist organization/group against any country,” a statement from the PM Office said.
“Participants reiterated that Pakistan remains committed to an inclusive political settlement as the way forward representing all Afghan ethnic groups. It was reaffirmed that Pakistan would continue to work with the international community and all Afghan stakeholders to facilitate an inclusive political settlement in the country. It was stressed that the principle of non-interference in Afghanistan must be adhered to.”
PM Khan directed that all possible facilities be made available to repatriate Pakistanis, diplomats, journalists and the staff of international organizations seeking to leave Afghanistan.
“The Prime Minister lauded the ongoing efforts of the Pakistan embassy in Kabul and the state machinery in this regard,” the statement said.
Earlier on Sunday, Taliban insurgents captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight, giving them control of one of the main highways into landlocked Afghanistan. They also took over the nearby Torkham border post with Pakistan, leaving Kabul airport the only way out of Afghanistan, which is still in government hands.
The capture of Jalalabad followed the Taliban’s seizure of the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif late on Saturday, also with little fighting.
After US-led forces withdrew the bulk of the their remaining troops in the last month, the Taliban campaign accelerated as the Afghan military’s defenses appeared to collapse.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also fled the country on Sunday, saying he had left to avoid bloodshed.
In a post on his Facebook page, Ghani said he had faced a difficult decision, with the fate of millions of Kabul residents and the security of the city at stake after 20 years of war in which countless had already been killed.
“To avoid bloodshed, I thought it would be better to leave,” he said in his first comments since quitting the presidential palace and flying out of the country.
He added that the Taliban insurgents, who later entered the presidential palace in Kabul, now faced a historic test.
“The Taliban won victory in the judgment of sword and gun and they have the responsibility to protect the honor, prosperity and self-respect of our compatriots,” he said.
He did not disclose details of his current location.
Pakistan says Afghan soil should not be used by ‘terrorist’ groups against any country
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Pakistan says Afghan soil should not be used by ‘terrorist’ groups against any country
- Prime minister Imran Khan convenes a meeting of the National Security Committee
- Consultation comes a day after Taliban insurgents took over the Afghanistan capital without a fight
IMF mission in Pakistan for bailout loan talks
- Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion program, which helped stave off sovereign debt default
- Pakistan expected to seek t $6 billion, request additional financing from Fund under Resilience and Sustainability Trust
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government confirmed on Monday that an International Monetary Fund team was in Islamabad and holding discussions with finance ministry officials, as Islamabad kicks off talks with the fund over a longer-term bailout program.
Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion program, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer term program.
Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last week the IMF mission would visit Islamabad in May and Pakistan hoped to have a deal by early July.
“The IMF team has arrived in Islamabad and currently talks are underway with them in the finance ministry,” Raeesa Adil, Director General Media at the Finance Ministry told Arab News, declining to share further details of what was being discussed.
Pakistan narrowly averted default last summer, and its $350 billion economy has stabilized after the completion of the last IMF program, with inflation coming down to around 17 percent in April from a record high 38 percent last May.
It is still dealing with a high fiscal shortfall and while it has controlled its external account deficit through import control mechanisms, it has come at the expense of stagnating growth, which is expected to be around 2 percent this year compared to negative growth last year.
Pakistan is expected to seek at least $6 billion and request additional financing from the Fund under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam becomes most successful T20I men’s captain after Ireland win
- Pakistan beat Ireland on Sunday by seven wickets, making it Babar Azam’s 45th win as skipper
- Pakistan and Ireland will play the final of three-match T20I series in Dublin on Tuesday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam became the most successful men’s T20I captain after his side clinched a seven-wicket victory over Ireland recently, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.
Pakistan beat Ireland on Sunday by seven wickets and more than three overs to spare, chasing the Irish team’s impressive target of 194 runs. Azam made 0 runs off four balls after he was dismissed by Graham Hume when he edged the ball straight into the hands of Lorcan Tucker but his poor performance had no effect on Pakistan.
An impressive 140-run partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and left-arm batter Fakhar Zaman helped Pakistan to victory over Ireland. it also helped Azam to a new record.
“It took Babar past Uganda’s Brian Masaba for the most wins by male T20I captains and in front of former skippers in the ilk of England’s Eoin Morgan, India’s MS Dhoni and Australia’s Aaron Finch,” the ICC said.
Separately, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi congratulated Azam in Dublin after the match and presented him a jersey with the words “45 T20I wins” written on its back. Naqvi also presented fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi with a jersey for taking 300 international wickets in his career so far. The fast bowler also achieved the feat in the match against Ireland after he returned figures of 3/49.
The three-match series stands leveled at 1-1 after Pakistan’s win. Ireland beat the 2009 T20 world champions by five wickets in an upset victory in the series opener on Friday.
Pakistan will head to England for a four-match T20I series after the final match of the Ireland series on Tuesday. Following the England series, with matches scheduled at Headingley (22 May), Birmingham (25 May), Cardiff (28 May), and The Oval, London (30 May), both England and Pakistan will head to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
England will face Scotland in Barbados on June 4 in their opening match, while Pakistan will launch their campaign against the United States (US) in Dallas on June 6. Pakistan will take on arch-rivals India on June 9 in New York which is set to be one of the most anticipated clashes of the T20 World Cup.
Egypt’s Zakaria beats Pakistan’s Iqbal to clinch international squash competition in Karachi
- Mohamed Zakaria beat Nasir Iqbal 11-13, 11-4, 11-5 and 11-7 to clinch the international squash competition
- Five local players and 19 international ones participated in the CNS International Squash Competition in Karachi
ISLAMABAD: Egypt’s Mohamed Zakaria defeated Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal on Sunday to clinch the 16th Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) International Squash Championship 2024 in Karachi.
Held in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, five domestic and 19 international squash players participated in the championship. Competitors from Egypt, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Czech Republic, Japan, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands took part in the competition, Pakistan Army’s media wing said in a statement on Sunday.
Zakaria beat Iqbal 11-13, 11-4, 11-5, and 11-7 to clinch the trophy and walk away with the lucrative prize money of $20,000.
“Mohammed Zakaria of Egypt declared the winner of the 16th Chief of the Naval Staff International Squash Championship 2024,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, said.
The closing ceremony of the tournament was held at the Pakistan Navy Roshan Khan Jahangir Khan Squash Complex in Karachi. Pakistan Navy Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf was the chief guest at the ceremony.
“The naval chief distributed prizes to the winners and runners-up players of the championship,” the ISPR said, adding that the closing ceremony was attended by a large number of civil and military dignitaries, sponsors, national players and fans.
Pakistan has always been counted among the world’s top squash-playing nations, introducing legendary players of the sport such as Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan, Azam Khan, and Qamar Zaman to the world. Between themselves, Jansher Khan and Jahangir Khan won the World Squash Open title 14 times for Pakistan during the ‘80s and the ‘90s.
Deputy PM in China as Beijing pushes for safety of personnel working in Pakistan
- Ishaq Dar will co-chair strategic dialogue with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on four-day visit to Beijing
- Visit comes amid investment push by Islamabad, rising Beijing concerns about security of personnel in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Beijing on Monday to take part in a strategic dialogue with Chinese FM Wang Yi, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement, during a four-day visit in which the security of Chinese organizations and personnel working in the South Asian nation is expected to be at the top of the agenda.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan but both separatist and other militants have attacked Chinese projects over recent years, killing Chinese personnel, including five workers in a latest suicide bombing in March. Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing has pledged more than $65 billion for road, rail and other infrastructure developments in the South Asian nation of 241 million people.
Beijing has also readily provided financial assistance to bail out its often-struggling neighbor, including in July last year when China granted Pakistan a two-year rollover on a $2.4 billion loan, giving the debt-saddled nation much-needed breathing space as it tackled a balance-of-payments crisis.
This is Dar’s first official trip to China since assuming the post of foreign minister and deputy prime minister. He will co-chair the fifth round of the Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue with Yi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said.
“The Deputy Prime Minister will also hold meetings with Chinese leaders and senior officials and with prominent business enterprises,” MoFA said.
In an earlier statement, MoFA said Dar and his counterpart would discuss issues of core interest like economic and trade cooperation, including CPEC and regional peace and development.
Dar’s visit to China takes place as Pakistan moves to seek foreign investments from its allies while navigating an economic crisis that has seen its reserves dip to dangerously low levels and its currency weaken against the dollar. In recent weeks, Pakistan has seen visits by top officials from Saudi Arabia, Japan and Uzbekistan to discuss investment deals.
PM summons meeting as Azad Kashmir protesters to resume march to capital over price hikes
- One policeman has died in days-long protests over prices of wheat flour, electricity
- Both India and Pakistan rule part of Kashmir but claim the disputed valley in full
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair a special meeting today, Monday, to discuss ongoing protests in Azad Kashmir, the portion of the disputed Himalayan valley administered by Pakistan, state media reported, with demonstrators expected to resume their march to the federal capital of Islamabad over the prices of wheat and power.
The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) is leading the protests and demanding subsidized wheat flour and that electricity prices be set as per the hydropower generation cost in Azad Kashmir.
On Saturday, a policeman was killed in clashes between police and demonstrators as authorities blocked a rally from moving toward Azad Kashmir’s capital, Muzaffarabad, from the region’s Poonch and Kotli districts. Weekend talks between the JAAC core committee and AJK Chief Secretary Dawood Bareach in Rawalakot ended in a stalemate and a planned march by protesters to the capital is set to resume today.
The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947, with both countries ruling part of the territory, but claiming it in full. The western portion of the larger Kashmir region is administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entity while India rules the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region as a union territory.
While the Indian portion has been an ongoing insurgency and multiple armed attempts by the state to quell it, the Pakistani side has remained relatively calm through the decades, though it is also highly militarized.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has convened a high-level meeting on Monday, which will discuss the ongoing situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said in a report.
In a separate post on social media platform X, Sharif warned protesters against taking the law into their own hands and damaging government buildings, calling on “all parties to resort to peaceful course of action for resolution of their demands.”
President Asif Ali Zardari has also urged restraint and called on stakeholders to resolve the price hike issue in Azad Kashmir through “dialogue and mutual consultation,” Pakistani state media said, reporting on a meeting between the president and a delegation of members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly who called on him in Islamabad.
“The President said political parties, state institutions and the people of AJK should act responsibly so that hostile elements could not exploit the situation to their benefit,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“The President highlighted that the demands of the people of AJK should be addressed as per law. He said that he would take up the grievances of the people of AJK with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to find a way out of the current situation.”
