ISLAMABAD: United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Chief General Kenneth McKenzie held a meeting with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday to discuss the regional security situation and the ongoing peace efforts in Afghanistan.
According to an official statement by the military’s media wing, ISPR, the meeting focused on “geostrategic environment and regional security,” and the two sides discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
The meeting came at a time when tensions have once again flared up between the two South Asian nuclear-armed neighbors, India and Pakistan, after New Delhi revoked the limited constitutional autonomy of the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir region on August 5.
India’s rightwing Hindu nationalist government also confined the residents of the disputed Himalayan region to their homes, clamped down on local leadership and imposed a near-total communications blackout in the area.
Apart from the situation in Kashmir, there has also been upsurge of violence in Afghanistan: The war-torn country has witnessed a breakdown of talks between the United States and Taliban, though the two sides were said to be close to a peace deal.
Pakistan’s foreign office in a statement on Sunday urged the US and Taliban to re-engage in peace negotiations.
“Pakistan has been facilitating the peace and reconciliation process in good faith and as a shared responsibility, and has encouraged all sides to remain engaged with sincerity and patience,” the statement said.
“Pakistan reiterates its principled policy stance that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and urges that both sides must re-engage to find negotiated peace from the ongoing political settlement process. Pakistan looks for optimized engagement following earliest resumption of talks,” it added.
On September 7, Pakistan hosted the third round of China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Trilateral Dialogue in Islamabad in which the three top diplomats of the participating countries reiterated their resolve to further deepen various strands of cooperation.
Top Pak-US military commanders discuss situation in Kashmir, Afghanistan
Top Pak-US military commanders discuss situation in Kashmir, Afghanistan
- The meeting focused on geostrategic environment and regional security, says ISPR
- The interaction between the two officials comes soon after President Trump called off negotiations with the Taliban
Pakistan issues over $7 billion sukuk in 2025, nears 20 percent Shariah-compliant debt target
- Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad says this was the highest-ever Sukuk issuance in a single calendar year since 2008
- Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court ordered in 2022 the entire banking system to transition to Islamic principles by 2027
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad on Monday said the country achieved a landmark breakthrough in Islamic finance by issuing over Rs2 trillion ($7 billion) sukuk this year, bringing it closer to its 20 percent Shariah-compliant debt target by Fiscal Year 2027-28.
A sukuk is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond, but it complies with Shariah law, which forbids interest. Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court (FSC) had directed the government in April 2022 to eliminate interest and align the country’s entire banking system with Islamic principles by 2027.
Following the ruling, the government and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have undertaken a series of measures, including legal reforms and the issuance of sukuk to replace interest-based treasury bills and investment bonds.
“In 2025, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) through its Debt Management Office, together with its Joint Financial Advisers (JFAs), successfully issued over PKR 2 trillion in Sukuk,” Schehzad said on X, describing it as “the highest-ever Sukuk issuance in a single calendar year since 2008 by Pakistan.”
Pakistan made a total of 61 issuances across one-, three-, five- and 10-year tenors, according to the finance adviser. The country also successfully launched its first Green Sukuk, a Shariah-compliant bond designed to fund environment-friendly projects.
He said the Green Sukuk was 5.4 times oversubscribed, indicating investor demand was more than five times higher than the amount the government planned to raise, which showed strong market confidence.
“The rising share of Islamic instruments in the government’s domestic securities portfolio (domestic debt) underscores strong momentum, growing from 12.6 percent in June 2025 to around 14.5 percent by December 2025, clearly positioning the MoF to achieve its 20 percent Shariah-compliant debt target by FY28,” Schehzad said.
“This milestone also reflects the structural deepening of Pakistan’s Islamic capital market, sustained investor confidence, and the strengthening of sovereign debt management.”
He said Pakistan was strengthening its government securities market by making it more resilient, diversified, and future-ready, supported by a stabilizing macroeconomic environment, a disciplined debt strategy, and a clear roadmap for Islamic finance.
