ISLAMABAD: “Indian atrocities” were condemned and Kashmir described as “the biggest prison of humanity on earth” when a major ceremony was held at the Presidency to commemorate Kashmir Solidarity Day on Monday.
Addressing the audience, Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain paid tribute and promised unflinching support to the people of Kashmir.
“The freedom struggle of the brave and valiant people of Kashmir is a unique movement in the world. They have faced persecution for the last 70 years. Despite this severe repression, they have been heroically facing subjugation,” he said.
President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan also attended the event and condemned “Indian atrocities.” He said political and human rights activists were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir since “they raise their voices against Indian brutalities and seek a plebiscite.” He added that India was in gross violation of a UN resolution and claimed it was not possible for anyone to stop the people of Kashmir from getting their birth right.
Several ministers, parliamentarians, government functionaries, Kashmiri leaders and other high-profile public figures were also present at the gathering.
Other participants described Kashmir as “the biggest prison of humanity on earth” and criticized the UN in a video documentary for its inability to implement the UN resolution calling for a free and impartial plebiscite for the people of Kashmir.
Kashmir Solidarity Day is annually observed on Feb. 5 as a national holiday in Pakistan to support the struggle of the people of Indian-administered Kashmir and remember those who have lost their lives in the conflict.
A number of speakers lashed out at New Delhi, claiming that it was trying to reduce “the disputed Muslim-majority state to a Muslim-minority state through rape, torture, extrajudicial killings, and use of pellets.”
Talking to Arab News, Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said there had been a more than 600 percent increase in casualities along the disputed border that separates the two South Asian nuclear rivals between 2016 and 2017.
“Kashmir matters because peace in South Asia matters,” said Dastgir.
Since 2014, border skirmishes along the Line of Control and working boundary between Pakistan and India have greatly increased.
Pakistan blamed India for more than 1,800 cease-fire violations in 2017, though a 2003 cease-fire accord signed by both countries theoretically remains in effect. According to official statistics, more than 300 violations have been committed by India since the beginning of this year, leading to the deaths of many innocent civilians.
The ceremony at the Presidency was organized by South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI), an independent think-tank dedicated to promoting peace and stability in South Asia.
SASSI launched today #KashmirMatters campaign, during Monday’s ceremony.
“Escalation dynamics can’t be controlled by Pakistan or India which can lead to a nuclear conflict – the skirmishes remain low-intensity but have the potential of escalating to a point of no return,” Dr. Maria Sultan, chairperson and president of SASSI and its university, told Arab News.
“Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint” and can spell disaster for the region if not resolved, she added.
Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint, warns Pakistani expert
Kashmir is a nuclear flashpoint, warns Pakistani expert
Ex-PM Imran Khan party says wife, key aide safe as Pakistan security officials launch ‘operation’
- Unclear where protest leaders Bushra Khan and KP chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur had been taken
- Interior minister says PM has ruled out talks with protesters demanding ex-PM Khan’s release, six killed
ISLAMABAD: A key aide of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan said on Tuesday Bushra Khan, the former PM’s wife, and key party leader Ali Amin Gandapur, who are leading protests in Islamabad to demand Khan’s release, had left a protest caravan but were safe amid widespread reports they had been arrested.
At least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters, were killed during clashes between security forces and protesters who made it on Monday night to the edge of Islamabad’s highly fortified red zone, home to key government and diplomatic buildings, before being pushed back by hundreds of security forces, according to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
“We are trying to secure Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin for the next few hours because we have credible sources that the law enforcement plans to arrest them with a heavy hand,” Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, a spokesman for the PTI party told Arab News when asked if Bushra and Gandapur had left the protest caravan. He confirmed they had not been arrested.
Bukhari declined to disclose where the two protest leaders had been taken, but confirmed that their protest caravan, which was nearing the D-Chowk public square in the red zone, had been pushed further back by “hundreds” of security officials.
Two security officials told Arab News an “operation” had been launched against the PI protest, declining further details.
Supporters of Khan’s PTI on Tuesday reached D-Chowk for a “do or die” sit-in that they say will go on until Khan is freed from prison. The former premier has been jailed since August last year and faces a slew of charges from corruption to terrorism that he says are politically motivated to keep him behind bars and away from politics.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi ruled out talks with protesters.
“In today’s meeting, the clear-cut decision of the prime minister and others is that there will be no talks with these protesters,” Naqvi said after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his cabinet and other top officials on Tuesday evening.
Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the government had agreed to offer the protesters space on the outskirts of Islamabad to hold their protest and would have facilitated them in their activities.
“But why do they want to go to D-Chowk?” the information minister asked. “Because they want to cause damage to the life and property of Islamabad’s citizens. They have among them Afghan nationals, terrorists, dacoits.”
In a message shared with supporters from jail by his team, Khan, 72, urged his followers to stay peaceful but to stand firm til the end.
“My message for my team is to fight until the last ball is bowled. We will not back down until our demands are met!”
LOCKDOWN
As thousands of rally goers left for Islamabad on Sunday in protest caravans, authorities shut down major highways leading to the capital and used shipping containers to block major roads and streets inside the city. Mobile Internet links and apps like WhatsApp have been down since the weekend and schools have been closed for several days in the capital and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Last week, the district administration also banned public gatherings in Islamabad for two months, and on Monday, the interior ministry invoked Article 245, calling in the army to maintain law and order.
A round of the federal capital by Arab News on Tuesday afternoon showed that all entry and exit points of the city had been sealed again with shipping containers shortly after protesters removed them to enter the city. The Srinagar Highway, the main artery connecting the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, was littered with stones that protesters had reportedly hurled at security personnel on their way to D-Chowk.
Local residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad could be seen distributing food and water among protesters on the Srinagar Highway while helicopters hovered above.
Protest leader Ali Amin Gandapur, whose caravan had still not reached D-Chowk by Tuesday evening, urged protesters to camp at the square and not advance further into the red zone.
“D-Chowk means D-Chowk,” the chief minister told supporters from atop a truck en route to the public square. “Beyond that, as long as Imran Khan’s orders, Imran Khan’s instructions are not given, we will not go beyond that area and we will respect his instructions.”
Amnesty International called on the Pakistan government to protect and ensure the rights of protesters and “immediately rescind the ‘shoot-on-sight’ orders that provide undue and excessive powers to the military.”
“The severe restrictions on assembly, movement and mobile and Internet services as well as arbitrary detentions of thousands of protesters across Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, are a grave violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, movement and expression,” the rights group said on X.
Pakistan urges World Bank support on economic reforms, development agenda
- IMF approved a $7 billion bailout loan for Pakistan in September that comes with a tough economic reforms agenda
- IMF is pushing Pakistan to continue prudent fiscal and monetary policies, mobilize revenue from untapped tax bases
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb met World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine on Tuesday and urged the international lender to support Pakistan in its economic reforms and development agenda, Radio Pakistan reported.
The talks in Islamabad came less than two months after the IMF approved a $7 billion bailout loan for Pakistan that is attached to tough economic reforms. The IMF is pushing Pakistan to continue prudent fiscal and monetary policies, and to mobilize revenue from untapped tax bases.
Pakistan’s $350 billion economy has struggled for decades with boom-and-bust cycles, needing 23 IMF bailouts since 1958.
“During the meeting, the Finance Minister highlighted the importance of collaboration with the World Bank to support Pakistan’s economic reforms and development agenda,” Radio Pakistan reported. “The Finance Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline, sustainable growth, and efficient resource utilization.”
The discussions focused on the establishment of a robust and transparent tax policy framework to enhance revenue mobilization and improve compliance while ensuring equitable taxation, the report said.
The World Bank team also offered technical assistance to streamline the budget-making process, adopt modern practices to improve transparency and accountability in public financial management, and put in place an effective debt management mechanism to ensure fiscal sustainability and reduce risks.
Issues related to the Agricultural Income Tax Regime and GST harmonization in coordination with provinces and an enhanced focus on the active role of the National Tax Council also came under discussion.
“The Finance Minister expressed gratitude for the World Bank’s support and reaffirmed the government’s resolve to implement reforms aimed at sustainable economic progress,” the reported said, adding that the World Bank officials reiterated the lender’s commitment to assisting Pakistan in addressing economic challenges and achieving its developmental objectives.
The IMF, which approved the new bailout in September, has said the program will require “sound policies and reforms” to strengthen macroeconomic stability and address structural challenges alongside “continued strong financial support from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners.”
The IMF said in its statement on approving the loan that Pakistan had taken key steps to restore economic stability with consistent policy implementation under the 2023-24 standby arrangement.
It added that growth had rebounded to 2.4 percent and inflation has receded significantly, falling to single digits, amid appropriately tight fiscal and monetary policies.
A contained current account and calm foreign exchange market conditions have allowed the rebuilding of reserve buffers, and the central bank of Pakistan has been able to reduce interest rates by 700 bps since June in four consecutive cuts.
Despite this progress, Pakistan’s vulnerabilities and structural challenges remain formidable and the tax base remains too narrow.
The South Asian country is the IMF’s fifth-largest debtor, owing the Fund $6.28 billion as of July 11, according to the lender’s data.
Islamabad district commissioner denies reports of fuel shortages amid opposition protest
- Major roads and highways leading to the capital have been sealed off since last week when PTI party launched protest march on Sunday
- Oil Tanker Contractors Association says closed routes had stalled the delivery of petrol to several parts of Punjab province and Islamabad
KARACHI: The Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad on Tuesday rejected reports of fuel shortages after an oil tankers association said the supply of petrol to the federal capital and several cities in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province had been “severely affected” due to a protest march being led by an opposition party.
Major roads and highways leading to the capital have been sealed off since last week when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former premier Imran Khan launched a protest ‘long march’ to Islamabad on Sunday. The city has been in complete lockdown since, with shipping containers used to block major roads and streets inside Islamabad also.
“Reports of petroleum products crisis in the city are baseless and unfounded,” District Magistrate Irfan Nawaz Memon wrote on X. “There is a sufficient stock of petroleum products at petrol pumps.”
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Oil Tanker Contractors Association had said closed routes had stalled the delivery of petrol to several parts of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, and Islamabad.
“Routes to Islamabad, Rawalpindi and North Punjab are closed due to which supply from petrol tankers is severely affected,” association spokesperson Noman But said in a statement. “Thousands of tankers are waiting for the route to open.”
Butt said petrol had not been supplied to Gujranwala, Jhelum, Sialkot and Kharian districts in Punjab for the last three days, while supply to Islamabad, Kohala and the northern city of Gilgit was also affected.
“Petrol has run out at pumps in many cities,” he added.
Khan’s party aims to pressure the government to release him from jail. He has been in prison since August 2023 on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated. The party is also protesting against what it says was rigging in the Feb. 8 general elections and calling on the government to roll back the recently passed 26th constitutional amendment, which the PTI says is an attack of judicial independence. The government denies this.
PTI supporters broke through barricades and clashed with police as they marched on the capital late on Monday evening, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi saying three paramilitary troops and one policeman had been killed in clashes.
The PTI said in a statement two of its supporters were confirmed dead while over 30 were wounded.
Pakistan rules out talks with protesters demanding ex-PM Khan’s release, six killed
- Topping demands of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is release of all its leaders, including Khan
- Interior ministry says four troops killed in clashes with protesters, PTI says two supporters dead
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday ruled out talks with protesters who are holding a sit-in in Islamabad to demand the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan after four security officials and two demonstrators were killed in clashes.
Hundreds of supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday reached the D-Chowk public square in Islamabad’s heavily fortified red zone, home to parliament, key government installations, luxury hotels, embassies and the offices of foreign organizations. Protest leaders, including Khan’s wife Bushra Khan and Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the PTI is in power, have said this is a “do or die” sit-in that will go on until Khan is freed from prison. The former premier has been jailed since August last year and faces a slew of charges from corruption to terrorism that he says are politically motivated to keep him behind bars and away from politics.
PTI supporters broke through barricades and clashed with police as they marched on the capital late on Monday evening, with Interior Minister Naqvi saying three paramilitary troops and one policeman had been killed in clashes. The PTI said in a statement two of its supporters were confirmed dead while over 30 were wounded, the worst political violence seen in months in the South Asian nation of 241 million people.
“In today’s meeting, the clear cut decision of the prime minister and others is that there will be no talks with these protesters,” Naqvi said after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his cabinet and other top officials.
Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the government had agreed to offer the protesters a place on the outskirts of Islamabad to hold their protest and would have facilitated them in their activities.
“But why do they want to go to D-Chowk?” the information minister asked. “Because they want to cause damage to the life and property of Islamabad’s citizens. They have among them Afghan nationals, terrorists, dacoits.”
In a message shared with supporters from jail by his team, Khan, 72, urged his followers to stay peaceful but to stand firm til the end.
“My message for my team is to fight until the last ball is bowled. We will not back down until our demands are met!”
LOCKDOWN
As thousands of rally goers left for Islamabad on Sunday in protest caravans, authorities shut down major highways leading to the capital and used shipping containers to block major roads and streets inside the city. Mobile Internet links and apps like WhatsApp have been down since the weekend and schools have been closed for several days in the capital and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Last week, the district administration also banned public gatherings in Islamabad for two months, and on Monday, the interior ministry invoked Article 245, calling in the army to maintain law and order.
A round of the federal capital by Arab News on Tuesday afternoon showed that all entry and exit points of the city had been sealed again with shipping containers shortly after protesters removed them to enter the city. The Srinagar Highway, the main artery connecting the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, was littered with stones that protesters had reportedly hurled at security personnel on their way to D-Chowk.
Local residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad could be seen distributing food and water among protesters on the Srinagar Highway while helicopters hovered above.
Protest leader Ali Amin Gandapur, whose caravan had still not reached D-Chowk by Tuesday evening, urged protesters to camp at the square and not advance further into the red zone.
“D-Chowk means D-Chowk,” the chief minister told supporters from atop a truck en route to the public square. “Beyond that, as long as Imran Khan’s orders, Imran Khan’s instructions are not given, we will not go beyond that area and we will respect his instructions.”
Amnesty International called on the Pakistan government to protect and ensure the rights of protesters and “immediately rescind the ‘shoot-on-sight’ orders that provide undue and excessive powers to the military.”
“The severe restrictions on assembly, movement and mobile and Internet services as well as arbitrary detentions of thousands of protesters across Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, are a grave violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, movement and expression,” the rights group said on X.
Pakistani conglomerate Descon announces local incorporation in Saudi Arabia
- Pakistan’s Descon Engineering operates in the engineering, power and chemical sectors
- It has a long-standing strategic partnership with the Olayan Saudi Holding Company
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Descon Engineering, which operates in the engineering, power and chemical sectors, on Tuesday announced the incorporation of Descon Engineering Arabia, a registered entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in partnership with its long-standing strategic partner, Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO.)
OSHCO is a Saudi-based diversified business enterprise with commercial and industrial operations spread across Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa regions. The company’s portfolio includes more than 25 companies operating in five sectors, namely, food and beverages, restaurants, health and personal care, information and communications technology (ICT), and energy.
Descon, a group of companies headquartered in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, is active in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, and South Africa.
“This significant development reaffirms Descon’s continued commitment to the Kingdom and highlights its focus on localization within Saudi Arabia,” Descon said in a statement.
“Through Descon Engineering Arabia, the company is further expanding its regional footprint, reinforcing its position as a trusted and established service provider dedicated to meeting the needs of customers across the Kingdom.”
The company said the “new chapter” had strengthened its resolve to make a broader global impact, ensuring enhanced value delivery to clients in Saudi Arabia, while supporting the development of local talent and capacity building.
“As we establish Descon Engineering Arabia in partnership with OSHCO, we reaffirm our commitment to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its vision for sustainable growth. This step represents a deepening of our long-standing relationship with the region, enabling us to deliver tailored solutions while contributing to local talent development and capacity building,” Taimur Saeed, CEO of Descon Engineering, said.
“We look forward to fostering stronger collaborations and continuing to serve the Kingdom with the reliability and expertise that have defined our journey for nearly five decades.”
Through Descon Engineering Arabia, Descon Engineering is positioned to deliver even greater value, continuing its “dedication to excellence and local growth” for customers in Saudi Arabia and the region, the company added.
