ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia have expressed interest in bolstering military-to-military ties in a high-level meeting between their top defense and security officials, according to a statement released by the military’s media wing in Pakistan on Wednesday.
The two countries have made concerted efforts to improve bilateral relations in recent years. Historically, Pakistan opposed the Soviet Union during the Cold War while aligning with the United States.
However, Islamabad has recently sought to strengthen ties with Moscow, including requests for discounted crude oil to address its balance of payments crisis and high energy import bill, as part of a broader strategy to diversify its international partnerships and economic dependencies.
The recent meetings between the defense officials of the two states took place during Chief of General Staff Sahir Shamshad Mirza’s visit to Russia.
“During the meetings, the participants underscored the importance of working on enhancing cooperation in multiple domains including connectivity, trade, energy and security,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.
“Both sides discussed areas of mutual interest including bilateral military to military technical cooperation, regional security situation and the menace of terrorism,” it added. “Both sides expressed interest in strengthening bilateral military-to-military relationship.”
Pakistan has traditionally maintained strong military relations with the US, having procured much of its advanced military hardware from Washington.
In recent years, the country has gone into defense production with the assistance of China, which it views as its strongest regional ally.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s summit in Kazakhstan.
Sharif observed the Pakistan-Russia ties had remained on a positive trajectory in recent years, adding they would not be affected by his country’s geopolitical compulsions or relations with other states.
Pakistan and Russia express interest in stronger military ties in high-level defense meeting
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Pakistan and Russia express interest in stronger military ties in high-level defense meeting
- The two sides discuss issues like trade and energy security during Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza’s Russia visit
- The top security officials also focus on technical cooperation in the fields of defense and counterterrorism
A hand-written Qur’an with Sindhi translation passed down over generations in Pakistan’s Karachi
- Abdul Latif Sultan Dino Bhojani completed the manuscript in 1932 after working on it for two decades
- Rajasthani-speaking family tries to read daily read from Sindhi Qur’an copy to keep grandfather’s work alive
KARACHI: Saghir Hussain Bhojani, a 76-year-old retired statistician, read out the Sindhi translation at his home in Karachi earlier this month as his teenage nephew Mashhood Shoaib Bhojani recited an Arabic verse from a handwritten copy of the Holy Qur’an.
This daily ritual serves not only as a spiritual practice for the Marwari family but also as a bridge to connect them with the Qur’an translation Bhojani’s grandfather, Abdul Latif Sultan Dino Bhojani, took over two decades to write by hand and complete in 1932.
“This [copy of] Holy Qur’an, which Allah has given us through our grandfather, is the greatest treasure for us,” Bhojani, the current custodian of the holy book, told Arab News about the handwritten Qur’anic copy with Sindhi translation.
Bhojani, whose family is Rajasthani-speaking, said he had received the copy from his mother who had gotten it from her father-in-law when she was 20.
“My father-in-law trusted me,” Zaitoon Bhojani, 95, told Arab News, recalling how Abdul Latif believed she would take care of the translation he had spent decades preparing and handed her the holy book in 1948, just months before he passed away on January 20, 1949, at age 65.
Zaitoon said her father-in-law sought help in preparing the book from a trunk-full of papers that he carried with him as he moved homes in the cities of Hyderabad, Rohri and finally Karachi, where the Silawat community from Jaisalmer in present day India settled after migrating for business to the region some two centuries ago.
Zaitoon preserved the Qur’an copy and made it a point to ensure her nine children, three daughters and six sons, read it regularly, but as she grew older, she decided to pass it on to her eldest son, Bhojani.
“PRECIOUS INHERITANCE”
Born in 1886, Abdul Latif was the first Muslim mayor of Dadu district in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and was elected chairman of the Kotri municipality several times. But being a close associate of Soreh Badshah, a champion of Hindu-Muslim unity and a freedom fighter executed by the British, cost him much of his property.
“We do not regret this loss because Allah has bestowed upon us a far more precious inheritance, the Holy Qur’an,” said Bhojani. “No matter how much we take pride in it, it is never enough.”
Abdul Latif spoke Marwari but chose to write in Sindhi for two reasons, according to his grandson: firstly, Marwari itself was not a formal language at the time, and secondly, he was far more proficient in Sindhi.
“He was the most prominent personality in Kotri,” Bhojani said, regretting that the Sindhi manuscript, a rarity at the time it was completed, was never printed.
“My parents were not very educated and didn’t have much understanding, which is why they couldn’t do it,” Bhojani, who retired as a Grade-18 chief statistician in Sindh, told Arab News.
“It’s also my own incompetence that I didn’t pay attention to [printing] it later ... It should be preserved and read the way my grandfather worked hard to prepare it.”
Bhojani’s nephew, Mashhood, an 18-year-old computer science student, said he would strive to continue the family tradition of reading from and preserving the inherited book.
“Our native language is Rajasthani and the [copy of] this Qur’an is in Sindhi,” he said as he took a brief pause from recitation.
“I still continue to read it with my uncle so that people like me remain in our family who can continue to read and understand it.”
PCB chief ‘confident’ India will tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025
- Pakistan is set to host ICC Champions Trophy 2025 from February to March next year
- India have not sent its cricket team to Pakistan since 2008 due to political tensions
KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has said he is “confident” India will tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 tournament scheduled to be held in February next year, sports website ESPNcricinfo reported.
Pakistan, who won the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 by beating arch-rivals India in the final, will defend their title on home soil. The tournament is scheduled to be played from Feb. 19 to Mar. 9 2025 in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi venues of the city.
India has not sent its national cricket team to Pakistan since 2008 owing to political tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors. Pakistan, however, visited India last year in November 2023 to participate in the 50-over World Cup after India refused to tour Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023.
India’s refusal prompted Pakistan to agree to a “hybrid” formula for Asia Cup 2023, with some matches being played in Pakistan while others, including the final, were played in Sri Lanka. India has said its government will have the final say in whether the cricket team will tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.
“The Indian team should come. I don’t see them cancel or postpone coming here and we are confident we will host all the teams in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Naqvi as saying.
To prepare for the megaevent, Pakistan’s cricket authorities started renovating its Karachi and Lahore stadiums in August.
“The stadiums will also be ready to host the matches on schedule and any remaining work would be completed after the tournament,” Naqvi said. “In a way, you can say that we are going to have a brand new stadium.”
Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s federal interior minister, was asked if he and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar would meet when the latter arrives in Islamabad next week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization moot.
“He is coming but I don’t think the details of his meetings have been set,” the PCB chief said.
Pakistan’s stock market surpasses historic 85,000 points during intra-day trading
- KSE-100 benchmark index surges by 665.81 points or 0.78 percent to reach all-time high 85,576.10 points during intra-day trading
- Bullish trend fueled by market speculation regarding cut in policy rate, strong earning by blue chip oil companies, say analysts
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued its bullish trend on Tuesday with the benchmark KSE-100 index surging by 665.81 points or 0.78 percent to reach an all-time high 85,576.10 points, with analysts attributing the impressive surge to market speculation about a cut in the policy rate and strong earnings of oil companies.
The PSX witnessed an impressive rally on Monday with the KSE-100 index surging to just under 85,000 points, which analysts said was fueled by strong performances in blue-chip oil stocks and overall optimism regarding the economy.
Pakistan’s economic indicators have improved after the South Asian country secured a $7 billion, 37-month bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month. Pakistan’s central bank also cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 17.5 percent in September, making it the third straight reduction since June.
“Higher global crude oil prices, falling banking lending rates and the government’s deliberation on the privatization of state-owned entities played a catalyst role in the bullish activity in the PSX,” Ahsan Mehnati, the managing director and chief executive officer Arif Habib Commodities, told Arab News.
Stock market information app Investify Pakistan also attributed the bullish trend to “strong investor interest and significant contributions from blue-chip oil stocks.”
“The market, which experienced an initial dip, gained momentum due to factors such as rising global crude oil prices, anticipation of strong earnings from oil companies, and a recent successful settlement between Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Iraq’s Midland Oil Company,” Investify Pakistan said on social media platform X.
Topline Securities, a leading brokerage house in Pakistan, had attributed the bullish trend in the stock market to “falling bond yields and an expected sharp drop in inflation, igniting a wave of optimism in the market.”
The South Asian country last year narrowly avoided a sovereign default when it clinched a $3 billion IMF loan program. Pakistan has suffered a prolonged economic crisis that drained its foreign exchange reserves last year and saw its currency weaken significantly amid double-digit inflation.
Saud eyes hundred, Pakistan 397-6 at lunch
- Saud Shakeel stayed on course to be third Pakistan batter to smash a hundred in opening test against England
- Naseem Shah excelled in nightwatchman’s role as he smashed a career-best 33, collaborating in 64-run partnership with Saud
MULTAN, Pakistan: Saud Shakeel stayed on course to be the third Pakistan batter to smash a hundred in the opening test against England as the hosts reached 397 for six at lunch on the second day of the contest on Tuesday.
Naseem Shah excelled in the nightwatchman’s role as he smashed a career-best 33, collaborating in a 64-run partnership with Saud, who was batting on 67 at the break.
Salman Agha was yet to open his account at the other end on a batter’s paradise at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
England were made to toil with little reward on Monday and it was more of the same when play resumed as Naseem, a key cog in Pakistan’s new-ball attack, proved he could contribute with the bat as well.
Naseem smacked three sixes, denying England a breakthrough in the first hour, despite suffering hits to the helmet and his bowling hand.
His 82-ball defiance finally came to an end when he tickled Brydon Carse to Harry Brook at leg slip, giving the debutant seamer his maiden test wicket.
Next man in Mohammad Rizwan fell for a 12-ball duck, stepping out against Jack Leach and spooning the ball to Chris Woakes at mid-off.
Saud has looked in control hitting eight fours in his fine knock.
OGDCL signs agreement with China to develop Pakistan’s unconventional gas potential
- Tight gas is type of unconventional gas that requires advanced extraction methods
- Tight gas is found in reservoir rocks with low permeability, most often sandstone
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and the China Central Depository and Clearing Company (CCDC) have signed a deal to develop Pakistan’s tight gas potential, state media reported on Tuesday, as Islamabad pushes a strategy to boost gas production.
Tight gas refers to a type of unconventional gas — which requires advanced extraction methods — found in reservoir rocks with low permeability, most often sandstone.
State-owned ODGCL in August this year began tight gas production in the southern Sindh province, starting commercial production from the Nur West #01 tight gas well in Jujawal. The well was drilled to a depth of 2,975m and encountered a tight gas formation. Conventional testing did not yield sufficient gas, and the well was hydraulically fractured, the company said.
The well is now currently producing 1.5 MMscfd of gas with 1,050 psi wellhead flowing pressure from the lower Guru formation. The gas has been integrated into the Sui Southern Gas Co. Ltd. (SSGCL) network.
“Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and China Central Depository and Clearing Company (CCDC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop Pakistan’s shale and tight gas potential,” Radio Pakistan said.
“OGDCL has already invested thirty million dollars to tap the shale gas reserves to meet the country’s energy needs.”
Around the world, dominant state energy producers including Aramco have in recent years stepped up development of geologically challenging oil and gas reservoirs, including those holding shale gas, shale oil and coalbed methane.
In a bid to facilitate investment by the oil and gas industry in unconventional hydrocarbons, the Pakistani federal government has also approved the Tight Gas (Exploration & Production) Policy 2024.
As per the document, several national objectives have been set in the policy, including:
-Incentivize oil and gas industry to invest in the exploration of unconventional/tight gas resources that are not being produced due to non-commerciality.
-Provide a policy regime for transparent, effective, and efficient processing of regulatory approvals.
-Address commercial viability issues of existing tight gas reservoirs.
-Open new frontiers for exploration of tight gas which would help increase the exploration activities in the country.
-Enhance indigenous production of hydrocarbons.
-Minimize reliance on imported fuels and regenerate additional revenues for federal and provincial governments.
-Reduce recourse to sovereign debts by saving foreign currency.
-Keep local gas prices at affordable level for the consumers by producing cheaper local gas vis-à-vis imports.
-Create employment opportunities in the gas sector.
-Promote transfer of technology and collaboration between local and foreign equipment manufacturers.
-Increase dependability and security of supply and its sustained availability.
