ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday warned his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leaders and ticket holders against making excuses ahead of a “decisive” protest in Islamabad on Nov. 24, urging those who cannot ensure their participation to dissociate from the PTI.
The PTI last week announced a ‘long march’ to Islamabad over alleged rigging in Feb. 8 national election and to call for the release of political prisoners and the independence of the judiciary. Khan accuses the powerful military of colluding with his political rivals to form the
Khan has been in jail since August 2023 and has faced dozens of cases since he was removed as prime minister in 2022 after which he launched a protest movement against a coalition of his rivals led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and backed by the powerful military, which denies interfering in politics.
In a message posted from his official account on X, Khan appealed to the entire nation to take to the streets and protest on Nov. 24.
“Everyone must join the protest on November 24th,” the former premier’s message read. “If any PTI leader or ticket holder is not able to ensure their participation in the protest, they should disassociate themselves from the party because this is the decisive moment when the entire nation will come out for freedom.”
He called upon overseas Pakistanis to record anti-government protests in their respective countries and raise funds for the PTI.
One of the PTI’s fundamental demands is for the government to roll back recent constitutional amendments like the 26th amendment which it alleges is an attempt to curtail the independence of the senior judiciary. The government says the amendments are meant to smooth out its functioning and tackle a backlog of cases.
Khan accused “fraudulent assemblies” of attacking the independence of the judiciary. “It is impossible for a democracy to exist without an independent judiciary,” he said.
The caretaker government that administered the Feb. 8 election denies the polls were manipulated to ensure Khan’s party lost. The incumbent Sharif-led coalition government denies it is backed by the military and that it is unfairly treating Khan supporters.
Following the PTI’s call for the Nov. 24 protest last week, Pakistani authorities have bolstered efforts to thwart the march. Islamabad’s district magistrate imposed a two-month-long ban on the gathering of more than five people in the capital on Monday.
The PTI’s recent rallies and marches have been thwarted by similar bans on public gatherings imposed under Section 144 of the Pakistan Penal Code which allows the government to prohibit various forms of political assembly, gatherings, sit-ins, rallies, demonstrations, and other activities for a specified period.
Ex-PM Khan warns party leaders against making excuses ahead of ‘decisive’ Islamabad protest
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Ex-PM Khan warns party leaders against making excuses ahead of ‘decisive’ Islamabad protest
- Khan’s PTI party last week announced a “long march” to Pakistan’s capital from all parts of the country on Nov. 24
- PTI plans to protest against alleged rigging in Feb. 8 polls, demand independence of judiciary and release of supporters
Pakistan recommends Trump for Nobel Peace Prize for defusing conflict with India
- Trump on Friday complained he had been overlooked by the Nobel committee for his mediating role in India-Pakistan conflict
- The US president had campaigned for office as a ‘peacemaker’ who would use his negotiating skills to quickly end wars
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 to mediate the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India.
“Pakistan also acknowledges and greatly admires President Trump’s sincere offers to help resolve the longstanding dispute of Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan — an issue that lies at the heart of regional instability,” the government said.
“Durable peace in South Asia would remain elusive until the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Jammu and Kashmir.”
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.
Pakistan urges IAEA to take clear position on Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
- Pakistan’s envoy to the UN urges the Security Council to halt Israel’s military actions
- He also stresses the IAEA must be allowed to continue its verification work ‘unimpeded’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clearly state its legal position on last week’s Israeli strikes targeting nuclear facilities in Iran while highlighting their grave implications for regional and international security.
The call came during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday, after Israel launched airstrikes about a week ago that killed several senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, triggering a direct military confrontation between the two countries.
Israel’s attacks came as Tehran was engaged in negotiations with the United States to reach a nuclear agreement. Iran has repeatedly stated it has no intention of building nuclear weapons but will not surrender its right to a peaceful nuclear program or halt uranium enrichment activities.
Israel, however, contends that Iran is close to developing a bomb. The United States has backed Israel in the conflict and called for Iran’s “complete surrender,” insisting Tehran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Pakistan, in its remarks to the Council, reiterated its condemnation of Israel’s “unjustified and illegitimate aggression,” describing the attacks on nuclear facilities as “deeply troubling.”
“It is the responsibility of the IAEA to clearly pronounce its legal position with regard to such attacks as well as to report to its Board of Governors and to the Security Council about the legal, safeguards, safety and security implications of such attacks,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the Council.
“The Agency should fulfil that responsibility,” he added.
The Pakistani envoy also denounced Israel’s widening war in the Middle East, including in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. He maintained that Tel Aviv’s attack on Iran had further inflamed an already volatile regional situation.
Ahmad also said the UN Security Council must act decisively to halt Israel’s military actions and prevent the situation from spiraling further.
He urged the Council to categorically reject Israel’s actions, promote de-escalation and support a comprehensive ceasefire.
The Pakistani envoy further called on the Council to denounce the targeting of nuclear facilities safeguarded by the IAEA, pointing out that diplomacy must remain central to resolving the Iran-Israel crisis.
“Dialogue and diplomacy in full adherence to the principles of international law and the UN Charter remain the only viable path to resolving the crisis,” he said. “This Council must unite in support of the Secretary-General’s call to end the fighting and return to dialogue and negotiations.”
Ahmad also stressed that the IAEA must be allowed to continue its verification work “unimpeded,” and should operate in an “impartial and apolitical manner” to ensure credible and objective reporting on matters under its mandate.
EU imposes measures to curb ethanol imports from Pakistan
- Pakistan became the EU’s top source of non-fuel ethanol in 2024, supplying over a quarter of total imports
- EU ethanol producers welcomed the new two-year measure, though many had hoped for a three-year term
PARIS: The European Commission has ended tariff preferences for non-fuel ethanol imports from Pakistan, answering EU ethanol makers’ calls that a surge in cheap imports from the Asian country was pressuring prices and disturbing markets.
Last year, ethanol imports from Pakistan accounted for more than a quarter of all non-fuel ethanol imports, making Pakistan the largest source of imports to the EU, the Commission said in its decision published in the EU’s Official Journal on Friday.
The rise in total ethanol imports has been lasting for several years with EU customs data showing imports of non-fuel ethanol into the EU nearly doubling between 2021 and 2024 to reach 726,000 metric tons in 2024, from about 376,000 tons in 2021, it said.
Of this, Pakistani ethanol imports jumped by almost 300 percent to 393,590 tons between 2021 and 2022 and were still 244 percent above 2021 imports in 2023.
Meanwhile, EU non-fuel ethanol output dropped. Last year it was 8 percent lower than in 2021, it said.
The data and information available showed a coincidence in time between the evolution of imports from Pakistan and the serious disturbance to Union markets, the Commission said.
“The Commission considers that there is evidence of a serious disturbance in the Union market for non-fuel ethanol, characterised by a significant increase in imports at significantly lower prices compared to Union producers and a decline in Union production,” it said.
EU ethanol makers welcomed the move, set to last two years, although they had hoped for three-year duration and said the fact it did not include ethanol used in fuel raised concerns over potential circumvention.
