WASHINGTON: US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will travel next month to Pakistan and India, bitter rivals that have clashed on the way forward in Afghanistan, the State Department announced Monday.
Sherman, after CIA chief Bill Burns, will be one of the first high-level officials under President Joe Biden to visit Pakistan, which has long irritated the United States over its relationship with the Taliban.
Sherman will meet senior officials in Islamabad on October 7-8 after an earlier visit to New Delhi and Mumbai on October 6-7, when she will meet officials and civil society leaders and address the US-India Business council’s annual “ideas summit,” the State Department said.
The trip comes as India, one of the top allies of the Western-backed Afghan government that collapsed last month, urges the world to pay closer attention to Pakistan’s role in the turmoil .
Pakistan was the primary backer of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, and has been accused by US officials of keeping the insurgents alive through covert support. Islamabad vehemently denies the charge.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an opinion piece published Monday in The Washington Post, called his country a “convenient scapegoat.”
“In Afghanistan, the lack of legitimacy for an outsider’s protracted war was compounded by a corrupt and inept Afghan government, seen as a puppet regime without credibility, especially by rural Afghans,” he wrote, elaborating on themes in his address Friday to the UN General Assembly.
He urged the world to engage the Taliban government “to ensure peace and stability.”
Biden, who like his predecessors has called for strong relations with India, has yet to speak to Khan, although Secretary of State Antony Blinken met his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of UN meetings last week and thanked Islamabad for help in evacuating Americans from Afghanistan.
State Dept No. 2 to visit Pakistan, India after Taliban takeover
https://arab.news/m4qjp
State Dept No. 2 to visit Pakistan, India after Taliban takeover
- Wendy Sherman, after CIA chief Bill Burns, will be one of the first high-level officials under President Biden to visit Pakistan
- Sherman will meet senior officials in Islamabad on October 7-8 after visit to New Delhi and Mumbai on October 6-7
Pakistan’s first non-life Shariah-compliant takaful operator says ‘historic’ IPO oversubscribed 21 times
- Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited offered 30 million shares to investors with ceiling price of Rs14 per share
- Company says IPO proceeds will be used for investments in software, infrastructure, setting up new branches
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first non-life Shariah-compliant takaful operator announced on Thursday that its initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed 21 times at the country’s stock exchange, saying the development reflected strong investor confidence in the Islamic insurance system.
The Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited said earlier this month it would issue 30 million shares with a floor price of Rs 10 and a ceiling price of Rs 14 per share. Institutional investors will receive 75 percent of the shares on offer, while the remaining 25 percent will be allocated to retail investors, it added.
“Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited’s (PQGTL) IPO book-building has concluded with a historic oversubscription of [21x] times, marking the first-ever IPO of a dedicated General Takaful company at PSX,” the company said in a statement.
It said investors responded “strongly” as the strike price closed at Rs 14 per share, compared to the floor price of Rs 10. Total demand reached Rs 4.74 billion [$17 million].
The company said successful bidders will be provisionally allotted 22.5 million shares while the remaining 7.5 million shares will be offered to retail investors on Jan. 28-29.
Shahid Ali Habib, CEO of Arif Habib Ltd., which was the lead manager for the IPO, said that country’s first-ever IPO of any dedicated general takaful company, has made a historic debut at PSX.
Habib said this reflects investor confidence in Pakistan’s fast-growing takaful sector and PQGTL’s strong market position.
The statement further said proceeds from the IPO will be utilized to fund strategic initiatives, such as investments in software and other intangible assets, hardware and infrastructure, marketing and brand development and human resource enhancement.
Proceeds will also be used to establish new branches and transform existing ones to improve operational efficiency and customer experience, it added.
Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited is part of Pakistan’s pioneer Islamic financial services group and is backed by Qatar-based financial institutions.
