ISLAMABAD: The Ministerial Standing Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) is set to host the sixth meeting of the OIC steering committee for the implementation of the OIC Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Agenda 2026 from Apr. 22-24 in Islamabad, the organization said recently. 

Established by the OIC in 1981 and headquartered in Islamabad, COMSTECH continues to serve as a cornerstone of the OIC’s mission to promote scientific excellence and technological innovation, focusing on sustainable development, poverty reduction and improvement in quality of life across member states.

Confirmed participants of the upcoming steering committee meeting include heads and representatives of 17 OIC institutions from Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Turkiye, Jordan, Uganda, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Pakistan, COMSTECH said. 

“The upcoming Steering Committee meeting will focus on reviewing the implementation progress of the OIC STI Agenda 2026, which was initiated following the First OIC Summit on STI in Astana, Kazakhstan, 2017,” COMSTECH said in a statement issued on Sunday. 

“The agenda aims to foster research collaboration, knowledge sharing, and technology transfer among OIC member states to support sustainable development.”

It said key agenda items also include reviewing member states’ progress on STI Agenda 2026 goals, identifying new joint initiatives and partnerships and discussing future actions leading toward the proposed OIC STI Agenda. 

The meeting will also feature presentations from OIC institutions on their progress, challenges and recommendations under the Abu Dhabi Declaration (2022). 

To prepare for the event, COMSTECH’s Coordinator General Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary chaired a high-level preparatory meeting at the body’s headquarters in Islamabad on Sunday where he issued key directives to ensure the smooth execution of the Steering Committee’s sessions. COMSTECH said its senior officials, program managers and departmental representatives attended the meeting.

COMSTECH said it continues to play a central role in facilitating STI cooperation and will oversee coordination among partner institutions to implement recommended initiatives and sustain momentum toward the strategic objectives of the OIC-STI agenda.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has established a 24/7 federal control room to assist Afghan nationals and respond to complaints of harassment during their repatriation, according to a statement issued on Sunday, amid growing criticism of Islamabad’s ongoing deportation campaign.
The decision comes a day after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Kabul and met senior Taliban officials to discuss bilateral cooperation, including issues linked to the mass return of Afghans from Pakistan.
“Pakistan has set up a 24/7 Federal Control Room at the National Crisis Information Management Cell (NCIMC) to assist Afghan nationals and address complaints of harassment during repatriation,” the office of Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Sadiq Khan, said in a statement.
It noted the helpline service was launched in line with Dar’s commitment during his visit to Kabul. Dar had promised that Pakistan’s interior ministry would issue a notification within 48 hours to streamline a complaints mechanism for Afghan returnees.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Dar spoke with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to thank him for the hospitality extended during the visit. Both leaders expressed satisfaction over the outcome of their talks and agreed to “expeditiously implement the decisions taken for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries,” the ministry said
Dar also invited Muttaqi to visit Pakistan, an invitation the Afghan official accepted.
The development comes as Islamabad presses ahead with a second phase of its repatriation plan, targeting more than 800,000 Afghans whose residence permits have been canceled.
Rights groups and Afghan officials have raised concerns about the treatment of deportees, many of whom have reported harassment, arbitrary arrests and family separations.
Pakistan says nearly 85,000 Afghans have returned so far in April, with a large number of them undocumented. The United Nations says more than half of them are children, with many families entering a country where women face restrictions on work and education under Taliban rule.
Islamabad has defended the deportation policy as a national security measure, pointing to rising militant violence and alleging that many Afghan nationals have remained involved attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban government in Kabul, however, denies the charge.
The first phase of the deportation campaign began in late 2023 wherein hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were expelled from Pakistan.