ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday accused India of taking aggressive measures in recent years to erode the disputed status of Kashmir, saying that peace in South Asia was contingent upon the resolution of the longstanding dispute, as Pakistan observes Black Day today to mark the 1947 arrival of Indian troops in the region.
Pakistan commemorates October 27 annually as Kashmir Black Day, a moment that it views as the beginning of India’s occupation of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir following the controversial decision of its ruler to accede to India.
The historic event has remained a source of longstanding conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, with both countries controlling parts of Kashmir while claiming it in full.
Pakistan uses the day to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people and underscore their struggle for self-determination. Events, including protests, rallies and seminars, were organized in Pakistan and also in Azad Kashmir, the territory of the disputed region under its administration.
“As I recently reaffirmed in my address to the United Nations General Assembly, Pakistan has consistently maintained that peace and stability in South Asia remain contingent upon peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiris,” Sharif wrote in a message.
“India must realize that it cannot suppress the genuine aspirations of the Kashmiri people by its coercive tactics.”
Sharif accused India of using steps to “tighten its grip” on Jammu and Kashmir since Aug. 5, 2019, mentioning the day New Delhi revoked the region’s special constitutional status offering it limited autonomy.
“Today, the Kashmiri people are enduring the most egregious and painful curbs on their daily lives and livelihoods,” he said. “The number of political prisoners remains in the thousands.”
The Indian decision to change the region’s constitutional status followed Pakistan’s move to downgrade its diplomatic relations with its arch-rival.
Officials in Islamabad also expressed concern that New Delhi was trying to alter the demographics of the only Muslim-majority region under its control by allowing Hindus from other cities to purchase land in Kashmir.
More recently, India has held elections in the region to demonstrate that the situation is gradually normalizing after the uproar following its August 2019 decision, which led to a communication blackout in Indian-administered Kashmir and the arrests of hundreds of political leaders and workers who opposed the move.
The Pakistani prime minister said the people of Kashmir under Indian rule had “suffered countless hardships during the last 75 years,” though their resolve to exercise their right to self-determination was as firm as it was in 1947.
“The Indian occupation forces act with impunity under draconian counterterrorism laws. However, these oppressive measures cannot dampen the Kashmiri people’s yearning for self-determination,” Sharif added.
South Asia’s peace contingent on Kashmir dispute resolution, says Pakistan PM on ‘Black Day’
https://arab.news/8h6sy
South Asia’s peace contingent on Kashmir dispute resolution, says Pakistan PM on ‘Black Day’
- Indian troops first arrived in Kashmir on October 27, making Pakistan observe it as Black Day
- Sharif says people of Kashmir want the right to self-determination despite years of hardship
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.
