Delegation from Pakistan’s top military university in UAE to discuss academic collaboration

Delegation from Pakistan’s top military university in UAE to discuss academic collaboration
Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi welcomes a delegation of senior Pakistani military and civil officers in Abu Dhabi, UAE on May 6, 2025. (GoP)
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Updated 06 May 2025
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Delegation from Pakistan’s top military university in UAE to discuss academic collaboration

Delegation from Pakistan’s top military university in UAE to discuss academic collaboration
  • Delegation members are representatives of National Defense University, Pakistan’s leading military educational institute
  • Pakistani delegation will meet UAE officials, think tanks and other institutions during visit, says Pakistan embassy in Abu Dhabi

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of senior Pakistani military and civil officers has arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to enhance bilateral dialogue, academic cooperation and understanding between the two nations, the Pakistan embassy in Abu Dhabi said on Tuesday. 

The delegation are representatives of the National Defense University, Pakistan’s leading military educational institute situated in Islamabad, the embassy said in a statement. It added that the delegation comprises senior military and civil service officers, including those from friendly countries as well. 

“The Embassy of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi hosted a delegation of National Security and War Course (NSWC) of the National Defense University (NDU), Islamabad, during their foreign study visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” the embassy said in its statement.

“The visit aims to enhance bilateral dialogue, academic collaboration, and mutual understanding between Pakistan and the UAE.”

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi welcomed the delegation, stressing the significance of these exchanges in deepening bilateral cooperation. He stated that the visit also reflects our commitment to strengthening the historic Pakistan-UAE partnership, the embassy said. 

“During their visit, the delegation will have high-level interactions with UAE government officials, think tanks, and other institutions of UAE,” the statement said.

The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, and a major source of foreign investment valued at over $10 billion in the last 20 years, according to the UAE foreign ministry.

It is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates. Policymakers in Pakistan consider the UAE an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions.

The two nations have stepped up efforts in recent years to strengthen their business and investment ties. In January 2024, Pakistan and the UAE signed multiple agreements worth more than $3 billion for cooperation in railways, economic zones and infrastructure.


Pakistan PM orders wider POS rollout after $3 billion tax surge to sustain reform momentum

Pakistan PM orders wider POS rollout after $3 billion tax surge to sustain reform momentum
Updated 5 sec ago
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Pakistan PM orders wider POS rollout after $3 billion tax surge to sustain reform momentum

Pakistan PM orders wider POS rollout after $3 billion tax surge to sustain reform momentum
  • The prime minister directs the FBR to treat taxpayers with respect as tax-to-GDP ratio climbs to 11.3 percent
  • Officials say Track and Trace system in place for sugar, tobacco and fertilizer sectors, will be expanded

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to expand its Point of Sale (POS) system across the retail sector in an effort to plug revenue leakages and document more of the cash-driven economy.
Pakistan has undertaken a series of tax reforms in recent years under successive International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programs, focusing on digitization and expansion of the taxpayer base to improve revenue collection and reduce reliance on external financing.
The POS system is part of this broader effort, aiming to improve compliance and transparency in a country where large segments of the retail economy operate informally, often escaping documentation and taxation.
The POS system, which digitally links cash registers at retail outlets with the FBR’s central database, allows real-time monitoring of sales and automated calculation of sales tax, reducing underreporting and tax evasion.
“The FBR must widen the scope of its Point of Sale system in retail,” Sharif said at a review meeting on tax reforms. “The production processes of all industries, including tax defaulters, should be digitized to bring them into the tax net.”
During the meeting, Sharif praised the FBR and the finance ministry for a 42 percent increase in federal tax revenues in the last fiscal year, saying it was the highest in a decade.
Officials briefed the prime minister that Rs865 billion ($3.03 billion) in additional revenue had been collected during the previous fiscal year, owing to stronger enforcement and digitization. The tax-to-GDP ratio also rose to 11.3 percent, up 1.5 percentage points from FY24.
Addressing the participants of the meeting, Sharif emphasized the need for respectful treatment of taxpayers.
“The FBR must treat the public with respect and dignity while fulfilling its duties,” he said. “No negligence in achieving economic targets will be tolerated for the sake of Pakistan’s bright economic future.”
Sharif instructed the FBR to extend the Track and Trace Digital Production System to monitor goods from production to delivery.
Officials informed him that the system has already been implemented in the sugar, tobacco and fertilizer sectors, and will soon cover cement and other industries.
“All institutions must work with full dedication to meet the new fiscal year’s targets. Any complacency will not be tolerated,” the prime minister warned, adding that he is personally monitoring all revenue-related progress.


Pakistani pilgrim calls survival ‘a miracle’ after his heart stopped five times during Hajj

Pakistani pilgrim calls survival ‘a miracle’ after his heart stopped five times during Hajj
Updated 21 min 10 sec ago
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Pakistani pilgrim calls survival ‘a miracle’ after his heart stopped five times during Hajj

Pakistani pilgrim calls survival ‘a miracle’ after his heart stopped five times during Hajj
  • Imran Khan was airlifted to King Abdullah Hospital in Makkah after collapsing on the Day of Arafat
  • He says he got treatment free of cost, believes he might not have survived had he been in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: On the Day of Arafat, as the Hajj sermon began under the blazing sun, Pakistani pilgrim Imran Khan collapsed, his heart stopping not once, but five times. Saudi authorities swiftly intervened, airlifting him to a nearby medical facility for life-saving treatment, prompting him to describe his survival weeks later as a “miracle” and his new life as “a precious gift from Allah.”

Khan, a 42-year-old father of two from Haroonabad, a modest town in Punjab’s Bahawalnagar District, had long dreamed of performing Hajj. Accompanied by his wife, he set out on the pilgrimage this year with a heart full of gratitude.

Everything went smoothly — until June 5, the most important day of Hajj, when, standing on the sun-scorched plains of Arafat, he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and was rushed to East Arafat Hospital in critical condition.

Despite repeated resuscitation attempts, his heart stopped multiple times, putting his life at grave risk. After initial emergency care, he was airlifted again to King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, still on a ventilator, where a team of specialized doctors treated him, and he eventually recovered.

“It is indeed a miracle that Allah has blessed me with a new life, a precious gift from Him,” Khan told Arab News over the phone from Jeddah.

From the very beginning of his pilgrimage, he said, his heart carried a single, earnest prayer for good health, recalling how he repeatedly asked Allah to grant him a life of strength and well-being.

“Had this happened in Pakistan, such a level of care might not have been possible, and I may not have survived,” he added.

Khan said he had a mild diabetes condition but no history of heart issues, and that before embarking on the Hajj journey, he underwent a medical checkup and was declared fully fit.

While standing in Arafat during the Hajj sermon, Khan recalled he began to feel an intense chest pain followed by severe palpitations. Eventually, he lost consciousness after vomiting.

“When I regained consciousness nearly 17 days later, the doctors told me that my heart had stopped five times on that day,” he said, adding his treatment in Saudi Arabia was excellent, and truly of an international standard.

After being airlifted by helicopter from the plains of Arafat to King Abdullah Hospital, he said a dedicated medical team treated him around the clock.

“At every critical moment, a full team of doctors was constantly attending to me,” he said, thanking the Saudi government for providing excellent life-saving treatment.

“The entire treatment was completely free of cost,” he continued. “They did not take a single penny from me and provided everything from medicines to food and water.”

Khan commended his wife for showing remarkable courage throughout the ordeal.

“She is still with me here in Jeddah and has stood by me every step of the way,” he said in an emotional tone. “I also had two Pakistani friends with me, but I have not seen such strength and bravery even in men as my wife displayed in Saudi Arabia.”

Khan said he would travel to Pakistan on July 8, as doctors had discharged him from the hospital and declared him fit to travel.

“It’s now been five days since I was discharged from the hospital and I am currently in Jeddah, where my health is gradually improving,” he added.

According to the Pakistan Hajj Medical Mission, a total of 239 Pakistani pilgrims with serious health issues were treated in Saudi hospitals this year, including both government and Saudi-sponsored private sector facilities.

As of now, five patients remain admitted, with four of them on ventilators.


PM Sharif lauds Saudi efforts for peace in Middle East, Pakistan-India ceasefire

PM Sharif lauds Saudi efforts for peace in Middle East, Pakistan-India ceasefire
Updated 46 min 48 sec ago
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PM Sharif lauds Saudi efforts for peace in Middle East, Pakistan-India ceasefire

PM Sharif lauds Saudi efforts for peace in Middle East, Pakistan-India ceasefire
  • Islamabad has repeatedly welcomed Riyadh’s growing diplomatic role in regional conflicts
  • Pakistan and Saudi Arabia’s ties are rooted in shared diplomatic goals, economic and defense cooperation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday praised Saudi Arabia’s efforts for peace in the Middle East as well as its quiet diplomacy during a brief military clash between India and Pakistan in May.

Sharif’s remarks come amid renewed hopes of a truce in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump urged the Hamas group on Tuesday to agree to what he called a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel.

Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s post-Oct. 7 military assault has killed over 56,000 Palestinians. The offensive has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.

Israel also launched an air war on Iran on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians. 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 now in place after some 935 people were killed in Iran during the 12-day air war with Israel, officials in Tehran say.

“Prime Minister lauded the Kingdom’s efforts for peace in the Middle East as well as its significant role in the ceasefire understanding between Pakistan and India,” according to a statement from Sharif’s office after he met Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki in Islamabad. 

In May, archrivals and nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and India exchanged missiles, drones and artillery attacks, raising global alarm over the risk of escalation. The US secured a ceasefire agreement after four days. Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia are also believed to have played a role in brokering the truce deal.

In the Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia has supported diplomatic channels led by Egypt and Qatar to broker humanitarian pauses and facilitate the entry of aid amid ongoing Israeli military operations. While the Kingdom does not recognize Israel, it has intensified regional engagement in coordination with international stakeholders to help reduce civilian suffering and prevent further regional spillover.

Pakistan is a longtime supporter of Palestinian statehood and does not recognize Israel. 

During Wednesday’s meeting with the Saudi envoy, Sharif also noted that Pakistan had assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council on July 1, saying it would “count on Saudi Arabia’s support to ensure that its tenure was conducted smoothly and successfully.”

For his part, Ambassador Al Malkiy “thanked the Prime Minister for Pakistan’s role for peace and stability in the region,” the PM’s office said.

The meeting reflects the increasingly strategic relationship between Islamabad and Riyadh, rooted in shared diplomatic goals and economic and security cooperation.

More than 2.5 million Pakistanis live and work in Saudi Arabia, and the Kingdom remains one of Pakistan’s largest financial backers, having provided billions in oil and cash assistance during repeated fiscal crises.


‘Business must cooperate’: Russia seeks to double $1.8 billion trade with Pakistan

‘Business must cooperate’: Russia seeks to double $1.8 billion trade with Pakistan
Updated 02 July 2025
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‘Business must cooperate’: Russia seeks to double $1.8 billion trade with Pakistan

‘Business must cooperate’: Russia seeks to double $1.8 billion trade with Pakistan
  • Bilateral trade jumped over 100% in FY24 as Pakistan bought discounted Russian crude
  • New steel mill, IT, agriculture, energy and SCO ties mark expanding cooperation

KARACHI: Russia seeks to double the volume of its bilateral trade with Pakistan, Russian Consul-General Andrey V. Federov said this week, amid a thaw in Moscow-Islamabad ties.

Russia and Pakistan, once Cold War rivals, have strengthened ties in recent years, with Islamabad purchasing discounted Russian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas in 2023 and Moscow now planning to build a new steel mill in Karachi.

The two countries traded goods and services worth $236 million from July 2024 till May 2025, compared with $1.04 billion in the same period last year, according to Pakistani central bank data. The volume of their trade rose more than 100 percent to $1.81 billion from July 2023 till June 2024, when Pakistan was facing dollar shortages and imported discounted crude oil from Russia, marking a shift from its traditional reliance on Middle Eastern suppliers.

In an interview with Arab News, Federov said this volume can be boosted as the two countries have started implementing the decisions of the 9th meeting of Russia-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission, held in December, in which they agreed on a protocol for cooperation in the fields of trade, finance, energy, industry and agriculture, transport and infrastructure, business and finance, and science and technology.

“In last five years it (bilateral trade) was duplicated. Now we have one billion US dollars [of trade volume],” the Russian consul-general said, adding that the Russia-Pakistan trade turnover had showed 50 percent growth in the last five years. “My idea [is] that we can duplicate it once again during my staying here in Karachi.”

Federov didn’t say when his term is going to end.

Moscow could provide machinery, fertilizers, oil and gas, and some lentils and grains as part of agricultural exchange with Pakistan, according to the diplomat. Islamabad could in return supply sports goods, surgical instruments, textiles, pharmacy and kinnows that are “very, very famous” in Russia.

“Some of the Russian leading agriculture companies are ready to work with Pakistan,” he said. “There are a lot of things... we can exchange.”

Federov said Moscow and Islamabad were working to “create a bridge” which would stand for decades and that the bilateral trade would be sustained.

“It won’t be affected by any political issues. Business must cooperate. Sorry for using this word must, but I insist that business must cooperate,” he said.

Another area in which Moscow could help Pakistan was information technology (IT), according to the diplomat. Russia has a very good experience in information security, smart cities and e-government that make life of people much easier.

Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) could also assist Russia in data documentation as the South Asian had a “very good experience in this sphere.”

“World is not easy right now, and there are, as I said, a lot of spheres. We can share our experience and Pakistan also,” Federov said.

“We were together.”

Besides economy and trade, Russia and Pakistan saw their interests converging on the issue of last month’s Iran-Israel conflict. Together with China, the two countries co-sponsored a resolution in the United Nations, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after the conflict killed hundreds on both sides.

“We were together the co-sponsors of the UN resolution on Iran situation,” the Russian envoy said. “Our relations are very close, and we are working hard on many international issues together.”

Putin last month interacted with the leaders of Iran, Israel and Pakistan to end the conflict.

“Maybe some, some of the countries are not satisfied with our role, and they want to take part of one side or another side,” the consul-general said, in an apparent reference to the United States (US) which sided with Israel and bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22 before announcing a ceasefire.
Federov said Moscow was “not satisfied” with Israel’s behavior in the region.

“But, also, I should say that we have good contacts also not only with Iran and Pakistan. We have good contacts with Israel,” he said. “We do not break our relations with Israel.”

Pakistan and Russia are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security organization, and have had sustained high-level interactions and institutional mechanisms.

Federov said the top leadership of Pakistan and Russia had been actively interacting at different international diplomatic forums almost every year.

“Both sides realized that we cannot live without [support from] each other,” he said.

Asked about Putin’s long-pending visit to Pakistan, Federov said: “We are all working on that, but we do not know the plans of the president.”


Pakistan PM vows to expand water storage amid Indian threat to divert river waters

Pakistan PM vows to expand water storage amid Indian threat to divert river waters
Updated 02 July 2025
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Pakistan PM vows to expand water storage amid Indian threat to divert river waters

Pakistan PM vows to expand water storage amid Indian threat to divert river waters
  • New Delhi suspended the Indus Waters Treaty after a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir
  • Prime Minister Sharif welcomes international court ruling rejecting India’s move on river waters

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the government had decided to fast-track the construction of water reservoirs across Pakistan, citing growing climate risks as well as India’s decision to manipulate transboundary water flows after suspending the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty in April.

New Delhi decided to put the World Bank-backed 1960 treaty “in abeyance” after a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people earlier this year, blaming it on Pakistan and stating it would not resume cooperation until Islamabad “irrevocably abjures its support for cross‑border terrorism.” Pakistan denied any involvement in the incident and called for an independent international investigation.

Sharif mentioned his administration’s priority to build water reservoirs during a visit to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Islamabad, as heavy monsoon rains battered parts of the country and left more than 50 people dead. He also referred to a recent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, which rejected New Delhi’s attempts to suspend the treaty this month.

“But the enemy has certain evil designs against Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, as he warned that water could be “weaponized” by India.

“In view of this, the government has decided to fast-track non-controversial water storage projects under the water accord, which provides legal cover for provincial coordination,” he added.

Sharif emphasized the key role of the NDMA in strengthening climate preparedness and resilience, and called for public alert systems to be improved in collaboration with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Referring to the devastating floods of 2022, he said Pakistan was among the countries most vulnerable to climate-related disasters.

The prime minister also praised the NDMA for its coordinated emergency response capacity, including recent international relief missions to Türkiye and Myanmar, and expressed hope that real-time data sharing and early warning systems managed by the National Emergencies Operations Center under the NDMA would continue to guide provincial disaster response.