KARACHI: Pakistan and China are holding a virtual meeting of the 13th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) today, Friday, with the security of Chinese organizations and personnel working in the South Asian nation expected to be at the top of the agenda.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan but both separatist and other militants have attacked Chinese projects in recent months, killing Chinese personnel, including five Chinese workers who perished in a suicide attack on Mar. 26 while on their way to the Dasu hydropower project in Pakistan’s northwest.
The hydropower project falls under the ambit of CPEC, a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative through which it has pledged more than $65 billion for road, rail and other infrastructure developments in the South Asian nation of 241 million people. Pakistan has said more than 50 projects worth $25 billion under the CPEC umbrella have been completed since the project was launched in 2015.
On Friday, the 13th JCC meeting formally began with a minute of silence in honor of the Chinese nationals killed in the March suicide bombing, with Pakistan’s planning ministry describing them as “heroes of Pakistan” whose contributions had supported the realization of CPEC.
“China and Pakistan have embarked on a journey of shared dreams working hand in hand to build high-quality development projects,” Pakistani Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said in his opening remarks at the meeting. “It is heartening to note the steady progress CPEC has made since its inception in 2013.”
He lauded President Xi Jinping’s vision to forge an “upgraded version” of CPEC and turn it into a growth, livelihood-enhancing, innovation, green and regional connectivity corridor to align it with Pakistan’s 5E socio-economic framework approved last year for the promotion of exports, energy, environment, equity and empowerment.
“We are ready to work with NDRC [National Development and Reform Commission of China] to finalize the scope and implementation plan on these corridors,” Iqbal added.
The minister detailed a number of projects completed so far under CPEC, including the construction of around 888 kilometers of motorways and highways. He said an 884-megawatt hydropower project at Sukhi Kinari, worth $1.7 billion, was under construction and expected to be commissioner later this year.
Three hydel power projects and one coal-based Gwadar power project with a generation capacity of 2,100 megawatts were in advanced stages of completion, Iqbal added.
Beijing has also over the years readily provided financial assistance to bail out its often-struggling neighbor, including in July last year when China granted Pakistan a two-year rollover on a $2.4 billion loan, giving the debt-saddled nation much-needed breathing space as it tackled a balance-of-payments crisis.
But Chinese projects and interests have also increasingly come under attack in recent years.
The Dasu assault in March was the third major one in a little over a week on China’s interests and followed a Mar. 20 attack on a strategic port used by China in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Beijing has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects including a deep-sea port, and a Mar. 25 assault on a naval air base, also in the southwest.
Both attacks were claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups in Balochistan.
Dasu, the site of a major dam, has been attacked in the past, with a bus blast in 2021 killing 13 people, nine Chinese among them, although no group claimed responsibility, like the Mar. 26 bombing.
Pakistan is home to twin insurgencies, one mounted by religiously-motivated militants and the other by ethnic separatists who seek secession, blaming the government’s inequitable division of natural resources in southwestern Balochistan province.
Chinese interests are mostly under attack primarily by ethnic militants seeking to push Beijing out of mineral-rich Balochistan, but that area is far from the site of the Mar. 26 bombing.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s top economic body approved $2.5 million in compensation for families of Chinese workers who were killed in the Mar. 26 Dasu attack.
Security of Chinese workers tops agenda as Islamabad, Beijing hold key investment meeting
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Security of Chinese workers tops agenda as Islamabad, Beijing hold key investment meeting
- Pakistan has said over 50 projects worth $25 billion under CPEC umbrella completed since 2015
- Chinese interests increasingly under attack in recent years by separatist and other militant groups
Pakistan crush England in second Test to set up series decider
- Spinner Noman Ali grabbed 8-46, Sajid Khan took 2-93 as the pair wrapped up England’s second innings for 144
- It was Pakistan’s first home win since Feb. 2021 and came after they were thumped by an innings in the first Test
MULTAN: Spinner Noman Ali took eight wickets as Pakistan crushed England by 152 runs in the second Test to level the series 1-1 on Friday in Multan.
Noman grabbed 8-46 and Sajid Khan took 2-93 as the pair wrapped up England’s second innings for 144 after the visitors were set a daunting target of 297.
It was Pakistan’s first home win since February 2021 and came after they were thumped by an innings in the first Test, also in Multan.
The third and final Test starts in Rawalpindi from October 24.
Noman finished with a match haul of 11-147 while Sajid had figures of 9-204, only the second time in Pakistan’s history that two bowlers took all 20 wickets in a Test.
Pakistan’s last Test win at home came against South Africa in Rawalpindi more than three years ago. It was followed by 11 home Tests without a win.
This also becomes Shan Masood’s first win as skipper after getting the job last year, including 3-0 and 2-0 whitewashes at the hands of Australia and Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s ploy of dropping ace batsman Babar Azam in one of four changes after the first Test defeat and playing on a reused pitch with three spinners paid off handsomely.
Resuming at 36-2 and facing a tough task on a pitch offering sharp spin, England managed to add just 108 runs before folding.
In just the second over of the day Sajid removed Ollie Pope with a sharp turning delivery and caught the miscued drive off his own bowling. Pope made 22.
Noman then trapped Joe Root leg-before for 18 and Harry Brook for 16 to leave England facing defeat at 78-5.
Brook smashed an epic 317 and Root a brilliant 262 — eclipsing Alastair Cook’s England Test run record — in the first Test, and their dismissals signalled England’s doom was approaching.
Noman’s fourth wicket came in the form of Jamie Smith whose uppish slog sweep was held by Masood at mid-on. Smith scored six.
Skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse fought hard to take the total to 125 when Stokes was stumped in a comical manner, jumping out of the crease to loft Noman but missing the ball as his bat flew out of his hands.
Noman wrapped up the match with the wickets of Carse (27), Jack Leach (one) and Shoaib Bashir (nought), improving his previous best of 7-70 against Sri Lanka in Colombo last year.
Third batch of 26 Palestinian students arrives in Pakistan to resume medical studies
- Islamabad announced in July that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) will provide scholarships to more than 100 Palestinian students
- These Palestinian students will return after completing their medical education in Pakistan to serve people at home, a Pakistani health official says
ISLAMABAD: A third batch of 26 Palestinian students has arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to continue their studies in the fields of medicine and dentistry, the Pakistani health ministry said on Friday.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced in July that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) will provide scholarships to over 100 Palestinian students so that they can continue their studies in Pakistan.
The initiative, which came amid Israel’s war on Palestine, is a collaboration between Doctors of Rehman, Global Relief Trust and a leading Pakistani non-governmental organization, Al-Khidmat Foundation.
Pakistan prime minister’s coordinator on health, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, warmly welcomed the Palestinian students upon arrival at the Islamabad airport, according to the Pakistani health ministry.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had offered Palestinian medical students to continue their studies in Pakistan in view of the current situation in Gaza,” Dr. Bharath was quoted as saying by the ministry.
“[They] will continue their medical and dental education in various medical institutions of Pakistan.”
More than 42,000 Palestinians have so far been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the Palestinian health authorities. The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 and capturing around 200 others.
“All necessary steps will be taken to provide medical facilities to Palestinian students,” Dr. Bharath said. “[Pakistan] stands with the Palestinian students in this difficult time.”
These Palestinian students would return after completing their medical education in Pakistan to serve people at home, he added.
More than 90 Palestinian students arrived in Pakistan earlier this week via two separate flights to continue their medical studies in the country.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.
India foreign minister’s Pakistan visit a ‘good beginning’, Nawaz Sharif says
- Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was in Pakistan for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
- Jaishankar and his counterpart Ishaq Dar had an ‘informal interaction,’ an official in Pakistani foreign ministry said on Thursday
MUMBAI: The visit of India’s foreign minister to Pakistan earlier this week was a “good beginning” that could lead to a thaw in relations between the two rivals, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying by Indian media on Friday.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was in Pakistan on Tuesday and Wednesday for a meeting of governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with the capital city under tight lockdown.
“This is how talks move forward. Talks should not stop,” Sharif, the president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N), and the brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, told a group of visiting Indian journalists, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
Jaishankar was among nearly a dozen leaders participating in the gathering in Islamabad, nearly a decade since an Indian foreign minister has visited amid frosty relations between the two nuclear powers.
Jaishankar and his counterpart Ishaq Dar had an “informal interaction,” an official in Pakistani foreign ministry said on Thursday, but New Delhi denied that any sort of meeting had taken place.
“We had made it very clear that this particular visit is for SCO head of government meeting. Other than that, there were some pleasantries exchanged on the sidelines of the meeting,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday.
“We have lost the last 75 years and it is important we don’t lose the next 75 years,” Sharif was quoted as saying in the Times of India newspaper.
Pakistan’s first multi-mission communication satellite becomes operational
- PAKSAT MM1 to aid in South Asian nation’s space and digital development
- The satellite will usher in digital era by providing Internet to remote areas
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first multi-mission communication satellite, PAKSAT MM1, is now fully operational, state media reported on Thursday, describing the move as a significant milestone in the country’s space and digital development.
In May, Pakistan launched the PAKSAT MM1 with Chinese assistance into space from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in a ceremony broadcast live by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the country’s national space agency.
The satellite has been conceived keeping in view the growing needs of the South Asian country in the broad spectrum of communication and connectivity.
“The success of PAKSAT-MM1 will transform Pakistan’s communication infrastructure, which will benefit various IT sectors,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“The satellite will provide services such as television broadcasting, community Internet, and tele-education to promote local industries.”
Pakistan’s ranking has improved by 14 points in the United Nations E-Governance Development Index — a comprehensive assessment tool that evaluates the digital government landscape across all UN member states — according to the state broadcaster.
The country now stands at 136 in overall ranking which was at 150 in 2022.
“This satellite will also increase Internet connectivity in remote areas which will further the government’s vision of Digital Pakistan,” the report read.
UNESCO adopts Pakistan-led resolution on countering disinformation globally
- The development comes amid student protests in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province over reports of a rape on a women’s college campus
- Authorities say no victim has come forward and blame online misinformation for unrest, but the protests have since spread to other cities in Punjab
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has adopted a Pakistan-led resolution on countering disinformation, the Pakistani embassy in France said on Thursday.
The resolution titled, “Countering Disinformation for the Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information,” was co-sponsored by more than 50 member states and was unanimously adopted at the 220th session of the UNESCO executive board in Paris.
Pakistan took this initiative against the backdrop of proliferation and intensification of disinformation, misinformation and hate speech around the world, according to the Pakistani embassy in France.
“Disinformation is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, which is exacerbated by the rapid evolution of digital platforms and communication technologies,” it said in a statement.
“This resolution is the first of its kind at UNESCO specifically focusing on countering disinformation, misinformation and hate speech through the platform of UNESCO building on UNESCO’s activities and related decisions adopted by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council where Pakistan has also been in the lead.”
Pakistan’s ambassador and permanent delegate, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, thanked all member states for their invaluable inputs and support leading to consensus adoption of the text that put UNESCO at the center of a multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder approach to counter disinformation, misinformation and hate speech for effective promotion and protection of freedom of expression and access to information as the lead UN agency mandated in the field.
Speaking on the occasion, delegates said the increasing threat posed by disinformation was a shared concern that needed to be addressed through close coordination and collective efforts of member states and all stakeholders, according to the embassy.
An outcome of broad-based and extensive consultations, the resolution called on the UNESCO director-general to provide an update on the initiatives undertaken by UN agency to counter disinformation on digital platforms and to present a report on how to make UNESCO’s role more effective in countering disinformation, misinformation and hate speech.
The executive board is one of the constitutional governing organs of UNESCO entrusted with the responsibility of preparing the agenda of the general conference and examining the program of work of UNESCO and its budget. Pakistan is currently vice president from the Asia-Pacific at the board.
The development comes amid widespread student protests in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province over reports of a rape on a women’s college campus in Lahore last week.
The police, college and provincial government have said that no victim has come forward and blamed online misinformation for the unrest, but the protests have since spread to other cities in the province.
