KARACHI: A second batch of around 300 Pakistani pilgrims, who were stranded in Baghdad due to unavailability of Iraq Airways flights, returned to the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Saturday evening, authorities said, hours after a group of over 350 pilgrims returned home.
Most of these stranded Pakistanis had traveled to Iraq to participate in the Arbaeen pilgrimage, which marks the 40th day of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who, along with most of his family, was martyred in Karbala in 680 CE.
Of these pilgrims, 358 reached the southern port city of Karachi Saturday morning via Iraq Airways flight IA-2431, according to the Pakistani religious affairs ministry. Another flight, IA-1431, left Baghdad for Karachi on Saturday afternoon, with over 300 passengers.
“Flight carrying pilgrims from Iraq to Karachi landed at 5:20pm, with 306 passengers on board,” Saif Ullah, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), told Arab News.
On Friday, Pakistan’s foreign office said 654 Pakistanis were stranded at the Baghdad airport because of technical fault with two aircraft of Iraq Airways.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Aviation and Pakistan’s Embassy in Iraq are in contact with Iraqi authorities and Iraq Airways for early repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis,” it said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Pakistan’s Ambassador Muhammad Zeeshan Ahmed denied media reports that over 50 Pakistani nationals had lost their passports due to the mishandling of the immigration authorities.
“The news about missing passports is incorrect,” he was quoted in the statement circulated by the religious affairs ministry. “The entire situation arose due to the mismanagement of the tourism companies.”
Another batch of around 300 Pakistani pilgrims stranded in Baghdad returns home
https://arab.news/wwnxv
Another batch of around 300 Pakistani pilgrims stranded in Baghdad returns home
- Nearly 650 Pakistanis who traveled to Iraq to visit religious shrines were stranded due to unavailability of flights
- Pakistani authorities say the embassy provided them meals and made arrangements for their temporary stay in Baghdad
Bangladesh approves new rice imports from Pakistan amid price pressures
- The deal follows Bangladesh’s resumption of direct rice trade with Pakistan earlier this year for the first time since independence in 1971
- Diplomatic ties between the two nations have improved since the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina after mass protests last year
DHAKA: Bangladesh has approved the import of 50,000 metric tons of white rice from Pakistan under a government-to-government deal as part of efforts to stabilize domestic prices, officials said on Tuesday.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase cleared the deal at $395 per ton, reinforcing Dhaka’s renewed trade engagement with Islamabad.
Rice prices in Bangladesh have jumped by between 15 percent and 20 percent over the past year, with medium-quality rice selling at about 80 taka ($0.66) per kilogram. Despite increased imports and the removal of duties to ease supply constraints, prices for the staple grain remain stubbornly high.
The deal follows Bangladesh’s resumption of direct rice trade with Pakistan earlier this year for the first time since independence in 1971. In February, it imported 50,000 tons of rice from Pakistan at $499 per ton under a similar agreement.
Diplomatic ties between the two South Asian nations have improved since an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took office after mass protests forced then prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to neighboring India last year.
Formerly East Pakistan, Bangladesh gained independence after a nine-month war in 1971, and relations with Pakistan have remained fraught in the decades since the conflict.
Separately, the government approved another 50,000 tons of parboiled rice through an international tender, part of a series of recent purchases aimed at cooling local prices. India’s Pattabhi Agro Foods secured the contract with the lowest bid of $355.77 per ton.
