ISLAMABAD: A new China-Pakistan air cargo route was launched this week to enhance bilateral trade and connectivity, state-run media said, with the new route linking China’s southwestern Guizhou province to Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi.
This is the first air route that links Guizhou and Pakistan, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said in a report on Wednesday, adding that it is also the first air freight route connecting the province with a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) country.
To mark the official start of the route, an all-cargo plane carrying six tons of freight comprising clothing, electronic products and other commodities, took off from Guiyang, Guizhou’s capital, on Tuesday morning, APP said. It arrived in Karachi within six hours.
“This is the first air route linking Guizhou and Pakistan, and it is also the first air freight route connecting the province with a Belt and Road Initiative country,” APP said.
Officials said the new air route will help build Guiyang into a cargo distribution center in southwest China, the report said. It added the route would also reduce the time for Pakistan’s quality fresh products to reach Guizhou.
In January, the two countries launched an air cargo route connecting Ezhou Huahu Airport in central China’s Hubei province with Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore.
Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Khalil Hashmi, had said the Lahore-Hubei route would help spur bilateral trade and termed it a significant step forward in the “bilateral connectivity spectrum.”
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan. The two countries collaborate on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under China’s BRI, with more than $65 billion pledged for road, rail, and other infrastructure developments in the South Asian nation.
Pakistan, China launch new air cargo route to enhance bilateral trade
https://arab.news/55vmv
Pakistan, China launch new air cargo route to enhance bilateral trade
- Air cargo route connects China’s Guizhou province to Pakistan’s largest metropolis Karachi
- All-cargo plane carrying six tons of freight arrived from Guizhou’s capital to Karachi on Tuesday
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
