ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is ready to effectively respond to any misadventure or aggression by Indian forces with the full support of the nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday as he vowed to stand by the people of Kashmir and continue to provide them moral, political and diplomatic support.
The prime minister made these remarks while chairing a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) that was held to discuss recent escalation along the Line of Control and India’s use of cluster munition against civilians in Azad Kashmir.
Kashmir has surged back into the spotlight in recent days after New Delhi deployed at least 10,000 troops to the region and ordered foreign tourists and pilgrims to vacate the area citing an imminent threat of a suicide bombing.
“Pakistan will always stand with Kashmiris and will not be deterred from its just stance based on the [United Nations Security Council] resolutions and aspirations of Kashmiri people,” the prime minister said after chairing the meeting that was also attended by the three services chiefs, director-general Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and senior federal cabinet members.
Since 1947, Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region with 86,000 square miles of territory, remains disputed between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim it in full but only control parts of it. The two nations have also fought wars over the territory, but the dispute continues to linger on.
The NSC was briefed on India’s use of “cluster munitions against civilians to provoke Pakistan” and it also focused on New Delhi’s intent to change the demographic structure and the internationally recognized disputed status of Indian-administered Kashmir.
“The recent buildup of [Indian] forces [in Kashmir] and their brutal use against an unarmed population is adding fuel to fire,” the NSC said in a statement. “The forum strongly condemned such Indian strategy at this time when Pakistan and the international community are focused on resolving the Afghan conflict.”
The NSC noted that the recent Indian measures would increase the levels of violence and turn the area into a flashpoint and a destabilizing factor in the midst of two strategically capable neighboring countries.
“India is totally disregarding international obligations and her arrogance will only result in heightening the conflict dynamics in the region,” the prime minister said while inviting the attention of world leaders and international bodies toward “irresponsible, unilateral and irrational behavior” of Indian leadership.
The prime minister also reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve “to respond to any Indian misadventure or aggression with the full support of the nation.”
Renowned defense analyst General (r) Talat Masood said the Line of Control had become “very volatile” due to “India’s unprovoked firing on the civilian population across the border and its recent troop buildup in Kashmir to suppress the people struggling for their right to self-determination.”
“Both the countries should start talking to each other to cool off the Line of Control and prevent a full-scale armed conflict for the peace of the whole region,” he told Arab News.
Pakistan vows to stand by Kashmiris, respond to ‘Indian misadventures’
Pakistan vows to stand by Kashmiris, respond to ‘Indian misadventures’
- Condemns India’s decision to raise tensions in Kashmir at a time when the world is trying to resolve Afghan conflict
- Analysts urge the two South Asian nuclear neighbors to prevent a full-scale armed conflict in the region
European experts to arrive in Islamabad tomorrow to train Pakistani aviation inspectors
- Pakistan has recently witnessed a massive surge in militant violence, including deadly suicide attacks
- The development comes months after EU lifted its ban on PIA and authorized Airblue to fly to the bloc
ISLAMABAD: A team from the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) will arrive in Islamabad on Monday to provide specialized security training and certification to Pakistani aviation inspectors, a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) official said on Sunday, amid growing security concerns in the South Asian country.
Pakistan has recently witnessed a massive surge in militant violence, including deadly suicide attacks, in its two western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025 report, Pakistan is the second-most affected country by terrorist violence, with a 45 percent rise in deaths in 2024.
Pakistan reached out to the ECAC for the training of its civil aviation inspectors after the resumption of Pakistani flights to the EU in Jan. this year, according to PCAA officials.
“The ECAC team is arriving in Pakistan tomorrow to conduct training of our inspectors on two key areas of Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) and Explosive Detection Dogs (EDD),” PCAA Director of Aviation Security Shahid Qadir told Arab News.
“The training aims to enhance their ability to inspect explosive detection machines as well as guide the handlers of detection dogs on key focus areas and essential elements to ensure the highest standards of inspection.”
In November, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) lifted its ban on the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and authorized another local airline, Airblue, to operate flights to Europe. The ban had been in place since June 2020 due to concerns over the ability of Pakistani aviation authorities to meet international standards.
Qadir said the PCAA was committed to meeting all international standards and it was ensuring the credentials of Pakistani inspectors align with those of developed countries in Europe and the United States.
“The two-member ECAC team will conduct a four-day training at Islamabad International Airport, where twelve of our aviation security regulatory inspectors will receive the training,” the official said.
“They will conduct the training and certify the inspectors upon its completion.”
He said this training would enhance the Pakistani team’s specialization and strengthen the country’s credibility, urging aviation inspectors to apply across all airports in Pakistan.
Aviation security is the most frequently inspected area each year, according to Qadir. During such inspections, one of the first things international regulators review is the profile of inspectors.
“When they see the courses, training, and certifications our inspectors have completed, they recognize that we meet international standards,” he added.
Islamabad, Beijing sign agreement to boost Pakistan’s cotton production
- As per agreement, Chinese and Pakistani institutes will work on genetically improving cotton to increase its production
- Cotton is one of Pakistan’s most important crops, having a massive 51% share in country’s total foreign exchange earnings
ISLAMABAD: Two prominent institutes owned by the governments in China and Pakistan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost Pakistan’s cotton production through technological methods, state broadcaster reported on Sunday.
Cotton is one of Pakistan’s most important cash crops. At present, Pakistan is the fifth-largest producer of cotton and the third-largest producer of cotton yarn in the world, according to the Ayub Agricultural Institute.
Cotton has a 0.8% share in Pakistan’s GDP and a massive 51% share in the country’s total foreign exchange earnings. Cotton production in Pakistan has contributed to a vibrant textile industry with over 1,000 ginning factories and around 400 textile mills across the country.
“The MoU has been signed between the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute of Pakistan (AAIR) and the Institute of Cotton Research (ICR) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,” Radio Pakistan said in a report.
It said that as per the agreement, AAIR and ICR will work on genetically improving cotton to increase its production and promote Pakistan’s cotton industry globally.
ICR is China’s only state-level organization for professional cotton research. It focuses on basic and applied research, and organizes and presides over major national cotton research projects that address significant science and technology-related issues in cotton production.
Established in 1962, Punjab government’s AAIR describes itself as one of the country’s most prestigious research institutes that says its mission is to develop new varieties of crops and technologies for food safety.
The agreement takes place as Pakistan faces a surge in cotton imports this year due to low production. According to the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, factories in Pakistan have received 5.51 million bales of cotton as of January this year, a significant decline of 34% compared to last year.
Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, which produces the most cotton out of all provinces in the country, grew 2.7 million bales, a decline of more than 36% compared to last year.
Experts blame the low production of cotton due to irregular weather patterns brought about by climate change.
Pakistan says pre-Hajj arrangements for government scheme pilgrims in ‘last stages’
- Says first Hajj flight to depart from Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore for Saudi Arabia on April 29
- Around 90,000 expected to perform Hajj under government scheme, says religion affairs minister
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs minister said on Sunday that pre-Hajj arrangements for pilgrims performing the pilgrimage under the government scheme this year were in the “final stages,” vowing to ensure the best possible facilities for people.
The annual Islamic pilgrimage is expected to take place this year in June. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Hajj Agreement 2025 in January, according to which 179,210 Pakistanis are expected to perform the pilgrimage this year. The quota was divided equally between government and private schemes.
“All pre-Hajj arrangements both here and in Saudi Arabia are in their final stages,” Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Pakistan’s minister for religious affairs, told reporters at a press conference in Lahore.
He said around 90,000 pilgrims were expected to perform Hajj under the government’s scheme this year, promising to ensure the best possible facilities for them.
“And there too every year, the Saudi government makes the best possible arrangements and provides pilgrims with better facilities,” the minister said.
The minister said Hajj operations will begin from Apr. 29 when the first flight will depart from Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday constituted a three-member inquiry committee to probe why Pakistan had failed to comply with the Kingdom’s Hajj 2025 policy and, as a result not availed a large number of private Hajj quotas for pilgrims.
“The prime minister has constituted a committee and directed them to present a report on the matter within three working days,” Yousaf said.
Responding to Pakistani nationals who travel to Saudi Arabia on an Umrah visa and are found begging there, the minister said that the government has taken strict notice of it.
“If any [tour] company here takes such [beggars] it will be blacklisted and fined,” Yousaf said. “And any person caught there will be deported.”
Nationalist party accuses Pakistan police of stopping march for Baloch rights activists’ release
- Balochistan National Party-Mengal plans to lead march from Lakpass to Quetta to demand release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch, other activists
- Balochistan government says protesters won’t be allowed to close highways, BNP-M chief will be arrested if he moves toward Quetta
QUETTA: The senior leader of a prominent Baloch nationalist party on Sunday accused Balochistan police of stopping “peaceful” supporters from marching toward the provincial capital of Quetta to demand the release of rights activists, as authorities warned of stern action against anyone violating a ban on public gatherings.
The Balochistan National Party (BNP-M), led by lawmaker Sardar Akhtar Mengal, on Friday announced its supporters would march from Lakpass toward Quetta after two rounds of talks with officials failed to yield any results.
The BNP-M is demanding the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s (BYC) top leader, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and several of her colleagues who were arrested on Mar. 22 after staging a sit-in outside the University of Balochistan. Pakistani authorities charged them with “terrorism,” sedition and murder following a protest in which three demonstrators were killed, according to police documents.
Sanaullah Baloch, a senior BNP-M leader, said police stopped the party’s march from Lakpass, an area between Quetta and Mastung cities, from proceeding further toward Quetta on Sunday morning.
“We started our march toward Quetta this morning but the police stopped us, citing the imposition of section 144,” Baloch told Arab News, referring to a legal provision that empowers authorities to ban public gatherings of more than four people to maintain law and order.
He said the provincial government has deployed a “large number of troops” at Lakpass who have surrounded the area to stop the march.
“We are peaceful and we will attempt again to start our march for the release of our detained daughters including Dr. Mahrang Baloch,” he vowed.
Separately, Mengal took to social media platform X and alleged that a major operation against the party was “imminent.”
“I call upon all districts to immediately shut down all national highways in protest,” he wrote. “Let the world witness this injustice. We remain peaceful, but resolute. Whatever unfolds today— the consequences, the blood, the fallout— will rest solely on the shoulders of the government and the local administration.”
Shahid Rind, spokesperson of the Balochistan provincial government, replied to Mengal’s post on X by saying that he was informed around 6:00 am that he would be detained by authorities under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance.
“Sardar Akhtar Mengal refused to be arrested,” Rind wrote. “The administration and police clearly told him that if he moves toward Quetta, he will be arrested and that’s why the law enforcement agencies are there.”
He said the BNP-M’s call to block highways will increase the masses’ problems.
“The administrations of all districts have clear instructions that the national highways will not be closed,” the official said.
Rind had warned the BNP-M a day earlier that it would not be allowed to enter the Red Zone, a high-security area in Quetta housing key government buildings.
“The provincial government is ready to allow Mengal and his party to protest at Sariab Road [in Quetta], but he is adamant on entering the Red Zone,” Rind said on Saturday.
“The Government of Balochistan will not allow anyone to violate Section 144, and action will be taken against protesters,” he added.
On Friday, Pakistan’s top army generals met to review the national security situation and pledged not to let “foreign-backed proxies” and their “political supporters” destabilize Balochistan.
Authorities have long claimed a nexus between the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants and BYC activists, an allegation the latter denies.
The crackdown on BYC leaders followed a deadly train attack last month in Balochistan, in which BLA separatists took hundreds of passengers hostage. The standoff lasted nearly 36 hours until the army launched a rescue operation, killing 33 militants.
A final count showed 26 passengers had also died in the incident.
Pakistan hands over second relief consignment to Myanmar as quake death toll crosses 3,450
- Magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar on Mar. 28, killing 3,455 and injuring over 4,508
- Latest shipment of relief items brings total aid dispatched by Pakistan to Myanmar to 70 tons
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan handed over the second consignment of 35 tons of emergency relief aid to Myanmar authorities on Sunday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said, as the earthquake death toll in the Southeast Asian nation surged past 3,450.
The magnitude 7.7 quake struck Myanmar on Mar. 28, causing the deaths of 3,455 people and injuring over 4,508 as per official figures. The United Nations has urged the world to rally behind Myanmar, describing the devastation in the country as “staggering.”
Pakistan had dispatched its second aid consignment to Myanmar through an air cargo flight from Islamabad to Yangon on Saturday.
“Pakistan formally handed over its second consignment of 35 tons of emergency relief aid for earthquake affectees to Myanmar authorities at Yangon International Airport,” the NDMA said.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Myanmar Imran Haider, along with the Pakistani embassy’s diplomats and officials, handed over the relief items to the chief minister of Yangon Region, the NDMA said.
“This latest shipment brings the total relief assistance dispatched to Myanmar to 70 tons in response to the recent earthquake,” it added.
The NDMA said Pakistan’s government remains steadfast in its commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to the earthquake-affected people of Myanmar.
Earlier, Pakistan’s mission in Myanmar handed over the first consignment of 35 tons of humanitarian assistance to the chief minister of Yangon region for onward distribution among those impacted by the disaster.
The quake has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the country’s civil war that has internally displaced more than 3 million people and left nearly 20 million in need, according to the UN.
Myanmar military government’s leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has said the earthquake was the second most powerful in the country’s recorded history after a magnitude 8 quake east of Mandalay in May 1912.
