ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar described Pakistan’s border situation as “alarming” in an interview on Saturday, though he ruled out the possibility of any delay in the next general elections due to the security situation on the country’s international frontiers.
Kakar made this assertion against the backdrop of rising political voices seeking the election commission to announce the date for the national polls, which have already been delayed due to the delimitation of national and provincial constituencies in the country.
President Arif Alvi had dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in August, just a few days before its tenure was set to expire.
According to the constitution, the next election should have been held within 90 days, ending at the beginning of November. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided to redraw the constituencies based on a digital census conducted earlier this year in April. There is growing uncertainty surrounding the national polls since then which may now happen somewhere in February.
The prime minister told the Voice of America’s Urdu service there was no fear of delayed elections due to security situation on Pakistan’s borders.
“At the moment, I do not see any such possibility,” he told the interviewer. “It is true that there is an alarming situation on the eastern and western borders which has enhanced the security threat and our response mechanism. But we are confident that we will control the situation and complete the electoral process at the same time.”
Kakar disagreed when asked why his administration was doing almost everything other than focusing on the national polls.
“It is not right to say that we are not taking steps to facilitate elections,” he continued. “The caretaker administration has been fulfilling the Election Commission of Pakistan’s requirements and fully providing it assistance on a daily basis.”
However, he reiterated it was not the mandate of his interim government to announce the elections and was only required to provide financial, security and other assistance to the ECP.
He also maintained his government would not raise any objection if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of holding the general elections within the 90-day period.
Pakistan’s PM expresses ‘alarm’ over border situation, asserts it won’t cause delay in elections
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Pakistan’s PM expresses ‘alarm’ over border situation, asserts it won’t cause delay in elections
- Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar says his administration has been assisting the election commission on a daily basis
- The PM says his government will have no objection if the top court rules in favor of early national polls
Riyadh-based digital bloc says Pakistan’s 2026 presidency to boost country’s global tech standing
- Pakistan is a founding member of the Digital Cooperation Organization which was established in November 2020
- Its secretary general, Deemah AlYahya, is currently in Pakistan where DCO is co-hosting a digital investment summit
ISLAMABAD: The Secretary-General of the Riyadh-based Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), Deemah AlYahya, said on Tuesday Pakistan’s forthcoming presidency of the multilateral body was part of ongoing efforts to position the country as a regional and global digital leader.
Founded in November 2020, the DCO is an intergovernmental organization aimed at accelerating digital transformation and encouraging collaboration among member states. The organization’s founding members include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Pakistan, with Nigeria and Oman joining shortly thereafter. Pakistan is scheduled to assume the DCO presidency in 2026, following Kuwait’s term in 2025.
AlYahya, a Saudi digital economy expert and the organization’s Secretary-General since April 2021, is responsible for engaging with heads of state, ministers and private sector leaders to bridge digital divides across member nations. She is currently in Islamabad for a two-day Digital Foreign Direct Investment (DFDI) summit, organized by Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication in collaboration with the DCO.
The event has attracted over 400 delegates and more than 200 IT and telecom companies from over 30 countries.
“The presidency of Pakistan that is planned for 2026 for DCO is a continuous effort for positioning Pakistan as the digital powerhouse for the region and for the globe as well,” the DCO secretary-general told Arab News in an exclusive conversation on the sidelines of the forum in Islamabad.
She said Pakistan’s leadership role would not only benefit the country in terms of infrastructure and technological advancement but also put it in a position where it will be able to support other countries to grow as well.
“The DCO is working to open markets for enterprises across all member states, enabling smooth and healthy cross-border collaboration, so Pakistan will have a leading role in making such kind of advancement happen,” she added.
AlYahya said that seeing the youth and the growth in Pakistan’s digital sector gave her a great sense of optimism.
“It gives us a lot of motivation to put hands in hands with all our member countries and utilize the amazing advancement in each and every country,” she added.
She noted that DCO believed every country had a unique competitive advantage that can help address challenges faced by others, adding it was her organization’s role to identify these imperatives, strengths and areas for improvement.
“The Digital FDI event here in Pakistan … is one example of how can we explore the competitive advantage of the great infrastructure, youth, talent, the advancement in software and hardware here in Pakistan and attract the private sector to harness these opportunities in the land of Pakistan,” she added.
Pakistan’s IT exports reached a record $3.2 billion in FY2024, reflecting a 24 percent increase from the previous year, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. In the first half of the current fiscal year (FY2025), exports rose further to $1.86 billion, up 28 percent year-on-year, with monthly figures averaging around $310 million.
This growth trajectory is underpinned by a number of factors, including an expanding global client base, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Pakistan is now aiming to cross the $4 billion mark in IT exports by the end of FY2025.
Pakistan tells UN Israel killing Palestinians at ‘four times the rate of previous conflicts’
- Asim Iftikhar Ahmed says peace will remain an illusion until Israel’s occupation of Arab lands continues
- He calls for a ceasefire, full humanitarian access to Gaza and a credible path to Palestinian statehood
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat at the United Nations said on Tuesday Israel was killing civilians in Gaza at “four times the rate of previous conflicts” as he urged the international community to move toward permanent peace in the Middle East by ending Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories.
The war in Gaza, which began in October 2023, has so far killed around 52,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, raised the issue during a high-level debate at the Security Council on the Middle East. He described Israel’s ongoing military campaign as “the erasure of a nation’s right to exist” and accused it of war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
“Israel’s unilateral breach of the ceasefire agreement — brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States [earlier this year] — was a deliberate choice of return to war over diplomacy,” Ahmed said. “This assault on Gaza is killing civilians at four times the rate of previous conflicts. Since hostilities resumed, nearly 2,000 more Palestinians have been killed, adding to the staggering death toll of over 52,000, among them more than 17,000 children.”
Ahmed condemned the attack earlier this month on Al-Ahli hospital, the last major facility providing critical health care in Gaza, calling it a “horrific massacre.”
He said Israeli forces were deliberately targeting civilians, aid convoys and critical infrastructure, while using starvation as a weapon of war.
“The deliberate targeting of civilians and essential infrastructure, the use of starvation as a weapon, and the incineration of displaced families in tents — these are not collateral damages of war; they are methods of war,” he said.
The Pakistani envoy also blamed Israel for violating ceasefire agreements and UN resolutions in Lebanon and Syria, calling the pattern “clear.”
“As long as the root cause, the illegal occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands, is ignored and not addressed, peace will remain an illusion,” he added.
Calling for immediate international action, Ahmed urged the Security Council to pursue a permanent ceasefire, full humanitarian access to Gaza and a credible path to Palestinian statehood.
He welcomed the upcoming June peace conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia as a “vital opportunity” and called for concrete outcomes, including a timeline for statehood, protection of civilians and full UN membership for Palestine.
“Seventy-five years of failure have shown one immutable truth: peace cannot coexist with occupation, justice cannot thrive under apartheid and stability cannot take root where millions remain stateless,” Ahmed added.
Pakistan’s Noor Zaman revives family legacy with epic Under-23 world squash championship comeback
- Zaman defeated opponents from Kuwait, Poland, France and Malaysia on his path to the final
- His epic win has got him a wildcard entry to Senior World Championship in Chicago next month
PESHAWAR: Noor Zaman found himself on the brink of defeat after losing the first two games to his Egyptian counterpart in the final of the Under-23 Men’s World Squash Championship in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi this month.
The 21-year-old faced a moment of truth in front of a roaring home crowd and decided he could not lose the world championship Pakistan was hosting for the first time in 30 years and what followed was an epic comeback from Zaman to beat Egypt’s Karim El Turky 3-2.
His victory was not just a personal milestone but a symbolic moment for Pakistani squash, a sport once dominated by legends like Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan, and Zaman’s own grandfather, Qamar Zaman.
“When I got 2-0 down, only one thing was coming to my mind that ‘a world championship is being held in Pakistan after three decades, the whole crowd is sitting here to support me, if I lose, I will regret it a lot’,” Zaman recalled.
“I thought to myself that ‘all the hard work I have done in the past three, four months to prepare for this tournament, I should go to the court and fight for every single point.’ Thank God, I fought for every point and Allah made me the world champion.”
Zaman, who hails from the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, says for him, squash was more of an obligation than a passion.
“When I was young, I used to be taken for playing squash [by my grandfather]. I was not as passionate in childhood,” he said.
But with time, the sport became his calling.
Zaman’s ascent began with two consecutive Asian Junior Championship titles last year, followed by a silver medal at the Asian Games after graduating to the senior category.
The Under-23 World Squash Championship saw participation from 32 countries, with Zaman defeating opponents from Kuwait, Poland, France, and Malaysia on his path to the final. Zaman defeated 3-0 the players he had narrowly contested against as a junior, which was a testament to his growing dominance in the game.
His final opponent, Egypt’s El Turky, pushed him to the limit, but Zaman staged a spirited comeback, cheered on by an electrifying crowd in Karachi.
But there has hardly been any official recognition of Zaman’s feat.
“Everyone congratulated me — government officials, seniors, everyone — but no one has yet invited me for any honors,” he shared.
The 21-year-old remains grounded, driven by the legacy of his grandfather who continues to nurture talent in Peshawar by organizing regular tournaments.
“This is our family game and all the players emerging from Peshawar are emerging because of him, because of his support,” Noor said.
“He organizes 2-3 tournaments every month, which gives motivation to kids and they improve further.”
Zaman’s victory in the Under-23 championship has earned him a direct wildcard entry to next month’s Senior World Championship in Chicago.
The young Pakistani squash star is hopeful of not just carrying forward his family’s legacy, but also helping his country reclaim its former glory in the sport.
“God willing, now, I am going to play the Senior World Championship, [and] the goal is to become the Senior World Champion,” he said.
Pakistan says India planning military action within ‘24 to 36 hours’ as US calls for restraint
- Ataullah Tarrar warns ‘onus of escalatory spiral and its ensuing consequences shall squarely lie with India’
- US says Secretary of State Marco Rubio will contact Pakistan and India ‘as early as today or tomorrow’
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Ataullah Tarrar said on Wednesday Islamabad had “credible intelligence” India was planning to launch a military action against Pakistan within the next “24 to 36 hours,” as the United States urged both nuclear-armed neighbors to resolve their differences peacefully.
Relations between the two South Asian nations have deteriorated sharply following an attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, a tourist hotspot in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people.
New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the assault, but Pakistan denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation while warning India against any escalation.
Tarrar issued the warning in a video statement, hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with his top military commanders alongside the country’s defense minister and national security adviser, reportedly granting them “operational freedom” to respond to last week’s attack.
“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends carrying out military action against Pakistan in the next 24 to 36 hours on the pretext of baseless and concocted allegations of involvement in the Pahalgam incident,” he said.
“Indian self-assumed hubristic role of judge, jury, and executioner in the region is reckless and vehemently rejected,” he added.
Tarrar reiterated that Pakistan had itself suffered from militancy and “always condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations anywhere in the world.”
He said Islamabad had proposed a credible and transparent probe by a neutral commission of experts to ascertain facts around the Pahalgam attack, but “India had decided to tread the path of confrontation.”
“Evasion of credible investigation is in itself sufficient evidence exposing India’s real motives, consciously making strategic decisions hostage to public sentiments purposefully trumped up for securing political objectives is unfortunate and deplorable,” he said.
“Pakistan reiterates that any such military adventurism by India would be responded to assuredly and decisively,” he added. “The international community must remain alive to the reality that the onus of escalatory spiral and its ensuing consequences shall squarely lie with India.”
Meanwhile, the United States said it was closely monitoring the situation and had reached out to both governments.
“We’re also monitoring the developments across the board in that region, and we ... are in touch with the governments of India and Pakistan, not just at the foreign minister level, certainly, but at multiple levels,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a media briefing.
“The Secretary [of State Marco Rubio] expects to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow,” she added. “He is encouraging other national leaders, other foreign ministers, to also reach out to the countries on this issue.”
On Friday, US President Donald Trump had sought to downplay the tensions, saying tensions over Kashmir had lingered for a significantly long period and the matter would be “figured out, one way or another.”
Pakistan says will defend itself as Modi gives Indian army ‘operational freedom’ over Kashmir
- Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing an attack in Kashmir that killed 26 tourists
- PM Shehbaz Sharif rejects Indian allegations and calls for a neutral investigation in conversation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday told United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Pakistan shall defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity with full force as Indian PM Modi gave the country’s military “operational freedom” to respond to last week’s attack in Kashmir, amid soaring tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Modi on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with army and security chiefs a week after the deadliest attack in years that killed 26 civilians, and told the armed forces that they had the “complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response to the terror attack,” AFP reported, citing a government source.
Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing the attack on April 22. Islamabad has rejected the charge and both countries have since exchanged gunfire in Kashmir, taken diplomatic measures against each other, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut. Modi last week vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack in Pahalgam and those who had supported it.
Amid heightened tensions, UN chief Guterres called PM Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday and underscored “the need to avoid a confrontation that could result in tragic consequences,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. Gutterres offered his good offices to support the de-escalation efforts.
“While underscoring that Pakistan shall defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity with full force in case of any misadventure by India, the prime minister encouraged the UN Secretary-General to counsel India to act responsibly and exercise restraint,” Sharif’s office said.
“The prime minister categorically rejected any attempt to link Pakistan with the Pahalgam incident and reiterated his call for a transparent and neutral investigation into the incident.”
India on April 23 suspended the World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 that ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms, saying it would last until “Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.” Islamabad described India’s move as an “act of war” and closed the Pakistani airspace for Indian airlines.
Guterres’ call came amid fears that India may conduct limited airstrikes or special forces raids near its border with Pakistan.
In his conversation with the UN chief, Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment toward fostering international peace and security as a responsible member of the international community and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
“He particularly highlighted India’s weaponization of the waters of the Indus Basin as unacceptable, while noting that water was the lifeline of 240 million people,” Sharif’s office said.
Also on Tuesday, Pakistani Deputy PM Ishaq Dar claimed India had been attempting to alter the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, which determines the river water-sharing mechanism between both countries, for the past two years.
“I have my doubt, much like other people, that this drama was staged to suspend this treaty,” he said, referring to the Pahalgam attack.
“We obviously don’t have evidence that they have staged this drama,” he continued. “What we do say with full confidence is that Pakistan has nothing to do with this [attack].”
Tensions have been boiling between the two nations since the attack in Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries have fought two wars over the disputed region they rule in part but claim in full.
The worst attack in recent years in Indian-administered Kashmir took place in Pulwama in 2019, when an insurgent rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.
Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later. The strikes were followed by the downing of an Indian fighter jet by Pakistan and the capturing of an Indian Air Force (IAF), who was released as a result of diplomatic efforts later.
The UN has urged the arch-rivals to talk, while China, which shares its border with both India and Pakistan, on Tuesday repeated its call on both sides to “exercise restraint.” Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation,” while Iran has offered to mediate the crisis.
