ISLAMABAD: Around 150 Pakistani companies are taking part in an international service trade fair being held in China, Pakistan’s privatization minister said this week, announcing that the event would serve as an “excellent opportunity” to enhance investment in the South Asian country.
The China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2024 kicked off in Beijing on Sept. 12, Thursday. Scheduled to run till Sept. 20, over 2,000 companies from 107 countries around the world are taking part in the international event. The fair reflects China’s eagerness to work with the international community to seize opportunities in a fast-evolving global economy.
China is an important trade and investment partner for Pakistan. Chinese investment and financial support since 2013 have been key for Pakistan’s struggling economy, including the rolling over of loans so that Islamabad is able to meet external financing needs at a time when its foreign reserves are critically low.
In his virtual address to the fair, Pakistan’s Investment and Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan spoke about the “ample scope” for investment in agriculture, livestock, food processing and minerals sectors in Pakistan.
“Abdul Aleem Khan said that this international event will be an excellent opportunity and positive step for investment [in Pakistan] with great expectations,” Pakistan’s privatization ministry said in a press release.
It said that Pakistan would ensure all possible support for investments from China, adding that the country was keen on availing opportunities offered by special economic and export processing zones.
Khan noted that Pakistani companies were getting more opportunities to increase their business-to-business activities with China to establish or shift industries to Pakistan.
“He indicated that under CPEC, transport, infrastructure, energy and communication in Pakistan has been developed visibly and there has been a significant improvement in these sectors,” the ministry said, referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
CPEC is a flagship of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative through which it has pledged over $60 billion in investment projects in Pakistan. Various power and infrastructure projects have already been built in the South Asian country under CPEC but the implementation of various projects has slowed in recent months.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited China in June on a five-day trip. Sharif’s visit was aimed at upgrading and enhancing CPEC projects, strengthening bilateral ties and fostering stronger ties between the business communities of the two countries.
Around 150 Pakistani companies take part in international trade fair in China
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Around 150 Pakistani companies take part in international trade fair in China
- Over 2,000 companies from 107 countries are taking part in fair scheduled to run till Sept. 20
- Pakistani minister says trade fair to serve as “excellent opportunity” for investment in country
Trump calls for deeper India-Pakistan engagement, hails US role in ceasefire at Riyadh forum
- The US president says he used trade as leverage to secure the ceasefire, a claim India denies
- He asks Marco Rubio to help leaders of both countries ‘go out and have a nice dinner together’
ISLAMABAD: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated he had brokered a “historic ceasefire” between India and Pakistan using trade as leverage, while urging his administration to help build diplomatic ties strong enough for the nuclear-armed rivals to someday “go out and have a nice dinner together.”
The statement came days after a major standoff between the two South Asian neighbors, which saw both sides exchange missile and drone attacks as well as artillery fire across the Line of Control in Kashmir.
Trump, who announced the ceasefire on Saturday, said it followed a night of intense diplomatic activity. Subsequently, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed the two countries had agreed to hold talks at a neutral venue to discuss a broad range of outstanding issues.
Trump made the remarks about the ceasefire during his address to the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, shortly after arriving in the Kingdom where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and senior Saudi officials.
The visit also saw the signing of more than $300 billion in defense and economic deals.
“Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan,” he said. “And I used trade to a large extent to do it and I said, ‘Fellas, come on, let’s make a deal. Let’s do some trading. Let’s not trade nuclear missiles. Let’s trade the things that you make so beautifully.’”
Trump praised the efforts of his top aides, including Vice President JD Vance and Rubio, and called the leadership in both India and Pakistan “strong and smart.”
“Maybe we can even get them together a little bit, Marco, where they go out and have a nice dinner together,” he added. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
He warned that the recent crisis, which he said “started off small,” had the potential to spiral into a broader conflict with devastating consequences.
“Millions of people could have died,” he said.
India, however, negated shortly before Trump’s speech that trade was a factor in the US-mediated truce.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, confirmed that top leaders in New Delhi and Washington remained in close contact during the standoff, but denied that trade was discussed.
“The issue of trade didn’t come up in any of these discussions,” he said, referring to calls between Vance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as between Rubio and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
With input from AP
First batch of 633 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims to reach Jeddah today, ministry says
- Pakistan launched its Hajj flight operation on Apr. 29 which will continue till May 31
- Around 29,000 Pakistani pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage
ISLAMABAD: The first batch of 633 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims is set to arrive in Saudi Arabia today, Wednesday, via two separate flights from Islamabad under the Road to Makkah Initiative, the Pakistani Ministry of Religious Affairs said.
This year’s annual pilgrimage is expected to take place between June 4 and June 9, with nearly 89,000 Pakistanis expected to travel to Saudi Arabia under the government scheme and 23,620 Pakistanis through private tour operators.
Pakistan launched its Hajj flight operation on Apr. 29 which will continue till May 31. Pilgrims continued to leave for Madinah during the first 15 days of the operation until May 13 and now, they will land in Jeddah and travel directly to Makkah.
“Under this phase, the first PIA flight, PK-741, carrying 305 guests of Allah Almighty (intending pilgrims), is scheduled to land at King Abdulaziz International Airport at 10:10am while the second flight, PK-759, carrying 328 pilgrims, will arrive at 6:55pm,” the ministry quoted Pakistan’s Director-General Hajj Abdul Wahab Soomro as saying.
The Makkah Route Initiative is designed to streamline immigration processes by enabling pilgrims to complete official travel formalities at their departure airports. Initially tested in Islamabad in 2019, the program was later expanded to Karachi, benefitting tens of thousands of Pakistani travelers. This saves pilgrims several hours upon arrival in the Kingdom, as they can simply enter the country without having to go through immigration again.
Around 29,000 Pakistani pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia. Of them, 14,000 are currently in the holy city of Makkah and 15,000 in Madinah. For the first time, Pakistani Hajj pilgrims will have access to fully air-conditioned camps in Mina and will be accommodated in top-of-the-line hotels and buildings in the Azizia and Batha Quraish neighborhoods, according to the religious affairs ministry.
They will receive a specially designed bag containing the Pakistani flag, a QR code for identification, and relevant information. A mobile app will provide access to Hajj group information, training schedules, flight details, accommodation details, and live maps and locations during the pilgrimage.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has also launched mobile apps like Nusuk, Hajj Navigator, Tawakkalna and Asefny to streamline Hajj services, with the aim to make the pilgrimage experience smoother by offering real-time guidance and ensuring pilgrim safety.
India rejects Trump’s claim his trade concessions de-escalated tensions with Pakistan
- The India, Pakistan militaries last week engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades
- Trump told reporters on Monday he had offered to help both nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate
NEW DELHI: The Indian government on Tuesday rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that he helped broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in exchange for trade concessions.
Addressing a weekly news conference, Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, said top leaders in New Delhi and Washington were in touch last week following the Indian military’s intense standoff with Pakistan, but there was no conversation on trade.
“The issue of trade didn’t not come up in any of these discussions,” Jaiswal said, referring to the conversations held between US Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar.
Following Saturday’s understanding reached between India and Pakistan in what was a US-mediated ceasefire to stop military action on land, in the air and at sea, Trump told reporters on Monday that he offered to help both the nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate.
“I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it. Let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’ll do a trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade’,” Trump said.
“And all of a sudden, they said, ‘I think we’re going to stop’,” Trump said, crediting trade leverage for influencing both the nations’ decision. “For a lot of reasons, but trade is a big one.”
The militaries of India and Pakistan had been engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades since last Wednesday, when India struck targets inside Pakistan it said were affiliated with militants responsible for the killing of 26 tourists last month in Indian-administered Kashmir.
After India’s strikes in Pakistan, both sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto border, followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and air bases.
The escalating hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals threatened regional peace, leading to calls by world leaders to cool down tempers.
Trump said he not only helped mediate the ceasefire, but also offered mediation over the simmering dispute in Kashmir, a Himalayan region that both India and Pakistan claim in entirety but govern in part. The two nations have fought two wars over Kashmir, which has long been described as the regional nuclear flashpoint.
New Delhi also rejected Trump’s offer for mediation on Tuesday.
“We have a longstanding national position that any issues related to the federally controlled union territory of Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. There has been no change to the stated policy,” Jaiswal said.
Schools reopen in Azad Kashmir after Pakistan-India ceasefire
- The truce was reached after four days of intense exchanges of fire as the old enemies targeted each other
- Attendance remained low at schools in border towns of Azad Kashmir where fighting displaced several families
CHAKOTHI: Schools reopened in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Tuesday after some of the residents of border villages returned home, following a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
The truce was reached after four days of intense exchanges of fire as the old enemies targeted each other’s military installations with missiles and drones, killing dozens of civilians.
In the border town of Chakothi near Line of Control (LoC), attendance was thin at schools as many people, who had moved to safer places due to Indian shelling, were still slowly coming back to the area.
“For the past many days, my school remained closed due to [cross-border Indian] shelling,” said Junaid Munir, a 6th-grader.
“Today, it is open. I have to study and get ahead [in life].”
The military confrontation began on May 7, when India said it launched strikes on nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, following an attack on Hindu tourists by militants in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town that killed 26 men last month.
Islamabad denied any links to the attack and called for a neutral investigation.
A local school principal said some residents were waiting for a more definitive peace solution before considering to move back to their border town homes.
“Some of the children, two or three girls, have arrived so far. But [most] parents and the rest of the people have obviously shifted elsewhere,” said Naveed Akhtar, who heads a school in Chakothi.
“That’s why children are not here. The message [about reopening of schools] has been conveyed to them, and, God willing, very soon these children will return to school and our academic system will resume.”
Syeda Zohra Kazmi, who studies in 7th grade, said some mortar shells had partially damaged her home, but she insisted on attending classes as the school reopened on Tuesday.
“There was shelling outside our residence as well, and some shells landed on our house,” she said. “As the schools got reopened today, I said I will go to school. I am not afraid of shelling.”
Indian border villagers want recompense for damages in Pakistan clashes
- Villagers in border areas return home after military conflict
- Residents seek compensation for damaged homes, livelihoods
JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan are maintaining a ceasefire that ended four days of intense military clashes, but many in the Indian-administered part of disputed Kashmir are demanding compensation for damages from cross-border firing.
Hundreds of villagers evacuated their homes as the rivals targeted each other’s military installations with missiles and drones, killing about 70 civilians, after New Delhi struck what it called terrorist camps across the border.
Many returned to find their homes destroyed or roofless.
“Where will we go with our kids? We don’t have anywhere to live and anything to eat,” said Roshan Lal, from the village of Kot Maira in Akhnoor in the district of Jammu, about 7 km (4 miles) from the de facto border.
The shelling had left his home uninhabitable, the 47-year-old added.
“I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for justice,” he said. “We need compensation for the damages.”
In the nearby village of Pahari Wala, farmer Karan Singh said he buried seven cattle in his field, while his family are living in makeshift shelters.
“I left the village when the conflict began,” he said. “We don’t have a place to stay.”
In Salamabad, a border village in the Kashmir Valley, shelling injured Badrudin Naik and his six-year-old son, but both returned home after five days.
“I am happy to return,” he said. “But my house is damaged. My two uncles’ houses were completely destroyed. We want a permanent peace as it is we on the border who suffer more.”
Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan, which both rule part of Kashmir, but claim it in full, have fought two of their three wars over the region and engaged in several smaller clashes over the decades.
Teams have fanned out in the region to assess damage to homes, shops and other facilities, said a senior local government official, who sought anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
“Today our teams have gone to the areas which were affected,” he said, adding, “The government will decide the amount of compensation.”
On Monday, Modi warned Pakistan that New Delhi would target “terrorist hideouts” across the border again if there were new attacks on India. Pakistan denies Indian accusations of supporting militants who attack India.
Standing in front of the cracked wall of his Pahari Wala home, Joginder Lal said Modi should ignore US President Donald Trump, who announced the ceasefire, saying Washington had played a role in halting the fighting.
“We want to take full revenge against Pakistan,” the 60-year-old added.
