ISLAMABAD: The provincial administration of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Saturday offered assistance to build a cancer hospital in neighboring Afghanistan during a meeting between Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Afghan envoy to Pakistan, Sardar Ahmad Shakib.

KP shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan and maintains strong cultural and linguistic ties with Pashtun populations across the frontier.

The province has also experienced a major surge in militant violence in recent months, with Pakistani officials frequently accusing armed groups based in Afghanistan of orchestrating cross-border attacks, a claim the Taliban government in Kabul denies.

“Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur held an important meeting with Afghanistan’s Ambassador Sardar Ahmad Shakib, during which bilateral relations, mutual cooperation and regional stability were discussed in detail,” the KP administration said in a statement.

“Gandapur offered assistance in establishing a cancer hospital in Afghanistan and assured full support in the agricultural sector [to Kabul] as well,” it added. “He expressed his commitment that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is ready to play every possible role in the welfare of the Afghan people.”

Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan became strained in 2023 when Islamabad launched a major crackdown on undocumented migrants, most of them Afghans, citing security concerns.

While Pakistan’s federal administration and military adopted a tough posture toward Kabul, it was widely reported in the local media that the KP government wanted diplomatic engagement with Afghan Taliban, signaling an interest in negotiated cooperation.

The two sides have recently sought to reset relations and agreed to appoint ambassadors following a China-facilitated tripartite meeting this year.

Saturday’s discussion also emphasized the deep cultural and ethnic links between the two countries, with both sides agreeing that these bonds should be strengthened through mutual respect and cooperation.

The statement said Gandapur plans to send a special delegation to Afghanistan “to serve as a bridge between the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan and to promote trust and harmony.”

Ambassador Shakib expressed appreciation for the KP government’s support for Afghan refugees and reaffirmed his commitment to enhancing bilateral ties through peaceful and people-centric initiatives.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday strongly defended his government’s structural reform agenda, particularly in tax administration, saying that difficult and often unpopular decisions were necessary to rebuild national institutions, as the country could no longer afford “business as usual.”

Speaking at an orientation session for participants of the Uraan Pakistan youth program, Sharif recalled the fragile economic conditions he inherited after assuming power following last year’s general elections.

He noted that Pakistan had narrowly avoided a sovereign default in mid-2023, when inflation surged to nearly 38 percent, before securing a critical bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The prime minister said his administration took on the “onerous task” of stabilizing the economy under immense pressure, choosing to pursue long-delayed reforms rather than temporary fixes.

“Pakistan had to undertake these long-overdue, deep structural changes if we had to find our lost place in the comity of nations through hard and untiring efforts,” he said.

Sharif pointed to a set of key reforms aligned with IMF recommendations, including the digitization of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

He noted the transition from paper-based tax systems to digital and AI-led processes was already bearing fruit.

“Faceless interactions — these terminologies were unknown in FBR,” he said, adding that one previously underperforming sector saw its tax contribution rise from Rs12 billion to over Rs50 billion within a year due to improved enforcement.

The prime minister said his administration had prioritized accountability, removing senior FBR officials accused of corruption and resisting political pressure in doing so.

“It’s a long and thorny journey,” he continued. “We are facing bumps on the way and mountain-like impediments. But I can assure you, we will not shy away from discharging our responsibility.”

Sharif maintained that merit would remain the cornerstone of his governance model.

“Delivery is the name of the game,” he said. “Performance is the name of the game.”