ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province has offered Saudi investors incentives as part of a “special package” to explore opportunities in religious tourism, health, education and infrastructure, state-run media reported this week.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif met Prince Mansour bin Mohammed Al Saud, the former governor of Saudi Arabia’s Hafr Al-Batin province, on Monday to discuss promoting bilateral relations and mutual cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Punjab, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial ties, with Riyadh frequently assisting cash-strapped Pakistan by supplying oil on deferred payment terms and financial support to stabilize the South Asian country’s economy.
“During the discussions, the chief minister invited Saudi investors to explore opportunities in infrastructure, health, education, and religious tourism in Punjab,” APP reported. “She assured Saudi investors of her government’s full cooperation and the provision of incentives under a special package.”
Sharif praised Saudi Arabia’s longstanding cooperation with Pakistan, saying that Riyadh was like “Pakistan’s elder brother and the hearts of the people of both countries beat together.”
“The Punjab government has ensured foolproof security and established a system based on merit to improve the business environment in the province,” the report quoted her as saying.
APP said Prince Mansour assured Pakistan of Saudi Arabia’s support.
“The relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is crucial for the stability and prosperity of the entire region,” he was quoted as saying. “Saudi Arabia will always stand by Pakistan.”
The Kingdom is also home to over 2 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the source for most overseas workers remittances for Pakistan. Both countries have forged strong business and economic relations in recent months.
In October 2024, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) valued at $2.8 billion. In December, Sharif’s office confirmed that seven of the 34 MoUs had been converted into agreements worth $560 million.
Pakistan’s Punjab offers Saudi investors incentives in health, education and religious tourism
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Pakistan’s Punjab offers Saudi investors incentives in health, education and religious tourism
- Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz meets Prince Mansour, former governor of Hafr Al-Batin province
- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have sought closer business and economic ties in recent months
Pakistan says militants attempted drone attacks inside its territory, Afghanistan says carried out airstrikes
- Islamabad says anti-drone systems intercepted devices in three cities
- Kabul says it carried out airstrikes in Pakistan after earlier strikes in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday said militants attempted to launch small drones inside its territory, while Afghanistan’s ministry of defense claimed it had carried out retaliatory airstrikes in “various areas of Pakistan,” marking a sharp escalation in cross-border hostilities between the bitter neighbors.
The developments follow Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week targeting what Islamabad said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan. Pakistan said those strikes killed more than 100 militants, while Kabul said women and children were killed and condemned the attacks as violations of Afghan sovereignty.
On Thursday night, Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday afternoon militants had attempted drone activity inside three Pakistani cities.
“Fitna al khawarij [TTP] terrorists have attempted to launch small drones in Abbottabad, Swabi and Nowshera. Anti Drone Systems have brought down all the drones. No damage to life,” Tarar said.
“The incidents have again exposed direct linkages between Afghan Taliban Regime and Terrorism in Pakistan.”
Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defense, in an X statement, said it carried out airstrikes inside Pakistan.
“The Ministry of National Defense of Afghanistan today, before noon, at around eleven o’clock local time, carried out airstrikes in various areas of Pakistan,” the statement said.
“These attacks were carried out in response to last night’s aerial incursions by Pakistani forces in Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia.”
Pakistan has not confirmed any damage from the Afghan claim.
Earlier Friday, the Pakistani prime minister’s spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said counter-strikes were continuing after what Islamabad described as unprovoked Afghan fire along the border.
“A total of 133 Afghan Taliban are confirmed killed, more than 200 wounded,” Zaidi said in an X update. “Twenty seven (27) Afghan Taliban posts have been destroyed, and nine (9) have been captured.”
On the Afghan side, the defense ministry claimed 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and that two garrisons and 19 posts were captured. Pakistani officials denied losing any posts. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.
Amid the escalating rhetoric, Pakistan’s State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry urged Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership to change its approach.
“They must behave like a state, not like a guerrilla force,” Chaudhry told reporters in Islamabad. “Until their behavior changes, we will adopt every possible option to make it change.”
Chaudhry said the United Nations had confirmed that over two dozen militant groups operate from Afghan territory and added that brotherly countries “do not send militants who slaughter our youth, attack school buses carrying children, or make places of worship and innocent women unsafe.”
Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on insurgents it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.
The latest clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Several regional countries, including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, have urged restraint as operations on both sides continued Friday.
The confrontation unfolds against a backdrop of growing friction over Afghanistan’s regional alignments. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban authorities of allowing Indian influence to expand in Afghanistan, an allegation Kabul has rejected.
Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Asif earlier said the Taliban government had turned Afghanistan into “a colony of India.”
Islamabad has long accused India of using Afghan territory to support anti-Pakistan militant groups, a charge New Delhi denies.
