Russia calls Pakistan ‘natural ally’ in energy and economy, eyes August cargo rail link
Russia calls Pakistan ‘natural ally’ in energy and economy, eyes August cargo rail link/node/2607577/pakistan
Russia calls Pakistan ‘natural ally’ in energy and economy, eyes August cargo rail link
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk (fourth from right) meets Pakistan's Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatemi (fourth from left), and SAPM on Industries and Production, Haroon Akhtar Khan (third from left), in Moscow, Russia, on July 9, 2025. (@ForeignOfficePk/X)
ISLAMABAD: A top Russian official on Thursday described Pakistan as an “important partner” in the region’s economic and energy development and called the two countries “natural allies” during a meeting in Moscow, according to an official statement issued by the foreign office in Islamabad.
The remarks were made by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk during an interaction with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatemi, and SAPM on Industries and Production, Haroon Akhtar Khan.
The delegation is currently in Moscow it attend INNOPROM, Russia’s largest annual industrial trade fair, which brings together government delegations, business leaders and technology firms from over 30 countries to explore partnerships in manufacturing, engineering and high-tech industries.
During the meeting, the Pakistani official said relations with Russia remained a key foreign policy priority for Islamabad. Overchuk also recalled his visit to Pakistan last year to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit where he was hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“Characterizing Pakistan and Russia as ‘natural allies’, he stressed that President [Vladimir] Putin considered Pakistan as an important partner in the growth and development of economy and energy in the region,” the foreign office said in a statement released after the meeting.
“He also highlighted the significance of important connectivity projects between two countries, such as the railway connectivity between Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Russia, and the launching of pilot cargo train between Pakistan and Russia in August 2025,” it added.
The two sides also discussed regional and international developments, including the situation in South Asia, Afghanistan and the Middle East. They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation at multilateral forums.
Prime Minister Sharif’s adviser on industries and production highlighted the government’s investment-friendly policies and ongoing discussions on establishing a new steel mill in Karachi, describing it as a potential “leap forward” in Pakistan-Russia cooperation and a revival of a key legacy project.
Originally built in the 1970s with Soviet assistance, the Pakistan Steel Mills stood for national self-sufficiency for decades before becoming non-operational in 2015 due to prolonged financial mismanagement, political interference and mounting losses. Talks are now underway between the two countries to launch a new steel mill project in Karachi.
Welcoming the high-level visit, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said President Putin remained committed to expanding cooperation with Islamabad across all major sectors.
He also conveyed that the Russian president looked forward to meeting the Pakistani prime minister on the sidelines of the upcoming SCO-Council of Heads of State summit in Tianjin, China, later this August.
KARACHI: Pakistani police said on Monday it had gunned down three militants during an intelligence-based operation in the southern port city of Karachi last night, among them the mastermind of an attack that targeted Chinese nationals last year.
Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Deputy Superintendent of Police Raja Umar Khattab told Arab News police carried out a raid at a house in Karachi’s Manghopir area on Sunday night, in coordination with intelligence agencies, where the militants were hiding. He said the three militants were shot dead after a shootout ensued with police.
The CTD official said the militants were part of the “Khawarij” group, a term the Pakistan military regularly uses for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant outfit. The militants have been identified as Zafran, Qudratullah and Matiullah alias Abu Nasir, Khattab said.
“Among those killed, Zafran was the mastermind behind last year’s attack on Liberty Textile Mill in the SITE area of Karachi which targeted Chinese nationals,” Khattab said. “He had recruited the attacker, Sharifullah, as a security guard, provided him with weapons, and later facilitated his escape to Afghanistan.”
Khattab was referring to the incident which took place in Karachi in November 2024. A security guard, Sharifullah, had injured two Chinese nationals working on installing a machinery in Liberty Textile Mill by firing at them.
Khattab said the government had announced a bounty of Rs20 million [$71,942] on Zafran’s head. The CTD official said hand grenades, a suicide vest and a diary were recovered from the slain militants’ possession.
He added that the diary contained details of several potential targets the militants wanted to attack, among them the Police Training Center in Karachi’s Baldia Town.
Militant groups have previously carried out attacks against Chinese nationals in the country. In October 2024, two Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide bombing near the Karachi airport, which was claimed by the separatist outfit Baloch Liberation Army. In March 2024, another suicide bombing killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in northwestern Pakistan as they were traveling to the Dasu Dam. This attack was claimed by the TTP.
Chinese nationals have been in the crosshairs of separatist militants who believe Beijing is helping Pakistan exploit minerals in the underdeveloped southwestern province of Balochistan, where China has a strategic port and mining interests. China and Pakistan have both denied the allegations.
Beijing has been pushing Islamabad to provide foolproof security to Chinese citizens working in Pakistan , frustrated by the string of attacks on its nationals. Pakistan has repeatedly assured China it will provide safety to its citizens in the country.
ISLAMABAD: Former captain and ex-Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Saurav Ganguly has backed India playing Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup tournament in the UAE, saying that “sports must go on” despite surging tensions between the two countries.
Pakistan and India are set to lock horns in the upcoming Asia Cup tournament to be played from September 9-28. The two traditional archrivals are expected to meet each other on the cricket field on September 14 in a high-stakes group clash to be held in the UAE.
India and Pakistan have not hosted each other for a bilateral series in over a decade, with political and security concerns consistently spilling over into cricketing ties. Former Indian cricketers, including Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan, have publicly called for India to boycott matches against Pakistan after the two countries engaged in a brief military conflict in May.
“Yeah, I’m okay, I’m okay. Sport must go on,” Ganguly told Asian News International on Sunday. “At the same time Pahalgam must not happen but sports must go on.”
The former BCCI president was talking about an attack on April 22 at Pahalgam, a tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir, where gunmen killed 26 people.
The incident sparked an armed conflict between the two countries, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad for supporting the attack. Pakistan denied the allegations and called for an international, transparent inquiry into the incident.
India and Pakistan enjoy one of the fiercest sports rivalries when it comes to cricket. Separated after partition in 1947, both nuclear-armed countries have fought three wars against each other over the past seven decades, with diplomatic ties between them remaining mostly bitter.
The political tensions make for an enthralling contest every time the two teams compete against each other. India and Pakistan clashes have been the biggest, quickest-selling and most anticipated matches of every multilateral cricket tournament, drawing thousands to stadiums across the globe and millions to TV sets worldwide.
ISLAMABAD: A senior official of Pakistan’s Meteorological Department warned that a “more intense” monsoon spell is likely to affect several parts of the country from today, Monday, as the death toll from rain-related incidents since late June surged to 279.
The Met Office warned last week that monsoon currents penetrating into Pakistan’s upper and central parts are likely to intensify from Monday while a westerly wave is also expected to approach the country on Tuesday. The Met Office had also warned that heavy rains may generate flash floods in local nullahs and streams across the country.
Monsoon rains in Pakistan have wreaked havoc since June 26, killing 279 people and injuring 676 across the country, according to data by the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) latest situation report. Punjab has reported the highest number of deaths, 151, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 64, Sindh with 25, Balochistan with 20, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) nine, Islamabad eight and Azad Kashmir two casualties.
“Another monsoon spell will affect the country’s northern areas from today,” PMD Deputy Director Anjum Nazir Zaigham told Geo News, a private news channel, on Monday morning. “And this spell will be more intense than the previous one.”
Zaigham said the fresh monsoon spell is expected to trigger rainfall in almost all parts of Punjab, GB, KP, Azad Kashmir and the northern areas of Balochistan province.
“This spell will begin today while tomorrow and the day after will be very important,” he said.
FLOODS, LANDSLIDE ALERTS
Separately, the NDMA issued flood alerts for various areas of GB and Azad Kashmir from July 28 to 31.
According to the disaster management authority, it said rain is expected in Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, and Shigar areas of GB as well as in Muzaffarabad, Neelum Valley, and Bagh in Azad Kashmir during the forecast period.
“These rains may lead to flooding, while heavy showers in hilly regions may also trigger landslides,” it said.
It said In Chitral Valley, Buni and Reshun areas, rainfall combined with melting glaciers may result rise in the water flow of River Chitral while urban flooding is also likely in Azad Kashmir’s Muzaffarabad and Bagh areas due to heavy downpours.
“NDMA has directed all relevant departments and agencies to take proactive measures, ensure the readiness of personnel, machinery, and rescue teams, and remain vigilant to deal with any emergency situation,” the statement said.
“Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) and local administrations have been instructed to take timely preventive actions.”
Pakistan, which ranks among the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, has witnessed increasingly erratic weather events in recent years.
In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, while a third of the country was submerged by devastating floods in 2022 that killed more than 1,700 people, affected over 30 million and caused an estimated $35 billion in damages.
Viral video of ‘honor’ killing in southwest Pakistan triggers national outrage
Video shows woman and man accused of adultery being taken to a desert where they are killed
Activists and analysts say temporary outrage against viral video of killing is likely to fade over time
Updated 28 July 2025
Reuters
KARACHI: A viral video of the “honor killing” of a woman and her lover in a remote part of Pakistan has ignited national outrage, prompting scrutiny of long-standing tribal codes and calls for justice in a country where such killings often pass in silence.
While hundreds of so-called honor killings are reported in Pakistan each year, often with little public or legal response, the video of a woman and man accused of adultery being taken to the desert by a group of men to be killed has struck a nerve.
The video shows the woman, Bano Bibi, being handed a Qur’an by a man identified by police as her brother. “Come walk seven steps with me, after that you can shoot me,” she says, and she walks forward a few feet and stops with her back to the men.
Policemen escort tribal chief Sher Baz Satakzai, accused of ordering deaths of a couple accused of having an affair, in a so-called honour killing after a video showing the couple being shot went viral on social media, at a local court in Quetta, Pakistan July 21, 2025. (Reuters)
The brother, Jalal Satakzai, then shoots her three times and she collapses. Seconds later he shoots and kills the man, Ehsan Ullah Samalani, whom Bano was accused of having an affair with.
Once the video of the killings in Pakistan’s Balochistan province went viral, it brought swift government action and condemnation from politicians, rights groups and clerics.
The screengrab taken from a video on July 20, 2025 shows a moment before a couple was shot by armed men in Balochistan for marrying by choice. (Screengrab/Social Media)
Civil rights lawyer Jibran Nasir said, though, the government’s response was more about performance than justice.
“The crime occurred months ago, not in secrecy but near a provincial capital, yet no one acted until 240 million witnessed the killing on camera,” he said.
“This isn’t a response to a crime. It’s a response to a viral moment.”
Police have arrested 16 people in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district, including a tribal chief and the woman’s mother.
The mother, Gul Jan Bibi, said the killings were carried out by family and local elders based on “centuries-old Baloch traditions,” and not on the orders of the tribal chief.
“We did not commit any sin,” she said in a video statement that also went viral. “Bano and Ehsan were killed according to our customs.”
She said her daughter, who had three sons and two daughters, had run away with Ehsan and returned after 25 days.
Police said Bano’s younger brother, who shot the couple, remains at large.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said it was a “test” case and vowed to dismantle the illegal tribal courts operating outside the law.
Police had earlier said a jirga, an informal tribal council that issues extrajudicial rulings, had ordered the killings.
#JusticeForCouple
The video sparked online condemnation, with hashtags like #JusticeForCouple and #HonourKilling trending. The Pakistan Ulema Council, a body of religious scholars, called the killings “un-Islamic” and urged terrorism charges against those involved.
Dozens of civil society members and rights activists staged a protest on Saturday in the provincial capital Quetta, demanding justice and an end to parallel justice systems.
Human rights activists shout slogans during a protest in Quetta on July 26, 2025, against the alleged honour killing of a couple last month in Margat near Quetta in Balochistan, after eloping. (AFP)
“Virality is a double-edged sword,” said Arsalan Khan, a cultural anthropologist and professor who studies gender and masculinity.
“It can pressure the state into action, but public spectacle can also serve as a strategy to restore ghairat, or perceived family honor, in the eyes of the community.”
Pakistan outlawed honor killings in 2016 after the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch, closing a loophole that allowed perpetrators to go free if they were pardoned by family members. Rights groups say enforcement remains weak, especially in rural areas where tribal councils still hold sway.
“In a country where conviction rates often fall to single digits, visibility — and the uproar it brings — has its advantages,” said constitutional lawyer Asad Rahim Khan.
“It jolts a complacent state that continues to tolerate jirgas in areas beyond its writ.”
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported at least 405 honor killings in 2024. Most victims are women, often killed by relatives claiming to defend family honor.
Khan said rather than enforcing the law, the government has spent the past year weakening the judiciary and even considering reviving jirgas in former tribal areas.
“It’s executive inaction, most shamefully toward women in Balochistan,” Khan said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in recent months has asked senior ministers to evaluate proposals to revive jirgas in Pakistan’s former tribal districts, including potential engagement with tribal elders and Afghan authorities.
The Prime Minister’s Office and Pakistan’s information minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
VIRAL AND THEN FORGOTTEN?
The Balochistan killings were raised in Pakistan’s Senate, where the human rights committee condemned the murders and called for action against those who convened the jirga. Lawmakers also warned that impunity for parallel justice systems risked encouraging similar violence.
Activists and analysts, however, say the outrage is unlikely to be sustained.
“There’s noise now, but like every time, it will fade,” said Jalila Haider, a human rights lawyer in Quetta.
“In many areas, there is no writ of law, no enforcement. Only silence.”
Haider said the killings underscore the state’s failure to protect citizens in under-governed regions like Balochistan, where tribal power structures fill the vacuum left by absent courts and police.
“It’s not enough to just condemn jirgas,” Haider said.
“The real question is: why does the state allow them to exist in the first place?“
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday stressed the need to raise awareness against hepatitis to break the stigma surrounding the disease and prevent new infections, as the world marks World Hepatitis Day today.
Every year on July 28 the international community marks World Hepatitis Day to raise awareness about the importance of stepping up national and international efforts against the disease, encourage actions and engagement by individuals, partners and the public.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 12 million people in Pakistan are suffering from hepatitis B or C. Each year brings about 150,000 new cases of the disease. Major risk factors for the transmission of hepatitis B and C infection include therapeutic injections, syringe reuse, surgery, improper sterilization of invasive medical devices, blood transfusion, hospitalization and sharing of razors from barbers.
“Raising awareness about hepatitis is essential not only to break the stigma surrounding this disease but also to prevent new infections and ensure timely treatment for those affected,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The prime minister noted that the risk for hepatitis infections is particularly high in rural and under-resourced areas due to poor infection control practices.
He said the government is taking concrete measures against the disease, which includes a national program that has already been launched to eliminate hepatitis C.
“The goal is to screen over 165 million people and provide free treatment to all positive cases by 2030,” Sharif said. “This is a national movement that reflects our collective commitment to protecting lives and securing the future.”
Sharif called for encouraging people to get tested for hepatitis, seek medical advice and not refrain from treatment due to fear or stigma. He said Pakistan’s health care professionals, researchers and frontline workers are working tirelessly to curb the disease.
“On this day, we renew our collective responsibility to build a healthy, safe, and hepatitis-free Pakistan,” he concluded.
In a separate message, President Asif Ali Zardari said viral hepatitis continues to pose a public health challenge for Pakistan. He noted that millions of people in the country are silently suffering due to late diagnosis, lack of awareness and inadequate health care services.
“He said we must implement comprehensive strategies that combine mass awareness campaigns, effective vaccination drives, timely screening and access to treatment,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
