Pakistan | News

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Thursday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to becoming a regional hub for connectivity, saying the country is ready to coordinate transport initiatives, enhance cross-border facilitation, mobilize joint investments, and strengthen regional value chains.

Former captain Babar Azam has made a return to Pakistan’s T20I squad as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced squads for the upcoming white-ball series. The National Selection Committee named a 15-member squad for the T20I series against South Africa to be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore from October 28 to November 1. The same squad will be playing the T20I tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe to be staged at the same venues from Nov 17-29. In the T20I squad, Babar, Abdul Samad and Naseem Shah have made a comeback to the side after missing out on previous events. Usman Tariq is the only uncapped player included in the T20I squad, according to the PCB press release. A 16-member squad has also been announced for the ODI series against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Pakistan and South Africa, who are currently playing the second Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, will also feature in a three-match ODI series to be held at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from Nov 4-8. The ODI series will...

Pakistan is ready to play a constructive role in bridging differences between the United States and China, Islamabad’s Ambassador to Washington Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain said that Pakistan has the potential to become a reliable supplier of quality agricultural products, particularly in halal meat, fruits, vegetables, rice, and animal feed.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Saudi Arabia yesterday reaffirmed their shared commitment to peace and stability in the region.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that unchecked population growth and climate change are hindering Pakistan from becoming a $3 trillion economy. Pakistan is home to a vast population of over 251 million, according to World Bank figures. In 2023, the population growth rate was reported to have reached around 2.55 per cent. However, almost 45pc of Pakistan’s population lives below the poverty line, according to a World Bank report. At the same time, Pakistan has been ranked as the most vulnerable country to climate change in 2022, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2025. “I have been clear right from the beginning that we have two existential issues because if we don’t tackle them correctly … there are two reasons that could derail us from becoming a $3tr economy and those are climate change and population growth,” said the finance minister in an interview on Geo News show ‘Capital Talk’. Aurangzeb said the former was no longer merely “an academic discussion” but something “we are l...

The Pakistan Hockey Federation on Wednesday finalised its decision to not send its team to India for next month’s Junior World Cup, slated to held from Nov 28 to Dec 10. The decision came after a high-profile meeting in Islamabad where the security issues and India’s hostile approach towards Pakistan in the sports sector, particularly the conduct of its cricket team during the recent Asia Cup, came under discussion. “The PHF will convey its decision to Hockey India soon,” a PHF official told Dawn.com. “The PHF and the government don’t want to compromise on security of players, therefore we decided not to send our team.” International Cricket Council, the sports global body, has arranged for neutral venues for both Pakistan and India during tournaments held in either country. Hockey’s governing body, the FIH, however, hasn’t made any such hybrid arrangement. Pakistan skipped the Asia Cup in India last month despite the tournament being a qualifier for next year’s World Cup. Meanwhile, the issue of PHF election...

The High Commission of Canada in Pakistan, in collaboration with the Department of Digital Media, University of the Punjab, hosted a high-level Strategic Dialogue on Media Literacy and Digital Resilience to advance collective efforts in strengthening media freedom, digital inclusion, and information integrity in Pakistan.

Simon Harmer grabbed three early wickets to push South Africa closer to a series-levelling victory over a faltering Pakistan in the second Test in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. Harmer took 3-26 as Pakistan ended the third day on a precarious 94-4 — just 23 runs ahead with six wickets and two days remaining on a spin-spiced Rawalpindi stadium pitch. Pakistan’s last hopes rest on Babar Azam, unbeaten on 49, and Mohammad Rizwan, 16 not out, as they strive to win the two-match series, having won the first Test by 93 runs in Lahore. South Africa piled up 404 runs after Senuran Muthusamy scored a career-best 89 not out and Kagiso Rabada posted his highest Test score of 71, giving the visitors a crucial 71-run lead. The home team scored 333 in their first innings. With their backs to the wall, Pakistan’s second innings started disastrously as opener Imam-ul-Haq (nine) and skipper Shan Masood (nought) fell to Harmer with the score at 16. It became 16-3 when Rabada had Abdullah Shafique caught in the slips for six. Harmer ...

Pakistan has strongly condemned the renewed attacks by the Israeli occupying forces in Gaza, resulting in the loss of numerous civilian lives.

Pakistan and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have agreed to enhance cooperation to curb environmental crimes, including illegal logging, electronic waste trade, and money laundering linked to natural resource exploitation.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said he is “quite hopeful” that Pakistan could manage to achieve GDP growth of close to 3.5 per cent during the ongoing fiscal year despite the impact of recent floods. The finance czar shared this projection during an interview on CGTN America programme ‘One on One’, which was published on Tuesday. During the interview, the finance minister was asked how big a challenge the recent floods posed to economic recovery. To that, Aurangzeb began his reply by underlining that climate change was an “existential issue for Pakistan”. “We are living it day in and day out,” he said. He then went on to recall previous floods and their impact, and stated: “We grew at 3pc GDP last year. We had estimated that we would grow a little over 4pc this year, but now, given the flood situation, this will shave off a certain percentage around that. But, I am still quite hopeful that we can manage anything close to 3.5pc during this fiscal year.” At the outset of the interview, the finance mini...

United States President Donald Trump has stated that he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a phone call where they talked about having “no wars with Pakistan”. The US president has repeatedly claimed credit for ending the conflict between Pakistan and India earlier this year in May. India has denied the claim that the US president was responsible for brokering the ceasefire via trade threats. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has praised Trump for his “leadership and proactive role” in helping the two neighbours achieve peace in the region. Participating in a Diwali celebration at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said he had a “great conversation” with Indian PM Modi over the phone. “We talked about trade — we talked about a lot of things, but mostly the world of trade, he’s very interested in that. Although we did talk a little while ago about let’s have no wars with Pakistan,” he said. “I think the fact that trade was involved, I was able to talk about that — and we have no war with Pakista...

US President Donald Trump has said he advised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that there should be “no war with Pakistan,” citing trade pressure as a diplomatic tool to help ease tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday launched an initiative under which over 7,000 professionals would be trained in semiconductor design and research. The prime minister said the initiative, to be known as INSPIRE, was “a milestone in Pakistan’s transition to a knowledge-based digital economy” and signalled its entry into the $600 billion global semiconductor ecosystem. Under the programme, 7,200 professionals would be trained in semiconductor design and research. Shehbaz Sharif kicked off the “initiative to nurture semiconductor professionals for industry, research & education” (INSPIRE) to mark Pakistan’s transformative step toward technological self-reliance and global competitiveness. PM unveils ‘INSPIRE’ to train 7,200 professionals, aiming for a share in the $600bn global market In his address, the prime minister said the launch of INSPIRE was a milestone in the country’s transition toward a knowledge-based digital economy, where innovation, research, and human capital drive sustainable ...

Pakistan were already staring at defeat before the relentless rains, stop-start in manner, in Colombo sealed their fate. Fatima Sana’s side crashed out of the ICC Women’s World Cup on Tuesday after a crushing 150-run defeat (DLS method) to South Africa in their penultimate match of the league stage at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Pakistan needed a victory to have any chance of staying alive in the last-four race and already-qualified South Africa, but chasing a target that was revised with every downpour, they stood little chance after the Proteas amassed 312-9 in 40 overs. Speaking after the match, skipper Fatima said: “I think today is the day bowlers didn’t perform well. We have to accept it. They played very well, but we needed to be calmer in those situations. “I think after the second over, and after the rain, it was a different situation because the conditions and the ball were wet.” The pacer added that the bowlers tried to find rhythm, but it was very difficult to bowl in those conditions. The first sho...

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has said that Indian-sponsored proxies, identified as Fitna al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan, are spreading anti-people and anti-development propaganda to destabilize Pakistan.

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir on Tuesday reiterated that any violation of Pakistan’s territorial integrity would be met with a ’firm and decisive response The army chief’s affirmation came in the wake of a border conflict with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as long-simmering tensions over cross-border terrorism boiled over into outright fighting, along with charged statements from India’s civil-military leadership. The military’s top brass had warned India earlier this month that any “imaginary new normal” its leadership might be entertaining about bilateral dynamics would be met with a “new normal of swift retributive response”. A press release issued from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) today said the army chief interacted with participants of the 17th National Workshop Balochistan at the General Headquarters. “The COAS reiterated that while Pakistan seeks regional peace and stability, any violation of its territorial integrity, direct or indirect, will be met with a ...

A combination of threats, from shrinking habitats and increased human-animal conflict to poaching and environmental degradation, has accelerated the decline of Pakistan’s bear population over the past decade, according to local wildlife experts. Although no comprehensive scientific surveys have been conducted to determine the exact numbers of bears in the country, experts estimate a 20-30 per cent decline in their population over the past 10 years. Muhammad Kabir, head of the Wildlife Ecology Lab at the University of Haripur, said that while a few regions in Pakistan still have healthy bear populations, the overall trend remains worrying. “So much so, bears have become locally extinct from several areas, where they once were believed to have been in ‘good numbers’,” Kabir told Anadolu. Pakistan is home to two species of bears — the Himalayan brown bear and the Asiatic black bear. The black bear is further divided into two subspecies — the Himalayan black bear (U. t. laniger), found in the temperate forests of...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has, for the first time, publicly confirmed that Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan earlier this month targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Kabul and other cities.