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First bulk cargo ship docks at Pakistan’s Gwadar under Afghan Transit Trade

A Pakistani army soldier stands guard at Gwadar port on on Oct. 4, 2017. (AFP/File)
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Updated 30 May 2020
Khurshid Ahmed
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First bulk cargo ship docks at Pakistan’s Gwadar under Afghan Transit Trade

  • MV Manet brought a huge consignment for Afghanistan and docked at the deep-sea port on May 28
  • Local business community says the development has turned their decades-old dream into reality
Updated 30 May 2020
Khurshid Ahmed

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Gwadar deep-sea port witnessed the beginning of a new era of transit trade as the first bulk cargo ship for landlocked Afghanistan docked at the facility on Thursday, said officials while talking to Arab News on Saturday.
“MV Manet is the first bulk cargo vessel that arrived at the deep-sea port on May 28, 2020, carrying a big consignment of wheat and urea fertilizer for Afghanistan under the Afghan Transit Trade [ATT],” Naseer Khan Kashani, Chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), confirmed.
The Gwadar deep-sea port lies at the heart of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that envisions infrastructure development and investments in nearly 70 countries around the world.
The port is situated near the international oil trading hub and shipping routes at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, outside the Strait of Hormuz.
Islamabad decided to allow bulk cargo import of wheat, sugar and fertilizers under the ATT at the Gwadar port in April 2020. The shipments would then be carried forward to Kabul in sealable trucks.
Packaging of the 16,000 megaton urea is also supposed to be done at the deep-sea port.
“For the first time, bagging will be done locally and not on any foreign port. Urea will be bagged in Gwadar and shipped on trucks to Afghanistan, generating some good employment opportunities for locals. Instructions have already been given to allocate all labor jobs to the local population,” Abdul Razak Dawood, adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, said in a Twitter post on Friday.

The Gwadar port has been operational since March 2018, and it was opened for the ATT in October 2019. The first ship carrying containers for Afghan transit trade docked at the port on January 14 this year.
“This is the third ATT consignment as the first two were containerized cargoes and this one is bulk cargo shipment,” said the GPA chief.
“Authorities have taken necessary preventive measures against COVID-19 beforehand to ensure smooth business activities at the port,” he added.
Local businessmen also hailed the development, saying their decades-old dream had turned into reality.
“Our elders waited for this moment since the 1970s. They dreamt of the day Gwadar port would be connected with the Central Asian states. Now their vision has come true,” Mir Naveed Baloch, group leader at the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News.
Excited about the development, Baloch hoped it would create more employment opportunities for locals. “A ship can employee at least 500 people directly or indirectly,” he continued.
“This is a welcome step,” Zubair Motiwala, chairman of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said. “Owing to the 100 percent inspection of the cargo, however, it is delaying the delivery to the neighboring country which should not happen.”
As the expansion of Gwadar port takes place through Chinese investment, the authorities are gearing up for transshipment that is expected to spur with the start of industrial activities in free zones.
“The port is being developed at the cost of about $600 million, and a chunk of that investment is also going into the pipeline. Additional three berths will be constructed here in the coming two years,” the GPA chief, Kashani, told Arab News.
“The rules have been notified for transshipment that is likely to commence in about six months,” he said, adding: “The transshipment activity will pick up as other businesses gain pace in the free zones. Nine industries are already being set up in the Gwadar free zone.”
The Gwadar deep-sea port is CPEC’s starting point. It is also considered to be the cheapest route for imports and exports to and from China and the Central Asian countries.
The port provides a much shorter and inexpensive route to ship oil and gas from the Middle East and minerals from Africa to these destinations.

Topics: Pakistan CPEC China Pakistan Economic Corridor CORONAVIRUS PAKISTAN Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Pakistan says won’t build new canals, dousing row over key irrigation project

Updated 28 April 2025
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Pakistan says won’t build new canals, dousing row over key irrigation project

  • Government launched project in Feb. to build network of six canals on Indus to irrigate millions of acres of barren lands
  • Critics say project would trigger water shortages, weeks of protests forced government to pause plans last week
Updated 28 April 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Monday decided not to build new canals on River Indus, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said, following weeks of protests in the southern Sindh province over the key irrigation project.
Pakistan’s government launched the ambitious agricultural project in February to build a network of six canals on the Indus. The government said it aimed to irrigate millions of acres of barren lands and ensure food security for 240 million people of the country.
But critics said the project would trigger water shortages in the southern parts of the country, mainly Sindh. The project sparked protests by lawyers, civil society and supporters of nationalist parties that disrupted trade and traffic on National Highway in Sindh, forcing the government last week to pause it.
On Monday, PM Sharif summoned a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), a constitutional body aimed at resolving the disputes between the federation and its provinces, to discuss the irrigation project and heightened tensions with New Delhi over a recent attack in Kashmir among other things.
“Federal Government has decided that no new canals will be built without mutual understanding from CCI,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after the meeting. “It has been decided that the Federal Government will not move further until mutual understanding is evolved among the provinces.”
The development comes at a time when India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan that splits Indus River and its tributaries between Pakistan and India, threatening Pakistan’s food security. Islamabad has described the move as an “act of war” and said it would take “all appropriate steps” to safeguard its due share of water.
Sharif’s office said the government was forming a committee to engage all provincial governments to chart out a long-term consensus roadmap for the development of an agriculture policy and water management infrastructure across Pakistan, adding that water rights of all provinces were enshrined in the Water Apportionment Accord-1991 and Water Policy-2018.
“The committee will propose solutions to Pakistan’s long-term agriculture needs and water use of all provinces in line with the two consensus documents,” it said, adding that any concerns on the proposals would be addressed through due diligence among all stakeholders.
“Water is one of the most precious commodities and the makers of the constitution recognized this, mandating all water disputes to be resolved amicably through mutual understanding.”

Topics: Council of Common Interests River Indus

Azad Kashmir residents condemn Indian threats to cut water, warn against escalation 

Updated 28 April 2025
Reuters
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Azad Kashmir residents condemn Indian threats to cut water, warn against escalation 

  • Ties plummeted as Delhi blamed Pakistan of being behind attack last week in Indian-administered Kashmir
  • Both nations have since announced a series of punitive measures against each other aimed to downgrade ties 
Updated 28 April 2025
Reuters

CHAKOTHI, Pakistan: Residents of Chakothi, a town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir situated on the Line of Control with India, have condemned Indian threats to cut off water supply and warned against any escalation to war.

The latest diplomatic crisis between the cross-border neighbors was triggered by the killing of 26 men at a popular tourist destination in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday April 22, in the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai shootings.

India blames Pakistan for the attack. Pakistan denies responsibility and called for a neutral probe.

After the attack, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.

Chakothi is a strategically sensitive area on the LoC, along the Line of Control (LOC), which runs 742km (460 miles), dividing Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and acts as part of the de facto border between the two countries. The military frontline, which runs through inhospitable terrain, has separated hundreds of families and even divided villages and mountains.

Chatkothi on Sunday expressed determination to defend their land against any aggression and were unfazed by India’s threats to cut off water supply.

“We’re not intimidated,” said Ahmed Abbasi, a resident of the area. “We’ve faced such challenges before and won’t back down.” 

Raja Ali, a local resident, echoed similar sentiments, saying, “We’d rather die as martyrs than become a burden in old age. We’ll keep moving forward, unafraid of death.”

Chakothi, the last major settlement before the heavily militarized Line of Control, has frequently seen cross-border shelling during periods of India-Pakistan tensions.

Topics: Indus Waters Treaty

Pakistan says next few days ‘crucial’ amid specter of military incursion by India

Updated 28 April 2025
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Pakistan says next few days ‘crucial’ amid specter of military incursion by India

  • “If something has to happen, will occur in next two to four days, otherwise immediate danger will pass,” defense minister says
  • Pakistan and India have downgraded ties since last week’s attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists 
Updated 28 April 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR & KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday the next few days were “crucial” with regards to a possible Indian military incursion, as tensions surged between the two countries over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last week.

The attack killed 26 people and triggered outrage in India along with calls for action against Pakistan, whom it says is involved, accusations Islamabad has denied. India has long accused Pakistan of backing militancy in Kashmir, a region both nations claim and have fought two wars over. Islamabad says it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations continued to boil on Monday, and experts and officials in Islamabad both raised the specter of limited airstrikes or special forces raids near the border with Pakistan.

Following a report by Reuters quoting Defense Minister Khawaja Asif as saying an Indian military excursion was “imminent,” he told a local news channel that he had said only that the next few days were “crucial.”

“The threat [of Indian attacks] is there, there is absolutely no doubt about it, but I have not suggested anything about its inevitability,” Asif told Geo News on Monday night. 

“If something has to happen, then it will occur in the next two to four days … otherwise the immediate danger will pass.”

He added that if “war” was imposed on Pakistan, it was prepared for a “full response”:

“Our armed forces have 100 percent preparation, be it in our waters, air or soil. No one should have a doubt about this.”

Asif’s remarks followed a key meeting presided over by Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar to discuss India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, which was one of the punitive measures it announced to downgrade ties with Islamabad following Tuesday’s attack. The treaty splits the Indus River Basin and its tributaries between Pakistan and India and ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms.

“Pakistan will take all appropriate steps to safeguard its due share of water, guaranteed by the Indus Waters Treaty,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting, quoting Dar.

“Pakistan will continue to advocate for the full implementation of the Treaty to ensure the protection of its water rights and the well-being of its people.”

The statement said India’s “unilateral and illegal” move to hold the treaty in abeyance contravened established norms of inter-state relations, international law, and the treaty’s own provisions.

“Noting that the waters of the Indus River System remain a lifeline for Pakistan’s 240 million people, he [Dar] deplored the Indian attempts to weaponize water,” the ministry added.

Earlier on Monday, Asif told Reuters Islamabad had approached friendly countries, including Gulf states and China, and also briefed Britain, the United States and others on the situation.

“Some of our friends in the Arabian Gulf have talked to both sides,” Asif said, without naming the countries.

China said on Monday it hoped for restraint and welcomed all measures to cool down the situation. Asif said the United States was thus far “staying away” from intervening in the matter.

Riyadh and Tehran have also both offered to mediate the crisis.

Pakistan and India have fought multiple wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, since their independence from British rule in 1947. 

In the past, New Delhi has accused Islamabad of backing militants who carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 166 people, including foreigners. Pakistan denies the accusations.

Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and India were weak even before the latest conflict as Pakistan had expelled India’s envoy and not posted its own ambassador in New Delhi after India revoked the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir in 2019.

Topics: Indus Waters Treaty

Pakistan stocks slide on surging tensions with neighboring India

Updated 28 April 2025
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Pakistan stocks slide on surging tensions with neighboring India

  • The stock market shed 1,405.44 points, or 1.22 percent, to close at 115,469.34 points
  • The below-expectation corporate results also disappointed investors, an analyst says
Updated 28 April 2025
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange plunged and lost more than 1,400 points in intraday trading, traders and analysts said on Monday, as rising tensions with India triggered geopolitical jitters and fueled a wave of investor selling at the market.

The benchmark KSE-100 index shed 1,405.44 points, or 1.22 percent, to close at 115,469.34 points after touching an intraday high of 116,658.94 points on Monday, according to stock traders.

The development came amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and India over the killing of 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. New Delhi has blamed the attack on Pakistan, Islamabad denies any complicity.

"The prevailing negative sentiment was largely driven by escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, which heightened investor concerns and weighed heavily on overall market confidence," Karachi-based Topline Securities brokerage firm said.

It said companies like SYS, LUCK, MEBL and HBL contributed 489 points to the index, while ENGRO, UBL, MARI, EFERT and PSO shaved off 907 points from the benchmark.

"Despite the risk-averse sentiment, overall participation remained firm with volumes clocking in at 421 million shares and a turnover of Rs26.43 billion," the firm said in its review.

The market saw an overall trade of 533 million shares, valued at Rs33.7 billion.

Below-expectation corporate results also disappointed investors, according to Muhammad Rizwan, a director at Chase Securities.

Companies like Systems Limited (SYS), Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK), Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL) and Habib Bank Limited (HBL) contributed 489 points to the index, while ENGRO, United Bank Limited (UBL), Mari Energies Limited (MARI), Engro Fertilizers (EFERT) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) shaved off 907 points from the benchmark.

"National Refinery Limited (NRL), Pak Electron Limited (PAEL) and Engro Holding disappointed investors, impacting stocks in a range of 5.4 percent to 9.7 percent," Rizwan said.

Topics: Pakistan Stock Exchange

First six Hajj flights from Pakistan depart for Saudi Arabia today

Updated 28 April 2025
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First six Hajj flights from Pakistan depart for Saudi Arabia today

  • 114,000 Pakistanis are expected to perform Hajj pilgrimage in 2025
  • Record-breaking 2.5 million Muslims expected to perform Hajj this year
Updated 28 April 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s 33-day-long Hajj flights operation will be launched today, Tuesday, with six flights set to depart for Saudi Arabia, state media reported on Monday.

This year’s annual pilgrimage will take place in June, with nearly 89,000 Pakistanis expected to travel to Saudi Arabia under the government scheme and 23,620 Pakistanis performing Hajj through private tour operators.

“The Hajj flight operation to airlift intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia is commencing from tomorrow [Tuesday],” Radio Pakistan said in its report.

“On the first day of the Hajj flight operation, six flights will be operated: two from Lahore and one each from Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta and Multan.”

Around 89,000 pilgrims traveling under the government scheme will travel to Makkah and Madinah through 342 flights. The last Hajj flight will depart on May 31.

Around 50,500 Pakistani pilgrims will travel to Saudi Arabia under Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route Initiative, which aims to streamline the immigration process for pilgrims to Makkah. The initiative was launched in 2019 by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and has been implemented in five countries: Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, and Bangladesh.

Under the initiative, pilgrims are able to complete their immigration requirements at their home country’s airports before they depart for Saudi Arabia. This saves pilgrims several hours upon arrival in the Kingdom, as they can simply enter the country without having to go through immigration again. 

Under the Makkah Route Initiative, 28,000 pilgrims will depart for the Kingdom from Islamabad while the remaining 22,500 will fly from the southern port city of Karachi.

While a precise number of worldwide pilgrims for Hajj 2025 is difficult to determine in advance, projections suggest it will be a record-breaking year, with over 2.5 million Muslims performing the pilgrimage. 

Topics: Hajj 2025

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