ISLAMABAD: The US has welcomed Pakistan’s election results and expressed a keenness to work with the new government under the leadership of Imran Khan to further its goals of security and stability in South Asia, the US State Department said on Thursday.
In an official statement, department spokesperson Heather Nauert said: “As Pakistan’s elected leaders form a new government, the United States will look for opportunities to work with them to advance our goals of security, stability, and prosperity in South Asia.”
Imran Khan, in his victory speech, acknowledged that he was confronted with a “very big foreign policy challenge.”
“Pakistan’s relationship with the US should be mutually beneficial ... up until now, that has been one way. We will opt for balanced relations with the US,” he said.
Washington will be working closely with Islamabad, given the two countries’ relationship in light of the US strategy for South Asia and the issue of Afghan peace talks, the US official said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang on Tuesday also welcomed the new prime minister, saying that his country was ready to work with the Pakistani government to stay committed to consolidating political mutual trust, deepening across-the-board practical cooperation and making progress in its all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.
Khan vowed to strengthen relations with China, especially given the huge investment made by the country in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“We want to learn from China, how they brought 700 million people out of poverty ... The other thing we can learn from China is ... the measures they have taken against corruption, how they have arrested more than 400 ministers there,” he said.
Commenting on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Shuang said that the economic corridor was a strategic cooperation framework set out by the leaders of the two countries with a view to long-term development. CPEC, he said, aimed to strengthen the dynamics of growth for Pakistan, elevate China-Pakistan all-round cooperation and achieve common development and prosperity.
Khan also expressed disappointment about how the Indian media had portrayed him. “I was saddened in the past few days how the media in India portrayed me as a Bollywood film villain. It seemed like India feared everything bad would happen if Imran Khan came into power. I am the Pakistani who has the most familiarity with India, I have been all over that country.”
He said that the stalemate between the countries had to come to an end. “I think it will be very good for all of us if we have good relations with India. We need to have trade ties, and the more we will trade, both countries will benefit … We are at square one right now (with India). If India’s leadership is ready, we are ready to improve ties with India. If you step forward one step, we will take two steps forward.”
While India has yet to give an official statement recognizing the newly elected government in Pakistan, former minister Mani Shankar Aiyar urged India to resume talks with Pakistan. He noted that Hafiz Saeed’s Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek fielded 50 candidates, and all of them lost.
“More significant than who won is who lost,” the former minister said.
On Kashmir, Khan said: “The unfortunate truth is that Kashmir is a core issue (between India and Pakistan), and the situation in Kashmir, and what the people of Kashmir have seen in the past 30 years ... they have really suffered. Pakistan and India’s leadership should sit at a table and try to fix this problem. It’s not going anywhere.”
Kashmir Council European Union (KCEU) Chairman Ali Raza Syed, in a statement in Brussels, praised Imran Khan’s speech, specially its part on Kashmir, and congratulated him over his party’s victory in the general elections.
Syed said that Khan’s stance in his first speech showed that he gave importance to the Kashmir dispute and hoped that prior to any decision on the issue he would take the Kashmiri leadership into his confidence.
He also asked India to stop human rights violation in occupied Kashmir and give a positive response to Khan’s stance on Kashmir. He said that the Kashmiri leadership should be part of any dialogue aimed at settling the Kashmir dispute.
“Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory and Kashmiris who suffered for the past seven decades are a basic party to the dispute,” he said.
World welcomes Pakistan's prime minister-in-waiting
World welcomes Pakistan's prime minister-in-waiting
- “US will look for opportunities to work with the new government to advance goals of security, stability and prosperity in South Asia” — US State Department
- Kashmir lauds Imran Khan as new prime minister of Pakistan
Pakistani bowler Usman Tariq reported for suspect bowling action in PSL
- Tariq reported by on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Chris Brown after Quetta lost to Lahore Qalandars by 79 runs
- Last year, Tariq was also reported for a suspect bowling action during Quetta’s match against Karachi Kings
ISLAMABAD: Quetta Gladiators’ off-spinner Usman Tariq of Pakistan was reported for a suspect bowling action during the Pakistan Super League T20 tournament.
Tariq was reported by on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Chris Brown after Quetta lost to Lahore Qalandars by 79 runs at Rawalpindi on Sunday. Tariq bowled his quote of four overs and returned figures of 1-31.
He also picked up 2-26 against Peshawar Zalmi as Quetta began its campaign with a thumping 80-run win.
“As per the rules, Usman can continue to bowl in future (PSL) matches,” the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement. “However, if he is reported again, he will be suspended from bowling and will need to obtain clearance from an ICC-accredited lab before he can resume bowling.”
Last year, Tariq was also reported for a suspect bowling action during Quetta’s match against Karachi Kings at the same venue before the franchise voluntarily pulled out the off-spinner from the tournament to undergo the bowling test.
Later in last August, an ICC-accredited laboratory in Lahore cleared the off-spinner’s bowling action and he competed in domestic tournaments without being reported.
Pakistan remittances cross record $4 billion in March, Saudi Arabia remains top contributor
- Government expects economy to expand three percent this year against earlier projections of 2.5-3.5 percent
- The country broke its own record in February 2025 when overseas Pakistanis sent $3.1 billion back home
KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank governor on Monday said the current account would show a “substantial” surplus this year through June mainly on the back of a record inflow of remittances which crossed the $4 billion mark in March, with Saudi Arabia once again topping the list of biggest contributors.
Pakistan received a record-high $4.1 billion in remittances in March 2025, which bodes well for the government’s efforts to revive an economy that it expects will expand three percent this year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Jameel Ahmad said at an event at Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi.
The central bank had earlier projected economic growth to range from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent.
“With this level of remittances, we are hoping that for the current fiscal year our current account will stay in surplus,” the governor said. “There will be a substantial surplus and this surplus is the best performance, I will say, on the external account during the last two decades.”
The country broke its own record in February when overseas Pakistanis remitted $3.1 billion.
Pakistan has faced a serious shortage of dollars and had to restrict imports in 2023 to avoid an imminent default on its foreign debts, which was avoided with the help of a last-gasp $3 billion financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Prime Minister’s Shehbaz Sharif’s government is now waiting for the IMF’s executive board to approve the next $1 billion tranche of a new program, approved in September last year, to boost foreign exchange reserves that currently stand at $10.6 billion.
The current trend in the worker remittances inflows, Ahmad said, had made the central bank revise its earlier projection of $36 billion to $38 billion for this financial year. On the basis of such healthy inflows, the country’s foreign exchange reserves were expected to surge beyond $14 billion this year.
Ahmad said the country had paid most of its external debt for FY25 and was expected to receive as much as $5 billion from external sources by the end of June.
“I am quite confident that we will be receiving $4 to $5 billion before the end of June this year,” he said, without mentioning the exact source of these funds.
Pakistan’s total debt liabilities this year amounted to $26 billion of which $16 billion was supposed to be rolled over or refinanced, the governor said. Of this, he said, $3.7 billion debt was refinanced while close to $12.4 billion has been rolled over by friendly countries including China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Out of the remaining $10 billion debt, Pakistan has already repaid $8 billion and was required to repay only $2 billion in the remaining months of this year.
“We have been servicing all those debt obligations on time,” said the SBP governor, adding that some inflows were delayed, but these would also come before June 30.
Jameel said Pakistan’s current account was stable and showed a $700 million surplus this year through February. Last year, the country’s current account showed $1.7 billion, close to half percent of GDP.
“Good thing is that we have been able to achieve this surplus despite substantial increase in imports,” he said, rejecting the claims that the government was still restricting imports.
Pakistan was also spending around $5.7 billion every month on oil and non-oil imports.
Due to the current account surplus and other policy and regulatory measures like exchange companies’ reforms, the Pakistani rupee had stabilized.
“The gap between the interbank market and the open market is very narrow,” Ahmad said.
While the economy was expected to grow three percent this year compared with 2.5 percent last year, agriculture was a major drag on economic expansion this year and rose less than one percent during the first six months through December.
Otherwise, he said, the economy was “doing well.”
“You can see the economic activity has already picked up. This is reflected in our high frequency data. Look at cement sales, look at auto sales, look at the high value textile exports,” Ahmad said.
While inflation was one of his biggest concerns previously, the central bank governor said the pace of price hikes had slowed to 0.7 percent last month, the lowest level in six decades.
Consumer prices in Pakistan have been backbreaking in recent years and rose 38 percent in May 2023. Pakistan’s central bank had to halve its interest rate to 12 percent since June last year to tame inflation in the country of more than 240 million people.
“From the current month onward, the inflation will be rising and ultimately stabilize within the target range of 5 to 7 percent [in the full year],” the central bank chief added.
Meanwhile, March 2025 data on remittances showed remittances reached $ 4.1 billion last month, a record high. In terms of growth, remittances increased by 37.3 percent and 29.8 percent on y/y and m/m basis, respectively.
Cumulatively, with an inflow of $ 28.0 billion, workers’ remittances increased by 33.2 percent during Jul-Mar FY25 compared to $ 21.0 billion received during Jul-Mar FY24.
“Remittances inflows during March 2025 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($987.3 million), United Arab Emirates ($842.1 million), United Kingdom ($683.9 million) and United States of America ($419.5 million),” the data showed.
US congressman urges collaboration with Pakistan in critical minerals, industrial development
- US Congressional delegation is in Pakistan for meetings with key government and military leaders
- Pakistan has world’s largest copper-gold mineral zones and is also rich in lithium used to make batteries
ISLAMABAD: US Republican Congressman Jack Bergman has called for cooperation with Islamabad in the critical minerals and industrial development sectors, aiming to build a strategic partnership that “provides value not only to Pakistan but to the entire world.”
The United States has identified a list of “critical minerals” like aluminum, lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements that it has deemed essential for its economy, national security, and technological advancements. Pakistan is endowed with various mineral resources, including salt, coal, copper, gold, chromite, bauxite, and gemstones. It is also rich in lithium used to make batteries, as well as other minerals. But despite rich natural reserves estimated to be worth $6 trillion, Pakistan’s mineral sector contributes only 3.2% to GDP and 0.1% to global exports.
The country is now aiming to tap into this underutilized potential and last week organized a minerals summit attended by top government officials and heads of companies from various countries including the US, UK, Europe, China and the Middle East.
“The value of the relationship going forward between Pakistan and the United States cannot be overestimated or how positive an impact it’s going to make, not only just here in Pakistan, in the United States, but in developing areas around the world,” said Bergman, who is part of a three-member US congressional delegation visiting Pakistan this week.
“The importance of what we’re doing here in these specific areas is to bring partnerships together in very specific areas, critical minerals being only one of many but it sets the stage for the next steps in the development of good industries that provide value not only to Pakistan but to the entire world.”
“We cannot overestimate the value of the kinds of industries that we are involved with now in developing capabilities, whether it’s industrial techniques, mining techniques, new products, all of those elements that go into the future of our productive world,” Bergman added.
Last week, senior official Eric Meyer from the US Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs attended the Pakistan Minerals Summit and expressed interest in enhancing cooperation with Pakistan in the minerals sector, citing President Donald Trump’s vision of securing rare materials as a “strategic priority” that could benefit both countries.
Pakistan is home to one of the world’s largest porphyry copper-gold mineral zones, while the Reko Diq mine in southwestern Balochistan province has an estimated 5.9 billion tons of ore.
Barrick Gold, which owns a 50% stake in the Reko Diq mines, considers them one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas, and their development is expected to have a significant impact on Pakistan’s struggling economy.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia became world’s largest markets for new solar installations in 2024 — report
- Pakistan imported 17 GW of solar panels in 2024 to meet growing consumer demand, double the amount imported in 2023
- In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia imported 16 GW in 2024, more than double the amount imported the year before
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has joined the ranks of the world’s leading solar markets, importing 17 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels last year alone, according to the Global Electricity Review 2025 by Ember, an energy think tank in the UK.
In 2024, for the first time, solar power supplied more than 2,000 TWh of electricity, increasing by 474 TWh (+29 percent) from the previous year. This was the largest increase in generation from any power source in 2024. It took 8 years for solar to go from 100 TWh to 1,000 TWh of power — and then just 3 years to pass 2,000 TWh, meaning that solar has now been the largest source of new electricity globally for three years in a row.
Solar is now so cheap that large markets can emerge in the space of a single year – as evidenced in Pakistan in 2024. Amid high electricity prices linked to expensive contracts with privately-owned thermal power stations, rooftop solar installations in Pakistan’s homes and businesses soared as a means of accessing lower cost power.
“The country imported 17 GW of solar panels in 2024 to meet this growing consumer demand, double the amount imported the year before,” the Global Electricity Review 2025 said.
“Within just a year, Pakistan became one of the world’s largest markets for new solar installations in 2024.”
Pakistan’s case shows that the low-cost, fast-to-build nature of solar power can transform electricity systems at an unprecedented rate. Updated system planning and regulatory frameworks are needed alongside this deployment to ensure a sustainable and managed transition.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia imported 16 GW in 2024, more than double the amount imported the year before. Oman saw the largest percentage growth in imports in the region, with 2.5 GW of imports in 2024 representing a fivefold increase from the year before.
South Africa imported 3.8 GW of solar panels in 2024, following a record-breaking 2023 when 4.3 GW were imported as consumers turned to the technology amid rising blackouts. Nigeria and Morocco imported 1.3 GW and 1.1 GW respectively, marking the first time that either country has imported more than 1 GW in a single year.
The expansion of solar power is a worldwide phenomenon, with 99 countries doubling the amount of electricity they produce from solar power in the last five years. The majority of solar generation now comes from non-OECD countries (58 percent), with China alone making up 39 percent of the global total.
Increases in generation have been achieved thanks to the pace of capacity additions, the Global Electricity Review said. The world installed a record 585 gigawatts of solar capacity last year – 30% more than in 2023, and more than double the amount installed in 2022. Having surpassed 1 TW of solar power in 2022, it took only two years to install the next 1 TW.
“This is not just unprecedented for solar power – it is a rate of growth that no power source has seen before. In fact, the solar capacity installed in 2024 is more than the annual capacity installations of all fuels combined in any year before 2023,” the Global Electricity Review 2025 report added.
As solar’s share of the global electricity mix has risen to 6.9 percent of global generation in 2024, some countries are showing it is possible to incorporate much larger amounts. There are now 21 countries that generate more than 15 percent of their electricity from solar power, up from just three countries five years ago.
Heartbroken Afghans cross over into homeland from northwest border as Pakistan ramps up expulsions
- Repatriation drive of “illegal” foreign citizens began in November 2023 with over 948,870 Afghans repatriated since
- Around 16,242 Afghan Citizen Card holders deported from Torkham border between Apr. 1-11 in latest repatriation push
Torkham, Pakistan: Muhammad Rasool stood waiting at the Torkham border crossing in northwestern Pakistan earlier this month, set to return to his homeland of Afghanistan after 45 years with only a few belongings on his back.
The journey is not one Rasool, an Afghan refugee, is making by choice.
Earlier this year, Pakistan’s interior ministry asked all “illegal foreigners” and holders of Afghan Citizen Cards — a document launched in 2017 to grant temporary legal status to Afghan refugees — to leave the country before Mar. 31, warning that they would otherwise be deported from Apr. 1. The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of “illegal” foreign citizens that began in November 2023, with over 948,870 Afghans repatriated since, as per figures published on state broadcaster Radio Pakistan on Monday.
The campaign was launched after a spike in militant attacks in recent years that Islamabad says is partly to blame on Afghan nationals residing in the country without offering proof. The drive is also taking place amid worsening relations with Afghanistan, whose Taliban-led government Pakistan has accused of providing sanctuary to militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Kabul denies the accusations.
Millions of Afghans have sought refuge in Pakistan over the past four decades, fleeing successive conflicts including the Soviet invasion, a civil war and the post-9/11 US-led takeover of Kabul by the hard-line Taliban government. Thousands were born in Pakistan or left Afghanistan while they were children, and many have never even visited the country they are now forced to return to.
Rasool, 55, is one such refugee.
“We have lived in Pakistan for 45 years,” Rasool, a daily wage laborer most of his life, told Arab News on Saturday at the Torkham Border Crossing just to the west of the historic Khyber Pass in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan.
He was leaving the country with his wife, three daughters and two sons.
“We were so happy here. We are so sad that one can’t imagine.”
Rasool complained of harassment of Afghans by authorities in the days leading up to his departure for Torkham from Taxila in the eastern Punjab province where he was based in Pakistan.
“Afghan refugees were disrespected and harassed by the police. Some of the Afghans living near me were picked up from home,” he said. “I was worried that the police would also come to my home so to save my honor, I packed my belongings and left.”
A short distance away, Muhammad Islam, a man in his mid-thirties who was waiting with his family of five for a transport vehicle to take them to Jalalabad in Afghanistan, also spoke about the fear of harassment.
“Due to the fear that our female family members would be picked up by the police, we rushed to leave for Afghanistan,” he told Arab News.
The Pakistan government says it is ensuring the “dignified” repatriation of all illegal aliens.
“MY HEART ACHES”
As per latest figures obtained from the KP Tribal and Home Affairs Department, 500,040 illegal foreigners, mostly Afghan nationals, have been repatriated through various border crossings in the province since September 2023. Between Apr. 1-11, at least 16,242 ACC holders and 17,689 ‘illegal’ Afghan nationals have been repatriated through the Torkham border, according to the home department’s data.
Among them are many like Rasool, whose children can’t even speak the official languages of Afghanistan, Dari and Pashto, and who don’t know what lies ahead.
“They don’t know a word of Pashto, they are all worried as they don’t know the language and the place is new for them,” he said. “Where should we go? What should we do? We are worried about this.”
Sakhi Gul, a 57-year-old Afghan refugee who has worked as a bread maker in Pakistan’s Attock district for over 35 years, said he was barely ten years old when he left his homeland.
“How should we know now where we are being sent? People are saying that a camp has been established,” Gul said. “We don’t know any place or home to go to.”
When asked what he would do in Afghanistan, he said, “I will see once I cross the border … We worked hard in Pakistan and will try to work harder in Afghanistan. At first, I will try to find work as a laborer to feed my family.”
Muhammad Islam, a man in his mid-thirties, also said his professional and personal future in Afghanistan was uncertain.
“I don’t know what I will be doing in Afghanistan. I have never seen Afghanistan. I will see what to do once I cross my family over.”
What most of the refugees do know is that they will miss the life they are leaving behind.
Gul said his Pakistani friends and neighbors, with whom he had spent most of his life, were pained to see him leave.
“Yesterday, they were also weeping and asking why are we going.”
Islam too said he would miss the Pakistani community he was leaving behind in the eastern Chakwal district where he had lived for several years and worked at a junkyard. His spouse and four children, one of them a baby in his wife’s lap, were accompanying him to Afghanistan.
“I miss my friends, my heart aches for them,” Islam said. “They wept with us when I was getting on the vehicle, and I also wept. My heart says that I shouldn’t go.”
