ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will travel to New York to attend a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on global governance and multilateralism next week, the foreign office announced on Friday.
The meeting will be chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as China holds the council’s rotating presidency for the month. The deliberations come at a time of growing concerns about multilateralism, particularly after United States President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
During his previous term, Trump withdrew the US from key international agreements, challenged traditional alliances and took a more unilateral approach to foreign policy. His new administration’s stance on global governance and international institutions remains under close watch by world leaders.
“The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, will travel to New York to participate in the high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on ‘Practicing Multilateralism: Reforming and Improving Global Governance,’ scheduled to be held from 18th February 2025,” foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said on Friday.
“The meeting has been convened by China under its rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of February 2025. It will be chaired by H.E. Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister of China,” he added.
Dar is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers from other states as well as senior UN officials on the sidelines of the event.
While it is customary for Pakistan’s top leadership, particularly its prime ministers, to attend the UN General Assembly session in New York every September, visits to participate in other meetings at the world body are relatively rare.
Pakistan was elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2025-2026 term in June 2024 with 182 out of 193 votes.
It officially began its two-year tenure on January 1, 2025.
Pakistan’s deputy PM to attend Security Council meeting on multilateralism next week
https://arab.news/65rhb
Pakistan’s deputy PM to attend Security Council meeting on multilateralism next week
- Ishaq Dar will travel to New York to participate in the gathering convened by China
- Dar will hold meetings with foreign ministers from other states as well as UN officials
Pakistan, global crypto exchange discuss modernizing digital payments, creating job prospects
- Pakistani officials, Binance team discuss coordination between Islamabad, local banks and global exchanges
- Pakistan has attempted to tap into growing crypto market to curb illicit transactions, improve oversight
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance officials and the team of a global cryptocurrency exchange on Friday held discussions aimed at modernizing the country’s digital payments system and building local talent pipelines to meet rising demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, the finance ministry said.
The development took place during a high-level meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal bin Saqib, domestic bank presidents and a Binance team led by Global CEO Richard Teng. The meeting was held to advance work on Pakistan’s National Digital Asset Framework, a regulatory setup to govern Pakistan’s digital assets.
Pakistan has been moving to regulate its fast-growing crypto and digital assets market by bringing virtual asset service providers (VASPs) under a formal licensing regime. Officials say the push is aimed at curbing illicit transactions, improving oversight, and encouraging innovation in blockchain-based financial services.
“Participants reviewed opportunities to modernize Pakistan’s digital payments landscape, noting that blockchain-based systems could significantly reduce costs from the country’s $38 billion annual remittance flows,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
“Discussions also emphasized building local talent pipelines to meet rising global demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, creating high-value employment prospects for Pakistani youth.”
Blockchain is a type of digital database that is shared, transparent and tamper-resistant. Instead of being stored on one computer, the data is kept on a distributed network of computers, making it very hard to alter or hack.
Web3 refers to the next generation of the Internet built using blockchain, focusing on giving users more control over their data, identity and digital assets rather than big tech companies controlling it.
Participants of the meeting also discussed sovereign debt tokenization, which is the process of converting a country’s debt such as government bonds, into digital tokens on a blockchain, the ministry said.
Aurangzeb called for close coordination between the government, domestic banks and global exchanges to modernize Pakistan’s payment landscape.
Participants of the meeting also discussed considering a “time-bound amnesty” to encourage users to move assets onto regulated platforms, stressing the need for stronger verifications and a risk-mitigation system.
Pakistan has attempted in recent months to tap into the country’s growing crypto market, crack down on money laundering and terror financing, and promote responsible innovation — a move analysts say could bring an estimated $25 billion in virtual assets into the tax net.
In September, Islamabad invited international crypto exchanges and other VASPs to apply for licenses to operate in the country, a step aimed at formalizing and regulating its fast-growing digital market.
