KARACHI: Pakistani rice exporters said on Saturday they would send a letter to Qatar on Monday through the ministry of commerce and the Trade Development Authority to complain about an India-specific basmati rice import tender, which local traders have called a discriminatory move by the Qatari government.
Earlier this year, Qatar lifted a ban, imposed since 2011-12, on the import of rice from Pakistan, thus allowing Islamabad to export 4,000 metric tons or 100,000 bags of basmati rice to Doha. The decision came after a visit to the country by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. A tender was subsequently won by Pakistan’s Chappal traders, whose shipment is expected in Qatar by December 2019.
On Thursday, however, the Qatar government announced a new tender for import of 48,000 metric tons of basmati rice but allowed only Indian suppliers to participate.
“Definitely our association will send a letter to the Qatar government in which we will write to them that this variety [basmati rice] is available both in Pakistan and India; therefore origin specific tenders cannot be floated,” Muhammad Raza, senior vice chairman at the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) told Arab News on Saturday. “The letter will be sent through the ministry of commerce and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan to the Qatari government on Monday.”
“As the previous tender was Pakistan-specific, perhaps they have gone for an Indian-specific tender this time and allocated more quantity to India,” Raza added. “Qatar’s procurement agency will be requested that in future the tender for this variety should not be kept country-origin specific, allowing both countries [India and Pakistan] to supply as per their capacity.”
Neither Pakistan’s minister for commerce, nor a representative of the Trade Development Authority, could be reached for comment.
Pakistan’s exporters say the country will lose rice exports worth $57.6 million due to the exclusion of Pakistan from Qatar’s latest tender.
“Pakistan’s name should have been in the tender issued by the Qatar government for supply of 48,000 MT rice along with India,” Rafique Suleman, convener of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News.
Qatar’s annual rice import market is about 200,000 metric tons, in which Pakistan’s share gradually declined from 125,000 to 20,000-25000 tons in 2011-12. Since this time, only private sector rice firms from Qatar have continued imports from Pakistan.
The 2011-12 ban was imposed on Pakistan by the CTC, the government of Qatar’s procurement arm, for what it called the supply of substandard commodities. Since the lifting of the ban, Pakistan is expecting to export rice worth $40-50 million, but Qatar has appointed a third party to ensure quality.
Pakistani exporters to move government against Qatar’s India-only rice tender
Pakistani exporters to move government against Qatar’s India-only rice tender
- On Thursday, Qatar government announced an India-specific tender for import of 48,000 metric tons of basmati rice
- Pakistani traders say both countries have basmati rice, country-specific tenders should not be floated
Pakistan defense minister warns of ‘more legal action’ against ex-spy chief
- Faiz Hameed, ISI’s director-general from 2019-2021, was sentenced to 14 years by military court this week
- Defense Minister Khawaja Asif alleges Hameed planned violent priotests led by ex-PM Khan’s party in 2023
ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday announced “more legal action” will be taken against former spy chief Faiz Hameed, days after he was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a military court.
Pakistan military’s media wing announced this week that Hameed, who was the director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from 2019 to 2021, has been sentenced to 14 years after being found guilty of misusing authority and government resources, violating the Official Secrets Act and causing “wrongful loss to persons.”
The former spy chief was widely seen as close to ex-prime minister Imran Khan. Hameed, who retired from the army in December 2022, is accused by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of bringing down the government of his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif, in 2017.
The PML-N alleges Hameed worked with then opposition leader Khan to plot Nawaz’s ouster through a series of court cases, culminating in the Supreme Court disqualifying of him from office in 2017 for failing to disclose income and ordering a criminal investigation into his family over corruption allegations. Khan’s party and Hameed have both denied the allegations.
“A senior officer and former head of the ISI has been convicted in a trial that lasted for a long period of 15 months,” Asif told reporters in Sialkot.
“There are more problems, charges on which legal action will be taken and that won’t take long.”
Asif repeated the PML-N’s allegations, accusing Hameed of having Nawaz disqualified through the court cases. He accused the former spy chief of propelling Khan to the office of the prime minister, blaming him for having leaders and supporters of the PML-N arrested during Khan’s premiership.
Pakistan military said this week that Faiz’s alleged role in “fomenting vested political agitation and instability in cahoots with political elements” was being handled separately. Many interpreted this as the military alluding to the May 9, 2023, nationwide unrest, when angry Khan supporters took to the streets and attacked military and government installations after he was briefly detained on corruption charges.
Asif said Faiz’s “brain and planning” was behind the May 2023 unrest.
“These two personalities can not be separated,” the defense minister said, referencing Khan and Hameed.
Senior military officers are rarely investigated or convicted in Pakistan, where the security establishment plays an outsized role in politics and national governance.
Hameed’s sentencing comes just days after Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir was appointed as Pakistan’s first chief of defense forces, marking a major restructuring of the military command.
Former prime minister Khan’s PTI party has distanced itself from Hameed’s conviction, referring to it as an “internal matter of the military institution.”
