KABUL: The Afghan government on Wednesday rejected reports that an aircraft carrying a Pakistani parliamentary delegation was deliberately prevented by authorities from landing in Kabul last week.
Pakistan National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser left for Kabul with a nine-member delegation on the morning of April 8 on the invitation of the chairman of Afghanistan’s lower house, Mir Rahman Rahmani, to hold wide-ranging discussions, including on Afghan peace and cross-border trade.
The plane was turned back as it was about to descend at Kabul airport, over what was reported to be a security threat.
Tariq Aryan, a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry, said at least four other flights were also prevented from landing at the airport that day as officials had to shut the facility to disarm an “an old explosive.”
“The airport was shut because this explosive was found,” Aryan told Arab News. “There was no other thing.”
The incident led to outrage among Afghan members of parliament, who summoned the chiefs of the country’s security establishment, including the interior minister, for a briefing on the matter.
“Their reasoning and explanations were not compelling to the lawmakers because they [Pakistani lawmakers] could have been informed about this [security threat] way ahead of the departure of his [Qaiser’s] flight,” Sadiq Ahmad Osmani, a lawmaker from Parwan province, told Arab News.
“We had full preparations, high protocol for his trip here, but unfortunately the news of the security threat there totally damaged our national hospitality. There are some at the top who had created the problem. It was an improper move,” he added.
Allah Gul Mujahid, a lawmaker from Kabul, said no trips by visiting officials had been canceled in the past 20 years over minor security threats.
Nazir Ahmad Hanaif, a lawmaker from Herat, openly blamed President Ashraf Ghani for the cancelation of Qaiser’s visit. Ghani’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
“He [Ghani] wants to damage further relations between the two countries,” Hanafi told Arab News, adding that the visit could have opened a new chapter in Pakistani-Afghan relations.
Afghan government denies deliberately preventing Pakistani delegation from landing in Kabul
https://arab.news/8ugy5
Afghan government denies deliberately preventing Pakistani delegation from landing in Kabul
- Interior ministry spokesperson says Pakistani lawmakers’ plane turned back because ‘old explosive’ found at airport had to be disarmed
- Afghan members of parliament enraged, say government lost an opportunity to open a new chapter in Pakistani-Afghan relations
Pakistan reviews austerity measures amid Middle East crisis, urges strict nationwide implementation
- Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar chairs review meeting of austerity steps
- Officials briefed on salary cuts, school closures, four‑day week, petrol conservation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Wednesday assessed progress on a sweeping set of austerity measures introduced to mitigate the country’s economic strain from sharply rising global oil prices and supply disruptions linked to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week announced a series of austerity steps, including a four‑day work week for government offices, requiring 50 percent of staff to work from home, cutting fuel allowances for official vehicles by half, grounding up to 60 percent of the government fleet and closing all schools for two weeks to conserve fuel amid the global oil crisis.
The measures were unveiled in response to global oil market volatility triggered by the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has disrupted supply routes such as the Strait of Hormuz and pushed crude prices sharply higher, straining Pakistan’s heavily import‑dependent energy sector.
“The meeting stressed the importance of strict and transparent adherence to the austerity measures, promoting fiscal responsibility and prudent use of public resources,” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said in a statement.
He was chairing a meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures, constituted under the directions of the PM, bringing together federal and provincial officials to review execution of the broad cost‑cutting plan.
Dar emphasized the government’s commitment to enforcing the PM’s austerity steps nationwide. The committee’s review also covered reductions in departmental expenditure, deductions from salaries of senior officials earning over Rs. 300,000 ($1,120), and coordination with provincial administrations to ensure uniform implementation of the plan.
Participants at the meeting reiterated that all ministries and divisions must continue strict monitoring and reporting, with transparent oversight mechanisms, as Pakistan navigates the economic pressures from the prolonged Middle East crisis and its fallout on global energy and trade markets.
