ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's finance minister Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday his country would carry out bilateral trade with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency since the neighboring state was facing an acute shortage of US dollars since the withdrawal of international forces last month.
According to the local media, Tarin was briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and told its members that the administration in Islamabad was closely monitoring the situation in Kabul.
Economic experts and foreign currency traders in Pakistan had told Arab News earlier this month that Afghanistan's recent situation had put Pakistan's currency under pressure, adding that nearly $2 million were daily flowing out of their country to Afghanistan where the demand for US dollars had significantly increased.
"Tarin told the Senate committee that the government had decided to trade with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency, instead of dollars," Geo News reported. "He maintained that Afghanistan was facing shortage of dollars as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had seized its reserves after the Taliban's takeover of the country."
The minister said "people could be sent from Pakistan to run various affairs in Afghanistan."
The Taliban have found it increasingly difficult to manage the affairs of the state after bringing Afghanistan under their military and political control.
Last month, the group asked former government functionaries not to "panic or try to go into hiding," saying they were required to run Afghanistan after the departure of foreign forces and nationals.
Pakistan to use national currency for bilateral trade with Afghanistan — Shaukat Tarin
https://arab.news/nm7zq
Pakistan to use national currency for bilateral trade with Afghanistan — Shaukat Tarin
- Afghanistan has been facing an acute shortage of US dollars since foreign forces left it last month
- Pakistan's finance minister said his country could also send people to run various affairs in Afghanistan
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
