ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan urged Pakistan on Tuesday to release thousands of containers of imports it said were stuck at Karachi port since Islamabad clamped down on transnational cargo.
Pakistan authorities say they have lost millions of dollars in taxes because goods are being sent duty-free from its ports to land-locked Afghanistan, and then smuggled back across the border.
Afghan authorities say Pakistan has stopped more than 3,000 Afghanistan-bound containers at Karachi port while demanding more tax and duty payments, causing millions of dollars in losses to traders.
The issue was raised Tuesday by Nooruddin Azizi, Afghanistan’s minister of industry and commerce, in a meeting with Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistan’s caretaker minister of foreign affairs.
They spoke about “the transit problems and challenges of the two countries” a statement from the Afghan embassy said.
“Hundreds of these containers have been parked since several months, while some have been stopped more than a year. The goods inside are spoiling and the traders are suffering losses,” an official of the Afghan consulate in Peshawar told AFP.
The trade row is one of several thorny issues that have grown between Kabul and Islamabad since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Last month Pakistan ordered hundreds of thousands of illegal Afghan migrants to return home or face being deported.
Pakistan officials said Tuesday more than 300,000 Afghans had voluntarily left since November 1, but Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities insist the majority have been forcibly repatriated.
Pakistan said it has opened five new border crossing points to help speed up the process.
Millions of Afghans fled their homeland over the past four decades to escape war and poverty, most settling in Pakistan or Iran.
Pakistan says the deportations are to protect its “welfare and security” after a sharp rise in attacks, which the government blames on militants operating from Afghanistan.
Afghan authorities are struggling to cope with the influx of returnees — including many who have never set foot in the country.
Balochistan province information minister Jan Achakzai told reporters in Quetta that authorities had blocked at least 50,000 identity cards held by Afghans that they believed were fake.
“We suspect that 250,000 more fake ID cards have been issued. The matter is under investigation and those found guilty will face strict action,” Achakzai said.
Afghanistan urges Pakistan to release 1,000s of containers from port
https://arab.news/5puxu
Afghanistan urges Pakistan to release 1,000s of containers from port
- Pakistan says it has lost millions of dollars because goods are being sent duty-free from its ports to Afghanistan and then smuggled back across the border
- Afghan authorities say Pakistan has stopped more than 3,000 Afghanistan-bound containers at Karachi port while demanding more tax and duty payments
Pakistan orders resolution of land, power hurdles for Chinese investor in special economic zone
- China’s Century Steel Group has complained of lack of power, high land costs in Rashakai Special Economic Zone
- Minister urges authorities to confirm land prices to Chinese steel giant, maintain reasonable power distribution margin
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has urged authorities to resolve land and power tariff hurdles reported by a Chinese steel giant in a key special economic zone (SEZ) located in the country’s northwest, state-run media reported this week, amid Islamabad’s intensifying efforts to attract foreign investment in vital economic sectors.
Spread over an area of 1,000 acres, the Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) is a flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project that aims to connect Pakistan’s Gwadar port to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.
Pakistani media outlets have reported that China’s Century Steel Group, the primary investor in the RSEZ, has expressed its frustration over the past couple of months at Pakistani authorities for failing to finalize a plot purchase agreement and ensuring power supply for its steel mills operation.
Iqbal held a meeting with China Century Steel Mills officials during which various issues faced by the investor came up, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Monday. The minister instructed Pakistan’s Board of Investment (BoI), Power Division and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to address the issues hindering industrial development promptly, it said.
“Specifically, he directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) to confirm land prices to the company at the earliest, by their demands,” it said.
The KPEZDMC officials briefed Iqbal that the company had requested discounted rates for land per acre. Meanwhile, the Century Steel Group consultant cited examples from China, saying that land there is often provided free of charge to industries in SEZs, APP said. He stressed on the need for similar incentives in Pakistan.
“Addressing concerns over power tariffs, the minister directed authorities concerned to maintain a reasonable distribution margin and ensure that the zone receives power at the same rates as regular consumers,” the state-run media said.
Iqbal instructed the FBR, Pakistan’s premier revenue authority, to conduct a consumption survey in northwestern Pakistan to estimate anticipated power consumption accurately, APP said.
Pakistan has increasingly eyed investment from China and other regional allies, particularly from the Middle East, as it seeks to be less dependent on foreign aid and stabilize its economy.
The South Asian country came close to suffering a sovereign default last year before it clinched a last-gasp $3 billion financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Islamabad has achieved some economic gains since then but Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has spoken repeatedly of bolstering the country’s economy via long-term financial reforms and international investment.
US joins UK, EU in raising concerns over Pakistan military courts sentencing civilians
- Pakistan’s military on Dec. 21 sentenced 25 civilians to imprisonment for violent protests in May last year
- EU, UK have said separately that military courts lack judicial independence and due process guarantees
ISLAMABAD: The US State Department this week joined the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) in expressing concerns over a Pakistani military court’s recent decision to sentence 25 civilians to prison for partaking in violent protests last year, calling on Islamabad to respect citizens’ right to a fair trial and due process.
Pakistan’s military on Dec. 21 sentenced 25 people to periods of two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” for participating in violent protests on May 9, 2023, when hundreds carrying flags of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party attacked government and military installations. The protests erupted after Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges, resulting in damage to major military facilities and martyrs’ monuments in the country.
Khan’s party challenges the military’s version, denying it was involved in the violence and stating that the May 9 incident was a “false flag” operation aimed at crushing it as it faced a nationwide crackdown with hundreds of its supporters arrested.
The EU said on Sunday that the sentencing was “inconsistent” with Pakistan’s international obligations, and that according to them every person is entitled to a fair and public trial in an impartial and independent court. The UK also expressed alarm at the development on Monday, saying that trying civilians in military courts “lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial.”
“The United States is deeply concerned that Pakistani civilians have been sentenced by a military tribunal for their involvement in protests on May 9, 2023. These military courts lack judicial independence, transparency, and due process guarantees,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday.
“The United States continues to call on Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process, as enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution.”
The Pakistan government and military have not yet responded to the statements by the US, UK and EU. However, while announcing the military court verdicts on Dec. 21, the army’s media wing said the sentences were an “important milestone in dispensation of justice to the nation.”
“It is also a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in own hands,” the army said in a statement.
Others charged over the violence were being tried in anti-terrorism courts but justice would only be fully served “once the mastermind and planners ... are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land,” the military said, in what was widely seen as a veiled reference to Khan.
The ruling came days after Khan was indicted by an anti-terrorism court on charges of inciting attacks against the military. An army general who served under him as his spy chief, Faiz Hamid, is facing a military investigation on the same charges.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court last week allowed military courts to announce verdicts in concluded trials of nearly 85 supporters of Khan on charges of attacking army installations. However, it made such verdicts conditional on the outcome of appeals against the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians.
The court last year provisionally allowed military courts to try civilians.
Special force set up to police road in Pakistani district wracked by sectarian feuding
- Police say at least 136 killed in fresh sectarian feuds in Kurram that started last month
- Northwestern district has for decades seen fighting between Shia and Sunni groups
PESHAWAR: The government of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said on Monday it was establishing a special force to ensure that a main road in Kurram district remained open, after its blockade since last month following sectarian clashes in the region has triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Kurram, a tribal district of around 600,000 where federal and provincial authorities have traditionally exerted limited control, has frequently experienced violence between its Sunni and Shia communities over land and power. Travelers to and from the town often ride in convoys escorted by security officials.
The latest feuding started on Nov. 21 when gunmen ambushed a vehicle convoy and killed 52 people, mostly Shias. The assault triggered road closures and other measures that have disrupted people’s access to medicine, food, fuel, education and work. Over 130 people have been killed in the fighting that has ensued after the convoy attack.
The provincial government and Edhi Foundation charity last week started sending medicines to the region via helicopters.
“It has been decided to establish a special police force to secure the Parachinar Road in connection with the restoration of land connectivity to Kurram,” the KP government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
Parachinar is the main town in Kurram and a main road that connects the region to Peshawar, the provincial capital of KP, has been blocked since sectarian fighting began late last month.
“A total of 399 personnel will be recruited for this new force,” the statement said. “It has been decided to set up temporary posts initially to secure the road, while permanent posts will be set up in the future.”
The statement said the road would be opened after an agreement was reached between the two warring sides. A grand jirga of tribal and political heavyweights was set up earlier this month to convince the two sides to shun violence. The council will resume peace talks later this week.
Kurram police spokesman Riaz Khan told Arab News on Monday least 136 people had been killed in the violence since last month. If you added those who had died due to lack of access to hospitals and medicines following the road closures, the number reached at least 200, the police officer said.
Meanwhile, the KP government has launched a helicopter service to evacuate people and transport aid and medicines to Kurran amid the closer of the Parachinar-Peshawar road since last month, triggering a humanitarian crisis with reports of starvation, lack of medicine and oxygen shortages.
On Sunday, two flights evacuated 27 individuals and 16 government staffers and jirga members, according to KP chief minister’s office. Since last week, over 180 people, including women, children and patients, have been transported via helicopter, with priority given to those in need of urgent medical attention.
Last week, KP government spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif said authorities had decided to dismantle private bunkers — observation posts used in the fighting by both sides — and given a deadline of Feb. 1 for tribesmen in Kurram to handover heavy weapons.
Local tribesmen have so far reportedly refused to surrender their weapons, citing concerns about their safety.
Trying civilians in military courts lacks transparency, UK government says after verdicts announced
- 25 civilians sentenced by a Pakistani military court to periods of two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” on Saturday
- Case relates to accusations thousands of Khan supporters stormed military installations, torched general’s house in 2023
ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom said on Monday trying civilians in military courts lacked transparency and undermined the right to a fair trial, days after 25 civilians were sentenced by a Pakistani military court to periods of two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” in connection with attacks on military facilities in 2023.
The Dec. 21 ruling underscores concerns among supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan that military courts are going to play a bigger role in cases involving the 72-year-old cricketer-turned politician, who is facing multiple charges including allegedly inciting attacks against the armed forces. He is currently facing these charges in a civilian court, but his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party fears he may also be taken to military trial.
The government says thousands of Khan supporters stormed military installations and torched a general’s house on May 9, 2023, among other violence, to protest against the former PM’s arrest by paramilitary soldiers that day in a land graft case. At least eight people were killed in the violence.
“While the UK respects Pakistan’s sovereignty over its own legal proceedings, trying civilians in military courts lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial,” a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson, said. “We call on the Government of Pakistan to uphold its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
The Pakistan government and military have not yet responded to the UK statement, which follows one by the European Union, saying the military court verdicts were “inconsistent” with Pakistan’s international obligations.
On Saturday, while announcing the military court verdicts, the army’s media wing said the sentences were an “important milestone in dispensation of justice to the nation.”
“It is also a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in own hands,” the army said in a statement.
Others charged over the violence were being tried in anti-terrorism courts but justice would only be fully served “once the mastermind and planners ... are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land,” the military said, in what was widely seen as a veiled reference to Khan.
The ruling comes days after Khan was indicted by an anti-terrorism court on charges of inciting attacks against the military. An army general who served under him as his spy chief, Faiz Hamid, is facing a military investigation on the same charges.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court last week allowed military courts to announce verdicts in concluded trials of nearly 85 supporters of Khan on charges of attacking army installations. However, it made such verdicts conditional on the outcome of appeals against the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians.
The court last year provisionally allowed military courts to try civilians.
With inputs from Reuters
IFC backs Pakistani firm, UAE subsidiary to set up tire manufacturing unit in Sindh
- IFC and group of local banks will provide up to $50.2 million to Armstrong ZE to increase local production of tires
- The project is expected to create over 1800 jobs and bolster local manufacturing and supply chains, IFC said
ISLAMABAD: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a consortium of Pakistani banks will provide up to $50.2 million-equivalent in financing to support Pakistan’s Armstrong ZE Pvt. Ltd. and its UAE subsidiary Zafco Group Holding in developing a greenfield tire manufacturing facility in the Sindh province, IFC said on Monday.
The number of registered vehicles in Pakistan has grown steadily over the last decade, reaching approximately 30 million vehicles in 2023, including 23 million two-wheelers. However, local tire manufacturing remains constrained due to a lack of technical expertise and technology and a substantial informal market, making the country heavily dependent on imports.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector, working in more than 100 countries. It has invested approximately $13 billion in Pakistan since 1956, supporting diverse sectors such as renewable energy, financial inclusion, infrastructure development, agribusiness, manufacturing, housing, health care, and trade, among others.
“Armstrong ZE is deeply honored to have earned the trust and support of IFC and our partner banks, HBL, Meezan Bank, Bank Alfalah and Habib Metropolitan Bank. Their investment in this transformative project is not just a financial endorsement but also a strong vote of confidence in our vision, capabilities, and potential to shape the future of tire manufacturing,” Azim Yusufzai, the chairman of Armstrong ZE, said in a statement released by IFC.
“Together, we aim to foster innovation, create employment opportunities, and contribute to sustainable development in our communities and beyond. This collaboration marks a monumental step forward in advancing our mission to deliver world-class, sustainable, and innovative tire solutions to the Pakistani market.”
The financing comprises a $25 million loan from IFC alongside an up to $25.2 million equivalent investment in Pakistani rupees from local banks. The project is expected to create over 1,800 direct and indirect jobs and help increase the competitiveness of the tire sector through technology and know-how transfers.
The project will utilize the company’s long-standing experience in the tire industry, through its UAE-based company, Zafco Group Holding, which operates as a global importer and exporter of tires, batteries, and lubricants, with a presence in over 85 countries, as well as Zafar Enterprises, a leading tire distributor in Pakistan.
IFC will also be supporting Armstrong through its Responsible Investing Support in Emerging Economies (RISE) advisory program, which will strengthen Armstrong’s climate risk management, resource efficiency, and environmental and social processes.
“IFC is committed to improving Pakistan’s value-added manufacturing capacity by partnering with strong companies that can scale up production,” said Khawaja Aftab Ahmed, IFC’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
“This investment exemplifies this commitment and will help improve consumer access to tires while spurring the economy through job creation, increased productivity, and reduced reliance on imports.”
IFC said the project will introduce a locally manufactured international brand to Pakistan, which will improve consumer access to quality, affordable tires, while strengthening local supply chains, creating jobs and boosting private sector-led growth.
Armstrong ZE Pvt. Ltd. is a wholly owned company established by the Pakistan-origin Hussain and Yusufzai families who have over fifty years of experience in the tire business with operations in more than eighty-five countries. The families also own, Zafar Enterprises, a leading tire distribution company in Pakistan, and UAE based Zafco Group Holding, a global importer and exporter of tires, batteries, and lubricants, with a presence in over 85 countries.
