Imran Khan’s party chairman confirms first official meeting with Pakistan army chief

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani embassy in Riyadh has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Children with Disabilities Association (CDA) non-profit group to provide Pakistani children with special needs in the Kingdom with a 60 percent discount on clinical and rehabilitation services at CDA facilities, Pakistan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia said on Sunday.

Founded in 1982, the CDA is one of the largest child rehabilitation institutions in the region, providing care and support through rehabilitation and education to disabled children from birth until they are 12 at 11 CDA branches supported by a community of 4,900 members.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmed Farooq and CDA Board of Directors Chairman Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz signed a cooperation agreement in Riyadh on June 24 for Pakistani special needs children for a period of one year, extendable with the mutual consent of both parties.

“We are pleased to share that a long-standing demand of our community has been fulfilled,” Ambassador Farooq told Arab News, adding that the embassy can now refer specially abled Pakistani children below the age of 14, who require evaluative clinic and rehabilitative services, to the CDA.

“All centers of the association will offer these children the support they need, including a 60 percent reduction in their rates.”

The Pakistani envoy said the CDA would offer rehabilitative services to these children in both English and Arabic languages, and thanked Prince Sultan for his support in this regard.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense, cultural and brotherly relations. The Kingdom is home to over 2.5 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.

To avail this service, Ambassador Farooq said, Pakistani community members will have to send a written request to the embassy, including full name, age and passport details of the child.

“Upon receiving requests, the embassy will refer them to the association for further processing, after which the child will be enrolled as a student at a [CDA] center,” he said, hoping this important step will not only address the immediate needs of the community but will also help build confidence in the mission’s public service.

The implementation of the cooperation instrument began on the date of signing of the agreement between both sides and will remain in effect for one year, according to the agreement seen by Arab News.

The agreement was driven by the Pakistani mission’s interest in providing rehabilitation services to the expat community and the CDA’s goal to enhance the level of services provided to children with disabilities in different regions of the Kingdom, whether citizens or residents.

“The second party [CDA] will offer a special discount for assessing and providing rehabilitative services to referred beneficiaries,” the document said, adding that the beneficiaries’ guardians were responsible for covering the costs of assessment and therapeutic services after the discount was applied.

It stated that the association would provide an annual report on the services rendered to patients under this cooperation.

“A contact officer and coordinator shall be appointed by both parties, with each party providing the other with names and information before commencing work under this instrument of cooperation,” the document said.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces have killed two militants and arrested two others during an operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the Pakistani military said on Sunday.

The intelligence-based operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Duki district on reported presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.

The militants were killed in an intense exchange of fire during the operation.

“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the Indian-sponsored terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” the ISPR said.

“Sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area.”

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government officials and installations and people from other provinces who they see as “outsiders.”

Islamabad accuses India of backing the separatists in Balochistan as well as religiously motivated militant groups, like the Pakistani Taliban, in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. India denies the allegations.

On Saturday, the Pakistani military said a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a Pakistani military convoy near the Afghan border in the northwest, killing at least 13 soldiers, blaming New Delhi for the attack.

India’s ministry of external affairs said on Sunday it rejected the Pakistani military statement, seeking to blame India for Saturday’s attack in the North Waziristan district.

Pakistan and India, which often accuse each other of supporting militancy, last month traded missile, drone and artillery fire for four days over a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. India accused Pakistan of backing the assault, an allegation denied by Islamabad.