KARACHI: Pakistan expects $517 million from Saudi Arabia and $7 million from the United Arab Emirates under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) announced by leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies, or G20 countries, between May to December 2020, the Pakistani Ministry of Economic Affairs has said.
G20 nations on Sunday endorsed a plan to extend a freeze in official debt service payments by the poorest countries to mid-2021 and backed a common approach for dealing with their debt problems.
The G20 debt relief initiative — launched shortly after the start of the pandemic in the spring — has helped 46 of 73 eligible countries defer $5.7 billion in 2020 debt service payments, freeing up funds for countries to fight the pandemic and shore up their economies.
But lack of private-sector participation and countries’ concerns about marring future access to capital markets have limited the success of the debt freeze, which was initially projected to generate some $12 billion in extra liquidity.
“The government has engaged 21 bilateral creditor countries for the purpose of rescheduling $1,704 million of its debt, which was to be paid between May and December 2020,” Samar Ihsan, the economic affairs ministry spokesperson, told Arab News.
The amount includes $517 million to be returned to Saudi Arabia and $7 million to the UAE by the end of the year, she said.
Pakistan has formally secured $839 million in debt relief out of the expected $1,704 million from 16 bilateral creditors.
“Among the 21 bilateral creditors, the quantum of debt relief expected from countries like Japan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom is about $865 million,” the spokesperson said, adding: “The amounts that we were required to pay to KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] and the UAE is $517 million and $7 million, respectively.”
Ihsan said Pakistan had already requested Saudi Arabia and the UAE for debt relief under the DSSI for the period ending December 2020. “We are now waiting for their response,” Ihsan continued.
Pakistan also expects about $900 million in additional debt relief from G20 creditors during the next moratorium period, which begins in January.
“It is expected that between January and June 2021, Pakistan may get an additional relief of $800 million to $900 million under the G20 DSSI framework,” Ihsan added.
Pakistan’s de facto finance minister, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, told Arab News in June this year that Pakistan was expecting $1.8 billion in debt relief from G20 countries, adding that the amount would be utilized to provide relief to people affected by COVID-19.
Pakistan expects $524 million from Saudi Arabia, UAE under G20 debt relief initiative
https://arab.news/radv6
Pakistan expects $524 million from Saudi Arabia, UAE under G20 debt relief initiative
- The G20 initiative has helped 46 of 73 eligible countries defer $5.7 billion in 2020 debt service payments
- Pakistan has formally secured $839 million in debt relief out of an expected $1,704 million from 16 bilateral creditors
Fire erupts in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills, containment efforts underway
- The blaze erupted near Saidpur Darra, Jungle Number 15 and Rumli areas
- Over 70 firefighters are participating in the operation to put out the blaze
ISLAMABAD: A wildfire erupted in the Margalla Hills in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Monday, the Islamabad district administration said, with efforts underway to put out the blaze.
The Margalla range, part of the Himalayan foothills, often experiences bushfires in the summer months. Last year, several incidents of forest fire were reported at the hills as various parts of the country remained in the grip of intense heatwaves.
On Monday, a fire broke out near Saidpur Darra, Jungle Number 15 and Rumli areas on the hills, prompting an immediate response from the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) fire brigade and officials of the district administration.
“More than 70 firefighters are participating in the operation to control the fire,” the district administration said in a statement.
“The fire was brought under control once, but it broke out again.”
No casualties or property damage have been reported in the wake of the fire, according to authorities.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
“The fire will be brought under control again soon,” the district administration added.
Death toll from IED blast in Pakistan’s southwest rises to four
- Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades
- The attack comes days after four paramilitary troops were killed in the province
QUETTA: At least four people have been killed and 12 others wounded in a bomb blast in Pakistan’s turbulent southwestern province of Balochistan, a security official said Monday.
An improvised explosive device (IED) was planted in a parked car in Killa Abdullah district of Balochistan, less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Quetta.
“It seems the IED exploded before reaching its intended destination,” a local security official, Ghulab Khan, told AFP.
“All those killed are civilian passersby,” he added.
Riaz Khan Dawar, a senior local government official, confirmed the details to AFP, adding the explosion took place close to a paramilitary compound on Sunday evening.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
The attack came days after four paramilitary troops were killed in the province.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the most active group in the region and often carries out deadly attacks against security forces, but the local chapter of Daesh and the Pakistani Taliban have also claimed recent attacks.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbor of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan — a claim the Taliban deny.
In Balochistan, separatist violence has intensified, including a March attack by ethnic Baloch militants on a train carrying 450 passengers, which sparked a two-day siege and left dozens dead.
More than 241 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
‘Brothers forever’: Pakistani military acknowledges Saudi role in truce with India
- Pakistan and India this month traded missile, drone and artillery strikes over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir
- The conflict alarmed world leaders and friendly nations, with a Saudi minister traveling to New Delhi and Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s role in helping secure a ceasefire with India, after the nuclear-armed neighbors exchanged heavy cross-border fire this month.
India on May 7 launched a series of strikes across the Line of Control — the de facto border that separates the Indian-controlled and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. It also hit other sites on the Pakistani mainland, targeting what it claimed were militant positions.
Pakistan retaliated with strikes on Indian military targets before the ceasefire took effect on May 10, following efforts by world powers and friendly nations, including Saudi Arabia, to quickly de-escalate the conflict.
The Kingdom’s role in mediation was “very positive and wonderful,” Lt. Gen. Chaudhry told Arab News.
Pakistan and India have fought multiple wars since their independence from British rule in 1947. Two of the wars were over the disputed region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part.
The recent escalation came days after New Delhi blamed Pakistan for a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir — Islamabad denied any involvement.
As the neighbors exchanged fire, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir visited both New Delhi and Islamabad. The May 10 truce was reached shortly afterward.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan share close diplomatic and strategic relations, and the Kingdom has provided significant support to Pakistan during its prolonged economic challenges in recent years.
“The bond between the people of Pakistan and the people of Saudi Arabia is very strong, and we in the armed forces have a very close bond with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And this is a relationship that is based on respect,” Lt. Gen. Chaudhry said.
“Saudis are our brothers, brothers forever.”
Six killed, one injured as family feud turns violent in Pakistan’s northwest — official
- The deceased persons included three men and three women
- Injured woman shifted to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital
PESHAWAR: At least six persons were killed and a woman sustained gunshot wounds in a violent altercation between two families in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, rescue officials said on Monday.
The incident took place near the Khatko Bridge area reportedly over domestic issues, according to District Emergency Officer Ghayoor Mushtaq Khan.
The deceased included three men and three women.
“As a result of the gunfire, one woman was critically injured, while six others died on the spot,” Khan said in a statement.
It added the Rescue 1122 service responded to the emergency, provided first aid to the injured woman and transferred her to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.
Family feuds are common in Pakistan and that often violent and last for long in parts of the country where tribal customs and laws are followed by residents.
In June last year, 10 members of a family, including a two-year-old, were killed in a late-night attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said.
Pakistani police search for suspect in killing of Ahmadi minority doctor
- Official says the motive behind the killing remains unclear and a probe is ongoing
- There are about 500,000 Ahmadis in Pakistan, a nation of more than 240 million
LAHORE: Pakistani police stepped up their search Monday for the suspect in the killing of a doctor from the country’s Ahmadi minority, the latest in a string of deadly attacks targeting the community.
The physician was gunned down at a private hospital where he worked in the eastern city of Sargodha on Friday. The gunman fled the scene.
The Ahmadi faith was established in the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Pakistan’s Parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974, with their homes and places of worship attacked over the decades by hard-liners who consider them heretics.
There are about 500,000 Ahmadis in Pakistan, a nation of more than 240 million.
No one claimed responsibility for Friday’s killing but supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party have carried out many of the attacks on Ahmadis, accusing them of blasphemy.
Sargodha police official, Sikandar Ali, said the motive behind the killing of Dr. Sheikh Mahmood remains unclear. An investigation is ongoing, he said.
Mahmood’s killing was the third attack on Ahmadis in Pakistan since April, said Amir Mahmood, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community.
He urged the government to protect Ahmadis, whose places of worship and even graveyards are also often desecrated by extremist groups.
