ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s plans to send its first astronaut into space by 2022 have been placed on temporary hold, Science and Technology Minister, Fawad Chaudhry, told Arab News on Saturday.
Currently, Pakistan has four remote sensing and communications satellites in total– two ground stations and two in orbit. In July 2018, Pakistan launched two satellites with the help of China, and the same year, Chaudhry announced Pakistan was planning on sending its first astronaut on a manned mission by 2022. A contract was subsequently inked between Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) and a Chinese company.
“I think we will not be able to pursue the schedule [of sending astronaut to space] due to COVID-19 and it may be delayed by a year,” Chaudhry told Arab News in an exclusive interview, and added the candidate selection process in collaboration with China had also been delayed.
“The selection process of [choosing a suitable] astronaut was scheduled to begin this year but unfortunately due to the pandemic, the selection process has to be postponed... it was to be initiated with the partnership with China which itself has been badly affected by the coronavirus,” he said.
The science minister’s revelation came just hours before the US attempts to make history with the launch of a newly designed spacecraft by SpaceX and NASA on Saturday.
In March 2019, Suparco disclosed to Arab News that it was exploring options to collaborate with the UAE. The spokesman of Pakistan’s national space agency said huge funds and special skills were required to lift off Pakistan’s ambitious space program and that collaborating would help both the Emirates and Pakistan in space-related activities.
But no such agreement has yet been reached between military-run Suparco and the UAE.
“No agreement has been signed yet with the UAE,” Chaudhry conceded but said Pakistan wanted to work closely with the country on its space program.
“I have requested the Prime Minister’s office to bring Suparco under the fold of the ministry of science and technology so we can pursue that diligently. I hope that decision of bringing it back to the civil side will help improve the collaboration in this direction much more effectively,” Chaudhry added.
Detailing his foreign outreach plans to address Pakistan’s space challenges, he said: “We have already very close cooperation with China in the space program and I think we would like to strengthen this relationship further. But we would also like to strengthen our relationship with NASA, UAE, and other countries including private companies.”
Chaudhry stressed: “I would also like to encourage Pakistan’s private sector to come and invest in satellites because the private sector can contribute a lot, especially in the field of various types of space satellite monitoring applications which have a huge opportunity.”
“It’s a very expensive game, I would say,” he continued. “It needs loads of funding but right now we are focusing on sending solar satellites and the funding for necessary projects is available.”
He said Pakistan was not in a space race when asked whether he was concerned India would beat Pakistan in reaching the stars. Neighboring rival India is aiming to consign its own astronauts in 2022 for the country’s first human mission to space.
“We are not competing with anyone in the space program,” Chaudhry said.
Pakistan deferring plans to send astronaut to space by 2022 — Fawad Chaudhry
https://arab.news/n4tzq
Pakistan deferring plans to send astronaut to space by 2022 — Fawad Chaudhry
- Journey to space plans on hold due to coronavirus fallout and lack of funding
- No agreement signed with UAE but collaboration on the cards for space program
Amnesty urges Pakistan to halt deportations of Afghan refugees
- Rights group’s letter to PM Sharif warns deportations violate non-refoulement, expose Afghans to abuse
- Pakistan says it has hosted Afghans for decades with respect, denies mistreatment during repatriation
ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International has urged Pakistan to stop the detention and deportation of Afghan refugees, warning that mass expulsions could expose many to serious human rights violations, according to an open letter the group’s South Asia office posted on X on Friday.
The letter, dated Jan. 1, was addressed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and comes as Pakistan presses ahead with a multi-phase campaign to repatriate undocumented foreign nationals, most of whom are Afghans who fled decades of war and persecution.
“Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to halt the deportation of Afghan refugees and ensure that individuals with international protection needs are safeguarded as per international human rights law,” the organization said, warning that the policy violated the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to countries where they risk serious abuse.
Amnesty said Pakistan had provided sanctuary to Afghan nationals for decades, but its policy has shifted sharply since the launch of the “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan” in September 2023, describing it as potentially “one of the largest forcible returns of refugees in modern history,” which it said was marked by a lack of transparency, due process and accountability.
The rights group cited data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, saying arrests and detentions of Afghan refugees had increased tenfold last year, with more than 115,000 cases recorded. It said detainees often had little access to legal representation or family members, and that children were among those arrested.
According to the International Organization for Migration, nearly 1.5 million Afghans have returned since the deportation drive began, with almost half of those returns taking place in 2025 alone. Amnesty said deportations were frequently carried out swiftly, with limits imposed on the money and belongings refugees could take with them.
The group also warned that journalists, human rights defenders, women dissidents and former government officials were being deported despite heightened risks under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, where Amnesty has documented extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture and severe restrictions on women and girls.
Pakistan has not issued a response to the letter.
However, officials in Islamabad have previously said Pakistan has hosted Afghan nationals for decades with respect, sharing its resources despite limited international support. The Pakistan Foreign Office said last year that mechanisms were in place to ensure no one was mistreated or harassed during the repatriation process.
Pakistan has also claimed that Afghan nationals have remained involved in militancy and crime, though the mass expulsions are widely seen as an attempt to pressure Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to curb cross-border militant attacks by armed factions targeting Pakistani forces, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
International organizations, including the UN refugee agency, have also urged Pakistan in the past to halt forced deportations and ensure that any returns are voluntary, gradual and dignified.
