ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Beijing on the second day of his five-day visit to China on Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet the top Chinese leadership including President Xi Jinping and oversee the signing of trade and investment agreements in various fields, amid Islamabad push for enhanced economic cooperation with its ally.
Sharif was received by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong upon his arrival at the Beijing airport. The premier is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and other members of the cabinet and senior officials, a statement from Sharif’s office said.
“The Prime Minister has an extensive program in Beijing reflecting depth and breadth of Pakistan-China ties,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“He will meet the President, the Premier and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.”
Sharif will also attend a Pakistan-China Friendship and Business event, and hold meetings with the chief executive officers of leading Chinese companies working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
“A number of MoUs between the two countries on cooperation in various fields are likely to be signed,” the statement said.
’FULL SUPPORT’ FOR CHINESE INVESTORS
Earlier, the prime minister said his administration would provide “full support” to Chinese investors entering Pakistan’s market, as the South Asian nation seeks to woo foreign investors amid efforts to stabilize its $350 billion economy.
The premier was speaking at a joint business forum in Shenzhen, a major global technology hub, where he arrived on Tuesday for the first leg of his visit to China from June 4-8. At the top of the agenda are business-to-business meetings and efforts to seek an upgrade for CPEC, a flagship of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, through which Beijing has pledged over $60 billion in energy and infrastructure Pakistan since 2015.
Islamabad now hopes CPEC collaborations will enter the industrial, IT and agricultural sectors and is encouraging the involvement of the private sector and business-to-business (B2B) engagements.
Around 79 Pakistani companies are in China to attend the business forum in Shenzhen.
“Today is the opportunity, today is the time,” Sharif said in his address to Pakistani and Chinese executives. “Today is the moment for you to capture, sit down with our Chinese friends and brothers and have serious discussions.
“I want to assure you as not only as the prime minister of Pakistan but as the chief executive officer of Pakistan that I will give you full support like never before to promote your efforts to stitch these deals so that Pakistan and Chinese businessmen they benefit jointly have mutual benefits.”
In his address at the forum, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb laid out the government’s broader roadmap, emphasizing export-led growth and the crucial role of special economic zones. He said Pakistan was seeking foreign direct investment through government-to-government and business-to-business arrangements and aimed to access international capital markets and tap into Panda Bonds, Renminbi (RMB)-denominated bonds from a non-Chinese issuer, which are sold in mainland China.
Aurangzeb acknowledged “temporary hiccups” in payments and repatriations for Chinese companies but assured that such issues would soon be resolved.
Pakistan has frequently sent high-level official delegations to China, its closest regional ally, in the past. However, most of these visits have been to Beijing and revolved around state-level interactions between the top officials of the two countries.
Sharif’s latest visit comes at a time when his administration is actively trying to put Pakistan’s economy back on track amid prolonged financial troubles that have compelled the country to repeatedly urge friendly nations and international lenders for loans.
In recent months, Pakistani authorities have said they are no longer striving to borrow money from allies but asking them to make “mutually beneficial” investments and explore the possibility of collaborating with local businesses.
Chinese investment and financial support since 2013 have been key for the South Asian nation’s struggling economy, including the rolling over of loans so that Islamabad can meet its external financing needs at a time when its foreign reserves are critically low.
B2B MEETINGS
Earlier, the prime minister met with Zhu Zhaojiang, the founder and chairman of Transsion Holdings, a Chinese multinational company specializing in manufacturing mobile phones.
Zhu expressed interest in expanding investment in Pakistan, particularly in mobile manufacturing units and exploring opportunities in electric bikes, modern agriculture and fintech sectors, according to a statement from Sharif’s office.
The prime minister directed federal ministers and Pakistan’s ambassador to China to swiftly develop a plan of action for Transsion and encouraged the company to produce locally and increase exports from Pakistan whose greatest strength was its young workforce.
During the meeting, Zhu informed Sharif about his company’s existing operations in Pakistan, its global exports and plans for further investments, including an already established unit that employs over 5,000 Pakistan nationals.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sharif also visited the Nanshan One-Stop Service Center and Shenzhen Exhibition Museum and directed his ministers to “immediately coordinate with the Center to replicate a similar modern system in Pakistan,” state-run APP reported.
“He was briefed about the digital system established at the Center to register companies and carry out other processes under one roof. He lauded the modern systems developed at the Nanshan One-Stop Services for the registration of companies and businesses,” APP said.
“He also directed the relevant authorities to take necessary measures to establish a similar system in the country with Chinese cooperation.”
The prime minister also visited the Shenzhen Exhibition Museum where he was briefed about the development journey of Shenzhen city, as well as
the headquarters of Huawei in Shenzhen where he was received by the company’s chairman Liang Hua.
“Chairman Huawei informed the Prime Minister about the operations of Huawei around the world, especially in Pakistan, and expressed deep interest in investing in various sectors of Pakistan,” PMO said.
“The Prime Minister appreciated the innovation of Huawei’s operations and encouraged Huawei to expand its investment in Pakistan.”
After a briefing on e-governance, digital banking, telecommunication and artificial intelligence, Sharif invited Huawei to establish Safe City projects on a priority basis in Pakistan, especially in cities where work on CPEC projects was ongoing.
“The government is taking steps to digitize government offices on a priority basis,” Sharif said. “There are vast investment opportunities in Pakistan for a big company like Huawei in the fields of tax system, e-governance and artificial intelligence.”
Sharif also invited the chairman of Huawei to invest in modern technology in the agricultural sector in Pakistan and attended the signing ceremony of a framework agreement between Huawei and the Pakistani science ministry.
Under the framework agreement, Huawei will provide free training to 200,000 Pakistanis in the field of information technology including artificial intelligence and provide full support in the establishment of Safe Cities, e-governance and digitization of the economy in Pakistan.
During the China visit, the Pakistani prime minister will also meet President Xi Jinping and other senior officials in Beijing before concluding the five-day trip on June 8.
Pakistan seeks to woo Chinese investors at business forum, B2B meetings
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Pakistan seeks to woo Chinese investors at business forum, B2B meetings
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is on five-day visit to China from June 4-8
- Sharif to meet Chinese leadership, including President Jinping, in Beijing
US lobbied UN rights council to dilute Pakistan’s Gaza proposal, diplomats say
- UN rights council adopted the resolution moved by Pakistan seeking Israel's accountability
- Despite forsaking the council, US lobbied to block any new UN investigation against Israel
GENEVA: Two months after President Donald Trump announced a halt to US engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council, Washington is influencing its work by applying pressure publicly and behind the scenes, seven diplomats and rights workers said.
The United States left its seat empty during a six-week session of the 47-member council ending on Friday, but its lobbying and pressure had some success, the sources told Reuters.
They said the US, which has accused the council of an anti-Israel bias, had focused on blunting a proposal by Pakistan on the creation of an International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), the most rigorous type of UN investigation, on Israel's actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The version of Pakistan's proposal that was passed on Wednesday by the council, whose mission is to promote and protect human rights worldwide, did not include the creation of the IIIM.
The council already has a commission of inquiry on the Palestinian Territories, but Pakistan's proposal would have created an additional probe with extra powers to gather evidence for possible use in international courts.
A March 31 letter sent by Brian Mast, Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, and James R. Risch, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cautioned against voting the proposal through.
“Any HRC member state or UN entity that supports an Israel-specific IIM ... will face the same consequences as the ICC faced,” the letter said.
It appeared to be referring to sanctions approved by the House of Representatives on the International Criminal Court in protest at its arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defence minister over Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
The final version of Pakistan’s proposal referred only to an invitation to the UN General Assembly to consider an IIIM in the future.
Two Geneva-based diplomats said they had received messages from US diplomats before the change of wording asking them to oppose the new investigation.
“They were saying: ‘back off on this issue,’” said one, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Reuters could not establish whether the revision was a direct result of US actions.
A US State Department spokesperson said it was complying with the executive order signed by Trump on Feb. 4 withdrawing the US from the council and would not participate in it, adding: “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on private diplomatic conversations.”
Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not respond to a request for comment.
“The US seems to be trying to have it both ways. It doesn’t want to pay for or participate in the UN but it still wants to boss it around,” said Lucy McKernan, Deputy Director for United Nations at Human Rights Watch’s Geneva office.
‘RAW POWER’
The US and Israel are not members of the council but, like all UN member states have informal observer status and a seat in the council’s meeting chamber.
International human rights institutions are now at a critical juncture, said Phil Lynch, Director of International Service for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization.
“We are potentially confronting a future characterised by lawlessness and raw power,” he said.
The US was once the top donor to the UN rights system, but Trump has said the UN is “not being well run” and aid cuts by his administration have forced scalebacks.
The US and Israel have also opposed the mandate of one of the council’s independent experts during this session.
The Israeli ambassador said on March 24 that Francesca Albanese, a critic of Israeli actions in Gaza, had breached a UN code of conduct through “blatant antisemitic behaviour and discourse,” a diplomatic note showed.
The US State Department spokesperson said Albanese was “unfit for her role.”
“The correspondence received is under consideration,” council spokesperson Pascal Sim said, adding that whenever the council makes a nomination, “it does so with the knowledge that the mandate-holder is expected to serve up to six years in this function.”
The internal body that ensures UN experts adhere to a code of conduct condemned what it described as a coordinated campaign against Albanese, according to a letter from the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures dated 28 March.
It found no evidence to support Israel’s complaints against Albanese. However, it is introducing social media guidelines for UN experts in light of some concerns raised about her X posts.
Pakistan army commanders express ‘complete solidarity’ with Palestine, condemn Israeli ‘war crimes’
- The corps commanders’ meeting vowed not to allow anyone to disrupt peace in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province
- The army chief says ‘there is no space for terrorists and their facilitators in Pakistan’ while asking for greater vigilance
KARACHI: Pakistan’s top army generals on Friday expressed “complete solidarity” with the Palestinian people and condemned Israel’s “war crimes” in Gaza during a corps commanders’ meeting held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the military’s media wing said.
The war in Gaza, which began in October 2023, has continued despite repeated international calls for a ceasefire. The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 50,000 in the conflict, with women and children accounting for a significant portion of the casualties.
Pakistan, which does not recognize Israel, has consistently advocated for an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders. It has also raised concern over the Gaza war at global forums, including the United Nations Security Council, and demanded a ceasefire and accountability for Israeli actions.
“The forum expressed complete solidarity with the people of Palestine and condemned serious human rights violations and war crimes being perpetrated in Gaza,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement released after the 268th Corps Commanders’ Conference.
“The forum also reiterated unequivocal diplomatic, political and moral support to the people of Palestine,” it added.
Chaired by Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, the high-level meeting reviewed national security challenges and received a comprehensive briefing on the evolving geo-strategic environment.
Participants reaffirmed the military’s resolve to eliminate “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” and said no one would be allowed to disrupt peace in Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwestern province plagued by separatist violence.
The commanders vowed to thwart the designs of “foreign-backed proxies” and their “political supporters” attempting to destabilize the province.
“There is no space for terrorists and their facilitators in Pakistan,” the army chief said on the occasion.
He vowed to extend full support to the government and law enforcement agencies to take strict legal measures against illicit economic activities, noting they were intrinsically linked to the financing of militant violence in the country.
General Munir also directed field commanders to maintain “the highest standards of operational readiness and professional excellence,” stressing continuous training to ensure combat preparedness.
IMF team arrives in Pakistan for second phase of anti-corruption and governance review
- The IMF team conducted its preliminary Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment in February
- It is expected to meet finance division, central bank, tax authority and election commission officials this time
KARACHI: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team has arrived in Pakistan to carry out the second phase of its Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment (GCDA), part of the country’s $7 billion loan program, the finance ministry confirmed on Friday.
The GCDA is a detailed assessment tool used by the global lending agency to identify governance vulnerabilities in areas such as fiscal management, financial oversight and the rule of law. It is designed to support targeted reforms to improve transparency, accountability and institutional performance.
The IMF conducted the preliminary phase of the assessment in February at the request of the Pakistani government. Following the visit, it praised the country’s commitment to governance reform.
“Yes,” a ministry official said in a brief response on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the issue, when asked if the IMF team had arrived in the country.
Another ministry official corroborated the arrival of the IMF team, saying it was the continuation of its first trip to Pakistan in February.
The three-member IMF team that visited Islamabad earlier had initiated its evaluation of corruption vulnerabilities across six core state functions in Pakistan.
That visit coincided with a separate IMF mission reviewing Pakistan’s economic performance under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which later led to a staff-level agreement expected to unlock a $1 billion disbursement.
Pakistan, a regular borrower of IMF funding, is undergoing the GCDA to identify priority structural reforms required under the EFF to help revive its fragile economy.
During the February visit, the IMF GCDA delegation met with Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi to discuss the functioning of the judiciary.
In this second round, the IMF team is expected to engage with officials from the finance division, central bank, tax authority as well as institutions such as the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Auditor General of Pakistan, Election Commission and the law ministry.
After completing its review, the IMF team will file a report and recommend steps for addressing corruption vulnerabilities and strengthening integrity and governance.
Its findings are expected to assist the Pakistani government in implementing reforms aimed at enhancing transparency, building institutional capacity and achieving inclusive and sustainable growth.
Pakistan aims to expand its economy by 3.6 percent in the current fiscal year ending in June, in a bid to generate jobs for its large youth population.
The country, home to over 240 million people, has faced a significant brain drain amid economic instability and limited employment opportunities.
The finance ministry officials denied local media reports suggesting that the visiting IMF team would provide input in the government’s ongoing budget formulation process.
Pakistan invites scientists, students to pitch experiments for mission to Chinese space station
- The country’s space agency has partnered with China to send first Pakistani astronaut to space
- The mission is expected take place by late 2026 following the completion of astronaut training
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national space agency on Friday invited scientists, researchers and students to contribute to the country’s first-ever human spaceflight mission by submitting proposals for innovative experiments to be conducted aboard a Chinese space station.
Earlier this year in February, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) signed a cooperation agreement with China, paving the way for a Pakistani astronaut to travel to the Tiangong space station.
The mission is expected to take place by the end of 2026 following the completion of astronaut training.
“As Pakistan’s first astronaut prepares to undertake a historic journey to the Chinese Space Station (CSS), the national space agency calls for proposals for innovative experiments to be conducted in the extreme thermal, complete vacuum and microgravity environment of the CSS to maximize the scientific impact of this mission,” SUPARCO said in an official statement.
“This is a significant chance for Pakistan’s scientific community and emerging scientists and engineers to contribute to the nation’s space journey and make a lasting impact on the future of space exploration,” it added.
The statement said the Chinese space station orbits the Earth at an altitude of around 380 kilometers, completing one revolution every 92 minutes at a speed of approximately 7.7 kilometers per second.
The space station features state-of-the-art facilities, including specialized experiment racks for research in life sciences, biotechnology, fundamental physics, fluid dynamics, material science and astrophysics.
The Pakistani agency particularly encouraged proposals in agriculture and medical sciences, noting the potential of microgravity to generate groundbreaking insights in those fields.
“Proposed experiments should be novel, cost-effective, lightweight and feasible within a week in microgravity,” it said. “Submissions must align with CSS research priorities, be unique, and support sustainable development goals.”
SUPARCO highlighted the selected experiments could lead to high-impact scientific publications, patents or commercial applications, emphasizing the project’s potential to contribute to socio-economic development.
The deadline to submit proposals is April 30.
Trafficking of NATO, Soviet arms continues in Afghanistan, Pakistan years after Taliban takeover — report
- While weapons management practices have improved over the past three years, their application remains inconsistent across Afghan provinces and communities, monitor says
- The statement comes months after Islamabad voiced ‘profound concern’ over the presence of advanced US weapons in Afghanistan amid a surge in militancy in Pakistan’s border areas
ISLAMABAD: Trafficking and illegal sale of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Soviet arms have continued in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s border regions more than three years after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and their seizure of the previous regime’s stockpiles, a Geneva-based monitor Small Arms Survey has said in its recent report.
The report, titled “Documenting Arms Availability in Afghanistan,” said as of August 2021, Afghanistan had 258,300 rifles, including M4, M16 and AK-variants, 64,300 pistols, 63,000 sniper rifles, 56,155 light, medium and heavy machine guns, 31,000 grenade launchers, 9,115 shotguns, 1,845 rounds of 60-82mm, as well as hundreds of thousands of accessories and munitions.
The paper reviewed field investigations conducted from 2022 to 2024 into the availability and prices of small arms, light weapons, accessories, and ammunition at informal markets in the Afghanistan–Pakistan border areas. It found that cross-border trafficking was more of a “slow drip” than a flood, with both newer NATO- and older Soviet-pattern weapons still accessible in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces and Pakistan’s tribal districts.
While weapons management practices have improved over the past three years, their application remains inconsistent across provinces and communities, with institutional weaknesses, including limited technical capacity and reliance on paper-based systems, undermining the Taliban’s control efforts, according to the report. Diversion to illicit markets and the “deliberate provision of weapons to various non-state armed groups” remain significant concerns.
“More than three years after the Taliban’s takeover and their seizure of the previous regime’s weapons stockpiles, the de-facto authorities have strengthened control over commanders and restricted civilians’ and private businesses’ access to arms,” the report, published late last month, read.
“Arms trafficking has continued — likely with at least the tacit approval of low-level Taliban officials — and evidence suggests the continued arming of UN Security Council-designated terrorist groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda, alongside efforts to acquire conventional weapons systems on international markets.”
Many local commanders in Afghanistan view weapons obtained during the insurgency as personal property, or property of their respective fighting group, and therefore resist efforts to register and manage these arms centrally, according to the report.
Additionally, internal divisions within the Taliban, along with the personal networks of commanders, provide informal pathways to acquire weapons, bypassing formal approval processes. These challenges led to significant variations in control practices from province to province based on the influence of local commanders and their relationship with Afghan central authorities.
“When comparing prices in Pakistan with those in Afghan border provinces, US M4 rifles cost between USD3,325 and USD 3,700 in Pakistan, making them cheaper than in Khost and Nangarhar on the Afghan side but slightly more expensive than in Kunar, Paktia, and Paktika,” it read.
“In general, the wide variety in price is likely indicative of the condition of the weapons and their origin; sophisticated replicas may have also accounted for some of the lower-priced models. M16 rifles, however, are significantly less expensive in Pakistan, at an average price of between USD1,245 and USD1,400, compared to USD1,824–3,065 in Afghanistan... Conversely, Russian AK-pattern rifles are notably more expensive in Pakistan.”
In Jan. this year, Pakistan voiced “profound concern” over the presence of advanced US weapons in Afghanistan, which Washington has sought to be returned by Kabul’s Afghan Taliban rulers.
“The presence of US advance weapons in Afghanistan, left behind in the aftermath of the withdrawal of its troops in August 2021, has been an issue of profound concern for the safety and security of Pakistan and its citizens,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement.
“These weapons have been used by terrorist organizations, including the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan], to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan.”
The statement came months after Pakistani security officials said custom authorities had seized a large cache of US-made weapons and ammunition worth approximately Rs35 million ($125,000) at a border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The weapons seized at the Torkham border crossing in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province included M4 rifles and magazines, security sources said in Oct. last year.
Pakistan has struggled to contain surging militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban, or the TTP, and the state broke down in November 2022.
The TTP and other militant groups have frequently targeted security forces convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months. In 2024 alone, the Pakistani military reported that 383 soldiers and 925 militants were killed in various clashes.
Islamabad has frequently blamed the surge in militancy on Afghanistan, accusing it of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement and insist that Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.
