ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s powerful military said it supported the country’s elected government and the constitution, as tens of thousands of opposition protesters gathered in the capital demanding that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s year-old government quits by Sunday.
“We believe in the law and the constitution and our support is with the democratically elected government, not with any party,” military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said in comments to a television news channel late on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, the opposition had demanded that cricket star-turned-politician Khan and his administration resign within two days, raising the stakes in a protest campaign that the government has denounced as a threat to democracy.
The opposition says Khan’s government is illegitimate and is being propped up by the military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its history and sets security and foreign policy.
The military denies meddling in politics and Khan has dismissed the calls to step down.
The leader of the protest, religious party chief Fazl-ur-Rehman, told a rally of tens of thousands of supporters that he did not want a “collision with institutions,” a thinly veiled reference to the military, and called on them to be impartial.
Ghafoor said Rehman should know the military was impartial and it should not be dragged into politics.
Rehman, leader of the conservative Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl party, is a veteran politician who can mobilize significant support in religious schools across the country.
He was joined at the Friday rally, which police estimated was attended by 35,000 people, by leaders of the two main opposition parties.
Protesters were camped out at the rally site on Saturday, cooking food and resting.
Rehman had earlier warned of chaos if the government did not step down, but on Friday he told the crowd they would decide what action to take if their two-day sit-in at the rally site failed.
Security is tight in Islamabad with the government and diplomatic sector — just a few kilometers from the rally — sealed off, with shipping containers used to block roads.
Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday urged the government to handle the protest peacefully.
The government, struggling to get the economy on track, has denounced the protests as a threat to the constitution and to democracy and has said it will not be allowed to paralyze the capital.
Pakistan army says supports elected government amid major protest
Pakistan army says supports elected government amid major protest
- Thousands of demonstrators led by JUIF leader have camped in Islamabad demanding PM's resignation
- Opposition says Khan's government is illegitimate and is being propped up by the military
Pakistan plans $80 million seafood zone at Karachi harbor to target Gulf markets
- Plan aims to move exports away from raw seafood toward higher-value processed products
- Project will be developed under public-private partnership or build-operate-transfer model
KARACHI: Pakistan plans to develop a seafood processing and export zone at Karachi’s Qur’angi Fisheries Harbor that could cost up to $80 million to boost value-added exports and position the country as a supplier to the Gulf and other regional markets, Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said on Saturday.
The proposed 100-acre project aims to shift Pakistan away from exporting raw seafood by building modern processing, cold-chain and packaging infrastructure linked to international buyers, as Islamabad looks to expand its blue economy and deepen maritime trade ties with the region.
In a statement, Chaudhry said the zone would be developed, financed and operated under a public-private partnership or build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, with private investors running the facilities and the Qur’angi Fisheries Harbor Authority retaining regulatory oversight.
“The estimated project cost ranges between $60 million and $80 million, based on regional benchmarks from countries such as Vietnam, China and Ecuador, which have developed similar seafood parks,” Chaudhry said.
He said the facility would include 20 to 25 medium- to large-scale seafood processing units for fish, shrimp and cephalopods, alongside large-scale cold storage, blast freezing, packaging facilities, logistics and export terminals, and a wastewater treatment plant to ensure environmentally compliant operations.
“Packaging and labeling units would operate under international food safety and quality standards, including HACCP and ISO certifications, offering vacuum packing, modified atmosphere packaging and retail-ready solutions,” he said, referring to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, a preventive food safety system.
ISO certification verifies that a company’s management systems meet international standards.
The minister said the zone would be used exclusively for commercial seafood processing, packaging, cold storage and export-oriented activities, with multi-temperature storage ranging from minus 18 to minus 40 degrees Celsius and ice plants capable of producing 50 to 100 tons daily.
Chaudhry said the preferred investment structure is a BOT concession under which the private partner would finance, develop and operate the project for an expected 20-year tenure, with ownership reverting to the harbor authority at the end of the concession period.
He added that the estimated internal rate of return was projected between 13 percent and 17 percent, with revenue generated through lease rentals, processing fees, logistics services and export-linked earnings.
“The project will position Pakistan as a key maritime trade and seafood export hub serving Gulf, East African and Asian markets,” Chaudhry said.
