Pakistan | Pakistan

Pakistan and Indonesia on Tuesday signed seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and agreements aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation across a wide range of sectors, during a ceremony witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

Nearly 80 per cent of Pakistan’s population is deprived of access to clean drinking water, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said in its latest Water Development Outlook report, warning that the country faces escalating water insecurity without urgent reforms and major investments.

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations and its partners on Monday launched their 2026 global humanitarian appeal, with $64.9 million specifically earmarked to support 1.9m vulnerable people in Pakistan as part of the $33bn plan aimed at saving lives threatened by wars, climate disasters, epidemics, earthquakes and crop failures worldwide. The humanitarian appeals’ immediate priority is to save 87 million lives with $23bn in funding, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said. Ultimately, in 2026, the aim is to raise a total of $33bn to support 135m people through 23 country operations and six plans for refugees and migrants. The appeal, titled ‘2026 Response Plan’ earmarks $64.9m to provide assistance to 1.9m people in Pakist­­an. The aim of the appeal, called ‘Life by Life’, is to reach 135m in 50 countries in 2026, the UN agency said. UNOCHA noted that in 2025, 98m people received help despite funding cuts and attacks on aid workers. Occupied Palestinian Territory gets the largest individu...

• Allows Islamabad to draw $1bn under EFF and $200m under RSF after successful review • Says country maintained stability despite severe floods and a difficult global environment • Calls for continuing tight monetary policy, strengthening tax base, improving governance, focusing on SOE reforms and privatisation WASHINGTON: The Internat­ional Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a fresh disbursement of around $1.2 billion to Pakistan under its dual-track bailout — the 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the climate-focused Res­i­l­ience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The decision came on Monday, after the IMF Exec­utive Board convened in Washington. The board’s statement highlighted that “Pakistan’s strong programme implementation, despite the recent devastating floods, has maintained stability and improved financing and external conditions”. It stressed that the country’s policy priorities remain centred on maintaining macroeconomic stability and advancing reforms to strengthen public finances, enhance ...

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review Pakistan’s preparations for hosting the 9th OIC Ministerial Conference on Women scheduled for 2026.

Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik on Monday stated that Pakistan did not benefit from the PTI “project”, arguing that it aimed to destroy the country. In a blistering press conference on Friday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry assailed PTI founder and ex-premier Imran Khan for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric, stating that such narratives were now out of the realm of politics and had become a “national security threat”. The PTI emphatically deplored the “ridiculous” remarks by the military spokesperson, saying the party founder was “not a security threat” and lamented the weakening of democracy in the country following the passage of recent constitutional amendments. Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’, the minister highlighted that during its tenure, the PTI government “ran a campaign against the country, writing to the IMF and lobbying US politicians”. “Has the PTI taken a single beneficial step for Pakist...

Pakistan has expressed concern after India released a substantial volume of water into the Chenab River without prior notification, prompting fears of mismanagement and potential harm to the agricultural sector.

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto arrives in Pakistan on Monday for a two-day official visit aimed at strengthening cooperation across a broad range of areas, including trade, investment, defence, health, information technology, climate change, education and culture.

Islamabad - President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto will be arriving in Islamabad today on two-day official visit to Pakistan.

The Foreign Office (FO) rejected and condemned on Sunday the “highly inflammatory, baseless and irresponsible” remarks by Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar about Pakistan’s armed forces, terming them “misleading”. The FO’s condemnation came a day after Jaishankar alleged that India’s core challenges with its neighbouring country stemmed directly from Pakistan’s military establishment. In its reaction to his remarks, the FO underscored that Pakistan was a responsible state, and all its institutions, including armed forces, were a pillar of national security, dedicated to safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. The FO’s statement also referred to a brief four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May, saying that it “vividly demonstrated Pakistan armed forces’ professionalism as well as their resolve to defend the motherland and the people of Pakistan against any Indian aggression in a befitting, effective yet responsible manner”. “No amount of propaganda can b...

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on Sunday that Pakistan would begin selling excess liquefied natural gas (LNG) in international markets from January 1. Malik’s statement during a press conference in Lahore came months after it was reported that Pakistan was exploring ways to sell excess LNG cargoes amid a gas supply glut that could cost domestic producers millions in annual losses. He noted that Pakistan had been importing gas from “our friend” Qatar and Italian energy company Eni. But, he continued, there was an excess of this imported gas as the use of this fuel for power generation had reduced in the country during the past few months. Resultantly, “we were compelled to divert it to domestic consumers, due to which circular debt was increasing in the gas sector”, he said, adding that it also caused a loss of around Rs1,000 billion to Pakistan from 2018-19 till now. “From January 1, we will sell this excess fuel in international markets and reduce our burden while limiting the loss caused by it,” ...

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto will undertake an official visit to Pakistan from December 8 to 9, the Foreign Office (FO) announced on Sunday, with both sides set to discuss a wide-ranging agenda aimed at deepening bilateral ties.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to convene on Monday, where Pakistan is expected to secure around $1.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will undertake an official visit to Pakistan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from December 8-9, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Sunday, adding that he will discuss with Pakistani leaders a “wide-ranging agenda” aimed at further strengthening ties between the two countries. According to the FO statement, President Subianto will arrive in Islamabad and will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising key ministers and senior officials. “This will be President Prabowo’s first visit to Pakistan. The last presidential visit from Indonesia was undertaken by President Joko Widodo in 2018,” the statement said, adding that the upcoming visit carries added significance as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Indonesia. During his stay, the statement said, President Prabowo will hold delegation-level talks with PM Shehbaz and meet President Asif Ali Zardari. Chief of Army Staff and Chief ...

ISLAMABAD - Binance senior leadership Saturday visited Pakistan as the government signaled strong commitment to digital asset regulation.

Pakistan and the United States agreed to intensify cooperation on security and immigration during a meeting in Islamabad on Saturday between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Acting US Ambassador Natalie Baker. Naqvi and Baker discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in counter-narcotics, security, and the prevention of illegal immigration. The meeting also focused on strengthening collaboration in intelligence sharing, curbing drug trafficking, and expanding joint measures to stop illegal migration. The US envoy offered full technical assistance to Pakistan in combating narcotics and preventing unauthorised cross-border movement. He said the identification of drug trafficking cases at airports remains a top priority, adding that state-of-the-art scanning machines were being installed at all major airports across the country. Naqvi reaffirmed that Pakistan is strictly implementing a zero-tolerance policy against narcotics. Even today, drugs originating from Afghanistan are reaching dozens of countries...

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board will meet on December 8 (Monday) to approve $1.2 billion in loans to Pakistan. The IMF had reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan on its loan programmes in October after extensive talks were held in Karachi, Islamabad and Washington from September 24 to October 8. The agreement still requires approval from IMF’s Executive Board before funds can be released. If approved, it would unlock about $1.2bn in fresh financing for the country; roughly $1 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and another $200 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The IMF confirmed the date of the meeting in a brief announcement on Friday. The official calendar posted on the IMF website also showed the Executive Board would review Pakistan’s loan programmes. Negotiations between Islamabad and the lending agency, led by IMF mission chief Iva Petrova, had focused on Pakistan’s fiscal performance, monetary stance, structural reforms and progres...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan, along with seven other Muslim countries, has strongly rejected Israeli statements suggesting the transfer of Gaza residents into Egypt, emphasizing that Palestinians must remain on their land, according to a joint statement released on Friday.

The state-run Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) is planning a major expansion of unconventional gas developments from early next year, aiming to boost production and reduce reliance on imported liquefied natural gas. Pakistan has long been viewed as having potential in both tight and shale gas, which are trapped in rock and can only be released with specialised drilling, but commercial output has yet to be proved. Managing Director Ahmed Lak told Reuters that OGDCL had tripled its tight-gas study area to 4,500 square kilometres after new seismic and reservoir analysis indicated larger potential. Phase two of a technical evaluation will finish by the end of January, followed by full development plans. The renewed push comes after US President Donald Trump said Pakistan held “massive” oil reserves in July, a statement analysts said lacked credible geological evidence, but which prompted Islamabad to underscore that it is pursuing its own efforts to unlock unconventional resources. Ahmed Hayat Lak, M...

Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib announced that Pakistan is set to launch its first “stablecoin” as part of its drive to make virtual assets a part of the economy. The PVARA is an autonomous federal body governed by a multi-stakeholder board including the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue. Its mandate is to curb illicit finance, protect consumers and unlock opportunities in fintech, remittances and tokenised assets, while fostering Shariah-compliant innovation through regulatory sandboxes. A stablecoin, according to Bloomberg, is a digital token whose value is intrinsically linked to a physical currency, such as the US dollar, making it more stable than other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.­ Speaking at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, the crypto czar said that Pakistan will “definitely launch” a stablecoin, adding that the country is wor...