Pakistan, Muslim World League to host global conference on girls’ education in September

Students attend a class in Lahore, Pakistan, on May 24, 2024. (AFP/File)
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Updated 12 June 2024
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Pakistan, Muslim World League to host global conference on girls’ education in September

  • Eminent scholars, education ministers from Islamic countries to attend three-day event
  • Event to explore solutions to various barriers to education millions of girls face daily 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government will join hands with the Muslim World League to host a “landmark” global conference on girls’ education in September, state-run media reported on Wednesday, to ensure girls have better access to education and other facilities. 

According to the Malala Fund, 12 million girls are out of school in Pakistan and only 13 percent of girls advance to grade IX. The international non-governmental organization says social norms such as gender stereotypes and preference for educating boys continue to prevent girls from accessing education. 

State broadcaster Radio Pakistan said the primary objective of the three-day conference is to “explore and formulate” effective strategies to enable institutional responses and ensure better resource allocation for promoting girls’ education on a global scale.

“This event aims to bring together a diverse group of international and national dignitaries, including education ministers from numerous Islamic countries, to address and find solutions to different challenges faced by girls in the education sector,” Radio Pakistan said. 

It said eminent scholars, education experts, policymakers and various other stakeholders are expected to attend the conference. They will share their expertise, experiences, and best practices in the field of girls’ education. 

“The event will serve as a crucial platform for sharing experiences, discussing the multifaceted challenges faced by girls in accessing education, and exploring innovative solutions to overcome these barriers,” Radio Pakistan explained. 

It said PM Sharif has constituted a dedicated committee to organize the event in a “befitting and efficient manner.” 

The state-run media said the committee is headed by Secretary of Education Mohyuddin Wani and includes lawmaker Nausheen Iftikhar, representatives from the foreign office, the federal directorate of education and the Capital Development Authority (CDA). 

“This event marks a significant step toward the global promotion of girls’ education, demonstrating Pakistan’s commitment to being at the forefront of this vital initiative,” Radio Pakistan said. 

“By hosting such a crucial conference, Pakistan aims to contribute substantially to the global dialogue on education and help forge a path toward a more inclusive and equitable educational landscape for girls worldwide.”


India rejects Trump’s claim his trade concessions de-escalated tensions with Pakistan

Updated 6 sec ago
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India rejects Trump’s claim his trade concessions de-escalated tensions with Pakistan

  • The India, Pakistan militaries last week engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades
  • Trump told reporters on Monday he had offered to help both nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate

NEW DELHI: The Indian government on Tuesday rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that he helped broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in exchange for trade concessions.

Addressing a weekly news conference, Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, said top leaders in New Delhi and Washington were in touch last week following the Indian military’s intense standoff with Pakistan, but there was no conversation on trade.

“The issue of trade didn’t not come up in any of these discussions,” Jaiswal said, referring to the conversations held between US Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar.

Following Saturday’s understanding reached between India and Pakistan in what was a US-mediated ceasefire to stop military action on land, in the air and at sea, Trump told reporters on Monday that he offered to help both the nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate.

“I said, ‘Come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it. Let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’ll do a trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade’,” Trump said.

“And all of a sudden, they said, ‘I think we’re going to stop’,” Trump said, crediting trade leverage for influencing both the nations’ decision. “For a lot of reasons, but trade is a big one.”

The militaries of India and Pakistan had been engaged in one of their most serious confrontations in decades since last Wednesday, when India struck targets inside Pakistan it said were affiliated with militants responsible for the killing of 26 tourists last month in Indian-administered Kashmir.

After India’s strikes in Pakistan, both sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto border, followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and air bases.

The escalating hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals threatened regional peace, leading to calls by world leaders to cool down tempers.

Trump said he not only helped mediate the ceasefire, but also offered mediation over the simmering dispute in Kashmir, a Himalayan region that both India and Pakistan claim in entirety but govern in part. The two nations have fought two wars over Kashmir, which has long been described as the regional nuclear flashpoint.

New Delhi also rejected Trump’s offer for mediation on Tuesday.

“We have a longstanding national position that any issues related to the federally controlled union territory of Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. There has been no change to the stated policy,” Jaiswal said.


Schools reopen in Azad Kashmir after Pakistan-India ceasefire

Updated 11 min 59 sec ago
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Schools reopen in Azad Kashmir after Pakistan-India ceasefire

  • The truce was reached after four days of intense exchanges of fire as the old enemies targeted each other
  • Attendance remained low at schools in border towns of Azad Kashmir where fighting displaced several families

CHAKOTHI: Schools reopened in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Tuesday after some of the residents of border villages returned home, following a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
The truce was reached after four days of intense exchanges of fire as the old enemies targeted each other’s military installations with missiles and drones, killing dozens of civilians.
In the border town of Chakothi near Line of Control (LoC), attendance was thin at schools as many people, who had moved to safer places due to Indian shelling, were still slowly coming back to the area.
“For the past many days, my school remained closed due to [cross-border Indian] shelling,” said Junaid Munir, a 6th-grader.
“Today, it is open. I have to study and get ahead [in life].”
The military confrontation began on May 7, when India said it launched strikes on nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, following an attack on Hindu tourists by militants in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town that killed 26 men last month.
Islamabad denied any links to the attack and called for a neutral investigation.
A local school principal said some residents were waiting for a more definitive peace solution before considering to move back to their border town homes.
“Some of the children, two or three girls, have arrived so far. But [most] parents and the rest of the people have obviously shifted elsewhere,” said Naveed Akhtar, who heads a school in Chakothi.
“That’s why children are not here. The message [about reopening of schools] has been conveyed to them, and, God willing, very soon these children will return to school and our academic system will resume.”
Syeda Zohra Kazmi, who studies in 7th grade, said some mortar shells had partially damaged her home, but she insisted on attending classes as the school reopened on Tuesday.
“There was shelling outside our residence as well, and some shells landed on our house,” she said. “As the schools got reopened today, I said I will go to school. I am not afraid of shelling.”


Indian border villagers want recompense for damages in Pakistan clashes

Updated 13 May 2025
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Indian border villagers want recompense for damages in Pakistan clashes

  • Villagers in border areas return home after military conflict
  • Residents seek compensation for damaged homes, livelihoods

JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan are maintaining a ceasefire that ended four days of intense military clashes, but many in the Indian-administered part of disputed Kashmir are demanding compensation for damages from cross-border firing.

Hundreds of villagers evacuated their homes as the rivals targeted each other’s military installations with missiles and drones, killing about 70 civilians, after New Delhi struck what it called terrorist camps across the border.

Many returned to find their homes destroyed or roofless.

“Where will we go with our kids? We don’t have anywhere to live and anything to eat,” said Roshan Lal, from the village of Kot Maira in Akhnoor in the district of Jammu, about 7 km (4 miles) from the de facto border.

The shelling had left his home uninhabitable, the 47-year-old added.

“I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for justice,” he said. “We need compensation for the damages.”

In the nearby village of Pahari Wala, farmer Karan Singh said he buried seven cattle in his field, while his family are living in makeshift shelters.

“I left the village when the conflict began,” he said. “We don’t have a place to stay.”

In Salamabad, a border village in the Kashmir Valley, shelling injured Badrudin Naik and his six-year-old son, but both returned home after five days.

“I am happy to return,” he said. “But my house is damaged. My two uncles’ houses were completely destroyed. We want a permanent peace as it is we on the border who suffer more.”

Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan, which both rule part of Kashmir, but claim it in full, have fought two of their three wars over the region and engaged in several smaller clashes over the decades.

Teams have fanned out in the region to assess damage to homes, shops and other facilities, said a senior local government official, who sought anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.

“Today our teams have gone to the areas which were affected,” he said, adding, “The government will decide the amount of compensation.”

On Monday, Modi warned Pakistan that New Delhi would target “terrorist hideouts” across the border again if there were new attacks on India. Pakistan denies Indian accusations of supporting militants who attack India.

Standing in front of the cracked wall of his Pahari Wala home, Joginder Lal said Modi should ignore US President Donald Trump, who announced the ceasefire, saying Washington had played a role in halting the fighting.

“We want to take full revenge against Pakistan,” the 60-year-old added.


Former Pakistan PM Khan’s sons urge Trump administration to play role for father’s release

Updated 13 May 2025
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Former Pakistan PM Khan’s sons urge Trump administration to play role for father’s release

  • Khan has been in jail for nearly two years on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated and has frequently agitated against the Pakistani government over a host of issues
  • His sons urge any government that supports ‘free speech and proper democracy’ to join the call for their father’s release, appeal to influential people to ‘create a bit more noise’

ISLAMABAD: The sons of former prime minister Imran Khan have urged United States (US) President Donald Trump and the international community to help free their jailed father, appealing to “people of influence” to press for his release.

Khan has been in jail for nearly two years on a slew of charges that he says are politically motivated. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has held frequent protests demanding his release and frequently agitated against the Pakistani government over what it says were rigged general elections in Feb. 2024 and a campaign to subdue PTI supporters since his ouster from the PM’s office in April 2022.

Pakistani authorities deny Khan’s allegations, accusing the ex-premier and his party of leading violent anti-government protests in the past, particularly in May 2023 and Nov. 2024. On May 9, 2023, frenzied mobs across the country carrying flags of Khan’s party attacked government and military installations, while a protest in Nov. to demand Khan’s release killed four troops during clashes, officials say. The PTI denies instigating followers to violence and accuses the military and its political rivals of resorting to rights abuses against its supporters. They both deny the charges.

During a rare interview, conducted by entrepreneur, business influencer and citizen journalist Mario Nawfal, Khan’s sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, spoke about the alleged “suppression of democracy” in Pakistan, a lack of basic facilities for Khan in his prison cell. They said he was being kept on “trumped up charges,” and called on the Trump administration and the international community to press Islamabad for his release.

“Anyone who looks into it a little can kind of see that,” Suleiman said. “In terms of a message to the Trump administration, we’d call for any government that supports free speech and proper democracy to join the call for our father’s release, and especially the most powerful leader in the world.”

The former cricket-star-turned politician, who was believed to have been brought into power by Pakistan’s powerful military, fell out with the generals. His party accuses the military, which has ruled Pakistan for nearly have of its history and holds sway in politics even when not in power, of colluding with Khan’s rivals to keep him out of politics. The military and Khan’s rivals deny this.

In Dec. 2024, Khan’s party held negotiations with the government to ease political tensions in the country. However, talks broke down in Jan. after the PTI pulled away, accusing the government of not fulfilling its two principal demands of forming judicial commissions to investigate the 2023 and 2024 protests. The government rubbished the PTI’s allegations, accusing the party of “unilaterally” abandoning talks without waiting for the government to respond to its demands.

Sulaiman said there was a tradition of “dynastic politics” in Pakistan, dominated by two main parties, and his father wanted to break away from that tradition.

Khan’s elder son, Kasim, said they just wanted the international community to see what had been going on in Pakistan and “hopefully take action.”

“We’d love to speak to Trump or try and figure out a way where he would be able to help out in some way because at the end of the day, all we are trying to do is free our father, bring democracy in Pakistan and just ensure his basic human rights,” Kasim said.

The calls from Khan’s sons for his release came a day before the hearing of a petition in the Islamabad High Court seeking Khan’s release on parole, which was filed by his party’s chief minister in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Besides speaking with Nawfal of their time with Khan and family interactions, Sulaiman also appealed to “people of influence” around the world to speak for their father’s release.

“I think that would be huge, just to create a bit more noise because it’s definitely gone a bit quiet recently,” he said.

“We would love people to reach out to us if they have some influence or potential to help with this situation.”


Pakistan Stock Exchange surges over 1,000 points amid ceasefire optimism

Updated 13 May 2025
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Pakistan Stock Exchange surges over 1,000 points amid ceasefire optimism

  • The KSE-100 index gained 1278.15 points or 1.09 percent and closed at 118,575.88
  • Stocks rallied after President Trump announced ceasefire between nuclear-armed neighbors

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gained over 1,000 points on Tuesday, driven by investor optimism over ceasefire talks between Pakistan and India boosting regional stability, analysts said.
The KSE-100 index gained 2,769 points to reach 120,067.12 during intraday trading before settling at 118,575.88, up by 1,278.15 points or 1.09 percent from the previous close of 117,297.73.
Pakistan’s stocks had rallied after US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced a ceasefire between nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and India.
Both states had exchanged missile, drone and artillery strikes last week amid surging tensions.
“Stocks closed higher as investors weigh Pak-India ceasefire talks fostering stability and the foreign minister’s assurance on thin fiscal impact of conflict,” Ahsan Mehanti, the Chief Executive Officer of Arif Habib Commodities, told Arab News.
Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had also told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the conflict would not have a large fiscal impact on Pakistan. He described the standoff as a “short duration escalation” with minimal fiscal impact, saying it can be “accommodated within the fiscal space which is available to the government of Pakistan.”
Mehanti added that rupee stability, upbeat global equities, and a surge in global crude oil prices also played a catalytic role in the bullish close at the PSX.
Head of Intermarket Securities Raza Jafri highlighted that the KSE-100 was holding its levels following yesterday’s massive rise.
On May 12, Pakistani stocks rose more than nine percent, the highest single-day gain in decades, according to analysts, following a ceasefire with India and the approval of a $1 billion tranche by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which Pakistan is expected to receive today as part of a larger $7 billion bailout agreement.
“The energy sector continues its rebound — on hopes of circular debt clearance — while news reports of a possible construction package (low-income housing units and mortgage financing) saw the Cement sector rally,” Jafri added.