PM Sharif seeks intervention from Lebanese counterpart to evacuate Pakistanis from Syria

Syrian and Lebanese people in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli celebrate on December 9, 2024, after the opposition forces declared that they have taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending President Bashar Assad fleeing and ending six decades of his family’s autocratic rule in Syria. (AFP)
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Updated 09 December 2024
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PM Sharif seeks intervention from Lebanese counterpart to evacuate Pakistanis from Syria

  • Around 1,200 Pakistanis live in Syria and nearly 140 Pakistani pilgrims are stranded in Sayyidah Zaynab city near Damascus
  • Pakistani embassy in Damascus says closure of Syria’s airports, borders with Jordan and Oman pose “major challenge” to repatriation

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday spoke with his Lebanese counterpart Najib Mikati and sought his “personal intervention” to ensure the evacuation through Beirut of Pakistani expats stranded in Syria.
Syrian opposition forces seized the capital of Damascus unopposed on Sunday after a lightning advance that sent President Bashar Assad fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and six decades of his family’s autocratic rule. The shakeup has left over 1,300 Pakistanis stranded in Syria, with the Pakistani foreign office saying on Monday they would be evacuated once the Damascus airport reopened.
“Both leaders exchanged notes on the evolving situation in Syria,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after his telephonic conversation with Mikati.
“Prime Minister sought Mr. Mikati’s personal intervention and support in facilitating immediate evacuation of Pakistani nationals, currently stranded in Syria through Beirut.”
Following the phone call, Sharif also spoke to Pakistan’s ambassadors in Syria and Lebanon and instructed them “to extend all possible assistance and cooperation to the stranded Pakistanis in Syria and facilitate their safe return home,” the PM’s office said.
Earlier in the day, Sharif chaired a meeting on the evacuation of Pakistanis from Syria, directing relevant authorities to formulate a plan of action to move expats from Syria through neighboring countries.
He ordered that an information desk and a helpline be set up to contact Pakistanis at the embassy in Damascus.
“The Crisis Management Unit of the Foreign Office and the information desks in Pakistani embassies in Syria and its neighboring countries should remain active 24 hours a day until the law and order situation improves,” a statement from Sharif’s office after the meeting said. 
Pakistan’s embassy in Syria said on Monday it would accommodate Pakistani nationals at a school run by the mission so they could have a secure place to stay while repatriation flights were arranged. 
Muhammad Nafees, an official at the Pakistani embassy in Damascus, told Arab News Syria’s airports and borders with Jordan and Oman were currently closed, posing a “major challenge” to the repatriation effort.
The official said there were around 1,200 Pakistanis living in Syria, while around 140 Pakistani pilgrims were stranded in the Sayyidah Zaynab city near Damascus.


Pakistan sets up Hajj flight helpline as India-Pakistan tensions disrupt air travel

Updated 5 sec ago
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Pakistan sets up Hajj flight helpline as India-Pakistan tensions disrupt air travel

  • Government has temporarily suspended flight operations at Karachi, Lahore and Sialkot airports
  • Local Pakistani media has reported blasts in Lahore, attributing them to suspected drone attacks

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry has launched a 24-hour helpline to assist Hajj pilgrims seeking updates on flight schedules, an official statement said on Thursday, as the country faces widespread air travel disruptions linked to escalating military tensions with India.

The measures follow a sharp military escalation between Pakistan and India in the early hours of Wednesday after Indian missile strikes killed at least 46 civilians in Pakistani territory.

Pakistan’s military responded by downing five Indian fighter jets, while Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended all flights for 12 hours and several Asian carriers rerouted flights to avoid the region’s airspace.

“The help desk will operate 24 hours a day in two shifts,” the statement said while sharing the telephone numbers. “Hajj pilgrims can obtain information regarding their flights.”

Pakistan also announced it had temporarily suspended flight operations at Karachi, Lahore, and Sialkot airports, citing “national security” concerns.

Pakistan’s Geo News reported blasts in the eastern border city of Lahore, attributing them to suspected drone attacks, though police were still investigating the nature of the explosions.

Tensions continue to remain high between the two South Asian nuclear rivals, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described India’s missile attacks as a “grave mistake” in a speech on Wednesday night, saying New Delhi “will have to face consequences.”

The Indian army also said on Thursday the two neighboring states exchanged small arms and artillery fire overnight along their de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region split between the two countries.


Trump tells India and Pakistan to ‘stop’ clashes

Updated 26 min 25 sec ago
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Trump tells India and Pakistan to ‘stop’ clashes

  • The US president initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between India and Pakistan
  • His administration has scrambled into action in the last 24 hours since the Indian strikes in Pakistan

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for India and Pakistan to immediately halt their fighting, and offered to help end the worst violence between the nuclear-armed countries in two decades.
“It’s so terrible,” Trump said at the White House. “I get along with both, I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop.
“They’ve gone tit-for-tat, so hopefully they can stop now.”
Trump’s comments came as India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier, after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival.
At least 43 deaths were reported in the fighting, which came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.
Pakistan has long been a key US military ally but Trump has been keen to build up relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he hosted at the White House in February.
“We get along with both countries very well, good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“And if I can do anything to help, I will be there.”
Trump initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between India and Pakistan — even saying they had been at odds for 1,500 years, despite the two countries only forming after independence from Britain in 1947.
But his administration has scrambled into action in the last 24 hours since the Indian strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his counterparts from India and Pakistan on Friday, encouraging them to reopen dialogue to “defuse” the situation, the White House said.
 


Peace in South Asia to remain ‘a dream’ until Kashmir dispute is resolved— ex-Pakistan FM

Updated 32 min 46 sec ago
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Peace in South Asia to remain ‘a dream’ until Kashmir dispute is resolved— ex-Pakistan FM

  • Tensions between New Delhi, Islamabad soar after India’s strikes in Pakistani territory kill 31
  • Any sovereign nation would have no choice but to respond, says Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari this week said peace in South Asia will remain “but a dream” unless India and Pakistan resolve the issue of Kashmir, as tensions soared between the two nuclear-armed neighbors following India’s missile strikes in Pakistani territory. 

Bhutto-Zardari’s comments follow surging tensions between India and Pakistan after the former conducted missile strikes into the latter’s territory late Wednesday night, which Pakistan said killed 31 and injured 57. The Indian government said it struck nine Pakistani “terrorist infrastructure” sites involved in planning a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. The assault took place on the tourist hill station of Pahalgam in the part of Kashmir governed by India, with 26 men killed.

The Pakistani military said six locations across its territory — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh in the eastern province of Punjab and Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir — were targeted. Azad Kashmir is the part of the disputed Kashmir valley that is administered by Pakistan. In response, Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had said five Indian planes and one combat drone that had attacked Pakistan were shot down, naming three Rafales and an MiG-29 and Su-57 each.

India and Pakistan have fought two out of three wars over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Both countries claim the territory in full but administer only parts of it. India accuses Pakistan of arming separatist militants in the part of Kashmir it governs, which Pakistan denies. Islamabad says it only extends moral and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir. 

“This [Kashmir] is a disputed territory,” Bhutto-Zardari, who is also the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, a key government coalition ally, told Arab News during an exclusive interview on Wednesday. 

“This is a dispute that India took to the United Nations. And until we get to the root cause, until we find a solution to the Kashmir question, until then I believe that peace in South Asia will be but a dream.”

Bhutto-Zardari said Pakistan had called for a credible, international probe into the Pahalgam attack. However, he rejected India had leveled unfounded allegations at Pakistan “without any supporting evidence.”

“All over the world it is known you’re innocent until proved guilty,” the PPP leader said. “Accuse me of a crime but produce the evidence and at least have a trial.”

He criticized the Indian government for becoming “judge, jury and executioner,” adding that its military strikes had targeted innocent civilians and children.

“They violated Pakistan’s sovereign territory,” the former foreign minister said. “Any sovereign nation on the planet would have no choice but to respond in such a circumstance.”

Pakistan has vowed that it has the right to respond to India’s military strikes as per international law. During his address to the nation on Wednesday night, Sharif warned India it would have to “pay the price” for striking Pakistan. His office said earlier on Wednesday that the country’s top national security body had authorized its armed forces to take “corresponding actions” in response to Indian strikes. 


Pakistani parties rally in Karachi to protest India’s missile strikes 

Updated 07 May 2025
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Pakistani parties rally in Karachi to protest India’s missile strikes 

  • Sindh chief minister leads rally featuring participation from PPP, ANP, MQM-P and JI parties 
  • Political parties’ leaders praise Pakistan’s armed forces for retaliating to Indian missile strikes

KARACHI: In a rare display of unity, major Pakistani political parties rallied in the southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday to vehemently protest India’s missile strikes that killed 31 people and injured 57. 

In the sharpest military escalation in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed rivals, the Indian government said it struck nine Pakistani “terrorist infrastructure” sites involved in planning a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. The assault took place on the tourist hill station of Pahalgam in the part of Kashmir governed by India, with 26 men killed.

The Pakistani military said six locations across its territory — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh in the eastern province of Punjab and Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir — were targeted. Azad Kashmir is the part of the disputed Kashmir valley that is administered by Pakistan. In response, Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian planes and one combat drone that had attacked Pakistan were shot down, naming three Rafales and an MiG-29 and Su-57 each.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah led the rally at the Karachi Press Club, which featured participation from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) parties. 

“Within just ten minutes, Pakistan was blamed without any investigation,” Shah told participants of the rally, referring to India’s accusations that Islamabad was involved in the Pahalgam attack.

The chief minister accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he referred to as the “Butcher of Gujarat,” for orchestrating the recent events to divert attention from domestic issues. 

“India rejected these gestures for peace and instead launched nighttime attacks on six separate locations, resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians,” he noted. 

He lauded Pakistan’s armed forces for giving a befitting response to Indian military strikes. 

“The Pakistan Air Force shot down five Indian aircraft and a drone,” Shah said. “We held back only to avoid escalation; otherwise, not a single Indian jet would have survived.”

Monem Zafar, the chief of the JI’s Karachi chapter, agreed with Shah that the rally was a demonstration of political unity amid the crisis. 

“The message to India and Modi is that the entire Pakistani nation strongly condemns this attack,” he said. “The nation stands with the Pakistan Army for the protection of the country.”

Zafar called on the nation to observe the coming Friday as a “Day of Resolve” to demonstrate national support for the armed forces.


Erdogan conveys Turkiye’s solidarity to Pakistan PM amid crisis with India

Updated 07 May 2025
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Erdogan conveys Turkiye’s solidarity to Pakistan PM amid crisis with India

  • Erdogan tells Shehbaz Sharif he supports Pakistan’s “calm” policies amid crisis
  • Pakistan military says Indian strikes on Wednesday night killed 31, injured 57

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone on Wednesday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to convey his solidarity after India hit Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir with missiles, the Turkish presidency said.

Pakistan, which has strong ties with Turkiye, said it had shot down five Indian aircraft and vowed to retaliate further, in the worst clash between the nuclear-armed neighbors in more than two decades.

During the call, Erdogan told Sharif that Turkiye supported what he called Pakistan’s “calm and restrained policies” in the crisis, his office said in a statement.

Erdogan also said he found “appropriate” Islamabad’s call for an investigation into a militant attack that triggered the crisis. The militants killed 26 people in Indian Kashmir in the attack on April 22. Pakistan denies Indian accusations that it was linked to the attack.

“Erdogan stated that Turkiye was ready to do what it can to prevent the tensions from escalating, and that his diplomatic contacts in that regard would continue,” it said.

Turkiye has previously condemned India’s attack and called on both sides to act with common sense. Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry said the latest military action by India created the risk of an “all-out war.”

Ankara also maintains cordial ties with India.