LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar left for Saudi Arabia on Friday to perform Umrah, an Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah that can be undertaken at any time of the year.
It will be his second journey to the holy Muslim city this year since he also performed Umrah with his family in February.
“The chief minister is not going there in his official capacity,” Muhammad Rafiullah, a public relations officer at the CM Secretariat, told Arab News. “An additional chief secretary of the provincial administration along with another officer will also accompany him. All of them are going there in their private capacity and will spend money from their own pocket.”
The chief minister reached the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore without protocol, received his boarding card, and waited in the queue with other passengers.
“He will stay in Muscat and then go to Madinah. He will pray for the solidarity of the country as well as for the freedom of the people of Kashmir,” he added.
Sources say that while Buzdar is going to the Kingdom in his private capacity, he desires to participate in the washing ceremony of the Holy Kaaba.
“He desires to be among the lucky individuals who are going to participate in the ceremony,” another official at the CM office told Arab News, requesting not to be named. “He will spend that entire day in the House of God.”
Punjab chief minister leaves for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah
Punjab chief minister leaves for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah
- CM Usman Buzdar is undertaking the journey in private capacity
- Buzdar desires to participate in the washing ceremony of Holy Kaaba
Pakistan says $50 million meat export deal with Tajikistan nearing finalization
- Islamabad expects to finalize agreement soon after Dushanbe signals demand for 100,000 tons
- Pakistan is seeking to expand agricultural trade beyond rice, citrus and mango exports
ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan has expressed interest in importing 100,000 tons of Pakistani meat worth more than $50 million, with both governments expected to finalize a supply agreement soon, Pakistan’s food security ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is trying to grow agriculture-based exports as it seeks regional markets for livestock and food commodities, while Tajikistan, a landlocked Central Asian state, has been expanding food imports to support domestic demand. Pakistan currently exports rice, citrus and mangoes to Dushanbe, though volumes remain small compared to national production, according to official figures.
The development came during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain and Ambassador of Tajikistan Yusuf Sharifzoda, where agricultural trade, livestock supply and food-security cooperation were discussed.
“Tajikistan intends to purchase 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan, an import valued at over USD 50 million,” the ambassador said, according to the ministry’s statement, assuring full facilitation and that Islamabad was prepared to meet the demand.
The statement said the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in meat and livestock, fresh fruit, vegetables, staple crops, agricultural research, pest management and standards compliance. Pakistan also proposed strengthening coordination on phytosanitary rules and establishing pest-free production zones to support long-term exports.
Pakistan and Tajikistan have long maintained political ties but bilateral food trade remains below potential: Pakistan produces 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually but exported just 0.7 metric tons to Tajikistan in 2024, while rice exports amounted to only 240 metric tons in 2022 out of national output of 9.3 million tons. Pakistan imports mainly ginned cotton from Tajikistan.
