Pakistan finance minister leaves for Saudi Arabia to attend AlUla conference on emerging economies

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in New York on Monday to attend a United Nations conference to discuss Palestinian statehood and hold multilateral meetings in the city, the foreign office said. 

The High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution is being co-chaired and organized by Saudi Arabia and France. 

The event, convened by the UN General Assembly, will take place at the UN headquarters in New York on July 28. The aim is the urgent adoption of concrete measures that will lead to the implementation of a two-state solution and end decades of conflict in the Middle East.

“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, arrived in New York for an official visit from 21 to 28 July 2025,” the Pakistani foreign office said. 

The statement said Dar would lead “high-level signature events” under Pakistan’s presidency of the UN Security Council and hold bilateral and multilateral meetings in New York and Washington during his stay.

“And represent Pakistan at the International Conference on the Two-State Solution, co-hosted by Saudi Arabia & France,” the foreign office added. 

Pakistan has consistently supported Palestinian statehood and called for an end to Israeli occupation in various multilateral forums.

Israel has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians since October 2023 in Gaza, triggering anger and outrage from countries around the world who have called for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East. 

Islamabad has demanded an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East and for Israel to allow access to food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. 

 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities braced for more rainfall on Monday as the death toll from rain-related incidents in the country since late June rose to 216, according to official data. 

As per the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) latest situation report, 216 people have been killed in total since June 26 in rain-related incidents across Pakistan. Among the 216 casualties, 101 are children, 75 males and 40 females.

Punjab reported the highest number of deaths, 135, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 42, Sindh 21, Balochistan 16 while Azad Kashmir and Islamabad each reported a single death.

“Rain-wind/thundershower is expected in Kashmir, Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, North-East Punjab, Potohar region, Gilgit-Baltistan, North-East/South Balochistan and South Sindh,” the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) wrote on its daily forecast for Monday. 

“Isolated heavy falls are expected in Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Potohar region, Kashmir and adjoining hilly areas during the period,” it added. 

Pakistan’s Met Office warned in a press release on July 18 that monsoon currents penetrating Sindh and upper parts of the country are likely to “intensify” in the upper and central parts of the country from July 20.

Director General PDMA Irfan Ali Kathia on Sunday instructed district administrations to remain on high alert during the fourth spell of monsoon rains, the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said. 

“There is a risk of urban and flash flooding due to heavy rains,” it added. 

Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.

The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. But increasingly erratic and extreme weather patterns are turning the rains into a destructive force.

In 2022, record-breaking monsoon rains combined with glacial melt submerged nearly a third of Pakistan, killing more than 1,700 people and displacing over 8 million. In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, including strong hailstorms.