Pakistan government doubles down on preventing Imran Khan’s Nov. 24 protest

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Updated 22 November 2024
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Pakistan government doubles down on preventing Imran Khan’s Nov. 24 protest

  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warns no talks if Khan’s PTI proceeds with the protest
  • Ex-premier’s party plans a ‘long march’ to Islamabad, seeking his release from prison

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday vowed to implement the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order, refusing to allow former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to stage the Nov. 24 protest in the federal capital demanding his release.
The PTI has announced a “long march” to Islamabad, primarily to pressurize the government to end Khan’s imprisoned that has lasted for over a year on what his party contends are politically motivated charges. The protest also aims to raise PTI’s voice against alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections while calling for measures to ensure judicial independence, which the party says has been undermined by the 26th constitutional amendment.
Only a day earlier, the IHC directed the government to form a committee to engage in talks with the PTI, emphasizing the need to avoid disruptions during the three-day visit of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to discuss bilateral economic cooperation. The court expressed hope that the PTI would allow “meaningful communication” with the administration while acknowledging that the maintenance of law and order would be the government’s priority if there was no breakthrough between the two sides.
Addressing the media in Islamabad alongside the capital city’s chief commissioner and police chief, the interior minister highlighted that no rally, march or protest would be allowed in the federal capital owing to the Belarusian president’s visit to the country, as per the IHC order.
“No one will be allowed to stage a rally or protest in Islamabad in compliance with the high court order,” Naqvi said. “After the IHC order, we will implement it 100 percent at any cost. We are bound by the law to implement it.”
Regarding the IHC directions to hold talks with the PTI party leadership, the minister said he would speak to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the evening to constitute a committee “but definitely if they stage a protest, this [negotiation] will get difficult.”
Islamabad’s district magistrate has already imposed a two-month ban on the gathering of more than five people in the capital using Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which allows the government to prohibit various forms of political assembly, gatherings, sit-ins, rallies, demonstrations and other activities for a specified period.
In response to a question about whether the government was in touch with Adiala Jail, where ex-premier Khan is currently incarcerated, Naqvi said he has no contact with anyone there.
The interior minister also highlighted that the capital city’s administration did not receive any application from the PTI to stage a protest.
He made it clear that people violating the court orders would be responsible if there was any loss of life during the Nov. 24 protest.
Naqvi also said that he agreed with the residents of Islamabad that shops, roads, businesses and mobile signals should not be shut down but noted there was no other way of dealing with such protests.
“If they want to come and protest [in Islamabad], I’ll be the one who will say that no talks should take place,” he concluded. “If they want to hold talks, they should do it in a proper manner. This is no way that on one side they protest and on the other call for talks.”
Earlier this week, Pakistan’s interior ministry had authorized the deployment of paramilitary Punjab Rangers and Frontier Corps troops in Islamabad to maintain law and order.
Pakistan’s parliament also passed a law earlier this year to regulate public gatherings in Islamabad, specifying timings for rallies and designating specific areas. The law prescribes three-year jail terms for participants in illegal assemblies and 10-year imprisonment for repeat offenders.
 


China helped Pakistan with ‘live inputs’ in conflict with India, Indian Army deputy chief says

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China helped Pakistan with ‘live inputs’ in conflict with India, Indian Army deputy chief says

  • India earlier noted no visible Chinese support for Pakistan during the four-day ​standoff
  • Pakistani officials have also denied claims of receiving active assistance from Beijing

NEW DELHI: China gave Islamabad “live inputs” on key Indian positions during Pakistan’s deadly conflict with its neighbor in May, the deputy chief of India’s army said on Friday, calling for urgent upgrades to the country’s air defense systems.

The nuclear-armed rivals used missiles, drones and artillery fire during the four-day fighting — their worst in decades — triggered by an April attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, before agreeing to a ceasefire.

Pakistan has denied involvement in the April attack.

India fought two adversaries during the conflict, with Pakistan being the “front face” while China provided “all possible support,” Lt. Gen. Rahul Singh said at a defense industry event in New Delhi.

“When the DGMO (director general of military operations) level talks were going on, Pakistan ... said that we know that your such and such important vector is primed and it is ready for action ... he was getting live inputs from China,” he said.

Singh did not elaborate on how India knew about the live inputs from China.

The Chinese foreign and defense ministries, and Pakistan army’s public relations wing did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

India’s relationship with China was strained after a 2020 border clash that sparked a four-year military standoff, but tensions began to ease after the countries reached a pact to step back in October.

India had earlier said that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict.

Regarding the possibility of China providing satellite imagery or other real-time intelligence, India’s chief of defense staff had said such imagery was commercially available and could have been procured from China or elsewhere.

Pakistani officials have previously dismissed allegations of receiving active support from China in the conflict, but have not commented specifically on whether Beijing gave any satellite and radar help during the fighting.

Beijing, which welcomed the ceasefire in May, has helped Pakistan’s struggling economy with investments and financial support since 2013.

The Chinese foreign minister also vowed support to Pakistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity when he met his Pakistani counterpart days after the ceasefire.

Singh said that Turkiye also provided key support to Pakistan during the fighting, equipping it with Bayraktar and “numerous other” drones, and “trained individuals.”

Ankara has strong ties with Islamabad, and had expressed solidarity with it during the clash, prompting Indians to boycott everything from Turkish coffee to holidays in the country.

Turkiye’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.


Pakistan’s PM condemns Israeli military assaults on Iran, Gaza

Updated 04 July 2025
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Pakistan’s PM condemns Israeli military assaults on Iran, Gaza

  • Says regional stability threatened by ‘forces of chaos’ pursuing geopolitical agendas
  • Sharif was speaking at 10-member ECO bloc‘s 17th summit being held in Azerbaijan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday condemned Israel’s recent strikes on Iran and denounced the ongoing war in Gaza as a “man-made catastrophe,” using his address at the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit to call out what he described as growing regional instability driven by foreign aggression.

Sharif was speaking in the Azerbaijani city of Khankendi, where heads of state from the 10-member ECO bloc convened for the group’s 17th summit. The ECO, founded in 1985 by Iran, Turkiye, and Pakistan, includes members from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. The 2025 summit is focusing on boosting intra-regional trade, connectivity, climate funding and sustainable development.

“My dear brothers and sisters, forces of instability and chaos continue to destabilize our region for their own geopolitical agendas,” Sharif said in his address.

“The unlawful, unjustified and uncalled for Israeli attack on Iran, a brotherly country and fellow ECO member state, [is] the most recent manifestation of this dangerous trend … Pakistan strongly condemns this act of Israeli aggression.”

Some 935 people were killed in Iran during the 12-day air war with Israel, based on the latest forensic data, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary said on Monday, according to state media. Among the dead were 38 children and 132 women.

Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.

Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. A tenuous ceasefire is holding.

Sharif also directed global attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“Unfortunately the world has been witnessing an unprecedented man-made catastrophe in Gaza, a region that has descended into an abyss of perpetual suffering,” he said. “It is as if humanity no longer exists while famine looms large, humanitarian workers including UN personnel are being attacked by Israel with impunity to deliberately cut off the only lifeline of the helpless and starving people of Gaza.”

He reiterated Pakistan’s support for oppressed populations across the Muslim world, including Palestinians and Kashmiris.

“Pakistan stands firmly against those who perpetrate barbaric acts against innocent people anywhere in the world, whether in Gaza or Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir or Iran,” he said.

The latest war in Gaza began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack that led to Israel’s single deadliest day.

Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the whole 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. More than 80 percent of the territory is now an Israeli-militarized zone or under displacement orders, according to the UN.


Pakistan PM urges ECO states to build carbon market, green corridors amid climate crisis

Updated 9 min 46 sec ago
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Pakistan PM urges ECO states to build carbon market, green corridors amid climate crisis

  • PM Sharif says climate-induced disasters pose an existential challenge for many ECO countries
  • He calls trade and investment key to achieving common goals, boosting regional connectivity

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for the establishment of low-emission corridors and a regional carbon market to mobilize climate finance across member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), warning that climate change was threatening food security and livelihoods of millions in the region.

Addressing the 17th ECO Summit in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, the Pakistani prime minister highlighted the devastating impacts of climate change and urged regional cooperation to mitigate these risks.

The summit focused on trade, sustainable development and enhanced regional connectivity.

“Like the rest of the world, ECO member states are facing far-reaching impacts of climate change, from melting glaciers, desertification, extreme heat waves, devastating floods and declining agricultural productivity,” Sharif said in his speech. “These challenges threaten the food security and livelihoods of millions of our people. Pakistan remains among the top 10 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.”

“Pakistan proposes the development of low-emission corridors, an ECO-wide carbon market platform and regional disaster resilience systems,” he continued. “A dedicated framework to mobilize climate finance along with regional clean energy corridors and eco-tourism initiatives can further drive inclusive, sustainable growth, creating green jobs, especially for youth and women and supporting livelihoods in vulnerable regions.”

The prime minister cited the catastrophic 2022 floods in Pakistan as a grim example of climate vulnerability, recalling that over 33 million people were affected, with widespread damage to lives, livelihoods and infrastructure.

He also referenced recent flash floods during the current monsoon season that have claimed over 60 lives, noting that climate-induced disasters now pose an existential challenge for many ECO countries.

TRADE, TOURISM, CONNECTIVITY

The prime minister also urged ECO member states to expedite the implementation of the ECO Trade Agreement, originally envisioned as a cornerstone of regional integration under the ECO Vision 2025.

“Promotion of trade and investment holds the key to securing our common goals for strengthening regional connectivity,” he said, citing the need to activate transport corridors, ensure energy security and foster intra-regional tourism and economic growth.

While the agreement was reached during the 13th ECO Summit in Islamabad in 2017, it is yet to be operationalized.

Sharif called for renewed efforts to build on the region’s shared heritage and historic Silk Road synergies.

“As members of the ECO family, sharing strong commonalities of history and geography, of faith and culture, we have a firm basis for lasting cooperative relationships,” he added. “Let us … channel our collective energies toward a future that guarantees our people’s life of peace, progress and prosperity.”


Pakistan PM, Azerbaijan president vow to boost trade and investment on ECO summit sidelines

Updated 04 July 2025
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Pakistan PM, Azerbaijan president vow to boost trade and investment on ECO summit sidelines

  • The summit brought together heads of government from ECO member states to discuss economic and political cooperation
  • Pakistan, bolstered by an IMF program, is looking to capitalize on its geostrategic location as a major trade and transit hub

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the 17th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit, Sharif’s office said, with the two leaders agreeing to boost bilateral trade and investment.

The prime minister led Pakistan’s delegation at the ECO summit in Khankendi, Azerbaijan on July 3-4, which focused on the promotion of trade, sustaining development and enhancing regional connectivity.

Sharif noted that recent interactions between leaders of the two countries had helped strengthen relations and invited President Ilham to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience, according to the Pakistan PM’s office.

“The two leaders agreed to enhance their cooperation in the fields of trade and investment while expressing satisfaction over the progress made regarding the investment prospects,” Sharif’s office said.

“Both leaders reiterated their resolve to strengthen the economic partnership, especially Azerbaijan’s investment in Pakistan.”

This is Sharif’s third visit to Azerbaijan in 2025. He last traveled to Baku in May as part of a broader push at economic diplomacy with the Central Asian republics, to whom Pakistan has offered access to its southern ports in Karachi and Gwadar.

The ECO summit, themed as “New ECO Vision for a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Future,” brought together heads of state and government from ECO member states to discuss economic and political cooperation.

Founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkiye, the Eurasian intergovernmental organization included Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in 1992, aiming to establish a single market for goods and services.

Pakistan, slowly recovering from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal, has been looking to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost transit trade and foreign investment for a sustainable economic recovery.

In July 2024, Azerbaijan announced a $2 billion investment in Pakistan during a visit by President Ilham Aliyev to Islamabad. In September last year, Pakistan signed a contract to supply JF-17 Block III fighter jets to Azerbaijan, marking the deepening of defense cooperation.


India plans $230 million drone incentive after Pakistan conflict

Updated 04 July 2025
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India plans $230 million drone incentive after Pakistan conflict

  • India’s push to build more home-grown drones stems from its assessment of the four-day clash with Pakistan in May
  • The standoff marked the first time New Delhi, Islamabad utilized unmanned aerial vehicles at scale against each other

NEW DELHI: India will launch a $234 million incentive program for civil and military drone makers to reduce their reliance on imported components and counter rival Pakistan’s program built on support from China and Turkiye, three sources told Reuters.

India’s push to build more home-grown drones stems from its assessment of the four-day clash with Pakistan in May that marked the first time New Delhi and Islamabad utilized unmanned aerial vehicles at scale against each other. The nuclear-armed neighbors are now locked in a drones arms race.

New Delhi will launch a 20 billion Indian rupees ($234 million) program for three years that will cover manufacture of drones, components, software, counter drone systems, and services, two government and one industry source, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.

Details of the program have not been previously reported and its planned expenditure is higher than the modest 1.2 billion rupees production-linked incentive scheme New Delhi launched in 2021 to promote drone start-ups, which have struggled to raise capital and invest in research.

India’s civil aviation ministry, which is leading the incentives program, and defense ministry did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Reuters previously reported that India plans to invest heavily in local industry and could spend as much as $470 million on unmanned aerial vehicles over the next 12 to 24 months, in what government and military officers said would be a staggered approach.

In the past, India has mainly imported military drones from its third-largest arms supplier, Israel, but in recent years its nascent drone industry has scaled up its cost-effective offerings, including for the military, although reliance on China continues for certain components such as motors, sensors and imaging systems.

Through the incentives, India is aiming to have at least 40 percent of key drone components made in the country by the end of fiscal year 2028 (April-March), the two government sources said.

“During (the India-Pakistan) conflict there was quite a lot of use of drones, loitering munitions and kamikaze drones on both sides,” Indian Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said last week.

“The lesson that we’ve learned is that we need to double down on our indigenization efforts to ensure that we build a large, effective, military drone manufacturing ecosystem.”

India bans import of drones but not their components and the government has planned additional incentives for manufacturers that procure parts from within the country, the two government sources said.

The state-run Small Industries Development Bank of India would also support the incentive program by providing cheap loans for working capital, research and development needs for the firms, the government sources added.

Currently, there are more than 600 drone manufacturing and associated companies in India, according to estimates shared by an industry source involved in the discussions for the incentives program.