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US, Germany supply 12 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to Pakistan

Pakistani official (2R) receives the coronavirus vaccine from Germany’s envoy to Pakistan, Bernhard Schlagheck (2L), in a ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan, on December 22, 2021. (@GermanyinPAK)
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Updated 22 December 2021
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US, Germany supply 12 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to Pakistan

  • The supplies have arrived via COVAX, an initiative for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines among smaller nations
  • The German ambassador calls his country's decision to help Pakistan a testimony of the friendship between the two countries
Updated 22 December 2021
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The United States and Germany have collectively supplied 12 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to Pakistan under the COVAX program, announced the diplomatic missions of the two countries on Wednesday.
COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX, is a framework for the equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccines among smaller or economically vulnerable nations which is supported by the World Health Organization.
The US, which also donated COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan in the past, said it had contributed five million more Pfizer doses on Tuesday.
“Each vaccination brings us one step closer to ending the pandemic and being able to gather safely together in the new year,” the US embassy in Islamabad announced in a Twitter post. “Get vaccinated. Stay safe.”

Germany’s envoy to Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck also said on the social media platform his country had handed over seven million more vaccine doses to Pakistan, taking its overall contribution to about 63 million.
He said Germany’s decision help Pakistan with the coronavirus vaccines was a testimony of the strong friendship between the two countries.
“Each of us is safe only once everybody is safe,” he added.

According to Pakistan’s official statistics, the country has fully vaccinated 62,547,553 people since the beginning of the vaccination drive earlier this year.
The government has administered 144,064,235 doses of various vaccines in total, though so far 89,792,114 people have only received the first dose.
Pakistan wants to increase the pace of its immunization campaign amid a rising number of omicron coronavirus cases in the world.

Topics: CORONAVIRUS PAKISTAN COVAX

Pakistan slams Israeli plan to control whole of Gaza, warns of ‘grave threat’ to peace

Updated 6 sec ago
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Pakistan slams Israeli plan to control whole of Gaza, warns of ‘grave threat’ to peace

  • Israel’s war on Gaza has killed around 53,000 Palestinians and displaced two million
  • Islamabad urges world to call for an immediate end to Israeli hostilities against Gazans
Updated 6 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned Israel’s deliberate targeting of hospitals in Gaza and described its announcement of taking control of the entire territory as a “grave threat” to regional peace, the Pakistani Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
Israeli airstrikes last week hit Gaza’s European and Nasser hospitals, causing casualties and crippling medical services. Days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would take full control of the Gaza Strip.
Israel began pounding Gaza after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 200 others as hostages. In response, Israel’s military campaign has so far killed around 53,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all of Gaza’s two million residents.
“The expansion of Israeli ground operations in Gaza as well as its announcement to ‘take control of all’ of Gaza poses a grave threat to efforts aimed toward achieving peace and stability in the region,” Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said. 
“Pakistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the continued Israeli aggression in Gaza as well as deliberate targeting of hospitals and other critical infrastructure along with mass evacuation orders.”
The statement said Israel continued to obstruct humanitarian aid from reaching millions, amounting to an “imposition of collective punishment” on the Palestinian people.
It highlighted UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ statement in which he voiced alarm over the situation in Gaza, where one in every five people faces starvation and the rest of the population is at risk of famine.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office urged the world to call for an immediate end to Israeli atrocities and take steps for the provision of humanitarian supplies to Palestinians.
“Furthermore, Pakistan reiterates its unequivocal opposition to any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their ancestral lands, expand illegal Israeli settlements or to annex any part of the territory,” it said.

Topics: Israel Gaza War on Gaza

Pakistan posts 2.4 percent growth in third quarter of fiscal year

Updated 9 min 53 sec ago
Reuters
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Pakistan posts 2.4 percent growth in third quarter of fiscal year

  • This month, the central bank cut key policy rate by 100 basis points to 11 percent, citing improved inflation outlook
  • The latest aggregates for fiscal 2024/25 show the size of the economy at $410.96 billion up from $371.66 billion
Updated 9 min 53 sec ago
Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan’s economy grew 2.4 percent in the third quarter of the fiscal year that ends in June, the national accounts committee said on Tuesday, while revising up growth prospects for the current fiscal year.
In a statement the committee approved a projection of 2.68 percent provisional growth in GDP during FY 2024/25, taking the size of Pakistan’s economy to $410.96 billion.
This month Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 100 basis points to 11 percent, citing an improved inflation outlook and resuming a series of cuts from a record high of 22 percent, following a brief pause in March, to support growth.
The latest national accounts aggregates for fiscal 2024/25 showed the size of the economy at 114.7 trillion rupees ($410.96 billion) up from 105.1 trillion rupees ($ 371.66 billion), the committee said.
Growth in the agriculture sector was 1.18 percent in Q3, despite a decline in important crops, while industry contracted 1.14 percent, hit by negative growth in mining and quarrying and large-scale manufacturing.
The committee also approved Pakistan’s revised GDP growth at 1.37 percent in the first quarter and 1.53 percent in the second.
Pakistan’s manufacturing sector growth slowed to a seven-month low in April, with the HBL Pakistan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) easing to 51.9 from 52.7 in March, weighed by concerns over global trade.

Topics: Pakistan economy

Pakistan top court upholds death penalty for Zahir Jaffer, convicted in grisly murder of Noor Mukadam

Updated 47 min 1 sec ago
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Pakistan top court upholds death penalty for Zahir Jaffer, convicted in grisly murder of Noor Mukadam

  • Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former diplomat was found dead in Islamabad in 2021, after being brutally murdered by her friend
  • The case sparked nationwide outrage and became one of Pakistan’s most widely followed trials involving violence against women
Updated 47 min 1 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday upheld the death penalty of Zahir Zakir Jaffer, a Pakistani-American, who was convicted of murdering 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former diplomat, a lawyer of Mukadam’s father said.

Jaffer, son of a wealthy industrialist, was sentenced to death in 2022 for the brutal killing of Mukadam, whose beheaded body was found in July 2021 at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale F-7/4 sector.

Last year, the Islamabad High Court upheld Jaffer’s death sentence, originally handed down by a sessions court. Subsequently, he filed an appeal in the Supreme Court in April 2023, seeking to overturn the punishment.

On Tuesday, Justice Hashim Kakar upheld the death penalty in the case that sparked nationwide outrage and became one of Pakistan’s most widely followed trials involving violence against women.

“We are quite satisfied with the Supreme Court’s decision as his death sentence in the murder case remained intact. It is a sense of relief for Noor’s parents, relatives, and civil society,” Shah Khawar, who represented Mukadam’s father, told Arab News.

“It was a very important case, as it involved the brutal murder of a young girl who was killed in an extremely violent manner. The family of the accused was financially very strong, so people believed they would be able to influence the court— but that was proven wrong today.”

Khawar said the trial court had given the accused a death sentence for murder, 25-year imprisonment for rape, and 10-year imprisonment for abduction.

“When we appealed the decision in the High Court, his 25-year imprisonment for the rape case was also converted to a death sentence. The High Court also upheld his death sentence for murder,” he said.

“In today’s decision, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for murder, commuted the death sentence for rape to 25 years of imprisonment, and acquitted him in the abduction case. Two of his servants, who had each been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, were released with the order that the time they had already served would count as their sentence.”

‘Justice for Noor,’ an advocacy page on Instagram run by Mukadam’s friends, hailed Tuesday’s verdict and said it was a “powerful reminder” that women’s lives matter.

“This is not just for Noor. This is for every woman in Pakistan,” it said.

Khawar, who represented Mukadam’s father Shaukat Mukadam, said the convict now has “very limited” legal options left.

“One is to file a review petition, which will be heard by the same bench, offering very limited scope for any relief,” he said.

“The final step would be to file a mercy appeal before the President of Pakistan under Article 45. If they choose to pursue this option, the sentence will remain suspended until the mercy petition is decided.”

Topics: Noor Mukadam Noor Mukadam case zahir jaffer

Pakistan Islamic banking assets at $40.7 billion by March end for first time — central bank

Updated 20 May 2025
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Pakistan Islamic banking assets at $40.7 billion by March end for first time — central bank

  • On deposits, Islamic banks currently hold Rs. 8.4 trillion, about 25.4 percent of the total deposits in the banking industry
  • Federal Shariat Court has ordered government to eliminate interest, align banking system with Islamic principles by 2027
Updated 20 May 2025
Usama Iqbal Khawaja

ISLAMABAD: The governor of the Pakistani central bank said on Tuesday Islamic banking assets had for the first time reached Rs11.5 trillion ($40.7 billion) by the end of March this year, as the country actively moves toward implementing a fully Shariah-compliant financial system.

Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court (FSC) directed the government in April 2022 to eliminate interest and align the country’s entire banking system with Islamic principles by 2027. Following the order, the government and the State Bank have taken several measures ranging from changing laws to issuing sukuk Islamic bonds to replace interest-based treasury bills and investment bonds.

“For the first time in the history of Islamic finance in Pakistan, by the end of March 2025, Islamic banking assets have reached Rs. 11.5 trillion, that’s 21.1 percent of the total banking sector assets,” central bank governor Jameel Ahmad said at a ceremony in Karachi. 

“While there’s still a long way to go, this share is gradually increasing.”

On deposits, Islamic banks currently hold Rs. 8.4 trillion, about 25.4 percent of the total deposits in the banking industry. 

“That means nearly one-fourth of all bank deposits are now mobilized under Islamic principles. So, the share of Islamic banking is steadily rising, and the number of Islamic banking branches has surpassed 8,000,” Ahmad added. “As a result of these achievements, we can see that access to Islamic banking services has significantly improved.”

He said to support the transformation of Islamic banking, the government of Pakistan had formed a steering committee in 2022 and launched a strategic five-year plan known as SBP Vision 2028.

Ahmad said the non-issuance of sukuk Islamic bonds was a “big hurdle” hindering the promotion of Islamic banking. He called on the banking industry, regulators and the government to play their “required role” to address underlying issues and issue more sukuk bonds and offer investors Shariah-compliant products.

“This would increase the share of Islamic banking investments in the overall industry. We all should play our respective role in this respect,” the governor added. 

Topics: Pakistan State Bank of Pakistan Islamic banking

India to resume border ceremony with Pakistan

Updated 20 May 2025
AFP
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India to resume border ceremony with Pakistan

  • For years, the ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border has been a popular tourist attraction on both sides
  • Visitors from both nations come to cheer on soldiers goose-stepping in a chest-puffing theatrical show of pageantry
Updated 20 May 2025
AFP

AMRITSAR: India said Tuesday it would resume a daily border ceremony with neighboring Pakistan which it briefly halted earlier this month following the most serious conflict between the nuclear armed arch-rivals for decades.

At least 60 people died in fighting triggered by an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing — a charge Pakistan denies.

India’s Border Security force said the sunset ceremony on its side would be open to the media on Tuesday and to the general public on Wednesday at the Attari-Wagah land border in the northern state of Punjab.

Pakistan said it never stopped the ceremony, with its troops marching on its side of the border alone.

The ceremony however is expected to be a low-key affair with diplomatic measures against Pakistan still in place, including the closure of the land border.

For years, the ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border has been a popular tourist attraction.

Visitors from both sides come to cheer on soldiers goose-stepping in a chest-puffing theatrical show of pageantry.

The frontier was a colonial creation at the violent end of British rule in 1947 which sliced the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

The daily border ritual has largely endured over the decades, surviving innumerable diplomatic flare-ups and military skirmishes.

Topics: Pakistan India Ties Wagah Border

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