ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, on Friday called for the country’s diplomats to divert from conventional foreign policy to economic diplomacy, amid a push for growth and financial stability in the South Asian country.
Pakistan avoided a sovereign default last year, thanks to a last-gasp $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program that was completed in April this year, and has since recovered slightly from an acute balance-of-payments crisis. The South Asian country last month reached a staff-level agreement with the global lender for a new 37-month, $7 billion loan program.
The loan deal aims to strengthen fiscal and monetary policy as well as reforms to broaden the tax base, improve the management of state-owned enterprises, strengthen competition, secure a level playing field for investment, enhance human capital, and scale up social protection through increased generosity and coverage in a major welfare program, the IMF said.
Addressing foreign policy graduates at a ceremony in Islamabad, Dar said they needed to reorient their diplomatic initiatives to ensure that Pakistan’s development agenda also advanced along with its foreign policy.
“Conventional diplomacy times are over. The basic purpose of foreign policy is not only to safeguard national interests but also to help stimulating economic growth by transforming geo-strategic position into economic position,” he said. “I think we have failed to streamline and benefit from our location.”
Pakistan wants to position itself as a regional trade hub and to leverage its strategic geopolitical position and enhance its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting China and Central Asia with the rest of the world.
In recent months, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks, and economic activity between Pakistan, China and Central Asian states, including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
“The world we are living in is undergoing a profound transformation. The world order is moving toward multi polarity,” Dar said. “In addition to the old and security threats, new and non-traditional security challenges have made global security more vulnerable.”
He said conventional warfare had been replaced with “battle of narratives and disinformation” with the popularity of social media.
“These challenges are directly impacting Pakistan’s global relations and foreign policy,” he said. “Our foreign policy must respond to these challenges to ensure that Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence are fully secured.”
Pakistani deputy PM calls for pivot to ‘economic diplomacy’ amid push for growth, stability
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Pakistani deputy PM calls for pivot to ‘economic diplomacy’ amid push for growth, stability
- Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign default last year, thanks to a last-gasp, $3 billion IMF program that was completed in April this year
- The country has since recovered slightly and has reached a new $7 billion loan deal with the lender to help achieve further economic stability
Sajid takes six as England dismissed for 267 in third Test
- Sajid Khan finishes with 6-128 as Noman Ali grabs 3-88 to skittle England on spin-friendly track
- Both teams have three spinners on grassless pitch which hosts dried with fans and heaters
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan spinner Sajid Khan took six wickets as England were all out for 267 after electing to bat on the opening day of the series-deciding third Test in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
Sajid finished with 6-128 and Noman Ali grabbed 3-88 after a rearguard 89 by Jamie Smith enabled England to get past 250 after they stuttered to 110-5 at lunch.
Smith smashed six towering sixes and five boundaries in his 119-ball knock before he was caught off a miscued slog against spinner Zahid Mahmood in the last over before tea.
After tea, Sajid removed Rehan Ahmed for nine to complete his third five-wicket haul before also dismissing Jack Leach for 16.
England lost captain Ben Stokes in the third over after the break, caught Sajid for 12 but Smith, who reached his fifty off 94 balls, and Gus Atkinson (39) added 105 for the seventh wicket.
The morning session was dominated by Sajid and Noman Ali who bowled unchanged for 42 overs.
After England won the toss and batted, Pakistan gave the new ball to Sajid and Noman who benefited from the parched pitch offering spin and low bounce from the first ball.
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett raced to 56 in a confident start but England lost Crawley (29), Ollie Pope (three) and Joe Root (five) in the space of just 24 runs.
Noman had Crawley caught off a miscued drive while Sajid removed Pope and Root leg before.
Duckett, who completed a half-century off 76 balls, was trapped leg before by Noman for 52 after hitting four boundaries and a six.
First Test triple centurion Harry Brook lasted for 14 deliveries before being bowled behind his legs by Sajid for five after he failed to connect on a sweep.
Both the teams included three spinners on a grassless pitch which the hosts dried with fans and heaters in the build-up.
Sajid and Noman shared all 20 wickets in Pakistan’s second Test win to level the series at 1-1 after England won the first by an innings, with both matches taking place in Multan.
Security forces kill nine militants, including suicide bombers, in northwest Pakistan
- Militants were involved in several attacks on Pakistani officials and civilians, says the military’s media wing
- A ‘high-value target’ was also killed in the intelligence-based operation carried out in Bajaur district
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed nine militants, including two suicide bombers and a high-value target, during an intelligence-based operation in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Thursday.
Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks since its fragile truce with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, collapsed in November 2022. According to official data, over 82 policemen have been killed in attacks across KP since the beginning of the year.
The recent operation was carried out by Pakistani forces in Bajaur district following reports of the presence of militants involved in the killing of security personnel.
“During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the Khwarij [militants’] location and after intense fire exchange, nine Khwarij including two suicide bombers and a high-value target Khwarij ring leader Said Muhammad aka Qureshi Ustad were sent to hell,” the ISPR said.
A large cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the slain militants who remained involved in numerous “terrorist activities” against security forces and civilians, statement added.
It informed that a sanitization operation was being conducted to eliminate any other militants in the area while highlighting that security forces were determined to wipe out militancy from the country.
‘No formal meeting’ held between Pakistan and India at SCO summit, says foreign office
- Foreign office spokesperson says the deputy PM only exchanged ‘pleasantries’ with Indian minister
- India’s Subramanyam Jaishankar was the first senior official from Delhi to visit Pakistan after a decade
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar did not hold a formal meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit (SHO), the foreign office clarified Thursday, saying that viral images of the two officials seated together at a luncheon were simply an exchange of pleasantries.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding political tensions, having fought three wars and numerous skirmishes since they were carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947.
The Indian minister was the first top official from New Delhi to visit Pakistan after nearly a decade. During the visit, a picture of Dar and Jaishankar was shared by media outlets, where the two ministers could be seen engaged in a conversation while sharing a seat next to each other at the official SCO lunch.
This led to speculations and conjectures by political analysts, with some saying the two officials were discussing cricket and trying to break the ice between the arch-rival neighbors.
“There has been no formal meeting between Pakistan and India at the foreign minister’s level including at the SCO,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on Thursday.
She said it was common for delegations in multilateral settings to “exchange pleasantries” and hold informal conversations over lunch and dinner, especially between the hosts and participating guests.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been particularly sour since 2019 when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the limited autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir. The move was celebrated across India but led Pakistan to suspend bilateral trade and downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in full.
Before departing Pakistan, Jaishankar thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy PM Dar and the Pakistan government for the “hospitalities and courtesies” extended to him during the visit.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said that none of the two countries requested a bilateral meeting, though he termed the Indian minister’s presence at the SCO as an “ice breaker.”
Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘deliberate’ attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
- Pakistan’s foreign office stresses peacekeepers must be able to fulfill their mission without fear of attack, obstruction
- Pakistan reiterates Israel must be held accountable for its ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ in the region
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday condemned Israel for “deliberately” targeting the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), saying it was vital for peacekeepers to be able to fulfill their mission without fear of attack or obstruction.
The UN mission has been stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities in the area that has witnessed intense clashes this month between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.
Since launching its ground incursion in Lebanon in early October, Israel has fired on several front-line UNIFIL positions, even as its stated objective is only to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the Arab state.
Two UN peacekeepers were wounded by an Israeli strike near a UNIFIL watchtower earlier this month, leading to criticism from about 50 countries contributing troops to the 10,000-strong force.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the deliberate and unlawful attacks by Israeli forces on the United Nations interim force in Lebanon,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly media briefing in Islamabad.
“The peacekeepers must be able to fulfill their mission without fear of attack or obstruction,” she continued, adding that despite such attacks, UNIFIL had managed to remain operational.
The spokesperson said Pakistan wanted the international community to ask Israel to end its aggressive actions against UNIFIL while also seeking a ceasefire against the people of Palestine and Lebanon.
“Israel should also be held accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity and the people of Palestine should be protected from Israeli aggression,” she added.
Baloch said Pakistan also condemned the “brutal and indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes on Beit Lahiya,” a town in northern Gaza which resulted in the tragic loss of over 80 Palestinian lives on Sunday.
“Targeting densely populated residential areas without warning and collective punishment of civilians and depriving them of food, water, and essential medicines constitute war crimes,” she added.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Wednesday that an UNRWA employee was killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza.
At least 223 UNRWA staff members have been killed, and two-thirds of the agency’s facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war began early last year, its head, Philippe Lazzarini, said last month.
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PM Sharif pledges to eradicate polio with global support amid surge in cases
- The PM’s World Polio Day message comes at a time when Pakistan reported its 40th case this year
- He promises ‘robust’ public health system to safeguard future generations from the paralyzing disease
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday vowed to make Pakistan polio-free with global support, promising to build a “robust” health system to safeguard future generations amid a major surge in the crippling disease.
Pakistan has reported 40 polio cases in 2024, compared to only six last year, with most cases involving children in impoverished areas due to logistical challenges, parental refusal, and security threats. The southern Balochistan province has been the hardest hit. Militant groups, particularly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, have targeted polio workers and their security escorts, labeling these vaccination campaigns as foreign conspiracies.
In a message on World Polio Day, the Pakistani PM reiterated his commitment to raising awareness for eradicating the disease, as the country reported its latest case this year in KP’s Kohat district.
“Pakistan is committed to becoming polio-free, and together, with the support of our citizens and global partners, we will achieve this goal,” he said. “It’s about building a robust public health system and safeguarding the health of future generations.”
Sharif urged every parent to vaccinate their children, calling on community leaders to spread the message of polio eradication. He said the government was improving the health infrastructure, increasing vaccine coverage and combatting misinformation.
According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic, making eradication efforts in both states critical to global health. The prime minister described the regional collaboration with Afghanistan as “vital” to control cross-border transmission.
“Due to the tireless work of our health workers and international partners like WHO, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we have made significant progress in reducing polio cases,” he added.
“However, challenges remain, including security concerns, misinformation, and access to remote areas. Despite these obstacles, our health workers continue to work bravely to vaccinate every child.”
Many in Pakistan believe the conspiracy theory that polio vaccines are part of a plot by Westerners to sterilize the country’s population. The masses’ doubts regarding polio campaigns were exacerbated in 2011 when the US Central Intelligence Agency set up a fake vaccination program to gather intelligence on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Violent attacks on polio volunteers and security personnel guarding them are common in Pakistan.
