KARACHI: Pakistan has strongly denied the presence on its soil of a notorious Interpol-wanted Indian criminal, Dawood Ibrahim, after the Indian media spotted the gangster’s name on a recent list by the Pakistani Foreign Office of individuals whose assets have been frozen over terrorism links.
Ibrahim has led an organized crime syndicate in Mumbai, India, and is also wanted for ordering a series of bomb explosions that took place in the city in 1993. His name and address in the Pakistani metropolis of Karachi appeared on the statutory notification (SRO) issued by Pakistan on Aug. 18 in a move to avoid the country’s blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which monitors money laundering and tracks activities of terrorist groups.
“The assertions, made by some sections of the Indian media, as to Pakistan admitting to the presence of certain listed individuals on its territory, based on the information contained in the SRO, are baseless and misleading,” the Foreign Office said in statement on Saturday evening, in response to the Indian press reports.
The statement said the information contained in the SRO was reproduced from the United Nations Security Council’s lists on sanctioned individuals belonging to terrorist groups, which also mention the names of persons who are already dead.
On Sunday, Indian media reported that Pakistan had admitted Ibrahim’s presence on its soil after the SRO mentioned three residential addresses of the gangster in Karachi. The addresses, which could not be independently verified, were first reported in a story by freelance journalist Ghulam Husnain in the Newsline magazine’s September 2001 issue. The same article later became grounds for India to claim that the criminal was living in Pakistan. Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Ibrahim in April 2006.
Ibrahim’s addresses were published on the Pakistani Foreign Office’s website already in November last year.
On June 26, Indian media outlets reported that Ibrahim had died of the coronavirus.
Pakistan denies presence of Interpol-wanted Indian gangster in Karachi
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Pakistan denies presence of Interpol-wanted Indian gangster in Karachi
- Dawood Ibrahim is wanted for leading an organized crime syndicate and ordering a series of bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai in 1993
- Indian media reported that Pakistan had admitted Ibrahim’s presence on its soil after a statutory notification mentioned his three addresses in Karachi
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.
