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Pakistan and Armenia on Sunday formally established diplomatic relations, the Foreign Office (FO) announced in a statement. Until today, Pakistan and Armenia did not have formal diplomatic relations. The relationship was characterised by a regional geopolitical rivalry, with Pakistan supporting Azerbaijan against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as per the Press Information Department. However, earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan had agreed to consider establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia after a phone call with counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan following a peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to the FO today, Islamabad and Yerevan formally established diplomatic relations by exchanging a joint communique in Tianjin, on the sidelines of the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. “Marking a historic step forward, both the leaders [Dar and Mirzoyan] affirmed their commitment to the principles and objectives of [the] U...

Pakistan and Turkiye have underscored their shared resolve to further strengthen cooperation for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Muslim world and beyond.

SHARJAH: Saim Ayub and Hasan Nawaz struck half-centuries as Pakistan thumped the United Arab Emirates by 31 runs in Sharjah on Saturday, making it two wins from two in their T20 tri-series also featuring Afghanistan. Opener Saim smashed a 38-ball 69, with four sixes and seven fours, while Hasan’s 26-ball 56 included six maximums, lifting Pakistan to 207 all out in exactly 20 overs. Asif Khan threatened to snatch an unlikely win for UAE with a brilliant 35-ball 77 before falling in the last over. The UAE managed 176-8 from their 20 overs. Skipper Muhammad Waseem also hit a breezy 18-ball 33 but was run out in the sixth over. Earlier, Pakistan’s innings was built around the excellence of Saim and Hasan after they won the toss and batted first. Once Pakistan lost Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman and skipper Salman Agha cheaply, it was left to Saim and Hasan to provide the rescue acts. Saim’s fourth T20I half-century came off just 25 balls while Hasan’s fifty was reached in 24 deliveries with a hat-trick of sixes o...

Pakistan won their Twenty20 International tri-series match against the United Arab Emirates at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium by 31 runs on Saturday. The tri-series of Twenty20 international matches is to tune up for the Asia Cup and features Pakistan, the UAE and Afghanistan. Each team will play the others twice, giving all sides at least four matches before the top two teams qualify for the final, scheduled on September 7. Pakistan batted first after skipper Salman Agha won the toss and set a target of 208 for the UAE. The UAE only managed to make 176 runs. Salman had hit an unbeaten half-century and fast bowler Haris Rauf grabbed four wickets as Pakistan upstaged Afghanistan by 39 runs in the tri-series opener on Friday. Salman hit a 36-ball 53 not out with three sixes and as many boundaries, which lifted Pakistan to a solid 182-7 in their 20 overs. Haris took 4-31 while fellow pacer Shaheen Afridi claimed 2-21, while spinners Mohammad Nawaz (2-23) and Sufiyan Muq­eem (2-25) dismissed Afghanistan for 143 in 1...

When floodwaters from across the Indian border surged into her village in Pakistan’s Punjab this month, Shama knew what to do: gather her four children and prepare to leave. It was the second time this year she has had to flee, after abandoning her home during cross-border fighting between India and Pakistan in May. “How many times do we need to evacuate now?” the 30-year-old mother said, her husband away ferrying their 10 cows to higher ground on a boat. “We lost out on so much during the war like school days for the children, and now the water is forcing us out again. Trouble is trouble.” A Rescue 1122 boat evacuates people from the flooded area past partially submerged houses, following the monsoon rains and rising water level of the Sutlej River, in Chanda Singh Wala village near the Pakistan-India border in Punjab’s Kasur district, on August 29. — Reuters Shama’s ordeal is echoed across flood-hit Kasur, where families say they are exhausted by repeated displacements within months, first from the fighting...

Pakistan has received authorisation to extend the export of seafood products to the United States for another four years, Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry announced on Saturday. Pakistan’s seafood exports rose to $465 million in FY25, reflecting a 13.4 per cent increase in value and an 8pc growth in quantity compared to last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in July. According to a press release by the maritime ministry, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) classified all Pakistani fisheries listed on its List of Foreign Fisheries as “comparable” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). “This classification confirms that Pakistan’s fisheries meet US standards for protecting marine mammals from incidental mortality and serious injury during fishing operations,” Chaudhry was quoted as saying. The MMPA required fisheries to “minimise marine mammal bycatch, adopt conservation practices, and sustainably operate mea...

A fresh spell of monsoon rains has battered several cities across Pakistan, causing urban flooding, power outages, and loss of lives.

SHARJAH: Skipper Salman Agha hit an unbeaten half-century and fast bowler Haris Rauf grabbed four wickets as Pakistan upstaged Afghanistan by 39 runs in the Twenty20 International tri-series opener in Sharjah on Friday. Right-handed Salman hit a 36-ball 53 not out with three sixes and as many boundaries which lifted Pakistan to a solid 182-7 in their 20 overs. Haris took 4-31 while fellow pacer Shaheen Afridi claimed 2-21, while spinners Mohammad Nawaz (2-23) and Sufiyan Muq­eem (2-25) dismissed Afghanistan for 143 in 19.5 overs before a noisy capacity 16,000 crowd at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Afghanistan matched Pakistan with opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 27-ball 38 with a six and three boundaries, adding 51 for the second wicket with Sediqullah Atal, who made 23. It was right-armer Haris who changed the game with a two-wicket 12th over sending Atal and Karim Janat back without conceding a run. Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan smashed five sixes and a four in his whirlwind 16-ball 39 but fell to Haris to end ...

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday declared that Pakistan had entered “one of the most active phases in its recent diplomatic history,” unveiling a series of high-stake engagements that firmly placed the country back on a confident and proactive diplomatic track.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Armenia yesterday agreed to consider establishing bilateral diplomatic relations after Armenia- Azerbaijan peace deal.

Skipper Salman Agha hit an unbeaten half-century and fast bowler Haris Rauf grabbed four wickets as Pakistan upstaged Afghanistan by 39 runs in the tri-series opener in Sharjah on Friday. Agha hit a 36-ball 53 not out with three sixes and as many boundaries, which lifted Pakistan to 182-7 in their 20 overs. Pacers Rauf took 4-31 and Shaheen Afridi 2-21, while spinners Mohammad Nawaz (2-23) and Sufiyan Muqeem (2-25) dismissed Afghanistan for 143 in 19.5 overs before a noisy capacity 16,000 crowd at the Sharjah stadium. Afghanistan matched Pakistan with opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 27-ball 38 with a six and three boundaries, adding 51 for the second wicket with Sediqullah Atal, who made 23. It was Rauf who changed the game with a two-wicket 12th over, sending Atal and Karim Janat back without conceding a run. Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan smashed five sixes and a four in his whirlwind 16-ball 39 but fell to Rauf to end his team’s fight. Earlier, Pakistan was lifted by Agha’s fourth T20I half-century. Agha ancho...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday confirmed that Afghanistan issued a demarche to Islamabad’s ambassador in Kabul, after they alleged that Pakistan carried out drone strikes across the border. At least three people were killed and seven wounded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Khost provinces, which Afghan authorities claimed were strikes carried out by Pakistan. There was no official word from Islamabad, and Afghan authorities did not provide any evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the incidents. Fielding questions after a press briefing in Islamabad today, Dar said that he had just returned from travelling and was still “going through the system”. However, he added that had received a copy of the letter to Pakistan’s ambassador but did not elaborate on why it was issued. “I’m still going through the system, but they handed our ambassador a letter, which is called a demarche,” the foreign minister said. “This needs investigation, to look into the situati...

In a significant breakthrough, Pakistan and Armenia on Friday agreed to consider establishing bilateral diplomatic relations.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday said that Pakistan has agreed to consider establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia. “Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Ararat Mirzoyan @AraratMirzoyan and I held a cordial conversation on phone today, and agreed to consider establishing diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Armenia,” FM Dar posted on X. Meanwhile, Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan also posted on X, saying, “Had an important call with DPM & FM H.E. Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 today. Following recent developments & in line with the vision of cooperative engagement both bilaterally & on multilateral platforms, we discussed establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia & Pakistan.” Pakistan and Armenia do not have formal diplomatic relations so far. The relationship is characterised by a regional geopolitical rivalry, with Pakistan supporting Azerbaijan against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as per the Press Information Depar...

A high-level delegation from the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) reviewed the country’s progress during a visit on Aug 24-28, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday. CERN, one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research, was established in 1954 on the principle of “science for peace”, according to its website. Pakistan became CERN’s associate member on July 31, 2015, contributing to the centre’s projects as a “significant partner”. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is the lead agency for the Pak-CERN collaboration. “During the visit, a team of five top experts from CERN met with the chairman of the PAEC and toured various science and technology institutions,” a statement from the FO said. “The purpose of these visits was to assess Pakistan’s progress in the field of science and technology.” The institutions include the National Centre for Physics, Heavy Mechanical Complex-3, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan Institute of...

SHARJAH: Salman Ali Agha is not too concerned by Pakistan’s recent losses. Instead, Pakistan T20 captain is looking forward to his “quality side with exciting youngsters and amazing seniors” doing well at the upcoming tri-nation series and the subsequent Asia Cup. The Salman-led team face Afghanistan in a T20 tri-nation series opening match in Sharjah on Friday. The event, a warm-up for next month’s T20 Asia Cup, also includes hosts UAE. Besides Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UAE, the Asia Cup will also include defending champions India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman and Hong Kong. Pakistan’s white-ball fortunes are dipping after they crashed out of last year’s T20 World Cup in the group stage before failing to win a match at the ODI Champions Trophy. This year they lost a T20 series in Bangladesh 2-1 but overcame the West Indies by the same margin. Pakistan, under Salman, are going through a transition with former skippers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan out of the T20 squad. Both the veteran players have been u...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to end its silence over Gaza and to hold Israel accountable for what it described as “mass carnage” of Palestinians, urging those shielding the occupying power to reassess their policies that have enabled atrocities in the be-sieged.

KABUL: At least three people were killed and seven wounded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Khost provinces, which Afghan authorities claimed were strikes carried out by Pakistan. There was no official word from Islamabad, and Afghan authorities did not provide any evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the incident, either. Islamabad has repeatedly warned Kabul to prevent its soil from being used to stage attacks in Pakistan, and that it is fully capable of targeting terrorists who carry out such attacks. Quoting Afghan authorities, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that three children were killed and several others wounded when ‘drones’ hit the home of one Haji Naeem Khan in Khost’s Spera district, near the border with North Waziristan. AFP photographs from Spera showed people standing outside a badly damaged home in the Lahori Village. Meanwhile, Afghan officials claimed that four sons and two wives of a man named Shahsawar were among those injured when his house was destr...

Chairman Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan has said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan is moving towards stability and development, and the government will soon free the country from the clutches of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday strongly condemned the latest Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and Syria, terming them blatant violations of international law and urging the international community to hold Israel accountable.