Saudi naval delegation discusses maritime security with Pakistani task force commander in Bahrain
Saudi naval delegation discusses maritime security with Pakistani task force commander in Bahrain/node/2570975/pakistan
Saudi naval delegation discusses maritime security with Pakistani task force commander in Bahrain
Royal Saudi Naval Forces Maritime Component Commander, Cdre Othman Oqab Al Zahrani (R) meets with Pakistan’s Commodore Asim Sohail Malik, who is currently commanding the Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) in Bahrain, on September 11, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Navy)
KARACHI: A delegation of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) on Wednesday met with Pakistan’s Commodore Asim Sohail Malik, who is currently commanding the Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) in Bahrain, to explore potential avenues for collaboration and discuss the region’s maritime security.
CTF 150 is part of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a multinational naval partnership aimed at ensuring the security in critical regions like the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman.
CTF 150’s mission is to counter illicit activities at sea, including smuggling, trafficking of narcotics and other non-state actor threats, to promote stability and security in these vital international waters.
Pakistan assumed command of this task in July for the 13th time, with the country’s naval officials pointing out its frequent leadership of CTF 150 highlighted the trust placed in it by other coalition partners.
“During the meeting, both [sides] shared their perspectives on regional maritime security challenges and explored potential avenues for collaboration between CTF 150 and the upcoming RSNF Maritime Component Command to maintain security and stability in the region,” an official statement circulated by the naval headquarters in Islamabad said.
“Discussions focused on CTF 150’s ongoing operations aimed at disrupting illicit activities in the Arabian Sea and ensuring maritime security in the region,” it added.
The statement said Pakistani official and Saudi Arabia’s Commodore Othman Oqab Al Zahrani also reaffirmed the excellent relationship between the naval forces of their countries, emphasizing the necessity of working together to ensure greater maritime security.
The RSNF delegation also engaged with the entire Pakistan Navy team currently leading CTF 150 and exchanged views on viable options to counter contemporary maritime security challenges.
Commodore Malik assured the Saudi delegation that his team would continue to strengthen the efforts of the multinational task force to ensure robust security in the maritime domain of its responsibility. He also assured the visiting delegation Pakistan Navy’s commitment to working with other coalition navies.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Petroleum Dr. Musadik Malik held roundtable meetings with Chinese companies at the Pakistan Pavilion, set up at the 8th Silk Route Expo in Xi’an, China, on Saturday, offering them opportunities to invest in his country by getting into joint ventures.
In recent years, Pakistan has significantly benefited from China’s involvement in the energy sector, primarily through projects carried out under the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Key areas of cooperation include the development of coal-fired power plants, hydropower projects and renewable energy sources. These projects have greatly enhanced Pakistan’s power generation capacity, with a report in China Daily last year mentioning the addition of over 8,000 megawatts to the national grid.
Malik conducted the roundtables at a time when leading Pakistani petroleum sector players, such as Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Mari Petroleum Company, are also participating in the expo.
“Opening the discussion forum, Federal Minister for Petroleum Dr. Musadik Malik laid down the vision of Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif,” said an official statement from the Ministry of Energy. “He committed ... to provide full facilitation [to Chinese firms] in partnering with Pakistani companies in joint ventures whether individually or with consortium.”
The statement added the key areas in which the Chinese businesses have been invited to partner in are oil and gas exploration, refinery upgradation, coal conversion and regasification.
The minister noted that Pakistan has one of the largest reserves of coal, adding the government wanted to create value from its resources while protecting the environment.
“We will become technology partners, joint venture partners,” he was quoted as saying.
Pakistan has already invited Chinese investment in a number of sectors.
Only a day earlier, a Chinese business group announced to set up textile parks in the country to boost Pakistan’s exports by about $5 billion.
KARACHI: Pakistani rights activists and civil society members demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge following the killing of a man accused of blasphemy by police officials in the southern Sindh province while holding a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.
The incident happened in Pakistan’s Umerkot district where a man named Dr. Shahnawaz Kanbhar was shot dead by the police in an alleged shootout on September 19 after being accused of spreading blasphemous content on social media against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
This was the second such development since the beginning this month after a police officer killed a blasphemy suspect in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province while he was in custody.
The home minister in Sindh’s provincial administration, Zia-ul-Hasan Linjar, constituted a police inquiry committee to investigate the incident.
“We believe the accused was arrested and killed in a staged encounter [shootout],” Khizar Qazi, the head of the country’s independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Sindh, told Arab News after the news conference.
“We demand a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge and that the police officers involved be charged under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code [dealing with murder],” he added. “Justice must be served for the bereaved family.”
The government has already suspended eight low-ranking police personnel and two of their superior officials while the inquiry is being conducted.
Only a day ago, Amnesty International issued a statement against these “extrajudicial killings,” urging the Pakistani authorities to complete “a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into the incidents and ensure those responsible are prosecuted in fair and transparent trials.”
It also highlighted that four people accused of blasphemy have so far been killed in the country since May 2024.
Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Pakistan, where mobs have lynched people deemed to have insulted Islam.
Amnesty International also asked Pakistani authorities to repeal the law, saying it had “long helped perpetuate discrimination and violence.”
LAHORE: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally in Lahore abruptly ended after authorities cut the electricity supply shortly after the 6pm deadline, with the government calling the gathering a “flop show.”
After days of uncertainty, the Lahore administration on Friday evening allowed the PTI to hold the rally from 3-6pm in the Kahna area of the city, subject to compliance with 43 conditions, including that supporters would not cause unrest or chant anti-state slogans.
Thousands of people arrived in the city from different parts of Pakistan to attend the rally and demand the release of the ex-premier who has been in prison on multiple charges for over a year as the administration of Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital, asked organizers to strictly end the gathering by 6pm as agreed.
“With so much preparation, after taking so much time and making full effort, they [the PTI] were able to gather only a few people from across Pakistan,” Federal Minister of Information Attaullah Tarrar said in a televised statement. “If you take the aerial view of the venue of the rally, you will realize that it was a flop show.”
Speaking to Arab News, a district administration official said on condition of anonymity that the rally was agreed to be scheduled from 3pm to 6pm and the authorities gave Khan’s party another hour to wind up the gathering before cutting the power supply.
The authorities took the action as Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Ali Amin Gandapur, who is also Khan’s close aide, arrived in the city and was on his way to the venue.
The KP administration’s spokesperson, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, said the Punjab government had blocked all the roads leading to the rally.
“The fear of the Punjab government is proof of the rally’s success,” he said, dismissing the “excuse” that the rally’s time was over.
“The closure of roads around the rally’s venue is a glaring proof of the Punjab government’s failure,” he added.
Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former country’s prime minister Imran Khan, take part in a public rally on the outskirts of Lahore on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
However, Azma Bokhari, the Punjab provincial information minister, denied any road blockades during a news conference shortly before the 6pm deadline expired.
Bokhari maintained the PTI leadership had failed to mobilize people, saying there was only a small number of them at the venue.
“A total of 3,000 people from Punjab have joined the rally,” she said. “I can say it categorically that the PTI has been eliminated from Punjab.”
Earlier, television footage showed caravans of Khan supporters arriving in Lahore from various cities in KP, where the PTI has been in power, and elsewhere in Punjab to attend the rally, with long queues of vehicles forming on sections of the Islamabad-Lahore motorway reportedly due to road closures.
Most of Lahore remained open for traffic but access to a main thoroughfare, the Ring Road, leading to the venue, was blocked at a few locations as preparations were ongoing for the rally.
“Our demands are simple, only that the rule of law applies to Imran Khan’s cases,” Salman Akram Raja, PTI secretary-general, told Arab News at the venue of the rally. “Most [of the cases] have been discarded, so will the rest, as will the arrest.”
“There’s no basis for detaining the most popular political leader in the country,” he continued, adding: “History is on our side.”
Prior to that, the Punjab provincial administration had warned PTI leaders and workers not to indulge in any lawlessness.
“Nobody will be allowed to [violate the law],” Minister Bokhari said at a presser Saturday afternoon. “Organizers are responsible of ending the rally by 6pm.”
Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former country’s prime minister Imran Khan, take part in a public rally on the outskirts of Lahore on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
She criticized the Khan-backed KP government for allegedly utilizing public resources for the rally and said the gathering could not help get him out of prison. She signaled to the possible arrest of suspects wanted in cases related to violence during PTI protests in May last year.
“The Punjab administration, under the supervision of the chief minister, is fully monitoring everything in the city and the province from the beginning of this rally till it disperses,” the minister said.
Only a day earlier, the PTI complained of a crackdown on supporters ahead of the rally, saying authorities had arrested dozens of PTI members and supporters. Punjab Police Director of Public Relations Syed Mubashar Hussain declined to comment on the arrests.
ISLAMABAD: A constable of Islamabad Police has adopted a newborn baby girl who was found abandoned inside a red paper bag in a garbage bin on the outskirts of the federal capital, an official said on Saturday.
Dozens of newborn baby girls are abandoned annually at hospitals or dumped in garbage heaps across Pakistan due to poverty, the desire for a son or births out of wedlock.
Over 4.2 million abandoned and orphaned children are estimated to be without shelter in Pakistan, according to the SOS orphanage. Abandoned children left without care become victims of homelessness, exploitation and physical or sexual abuse.
Police officials in Islamabad were alerted on Friday by locals in the Chatha Bakhtawar area of the city to an infant found abandoned in a garbage dump inside a bag.
“One of our constables, Muhammad Asif, has adopted the girl, and she is in good health now,” Taqi Jawad, Islamabad police spokesperson, told Arab News.
He said a police team reached the spot immediately to rescue the baby following a call from local residents.
“The baby was immediately moved to a public hospital for a medical checkup where she was declared sound and healthy,” he said.
“One of the team members who rescued the infant is issueless,” he added. “So, he has adopted the girl.”
Jawad said the legal process for the adoption of the child was underway, and the documentation was getting completed.
The police spokesperson said the constable had applied for the guardianship of the child with the deputy commissioner’s office to fulfill the legal requirements for adoption.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday departed the country to attend the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, where he is scheduled to arrive on September 23 and stay until September 27.
The UNGA holds annual sessions, bringing together world leaders to discuss pressing global concerns.
According to Pakistan’s foreign office, Sharif will use this platform to stress the need for addressing long-standing issues on the Security Council’s agenda, particularly the question of Palestine and the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, which remain central to international and South Asian peace and stability.
“Departing for New York to represent Pakistan at the 79th UN General Assembly,” the prime minister announced in a social media post on X. “Looking forward to a busy week full of engagements.”
“During our interactions we will take up global issues, promoting peace, development & climate action,” he added. “Will present Pakistan’s perspective to the world, advocate our interests & strengthen international partnerships.”
Departing for New York to represent Pakistan at the 79th UN General Assembly. Looking forward to a busy week full of engagements. During our interactions we will take up global issues, promoting peace, development & climate action.Will present Pakistan's perspective to the world,…
According to local media, Sharif will first arrive in the United Kingdom, where he will have a brief stay before departing for New York.
He is scheduled to attend several important meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA session, including one on the existential threat posed by rising sea levels and the UN Security Council’s open debate on leadership for peace.
His program also includes bilateral meetings with world leaders and members of the Pakistani diaspora.
Meanwhile, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a brief statement that Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who was previously expected to accompany Sharif, will not participate in the UNGA session.
“In view of some important upcoming diplomatic engagements and the ongoing preparations for the 23rd Meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar will not proceed to New York for the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly,” Baloch said in a statement.
“Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif’s program for participation in the UNGA Session remains unchanged,” she added.
