Pakistan says won’t let India stop its water, hopes Trump will help resolve Kashmir issue

A view of Baglihar Dam, also known as Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project, on the Chenab river which flows from Indian Kashmir into Pakistan, at Chanderkote in Jammu region May 6, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 13 May 2025
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Pakistan says won’t let India stop its water, hopes Trump will help resolve Kashmir issue

  • Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations, with disputed Kashmir being a flashpoint between the two for decades
  • India suspended key water treaty with Pakistan amid tensions over an attack in Kashmir that escalated into a military conflict last week

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar has said that Islamabad will not let India stop its share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and expressed hope that US President Donald Trump will resolve the Kashmir issue between the neighbors, following a ceasefire between them after last week’s military conflict.

India and Pakistan last week attacked each other with fighter jets, missiles and artillery fire, in worst fighting between them in more than two decades that has killed more than 70 people on both sides.

The fighting, which came to an end on Saturday after the US brokered a ceasefire, had erupted amid heightened tensions between the neighbors over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that India blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denies involvement.

In an interview with Britain’s Sky News channel, Tarar said since things were moving forward after the ceasefire between the two nations, Pakistan was looking forward to the resolution of its concerns, including India’s suspension of the IWT.
“India has not stopped the water yet and they don’t have the capacity to stop that water,” he said on Monday. “We obviously won’t let India deny the right of water to our people.”

India announced suspending the 1960 World Bank-brokered treaty, which ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms, a day after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists.

The IWT grants Pakistan rights to the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement.

Last week, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the treaty would remain in abeyance, signaling deeper diplomatic rifts between the two nations as they traded fire across several cities.

“The fact is that there have been fundamental changes in the circumstances in which the Indus Waters Treaty was concluded,” Indian Foreign Secretary Misri was quoted as saying by NDTV on Thursday.

He said there is now a need to “reassess the obligations under that treaty.”

But Tarar believed Pakistan’s case on the agreement was “very strong,” adding they would wait to see how things unfold.

“At this point in time, the water is flowing normally and there is no stoppage,” he told Sky News.

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and frequently accuse each other of fomenting militancy in the other’s territory.

Kashmir, which has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from Britain in 1947, has been a flashpoint for decades, with the neighbors having fought two of their three wars over the region. Last week’s military conflict also originated from tensions over an assault in the disputed region.

Asked about details of the ceasefire, Tarar said many countries had been speaking to both Pakistan and India, and President Trump had been “pivotal” in securing the truce.

He hoped the US president would also help bring together the two nuclear-armed neighbors to resolve the enduring conflict in Kashmir.

Trump “has made things abundantly clear because he wants a resolution to major issues between us, between India and Pakistan,” Tarar said.

“And he has specifically mentioned Kashmir that he would like to settle.”

On Sunday, Trump said he would try to work with both India and Pakistan to see if they can resolve their dispute over Kashmir.

“I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, referring to India and Pakistan.

But India has for years insisted Kashmir is a bilateral issue and not allowed any third-party mediation.

In his first address to the nation since last week’s conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made clear that militancy was the only issue he wanted to discuss with Pakistan.

“I will tell the global community also, if we talk to Pakistan, it will be about terrorism only,” Modi said on Monday.


Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account, police say

Updated 8 sec ago
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Pakistani father kills daughter over TikTok account, police say

  • TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels
  • Pakistani authorities have repeatedly blocked or threatened to block the app over what they call ‘immoral behavior’

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan police on Friday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her account on popular video-sharing app TikTok.

In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces.

“The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson told AFP.

According to a police report shared with AFP, investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor.” He was subsequently arrested.

The victim’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” according to police in the city of Rawalpindi, where the attack happened, next to the capital Islamabad.

Last month, a 17-year-old girl and TikTok influencer with hundreds of thousands of online followers was killed at home by a man whose advances she had refused.

Sana Yousaf had racked up more than a million followers on social media accounts including TikTok, where she shared videos of her favorite cafes, skincare products, and traditional outfits.

TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels.

Women have found both audience and income on the app, which is rare in a country where fewer than a quarter of the women participate in the formal economy.

However, only 30 percent of women in Pakistan own a smartphone compared to twice as many men (58 percent), the largest gap in the world, according to the Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2025.

Pakistani telecommunications authorities have repeatedly blocked or threatened to block the app over what they call “immoral behavior.”

In southwestern Balochistan, where tribal law governs many rural areas, a man confessed to orchestrating the murder of his 14-year-old daughter earlier this year over TikTok videos that he said compromised her “honor.”


Pakistan seeks Saudi support for desert reclamation, afforestation projects amid climate worries

Updated 9 min 8 sec ago
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Pakistan seeks Saudi support for desert reclamation, afforestation projects amid climate worries

  • Pakistan, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in 2022 to cooperate in nine environmental areas, including desertification and biodiversity
  • Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik says he will soon visit the Kingdom to discuss climate collaboration between the two countries

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik has said that his ministry is seeking Saudi Arabia’s support for comprehensive climate projects that include desert reclamation, afforestation and carbon offset initiatives, amid Islamabad’s efforts to deal with climate-related challenges.

Pakistan has 4.2 million hectares of forest and planted trees, which equates to 4.8 percent of its total land area, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. The country is currently focusing on combating desertification through afforestation, water management and sustainable agricultural practices.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is playing a leading role in global climate action and launched in 2021 the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) that aims to mitigate climate change impacts by raising $10.4 billion for clean energy, planting 50 billion trees and restoring degraded lands spanning 200 million hectares in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

In February 2022, the two brotherly countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate in nine environmental areas, including pollution control, nature protection, forestry, biodiversity, desertification, hazardous waste management, marine conservation, air quality monitoring and environmental training exchanges.

“I am going to work directly with them [Saudi Arabia] on climate initiatives, on claiming deserts, on building forests, and on [carbon] offsetting,” Malik told Arab News in an interview on Thursday.

“I just need a little bit more time to put a package together.”

He said Saudi Arabia had always extended its unwavering support to Pakistan and he would soon visit the Kingdom to discuss climate collaboration between the two nations.

“It’s on my table right now to put together those projects with carbon offsets, or whatever those initiatives are, and take them there, which are viable, real, doable and meaningful,” Malik said.

Pakistan, home to over 240 million people, is consistently ranked among the countries most vulnerable to climate change and has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns, which have led to frequent heatwaves, untimely rains, floods, storms, cyclones and droughts in recent years.

Malik said his ministry was working on green mobility and recycling initiatives in partnership with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to drive climate action to benefit the poor.

“They have sent me a letter about starting a movement on behalf of the entire world south… moving the recycling kind of revolution in a manner which serves the poor people of Pakistan,” he said.

In 2022, deadly floods submerged a third of Pakistan, claimed more than 1,700 lives and affected 33 million people, causing more than $30 billion in economic losses. 

So far this monsoon season, which began in late June, at least 87 people have been killed and 149 others injured in rain-related incidents across Pakistan, with the death toll expected to rise further as heavy rains continue to batter the South Asian nation.

But Malik believed the country was unlikely to face flood-like conditions similar to 2022 as the climate patterns showed a “balancing effect” between glacier melt and rainfall.

“Where the melting is increasing, the rainfalls are projected to decrease,” he said. “The signs, the projections that we have seen, the numbers that we have seen, basically show that hopefully we would have a good, decent, and manageable year.”

Speaking of Pakistan’s early warning systems, the minister acknowledged “serious gaps” in the mechanisms despite previous investments, saying efforts were underway to fix deficiencies that hinder timely disaster alerts.

“The early warning systems, after all of the investments that we’ve done… they are not able to give us warning in a timely manner… those systems are not working,” he said.

Asked about international climate funding to Pakistan post-2022 floods, Malik said the funding was declining due to Pakistan’s “limited absorptive capacity and lack of impactful projects.”

“We did not have a lot of absorptive power and even when funding was available, we did not come up with enough projects,” he said, adding that the country could only draw around $50-$70 million despite $500 million commitments.

He said his ministry had engaged youngsters from environmental sciences background to develop ideas, projects and startups to help attract international funding.

“We are going to come up with lowest cost, highest impact projects, and we are going to go after them,” Malik added.


Pakistan tenders to buy 300,000 to 500,000 metric tons of sugar

Updated 11 July 2025
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Pakistan tenders to buy 300,000 to 500,000 metric tons of sugar

  • The deadline for the submission of price offers is July 18
  • Shipment sought in series of consignments loading in August

HAMBURG: Pakistan’s state agency, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), has issued an international tender to purchase and import 300,000 to 500,000 metric tons of white refined sugar, European traders said on Friday.

The deadline for submission of price offers is July 18.

On July 8, Pakistan’s government had approved plans to import 500,000 tons of sugar to help maintain price stability.

Market analysts said that retail sugar prices in the country have risen sharply since January.

The sugar is sought from worldwide origins, packed in bags with a minimum offer of 25,000 tons permitted.

The TCP reserves the right to purchase more or less than the tender volumes, traders said.

Shipment is sought in a series of consignments loading in August. The entire volume purchased must arrive in Pakistan by September 30.


Pakistan, EU sign €20 million grant deal to improve business environment, governance

Updated 11 July 2025
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Pakistan, EU sign €20 million grant deal to improve business environment, governance

  • The development comes as Pakistan takes policy measures to increase lending portfolio of small, medium enterprises
  • The initiative will strengthen these enterprises, green transition of export-oriented firms and facilitate green investments

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the European Union have signed a €20 million grant agreement to launch the “Better Governance and Business Environment” initiative in the South Asian country, Pakistani state media reported on Thursday.

The agreement, signed by EU Ambassador to Pakistan Dr. Riina Kionka and Secretary Economic Affairs Division Dr. Kazim Niaz, aims to enhance the competitiveness of Pakistan’s private sector, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including those led by or benefiting women.

Pakistan’s government has increasingly spoken about achieving sustainable economic growth and moving the country away from his usual “boom and bust” cycle through financial reforms, signing trade, business and grant deals with regional allies worth billions of dollars and enhancing its exports.

“The program will strengthen SME-related legislation, support the green transition of export-oriented firms, facilitate targeted green investments, and promote public-private dialogue,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

The development comes as Pakistan takes policy measures to increase lending portfolio of SMEs to enhance their contributions to employment, exports and the national GDP.

These enterprises account for approximately 40 percent of the country’s GDP, 25 percent of exports and nearly 78 percent of non-agricultural employment, according to the Pakistani finance ministry.

But despite their contributions, their access to formal finance remains “disproportionately low,” with a small percentage of private-sector lending currently directed toward them

“This expansion is expected to enhance the contribution of SMEs to GDP, exports, employment, youth and women’s digital empowerment, and overall financial inclusion, laying the foundation for sustained and inclusive economic growth,” the finance ministry said this month.

“Deregulation efforts, such as reducing reliance on NOCs and increasing e-inspections, are also being introduced to reduce compliance burdens for SMEs.”

Pakistan will also use a $1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund’s climate resilience fund to expand fiscal space, embed climate planning into public investment decisions and unlock private-sector capital for green projects, the IMF said last week.


Pakistani passenger, bound for Karachi, ‘mistakenly’ flies to Jeddah

Updated 11 July 2025
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Pakistani passenger, bound for Karachi, ‘mistakenly’ flies to Jeddah

  • Civil aviation regulator requested to impose a ‘heavy fine on the airline that is guilty of negligence’
  • No explanation yet on how the passenger cleared immigration at Lahore airport without a passport

KARACHI: In a bizarre turn of events, a Pakistani man, who was supposed to travel to Karachi from Lahore, boarded a wrong flight and landed in the Saudi city of Jeddah this week, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) confirmed on Friday.

The passenger, Malik Shahzain Ahmed, was traveling to Karachi through a private airline, Air Sial, but instead boarded the airline’s flight to Jeddah from the Lahore airport, local media reported, citing the passenger.

Ahmed told media that immigration authorities at the Jeddah airport briefly detained and questioned him upon landing in the Kingdom without a passport and deported him to Lahore after the situation became clear.

In a statement, the PAA said higher officials had taken notice of the lapse and written letters to civil aviation regulator and the station manager.

“In the letter, the civil aviation regulator has been requested to impose a heavy fine on the airline that is guilty of negligence,” PAA spokesman Saifullah said.

The PAA statement did not offer an explanation as to how the passenger cleared immigration at the Lahore airport before boarding the Jeddah-bound flight.

In a video clip circulating online, Ahmed said he went to Lahore airport to board the Karachi-bound flight on July 8, but he “mistakenly” sat in the Jeddah-bound flight after collecting his boarding pass for the domestic flight.

“After two hours, I asked [myself], ‘This plane doesn’t seem to be landing [soon]’,” he said. “Then I got to know that I had taken boarded the wrong plane.”