ISLAMABAD: Pakistani expatriates recently lamented the absence of voting rights for overseas communities and urged Pakistan’s election oversight body to devise a system that would enable their inclusion in the decision-making process at home.
National elections in the politically and economically troubled South Asian nation were initially supposed to be held on November 90, days after the dissolution of the lower house of parliament in August. However, the elections were postponed to February 8 due to the delimitation of constituencies following a new census.
Before the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April 2022, his administration had not only endorsed the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) to enhance “transparency” and “inclusivity” in elections but it appeared to be taking practical steps in this regard, much to the delight of overseas Pakistanis.
But in May 2022, the coalition government of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif passed the Election Amendment Act 2022, revoking overseas Pakistanis’ right to vote and prohibiting the use of EVMs in general elections.
While many overseas Pakistanis were hopeful that the upcoming election would bring stability to the South Asian country, few were skeptical about the transparency of the polls.
“Overseas Pakistanis here are quite hopeful that the elections will bring Pakistan out of this crisis of instability, turmoil, unrest and chaos,” Syed Kamran Akhtar Gilani, a Pakistani expatriate in Saudi Arabia, told Arab News from Riyadh.
He said almost every overseas Pakistani in the Kingdom was enthusiastic about the upcoming polls and was actively participating in election campaigns through “social media platforms.”
Qaiser Abbas, a Pakistani expatriate in the United Kingdom (UK), was skeptical of the possibility of a free and fair election taking place in Pakistan.
“Pakistan is already in financial crisis, and spending billions of public money in this useless process will add more burden on the ordinary people as overseas Pakistanis are not allowed to vote and members of the main opposition party are being denied their basic right to stand in the election,” Abbas told Arab News from London.
He said a free and fair election and a stable government elected by the people were the only solution to a “stable and durable” Pakistan.
Mazhar Abbasi, a United Arab Emirates-based expat, expressed dismay over their exclusion from the electoral process at home.
“It is very sad that overseas Pakistanis send so much remittances, is it not our right to play our role in the decisions of our country,” he asked.
Abbasi said the fate of Pakistan should be decided by the people of Pakistan.
“I want to go to Pakistan and cast a vote but in these circumstances, I am thinking that if I cast a vote in Pakistan, will the elections be fair,” he told Arab News from Dubai. “I do not think that the elections will be fair.”
When asked why overseas Pakistanis could not vote from the respective countries in which they are based, ECP spokesperson Syed Nadeem Haider referred to the Election (Amendment) Act 2022.
“If an expatriate is a registered voter and wishes to cast a vote, they must return to Pakistan and vote physically in their constituency,” Haider said.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan is bound to adhere to the current law, which explicitly mandates this requirement and ECP will follow the law accordingly if there will be any changes brought in it in the future.”
While the government has vowed to ensure a transparent election in the country, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a few other parties have levelled allegations of “pre-poll rigging” against the administration and demanded a “level playing field” to all parties.
Khan, a 71-year-old former cricket star, has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister. He has not been seen in public since being jailed for three years in August for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office from 2018 to 2022.
The ex-premier has been disqualified from contesting the national elections because of the corruption conviction, but he nevertheless filed nominations for the elections which were rejected. Khan, widely seen as the country’s most popular leader, says he is being targeted by the powerful military, which wants to keep him out of the polls. The military denies this.
On the other hand, the election commission accepted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s nomination from two constituencies for the Feb. 8 election, weeks after a court overturned his two graft convictions. Khan’s party sees the recent judgments granting relief to Sharif as favors given to his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, which appears poised to once again take over the reins of the country.
Dubai-based Pakistani Maaz Amjad praised the former Khan administration for granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis, but regretted the subsequent decision by the Shehbaz Sharif-led government to revoke that right.
“The biggest source of income for Pakistan is the overseas community but at the moment, they have taken away our rights and have stopped us from voting which is not a good move,” he said.
Imtiaz-ul-Hassan Bukhari, a Pakistani expatriate from the United States (US), said these polls were going to be distinct from the previous ones as they would determine the future of democracy in Pakistan.
“These are going to be very historical elections for the people of Pakistan,” he told Arab News from Connecticut.
“I am expecting that people will rise and stand up for their rights and they will elect the people who are for the people of Pakistan, not establishment-backed candidates.”
Overseas Pakistanis advocate voting rights, call for ‘inclusivity’ ahead of national election
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Overseas Pakistanis advocate voting rights, call for ‘inclusivity’ ahead of national election
- The former Shehbaz Sharif administration, via Election Act 2022, revoked voting rights of overseas Pakistanis, prohibited e-voting machine use
- Overseas Pakistanis say they want a free and fair election and that a government elected by the people is crucial for stability in the South Asian nation
Pakistan to seek bids to sell national airline next week
- Privatization board approves pre-qualification criteria for selection of prospective bidders
- New expressions of interest in buying between 51-100 percent of airline would be sought next week
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government will seek expressions of interest next week for the sale of Pakistan International Airlines, the privatization ministry said on Thursday, days after it reported its first annual profit in over two decades.
Pakistan has been seeking to sell a 51-100 percent stake in the debt-ridden carrier, to raise funds and reform cash-draining, state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program.
Its failed attempt to privatise Pakistan International Airlines last year received a single offer, well below the asking price of more than $300 million.
The privatization commission board has approved seeking new bids, the ministry said in a statement.
“The board approved the pre-qualification criteria for selection of prospective bidders,” it said. It added new expressions of interest in buying between 51 and 100 percent of the airline would be sought next week.
Pakistan has shifted almost all of the national carrier’s legacy debt to government books after issues raised by bidders led to the failure of the last privatization attempt.
Muhammad Ali, government adviser on privatization, said last week all the issues raised at the time of last year’s failed attempt had been dealt with.
Pakistan’s top diplomat meets Bangladesh’s Yunus as first foreign office meetings in 15 years held
- Interactions in Dhaka come amid political shifts in Bangladesh following the ouster of pro-India PM Sheikh Hasina Wajid in student uprising
- While Hasina’s removal from office was followed by cooling of relations between Dhaka and New Delhi, exchanges with Islamabad are growing
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch met Chief Adviser of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus on Thursday to discuss trade, investment, youth linkages and regional integration, following the first Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between the two nations in 15 years.
The two countries, which were once one, have shared a tumultuous history, with Bangladesh gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a bloody war of independence.
The latest meetings in Dhaka come amid significant political shifts in Bangladesh following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid in a popular student uprising last year. Hasina’s government was hostile toward Pakistan but closely allied with India, where she remains exiled. While her removal from office was followed by the cooling of relations between Dhaka and New Delhi, exchanges with Islamabad have started to grow.
“During the Foreign Secretary’s call on the Chief Adviser, Yunus, inter alia, trade and investment opportunities, youth linkages, regional integration, and revival of SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] remained the focus of discussion,” Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement.
A separate statement from Yunus’ office said he “put the emphasis on strengthening ties with Pakistan to boost mutual cooperation and explore trade and business potentials.”
“There are certain hurdles. We have to find ways to overcome those and move forward,” the chief adviser told Baloch who was in Dhaka for the 6th round of Foreign Secretary Level Consultations (FSLC).
A 7th round will take place in Islamabad in 2026. The consultations are expected to pave the way for a visit by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Bangladesh at the end of the month, the first such visit by a Pakistani foreign minister since 2012.
The chief adviser said that Bangladesh and Pakistan should exchange more youth and cultural programs to increase people-to-people bonding.
“We kept missing each other for a long time as our relationship was frozen. We have to overcome the barriers,” he said.
“WE CAN’T MISS THE BUS EVERY TIME”
The statement from Bangladesh quoted Pakistani Foreign Secretary Baloch as saying ways must be found to “harness the potentials between the two countries.”
“We have huge intra-regional markets on our own rights. We should use it,” Baloch said. ” “We can’t miss the bus every time.”
She said that there was a need for regular B2B (business to business) interactions between the private sectors of the two countries and the exchange of visits at all levels.
“Both sides had a constructive and forward-looking engagement in a cordial environment where entire spectrum of Pakistan -Bangladesh bilateral relations came under discussion, including political, economic and trade relations, cooperation in agriculture, environment and education, cultural exchanges, defense relations and people to people contacts,” the Pakistani foreign office added.
“The focus of talks on economic cooperation and people to people relations is a realistic and pragmatic agenda for the revival of ties,” Former Pakistani diplomat Ali Sarwar Naqvi, an executive director of the Center for International Strategic Studies in Islamabad, told Arab News, commenting on the latest interactions in Dhaka.
In regional terms, Naqvi said growing ties between Islamabad and Dhaka were a “setback” to India’s hegemonic ambitions in South Asia.
Former Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said the people of Pakistan and Bangladesh were bound by history, faith and culture, and it was encouraging to see their bilateral ties on an “upward trajectory.”
“It was unfortunate that during Sheikh Haseena’s time, all these relations and relations were cut off, but now that the change has come, the situation has improved,” he told Arab News, saying any differences in the future should be resolved through “diplomacy and dialogue.”
“The cooperation between Pakistan and Bangladesh is not aimed against any third country, and India should see it as a natural interaction between two sovereign nations,” he added.
Another former ambassador, Masood Khalid, said Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one country and it was “illogical and unnatural” for them not to have diplomatic contact for decades.
“Both countries deciding to explore cooperation in multiple fields and restore their historical bonding finds resonance among the people of two countries,” he told Arab News.
“I am confident that this headway in bilateral ties will be of mutual benefit and conducive to regional peace and stability.”
Pakistan hopes for more joint ventures with China through newly inaugurated BRI trade center
- Belt and Road Economic and Trade Center was officially launched this week in Changshu City
- Center features dedicated country display zones and liaison offices for BRI member nations
ISLAMABAD: The Belt and Road Economic and Trade Center (BRETC) will provide Pakistan with a “one stop solution” for joint ventures with Chinese companies, a Pakistani adviser for the newly inaugurated platform said this week.
BRETC was officially launched this week in Changshu City, a key hub in the Yangtze River Delta economic zone in Jiangsu Province. Among the platform’s core objectives is facilitating joint ventures, providing project and trade financing, and helping BRI partner countries access China’s market. The center features dedicated country display zones and liaison offices for key partners, including Pakistan, Jordan, Nigeria and others.
BRETC adviser, Moin Ul Haque, a former Pakistani ambassador to China, said the platform would serve as a “one-stop platform for trade, investment and cultural exchanges, facilitating deeper integration between China and partner countries” like Pakistan.
“The basic purpose of setting up the center was to provide a platform for the countries which are members of Belt and Road for their business connectivity, to improve, to facilitate international trade, to provide a one stop solution for joint ventures with Chinese companies,” he was quoted by Pakistani state news agency APP as saying at the inauguration of BRETC.
The center will provide Belt and Road partner countries with free office space for three years, a free display corner and legal support, and help them set up business branch offices in China.
It will also serve as a platform to enable Belt and Road countries to procure Chinese exports, including commodities and advanced technologies.
Ibrahim Munir, the chairman of the IBI International Group, which initiated and funded BRETC, spoke about the reasons he chose the newly built High-Tech Zone in Changshu as the location for the center.
“It gives you all solutions when it comes to business. It has all kinds of industry – textiles, solar manufacturing, biotech and name of any industry you can have it here,” Munir said.
“And also, the connectivity toward the ports, Changshu port and Suzhou port and Shanghai port. It’s all in one solution, 2ZA3 BXQ and also the incentives, the government policy for the businesses is perfect.”
He said BRETC aimed to connect with over 30 countries and had already engaged with more than 20 to discuss future collaborations and shared visions.
Once put into operation, the center will offer comprehensive solutions spanning bilateral bulk trade, supply chain management, engineering procurement and construction (EPC), transfer-operate-transfer (TOT) projects, production line setup and financing services for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) engagements.
Pakistan external account posts record monthly surplus, buoying investor confidence
- Current account posts a record and one of the highest monthly surpluses in March 2025 with $1.19 billion, up 229% year-on-year
- Pakistan stocks concluded Thursday’s session on bullish note, with KSE-100 Index advancing by 881 points to close at 116,901 level
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday the country’s current account, which comprises external trade and transfers, had posted a record and one of the highest monthly surpluses in March 2025 with $1.19 billion, up 229% year-on-year.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange also concluded Thursday’s session on a bullish note, with the KSE-100 Index advancing by 881 points, or 0.76%, to close at 116,901 level.
“Investor sentiment was buoyed by record-high remittances, which contributed to a historic current account surplus in March 2025. The surplus for the first nine months of FY25 reached $1.9 billion,” Topline securities said in a statement.
The surplus in March 2024 stood at $363 million, the latest central bank data showed.
On Monday, Central Bank governor Jameel Ahmad had said the current account would show a “substantial” surplus this year through June mainly on the back of a record inflow of remittances which crossed the $4 billion mark in March, with Saudi Arabia once again topping the list of biggest contributors.
“With record monthly surplus in March 2025, cumulative surplus in country’s Current Account for 9MFY25 (Jul-Mar25) now stands at $1.86 billion, which was in a deficit of $1.65 billion in the same period last year,” SBP said.
In March 2025, Pakistan’s exports recorded at $3.51 billion, growing 8.7% YoY and 6.0% MoM. Imports also rose 8.0% YoY to $5.92 billion in March but fell 1.9% MoM.
“Resultantly, while Trade Deficit (Goods+Services) went up 7% YoY, it narrowed 11.5% MoM in March 2025,” the data showed.
For 9MFY25 (Jul-Mar25), total exports now stand at $30.9 billion, up 8.1% YoY, while total imports stand at $51.9 billion, up 10.7% YoY, with the cumulative trade deficit at $21.1 billion, up 14.7% YoY.
“With oil prices down, and remittances continuing to make a record mark, Pakistan’s current account is expected to be in deep surplus by June FY25 and may also continue in FY26, thereby resulting in further scale-up in overall investor confidence,” the central bank said.
Pakistan received a record-high $4.1 billion in remittances in March 2025, which bodes well for the government’s efforts to revive an economy that it expects will expand three percent this year, SBP governor Ahmad said at an event at the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi on Monday.
The central bank had earlier projected economic growth to range from 2.5% to 3.5%.
“With this level of remittances, we are hoping that for the current fiscal year our current account will stay in surplus,” the governor said. “There will be a substantial surplus and this surplus is the best performance, I will say, on the external account during the last two decades.”
The country broke its own record in February when overseas Pakistanis remitted $3.1 billion.
Pakistan foreign minister to visit Kabul ‘within days’
- Relationship has soured as militancy in Pakistan’s border regions has soared since the Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021
- Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, has said Pakistani Taliban militant group was top issue straining ties
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister said Thursday that he will visit Kabul in the coming days, as Islamabad’s campaign to expel Afghans has forced nearly 60,000 into Afghanistan.
Islamabad has previously said it will deport more than 800,000 Afghans because they are linked to “terrorist” and narcotics activities, but analysts say the move is politically motivated.
“Preparatory meetings have been ongoing and hopefully, within days, I will be visiting Kabul for a day to break this logjam which is there for the last few years,” said Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister, who also serves as deputy prime minister.
Pakistan was one of just three countries that recognized the Taliban’s first government in the 1990s and was accused of covertly supporting their insurgency against NATO forces.
But their relationship has soured as militancy in Pakistan’s border regions has soared since the Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021.
Last year was the deadliest year in Pakistan for a decade, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take shelter in Afghanistan from where they plan attacks.
The Taliban government denies the charge.
On Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration said Pakistan has expelled nearly 60,000 Afghans since the start of April.
The UN says nearly three million Afghans live in Pakistan, many who have been there for decades or were born there, after fleeing successive conflicts.
The Pakistan government has canceled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned those who are in Pakistan awaiting relocation to other countries that they must leave by the end of April.
More than 1.3 million who hold Proof of Registration cards issued by the UN refugee agency have been told to leave the capital and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi.
Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, this month said the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militant group was the top issue straining ties.
“TTP is a big challenge that can’t be tolerated. Afghanistan has to work with us on this. If they are not working on this, then all deals are off,” said Sadiq, who is currently visiting Afghanistan.
The TTP is a separate but closely linked group to the Afghan Taliban that carries out frequent attacks on Pakistani security officials.
