ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is willing to use its “little influence” with the Afghan Taliban to resurrect faltering peace talks between the Kabul government and the insurgency, foreign office officials said, just days before Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is scheduled to visit Kabul to meet with top civilian and military leaders.
US officials have long pushed Pakistan to use its influence with Taliban leaders, who Washington says are based inside Pakistan, to bring them to the negotiating table and end a 17-year-long war. Islamabad vehemently denies it is covertly sheltering Taliban leaders.
“We can facilitate the peace process by using our little influence over the Afghan Taliban,” a foreign office official with knowledge of the talks told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the issue.
“Pakistan is willing to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table but obviously is not in a position to forge a peace agreement with them. The modalities and all other relevant things are to be decided by the US as it is the major stakeholder,” he added.
However, he said the Taliban seemed “least interested” in engaging with the Afghan government at a time when the next presidential elections were scheduled to be held in April next year. He said the US and Afghanistan had to mutually decide if they wanted to delay the presidential elections so the present dispensation could better engage with the Taliban or if they wanted a new government with a full five-year mandate to broker a peace deal.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump asked for Pakistan’s help with Afghan peace talks in a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“The peace process has started and the good thing is that the US has finally agreed to find a negotiated settlement to the Afghan conflict,” foreign office spokesman Dr. Mohammad Faisal told Arab News. “Pakistan is ready to play its role and our foreign minister will convey this to the Afghan leadership.”
Addressing a ceremony in Multan last week, Foreign Minister Qureshi said it was a testament to the robustness of Pakistan’s foreign policy that the US had requested for assistance in resolving the Afghan conflict, adding that he would visit Kabul on December 15 to hold talks with the “Afghan leadership on political reconciliation and durable peace in Afghanistan.”
Pakistan is committed to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, the minister added.
During last week’s visit to Pakistan of the US special representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, Islamabad had expressed its willingness to host direct talks between representatives of the Afghan government and leaders of the Taliban if all stakeholders, including the United States, agreed on a common agenda for the meeting.
“We have conveyed this to the US during the recent visit of Zalmay Khalilzad, but obviously nothing is final at this stage as different options for peace in Afghanistan are being explored,” the foreign office official said.
Last month, Khalilzad said he hoped a peace deal would be reached by April 2019. But Afghan Taliban militants have repeatedly said they have not accepted any deadline and that a three-day meeting in Qatar between their leaders and Khalilzad in October ended with no agreement.
In July 2015, Pakistan arranged the first official meeting of representatives of the Kabul government and the Taliban in Murree, a hill resort near Islamabad. Observers from the US and China also attended the talks. The process was, however, scuttled after death of Taliban chief Mullah Omar, throwing fledgling efforts to negotiate into disarray.
Last week, the Afghan president constituted a 12-member committee to hold direct talks with the Taliban, but they have yet to get a nod from the militants.
Rahimullah Yousufzai, an expert on Taliban affairs, said Pakistan can help arrange meetings of the Taliban with the US and the Afghan government by using its influence but “there is still a long way to go.”
“Taliban are seeking a schedule of withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and until the US agrees to that, there are little chances of moving ahead,” he told Arab News, adding that Pakistan could facilitate negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban like it had in the past but “nothing more than that.”
“Taliban’s international recognition has increased manifold in the past years and they are now least dependent on Pakistan’s help,” Yousafzai said.
A senior security official privy to talks said no peace deal was possible without the ownership of the process by the Afghan people: “Right now, the biggest question is, do the Afghan people even accept this process?”
Pakistan willing to influence Afghan Taliban to facilitate peace talks
Pakistan willing to influence Afghan Taliban to facilitate peace talks
- Says ready to host direct negotiations between Kabul and Taliban
- Pakistan foreign minister headed to Afghanistan for high-level talks on Dec 15
Pakistan set to hold rates as Israel-Iran conflict overshadows growth push
- Several brokerages initially expected a cut but revised their forecasts after Israeli strikes sparked fears of a broader conflict
- Escalating hostilities triggered a sharp spike in oil prices, a worry for Pakistan given the broader impact on imported inflation
KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank is expected to hold its policy rate on Monday, a Reuters poll showed, as many analysts shifted their previous view of a cut in the wake of Israel’s military strike on Iran, citing inflation risks from rising global commodity prices.
Israel said on Friday it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders in a “preemptive strike” to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Several brokerages had initially expected a cut but revised their forecasts after the Israeli strikes sparked fears of a broader conflict. The escalating hostilities triggered a sharp spike in oil prices — a worry for Pakistan given the broader impact on imported inflation from a potentially prolonged conflict and tightening of crude supplies.
Eleven of 14 respondents in a snap poll expected the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to leave the benchmark rate unchanged at 12 percent. Two forecast a 100 basis-point cut and one predicted a 50 bps cut.
“There remains an upside risk of a rise in global commodity prices in light of geopolitical tensions which could mark a return to inflationary pressures,” said Ahmad Mobeen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“The resultant higher import bill could also threaten external sector performance and bring pressure to the exchange rate.”
Inflation in the South Asian country has been declining for several months after it soared to around 40 percent in May 2023.
Last month, however, inflation picked up to 3.5 percent, above the finance ministry’s projection of up to 2 percent, partly due to the fading of the year-go base effects. The SBP expects average inflation between 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent for the fiscal year ending June.
The central bank paused its easing cycle in March after cumulative cuts of 1,000 basis points from a record high of 22 percent, and resumed it with a 100-basis-point reduction in May.
The policy meeting follows the release a tight annual budget, which saw Pakistan raise defense spending by 20 percent but overall expenditure was reduced by 7 percent, with GDP growth forecast at 4.2 percent.
Pakistan says its $350 billion economy has stabilized under a $7 billion IMF bailout that had helped it staved a default threat.
Some analysts are skeptical of the government’s ability to reach the growth target amid fiscal and external challenges.
Abdul Azeem, head of research at Al Habib Capital Markets, which forecast a 50-bp cut, said a lower rate could “support the GDP target of 4.2 percent and reduce the debt financing burden.”
Pakistan condemns ‘illegitimate aggression’ as Israel launches widescale strikes on Iran
- Israel hits nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders in operation to prevent Tehran from building atomic weapon
- 200 Israeli jets took part in strikes and hit over 100 targets, military spokesman says, Tehran launches 100 drones toward Israel in retaliation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday condemned what it called Israel’s “unjustified and illegitimate aggression” against Iran after strikes targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders as part of an operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Israel launched strikes on Iran early Friday, with black smoke rising from around its main nuclear enrichment facility. Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards corps said its top commander, Hossein Salami, was killed and state media reported the unit’s headquarters in Tehran had been hit. Several children had been killed in a strike on a residential area in the capital, it said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday there was no increase in radiation levels at the Natanz nuclear site, citing information given by Iranian authorities.
Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said 200 Israeli fighter jets took part in the strikes, hitting more than 100 targets in Iran, which had launched about 100 drones toward Israeli territory in retaliation.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement, warning that the escalation posed “a serious threat to regional peace and security.”
The foreign ministry said Israel had violated Iran’s sovereignty and said the attacks were “contrary to the UN Charter and fundamental principles of international law.”
“Iran has the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter,” the statement added.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar described the Israeli strikes as a “brazen violation” of Iran’s sovereignty and said they “gravely undermine regional stability and international security.”
“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the government and the people of Iran,” Dar wrote on X.
Dar also said the embassy had set up a 24/7 Crisis Management Unit at the foreign ministry “to ensure safety & security of our nationals / pilgrims in Iran.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on the international community and the United Nations to “take urgent steps to prevent any further escalation that could imperil regional and global peace.”
Israeli military spokesperson Defrin said all air defense systems had been activated in response to Iran’s retaliation and the country expected “difficult hours ahead.”
In Washington, the US administration said it was not involved in the Israeli operation, which raises the risk of a fresh escalation in tensions in the Middle East, a major oil producing region.
“Israel took unilateral action against Iran,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement released by the White House. “Our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry also condemned the Israeli strikes.
“The Kingdom condemns these heinous attacks and affirms that the international community and the Security Council bear a great responsibility to immediately halt this aggression,” the Saudi statement said.
Airlines cleared out of the airspace over Israel, Iran and Iraq and Jordan on Friday after the Israelis strikes, Flightradar24 data showed, with carriers scrambling to divert and cancel flights to keep passengers and crew safe.
Iran closed its airspace and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice.
Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said tens of thousands of soldiers had been called up and “prepared across all borders.”
“We are amidst a historic campaign unlike any other. This is a critical operation to prevent an existential threat, by an enemy who is intent on destroying us,” he said.
With inputs from AP and Reuters
Pakistan, other nuclear states together spent $100 billion on weapons in 2024 — report
- US spent $56.8 billion in 2024, followed by China at $12.5 billion, says International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
- ICAN says level of nuclear weapons spending in 2024 by these nine nations could have paid UN budget almost 28 times over
GENEVA: Nuclear-armed states spent more than $100 billion on their atomic arsenals last year, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said Friday, lamenting the lack of democratic oversight of such spending.
ICAN said Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States together spent nearly $10 billion more than in 2023.
The United States spent $56.8 billion in 2024, followed by China at $12.5 billion and Britain at $10.4 billion, ICAN said in its flagship annual report.
Geneva-based ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its key role in drafting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which took effect in 2021.
Some 69 countries have ratified it to date, four more have directly acceded to the treaty and another 25 have signed it, although none of the nuclear weapons states have come on board.
This year’s report looked at the costs incurred by the countries that host other states’ nuclear weapons.
It said such costs are largely unknown to citizens and legislators alike, thereby avoiding democratic scrutiny.
Although not officially confirmed, the report said Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkiye were hosting US nuclear weapons, citing experts.
Meanwhile Russia claims it has nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus, but some experts are unsure, it added.
The report said there was “little public information” about the costs associated with hosting US nuclear weapons in NATO European countries, citing the cost of facility security, nuclear-capable aircraft and preparation to use such weapons.
“Each NATO nuclear-sharing arrangement is governed by secret agreements,” the report said.
“It’s an affront to democracy that citizens and lawmakers are not allowed to know that nuclear weapons from other countries are based on their soil or how much of their taxes is being spent on them,” said the report’s co-author Alicia Sanders-Zakre.
Eight countries openly possess nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea.
Israel is widely assumed to have nuclear weapons, although it has never officially acknowledged this.
ICAN said the level of nuclear weapons spending in 2024 by these nine nations could have paid the UN budget almost 28 times over.
“The problem of nuclear weapons is one that can be solved, and doing so means understanding the vested interests fiercely defending the option for nine countries to indiscriminately murder civilians,” said ICAN’s program coordinator Susi Snyder.
The private sector earned at least $42.5 billion from their nuclear weapons contracts in 2024 alone, the report said.
There are at least $463 billion in ongoing nuclear weapons contracts, some of which do not expire for decades, and last year, at least $20 billion in new nuclear weapon contracts were awarded, it added.
“Many of the companies that benefited from this largesse invested heavily in lobbying governments, spending $128 million on those efforts in the United States and France, the two countries for which data is available,” ICAN said.
Standard nuclear doctrine — developed during the Cold War between superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union — is based on the assumption that such weapons will never have to be used because their impact is so devastating, and because nuclear retaliation would probably bring similar destruction on the original attacker.
Pakistan’s Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces to present budgets 2025-26 today
- Pakistan’s federal government announced its budget 2025-26, with total outlay of $62 billion, on Tuesday
- Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah, who also holds finance portfolio, will present budget at 3:00 pm, says state media
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces will present their annual budgets for the fiscal year 2025-26 today, Friday, in their respective assemblies, state-run media reported.
The development will take place a few days after Pakistan’s central government announced the federal budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 with a total outlay of Rs7.57 trillion ($62 billion). Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the budget in parliament on Tuesday, which allocates Rs2.55 trillion ($9 billion) for defense spending in FY26, compared to Rs2.12 trillion in the fiscal year ending this month.
Pakistan’s provincial governments announce their annual budgets typically a few days after the federal government. KP Minister for Finance Aftab Alam Afridi will present the budget in the KP Assembly at 3:00 pm, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“In Sindh, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the portfolio of finance will present the budget in Sindh assembly in Karachi at three in the afternoon,” the report said.
The state media said Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province will announce its budget on Monday.
The federal government announced a significant income tax relief for the salaried class in its budget earlier this week, aiming to ease the burden on people amid high inflation and economic uncertainty. The income tax rate for individuals earning between Rs600,000 and Rs1.2 million ($2,128–$4,255) annually would be cut from 5 percent to 2.5 percent.
“For those earning up to Rs22,000,000 [$7,788], the tax rate has been proposed at 11 percent instead of 15 percent. Similarly, those who earn a higher salary, there is a proposition of tax reduction,” Aurangzeb said.
“For those who are earning between Rs22,000,000 [$7,788] up to Rs32,000,000 [$11,328], the tax rate has been proposed to be reduced from 25 percent to 23 percent,” he added.
For high-income earners making over Rs10 million ($35,460) annually, a 1 percent reduction in the additional surcharge has been recommended to help curb the ongoing brain drain, the minister said.
BUDGET 2025-26 HIGHLIGHTS:
GDP/DEFICIT
* GDP growth projected to be 4.2 percent
* Nominal GDP seen at 129.57 trillion rupees
* Fiscal deficit expected to be 3.9 percent of GDP
* Targets primary surplus of 2.4 percent of GDP
INFLATION
* Targets inflation at 7.5 percent
EXPENDITURE
* Total spending seen at 17.57 trillion rupees
* Defense expenditure of 2.55 trillion rupees targeted
* Interest payments projected at 8.21 trillion rupees
REVENUE
* Total gross revenue of 19.28 trillion rupees targeted
* Targets total tax revenue of 14.1 trillion rupees
* Aiming for net external receipts of 106 billion rupees
($1 = 282.0000 Pakistani rupees)
In a Pakistan valley, a small revolution among women
- Woman-led carpentry shop in Hunza Valley has trained around 100 women since 2008, employs 22 people
- Experts say high literacy rate driving socio-economic progress of women in Hunza compared to rest of Pakistan
KARIMABAD, Pakistan: In a sawdust-filled workshop nestled in the Karakoram Mountains, a team of women carpenters chisel away at cabinets — and forge an unlikely career for themselves in Pakistan.
Women make up just a fraction of Pakistan’s formal workforce. But in a collection of villages sprinkled along the old Silk Road between China and Afghanistan, a group of women-led businesses is defying expectations.
“We have 22 employees and have trained around 100 women,” said Bibi Amina, who launched her carpentry workshop in 2008 at the age of 30.
Hunza Valley’s population of around 50,000, spread across mountains abounding with apricot, cherry, walnut and mulberry orchards, follow the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam.
Ismailis are led by the Aga Khan, a hereditary position held by a family with Pakistani roots now living in Europe.
The family opened a girls’ school in Hunza in 1946, kickstarting an educational investment that pushed the valley’s literacy rate to 97 percent for both men and women. That rate far outstrips the country average of around 68 percent for men and 52.8 percent for women.
As a result, attitudes have shifted, and women like Amina are taking expanded roles.
“People thought women were there to wash dishes and do laundry,” Amina said of the generation before her.
Trained by the Aga Khan Foundation to help renovate the ancient Altit Fort, Amina later used her skills to start her own business. Her carpenters are currently at work on a commission from a luxury hotel.
Only 23 percent of the women in Pakistan were officially part of the labor force as of 2024, according to data from the World Bank.
In rural areas, women rarely take on formal employment but often toil in the fields to support the family’s farming income.
In a Gallup poll published last year, a third of women respondents said their father or husband forbade them from taking a job, while 43.5 percent said they had given up work to devote themselves to domestic tasks.
Cafe owner Lal Shehzadi spearheaded women’s restaurant entrepreneurship in Hunza.
She opened her cafe at the top of a winding high street to supplement her husband’s small army pension.
Sixteen years later, her simple set-up overlooking the valley has become a popular night-time tourist attraction. She serves visitors traditional cuisine, including yak meat, apricot oil and rich mountain cheese.
“At the start, I used to work alone,” she said. “Now, 11 people work here and most of them are women. And my children are also working here.”
Following in Shehzadi’s footsteps, Safina quit her job to start her own restaurant around a decade ago.
“No one wanted to help me,” she said. Eventually, she convinced family members to sell two cows and a few goats for the money she needed to launch her business.
Now, she earns the equivalent of around $170 a month, more than 15 times her previous income.
The socio-economic progress of women in Hunza compared to other rural areas of Pakistan has been driven by three factors, according to Sultan Madan, the head of the Karakoram Area Development Organization and a local historian.
“The main reason is the very high literacy rate,” he told AFP, largely crediting the Aga Khan Foundation for funding training programs for women.
“Secondly, agriculture was the backbone of the economy in the region, but in Hunza the landholding was meager and that was why women had to work in other sectors.”
Women’s increased economic participation has spilled into other areas of life, like sports fields.
“Every village in the valley has a women’s soccer team: Gojal, Gulmit, Passu, Khyber, Shimsal,” said Nadia Shams, 17.
On a synthetic pitch, she trains with her teammates in jogging pants or shorts, forbidden elsewhere by Pakistan’s dress code.
Here, one name is on everyone’s lips: Malika-e-Noor, the former vice-captain of the national team who scored the winning penalty against the Maldives in the 2010 South Asian Women’s Football Championship.
Fahima Qayyum was six years old when she witnessed the killer kick.
Today, after several international matches, she is recruiting the next generation.
“As a girl, I stress to others the importance of playing, as sport is very good for health,” she told AFP.
“If they play well, they can also get scholarships.”
