ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio, on Wednesday sought the United Nations’ support to curb “cross-border terrorism” from Afghanistan during a meeting with Secretary-General António Guterres, according to an official statement.
Dar traveled to New York this week to address a Security Council debate on multilateralism and global governance convened by China. A day earlier, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to people affected by Israel’s war.
He also mentioned a surge in militancy in its two western provinces of his country bordering Afghanistan since a fragile truce between the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamabad broke down in November 2022.
The government has frequently blamed the spike in militant activities on Afghanistan, accusing it of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement and insist that Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter for Islamabad.
“The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister highlighted cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan and called for the UN’s support in countering terrorism within and from Afghanistan,” the foreign office said in a statement released after Dar’s interaction with Guterres.
“He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to provide humanitarian support to the millions of destitute people in Afghanistan and to promote its economic development, including through implementing connectivity projects between Central Asia and Pakistan through Afghanistan,” it added.
During his conversation with the UN chief, the deputy prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the UN’s central role in addressing global challenges, including peace and security, development and climate change.
Dar highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to multilateralism and UN peacekeeping efforts, saying Islamabad remained dedicated to promoting international peace and security as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
He also welcomed the UN chief’s Summit of the Future initiative, designed to strengthen global governance and improve multilateral cooperation, expressing hope it would help address financing gaps for developing countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and climate targets.
Guterres thanked Pakistan for its contributions to UN peacekeeping and its active engagement in multilateral forums, according to the statement.
TALKS WITH SAUDI MINISTER
Later, the deputy prime minister met with Saudi Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Eng. Waleed Abdul Karim El-Khereiji, according to a separate statement by the foreign office.
Dar praised the long-standing ties between the two countries and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to strengthening economic and security cooperation with the Kingdom.
“Recognizing the deep-rooted strategic and economic ties between the two countries, the two leaders reiterated their resolve to expand economic cooperation and explore avenues for broad-based collaboration in trade, investment, and commercial sectors, emphasizing the vast investment opportunities available in Pakistan,” the statement said.
The two leaders also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank, calling for the full implementation of the ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian assistance to Gaza and an early start to reconstruction efforts leading to a two-state solution.
They further underscored the critical role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in addressing issues concerning the Muslim world.
The meeting reaffirmed the shared commitment of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to strengthening their strategic partnership for mutual prosperity and regional stability.
Pakistan’s deputy PM seeks UN support to curb ‘cross-border terrorism’ from Afghanistan
https://arab.news/w2ecs
Pakistan’s deputy PM seeks UN support to curb ‘cross-border terrorism’ from Afghanistan
- Ishaq Dar meets Secretary-General António Guterres, says Pakistan will support the destitute in Afghanistan
- Th deputy PM stresses OIC’s role in addressing issues facing the Muslim world in meeting with Saudi minister
At least 22 wounded in drone strike in northwestern Pakistani district — officials
- Suspected drone strike killed four children in North Waziristan earlier in May, prompting province-wide protests
- In latest incident, unidentified quadcopter detonated explosive device in Azam Warsak town in South Waziristan
PESHAWAR: At least 22 people, including children, were wounded in a suspected quadcopter attack near a volleyball ground in Pakistan’s northwestern South Waziristan district, police said on Wednesday, adding that it was unclear who was behind the assault.
Earlier this month, a suspected drone strike killed four children and wounded five others in North Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, prompting thousands of residents to stage a protest by placing the children’s bodies on a main road to demand justice. It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the May 5 attack in the town of Mir Ali, which has been a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the past.
In the latest incident, Lower South Waziristan police spokesperson Habib Islam told Arab News an unidentified quadcopter drone detonated an explosive device on Tuesday evening in the town of Azam Warsak.
The blast occurred just before sunset as residents, including children, were playing a volleyball game nearby, leaving approximately two dozen civilians wounded.
“The origin and operators of the drone remain undetermined at this stage,” Islam said.
“A comprehensive joint investigation involving security forces and civilian authorities is currently underway to establish the chain of command behind this attack. We will pursue all evidentiary leads to conclusively identify and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Dr. Jan Muhammad Shinwari, the Medical Superintendent at Wana’s District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in South Waziristan, said 22 injured had been admitted to the facility.
“Most of the injured have now been discharged after being provided medical treatment,” Shinwari told Arab News. “Two of the children were referred to the adjacent Dera Ismail Khan hospital who were now said to be in stable condition.”
Zubair Wazir, a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from the South Waziristan district, called the drone strike “a tragic development.”
“It was brutal, inhumane and senseless,” he told Arab News, condemning the killing of civilians on Pakistani soil.
“We hold the government responsible for the deaths of innocent people attacked while playing volleyball. This time, we will launch a forceful protest to prevent such incidents from recurring.”
Wazir said he had held a series of meetings with top security and civil officials, who assured him a thorough investigation would be conducted and those responsible held accountable.
Local elder Saleh Jan called the attack a “flagrant human rights violation.”
“This attack has poured fuel on the fire of local anger. We are trapped in a nightmare, helpless, with no clear path to stop these atrocities,” he said. “Who will answer for our safety? Who will shield us from the next strike?”
There have been civilian casualties in military strikes in some parts of the country in recent years. In March, 11 people, including women and children, were killed when a drone attack targeted a house in the northwestern city of Mardan.
A statement by the provincial government at the time had only said that there was “collateral damage” in an operation that was conducted to target militants in a remote village. Residents in March also rallied until the government agreed to compensate the victims’ families.
Officials say militants have also been using quadcopters to target troops, but it was still unclear who was responsible for the drone attacks in Mir Ali and Azam Warsak.
The latest civilian casualties came amid ongoing military operations against the Pakistani Taliban, which have a strong presence in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are a separate insurgent group from the Afghan Taliban, and they often target troops in the region.
Several districts in KP, especially North and South Waziristan, were long a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups. The TTP have stepped up attacks in the region in recent months.
With inputs from AP
Pakistan says Modi’s ‘weaponizing’ of water against international norms, its own global ambitions
- Modi has upped rhetoric in standoff over water access triggered by militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir
- Pakistan has said any attempt by India to stop or block the flow of its waters would be seen as an “act of war“
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Thursday Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most recent remarks “weaponizing” the waters of the Indus river were against international norms and exposed the “stark contrast” between India’s conduct in the region and its declared global ambitions.
Modi on Tuesday upped the rhetoric in a standoff over water access triggered by a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April in which 26 tourists were killed. New Delhi said Islamabad was behind the attack — a charge it denies — and announced a raft of punitive measures including unilaterally suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.
Any move to stop Pakistan accessing the water would have a devastating impact. The Indus treaty, negotiated by the World Bank in 1960, guarantees water for 80 percent of Pakistan’s farms from three rivers that flow from India.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have already clashed in their worst military fighting in nearly three decades before agreeing to a ceasefire on May 10.
“His [Modi] references to weaponizing water, a shared, treaty-bound resource, reflect a troubling departure from international norms and a stark contrast between India’s conduct in the region and its declared global ambitions,” the foreign office said in a statement.
“Pakistan urges India to return to the core principles of international order including respect for sovereign rights of others and its treaty obligations, as well as restraint in both language and action.”
The foreign office said such “jingoism” by Modi would undermine long-term peace and stability.
“India’s youth, often the first casualty of chauvinistic nationalism, would do well to reject the politics of fear and instead work toward a future defined by dignity, reason, and regional cooperation.”
Modi on Tuesday amplified the resolve to use water from the Indus river system for India, saying provisions of the “badly negotiated” Indus Waters Treaty were prejudicial to the interests of the country and did not even let it use the waters earmarked for it.
Calling out “decades of silence” over the treaty, he said it had left Indian-administered Kashmir’s dams clogged and crippled.
Pakistan’s Attorney General, Mansoor Usman Awan, said earlier this month India had written to Pakistan in recent weeks citing population growth and clean energy needs as reasons to modify the treaty. But he said any discussions would have to take place under the terms of the treaty.
Islamabad maintains the treaty is legally binding and no party can unilaterally suspend it, Awan said.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, the treaty is very much operational, functional, and anything which India does, it does at its own cost and peril as far as the building of any hydroelectric power projects are concerned,” Awan told Reuters.
India and Pakistan have shared a troubled relationship since they were carved out of British India in 1947, and have fought three wars, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
India accuses Islamabad of backing separatists in Kashmir, a claim it denies, in turn accusing New Delhi of backing separatist and other insurgents in Pakistan.
Pakistan Council of Islamic Ideology declares bill to criminalize child marriages ‘un-Islamic’
- Under new law, minimum age for marriage is 18 for both men and women in the federal capital
- Prison terms of up to seven years introduced for people who facilitate or coerce children into early marriages
ISLAMABAD: A constitutional council that advises the Pakistani government on the compatibility of laws with Islam has this week declared a landmark bill to criminalize child marriages in the federal capital of Islamabad as being “un-Islamic.”
The National Assembly on Friday unanimously passed the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill to curb child marriages and protect girls from becoming mothers in their teens. The bill, tabled by MNA Sharmila Faruqui, will be signed into law by the president in the coming days and replace legislation introduced during British colonial rule.
Under the new law, the minimum age for marriage is 18 for both men and women in Islamabad where underage marriage will now be considered a criminal offense. Previously, the minimum age was 16 for girls and 18 for boys. Up to seven years in prison has been introduced among other punishments for people, including family members, clerics and registrars, who facilitate or coerce children into early marriage. Any sexual relations within a marriage involving a minor, with or without consent, will be deemed statutory rape, while an adult man found to have married a girl could face up to three years in prison.
“The bill introduced by Madam Sharmila Faruqi … has been declared un-Islamic,” the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said in a statement issued by its media wing after the body held its 243rd session on May 27–28 at its headquarters in Islamabad.
Clauses of the bill, such as fixing the age limit for marriage and declaring marriage below the age of 18 as child abuse and punishable, do not conform with Islamic injunctions, the CII said.
In Pakistan, 29 percent of girls are married by 18 , according to a 2018 demographic survey, and 4 percent marry before the age of 15 compared with 5 percent for boys, according to Girls Not Brides, a global coalition aiming to end child marriage. The country is among the top 10 worldwide with the highest absolute number of women who were married or in a union before the age of 18.
Girls who marry are less likely to finish school and are more likely to face domestic violence, abuse and health problems. Pregnancies become higher risk for child brides, with a greater chance of fistulas, sexually transmitted infections or even death. Teenagers are more likely to die from complications during childbirth than women in their 20s.
Builders say without tax cuts in budget, capital flight to Gulf, Western real estate to continue
- Association of Builders says capital flight to reach $30 billion by 2028 unless taxes on construction industry rationalized
- Capital flight driven by high transaction taxes, economic uncertainty, more favorable taxes, higher returns in foreign markets
KARACHI: The flight of capital from Pakistan to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the UK and other investor-friendly nations could rise to $30 billion in the next five years if the government failed to rationalize taxes on the construction industry in the FY26 budget next month, builders and developers said this week.
The outflow of capital from Pakistan is driven by factors like high transaction taxes, economic uncertainty, and the perception of a more favorable tax environment and higher returns in international markets. This trend is particularly pronounced in the UAE, where Pakistani investors have made significant investments in real estate.
Pakistan’s tax policy on real estate has been criticized for being high compared to regional and international benchmarks while countries like the UAE offer lower tax rates and more attractive returns on real estate investments. Political and economic instability in Pakistan have also discouraged investment and led to capital flight as investors seek safer, more stable markets.
Pakistan’s construction industry, with its 10 million skilled and unskilled employees, is the second biggest employer after agriculture but its contribution to the gross domestic product has declined more than six percent to 2.6 percent in the last four years.
“Unfortunately, due to the prevailing economic conditions in Pakistan, a lot of builders and developers have already transferred their money out of Pakistan and are constructing projects in UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries,” Mohammad Hassan Bakhshi, chairman Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD), told Arab News in an interview in Karachi.
In Pakistan, housing is a heavily-taxed industry, with taxes ranging from as much as 40 percent property transfer tax to 60 percent levy on builders and developers earning more than Rs 150 billion ($532 million).
These taxes are “too high,” the ABAD chairman said, suggesting that the property transfer tax be reduced to five or six percent.
By 2022, Pakistanis had invested $12 billion in the UAE, which was expected to increase to $25 billion this year and $30 billion by 2030, said Bakhshi, citing data from the Federal Board of Revenue, the state tax collector.
“Big builders and developers of Pakistan have already shifted or are in process of shifting their capital, their investment,” and entrepreneurship skills to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the US and UK, the ABAD chief added.
Pakistan’s construction industry has Rs 90 trillion ($319 billion) cash capitalization, 10 times bigger than Pakistan Stock Exchange’s Rs 10 trillion ($35 billion). The size of Pakistan’s total budget for FY26 is expected to be Rs 17 trillion, according to local media reports.
“OPTIMISTIC”
Pakistan, the world’s fifth most populous nation, is facing a 12 million housing shortage that industry stakeholders say can be turned into an opportunity by the government to create economic activity and spur growth.
Arshad Mehmood Awan, an Islamabad-based real estate professional and CEO of Homy Properties, said the government could reduce the shortage of residential units by launching affordable housing projects and making bank loans accessible online in the new budget.
“Regarding housing finance, we are expecting the government to devise a strategy, a plan that would enable the common man to easily avail housing finance from banks,” Awan told Arab News.
Arif Habib, the chairman of Arif Habib Group, said he was “optimistic” about the new budget, saying premier Shehbaz Sharif had formed a task force to develop proposals for the housing market.
The government, he said, had decided to withdraw excise duty and was considering reducing some advanced taxes as well.
“Then the most important aspect of this real estate market is the mortgage financing availability,” Habib told Arab News in an interview, saying the government’s task force was recommending proposals to encourage mortgage financing given that inflation had eased to a record low.
“In the past, because of the high inflation, people didn’t have enough disposable income to buy real estate,” Habib said.
“But now I believe, with the positive sentiment in the country, the Pakistani diaspora would also be attracted to the Pakistani market because they prefer to buy houses here for their families and for their future. So I believe after the budget, this [real estate] sector will also be active.”
More than half of the 10 million overseas Pakistanis who are expected to remit a record $38 billion this year wanted to invest in the country’s real estate sector, ABAD’s Bakhshi added.
PM Sharif to attend Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan trilateral summit today
- Pakistani PM is on regional diplomacy tour to Iran, Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan
- Turkiye, Azerbaijan openly pledged support for Pakistan during latest India conflict
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in Azerbaijan on the third stopover of a five-day regional diplomacy tour that also saw him visit Iran and Turkiye, and will today, Wednesday, attend a Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan trilateral summit, the foreign office said.
Turkiye and Azerbaijan had openly pledged support for Pakistan during its latest military confrontation with archrival India earlier this month while Iran had urged restraint and also offered to mediate.
“Sharif will attend the Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan Trilateral Meeting,” the foreign office said, releasing the PM’s schedule.
“The Prime Minister, along with the Presidents of Turkiye and Azerbaijan, will also attend a ceremony to mark Azerbaijan’s Independence Day, which the Prime Minister will also address.”
Pakistan and Azerbaijan have strengthened ties in recent years through defense and energy cooperation and Baku has supported Islamabad’s position on the Kashmir dispute with India at international forums.
Islamabad has also offered Azerbaijan access to its seaports to facilitate trade with global markets and promoted regional connectivity initiatives linking Central Asia to South Asia.
On Tuesday, Sharif met the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and thanked his country for its “steadfast support” during the standoff with India, the worst conflict in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
The four-day military escalation saw Pakistan and India launch missiles and drones deep into each other’s territories and exchange gunfire on their de facto border, the Line of Control, until a ceasefire was announced on May 10. Nearly 70 people combined were killed on both sides of the border.
Before Azerbaijan, Sharif went to Iran where he held meetings with President Masoud Pezeshkian and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
At a joint press stakeout with the Iranian president, Sharif made a peace offer to India, saying Pakistan was ready for talks on contentious issues including Kashmir, water-sharing and countering terrorism.
At the start of his regional visit, Sharif met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul and thanked him for Ankara’s strong backing during the conflict with India.
The two leaders also discussed expanding cooperation in defense production, energy, IT, agriculture and infrastructure and agreed to pursue a bilateral trade target of $5 billion, building on commitments made during the 7th High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council held in Islamabad earlier this year.
