KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Pakistan’s financial hub Karachi on Wednesday on his maiden trip to the city since assuming the top political office, where he held meetings with the provincial leadership and the business community. 

Sharif, who is in Karachi for a day-long visit, visited the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan’s founder, to pay his respects after arriving in the city. 

“The prime minister will exchange views with the governor of Sindh and its chief minister on Sindh province’s overall political situation and administration matters,” a statement from Sharif’s office said. 

Sharif presided over a meeting at the Chief Minister House later in which he was informed about the financial matters between the center and the province. 

The chief minister’s spokesperson informed Sharif that the center owed Sindh a whopping Rs1,078.198 billion yet it had handed over Rs28 billion less than that.

“The prime minister instructed the federal finance minister to speak to the chief minister and resolve financial matters,” the chief minister said.

Sharif later announced the addition of 150 buses in Karachi to a fleet of 300, which the provincial government aims to deploy to alleviate the people’s transport woes.

“On the insistence of transport minister, Sharjeel Inaam Memon, prime minister announced 150 buses in the pool of 300 buses,” Abdul Rasheed Channa, the Chief Minister’s House spokesperson said, adding that the prime minister praised the provincial transport department.

Karachi, one of the largest cities in the world with a population of 20.3 million people, has 25,000 buses operating on over 700 routes covering the city. The number of private buses has decreased to 300 which operate on only 50 routes. 

The prime minister later spoke to Karachi’s prominent businesspersons, referring to them as “the backbone of Pakistan’s economy.”

“We should rise before our personal likes and dislikes to serve Pakistan,” he said, adding that he wanted to carve out the best business policies for Pakistan to improve the country’s financial health. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran urged the United Nations Security Council in a joint statement issued on Wednesday to prevent Israel’s hostile acts toward regional countries, noting that the behavior of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration was further escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The joint statement was circulated by Pakistan’s foreign ministry after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi concluded his three-day visit to the South Asian state in which he held several high-level meetings in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

The Iranian president arrived in Pakistan on Monday as the two Muslim neighbors sought to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes earlier this year. The visit also took place at a time when tensions remain high in the Middle East after Iran launched airstrikes on Israel a week ago and Israel retaliated with its own attack on Friday.

The joint Pakistan-Iran statement condemned Israel’s attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus on April 2, calling it an unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of Syria that undermined its stability and security. It also pointed out the attack was a violation of international law and the UN Charter, constituting an illegal act under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.

“Recognizing that the irresponsible act of the Israeli regime forces was a major escalation in an already volatile region, both sides called on the UN Security Council to prevent Israel regime from its adventurism in the region and its illegal acts attacking its neighbours and targeting foreign diplomatic facilities,” the statement noted.

It added the two sides condemned Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people, along with the inhumane blockade of Gaza, while seeking a just, comprehensive and durable solution to the issue based on the aspirations of the people of Palestine.

Pakistan and Iran agreed to adopt a collaborative approach to confront militant violence and to leverage the existing bilateral institutional mechanisms to effectively combat and counter the threat, while fully upholding the principles of the UN Charter, particularly the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states.

“Both sides also acknowledged the key role of enhanced economic and commercial opportunities in improving the security environment in the border areas,” the joint statement added.

It mentioned the consensus to fully operationalize barter trade mechanisms between the two countries to facilitate bilateral economic and commercial activities.

Both countries reiterated the importance of cooperation in the energy domain, including trade in electricity, power transmission lines and Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project.

“The two leaders agreed to boost their bilateral trade to USD10 billion over the next five years,” the statement said.