KARACHI: Meat sizzling on the barbecue and the smell of traditional curries wafting through the air is synonymous with Eid Al-Adha festivities in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city where home chefs said they had restocked spice jars and dug out old recipes for family feasts on the religious holiday.
Eid Al-Adha falls today, Wednesday, in the South Asian nation this year. It is observed by Muslims to commemorate their belief that prophet Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, before God replaced his son with a ram to be sacrificed instead.
Muslims traditionally mark the occasion by sacrificing a lamb — or goat, cow or camel, depending on the region — at home and dividing it into thirds among the needy, friends and family.
Cooking meat dishes is a major part of the festivities around the Islamic world, including in Pakistani cities like Karachi, where a majority of residents interviewed said they would be feasting on Sindhi, Afghani, Peshawari and Indian classics this year as well as traditional pulao and biryani rice dishes.
Nearly 1.6 million cattle, including cows, goats, camel and sheep, are bought in Karachi over Eid every year, with families partaking in the sacrificial rituals after tending to the animals for weeks.
Muhammad Hayyan, whose family migrated from India’s capital, New Delhi, after the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, said he was looking forward to a “loaded meat menu” of Afghani boti, Bihari and seekh kebabs, Peshawari karahi and Delhi’s mutton dalcha, a spicy meat and chick pea curry from Hyderabad, or kunna, which is meat cooked in a clay pot below ground level.
“As a tradition, we cook zeera kachori [spicy deep-fried snack originating from the Indian subcontinent]
with fry kebab, dhaga kebab and shami kebab made from camel’s meat, dum karahi made of lamb and many other dishes that are Delhi specialities,” Hayyan, who sacrificed a cow, a camel, a sheep and a goat, told Arab News, saying using traditional recipes was the go-to for Eid for his family.
For Basit Ali, whose mother is an ethnic Pashtun, the menu this Eid includes traditional dishes such as chapli kebab and roasted lamb and beef.
For Muhammad Hashim, a resident of Karachi’s Quaideen Colony, breakfast is the highlight of Eid Al-Adha. On his family’s holiday table: a traditional breakfast of kaleji (liver) and brain masala, served with piping hot flatbreads or parathas.
“Bihari boti, qeema kebab and different barbecue items are this Eid’s meat features,” he told Arab News, listing out the menu for the rest of the day.
Muhammad Ammad, a resident of the Kashmir Road neighborhood, said his family would be cooking “chapli kebab, Sindhi biryani and paya [trotters], which are very, very tasty too.”
While most Muslim households cook and enjoy the meat at home at gatherings with friends and families, many also take the raw meat to be cooked at their favorite restaurant in order to add a “professional touch” to the final dish.
Restaurant owners in Karachi reported a surge in orders ahead of Eid — a welcome change from the lull caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely effected food businesses since last year.
“On the first day [of Eid], there are few orders, but from the second day onwards, many come to turn their sacrificial meat into different dishes,” Naseebullah, a chef at the Agha Sajji Corner, told Arab News. “The favorite for Eid meals is steam roast, mutton sajji,” he added, referring to a dish originating from the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Traditional sajji comprises a whole lamb marinated only in salt. It is served with rice that is cooked inside the animal, which is baked in an oven, wrapped around a stone “tandoor.”
“Customers bring the sacrificial meat, and we make different food items,” Muhammad Jameel, restaurant manager of the New Delhi Gola Kabab House, said, “including crowd favorites such as dhaga kebab, beef boti and Mumbai koila karahi.”
Meat and greet: In Karachi, residents turn to family recipes for Eid feast
https://arab.news/7jp4y
Meat and greet: In Karachi, residents turn to family recipes for Eid feast
- Sindhi, Afghani, Peshawari and Indian classics and rice-based mains such as pulaos and biryanis on the ‘favorites’ list this year
- Restaurateurs welcome surge in orders as many residents take raw meat to eateries to give the dishes a “professional touch”
Pakistan requests extra 10 billion yuan on China swap line, says finance minister
- Muhammad Aurangzeb says Pakistan aims to diversify its lending base by issuing panda bond
- He expects IMF board to approve first loan review, climate resilience disbursement early next month
WASHINGTON: Pakistan has put in a request to China to augment its existing swap line by 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, adding he expected the country would launch a Panda bond before year-end.
Pakistan has an existing 30 billion yuan swap line already, Aurangzeb told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group spring meetings in Washington.
“From our perspective, getting to 40 billion renminbi would be a good place to move toward ... we just put in that request,” Aurangzeb said.
China’s central bank has been promoting currency swap lines with a raft of emerging economies, including the likes of Argentina and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan has also made progress on issuing its first panda bond — debt issued on China’s domestic bond market, denominated in yuan. Talks with the presidents of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) — the two lenders who are in line to provide credit enhancements for the issue — had been constructive, he said.
“We want to diversify our lending base and we have made some good progress around that — we are hoping that during this calendar year we can do an initial print,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aurangzeb expected the IMF executive board to sign off in early May on the Staff Level Agreement on its new $1.3 billion arrangement under a climate resilience loan program as well as the first review of the ongoing $7 billion bailout program.
Getting the green light from the IMF board would trigger a $1 billion payout under the program, which the country secured in 2024 and has played a key role in stabilizing Pakistan’s economy.
Asked about the economic fallout from the tensions with India following the killing of 26 men at a tourist site earlier this month, Aurangzeb said it was “not going to be helpful.”
The attack triggered outrage and grief in India, along with calls for action against neighbor Pakistan, whom New Delhi accuses of funding and encouraging terrorism in Kashmir, a region both nations claim and have fought two wars over.
After the attack, India and Pakistan unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines and suspending trade ties, and India suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that regulates water-sharing from the Indus River and its tributaries.
Trade flows between the two countries had already fallen off sharply following past frictions and totalled just $1.2 billion last year.
Aurangzeb estimated growth around 3% in the current financial year which ends in June 2025, and in the 4-5% range next year, with a view to hitting 6% thereafter.
Pakistan engages Egypt, Turkiye, China after rejecting India’s accusations over Kashmir attack
- Ishaq Dar reaffirms Pakistan’s commitment to safeguarding its national interests in his conversations
- China and Pakistan agree to have close communication, coordination over the regional developments
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar on Saturday engaged with his counterparts from Egypt and Turkiye and held a meeting with China’s envoy as Islamabad seeks to rally diplomatic support after rejecting India’s accusations over a deadly militant attack on tourists in Kashmir.
At least 26 people were killed earlier this week when gunmen opened fire at a popular tourist site in Indian-administered Kashmir, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the disputed region in decades.
India blamed Pakistan for orchestrating the attack amid calls for retaliatory strikes from its media. Islamabad denied any involvement, warning of a “befitting response” to any escalation and offering a neutral investigation into the incident.
India has already unilaterally suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a landmark river water distribution mechanism signed in 1960, expelled Pakistani diplomats and shut down a major land border crossing.
Dar discussed recent regional developments over the phone with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty during the day.
“DPM/FM Dar firmly rejected India’s baseless allegations, condemned its unilateral actions, and false propaganda against Pakistan,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement after the two officials held the conversation.
“He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to safeguarding its national interests while promoting regional peace and stability,” it added.
In a separate call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Dar briefed him on decisions taken by Pakistan’s National Security Committee in response to India’s accusations.
He thanked Turkiye for its consistent support to Pakistan at international forums, and the two sides agreed to maintain close coordination as tensions rise in the region.
Earlier in the day, the deputy prime minister met Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong in Islamabad.
Reaffirming their “all-weather strategic partnership,” both Pakistan and China agreed to maintain close communication and coordination, said another statement.
Dar’s conversation with Jiang comes at a time when Pakistan has rejected India’s move to suspend the IWT, warning that any attempt to block waters from flowing into Pakistan would constitute an act of war and set a dangerous precedent for New Delhi, given India’s own reliance on rivers originating from China.
Pakistan PM expresses sorrow after Iran port blast kills at least four people
- The explosion took place at Iran’s largest commercial port in the southern Bandar Abbas city
- The blast, likely caused by a fire at a hazardous materials depot, was felt 50 kilometers away
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed deep sorrow over the losses caused by a major explosion at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port, offering condolences to the Iranian government and people and prayers for the recovery of those injured.
At least four people were killed and more than 500 injured when a powerful blast ripped through the port in the southern city of Bandar Abbas earlier in the day, according to Iranian state media.
Authorities in Tehran said the explosion likely originated from a fire at a hazardous materials storage depot, with footage showing thick black smoke rising from the site and helicopters deployed to control the blaze.
“We stand with the Iranian government and people in this hour of grief and sorrow,” Sharif said in a statement issued by his office, adding that he prayed for the swift recovery of those injured in the incident.
The Shahid Rajaee port, located in Hormozgan province, is Iran’s largest commercial port.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered an investigation into the explosion, dispatching the interior minister to the site to oversee the situation.
The explosion caused significant damage to port infrastructure and was felt up to 50 kilometers away, according to Iranian news agencies.
Pakistan and Iran share a long border and maintain complex political and economic ties. Only a day ago, Tehran offered to mediate between Pakistan and India following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people at a tourist site, an incident that strained relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Iran’s foreign ministry said it had offered its good offices to help ease tensions in a call between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar.
– With input from AFP
Pakistan’s forex reserves triple since early 2023 as central bank targets $14 billion
- Central bank governor says Pakistan’s reserves have seen both qualitative and quantitative improvement
- Governor Jamil Ahmed was briefing executives of global financial and investment institutions in the US
KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have more than tripled since early 2023, driven by a surplus in the external current account rather than fresh borrowing, the top central bank official said, according to a statement on Saturday, as the country targets $14 billion in reserves by June.
Pakistan’s forex reserves had touched critically low levels two years ago, giving it an import cover of less than a month. Faced with the threat of a sovereign debt default, the country secured a $3 billion short-term International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, tightened fiscal and monetary policies, restricted imports and allowed greater exchange rate flexibility.
Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Jameel Ahmad, told senior executives from global financial and investment institutions on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington the country’s external buffers had seen a “substantial qualitative as well as quantitative improvement” since then, as he briefed them about the current economic situation.
“Unlike previous episodes of reserve build-up, the ongoing rise in external buffers is not due to any further accumulation of external debt,” he said. “In fact, Pakistan’s public sector external debt, both in absolute terms and as a percent of GDP, has declined since June 2022.”
Ahmad added that the central bank had been able to strengthen reserves through foreign exchange purchases in the open market, supported by a current account surplus.
“The SBP is targeting to increase [forex] reserves to $14 billion by June 2025,” he said.
Ahmad said Pakistan had made tangible progress in stabilizing its economy, crediting a prudent monetary policy and sustained fiscal consolidation efforts for the improvement.
He informed that headline inflation had declined sharply over the past two years, reaching a multi-decade low of 0.7 percent in March 2025, while core inflation had also dropped from above 22 percent to a single digit and was expected to moderate further in the coming months.
Pakistan’s IT exports seen reaching $4 billion in FY25 as industry seeks tax relief
- Country’s software association calls IT industry the only sector with 75% trade surplus
- Government has set an ambitious target of reaching $10 billion in IT exports by 2029
KARACHI: Pakistan’s information technology (IT) sector expects exports to reach $4 billion in the current fiscal year and seeks regulatory reforms and a 10-year tax holiday to sustain growth momentum, said the country’s top software association on Saturday.
The IT sector is one of Pakistan’s priority industries as the country looks to boost export revenues and stabilize its external accounts.
Under the government’s “Uraan Pakistan” initiative, launched last year in December, Islamabad aims to raise IT exports to $10 billion by 2029.
Industry leaders say IT remains one of the few sectors capable of exponential growth despite the broader economic challenges.
“Muhammad Umair Nizam, Senior Vice Chairman of Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), has apprised that information technology has become the fastest growing export industry of Pakistan – and, the country is set to achieve $4 billion in its IT exports for the FY25,” the software association said in a statement, adding that Pakistan’s IT exports stood at $3.2 billion in the last fiscal year with the prospect for a 25% year-on-year growth.
However, P@SHA warned regulatory bottlenecks and inconsistent tax policies were hampering the sector’s expansion at a time when new tech sub-sectors were emerging.
The association said it had also submitted detailed budget proposals to the government, seeking a facilitative framework that includes streamlined foreign exchange regulations, banking sector support, removal of sales tax anomalies and accelerated development of special technology zones and IT parks.
Pakistan’s IT industry is the only sector with a trade surplus of around 75%, the statement said, underlining its potential to create jobs, develop skilled human capital and reduce the trade deficit on a sustainable basis.
The software association also raised concerns over income tax disparities between salaried employees and freelancers, saying the current structure discourages formal employment and needs urgent correction in the upcoming federal budget.
