Pakistan PM arrives in Dubai to attend major UN climate conference

UAE Minister for Justice Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi (2nd right) receives Pakistan's Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar (right) as he arrives at Al-Maktoum Airport in Dubai on November 29, 2023, ahead of the UN climate conference, COP 28. (Photo courtesy: PMO)
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Updated 29 November 2023
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Pakistan PM arrives in Dubai to attend major UN climate conference

  • Pakistan will set up its own pavilion at the event and focus on building climate resilience with other states
  • Prime Minister Kakar will attend the World Climate Action Summit beginning on Dec. 1 at COP28 conference

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday arrived in Dubai to attend the United Nations climate conference scheduled to be held between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12, with the participation of around 70,000 people, including global leaders, academics and youth representatives.
According to officials in Islamabad, Pakistan will set up its own pavilion and focus on critical issues to help countries across the world build climate resilience together.
Mitigating the impact of climate change has become a major priority for the government after the country was hit unprecedented monsoon rains and floods that caused massive infrastructure and agricultural losses last year.
Kakar will attend the COP28 conference where he will spearhead Pakistan’s delegation and present its case.
Minister for Justice of the United Arab Emirates H.E. Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE and the Pakistani diplomatic staff welcomed the Prime Minister at Dubai’s Al-Maktoum Airport,” said a brief statement issued after the Pakistani PM’s arrival.
“The Prime Minister will attend the World Climate Action Summit on December 1 and 2,” it added.
Kakar, who is on a week-long visit to the Middle East to sign multibillion-dollar deals, is accompanied by Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Climate Change Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam and Energy Minister Muhammad Ali.
The Pakistani delegation plans to call for an early operationalization of the loss and damage fund to help countries vulnerable to climate change deal with natural disasters caused by erratic weather conditions.
It also intends to argue for the inclusion of developing countries in the fund, diverging from developed nations’ focus only on the least developed states.
Prior to arriving in Dubai, the prime minister held some vital meetings with the top Kuwaiti leaders and witnessed the signing of ten major investment deals in the Gulf country.


Pakistan’s exports to Europe surge to $3.8 billion in first five months of current fiscal year

Updated 20 January 2025
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Pakistan’s exports to Europe surge to $3.8 billion in first five months of current fiscal year

  • Growth in exports driven by textile, leather, garments, sports goods and surgical instruments sectors, says state media 
  • European Union (EU) is Pakistan’s second most important trading partner, accounting for over 14 percent of Pakistan’s total trade

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports to Europe have surged to $3.8 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year, state-run media reported on Monday, marking an increase of 8.62 percent compared to the same period last year. 

The European Union (EU) is Pakistan’s second most important trading partner, accounting for over 14 percent of Pakistan’s total trade and absorbing 28 percent of Pakistan’s total exports. Pakistani exports to the EU are dominated mostly by textiles and clothing.

Pakistan avails the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP)+ status, a special trade arrangement offered by the EU to developing economies in return for their commitment to implement 27 international conventions on human rights, environmental protection and governance.

The current GSP framework came to an end in December 2023 but Members of EU Parliament (MEPs) voted in October to extend the current rules on the scheme for another four years for developing countries, including Pakistan. 

“Pakistan’s exports to Europe surged to 3.8 billion dollars, reflecting an 8.62 percent increase in the first five months of current fiscal year,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.

It said the growth in exports was driven by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a Pakistani hybrid civil-military body, in the sectors of textiles, leather, garments, sports goods and surgical instruments.

Pakistan’s government formed the SIFC in June 2023 to promote business opportunities in various sectors such as agriculture, mining, information technology and defense, and attract foreign investment. 

The SIFC has targeted mainly Gulf countries in its attempt to revitalize Pakistan’s economy and ensure it heads toward sustainable growth in the years to come. The council was set up in 2023 as Pakistan faced tough economic challenges amid dwindling forex reserves and a rapidly depreciating national currency.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has repeatedly stressed the importance of shifting Pakistan’s economy from an import-dependent one toward an export-led one, saying that without it sustainable economic growth is difficult to achieve. 

In recent months, Pakistan has vigorously pursued economic and investment deals with Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and bilateral trade cooperation with Central Asian states, Russia and others. 


South Sudan lawmakers to arrive in Islamabad today to enhance parliamentary ties, bilateral cooperation

Updated 20 January 2025
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South Sudan lawmakers to arrive in Islamabad today to enhance parliamentary ties, bilateral cooperation

  • South Sudanese lawmakers to meet prominent political figures, government leaders during three-day visit
  • Delegation arrives at a time of conflict and turmoil in Sudan, where a 20-month war has killed over 24,000

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of South Sudan’s legislative assembly is arriving in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad today, Monday, on a three-day visit to boost bilateral relations and parliamentary ties with Pakistan, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

The delegation will be headed by Nathaniel Oyet Pierino, the first deputy speaker of the South Sudan parliament. Pierino is visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to enhance parliamentary diplomacy, Radio Pakistan said. 

“These meetings will focus on fostering closer parliamentary cooperation, addressing mutual interests, and expanding the scope of bilateral relations across various sectors,” the state media reported. 

The South Sudanese delegation will engage in a series of important meetings with Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Deputy Chairman of the Senate Syedaal Khan.

The Sudanese delegation will meet prominent political figures and government leaders to further solidify ties between the two nations, Radio Pakistan added. 

The delegation arrives at a time when the African region is engulfed in turmoil as a civil war between a paramilitary group in Sudan and the country’s army rages on. The 20-month war has killed over 24,000 and driven over 14 million people from their homes, according to the UN. 

An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, to escape the horrors of the conflict. 

Pakistan has repeatedly called on the international community to support efforts for a ceasefire in the African country and urged both warring parties to desist from further bloodshed in the country. 
 


Pakistan says progress on resettling Afghans in Western countries remains ‘painfully slow’

Updated 20 January 2025
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Pakistan says progress on resettling Afghans in Western countries remains ‘painfully slow’

  • Thousands of Afghans who helped American troops and diplomats during Afghan war await resettlement in US
  • Pakistan says would have been “more appropriate” if world did not abandon the Afghan people after the war 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office has said that progress on the cases of thousands of Afghans seeking resettlement in Western countries remains “painfully slow,” insisting that it was only repatriating Afghan nationals who were residing illegally in Pakistan. 

Thousands of Afghan locals put themselves in danger to serve alongside US troops, diplomats, and contractors during the war in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks. These individuals provided linguistic, cultural and geographic knowledge to the United States at great personal risk to themselves and their families. 

Since 2006, the American Congress has established several Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programs that allow eligible applicants to resettle to safety in the US. After the fall of Kabul in August 2021, thousands of Afghans who had filed such refugee resettlement applications entered neighboring Pakistan, but remain trapped in legal limbo, while facing persistent threats for their collaboration with the US. 

In 2023, Islamabad began a drive to expel what it said were all undocumented foreigners, a campaign that has disproportionately hit Afghans, with reportedly 800,000 repatriated so far. Afghan rights activists and applicants of SIVs have said the deportation drive has also forcibly repatriated scores of Afghans awaiting resettlement in the United States, which Islamabad denies. 

Pakistan has consistently called on Western countries to expedite the approval and visa issuance of Afghan nationals that are currently in Pakistan but awaiting to be resettled in the West. 

“Progress on the cases of thousands of Afghan nationals who were promised resettlement in Western countries remains painfully slow,” Pakistan’s foreign office wrote on social media platform X on Sunday. 

It was responding to Jan England, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who had highlighted the plight of Afghan refugees being repatriated from Pakistan and Iran. 

The foreign office pointed out that Pakistan had hosted over four million Afghan refugees that had escaped their war-torn country for the past 40 years, adding that those being sent back were those that were “residing illegally without any documentation or proof of residence.”

“It would have been more appropriate had the world not abandoned the Afghan people after the war and if conducive socioeconomic conditions had been created inside the country for the Afghan people to prosper,” the foreign office said. It said that the United Nations’ humanitarian aid to Afghanistan remains “critically underfunded” with only 37.5 percent of the required funds secured last year.

“Pakistan has been and will continue to support all efforts aimed at addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as well as for lasting peace and stability in the country,” the foreign office concluded. 

PAKISTAN’S DEPORTATION DRIVE

Pakistan launched the deportation drive in October 2023 after a spike in suicide bombings which the Pakistan government, without providing evidence, said were carried out by Afghan nationals. Islamabad has also blamed them for smuggling, militant violence and other crimes. 

A cash-strapped Pakistan navigating record inflation, alongside a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program in 2023, had also said undocumented migrants had drained its resources for decades.

Until the government initiated the expulsion drive, Pakistan was home to over four million Afghan migrants and refugees out of which around 1.7 million were undocumented, as per government figures.

Afghans make up the largest portion of migrants, many of whom came after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, but a large number have been present since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Islamabad insists the deportation drive is not aimed specifically at Afghans but at all those living illegally in Pakistan. 


Pakistan’s new Gwadar airport set to begin operations today

Updated 20 January 2025
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Pakistan’s new Gwadar airport set to begin operations today

  • The opening of Chinese-funded airport was delayed because of security review due to militant attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan in August
  • The airport will begin operations with the arrival of an inaugural Pakistan International Airlines flight from Karachi, airports authority says

KARACHI: Pakistan’s new Gwadar International Airport is set to begin operations today, Monday, with a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight due to arrive from the southern port city of Karachi, a Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) spokesperson said, following a months-long delay in the opening of the airport.

A security review, prompted by deadly attacks by separatist militants in Balochistan in August last year, had delayed the airport’s opening to the end of 2024. The airport was due to begin operation on Jan. 10, but it was once again postponed.

The $200-million Chinese-funded airport, which will handle both domestic and international flights, is expected to become one of Pakistan’s largest, according to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).

A ceremony will be held to mark the airport’s opening on Monday, which would be attended by senior federal and provincial government officials, according to PAA spokesperson Saif Ullah.

“The first flight will be given a traditional water salute by Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS) water bowsers after landing,” the PAA spokesperson said in a statement.

China has pledged over $65 billion in infrastructure, energy and other projects in Pakistan under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, the program in Pakistan is also developing a deep-water port close to the new Gwadar airport, a joint venture between Pakistan, Oman and China that is close to completion.

Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said the Gwadar airport would be able to handle A-380 aircraft and capable of accommodating 4 million passengers annually.

The airport will feature various facilities, including cold storage, cargo sheds, hotels and shopping malls, with banking services arranged through the State Bank of Pakistan, according to the PM’s office. PIA also planned to increase

flights between Karachi and Gwadar to three times a week, while discussions were ongoing with private airlines and carriers from China, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to launch both domestic and international services.

Sharif had highlighted that the Gwadar International Airport symbolized the strong China-Pakistan friendship, expressing gratitude to Beijing for constructing an airport with international standards and modern facilities.

Although no Chinese projects were targeted in militant attacks in August, they have been frequently attacked in the past by separatists who view China as a foreign invader trying to gain control of impoverished but mineral-rich Balochistan, the site of a decades-long insurgency.

Recent attacks, including the one in October 2024 in which two Chinese workers were killed in a suicide bombing in Karachi, forced Beijing to publicly criticize Pakistan over security lapses and there had been widespread media reports that China wanted its own security forces on the ground to protect its nationals and projects, a demand Islamabad has long resisted.


Pakistan launches operation in Kurram district, sets up camps for displaced families

Updated 19 January 2025
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Pakistan launches operation in Kurram district, sets up camps for displaced families

  • Tribal and sectarian clashes since Nov. 21 have killed at least 136 people in Kurram and caused medicine, food and fuel shortages
  • A senior police official says military will lead the operation in Kurram’s Bagan area, with police providing ‘second-tier support’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have launched an operation to clear the northwestern Pakistani district of Kurram of militants, a senior police official said on Sunday, following months of unrest in the region.
Kurram, a district of around 600,000 people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, has been rocked by tribal and sectarian clashes since November 21, when armed men attacked a convoy of Shia passengers, killing 52 people.
The attack sparked further violence and blockade of a main road connecting Kurram’s main town of Parachinar with the provincial capital of Peshawar, causing medicine, food and fuel shortages in the area, as casualties surged to 136.
The operation in Lower Kurram comes after the KP government announced the establishment of camps for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs), following an ambush on a supply convoy that killed 10 people on Thursday.
“The operation has commenced in Lower Kurram’s Bagan area and the sanitization process to clear the area is underway,” Abbas Majeed Marwat, the Kohat regional police officer (RPO), told Arab News.
“The military will lead the operation, with the police providing second-tier support through the Elite Force, regular police, and other security forces.”
Asked about the scale of the operation, Marwat said it was targeted at specific areas where militants were using hideouts to sabotage peace efforts.
“The operation will focus on certain pockets, particularly in Bagan and its adjacent areas,” he said.
Thursday’s ambush targeted a convoy of 33 vehicles set to resupply local traders in the region with rice, flour and cooking oil and two aid vehicles carrying essential medicine. It followed a similar attack on a supply convoy this month that injured five people, including a top administration official in the region.
The violence has continued despite a peace agreement signed between the warring tribes on Jan. 1. Under the peace agreement, both sides had agreed on the demolition of bunkers and the handover of heavy weapons to authorities within two weeks.
RPO Marwat said the operation aimed to target elements “embedded within the local community who were acting as spoilers.” He said authorities had completed arrangements for TDPs, while some families had already left the most affected areas to stay with their relatives elsewhere.
“The commissioner of Kohat and I visited the proposed sites for TDP camps in Hangu to inspect the administrative and security arrangements,” he told Arab News on Sunday.
“As of yesterday, more than 20 families had relocated [from Bagan] and more are leaving because the situation here remains critical.”
Separately on Sunday, the KP government announced action against militants in violence-hit areas of Kurram, following a high-level huddle in Peshawar.
“Action against few miscreants in the affected areas has become unavoidable and a decision has been made to take strict and indiscriminate action against miscreants,” said a statement issued from the office of KP government spokesperson Mohammad Ali Saif.
For the past three months, the statement said, the KP government had been working hard to restore peace and stability in Kurram, and a peace agreement was reached through a grand jirga in line with Pashtun traditions.
“A few miscreants in Kurram have attempted to sabotage the peace agreement,” it said, adding that the militants attempted to assassinate Kurram Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mehsud, leaving him seriously injured, and were also targeting security personnel and supply convoys.
The statement said the government feared that the “miscreants” had infiltrated peaceful communities, and to protect peaceful citizens, they would be separated.
“Alternative housing arrangements have been made for the affected population,” it added.
Feuding tribes have battled with machine guns and heavy weapons in Kurram, cutting off the remote and mountainous region bordering Afghanistan from the outside world.
Provincial authorities have been supplying relief goods and transporting ailing and injured people from Kurram to Peshawar via helicopters since late last month.