ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced a 17.5 percent increase in the country’s defense budget on Wednesday, saying the government had decided to allocate Rs2.12 trillion ($6.15 billion) for the country’s security needs in view of its geopolitical situation.
Pakistan’s defense budget consistently attracts media attention due to the military’s substantial role in both the political and economic arenas of the country.
The allocation of significant funds to defense sparks debates over the balance between security needs and other critical public services, such as education and health care.
Media coverage and public discussions also reflect concerns about transparency, with governments only mentioning the overall figure without sharing further details.
“Rs2.122 trillion will be provided for defense needs,” the finance minister said during his address to the National Assembly. “And Rs849 billion are being allocated for civil administration expenses.”
Last year, the defense allocation stood at Rs1.80 trillion ($5.23 billion).
According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, the allocated amount “presents an incomplete picture of the country’s actual military expenditure.”
“A significant sum of Rs662 billion [$1.92 billion], designated for retired military personnel, which equals to about 31pc of allocation for the armed forces, will not be drawn from the defense budget, rather government’s current expenditure,” it reported.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, prompting its armed forces to carry out targeted operations in areas adjoining its border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s army and other law enforcement agencies are also responsible for the providing security to Chinese nationals working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is widely viewed as pivotal to the country’s economic security.
Militant groups have periodically targeted these Chinese workers, killing five of them earlier this year in a suicide bombing in Pakistan’s northwest while they were going to the site of a hydropower project.
Pakistan raises defense budget by 17.5% to $6.15 billion amid surge in militancy
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Pakistan raises defense budget by 17.5% to $6.15 billion amid surge in militancy
- Defense spending in Pakistan draws media focus as debates over security needs and public services persist
- Media coverage also reflects concerns about transparency, with few details available on the overall spending
Dozens rally in Pakistan after Christian man is sentenced to death for blasphemy
- Pakistani court sentenced Christian man to death this week for sharing “hateful content” against Muslims
- Often mere blasphemy accusations can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynchings in Pakistan
KARACHI, Pakistan: Dozens of members from Pakistan’s civil society rallied on Tuesday in the southern port city of Karachi against the death sentence handed down to a Christian man on blasphemy charges, nearly a year after one of the worst mob attacks on Christians in the country.
Several Christians also joined the rally which comes a day after a court in Sahiwal in the Punjab province announced the death sentence to Ehsan Shan after finding him guilty of sharing “hateful content” against Muslims on social media.
Shan’s lawyer Khurram Shahzad said on Monday he will appeal the verdict.
He was arrested in August 2023 after groups of Muslim men burned dozens of homes and churches in the city of Jaranwala in Punjab after some residents claimed they saw two Christian men desecrating pages from Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an.
The two men were later arrested.
Though Shan was not party to the desecration, he was accused of reposting the defaced pages of the Qur’an on his TikTok account.
At Tuesday’s rally in Karachi, a Christian leader Luke Victor, called for Shah’s release.
He also demanded action against those who were involved in burning churches and homes of Christians in Jaranwala.
Blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan. Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death.
While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, often a mere accusation can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.
PM Sharif highlights Pakistan’s ‘unlimited potential’ for investment during Tajikistan visit
- Sharif will attend twin summits of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kazakhstan later
- Visit comes as Islamabad seeks to enhance role as trade hub connecting Central Asia with world
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday highlighted the “unlimited potential” for foreign investment in Pakistan’s key economic sectors, a statement from his office said, during his visit to Tajikistan to enhance Islamabad’s regional ties with Central Asian states.
Sharif reached Dushanbe on an official visit to Tajikistan on Tuesday which will be followed by a trip to Kazakhstan for the twin summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Pakistani prime minister received a guard of honor upon his arrival, where he was welcomed by Tajikistan Prime Minister Aziz M. Qohir Rasulzoda and other government officials.
His visit comes as Pakistan pushes to enhance its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting the landlocked Central Asian states with the rest of the world, leveraging its strategic geographical position.
In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between Pakistan and Central Asian states. Last week, Sharif chaired a special meeting attended by senior government ministers on how to enhance relations with the region, particularly in the areas of economy and investment.
“There is unlimited potential for international investment in Pakistan in energy, minerals, industry, agriculture, and other sectors,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) quoted the prime minister as saying during his meeting with the Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon.
Sharif also extended an invitation to President Rahman to enhance regional ties and expand social relations between Pakistani and Tajikistan.
The Tajik president stressed on the importance of longstanding fraternal relations between Pakistan and Tajikistan, the PMO said.
In a post on social media platform X, Sharif thanked his Tajik counterpart for the warm welcome he received upon his arrival.
He vowed to take Pakistan-Tajikistan ties to newer heights by expanding the scale of cooperation between the countries.
Sharif also visited the memorial of Tajikistan’s national hero, Ismail Samani, during his visit.
In May, Pakistan’s investment minister reaffirmed the country’s resolve to cooperate with Central Asian states as Islamabad pushes forward an ambitious agenda to bolster trade activities while grappling with a macroeconomic crisis.
On Monday, Sharif also received the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan, Yerzhan Kistafin, at his office in Islamabad. During the meeting, Sharif emphasized the “need to enhance trade and investment, while also focusing on regional connectivity and security.”
Pakistani court grants bail to ex-PM Khan’s wife in land graft case— lawyer
- Former premier, wife charged with receiving land worth millions of dollars as bribe from real estate tycoon
- Despite bail, ex-PM Khan’s wife Bushra Wattoo will remain in prison due to her conviction in another case
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi city on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife in a corruption case, his lawyer confirmed, saying that no evidence had been found she had gained financial benefit from a trust.
Government officials allege Khan, 71, and his third wife Bushra Wattoo received land worth millions of dollars as a bribe from a real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain through the Al-Qadir Trust, a non-governmental welfare organization set up by Wattoo and Khan in 2018 when he was still in office.
The trust runs a university outside Islamabad devoted to spirituality and Islamic teachings, a project inspired by the former first lady, who is also commonly known as Bushra Bibi and has a reputation as a spiritual healer.
“NAB court confirmed pre-arrest bail of Bushra Bibi today in Al Qadir Trust 190 million pounds case,” Barrister Salman Safdar, Khan’s lawyer, wrote on social media platform X.
“There was no evidence of financial gain; benefitting in any manner from the trust.”
Khan was briefly arrested on May 9 in connection with the case, with riots breaking out throughout the country that saw military and government installations attacked. The former prime minister was released shortly but was arrested in August in a separate case related to the sale of state gifts illegally.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan’s corruption watchdog, filed a reference against Khan in December 2023 in the case. In February this year, the former prime minister and Wattoo were indicted by an accountability court.
Despite the bail, however, Wattoo will stay in prison as she is also serving a sentence in another case, where a trial court declared her marriage to Khan in 2018 as unlawful.
Local media reports said the prosecution presented three more witnesses in court during Tuesday’s hearing in the case, who were cross-examined by defense lawyers. The court summoned other witnesses in the next hearing, which was adjourned till July 5.
Khan, who is the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has been in jail since last August and was convicted in some cases ahead of a national election in February. He is also fighting dozens of other cases which are continuing. Khan and his party say the charges were politically motivated to thwart his return to power.
In recent months, Pakistani courts have suspended Khan’s jail sentences in two cases about the illegal acquisition and sale of state gifts and also overturned his conviction on charges of leaking state secrets.
However, he has remained in prison due to the unlawful marriage case conviction. Khan also faces a trial under anti-terrorism charges in connection with the May 9 violence.
With input from Reuters
UAE aviation team begins four-day security assessment of Karachi airport
- Assessment is part of efforts between two countries to enhance aviation security standards in Pakistan
- Several airlines provide significant connectivity for travelers between the UAE and Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: A team of the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Tuesday kicked off a four-day security assessment of the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, with the exercises aimed at improving the aviation security standards in the South Asian country.
The GCAA’s team last week reviewed aviation security measures at the Islamabad International Airport in Pakistan’s capital. The two-member GCAA delegation led by Abdullah Al Kaabi, senior director of Avsec Affairs, arrived in Karachi on Tuesday for the four-day assessment, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) said in a statement.
“Over the next four days, the team will be inspecting the implementation of various security measures at the airport, with a specific focus on measures for flights to the UAE,” the PCAA said.
The PCAA said the assessment is part of ongoing collaborative efforts between the GCAA and the PCAA to enhance aviation security standards in Pakistan.
Pakistan and the UAE enjoy decades-old fraternal relations. Several airlines operate multiple flights per day connecting Pakistan’s major cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar to the UAE’s Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.
Pakistan PM forms high-level committee to tackle potential monsoon emergencies
- Pakistan’s disaster management agency says country will receive heavy rains in first two weeks of July
- PM Sharif stresses providing timely information on monsoon to people living in risk-prone areas
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a high-level committee on Tuesday to handle potential emergencies during the upcoming monsoon season in Pakistan, state media reported, as the South Asian country braces for heavy downpours this month.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) last week warned the country is expected to receive heavy monsoon rains in July, particularly in Sindh and Punjab provinces, which it said could face an “emergency” situation.
Pakistan is recognized as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change effects in the world. Unusually heavy rains in June 2022 triggered flash floods in many parts of the country, killing over 1,700 people, inflicting losses of around $30 billion, and affecting at least 30 million people.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday formed a high-level committee to handle potential emergencies during the upcoming monsoon season,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
The prime minister was chairing a review meeting to address the monsoon forecast and its potential emergencies, APP said, adding that it was attended by federal ministers, all chief executives of Pakistan’s four provinces, and Chairman NDMA Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik.
Sharif emphasized integrating advanced monsoon information into national broadcasts, stressing the importance of regular dissemination of weather updates to farmers and people living in areas vulnerable to floods.
He emphasized that farmers and residents living near rivers and canals should be updated daily through the media and other information sources.
“He instructed all relevant institutions to remain on high alert during the monsoon and directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to support all provincial governments and related agencies,” APP stated.
The NDMA briefed the prime minister that all four provinces are expected to receive heavy rains in the first and second weeks of July.
“The forum was informed that this year’s monsoon rains in Pakistan will move from the southeast to the north,” APP said. “Rainfall is expected in the Potohar region and the eastern part of Punjab during the first week of July.”
Heavy rains in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Lahore, and Faisalabad, with scattered rainfall anticipated in Bahawalpur, Multan, Sahiwal, and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions are expected in the second week of July, the NDMA said.
It said that a flood-like situation is expected in Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravi rivers during the first two weeks of August. The NDMA said it had finalized preparations for relocation and emergency response in the areas surrounding these rivers.
“In Sindh, Karachi, Mirpur Khas, Nawabshah, Sukkur, and Hyderabad are expected to experience heavy rains in the second and fourth weeks of July,” APP said. “Additionally, monsoon showers are forecasted for Tharparkar, Badin, Thatta, and Umarkot in the third week of August.”
The NDMA said heavy rains are expected in Hazara, Malakand, Mardan, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province during July. Monsoon rains in the province are expected to persist until the third week of August.
Meanwhile, heavy rains have been forecast in Balochistan’s border areas located alongside Sindh’s coastal belt during the second and fourth weeks of July, and first two weeks of August.
“Additionally, significant rainfall is expected in Lasbela, Armada, Khuzdar, Barkhan, Sibi, and Zhob in the third week of August,” the state media reported.
The NDMA said “adequate stocks” of boats, tents, drainage pumps, medicines, and other essential items were available for people in areas prone to rain-related disasters, adding that preparations for the monsoon started in January with emergency response exercises ongoing since March.
Sharif was told that rescue agencies, Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs), Pakistan Army troops and the NDMA remain on high alert in risk-prone areas. NDMA said it has launched a mobile phone application for monsoon alerts, weather conditions, and advance information.
“It was explained that a National Monsoon Contingency Plan has been drafted and distributed to relevant institutions and provincial governments to manage any monsoon-related emergency situations,” APP said.
