QUETTA: In the sparsely populated stretches of Sibi, a city 160 kilometers from Quetta in the arid expanse of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, the steady hum of sewing machines cut through the din of a busy marketplace earlier this month.
Behind one sewing machine sat 32-year-old Sanaullah Marri, who has over two decades of experience making Baloch waistcoats, a must-have in male wardrobes around the year but especially popular during celebrations of religious holidays like Eid Al-Fitr.
Surrounded by colorful fabrics and threads spread out on the floor around him, Marri was working overtime to complete a long list of orders ahead of the Eid holiday.
The young tailor has earned the reputation of a specialist, with people arriving from nearby cities to order the famous Baloch waistcoat he crafts, locally known as “Marri Jabb.”
“Majority of the tribesmen in Balochistan prefer to wear this cultural dress on Eid and other festivals like the annual Baloch Culture Day,” Marri told Arab News. “Among the traditional waistcoat designs, the Marri cut is very popular among local tribes.”
In Quetta, the provincial capital, thousands of men thronged to the Moti Ram and Jinnah Roads ahead of Eid to select waistcoats to complement their dresses, which include turbans, sandals and baggy shalwar kameez.
“Being a Baloch, it is a must for me to keep alive and wear my traditional attire on the three days of Eid celebrations,” said 20-year-old Muhammad Asif, who resides in Kalat district but was visiting Quetta for Eid shopping with friends.
Jameel-ur-Rehman, a waistcoat seller in Quetta for four decades, said the demand for Marri and Baloch designs spiked during the Eid festivals.
“We have hired craftsmen in Sibi, Kohlu and Kharan districts, famous for making these traditional waistcoats, who take our orders and prepare these waistcoats according to the given designs,” he said.
“A high-quality waistcoat with additional embroidery and beads can cost up to Rs10,000 [$36], but the normal ones available in the market for everyone are between Rs2000-5000 [$8-18].”
Rehman said different colors were used in different types of waistcoats but the Marri designed used only one thread.
“Only one thread is used which is white or the matching color of the waistcoat is used,” he said.
“These are all handmade, made with a lot of effort. Machinery designs don’t sell here and people also prefer only handmade designs.”
This was true for Sarfaraz Ahmed, a 32-year-old local customer visiting Rehman’s shop to buy a tailored waistcoat to match his Eid outfit.
“Baloch waistcoat designs change slightly with the cultural and tribal differences of people living in Kharan, Sarawan, Jhalawan and Rakshan areas,” he said.
“I found this [waistcoat] very unique and had it made to match the clothes I just got tailored for Eid,” Ahmed said as he showed the embroidery on a blue vest he had selected.
“And idea is that this time on Eid, I want to express happiness through colors.”
In southwest Pakistan, colorful hand embroidered waistcoats a must-have in Eid wardrobes
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In southwest Pakistan, colorful hand embroidered waistcoats a must-have in Eid wardrobes
- Crafted with colorful threads, Balochistan’s most famous waistcoat is locally known as ‘Marri Jabb’
- Waistcoat sales boom ahead of Eid Al-Fitr as customers flock to markets to match vests with outfits
‘Incredible event’: Pakistan’s minerals summit attracts global investors
- Pakistan Minerals Summit held this week to attract foreign investment in country’s vast natural reserves estimated to be worth $6 trillion
- Event saw participation from major international companies and government officials from US, China, Saudi Arabia and other nations
ISLAMABAD: Major international companies from the US, Australia, South Africa and other nations have praised a global minerals summit hosted by Pakistan this week for opening up opportunities for investment in the country’s vast natural reserves, estimated to be worth $6 trillion.
The Pakistan Minerals Summit, aimed at attracting foreign investment in the country’s mining sector, saw participation from major international companies including Canada-based Barrick Gold and government officials from the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and other nations.
Pakistan is home to one of the world’s largest porphyry copper-gold mineral zones, while the Reko Diq mine in southwestern Balochistan province has an estimated 5.9 billion tons of ore. Barrick Gold, which owns a 50 percent stake in the Reko Diq mines, considers them one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas, and their development is expected to have a significant impact on Pakistan’s struggling economy.
But despite rich reserves of salt, copper, gold and coal, Pakistan’s mineral sector contributes only 3.2 percent to GDP and 0.1 percent to global exports. The country is now aiming to tap into this underutilized potential.
“This is really a great event so far for me. I’m meeting some great people, learning about the culture and the event is probably one of the best events we’ve been to recently,” Dave Williams, the CEO of Mudex, an Australian drilling fluids company, said in an interview to Radio Pakistan.
Mudex is based in Perth, specializing in the production and supply of environmentally friendly drilling fluids for industries such as mining, civil construction, water wells and horizontal directional drilling. Founded in 2014, Mudex offers a wide range of drilling fluid products including viscosifiers, lubricants, foaming agents and lost circulation materials.
“The networking and all has been really good … Being able to understand the immensity of the work that is happening in Pakistan at the moment,” the Mudex CEO said about the minerals summit.
Sohail Kiani, president of Canada’s SARF, said he was pleased to see Pakistani “finally recognizing its potential” in the minerals sector.
“Pakistan is a copper country and in the coming years, copper is going to become very important,” he said.
Pakistan’s copper reserves are estimated to be around 6.5 billion tons.
“The geology of this country is very conducive to taking out minerals which the world needs but obviously they’ve been in the ground for millions of years so we need to have a robust policy,” Kiani added.
Leah Boyer Saifullah, Senior Policy Adviser for the Critical Minerals Forum in Washington DC, described the minerals summit as “incredible.”
“I’m so glad to see Pakistan coming to the table, being part of this discussion,” she said. “I think this is going to be incredible for the country and for Pak-US relations.”
Tabassum Qadir, the CEO of Uprise Commodities Africa, said she was attending the mineral summit to explore opportunities at the Thar coal mines, located in southern Pakistan. They represent a significant source of lignite coal reserves in the country and are being developed for power generation.
“There is a gasification feasibility done in South Africa, which I want to implement in Pakistan,” Qadir said.
The businesswoman’s investment signals a renewed effort to harness Pakistan’s Thar coal reserves through gasification technology, which converts coal into synthetic gas for industrial use.
The initiative can reduce energy costs, alleviate the country’s growing fuel import bill and provide a domestic alternative to costly liquefied natural gas.
Pakistan, Turkiye sign offshore bidding pact for joint oil and gas exploration
- Pakistan’s offshore consists of two distinct basins, Makran and Indus, which together cover area greater than 282,623 sq km
- Pakistan announced offshore block bid round in February, offering 40 blocks in Makran and Indus basins for exploration licenses
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Turkiye this week signed a joint agreement to participate in an offshore oil and gas exploration bid round in Pakistan, the press information department said in a statement.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2025 by Pakistani Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik and Turkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar.
Under the agreement, leading Pakistani exploration and production (E&P) companies — Mari Energies Limited, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) — will partner with Turkish state-owned enterprise Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) to jointly bid for offshore blocks.
“This bid round is a significant opportunity for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country’s upstream energy sector,” the press information department statement said.
“We believe that this strategic collaboration [with Turkiye] will bring much-needed FDI to Pakistan and pave the way for the sharing and deployment of international technologies, expertise, and skillsets to explore and exploit the untapped potential of Pakistan’s offshore region.”
Pakistan’s offshore consists of two distinct geological basins, Makran and Indus, which together cover an area greater than 282,623 sq km.
In a major policy shift aimed at revitalizing Pakistan’s energy sector, the government in February announced the auction of 71 oil and gas exploration blocks, 40 offshore and 31 onshore, while also unveiling plans to deregulate fuel prices. These measures are expected to enhance domestic energy production, attract foreign investment, and introduce competitive pricing in the petroleum market.
Then Federal Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik made the announcement at the Annual Oil and Gas Conference in Islamabad in February, highlighting the urgent need to expand exploration efforts. He said Pakistan had drilled only 18 offshore wells in the past 60 years, far behind regional peers such as India and Bangladesh, which have made significant discoveries in offshore fields.
To bridge this gap, the government was now offering 40 offshore blocks for bidding, providing investors with an opportunity to tap into the country’s largely unexplored maritime energy reserves. Additionally, 31 onshore blocks had been made available to expand domestic oil and gas production.
Pakistan calls for end to Israeli airstrikes in Syria damaging civilian infrastructure, killing non-combatants
- Israel capitalized on Bashar Assad’s long-standing regime’s fall last year to strengthen its military presence in Syria
- Israel has recently stepped up airstrikes on Syria, which it describes as a warning to the newly formed government
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to act “decisively” against Israeli airstrikes in Syria which were damaging civilian infrastructure and urban centers and causing civilian deaths, the country’s permanent mission to the UN said on Friday.
Israel took advantage of the fall of former Syrian president Bashar Assad’s long-standing regime in December to expand its military presence in Syria. It now controls a 400-square-km demilitarized buffer zone, supports the Druze minority and opposes the current Syrian leadership.
Israel has recently stepped up airstrikes on Syria, which it described as a warning to the newly formed government in Damascus. Israel says it is targeting military headquarters and sites containing weapons and ammunition.
“Pakistan is deeply alarmed by Israel’s ongoing and escalating attacks on
sovereign Syrian territory,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the 15-member UNSC during a briefing session on Syria.
“The recent airstrikes targeting multiple locations in Syria, including civilian infrastructure and urban centers, have caused civilian casualties and pose a grave threat to regional and international peace and security.”
He said the world was witnessing a “deeply troubling pattern” of continued, unprovoked Israeli military aggression, repeated violations of the Disengagement Agreement, an illegal military presence in the Area of Separation, and open declarations of indefinite occupation.
“This blatant disregard for Syria’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity must be unequivocally condemned,” Ahmad said. “The [UN] Council must demand Israel’s complete withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights.”
The Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria, signed on May 31, 1974, maintained the existing ceasefire and called for the separation of opposing parties by a UN Peacekeeping Force.
After Assad’s fall, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.
Israel said it will not tolerate an Islamist militant presence in southern Syria and has deployed troops into Syria’s border zone. However, Syria’s leadership has indicated it does not intend to open a front against Israel.
Ahmad said Israeli actions were undermining Syria’s efforts for “political stabilization” and “national reconciliation,” setting dangerous precedents in the region.
Warning that continued Israeli escalations could ignite a wider conflict, Ahmad said diplomacy, de-escalation and reconstruction should be the world’s top priorities.
He also demanded the UNSC condemn Israel’s blatant disregard for Syrian sovereignty and reiterated Pakistan’s support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process.
Sikh devotees from India arrive in Pakistan for spring harvest festival
- Pakistan has issued more than 6,500 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims for the Baisakhi festival from April 10-19
- Several Sikh holy sites ended up being in Pakistan after end of British rule, partition of Indian Subcontinent in 1947
ISLAMABAD: Sikh pilgrims from India began arriving in Pakistan this week via the Wagah border crossing to participate in celebrations of the Baisakhi spring festival which marks the beginning of the Sikh New Year and symbolizes spiritual rejuvenation.
Pakistan has issued more than 6,500 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims for the Baisakhi festival from April 10-19, with celebrations centered around Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, some 45 kilometers northwest of Islamabad. Pilgrims will also visit Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.
Sikhs are a small minority based in the Punjab region that is divided between Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India, but several Sikh holy sites ended up being in Pakistan after the partition of the Indian Subcontinent in 1947. Many Sikhs see Pakistan as the place where their religion began. Its founder, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469 in a small village in Nankana Sahib near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
“ETPB has ensured comprehensive arrangements for accommodation, medical facilities, transport, and other necessary services for the Sikh pilgrims,” said Farid Iqbal, Secretary Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a key government department which administers evacuee properties, including educational, charitable or religious trusts left behind by Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India after partition in 1947.
“Gurdwara Janam Asthan (Nankana Sahib), Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, and other holy sites have been beautifully decorated to enrich the spiritual experience of the pilgrims.”
The central ceremony of the Baisakhi Festival will be held on April 14 at Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib.
The shrine in Hasan Abdal is one of Sikhism’s holiest sites and it is believed that the handprint of the founder of the religion, Guru Nanak, is imprinted on a boulder there.
Baisakhi is also meant to mark the day when Gobind Singh, the 10th and final guru of Sikhism, established the discipline of Khalsa, through which the faithful can aspire to the ultimate state of purity.
Every year, hundreds of pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974.
Pakistani Internet sensation ‘Chaiwala’ petitions court to unblock passport over deportation fears
- Arshad Khan says passport was blocked in 2017 following rumor issued by a media outlet that he was an Afghan national
- Pakistan in 2023 launched a deportation drive against illegal foreigners with over 800,000 Afghans repatriated so far
KARACHI: Pakistani Internet sensation Arshad Khan, popularly known as “Chaiwala” (tea seller), has filed a petition in the high court this week to unblock his passport and national ID card over deportation fears amid an ongoing repatriation drive against illegal foreigners, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Pakistan has expelled thousands of Afghan nationals in the past week in a fresh repatriation drive after a March 31 deadline to leave expired. Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), issued by Pakistani authorities and held by some 800,000 people, according to the United Nations, were told to leave or face deportation to Afghanistan after the deadline. On Tuesday, the UNHCR, the UN’s Refugee Agency, reported that at least 8,906 Afghan nationals have been deported since April 1.
Pakistan started the mass deportation of Afghan refugees in 2023, saying the campaign was aimed at clamping down on migrants who were in the country illegally. Over 800,000 Afghans have left Pakistan over the past 18 months, figures from the government show, while three million Afghans remain.
The deportation drive is also threatening to hit Khan, whose passport was blocked seven years ago following a rumor broadcast by a news channel in 2017 that he was an Afghan national, according to his lawyer Umer Ijaz Gilani’s statement submitted in the Lahore High Court. Pakistani authorities say Khan’s national identity card was also impounded over a failure to comply with government requirements.
Khan rose to overnight fame in 2016 when his chiseled features and scintillating blue eyes captured global attention on social media after a picture of him pouring tea at a roadside stall went viral. He received numerous offers in the entertainment industry including modeling gigs, TV appearances and music videos and eventually leveraged this fame to launch a cafe chain known as “Cafe Chai Wala” in Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
Now, the recent deportation drive against Afghan refugees has pushed Khan to move the court against his canceled identity and travel documents this Tuesday.
“His fears regarding harassment at the hands of police and other state authorities have been heightened in the wake of the recent deportation spree,” Khan’s lawyer Gilani told Arab News.
“Also, for years, he has tried to get his issue resolved at the administrative level and amicably. But his pleas have unfortunately fallen on deaf ears. Finally, he has mustered the courage to go to court for his civil rights.”
According to Gilani, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) was asking Khan to provide proof of his family’s origins before the 1978 Afghan War, following which millions of Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan.
“I told the court that when National Database and Registration Authority asks someone to show pre-1978 records, it is because they suspect the person may be descended from Afghan refugees,” the lawyer explained.
But Khan was not the son of a refugee, and his father received his national identity card in 1984, he said, arguing that it would have been impossible for a refugee to obtain an official ID due to the strict regulations for refugees at that time.
A NADRA spokesperson told Arab News a review of Khan’s documents had raised suspicions that he and his family obtained ID cards by providing incomplete information, implying they were “foreign nationals.”
He said Khan repeatedly did not appear before a verification board for several years despite being served legal notices and given multiple opportunities to comply with the ministry of interior’s requirements.
“Upon his eventual appearance in 2024, the applicant failed to provide mandatory documents outlined in the interior ministry’s notification — such as land ownership, domicile or educational records issued prior to 1979,” the spokesman said.
“Furthermore, discrepancies were found in his personal records including changes in name and inconsistencies in family registration.”
However, Khan’s counsel said his client did not receive any show-cause notice before his passport was blocked and only became aware of the issue when he visited the passport office. He said the requirements listed by NADRA had no basis in the Pakistan Citizenship Act or the NADRA ordinance.
Khan currently resides in Islamabad.
“The Petitioner, who is globally known as “Arshad Khan Chaiwala,” represents the quintessential Pakistani dream,” according to a high court order this Tuesday after the first hearing on Khan’s petition.
“[But] based on a fake rumor telecasted by a news channel, his entire future career/business is now at stake.”
