ISLAMABAD: Officials and well-wishers gathered at Islamabad Zoo on Monday for a farewell party for Pakistan’s lonely elephant Kaavan before he sets off for a new life in Cambodia this week.
After years of campaigning by animal rights advocates and pop star Cher to rescue him from grim conditions with no companion, Kaavan was finally set to be airlifted to an elephant sanctuary on Sunday.
To mark the occasion, officials, including lawmakers and Pakistan’s climate change minister, gathered among balloons and signs saying “Farewell Kaavan, we will miss you.”
Children posed for photos and musicians performed in front of the enclosure, with Kaavan at one point serenaded while he snacked on some grass.
Kaavan is known to be a fan of music and Amir Khalil, a vet from animal rescue organization Four Paws, bonded with the elephant, who has been aggressive to humans in the past, by singing him Frank Sinatra songs.
Four Paws spokeswoman Marion Lombard said that though it was never easy to move a wild animal weighing 4.8 tons, Kaavan was responding well to training and was ready to leave.
“We decided to organize an event to give the opportunity to the people of Pakistan and the government to say goodbye to Kaavan, before his new life in Cambodia. So we want to wish him a happy retirement,” she said.
Kaavan will be airlifted to Cambodia after training for weeks with international specialists armed with treats such as bananas to get him used to the small enclosure and loud noises of the 10-hour flight.
Cher was due to arrive in Islamabad later in the week to finally meet the elephant she had worked for years to rescue and see him off.
Pakistan’s lonely elephant serenaded one last time at farewell party
https://arab.news/44fj4
Pakistan’s lonely elephant serenaded one last time at farewell party
- Kaavan is finally set to be airlifted to an elephant sanctuary in Cambodia on Sunday
- Singer Cher due to arrive in Islamabad to meet the elephant she had worked for years to rescue and see him off
Israel-Tehran conflict cripples border trade between Pakistan and Iran
- Markets have been closed and dozens of trucks stranded at Pakistan’s Taftan border crossing with Iran since June 15
- The key border crossing in Pakistan’s Balochistan typically handles daily exchanges in fuel, food and household goods
QUETTA: The ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran has crippled border trade between Pakistan and Iran, transporters and traders said this week, with markets closed and dozens of trucks stranded on the Pakistani side of the border.
Pakistan shares a 959-kilometer border with Iran in its southwest and the trade volume between the two countries stood at $2.8 billion in the last fiscal year that ended in June 2024, according to Pakistani state media.
In Feb., the two neighbors signed an agreement to take the bilateral trade volume to $10 billion, but tensions between Iran and Israel prompted Pakistan to suspend operations at the Taftan border crossing in Balochistan on June 15, mirroring the Iranian side’s restrictions following Israeli airstrikes.
“We’ve been stuck here in Taftan for four to five days, with six to seven vehicles,” Syed Khalil Ahmed, a local transporter, told Reuters on Friday. “We’re waiting for it to reopen so we can load our goods. The market is closed, and there’s a shortage of food and drinks.”
Israel began attacking Iran on June 13, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.
The Taftan border, a vital trade artery which typically handles daily exchanges in fuel, food and household goods, is now left paralyzed. Local traders said 90 percent of goods in Taftan typically come from Iran.
“With the border closed, no goods are arriving [from Iran] ... Local traders with Pakistani passports can’t enter Iran, and Iranian passport holders can only reach the border and return,” said Hajji Shaukat Ali, an importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
“This is hurting local businesses and traders. For us, as major LPG gas traders, some of our vehicles are stuck en route and won’t be able to reach us now.”
Ahmed said they were losing approximately Rs20,000 ($70) per truck daily while facing critical shortages of essential supplies.
“We’re managing with what we have, but it’s tough,” he added.
Islamabad rejects Indian media claims about Pakistan requesting truce in last month’s conflict
- Indian media outlets this week reported that Islamabad requested a ceasefire after India struck key Pakistani air bases last month
- The nuclear-armed neighbors traded drone, missile and artillery strikes in their worst conflict in decades before a US-brokered truce
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Saturday rejected Indian media reports about Pakistan requesting a ceasefire with New Delhi during their four-day military standoff last month.
Citing Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Indian media outlets this week reported that it was Islamabad that requested a ceasefire after India had hit key Pakistani air bases last month.
Pakistan and India last month traded fighter jet, missile, drone and artillery strikes after weeks of tensions between them over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Responding to Indian media reports, the Pakistani foreign office said friendly states, including Saudi Arabia and the United States, played a crucial role in facilitating last month’s ceasefire.
'“The sequence of events clearly demonstrates that Pakistan did not initiate or ask anyone for a ceasefire but agreed to it when around 0815 am on 10th May 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the DPM/FM, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, and informed that India is ready to ceasefire if Pakistan is willing,” it said.
“The DPM/FM confirmed Pakistan’s acceptance and later around 9 am Saudi FM Prince Faisal also called DPM/FM and informed the same about India and sought same confirmation which Secretary of State Marco Rubio had sought earlier.”
Pakistan and India have fought multiple wars since their independence from British rule in 1947. Two of the wars were over the disputed region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part.
Last month’s conflict came days after New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the deadly attack that killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. Islamabad denied any involvement.
Pakistan recommends Trump for Nobel Peace Prize for defusing conflict with India
- Trump complained he had been overlooked by Nobel committee for his mediating role in India-Pakistan conflict
- The US president predicted that Washington will be able to negotiate trade deals with both India and Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has decided to formally recommend United States (US) President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for his “decisive diplomatic intervention” during last month’s India-Pakistan military standoff, it said on Saturday.
The statement came after Trump took credit for a peace deal negotiated in Washington between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and complained he had been overlooked by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for his mediating role in conflicts between India and Pakistan, as well as Serbia and Kosovo.
Trump campaigned for office as a “peacemaker” who would use his negotiating skills to quickly end wars in Ukraine and Gaza, although both conflicts are still raging five months into his presidency. Indian officials have denied that he had any role in its ceasefire with Pakistan.
In a post on X, the Pakistani government said President Trump demonstrated “great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship” through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation last month.
“This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker and his commitment to conflict resolution through dialogue,” it said, appreciating Trump’s efforts that ultimately secured a ceasefire and averted a broader conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
The military standoff was triggered by a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denied complicity.
The four-day standoff had raised fears of wider conflict between the South Asian rivals who have fought multiple wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir. Trump also offered trade with Pakistan and India, and to mediate the Kashmir dispute between the neighbors.
On Friday, the US president predicted that Washington will be able to negotiate trade deals with both India and Pakistan.
“We did a very great job with India and Pakistan, and we had India in, and it looks like we’re going to be making a trade deal with India,” he told reporters in New Jersey.
“And we had Pakistan in, and it looks like we’re going to be making a trade deal with Pakistan. And it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”
The Pakistani government said it acknowledged and admired Trump’s offers to help resolve the longstanding Kashmir dispute that lies at the “heart of regional instability.”
“Durable peace in South Asia would remain elusive until the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Jammu and Kashmir,” it said.
Islamabad hoped that Trump’s legacy of “pragmatic diplomacy and effective peace-building” will continue and help resolve various ongoing crises in the Middle East.
“Pakistan remains hopeful that his earnest efforts will continue to contribute toward regional and global stability, particularly in the context of ongoing crises in the Middle East, including the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza and the deteriorating escalation involving Iran,” the government added.
Pakistan signs $4.5 billion loans with local banks to ease power sector debt
- The government, which owns much of the power infrastructure, is grappling with ballooning ‘circular debt’
- The liquidity crunch has disrupted supply, discouraged investment and added to fiscal pressure on Islamabad
KARACHI: Pakistan has signed term sheets with 18 commercial banks for a 1.275 trillion Pakistani rupee ($4.50 billion) Islamic finance facility to help pay down mounting debt in its power sector, government officials said on Friday.
The government, which owns or controls much of the power infrastructure, is grappling with ballooning “circular debt”, unpaid bills and subsidies, that has choked the sector and weighed on the economy.
The liquidity crunch has disrupted supply, discouraged investment and added to fiscal pressure, making it a key focus under Pakistan’s $7 billion IMF program.
Finding funds to plug the gap has been a persistent challenge, with limited fiscal space and high-cost legacy debt making resolution efforts more difficult.
“Eighteen commercial banks will provide the loans through Islamic financing,” Khurram Schehzad, adviser to the finance minister, told Reuters.
The facility, structured under Islamic principles, is secured at a concessional rate of 3-month KIBOR, the benchmark rate banks use to price loans, minus 0.9 percent, a formula agreed on by the IMF.
“It will be repaid in 24 quarterly instalments over six years,” and will not add to public debt, Power Minister Awais Leghari said.
Existing liabilities carry higher costs, including late payment surcharges on Independent Power Producers of up to KIBOR plus 4.5 percent, and older loans ranging slightly above benchmark rates.
Meezan Bank, HBL, National Bank of Pakistan and UBL were among the banks participating in the deal.
The government expects to allocate 323 billion rupees annually to repay the loan, capped at 1.938 trillion rupees over six years.
The agreement also aligns with Pakistan’s target of eliminating interest-based banking by 2028, with Islamic finance now comprising about a quarter of total banking assets.
In Pakistan’s Sindh, women farmers grow vegetables against all odds, including weather
- Women farmers in Khairpur protect crops from adverse weather by growing them in artificial environment
- Project targets members of vulnerable communities who suffered immense losses during 2022 floods
KHAIRPUR: Sukhai intently moved about the tunnel farm, plucking out bitter gourds under the harsh, relentless sun. The vegetable is grown usually during the summer months but in the fields of Sindh’s Thari Mirwah village, that isn’t necessarily so.
Sukhai, a 23-year-old intermediate student, is one of several women in her village in district Khairpur battling the effects of climate change through tunnel farming. The agricultural technique extends the growing season of crops by using plastic-covered, greenhouse-like structures to create a controlled environment. These tunnels protect crops from adverse weather conditions, allowing for earlier or later harvests of vegetables.
At Thari Mirwah, these tunnels are formed by fixing rods into the ground in an arch shape, forming a row of hoops. During the winter months, these rods are covered with polythene sheets to protect the crops from rain and cold weather, extending their growing season.
“In these tunnels, we grow off-season and seasonal vegetables,” Sukhai, who only uses her first name, told Arab News. “We now have cultivated bitter gourd, sponge gourd and cucumber,” she said, carrying the vegetable in a basket.
Pakistan is consistently ranked among the world’s worst-affected countries due to climate change. Irregular weather patterns, which include excessive rains and droughts, have hit the country’s agriculture sector. For example, cotton has been the worst-hit crop, with its produce decreasing to five million bales a year this financial year from a record 15 million.
Cataclysmic floods, triggered by the melting of glaciers and unusually heavy rains, killed over 1,700 people and inflicted damages worth $33 billion in June 2022. To help locals recover from the economic losses of the floods, international relief organization Malteser International BMZ and the Sindh government-funded Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO) joined hands to build 10 tunnel farms in Kharirah, Pir Budhro, Sabar Rind, Mehar Veesar, and Hindyari areas in the southern Sindh province.
Sukhai said the floods of 2022 destroyed all of her crops and agricultural lands, dealing a massive economic blow to her family. Now her and several other women of the village are trying to make ends meet through tunnel farming.
Kanwal Hussain, a district project officer at SRSO, said the women farmers are producing 10-15 kilograms of vegetables daily on their 50 by 50 tunnel farms. Malteser International has provided 570,000 euros in funds for the tunnel farming project.
“For tunnel farming, we have selected vulnerable communities which have very little land available for farming,” Hussain explained, adding that all they required to make a tunnel farm was land 100 feet in length and width.
In its recent assessment, the World Bank said 45% of Pakistanis live below the poverty line, up from the previous rate of 39.8%.
Rukhsana is one such 50-year-old mother of five, who is fighting off poverty in Thari Mirwah by growing climate-resistant vegetables.
“I have five kids and my husband is jobless so we grow these vegetables,” Rukhsana told Arab News. “We eat these vegetables as well as sell them when the villagers come to buy some.”
The women farmers say they earn as much as Rs50,000 ($176) profit every month, which is then shared between a three-member Business Development Group that cultivates each of the 10 tunnel farms.
“We are three members who work and grow these vegetables together and share the profits,” Sukhai, who is using her earnings to support her family and complete her education, said.
And the going is getting tough for her as she has a widowed mother and nine siblings to look after.
Hussain, on the other hand, is a bit concerned about the surging temperature in Pakistan. She hoped to convince her foreign donors to extend the tunnel farming project to other areas prone to floods and climate disasters.
“The temperature here stays between 45 to 50 degrees [Celsius] during the daytime and surges to as much as 51 degrees Celsius,” Hussain said.
Tunnel farming is not only a means of sustenance but is also helping people like Sukhai dream big. She wants to complete her studies and help her family out with the money she earns.
“I want to complete my studies to do a job. I want to become a doctor,” Sukhai said.
