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Pakistan announces special visas, hotel packages for Sikhs planning Kartarpur visit from UAE

Sikh pilgrims arrive to take part in a religious ritual on the occasion of the 481th death anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, in Kartarpur near the India-Pakistan border on September 22, 2020. (AFP/File)
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Updated 23 October 2021
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Pakistan announces special visas, hotel packages for Sikhs planning Kartarpur visit from UAE

  • The country plans a three-day festival starting November 18 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism
  • Pakistan’s information minister also applaudes overseas Pakistanis for making solid contribution to the country’s economy
Updated 23 October 2021
ASMA ALI ZAIN

DUBAI: Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Saturday his country would offer special visas and hotel packages to Sikh pilgrims in the United Arab Emirates and other countries who were eager to visit Kartarpur to mark the birth anniversary of the founder of their faith.
Located in Pakistan’s Punjab province, Kartarpur is said to have been established in the 16th century by Guru Nanak who laid the foundations of Sikhism.
The Pakistan government opened a visa-free border crossing and corridor connecting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, where Nanak was buried, to the border with India to allow Sikh devotees from the neighboring country to visit the place without securing travel permits.
“For the Sikh community here,” Hussain said during a media talk in Dubai, “I especially want to say that we will hold a special three-day festival this year on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. We will arrange three-day visas for our Sikh brothers here who wish to come to Pakistan and felicitate them. Hotels are also giving special packages.”
He added Pakistan planned to commemorate the event starting November 18.
“A special film focusing on Baba Nanak’s travels will also be released next month,” he said.




Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain (center) addresses a news conference at the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on October 23, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Consulate in Dubai)

Hussain also applauded overseas Pakistanis for making substantial contribution to their country’s economy, saying they had sent highest remittances to Pakistan in history during the last fiscal year.
“If the economy is surviving at this point, it is because of the contribution of overseas Pakistanis,” he said.
The information minister continued the government had made it a priority to address the issues of Pakistanis living abroad, adding that nearly 20,000 prisoners involved in petty crimes in the Gulf region had been brought back to their country.
He maintained the current administration in Islamabad was also keen to install electronic voting system for overseas Pakistanis ahead of the next elections.
“We want our nationals living abroad to cast their votes as well,” he added.
Asked about the T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan on Sunday, Hussain said he would be watching the game in the stadium.
He noted that cricket was one sport that brought together Pakistanis “from Lahore to Gwadar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Karachi.”
“We are all praying and hope that Pakistan will win tomorrow,” he added.
The information minister is also scheduled to visit the Pakistan Pavilion at the Dubai expo this week.

Topics: Dubai Fawad Chaudhry Sikh pilgrims kartarpur

Taliban criticize Pakistan’s plan to expel Afghan nationals, say refugees not causing security problems

Updated 9 sec ago
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Taliban criticize Pakistan’s plan to expel Afghan nationals, say refugees not causing security problems

  • Pakistan blamed Afghan nationals for carrying out a majority of suicide attacks in its cities, asking illegal immigrants to go
  • Zabiullah Mujahid says Pakistan should continue to ‘tolerate’ Afghan refugees until they voluntarily decide to leave the country
Updated 9 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A senior official in Kabul on Wednesday criticized Pakistan’s decision to start expelling illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, from next month amid mounting security concerns, saying that refugees from his country were not responsible for causing militant violence in Pakistani cities.

Pakistan has hosted a significant number of Afghan refugees for several decades, with their influx beginning in 1979 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and continuing through various conflicts that afflicted the war-ravaged state.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans also traveled to Pakistan since the US-led international forces left the neighboring country and the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021. While Pakistan hosts some 1.5 million registered refugees, more than a million others are estimated to be residing in the country unregistered.

Pakistan’s interim interior minister said on Tuesday Afghan nationals were involved in 14 out of 24 suicide bombings that took place in Pakistan since the beginning of this year, asking all foreigners residing illegally in the country to leave by the end of the month.

“The behavior of Pakistan against Afghan refugees is unacceptable,” Zabiullah Mujahid, Afghan government’s official spokesman, said in a social media post. “The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan.”

“Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems,” he continued. “As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them.”

Pakistan witnessed a surge in extremist attacks, particularly in its two western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, following the 2021 Taliban return to power in Kabul.

The recent spike in violence also owed to the breakdown of a fragile truce between the government and the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant network, whose leadership is said to be based in Afghanistan, last November.

Pakistan lost over 60 people in two suicide bombings that targeted a mosque and a religious congregation on Friday, prompting the government to ask all illegal immigrants to leave by November 1 or face forced expulsion.
 

Topics: Pakistan Pakistan Afghan Ties Afghan refugees Afghan Refugees in pakistan Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid

US defense secretary holds call with Pakistan army chief to discuss regional developments

Updated 57 min 46 sec ago
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US defense secretary holds call with Pakistan army chief to discuss regional developments

  • A statement issued in Washington says the two officials ‘discussed areas of mutual interest’
  • The Pakistan army’s media wing has not issued a statement to share details of conversation
Updated 57 min 46 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a phone call with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, a brief statement issued in Washington announced on Tuesday night.

The US statement did not share details of the conversation between the two officials, though their exchange comes at a time when both countries are trying to rebuild relations that came under strain during the government of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The ex-premier accused the administration in Washington of orchestrating his downfall in a no-trust vote since he was trying to pursue an independent foreign policy. The US official have, however, repeatedly denied the claim.

“Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone today with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen. Asim Munir,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a brief statement. “Secretary Austin and Gen. Munir discussed areas of mutual interest as well as recent regional developments.”

Pakistan army media wing, ISPR, is yet to issue a statement about the phone call.

However, the caretaker administration gave a deadline to all illegal immigrants, mostly Afghan nationals, to leave the country by the end of the month.

The decision was announced after two militant attacks on a mosque and a religious procession left more than 60 people dead in the country’s western provinces bordering Afghanistan.

Officials in Islamabad have frequently blamed the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose leadership is said to be based in the neighboring state, for launching such attacks.

The country’s caretaker interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti also blamed Afghan nationals for their involvement in several militant attacks during a media briefing.

“From January till now, there have been 24 suicide bombings [in Pakistan],” he said. “Of those 24, 14 suicide bombings were carried out by Afghan nationals. They were Afghans who attacked us.

Topics: Pakistan US Ties Pakistan US Lloyd Austin Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin General Asim Munir Pakistan army chief

Pakistan imposes 10 percent fee on Afghan transit trade items

Updated 04 October 2023
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Pakistan imposes 10 percent fee on Afghan transit trade items

  • The decision comes amid an intense crackdown against smugglers and hoarders to bolster the weakening economy
  • Officials say the move will prevent items destined for Afghanistan to be brought into Pakistani markets by traders
Updated 04 October 2023
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: Pakistan announced on Tuesday to impose a 10 percent processing fee on several items imported from Afghanistan under a transit trade agreement in a step that has been viewed as an attempt to stop illegal entry of goods into the country from the neighboring state.
The government launched an intense crackdown against smugglers and black marketers last month to bolster the country’s weakening economy and bring down the prices of essential items in the market.
The counter smuggling operation prevented the flight of foreign currencies from Pakistan, leading to the stabilization of its value somewhat subsiding the inflationary pressure in the economy.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 18D of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), the Federal Government is pleased to impose processing fee at the rate of 10 percent ad valorem on the following Afghan transit Commercial goods imported into Afghanistan in transit via Pakistan,” said a customs department notification while listing down the items.
These included confectionaries and chocolates, footwear, mechanical and electrical machinery, blankets and home textiles, and garments.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported customs officials “suspect that certain goods, though destined for Afghanistan, are clandestinely rerouted back into Pakistan, prompting this latest measure.”
However, the official notification said goods declarations filed prior to the decision on Tuesday would be exempt from the processing fee.
Pakistan has also announced to crack down on illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, residing in the country, asking them to leave before the end of the month.

Topics: Pakistan afghan trade afghan trade items Afghanistan

Pakistani cybersecurity expert leads King Saud University in winning US AI-based biometrics patent

Updated 04 October 2023
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Pakistani cybersecurity expert leads King Saud University in winning US AI-based biometrics patent

  • The university says it such research projects can help transform the kingdom into a knowledge-based economy
  • Muhammad Khurram Khan, who led the research team, has set up a cybersecurity think tank in the United States
Updated 04 October 2023
KHURSHID AHMED   

KARACHI: King Saud University has won a patent from the United States by developing a biometrics-based iris recognition system after carrying out a project led by an accomplished Pakistani expert who is also the founded of an independent and non-partisan cybersecurity think-tank in Washington.
According to a post shared on the university’s website, the new system uses artificial intelligence and employs deep learning-based methods for extracting discriminant features from biometric traits obtained from eyeball images.
Muhammad Khurram Khan, who carried out and supervised the research, is a distinguished professor of cybersecurity from the Center of Excellence in Information Assurance and the founding CEO of the US think tank, Global Foundation for Cyber Studies and Research.
“The invention provides an innovative method based on multi-algorithm, multi-biometric, and multi-instance approaches to a single biometric source that enhances security and performance of the identification process at significant level,” the Saudi university announced.
“The invented technology has widespread applications, which are not only limited to areas such as immigration and border control, health care, banking and finance, consumer electronics, smart mobility, and military and defense, etc.,” it added.
The university website also proclaimed that Khan and his research team held a number of US patents in cybersecurity and had also published numerous high-impact research papers in flagship journals.
It also highlighted its own commitment to such research and development projects to transform the kingdom into a knowledge-based economy under Vision 2030.

Topics: cybersecurity expert AI-based biometrics King Saud University

Pakistan’s cotton production bounces back after last year’s losses, records 71 percent growth

Updated 04 October 2023
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Pakistan’s cotton production bounces back after last year’s losses, records 71 percent growth

  • The country witnessed a massive decline of 34 percent in cotton production last year due to the floods
  • The government calls this year’s production level ‘momentous,’ expects a bumper crop of 12 million bales
Updated 04 October 2023
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s cotton producers have made a remarkable comeback after suffering massive losses due to last year’s monsoon floods, with the commerce ministry announcing a 71 percent year-on-year growth in the ongoing year by issuing a brief statement on Tuesday.
Cotton is the main raw material of Pakistan’s textile sector which contributes about 60 percent to the overall exports of the country.
Torrential rains during monsoon last year triggered flash flood, destroying people’s houses and farmlands across much of the country.
The situation caused a huge setback to cotton production sector that experienced a 34 percent year-on-year decline, according to the official figures.
However, the ministry said in its statement that the “astounding 71 percent year-on-year growth” had “not only surpassed the previous year’s figures but also exceeded expectations.”
“Cotton arrivals crossing the 5 million bales mark on October 1, 2023, is a momentous achievement for Pakistan,” Dr. Gohar Ejaz, the interim commerce minister, said while commenting on the development. “Last year, our total crop was 5 million bales, and this year, we are anticipating a bumper crop of 12 million bales.”
“This remarkable growth showcases the dedication and hard work of our farmers and the resilience of our cotton industry,” he added.
The minister also promised to support and promote the cotton sector of the country, saying it had always played an “indispensable role” in Pakistan’s economic development and global competitiveness.
According to the textile industry stakeholders, the country’s cotton production has been shrinking in recent years.
“The cotton output in Pakistan is declining mainly due to the climate change-related issues and reduction in the cultivation area,” Chaudhry Waheed Arshad, a top official of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, told Arab News earlier this year in January.

Topics: cotton Pakistan Cotton Crop Agriculture

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