ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking about $100 million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to construct at least fifteen wetlands along the Indus river to recharge its fast depleting underground aquifer and preserve the natural ecosystem.
“We are endowed with the world’s fourth largest water aquifer, but unfortunately our drawdown rate is also the fourth fastest,” Malik Amin Aslam, Federal Minister for Climate Change, told Arab News in an interview this week.
The GCF provides a global financial mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.
The minister said that the government had been working in partnership with the GCF and the Chinese authorities to secure the financing to further consolidate its “Recharge Pakistan” project for the country’s future water sustainability.
“We will soon start with a detailed feasibility [to construct the wetlands],” he said. “The funds being asked for are in the range of $100 million for the initial phase.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan last year approved the “Recharge Pakistan” program for better management and utilization of floodwaters and to restore and recharge groundwater.
The project is part of the government’s effort to fight adverse impacts of climate change and ensure sustainable use of groundwater which is falling by about a meter per year.
“We need to control unsustainable use of groundwater and initiate the planned recharging process,” Aslam said, adding that one of the most feasible options in this connection was to utilize floodwaters that come down in millions of acre-feet every other year and get flushed down into the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan’s fourth largest groundwater aquifer is spread over 1,137,819 square kilometers – making it slightly larger than England. According to WaterAid, “across Pakistan, the groundwater contribution is estimated to be 60 percent for the agriculture sector, 90 percent for the drinking water and 100 percent usage in industry.”
The annual groundwater withdrawal is estimated to be 65 billion cubic meters while the renewable groundwater resources are estimated to be 55 billion cubic meters a year.
“This is a rare and very valuable freshwater resource which can be diverted to around 15 wetland sites along the Indus banks to not only restore their natural ecosystems but also recharge the underground aquifer,” he said.
Citing example of China, the minister said that the Three Gorges Dam had utilized the concept of creating bigger lakes downstream and use them to recharge the underground aquifer.
“There is a lot for us to learn from that model,” he said. “We are committed to preserving our precious resource, and the best way to do is through the construction of wetlands.”
Pakistan has so far designated 19 wetlands across the country as Ramsar sites for being a signatory to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance while the government is taking all measures to conserve the wetlands to mitigate adverse impacts of climate change.
“The wetlands act as carbon sink, which is one of the major contributors of global warming, and a natural buffer to absorb the shock of natural disasters and protect communities,” the minister added.
Pakistan seeks $100 million from GCF to recharge underground water
Pakistan seeks $100 million from GCF to recharge underground water
- The country is blessed with fourth largest water aquifer but its drawdown rate is also the fourth fastest, the minister says
- Pakistan’s annual groundwater withdrawal is 65 billion cubic meters against the recharge of 55 billion cubic meters
Maxwell’s power-hitting and Australia pace flatten Pakistan in a rain-shortened T20
- Match started after a three-hour delay and was shortened to seven over per side
- Pakistan made 64-9 in response to Australia’s 93-4, losing five wicket in first 15 balls
BRISBANE: Glenn Maxwell’s robust 43 off 19 balls helped Australia thump Pakistan by 29 runs in a rain-shortened first Twenty20 on Thursday.
After a nearly three-hour delay due to lightning and rain, the match was shortened to seven overs per side.
Maxwell powered Australia to 93-4 and Pakistan reached only 64-9 after slumping to 16-5 inside the first 15 balls.
Nathan Ellis (3-9) and Xavier Bartlett (3-13) ran through the top order before No. 8 batter Abbas Afridi’s unbeaten 20.
“Certainly had a lot of fun out there,” Maxwell said. “We thought we had enough on the board … the bowlers did a great job. There was a few of us who had packed our bags expecting the game to be called off, so it was a mad rush to get ready.”
Maxwell followed scores of 0, 16, 0 in the preceding one-day international series won by Pakistan 2-1 by smacking three sixes and five boundaries. He played some extravagant lap shots to third man against the pace of Haris Rauf (1-21) and Naseem Shah (1-37).
Maxwell fell in the penultimate over when he hooked Abbas Afridi (2-9) to backward square leg but Marcus Stoinis provided a final flourish with an unbeaten 21 off seven balls. Stoinis smashed 20 runs in Shah’s last over with two fours and six.
None of the top six Pakistan batters reached double figures.
Sahibzada Farhan hit Spencer Johnson for two successive boundaries off the first two balls he faced before mistiming a pull shot off the fourth ball and holing out at midwicket.
Mohammad Rizwan, in his first match as the Pakistan skipper, fell to the first ball when he top-edged Bartlett to point. Usman Khan was caught at third man in the same over.
Ellis struck twice in his first over when Babar Azam was caught in the deep and Jake Fraser-McGurk snapped his third catch as Irfan Khan also offered a tame catch at deep midwicket.
Pakistan was 24-6 in the fourth over when Salman Ali Agha scored only 4 in his debut T20, guiding a sharp, short Bartlett delivery to Australia first-time captain Josh Inglis on the run.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa clean-bowled Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah off successive balls in the last over to complete the rout.
“It was difficult to keep things normal in a seven-over game,” Rizwan said. “Got to give credit to Maxy, his style worked really well.”
The second T20 is in Sydney on Saturday, and the last in Hobart on Monday.
ICC Champions Trophy promo confirms Pakistan as host
- The video comes days after the ICC informed Pakistan that India had declined to play in the country
- Pakistan has said it is not interested in a hybrid hosting model adopted during last year’s Asia Cup
ISLAMABAD: The International Cricket Council’s promotional video for the Champions Trophy 2025 has portrayed Pakistan as the tournament host, with the global governing body for cricket promising a “thrilling competition” in a statement released on Wednesday.
The video comes just days after the ICC informed Pakistan that India had declined to play tournament matches in the country, prompting Pakistani authorities to rule out the hybrid hosting model adopted last year for the Asia Cup, where India played all its matches in Sri Lanka.
Political tensions between the two countries have led the Indian team to avoid traveling to Pakistan since 2008, with both sides only competing in multination tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
The ICC has not directly commented on the situation, though the promotional video clearly showed visuals communicating that the tournament will be arranged in Pakistan.
It promo displayed an unconventional logo, which the ICC said was designed to be “bold, loud, confident, and fun,” saying the visual identity was digital-first while calling it a dynamic, typographic logo.
“The two weeks of thrilling competition the event is renowned for is reflected in the bold and loud edge to the brand,” ICC Chief Commercial Officer Anurag Dahiya said in a statement. “The new elements are accompanied by the distinctive white jackets which nod to the history of the Champions Trophy and its unique, global appeal.”
The men’s Champions Trophy is set to return in 2025 after about eight years, with Pakistan clinching the title in the 2017 final against India.
The tournament was last held in England.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi that are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games scheduled to be held between February 19 and March 9.
Explosion in house kills 2 children in former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban
- Police investigating what caused the blast including whether someone was handling explosives to make bombs
- Blast happened in Mir Ali where Pakistani Taliban often target security forces with suicide bombings
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A powerful explosion ripped through a house in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban on Thursday, killing at least two children and wounding some others, police said.
Police were still investigating what caused the blast including whether someone was handling explosives to make bombs, local police chief Irfan Khan said.
The blast happened in Mir Ali, a city in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan and where Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents often target security forces with suicide bombings and other violence.
Elsewhere in the province Thursday, a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle set off an explosive device prematurely on a deserted road in Charsadda district, killing himself but harming no one else, police said.
Local police official Masood Khan said the intended target was unclear and bomb disposal experts and police were still investigating whether the man was wearing the explosives or they were attached to his motorcycle.
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are separate from the Afghan Taliban but have been emboldened by the group’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
‘Media speculation,’ foreign office says on Beijing wanting own security staff in Pakistan
- Reuters reported this week Beijing and Islamabad in talks to set up a joint security management system
- Beijing has been angered by recent attacks on Chinese nationals, has publicly raised security concerns
ISLAMABAD: The foreign office on Thursday rejected as “media speculation” reports by a foreign news agency that Beijing is pushing Pakistan to allow its own security staff to provide protection to thousands of Chinese citizens working in the South Asian nation.
Reuters, citing five Pakistani security and government sources speaking on condition of anonymity, reported this week that a string of recent attacks on Chinese nationals had angered Beijing and pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system.
Last month’s airport bombing in the southern port city that killed two Chinese engineers returning to work on a project after a holiday in Thailand was the latest attack on Beijing’s interests in Pakistan.
“Let’s not get carried away with speculation,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad when questioned about the Reuters report.
“I would not like to respond to media speculations that are based on unreliable sources and motivated by an agenda to create confusion about the nature of Pakistan-China relationship.”
She added that Pakistan had raised a security force to protect Chinese nationals and projects, particularly those operating under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) umbrella, and “this security apparatus continues to provide security to Chinese CPEC projects inside Pakistan.”
Longtime Pakistan ally China has thousands of nationals working on projects grouped under the CPEC, a $65-billion investment in President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to expand China’s global reach by road, rail and sea.
The Reuters report said there was now a consensus on setting up a joint security management system, and that Pakistan was amenable to Chinese officials sitting in on security meetings and coordination but there was no agreement as yet on their participating in security arrangements on the ground.
One official said Pakistan had asked China for help in improving its intelligence and surveillance capabilities instead of direct involvement.
“We advise the media to ascertain the motivation of individuals who are feeding them this story,” Baloch said.
“Pakistan and China have a robust dialogue and cooperation on a range of issues including counterterrorism and security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan … We will continue to work with our Chinese brothers for the safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan.”
Baloch said as close allies, Pakistan and China had the resolve and capability to foil “any attempts to harm Pakistan-China relations, including by spreading stories about the nature of this relationship.”
Pakistani deputy PM to attend UAE’s Sir Bani Yas Forum from Nov. 15-17
- Three-day summit will host top decision-makers, experts for debates on regional issues
- Ongoing war in Gaza is expected to feature prominently in discussions at Sir Bani Yas Forum
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will attend the 15th Sir Bani Yas Forum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 15-17, the foreign office in Islamabad said on Thursday, with the ongoing war in Gaza expected to be at the center of discussions.
The three-day annual retreat will bring together top decision-makers and experts to debate pressing Middle Eastern issues such as regional peace and security and economic transformation.
“At the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar will participate in the 15th Sir Bani Yas Forum being held from Nov. 15-17 in the UAE,” foreign office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad.
“At the forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will engage in high-level dialogue with global leaders and experts addressing critical issues of regional security, economic cooperation and sustainable development.”
Dar will highlight Pakistan’s “strategic perspective on fostering diplomatic solutions to complex regional challenges and advancing collective prosperity,” Baloch added.
The war in the Gaza Strip is expected to feature prominently in discussions at the Sir Bani Yas Forum.
Israel invaded the enclave last year after Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and abducting more than 250 as hostages. Since then, the Israeli campaign has killed more than 43,500 people, according to Gaza health authorities, and destroyed much of the enclave’s infrastructure, forcing most of the 2.3 million population to move several times.
The issue was also at the center of the agenda at the recently concluded Joint Arab-Islamic Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, with Baloch welcoming the resolution adopted by the summit, which, among other issues, called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Israel and asked it to set up an independent investigation committee to investigate Israeli crimes including genocide, forced disappearances, torture and ethnic cleansing.
Commenting on recently signed investment agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth over $2.8 billion between Pakistani and Saudi companies, the spokesperson said the deals were crucial for “sustaining economic and investment collaboration” between the two close allies.
“They [MoUs] are a reflection of the enhanced cooperation between our two countries in the economic domain,” Baloch added.
In response to a question about reports that the UAE had implemented a visa ban for Pakistanis, the spokesperson said:
“First, I would like to reiterate that according visa to any individual is the sovereign right and decision of the country concerned and secondly, we do not subscribe to this impression that there is a ban on visa for Pakistani nationals.”
The spokesperson’s comments follow widespread media reports of a decline in visas for Pakistanis by the UAE and a decrease in overall overseas employment for nationals of Pakistan, allegedly due to their lack of respect for local laws and customs and for participating in political activities and sloganeering while abroad.
“If there are any issues that arise with respect to issuance of visas and stay of Pakistani nationals in the UAE,” Baloch said, “that are important agenda items between Pakistan and the UAE and we continue to discuss them.”
