Pakistan stocks, rupee plunge as investors react to US strikes on Iran

ISLAMABAD: A senior delegation of Pakistani government officials is in Dubai this week to participate in a two-day experience exchange program aimed at learning from the UAE’s governance and public sector innovation models, Pakistan’s embassy in Abu Dhabi said on Monday.

The program, running from July 8–9, includes sessions with various UAE ministries and authorities and focuses on innovative approaches to public service delivery, competitiveness, and institutional reform. The initiative comes as Islamabad seeks to modernize its public sector and strengthen economic cooperation with the Gulf nation.

On the sidelines of the visit, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, met on Monday with Abdulla Nasser Lootah, UAE Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Experience Exchange. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to deepening collaboration in governance, reform, and digital public services.

“The Ambassador extended appreciation to the UAE Government for hosting a visiting delegation of senior Pakistani government officials,” the embassy said in a statement after Tirmizi’s meeting with Lootah.

The envoy also conveyed his gratitude on behalf of the Pakistani delegation “for the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue” with UAE colleagues. 

He also praised the Emirates for fostering “a model of inclusive development and harmony that embraces people from across the world, including the large and vibrant Pakistani diaspora.”

The ambassador noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had shown “strong interest in learning from the UAE’s successful tax automation systems to enhance Pakistan’s domestic tax collection capacity” and had directed the visiting team to fully benefit from the opportunity for knowledge-sharing.

For his part, Lootah reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to “seamless cooperation with Pakistan,” particularly in governance and innovation, the embassy statement said. He also stressed Pakistan’s potential across multiple sectors and said mutual learning could help both countries develop forward-looking policy solutions.

Pakistan and the UAE share longstanding ties underpinned by strong people-to-people connections.

More than 1.8 million Pakistanis live and work in the Emirates, which is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States, and the second-largest source of remittances after Saudi Arabia.

LAHORE: Eighteen lions kept illegally as pets have been confiscated in Pakistan’s Punjab region, authorities said on Monday, as they launched a crackdown after one escaped from a house and attacked a woman and two children.

The woman suffered scratches and bruises, and the two children, aged five and seven, were hospitalized after the attack last week but their injuries were not life-threatening, provincial wildlife officials said.

The lion, which was kept without a license in a house in Lahore, was confiscated and sent to a local safari park, said Mubeen Elahi, director general of the provincial Wildlife and Parks Department. The owner was later arrested, police said.

Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fueled by social media, with owners often showing off their animals online as status symbols.

“According to the new regulations for keeping big cats, no individual is allowed to keep a lion without a license, without adhering to the required cage size, and without following other standard operating procedures,” Elahi said.

The punishment is up to seven years in jail.

As well as confiscating the 18 animals, the department raided 38 lion and tiger breeding farms and arrested eight people for violating the rules, he said, adding that all farms will be inspected by the end of this week.

There are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, he said.

“I know plenty of people who keep big cats as pets,” said Qaim Ali, 30, who himself had a lion but sold it after it attacked his nephew.

“Most of them are not interested in breeding but keep them as a symbol of power and influence in society.”