Pakistan | News

Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR is ready to supply liquefied ​natural gas (LNG) to Pakistan as soon ‌as it receives a request from Islamabad, the company told Reuters on Tuesday, ​as Islamabad seeks spot cargoes to ​ease a growing energy shortfall. SOCAR said a ⁠framework agreement signed in 2025 ​between SOCAR Trading and Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) allows ​the Pakistani buyer to purchase LNG cargoes directly under an accelerated procedure. “SOCAR is ready to ​provide LNG to Pakistan as ​soon as PLL submits a corresponding request,” the ‌company ⁠said in response to Reuters questions. SOCAR did not say whether such a request had already been made, when a ​first delivery ​could ⁠take place, or whose LNG would be supplied under the ​agreement. Pakistan, which relies heavily on ​gas ⁠for its energy needs, remains vulnerable to declining domestic production and swings ⁠in ​global LNG prices amid ​the supply disruptions related to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Facing criticism over loadshedding even before t...

ISLAMABAD:  Around 3.3 million jobs may have been affected by the 2025 floods in Pakistan, according to an assessment conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ILO — a specialised United Nations agency — announced on Tuesday that it had undertaken an employment and livelihoods loss assessment for 14 of the worst-affected districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the ILO, the assessment showed that the majority of employment losses and disruptions were borne by the nine flood-affected districts in Punjab. It further indicated that rural areas accounted for nearly 78 per cent of the total estimated employment losses, with agriculture emerging as the most affected sector, followed by services and industry. According to the statement, the assessment was in support of the review and validation by the Preliminary Assessment of 2025 Flood Damages, a collective exercise supported by the United Nations, Asian Development Bank, European Union, and the World Bank, with the United Natio...

Air travel between Pakistan and Gulf countries has experienced significant disruptions, with 45 flights temporarily rescheduled or cancelled across major airports.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has set 11 new conditions for Pakistan to secure the next $1.

The closure of Pakistan’s airspace to Indian aircraft has entered its second year, with authorities extending the restriction for a further period.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) confirmed on Tuesday that Pakistan has received $1 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “State Bank of Pakistan has received funds of US$1 billion from Ministry of Finance, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the value date of 20April2026.” The central bank said this is the second tranche of the $3bn deposit recently agreed by Saudi Arabia. The first tranche of $2bn was transferred last week. The development came following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia to push diplomatic efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. On Friday, the kingdom pledged an additional $3bn in deposits for Pakistan and extended its existing $5bn facility for a further three years. Pakistan will reportedly return a $3.5bn loan to the UAE this month, putting pressure on its reserves and risking breaches of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme targets. The development comes at a sensitive time for the country’s external account position, which is already under strain from ris...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has decided that it would continue its diplomatic outreach to ensure Iran’s participation in the next round of talks.

Președintele SUA, Donald Trump, a declarat luni, 20 aprilie, că un acord cu Iranul va fi semnat „astăzi” în Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: The government announced on Monday that it has increased its Eurobond to $750 million from $500m by exercising the green-shoe option as the country’s foreign exchange needs grow due to a higher oil import bill amid the war in the Middle East. A green-shoe option is the over-allotment provision allowing the borrower to raise additional funds at the same rate if the public demand exceeds expectations. “Following its successful return to international capital markets after four years, Pakistan has upsized its Eurobond issuance to $750m, with an additional $250m placed with global institutional investors through the exercise of the green shoe option,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. Khurram Schehzad, the adviser to the finance minister, said on the social media platform X that the development reflected “stronger-than-expected investor demand, reinforcing confidence in Pakistan’s economic outlook and market re-entry”. He said that the three-year Eurobond, which was initially placed at $500m...

Pakistan has stepped up diplomatic efforts to facilitate a second round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, with signs of both progress and hesitation emerging as Tehran adopts a cautious stance.

Pakistan and Egypt concluded a two-week-long military exercise focused on counter-terrorism, the military’s media wing said on Monday. In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the “Pakistan-Egypt Joint Exercise Thunder-II” concluded in Cherat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — the military’s premier Special Operations School (SOS). “[The] two-week-long exercise was designed to enhance interoperability by refining drills, procedures, and techniques related to counterterrorism operations through joint training,” ISPR said. It added that “combat teams from the Special Services Group (SSG) of the Pakistan Army and the Egyptian Special Forces actively participated” in the exercise. The military’s media wing further said that the participants exhibited “exceptional professionalism and operational skill throughout the exercise”. The picture shows Pakistan-Egypt Joint Exercise Thunder-II underway. — ISPR General officer commanding SSG and Commander of Egyptian Paratroopers, Major General Mohamed Saad Ab...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday engaged the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank as transaction adviser for inducting private investors in the installation of 10 million smart meters across all electricity distribution companies (Discos). The Ministry of Energy (Power Division) had announced a large-scale rollout of smart meters across Discos in October 2025. On Monday, the Power Division said it has signed a Transaction Advisory Services Agreement (Tasa) with the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. Under this agreement, the IFC will act as transaction advisor and conduct a comprehensive techno-commercial assessment for a service-provider model or public-private partnership framework to support the large-scale rollout of smart metering infrastructure for 10m single-phase connections. The initiative was intended to attract local and international investors to install, maintain, and operate the infrastructure, thereby advancing Pakistan’s digital transformation in the power sector. It said...

Pakistan and Egypt have successfully concluded a two-week joint military exercise, “Thunder-II,” focused on enhancing counterterrorism capabilities, at Cherat.

Een Amerikaanse delegatie reist maandag naar Pakistan voor nieuwe gesprekken met Iran. Het is maar de vraag of ze daar in gesprek kunnen met een Iraanse delegatie. Het Iraanse regime ziet deelname aan een tweede onderhandelingsronde namelijk vooralsnog niet zitten.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a telephone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday, reaffirming during the conversation that Pakistan would “remain fully committed to its honest and sincere efforts to advance regional peace and security”. The conversation, which was detailed in a statement by the PM’s Office, took place after US President Donald Trump confirmed that American representatives were headed to Islamabad for another round of talks with Iran. The first round of historic direct US-Iran talks, held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, had ended without an agreement, but also without a breakdown. The talks were held as a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran remained in effect. The ceasefire, which is set to end on April 22, paused hostilities that began with the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. The PMO statement said that during Shehbaz and Pezeshkian’s “warm and cordial conversation that lasted for around 45 minutes, the two leaders engaged in de...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Qatar are in an advanced stage of discussions for the supply of at least four cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which could pass through the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Dawn on Sunday. They also said that after facing criticism over loadshedding even before the start of summer, the Power Division had already placed an order to the Petroleum Division for arranging around 400 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power generation. LNG imports to Pakistan were disrupted early last month after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid a war in the Middle East, which began with US-Israel attacks on Iran. In retaliatory action, Iran targeted fuel installations in some of the Gulf countries that had US assets and bases. It was against this backdrop that Qatar declared force majeure early last month in all its global LNG contracts, including those with Pakistan. Sources told Dawn that due to the resultant fuel and electricity shortfall, the Power Divisio...

Senior Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique has said that Pakistan is gaining recognition at the international level and its strength and capabilities are being acknowledged by the world.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on Saturday, during which both sides agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s liquidity pressures are expected to ease as the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board is set to consider approval of a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) next month, potentially paving the way for a fresh disbursement of about $1.2 billion under the two programmes. The SLA was reached on March 28 on the successful third review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and his delegation held a series of meetings with IMF and World Bank officials in Washington this week during the Spring Meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions. The talks focused on Pakistan’s macroeconomic stabilisation, reform agenda, and external financing outlook. In a conversation with Dawn, the minister said the IMF Executive Board is expected to meet in mid-May in Washington to review the SLA, which would unlock the next tranche under Pakistan’s programme. Liquidity pressures to ease as IMF’s board ...

Twelve countries, including Pakistan, on Saturday expressed “their strongest condemnation” at Israel’s announcement of appointing a diplomatic representative to Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland, according to a joint statement shared by the Foreign Office (FO). The statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Bangladesh, Algeria, Palestine, Türkiye, Indonesia, Pakistan and Kuwait. Israel appointed on Wednesday its first ambassador to Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland. Michael Lotem was appointed as a non-resident ambassador to Somaliland, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement issued on Saturday by the FO said that Israel’s action was “considered a flagrant violation of the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia”. According to the statement, the ministers reaffirmed their “unequivocal rejection of all unilateral measures that undermine the unity of states or infringe upon their sove...