Pakistan | Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday announced that Pakistan will host the next Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, stating that authorities need to start preparing. This development comes less than a fortnight after the SCO Summit in Tianjin, China, where Pakistan raised the issue of the Indus Waters Treaty and a joint declaration was issued condemning the attacks on the Jaffar Express, Khuzdar and Pahalgam. Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, the PM made the announcement and stated that authorities had to start preparing for the incoming dignitaries. He did not give a date for the summit. “We have to start preparing now,” the PM said.“ We need to build accommodation and beautify Islamabad. Tajikistan gave us saplings as a gift. Chairman CDA (Capital Development Authority) and his team are working day and night [to plant them].“ Pakistan last hosted the SCO in 2024 for the Council of Heads of Government Summit, where PM Shehbaz called for investing in the region’s collective capacity for conne...

A high-level delegation from Iraq on Friday reaffirmed commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of border management, according to a press release by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The FIA is a border control agency which plays an important role in preventing illegal immigration and human trafficking. Its crackdown on human smugglers intensified following the capsizing of a boat carrying illegal immigrants near Greece in December last year. During a visit to the FIA Headquarters in Islamabad, the delegation was welcomed by FIA Additional Director General Jan Muhammad and received a “comprehensive” briefing on Pakistan’s border management practices. The head of the Iraqi delegation “reaffirmed Iraq’s commitment to further strengthening cooperation between the border management agencies of both countries,” the press release noted. The briefing included an overview of FIA’s mandate and the work of FIA’s specialised units. “At the Risk Analysis Unit (RAU), the director [of] immigration ex...

The United Kingdom has expressed full solidarity with Pakistan in the wake of the devastation caused by massive floods and the ongoing monsoon season.

The European Union (EU) has appointed veteran diplomat Raimundas Karoblis as its new Ambassador to Pakistan, marking what officials described as a renewed phase in EU-Pakistan relations.

The European Union (EU) has appointed a new ambassador to Pakistan, a statement from the EU said on Friday. Incoming ambassador Raimundas Karoblis presented his credentials to President Asif Ali Zardari on September 10, according to the Foreign Office. He will be replacing the outgoing envoy, Dr Riina Kionka. “With over 30 years of experience in diplomacy, international trade, and security, he (Karoblis) previously served as Ambassador of the European Union to Tajikistan from 2022 to 2025,” the statement read. “Ambassador Karoblis had a distinguished career in Lithuania’s diplomatic service, holding senior positions, including Deputy Minister responsible for EU affairs, foreign trade, and sanctions, as well as Lithuania’s Permanent Representative to the European Union from 2010 to 2015.” Karoblis also served as the minister of national defence from 2016 to 2020, according to the statement. The incoming ambassador holds a law degree from Vilnius University and is fluent in Lithuanian and English, but also spea...

Pakistan and Israel engaged in a heated debate at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday, with Islamabad condemning Tel Aviv’s recent attack in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders as “illegal, unprovoked, and a threat to regional stability”. The sharp exchange took place at an emergency UNSC meeting convened under the agenda item ‘Situation in the Middle East’. The session had been requested by Algeria, Pakistan, and Somalia and was supported by France and the United Kingdom. Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, opened his address at the UNSC with a strong condemnation of Israel’s strike, calling it a “brazen and illegal assault” and a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty. “The brazen and illegal assault is not an isolated incident, rather it is part of a broader and consistent pattern of aggression and violation of international law by Israel that undermines regional peace and stability.” Ahmad further highlighted that the “Israeli strikes targeted a residentia...

DOHA/ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday assured the Qatari leadership of Pakistan’s full solidarity and support in the face of unjustified provocation by Israel.

Pakistan has been removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) watchlist, a spokesperson of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said on Friday. The country was placed on Wada’s watchlist in September 2024 over outstanding non-conformities to the agency’s updated anti-doping code. According to the spokesperson, WADA confirmed that the compliance procedure against Pakistan’s Anti-Doping Organisation (Adop) was closed after all pending corrective actions were completed. “A follow-up confirmation from Wada in September reiterated that Pakistan was no longer under enhanced monitoring, ending speculation over possible sanctions,” the statement said. PSB Deputy Director General (DG) Shahid Islam was informed of the decision by Wada via email, the PSB spokesperson told Dawn.com. The statement also said that corrective measures were put under PSB DG Yasir Pirzada’s leadership, including policy alignment and procedural reforms, ensuring that Pakistan met the stringent global standards in time. “This is not just a bur...

ISLAMABAD - Ambassador of Pakistan to France Mumtaz Zahra Baloch visited the International Village of Gastronomy Paris at the invitation of its President and Founder Anne-Laure Descombin.

Pakistan on Friday called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to move beyond verbal condemnation and hold Israel accountable for what it termed “illegal and unprovoked aggression” against Qatar.

Pakistan’s first-ever all-woman mountaineering expedition has summited Gilgit-Baltistan’s 5,400-metre Bari La peak, it emerged on Thursday. The 10-member expedition comprised Bibi Afzon and Zeeba Batool from GB, Bismah Hasan and Iqra Jillani from Punjab, Madeeha Syed from Sindh, Mona Khan from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Marya Bangash from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shahreen Khan and Amina Shabbir from Islamabad and Laraib Batool from Balochistan. According to a statement issued today by Alpine Club of Pakistan Vice President Karrar Haidri, history was “written in the high mountains of Pakistan”. He said the first-ever all-woman expedition, organised and sponsored by the Alpine Club, successfully summited Bari La Peak on Wednesday. “With equal representation from all four provinces, GB and AJK, these courageous women came together not just to climb, but to break barriers and prove that Pakistan’s daughters can rise to any peak,” Haidri said. He added that before embarking on their journey, the expedition received traini...

Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Mike Hesson dismissed concerns about the national squad’s batting performance on Thursday ahead of the upcoming Asia Clup clash with India. The arch-rivals will clash in a geopolitically-charged men’s Asia Cup contest in Dubai on Sunday. It will be the first cricket match between the sides since four days of military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May. While reigning T20 world champions India are the firm favourites to retain their title, Pakistan are on a high, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan in the final of a tri-series, also involving hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Sunday. Pakistan play against Oman tomorrow. Questioned during a pre-match press conference in Dubai about the team’s batting performance and judgement, Hesson said he was “not quite sure” where the concerns were arising from, saying the team had played against the “best wrist spin attack” in the world and won by over 70 runs against Afghanistan in the tri-series final. “It’s very m...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday assured the Qatari leadership of Pakistan’s full solidarity and support in the face of unjustified provocation by Israel.

Pakistan has formally assumed the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), the Foreign Office announced on Thursday.

In the hot summer sun of southern Punjab, the roof of Lucky Cement’s factory glints with solar panels soaking up rays. Below, inside a quiet control room, sit rows of lithium-ion batteries made by Chinese company CATL. While the plant usually draws from the national grid when possible, these batteries can power it during the blackouts that have become an almost daily problem. Across Pakistan’s busy industrial zones – from Faisalabad’s textile mills to food processing units in Sindh – an increasing number of businesses are turning to solar panels paired with batteries. They, along with wealthier households, are trying to cope with soaring electricity prices and frequent load shedding, where power is shut off to parts of the grid to ease the strain on power stations. Helping drive this change is an unexpected factor: China producing more batteries than it can use. But rather than continuing to rely on Chinese battery and solar products, Pakistan needs policies that promote their manufacture domestically, that m...

ISLAMABAD: As part of efforts to deepen ties, enhance economic diplomacy and boost tourism cooperation, Uzbekistan Airways is increasing the number of regular flights between the two countries. The Uzbek embassy in Islamabad said on Wednesday that Uzbekistan and Pakistan continued to strengthen their friendly relations and expand cooperation across multiple sectors. In this process, transport and logistics, particularly air connectivity, played a crucial role. Starting October 28, the frequency of flights on ‘Tashkent-Islamabad-Tashkent’ route will be doubled, from once a week to two flights per week. Currently, Uzbekistan Airways operated flights twice a week — on Wednesdays and Fridays — on the ‘Tashkent-Lahore-Tashkent’ route, and once a week (on Saturdays) on the ‘Tashkent-Islamabad-Tashkent’ route. Due to consistently high demand, with flights running at full passenger capacity and tickets selling out several days in advance, the airline had decided to expand its flight schedule. The Embassy of Uzbekista...

India’s Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan will battle for javelin gold in Tokyo next week, the latest chapter in a brotherly rivalry which has soured since a deadly military conflict between their countries. The Tokyo Olympic champion, Chopra, and his successor in Paris, Nadeem, will line up at the athletics world championships for their first encounter since the nuclear-armed neighbours engaged in a four-day conflict in May, their worst since 1999. Chopra, who took Olympic silver behind his great rival a year ago, had often spoken about his friendly relations with Nadeem despite the tensions between their countries. After Nadeem won gold and Chopra stood alongside him on the podium in Paris, Nadeem’s mother Raziah Parveen said: “Winning and losing is part of sport, but they are like brothers.” Chopra’s mother Saroj said she took some solace in Nadeem beating her son because the Pakistani “is also our boy”. But publicly at least that changed after the conflict. The 27-year-old Chopra, who will defen...

ISLAMABAD - Bahrain’s Interior Minister, Lieutenant General Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, on Wednesday visited Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior on Wednesday, where he was warmly received by Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Pakistan seeks UNSC meeting on Qatar strike

Pakistan on Wednesday requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) following Israeli strikes in Qatari capital Doha, which targeted Hamas leadership. With Tuesday’s strikes, Israel is expanding military actions that have ranged across the Middle East to include the Gulf Arab state, where the Palestinian group has long had its political base. Qatar, which has acted as a mediator alongside Egypt in talks on a ceasefire in the almost two-year-old conflict in Gaza, condemned the attack as “cowardly” and called it a flagrant violation of international law. In a post on X, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar wrote that Pakistan requested the meeting along with Somalia and Algeria, after “unprovoked illegal Israeli aggression” in Qatar to “discuss the situation and seize itself of this grave matter”. “Pakistan expresses its complete solidarity and firm support with the government and brotherly people of Qatar,” Dar wrote. ‘Our enemies are not safe anywhere’: Israel Meanwhile, Israel warned its...