ISLAMABAD: A representative from Tehran told a Pakistani parliamentary panel this week an estimated daily economic loss of $2.2 million was being caused by Iranian trucks stuck on the border with Pakistan over the past six months due to new customs rules, a press release said.
Pakistan last year made it compulsory for Iranian transporters to provide a bank guarantee equivalent to the customs duties and taxes imposed on goods being delivered to the National Logistics Corporation (NLC) Dry Port Quetta via Taftan, a border crossing with Iran. Tehran does not demand similar guarantees from Islamabad.
“One of the most pressing issues discussed was the ongoing crisis at the Pakistan-Iran border, where over 600 trucks carrying trade goods have been stuck due to customs officials demanding court orders,” the Senate Standing Committee on Finance said in a press release after its meeting.
The Iranian representative at the meeting said each truck carried goods worth approximately $11,000 and the delay was costing traders about $100 per day per truck, which ultimately raised the price of goods for consumers.
“The drop in the number of trucks crossing the border in the past six months has led to an estimated daily economic loss of $2.2 million,” the statement quoted the Iranian official as saying.
The senate committee would now write a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urging him to take up the matter at the next cabinet meeting.
“This issue has reached a critical point. It is not only a matter of economic losses but also a matter of national pride. The situation is deeply concerning for the country as a whole,” said Saleem Mandiwalla, the chairman of the committee.
Pakistan imports from Iran stood at $943.29 million during 2023, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Official figures for current annual trade were not available but local media outlet Business Recorder, citing Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, last year reported bilateral trade worth over $2 billion.
Earlier this month, Pakistan and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at increasing bilateral trade volume to $10 billion.
Pakistan and Iran have had a history of rocky relations despite a number of commercial pacts, with Islamabad being historically closer to Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Their highest-profile agreement is a stalled gas supply deal signed in 2010 to build a pipeline from Iran’s South Fars gas field to Pakistan’s southern provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.
Despite Pakistan’s dire need of gas, Islamabad has yet to begin construction of its part of the pipeline, citing fears over US sanctions — a concern Tehran has rejected.
Pakistan said it would seek waivers from the US, but Washington has said it does not support the project and warned of the risk of sanctions in doing business with Tehran.
Despite facing possible contract breach penalties running into the billions of dollars, Islamabad last year gave the go-ahead for construction of an 80-km (50-mile) stretch of the pipeline.
$2.2 million lost daily as 600 Iranian trucks stuck at Pakistan border, senate body told
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$2.2 million lost daily as 600 Iranian trucks stuck at Pakistan border, senate body told
- Pakistan has mandated Iranian transporters to provide bank guarantee equivalent to value of duties, taxes on goods
- Due to new rules, around 600 Iranian trucks stuck at Pakistan border, costing traders about $100 per day per truck
Pakistan’s PM condemns Israeli military assaults on Iran, Gaza
- Says regional stability threatened by ‘forces of chaos’ pursuing geopolitical agendas
- Sharif was speaking at 10-member ECO bloc‘s 17th summit being held in Azerbaijan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday condemned Israel’s recent strikes on Iran and denounced the ongoing war in Gaza as a “man-made catastrophe,” using his address at the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit to call out what he described as growing regional instability driven by foreign aggression.
Sharif was speaking in the Azerbaijani city of Khankendi, where heads of state from the 10-member ECO bloc convened for the group’s 17th summit. The ECO, founded in 1985 by Iran, Turkiye, and Pakistan, includes members from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. The 2025 summit is focusing on boosting intra-regional trade, connectivity, climate funding and sustainable development.
“My dear brothers and sisters, forces of instability and chaos continue to destabilize our region for their own geopolitical agendas,” Sharif said in his address.
“The unlawful, unjustified and uncalled for Israeli attack on Iran, a brotherly country and fellow ECO member state, [is] the most recent manifestation of this dangerous trend … Pakistan strongly condemns this act of Israeli aggression.”
Some 935 people were killed in Iran during the 12-day air war with Israel, based on the latest forensic data, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary said on Monday, according to state media. Among the dead were 38 children and 132 women.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. A tenuous ceasefire is holding.
Sharif also directed global attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“Unfortunately the world has been witnessing an unprecedented man-made catastrophe in Gaza, a region that has descended into an abyss of perpetual suffering,” he said. “It is as if humanity no longer exists while famine looms large, humanitarian workers including UN personnel are being attacked by Israel with impunity to deliberately cut off the only lifeline of the helpless and starving people of Gaza.”
He reiterated Pakistan’s support for oppressed populations across the Muslim world, including Palestinians and Kashmiris.
“Pakistan stands firmly against those who perpetrate barbaric acts against innocent people anywhere in the world, whether in Gaza or Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir or Iran,” he said.
The latest war in Gaza began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel’s single deadliest day.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. More than 80 percent of the territory is now an Israeli-militarized zone or under displacement orders, according to the UN.
Pakistan PM urges ECO states to build carbon market, green corridors amid climate crisis
- PM Sharif says climate-induced disasters pose an existential challenge for many ECO countries
- He calls trade and investment key to achieving common goals, boosting regional connectivity
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for the establishment of low-emission corridors and a regional carbon market to mobilize climate finance across member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), warning that climate change was threatening food security and livelihoods of millions in the region.
Addressing the 17th ECO Summit in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, the Pakistani prime minister highlighted the devastating impacts of climate change and urged regional cooperation to mitigate these risks.
The summit focused on trade, sustainable development and enhanced regional connectivity.
“Like the rest of the world, ECO member states are facing far-reaching impacts of climate change, from melting glaciers, desertification, extreme heat waves, devastating floods and declining agricultural productivity,” Sharif said in his speech. “These challenges threaten the food security and livelihoods of millions of our people. Pakistan remains among the top 10 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.”
“Pakistan proposes the development of low-emission corridors, an ECO-wide carbon market platform and regional disaster resilience systems,” he continued. “A dedicated framework to mobilize climate finance along with regional clean energy corridors and eco-tourism initiatives can further drive inclusive, sustainable growth, creating green jobs, especially for youth and women and supporting livelihoods in vulnerable regions.”
The prime minister cited the catastrophic 2022 floods in Pakistan as a grim example of climate vulnerability, recalling that over 33 million people were affected, with widespread damage to lives, livelihoods and infrastructure.
He also referenced recent flash floods during the current monsoon season that have claimed over 60 lives, noting that climate-induced disasters now pose an existential challenge for many ECO countries.
TRADE, TOURISM, CONNECTIVITY
The prime minister also urged ECO member states to expedite the implementation of the ECO Trade Agreement, originally envisioned as a cornerstone of regional integration under the ECO Vision 2025.
“Promotion of trade and investment holds the key to securing our common goals for strengthening regional connectivity,” he said, citing the need to activate transport corridors, ensure energy security and foster intra-regional tourism and economic growth.
While the agreement was reached during the 13th ECO Summit in Islamabad in 2017, it is yet to be operationalized.
Sharif called for renewed efforts to build on the region’s shared heritage and historic Silk Road synergies.
“As members of the ECO family, sharing strong commonalities of history and geography, of faith and culture, we have a firm basis for lasting cooperative relationships,” he added. “Let us … channel our collective energies toward a future that guarantees our people’s life of peace, progress and prosperity.”
Pakistan PM, Azerbaijan president vow to boost trade and investment on ECO summit sidelines
- The summit brought together heads of government from ECO member states to discuss economic and political cooperation
- Pakistan, bolstered by an IMF program, is looking to capitalize on its geostrategic location as a major trade and transit hub
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the 17th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit, Sharif’s office said, with the two leaders agreeing to boost bilateral trade and investment.
The prime minister led Pakistan’s delegation at the ECO summit in Khankendi, Azerbaijan on July 3-4, which focused on the promotion of trade, sustaining development and enhancing regional connectivity.
Sharif noted that recent interactions between leaders of the two countries had helped strengthen relations and invited President Ilham to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience, according to the Pakistan PM’s office.
“The two leaders agreed to enhance their cooperation in the fields of trade and investment while expressing satisfaction over the progress made regarding the investment prospects,” Sharif’s office said.
“Both leaders reiterated their resolve to strengthen the economic partnership, especially Azerbaijan’s investment in Pakistan.”
This is Sharif’s third visit to Azerbaijan in 2025. He last traveled to Baku in May as part of a broader push at economic diplomacy with the Central Asian republics, to whom Pakistan has offered access to its southern ports in Karachi and Gwadar.
The ECO summit, themed as “New ECO Vision for a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Future,” brought together heads of state and government from ECO member states to discuss economic and political cooperation.
Founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkiye, the Eurasian intergovernmental organization included Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in 1992, aiming to establish a single market for goods and services.
Pakistan, slowly recovering from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal, has been looking to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost transit trade and foreign investment for a sustainable economic recovery.
In July 2024, Azerbaijan announced a $2 billion investment in Pakistan during a visit by President Ilham Aliyev to Islamabad. In September last year, Pakistan signed a contract to supply JF-17 Block III fighter jets to Azerbaijan, marking the deepening of defense cooperation.
India plans $230 million drone incentive after Pakistan conflict
- India’s push to build more home-grown drones stems from its assessment of the four-day clash with Pakistan in May
- The standoff marked the first time New Delhi, Islamabad utilized unmanned aerial vehicles at scale against each other
NEW DELHI: India will launch a $234 million incentive program for civil and military drone makers to reduce their reliance on imported components and counter rival Pakistan’s program built on support from China and Turkiye, three sources told Reuters.
India’s push to build more home-grown drones stems from its assessment of the four-day clash with Pakistan in May that marked the first time New Delhi and Islamabad utilized unmanned aerial vehicles at scale against each other. The nuclear-armed neighbors are now locked in a drones arms race.
New Delhi will launch a 20 billion Indian rupees ($234 million) program for three years that will cover manufacture of drones, components, software, counter drone systems, and services, two government and one industry source, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.
Details of the program have not been previously reported and its planned expenditure is higher than the modest 1.2 billion rupees production-linked incentive scheme New Delhi launched in 2021 to promote drone start-ups, which have struggled to raise capital and invest in research.
India’s civil aviation ministry, which is leading the incentives program, and defense ministry did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Reuters previously reported that India plans to invest heavily in local industry and could spend as much as $470 million on unmanned aerial vehicles over the next 12 to 24 months, in what government and military officers said would be a staggered approach.
In the past, India has mainly imported military drones from its third-largest arms supplier, Israel, but in recent years its nascent drone industry has scaled up its cost-effective offerings, including for the military, although reliance on China continues for certain components such as motors, sensors and imaging systems.
Through the incentives, India is aiming to have at least 40 percent of key drone components made in the country by the end of fiscal year 2028 (April-March), the two government sources said.
“During (the India-Pakistan) conflict there was quite a lot of use of drones, loitering munitions and kamikaze drones on both sides,” Indian Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said last week.
“The lesson that we’ve learned is that we need to double down on our indigenization efforts to ensure that we build a large, effective, military drone manufacturing ecosystem.”
India bans import of drones but not their components and the government has planned additional incentives for manufacturers that procure parts from within the country, the two government sources said.
The state-run Small Industries Development Bank of India would also support the incentive program by providing cheap loans for working capital, research and development needs for the firms, the government sources added.
Currently, there are more than 600 drone manufacturing and associated companies in India, according to estimates shared by an industry source involved in the discussions for the incentives program.
Pakistan to use $1.4 billion climate loan to expand green investment, fiscal space — IMF
- IMF says reforms will create fiscal space, embed climate goals in budgets and public investment
- Program aims to unlock private capital, improve disaster coordination, irrigation infrastructure across provinces
KARACHI: Pakistan will use a $1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund’s climate resilience fund to expand fiscal space, embed climate planning into public investment decisions and unlock private-sector capital for green projects, the IMF said on Friday.
The financing, approved by the IMF’s Executive Board in May under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), is part of a broader reform program that aims to help Pakistan adapt to increasingly frequent and devastating climate shocks.
Pakistan is the first country in the Middle East and Central Asia region to access the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility. The fund was launched in 2022 to help climate-vulnerable low- and middle-income countries make the structural changes needed to protect their economies and populations.
“The RSF will help build climate resilience in Pakistan by creating fiscal space to address climate vulnerabilities, such as the need to improve climate-resilient adaptation infrastructure,” the IMF’s country office in Islamabad told Arab News in a written response.
“It will also boost climate’s prominence in public investment management and budget processes,” the statement said, “helping Pakistan better identify and target projects needed to strengthen resilience to climate shocks.”
A third pillar of the reforms, the IMF said, is improving the overall “enabling environment for green investment” so that banks and private firms could incorporate climate-related risk considerations into their risk management and investment activities.
The RSF financing will be disbursed over a 28-month period and runs alongside Pakistan’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), whose first review was also approved in May, releasing roughly $1 billion in immediate support.
CLIMATE-FINANCE GAP
Pakistan, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, has long struggled to align its public finances with the scale of climate risk it faces. The 2022 floods alone affected over 33 million people and caused more than $30 billion in damages and economic losses.
By reforming how climate priorities are reflected in budget planning and investment screening, the IMF says Pakistan will be better equipped to attract funding and respond to future disasters.
The RSF does not fund individual infrastructure projects. Instead, it supports “policy and institutional reforms that make climate action more effective,” the statement explained.
These include reforms in disaster coordination, water and irrigation infrastructure, and provincial implementation capacity.
The IMF program supports better coordination between the federal and provincial governments on disaster risk financing, a chronic weakness in past emergency responses, and policy changes that would strengthen water and irrigation management, the lender added in the statement.
“Policy reforms that directly target Pakistan’s water management and irrigation infrastructure would help make farmers more resilient to climate shocks,” it said, adding the focus would be on improving irrigation service standards, reliability, and water supply adequacy.
The reforms also aim to reduce waterlogging, salinity, groundwater depletion, and growing water insecurity, issues that disproportionately impact poor rural communities.
The IMF said its climate program in Pakistan takes a “whole-of-government” approach, with many reforms to be implemented at the provincial level.
“Much of the focus is on improving coordination mechanisms between the federal government and the provinces.”
