Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh sign ‘landmark’ agreement to strengthen capital market cooperation
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh sign ‘landmark’ agreement to strengthen capital market cooperation/node/2595020/pakistan
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh sign ‘landmark’ agreement to strengthen capital market cooperation
Officials of Pakistan Stock Exchange, Colombo Stock Exchange and the Dhaka Stock Exchange sign tripartite Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen regional capital market cooperation in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on March 27, 2025. (SECP Pakistan)
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has entered into a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), PSX said on Thursday, describing it as a “landmark move” to strengthen regional capital market cooperation.
The agreement signed in Colombo aims to establish an exchange forum to facilitate technology development and sharing, human resource sharing, product development, regulatory collaboration, investor protection, and knowledge exchange across the three markets.
“This initiative will foster deeper regional cooperation among the three South Asian nations while creating new opportunities for investors and market participants across the region,” the PSX said in a statement.
Joint initiatives in system development and digital transformation, cross-exchange training programs and knowledge-sharing initiatives, collaborative development of new financial instruments, harmonization of market oversight and investor protection frameworks, exploration of cross-border listing opportunities to expand investor access and facilitation of broker partnerships and institutional connectivity were listed in the PSX statement as the key areas of collaboration under the MoU.
“This strategic partnership marks a significant step forward in regional market integration. By combining our strengths, these three exchanges can drive innovation, enhance market resilience, and create new opportunities for investors across South Asia,” said Akif Saeed, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), who was present at the ceremony.
Farrukh H. Sabzwari, MD & CEO of PSX, said the agreement represented a “transformative chapter” in regional capital market cooperation.
“Through this partnership with our counterparts in Colombo and Dhaka, we aim to elevate market standards, foster sustainable growth, and deliver greater value to all market participants,” he added.
The MoU establishes a formal platform for ongoing dialogue and joint initiatives, with working groups to be formed to implement the cooperation framework.
This alliance is expected to enhance market liquidity and product diversity, strengthen regulatory frameworks across the region, facilitate cross-border investment flows and promote technological innovation in market infrastructure, the PSX statement said.
Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans from the country this year
It’s the latest phase of a nationwide crackdown launched to expel foreigners living in Pakistan illegally
The expulsion campaign has drawn fire from rights groups, the Taliban government and the United Nations
Updated 31 March 2025
AP
PESHAWAR: Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans from the country this year, as a deadline for them to voluntarily leave the capital and surrounding areas expired on Monday.
It’s the latest phase of a nationwide crackdown launched in October 2023 to expel foreigners living in Pakistan illegally, mostly Afghans. The campaign has drawn fire from rights groups, the Taliban government, and the UN
Arrests and deportations were due to begin April 1 but were pushed back to April 10 because of the Eid Al-Fitr holidays marking the end of Ramadan, according to government documents seen by The Associated Press.
About 845,000 Afghans have left Pakistan over the past 18 months, figures from the International Organization for Migration show.
Pakistan says 3 million Afghans remain. Of these, 1,344,584 hold Proof of Registration cards, while 807,402 have Afghan Citizen Cards. There are a further 1 million Afghans who are in the country illegally because they have no paperwork.
Pakistan said it will make sure that Afghans do not return once deported.
Authorities wanted Afghan Citizen cardholders to leave the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi city by March 31 and return to Afghanistan voluntarily or be deported.
Those with Proof of Registration can stay in Pakistan until June 30, while Afghans bound for third-country resettlement must also leave Islamabad and Rawalpindi by March 31.
Authorities have said they will work with foreign diplomatic missions to resettle Afghans, failing which they will also be deported from Pakistan.
Tens of thousands of Afghans fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021. They were approved for resettlement in the US through a program that helps people at risk because of their work with the American government, media, aid agencies, and rights groups.
However, President Donald Trump paused US refugee programs in January and 20,000 Afghans are now in limbo.
The Taliban want Afghan refugees to return with dignity
“No Afghan officials to be made part of any committee or formal decision-making process,” one of the documents said about the expulsion plans.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Refugee Ministry, Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, told The Associated Press that Pakistan was taking decisions arbitrarily, without involving the UN refugee agency or the Taliban government.
“We have shared our problems with them, stating that unilaterally expelling refugees is neither in their interest nor ours,” said Haqqani. “It is not in their interest because expelling them in this way raises hatred against Pakistan.
“For us, it is natural that managing so many Afghans coming back is a challenge. We have requested they should be deported through a mechanism and mutual understanding so they can return with dignity.”
Two transit stations will be set up in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to help with deportations. One will be in Nasir Bagh, an area in the Peshawar suburbs. The second will be in the border town of Landi Kotal, some 7 kilometers from the Torkham crossing.
Afghans are unsure of their future in a country they don’t know
It is not clear what will happen to children born in Pakistan to Afghan parents, Afghan couples with different document types, and families where one parent is a Pakistani citizen and the other is Afghan. But officials indicated to the AP that social welfare staff will be on hand to help with such cases.
Omaid Khan, 30, has an Afghan Citizen Card while his wife has Proof of Registration. According to Pakistani government policy, he has to leave but his wife can stay until June 30. Their two children have no documents, including passports or identity cards from either country.
“I am from Paktia province but I have never been there and I am not sure about my future,” he said.
Nazir Ahmed was born in the southwest Pakistani city of Quetta and has never been to Afghanistan. His only connection to the country was through his father, who died in Quetta four years ago.
“How can we go there?” said Ahmed, who is 21. “Few people know us. All our relatives live in Quetta. What will we do if we go there? We appeal to the Pakistani government to give us some time so we can go and find out, at least get some employment.”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus on Monday resolved to strengthen trade and cultural relations between the two countries, Sharif’s office said, amid a thaw in ties between the two countries.
The statement came after Sharif’s telephonic conversation with Yunus on Eid Al-Fitr in which they recalled their “productive” meetings in New York and Cairo on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and D-8 summits last year.
The Pakistan premier expressed his satisfaction at the positive momentum in bilateral relations between the two countries, particularly in trade and travel, according to Sharif’s office.
“The two leaders reaffirmed their shared desire to further strengthen bilateral relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh,” it said in a statement.
“In this regard, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan looked forward to the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister to Dhaka in April and said that a trade delegation would also accompany him.”
Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one nation, but they split in 1971 as a result of a bloody civil war, which saw the part previously referred to as East Pakistan seceding to form the independent nation of Bangladesh.
In the years since, Bangladeshi leaders, particularly ex-PM Sheikh Hasina, chose to maintain close ties with India. Ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh have warmed up since Hasina’s ouster as a result of a student-led uprising in August, witnessing a marked improvement.
Pakistani cargo ships have begun to arrive at Bangladesh’s main Chittagong port for the first time since the 1971 war, while Pakistani artists have been performing in Dhaka and Bangladeshi films have been screened at cinemas in Pakistan since December.
During his conversation with Yunus, Sharif also underscored the need to revive institutional mechanisms to reinvigorate the bilateral relationship at all levels.
“Exchange of cultural troupes to promote people-to-people contact was also discussed,” Sharif’s office said. “The Prime Minister invited a Bangladesh cultural troupe, comprising old and new artists, including the legendary Runa Laila, to visit Pakistan.”
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has ordered a probe into the deaths of 10 civilians in a drone attack last week, a provincial government spokesman said on Monday.
Ten bodies, including those of women and children, were recovered from a remote hilltop area of Katlang in KP’s Mardan district, where government officials claimed an anti-militant operation had taken place on Saturday.
The deceased hailed from the Swat region and were nomads with livestock in the Shamozai mountains, according to the locals. Their families protested the deaths by placing the bodies on the Swat Highway.
In a statement issued on Monday, KP government spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif said Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had ordered an investigation into the tragic incident.
“After the facts come to light, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will present its detailed stance in this regard,” he said, citing the chief minister. “The families of the martyrs will not be left alone under any circumstances and they will be provided with full financial assistance.”
CM Gandapur, whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is the main opposition party in the country that is in power in KP, noted that high-profile “terrorists” had previously been killed in the same area, according to Saif.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad broke down in November 2022. The Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups have frequently targeted security forces convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.
Islamabad blames the surge in attacks on militants using Afghan territory as a base, particularly the TTP, which Pakistan says enjoys sanctuaries across the border. The Afghan Taliban-led government in Kabul denies this and accuses Pakistan in return of harboring Daesh militants.
Saif also said the federal authorities did not inform the provincial government about Saturday’s operation in advance, demanding a thorough analysis of operational aspects and identification of shortcomings in its execution.
“The provincial government will never allow such actions in the future,” he added.
KARACHI: A centuries-old staple of South Asian closets, the farshi shalwar, is back in Pakistan and ruling fashion trends this Eid Al-Fitr.
The word “farshi” comes from the Persian word “farsh,” meaning “floor,” and the farshi shalwar, particularly popular in Pakistan and northern India, is characterized by its floor-length, flowing and wide, loose pants, creating a dramatic and graceful silhouette.
“Right now, it’s the hottest trend,” fashion stylist and director Tabesh Khoja, popularly known as Khoji, told Arab News, saying he first styled a farshi shalwar in 2023 for the fashion label of model and actress Sadaf Kanwal.
“I styled Sadaf Kanwal actually and after that I have seen every other designer doing a farshi shalwar version of their own,” Khoja said.
The picture posted by Sadaf Kanwal Fashion on February 15, 2025, shows Pakistani model Sadaf Kanwal wearing farshi shalwar from her latest collection. (Sadaf Kanwal Fashion/Instagram)
No doubt, Kanwal seems to have played a key role in bringing the farshi shalwar back this Ramadan and Eid, with her label Sadaf Kanwal Fashion creating a number of outfits over the last two years featuring the baggy trousers.
“Throughout the [last] year, I shot so many collections of so many designers and all of those designers at least used to have two farshi shalwars for sure in their collections,” Khoja said. “So it took us an entire year to make it a fashion trend.”
According to the stylist, the trend dated back to the 17th century and was popular among noble women in the Mughal era. Modeled after the flowing gowns worn by British noblewomen, the complete outfit consists of three basic parts: a kurta or a long shirt, dupatta or long stole, and the third and most important, the farshi shalwar or pajama, a flowing two-legged trouser held by drawstrings that falls straight to the ankles from where it starts flaring and flowing copiously onto the floor, trailing as one walks.
In media, iconic movies such as Umrao Jaan (1981) and Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) that depict Muslim culture of 19th-century Lucknow show noblewomen and royal courtesans wearing farshi shalwars.
“They had a variety of silhouettes in terms of a kurta or a jacket on top, among other things. The outfit has been there, the silhouette has been there since the 17th century but how you make it relevant now is very important,” Khoja added.
The picture, posted on August 4, 2022, by the Instagram page " Purana Pakistan," shows Pakistani women wearing farshi shalwar in 1970s. (Hibah Najeeb via Purana Pakistan)
HOW TO STYLE A FARSHI SHALWAR?
According to Khoja, some of the popular ways to style the farshi shalwar include pairing it with a button down shirt and accessorizing it with different kinds of jewelry pieces and hairdos.
“You can dress it up or dress it down. Sadaf [Kanwal] uses big organza dupattas. You can do big shawls also like [actress] Mahira Khan wore [designer] Banto Kazmi’s when she got an award at the UK Parliament. So something of that sort also with a plain silhouette.”
The picture, posted on July 16, 2023, shows Pakistani models wearing farshi shalwar by designer Hussain Rehar. (Hussain Rehar)
Pakistani actress Tuba Anwar said celebrities had been wearing farshi shalwars since last year but the trend had “peaked” among the general public in recent months. For her, the fact that everyone would be wearing the baggy trousers this Eid reduced their appeal.
“I was planning to wear farshi shalwar on this Eid and then when everybody started discussing it, I was like ‘No, this is not what I’m going to wear because I have to do something very different’.”
When she wore farshi shalwars at all, Anwar said she preferred them in solid colors.
“In terms of styling, I would like to wear it with solid colors, not a lot of embroidery going on, not a lot of things or abstract things going on in the clothes that I am going to wear,” she said.
Pakistani actor Tuba Anwar is seen wearing farshi shalwar. (Tuba Anwar)
The farshi shalwar craze is not limited to women alone.
Actor and host Fahad Mustafa has donned the farshi shalwar look on his hit gaming show Jeeto Pakistan during Ramadan. Singer and songwriter Falak Shabbir has been seen in the outfit as well.
“It’s certainly not limited to women. Fahad Mustafa was of course wearing it on Jeeto Pakistan. I am going to wear it on Eid,” Khoja said. “So, you will see a lot of people of different sorts, male and female, wearing it.”
Pakistani actor and host Fahad Mustafa r is seen wearing farshi shalwar. (Fahad Mustafa)
KARACHI: Until last year on the days before Eid Al-Fitr, the home of Zahra Arif, 20, used to be filled with laughter and the aroma of kulcha, qatlama, beef pulao and other traditional foods being prepared in anticipation of the religious holiday.
This year, the small apartment in which the family of ten lives on the outskirts of Pakistan’s megacity of Karachi was quiet and the air was tense. They are Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, refugees granted temporary legal status in Pakistan in 2017 but whom the government ordered earlier this month to leave before Mar. 31 or face expulsion — a date that coincides with the first day of Eid this year.
“We haven’t made any preparations for this Eid because the situation is uncertain,” Arif, who was born and raised in Karachi and whose family has lived there for 35 years, told Arab News.
“They are expelling Afghans so who would feel like making new clothes for Eid?”
The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of ‘illegal foreigners’ that began in 2023, with over 884,261 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since, according to government figures. Authorities initially said they were first focusing on expelling foreigners with no legal documentation and other categories like ACC holders would be included later.
More than 800,000 Afghans hold an ACC in Pakistan, according to UN data. Another roughly 1.3 million are formally registered with the Pakistan government and hold a separate Proof of Residence (PoR) card, launched in 2006 to grant legal recognition and protection to Afghan refugees. In total, Pakistan has hosted over 2.8 million Afghan refugees who have crossed the border during 40 years of conflict in their homeland.
A worker from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), speaks to Afghan citizens while verifying their identity cards on an online tab, during a door-to-door search and verification drive for undocumented Afghan nationals, in an Afghan Camp on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, on November 21, 2023. (REUTERS/File)
Islamabad has in the past blamed militant attacks and crimes on Afghan citizens, who form the largest portion of migrants in the country. The government says militants, especially from the Pakistan Taliban (TTP), are using safe havens in Afghanistan and links with Afghans residing in Pakistan to launch cross-border attacks. The ruling administration in Kabul has repeatedly rejected the accusations.
The latest deadline has left the nearly 800,000 ACC holders, including an estimated 65,000 in Karachi, grappling with the prospect of a forced return to a country many have never even visited.
“We have been living here for 30 to 35 years, how will we survive there,” said Arif, whose family comprises her parents, two brothers, five sisters, and herself. “There is no place for us there, no home, nothing.”
“EID HAS TURNED INTO POISON”
Arif also has other worries.
She fears for the career and higher education prospects for herself and her five sisters in Afghanistan, where over three years of Taliban rule has led to the “striking” erasure of women from public life, according to the UN.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly forbidden to girls and women. According to UNESCO data published last year, 1.4 million Afghan girls have been deliberately deprived of schooling. Access to primary education has also fallen sharply, with 1.1 million fewer girls and boys attending school.
Since the Taliban took power in 2021, professional opportunities for women have also been severely restricted. Many women lost their jobs and others were only allowed to continue if they worked from home. Any woman who still has a job has to be accompanied on their journey to work by a male relative.
Arif, who completed her high-school in Karachi, had dreams of pursuing a career in IT but now believes all her efforts were in vain.
“I have taken computer courses and was thinking of doing a freelancing course but how will I do that there?” she asked. “The twelve years of education I completed here, my intermediate degree, everything will be useless there.”
Afghan men load their belongings as they head back to Afghanistan, after Pakistan gave a final warning to undocumented immigrants to leave, at a bus stop in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 4, 2023. (REUTERS/File)
Idrees Khan, a 25-year-old Afghan refugee who was born in Pakistan and sells French fries at a roadside stall, also wondered what he would do in Afghanistan, a country he has never visited and where he had heard there were few jobs and future prospects.
“For us, Pakistan has always felt like our country but now, on Eid, they are telling us to leave. This is distressing,” he said. “If they had given us some time to process and prepare, it would have been better for everyone. But forcing us to leave now is inappropriate.”
Hajji Abdullah Shah Bukhari, a community elder who represents Afghan refugees in the southern Sindh province, said he was “still in shock” over the government’s decision to expel ACC holders.
“Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for 47 years and we are grateful for this hospitality, but the recent announcement of expelling us is heartbreaking.”
The government’s decision was taking an “emotional toll” on the community ahead of the Eid holiday, the community leader said.
“A year ago, around this time, people would be buying clothes and essentials for their children to celebrate Eid,” he said. “But now, if you look inside any Afghan household, you will see people shedding tears of blood, wondering what to do.”
Bukhari urged Islamabad to reconsider its policy and engage with Afghan authorities on any issues between the two governments.
“Why doesn’t the Islamic Republic of Pakistan negotiate with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan?” he asked. “Afghan refugees are not involved in the policies of either Afghanistan or Pakistan. We have always remained away from politics, but what is happening to us now is injustice.”
Afghan children look out from the bus window as they are being repatriated to Afghanistan along with their families, who according to police were undocumented and detained at a temporary holding centre, after Pakistan gave the last warning to undocumented migrants to leave, in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 2, 2023. (REUTERS/File)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also expressed concerns.
“We have seen and are aware of the [Pakistani] government’s plans regarding ACC holders,” Qaiser Khan Afridi, a UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan, told Arab News.
“UNHCR is concerned regarding the latest directive, as among the Afghan Citizen Card-holders there may be individuals requiring international protection.”
Afridi called for a humanitarian approach and urged dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan:
“It is imperative that returns are voluntary and dignified so that reintegration in Afghanistan is sustainable.”
A statement from the government on Sunday said “no mistreatment will occur during the [repatriation] process,” adding that arrangements had been made for food and health facilities for those returning.
But amid the fear and uncertainty, Gul Jan, a 53-year-old refugee with 11 children and an ailing husband, pleaded for compassion from the authorities.
“This Eid has now become a sorrow for us, it has turned into poison,” she said. “But if the government’s word changes now, then any regular day will be Eid for us.”
