ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar stressed on India to release prisoners, lift curbs on political parties and restore the special status of the internationally disputed Jammu and Kashmir territory, the foreign ministry said on Monday, during the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) summit in The Gambia. 

These views were expressed by Dar as he led Pakistan’s delegation to a meeting of the OIC’s Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday in Banjul. The meeting reviewed the political and security environment in Jammu and Kashmir, and took stock of the “grim human rights situation” in the territory, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said. The meeting was attended by member states of the contact group such as Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Niger, Azerbaijan and officials of the OIC-Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission. 

Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, both of which claim all of the region but administer only parts of it. On Aug. 5 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Indian-administered Kashmir’s autonomy in a move that was seen by analysts as a strategy to tighten his grip over the territory. The decision provoked outrage in Pakistan and the downgrading of diplomatic ties and suspension of bilateral trade between the two countries. 

“He [Dar] also stressed that India must release all the political prisoners, lift curbs on the outlawed political parties, revoke the illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and the subsequent steps aimed at demographic change and political engineering, and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” MoFA said. 

Dar informed the group that India was “systematically denying the Kashmiri people their fundamental rights and freedoms,” adding that Indian authorities had created “an environment of fear and intimidation” in the disputed territory. 

The delegations from member countries stressed the importance of the resolution of the Kashmir dispute along the lines of the OIC’s agenda, the foreign ministry said. They expressed support for the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris for the realization of their right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the ministry said. 

“They called for an early and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” MoFA said. 

The OIC has 57 member countries, making it the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations. The OIC contact group on Jammu and Kashmir was established in 1994 to support the struggle of the people of Indian-administered Kashmir, including their right to self-determination, to voice the organization’s position, and coordinate joint actions on the dispute.

Dar is in Banjul to attend an OIC summit being held against a backdrop of widespread anger over Israel’s military actions in Gaza. The Jewish state has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and caused massive destruction of hospitals, schools and residential neighborhoods in the densely populated area since Oct. 7.

The Pakistani deputy prime minister arrived in Gambia on Wednesday to present his country’s perspective on a wide range of issues, including the war in Gaza and the rights situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.
 

KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approved the restructuring scheme of the country’s national airline, the privatization ministry confirmed on Sunday, marking a significant milestone in the government’s endeavors to privatize the loss-making entity.

Pakistan has identified 25 public sector enterprises for privatization that have accumulated billions in losses, including the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), banks, hotels and power generation and distribution companies. Pakistan agreed in June 2023 to overhaul its loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as part of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion bailout package. The government resolved to privatize PIA shortly after finalizing the IMF agreement. 

However, the country’s progress in privatization has been stalled for decades due to political inertia and various challenges, including legal, licensing and ownership issues. In March, the government created PIA Holding Company (Holdco) to expedite the national carrier’s privatization by managing the airline’s liabilities and assisting in its transfer to potential investors.

On May 4, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) green-lighted PIA’s acquisition by Holdco, saying it would not have any material impact on the market. On Sunday, the privatization ministry said the SECP had agreed to the transfer of PIA’s non-core assets and liabilities to Holdco. 

“This order marks a significant milestone in the collaborative efforts of the Privatization Commission (PC), Finance Division, Aviation Ministry and Pakistan International Airlines to restructure the national carrier,” the ministry said. 

It said the SECP has directed the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the Central Depository Company and the National Clearing Company to ensure Holdco’s “smooth listing.” 

The PIA has accumulated hundreds of billions of rupees in arrears and losses over the years, forcing successive Pakistani governments to dole out billions of rupees from their budgets to keep the loss-making public entity afloat. 

The PIA’s woes were compounded after 2020 when the airline was already struggling financially while its flights were grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic. When the national airline resumed operations in May 2020, a domestic PIA flight crash in Karachi killed 97 out of 99 people on board, prompting an initial inquiry that pointed to a number of safety failures.

The inquiry sparked a disclosure from authorities that nearly a third of PIA’s pilots may have falsified their qualifications, prompting the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulators to ban PIA flights.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to privatize the airline and warned Pakistan’s bureaucracy that he would not tolerate delays in the process. Sharif has assured Pakistan’s business community several times that the process to privatize the national airline would be a transparent one.