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Pakistan launches 4,500 scholarships for Afghan students amid ongoing security tensions

Pakistan launches 4,500 scholarships for Afghan students amid ongoing security tensions
In this handout photograph, shared by Pakistan’s Special Representative in Afghanistan Asif Durrani, Officials and students sing national anthem during the launch of the third phase of Allama Iqbal scholarships for Afghan students at the National University of Technology in Islamabad on June 10, 2024. (Photo courtesy: X/@AsifDurrani20)
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Updated 11 July 2024
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Pakistan launches 4,500 scholarships for Afghan students amid ongoing security tensions

Pakistan launches 4,500 scholarships for Afghan students amid ongoing security tensions
  • The scholarships will allow Afghan nationals to study social and natural sciences in Pakistan for the next five years
  • Pakistani officials say relations with Afghanistan remain a high priority, with deputy PM planning a visit to Kabul
Updated 11 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday launched 4,500 scholarships for Afghan students aspiring to study social and natural sciences at local universities, amid ongoing security issues between the two countries that prompted Islamabad to launch a deportation drive targeting unregistered Afghans last year.
Pakistan introduced the Allama Iqbal Scholarship program for Afghan nationals in 2009 to strengthen bilateral ties between the two neighboring states.
The program covers tuition fees, accommodation and a monthly stipend for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies at Pakistani universities.
The third phase of these scholarships was launched on the same day the federal cabinet approved the extension of registration cards for 1.5 million Afghan refugees for another year.
“Glad to launch the third phase of Allama Iqbal scholarships for Afghan students,” Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said in a social media post.
“In the coming five years, 4500 Afghan students will pursue studies in social and natural sciences in various universities of Pakistan,” he added.

 
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan since November 2022, following the breakdown of its fragile truce with the proscribed armed network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Officials in Islamabad have blamed the Afghan government for sheltering TTP militants and providing them sanctuaries to launch attacks in Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.
Pakistan’s also launched the deportation drive against Afghan nationals last year in November, blaming them for involvement in militant attacks and other crimes in different parts of the country.
More recently, however, representatives of the two countries held meetings in Doha to discuss bilateral issues and resolve their differences.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also told the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs earlier this week that relations with Afghanistan remain a high priority for his country, adding he would soon visit Kabul to meet with interim Afghan administration officials.

Topics: Pakistan Afghanistan Ties Afghan students #scholarships

Weekend protests by ex-PM Khan party cost Islamabad, Rawalpindi businesses $21.6 million losses — traders

Weekend protests by ex-PM Khan party cost Islamabad, Rawalpindi businesses $21.6 million losses — traders
Updated 33 sec ago
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Weekend protests by ex-PM Khan party cost Islamabad, Rawalpindi businesses $21.6 million losses — traders

Weekend protests by ex-PM Khan party cost Islamabad, Rawalpindi businesses $21.6 million losses — traders
  • Hundreds of Khan supporters set out for Islamabad from various parts of Pakistan on Friday to take part in a protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk square
  • Clashes erupted as police tried to prevent the protesters from entering the capital, choking the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad for two days
Updated 33 sec ago
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Businesses in Pakistan’s twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi incurred more than Rs6 billion ($21.6 million) losses due to protests by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party over the weekend, traders said on Tuesday.
Hundreds of Khan supporters set out for Islamabad from various parts of the country on Friday to take part in a protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk square. Clashes erupted as police tried to prevent the protesters from entering the Pakistani capital, resulting in the killing of one policeman.
Dozens were injured on both sides as police used tear gas to disperse Khan supporters. The twin cities remained heavily barricaded as authorities suspended mobile phone services, with retail, wholesale and distribution business as well as industry remaining shut for two days.
“The cumulative losses to businesses and traders in Islamabad and Rawalpindi run over 6 billion rupees due to closure of roads and blockade of mobile and Internet services,” Fahad Barlas, vice president of the Rawalpindi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News.
“Apart from the financial losses, we suffer a reputational loss in terms of dealing with our foreign clients, booking the orders, and such protests take us months to restore all that.”
The PTI called simultaneous protests in all districts across the most populous Punjab province to protest the government’s proposed constitutional amendments that it claims are aimed at curtailing the independence of the judiciary, a charge denied by the government. The party also aimed to mobilize supporters through these public gatherings to pressure the government for the release of Khan, who has been in prison since August last year on a slew of charges.
Additionally, the federal and provincial governments spent a substantial amount on security, placement of shipping containers and barriers to block roads, food for law enforcement personnel and tear gas.
Arab News reached out to the Pakistani interior ministry and the Punjab home department, but did not get a response to its questions, seeking details of the expenses on security arrangements for the protests and any losses to the public property.
Nasir Qureshi, president of the Islamabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the recent closure of roads and Internet services due to the protests had disrupted entire supply chains, which could take weeks to recover.
“Traders could not go to the banks to get their LCs [letters of credit] opened, the IT sector and all other businesses were hit by the roads and Internet closures,” he said, suggesting that the government should allow protests at a designated place in the federal capital to avoid disruptions to businesses and public life.
“The government suffers losses in taxation when the businesses are closed while individual traders, daily wagers, contractors and consumers have to face financial losses.”

Topics: Islamabad PTI protest

Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities

Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities
Updated 45 min 46 sec ago
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Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities

Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities
  • Pakistan’s Interior Ministry recently declared the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement a ‘proscribed organization’
  • Information minister says PTM ‘burned the Pakistani flag, attacked Pakistani embassies’ in other states
Updated 45 min 46 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar announced on Tuesday that the government’s decision to ban the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) stemmed from its alleged links to militant groups and involvement in anti-state activities.
PTM, a prominent Pashtun rights group, has long advocated against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns and other ethnic minorities in Pakistan. While its leaders have contested and won national elections in the country’s northwestern region, the movement has yet to gain significant influence in Pakistan’s parliament.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry declared the PTM a “proscribed organization,” citing activities harmful to the nation’s peace and security.
“If you look at the activities of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement over the past six months, [you will see] how they have burned the Pakistani flag, attacked Pakistan’s embassies abroad and not only attacked embassies but also actively funded the promotion of an anti-Pakistan narrative,” Tarar said in a televised statement.
He said the PTM had carried out such activities with the help of Afghan nationals.
“Not only do they have links with TTA or Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan but also Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,” he continued while referring to the Taliban administration in Kabul and a banned militant network reportedly operating from Afghanistan while targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces.
Earlier this year in July, a group of Afghan nationals stormed the Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, pelting stones at the building and desecrating the Pakistani flag.
The administration in Islamabad formally lodged a protest with the German authorities, urging them to arrest and prosecute those responsible and to ensure better security for its diplomatic missions.
PTM has previously denied any links with militant groups or violent entities, pointing out that it believes in waging peaceful struggle for the rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan.
“Whenever an organization is declared proscribed,” the minister added, “it is done on the basis of evidence.”
The PTM alleges Pashtuns have faced rights abuses during Pakistan’s war against militants, mainly in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It blames Pakistan’s powerful military for rights abuses in the northwestern province, a charge the institution has consistently denied.

Topics: Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister

Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister
Updated 51 min 29 sec ago
Reuters
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Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister

Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister
  • Pakistan has been renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in electricity tariffs
  • A top security official in Islamabad said the latest attack in southern city of Karachi was a security failure
Updated 51 min 29 sec ago
Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Two Chinese nationals who were killed in an explosion near Pakistan’s Karachi international airport on Sunday worked for a power plant, Pakistan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
It was the most serious attack against Chinese nationals in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in March, which prompted Beijing to call on Islamabad to implement more stringent security measures.
The Chinese embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan’s foreign ministry have described Sunday’s blast as a “terrorist attack.”
In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was a suicide attack carried out by them, using a vehicle-borne bomb.
Pakistani media has reported that nearly a dozen people were injured in the blast.
A top security official in Islamabad told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the latest attack was a security failure and that all senior staff responsible for Chinese security in Karachi had been removed from service.
Pakistan’s interior ministry is primarily responsible for the Chinese nationals’ security.
There has been little information released about the identities of the Chinese nationals who were killed in a highly secured area of the southern port city.
“They were engineers who belong to those IPPs (Independent Power Producers) with whom we were negotiating tariff revision,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a video statement broadcast by local TV news channels.
Pakistan has been renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in electricity tariffs as households and businesses buckle under soaring energy costs.
The Chinese embassy said a convoy from the Port Qasim Electric Power Company was attacked near the airport.
The BLA is one of many separatist militant groups, which seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
In August, it launched coordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed.
BLA specifically targets Chinese interests — in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit local resources. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
The port is part of Beijing’s $65 billion investment in Pakistan’s road and infrastructure building called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under President Xi’s Belt and Road initiative.

Topics: Karachi blast Chinese engineers

Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon

Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon
Updated 08 October 2024
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Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon

Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon
  • After 12 months of Gaza war, Israel has shifted its focus to Lebanon where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas
  • An all parties conference in Pakistan on Monday called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to convene a summit on the situation in Gaza
Updated 08 October 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet has approved the establishment of a special relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Tuesday, a day after the South Asian country held an all-parties conference on Israel’s war on Gaza which has widened to Lebanon and other regional countries.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
After 12 months of war against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, Israel has shifted its focus to Lebanon where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas. The Israeli military has also conducted strikes in Yemen and Syria.
In the aftermath of the destruction in Palestine and Lebanon, the Pakistani cabinet approved the establishment of the PM’s Relief Fund for Palestine and Lebanon and instructed the Pakistani central bank to open an account, according to PM Sharif’s office.
“Federal Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal will supervise the relief operations regarding Palestine and Lebanon,” the PM’s office said in a statement.
The development came a day after an all parties conference (APC) in Pakistan called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene an emergency summit to address the situation in Palestine.
“Pakistan has decided to form a special working group which will go to different lobbies and reach out to other countries in the Islamic world to raise a collective voice against Israeli atrocities,” PM Sharif said at the APC.
“The first priority should be to stop the bloodshed in Palestine, which is a foremost duty and for this, the platform of the OIC is available.”
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza. The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.

Topics: Gaza

England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test

England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test
Updated 08 October 2024
AP
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England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test

England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test
  • Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and were spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel’s 82
  • England raced at nearly five-runs-per-over as Crawley smashed 11 fours in unbeaten 64, Joe Root was not out on 32
Updated 08 October 2024
AP

MULTAN: England chipped at Pakistan’s massive 556, three-centuries total by reaching 96-1 at stumps on day two Tuesday of the first Test.
Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and was spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel’s 82.
On a pitch which still looks good for batting with little help for fast bowlers or spinners, England raced at nearly five-runs-per-over as Zac Crawley smashed 11 fours in his unbeaten 64. Joe Root was not out on 32.
England lost stand-in captain Ollie Pope without scoring in the second over to a stunning one-handed catch by a diving Aamer Jamal at midwicket off Naseem Shah. England trails Pakistan by 460 runs.
Pope had to open the innings after Ben Duckett injured his left thumb while grabbing a sharp chest-high catch of No. 11 Abrar Ahmed in the slips that finally ended England’s heat-sapping 5 1/2 sessions on the field at Multan Stadium.
Whether Duckett bats was yet to be determined.
England’s Jack Leach took 3-160 and Shoaib Bashir 1-124 but Pakistan dominated both spinners.
Brydon Carse’s long wait for his first wicket in his debut test came on Tuesday, which he finished with 2-74. Gus Atkinson (2-99) and Chris Woakes (1-69) toiled without finding any reverse swing on the green square.
England did well in the first session and allowed Pakistan only 69 runs with Carse breaking the resistance of nightwatchman Naseem, who gloved a legside catch after scoring his test-best 33.
Naseem denied England a breakthrough for 1 1/2 hours and braved a couple of blows. He got a knock on the back of his helmet when he was struck hard by an Atkinson short ball and also received brief treatment when Carse struck the batter’s right thumb off another short ball before round-the-wicket worked for the right arm fast bowler.
Leach had Mohammad Rizwan caught at mid-off for a 12-ball duck.
Shakeel, who began the day on 35, showed plenty of resistance and raised his half-century with a swept boundary off Bashir. Shakeel was undone by the off-spinner after lunch and feathered a low catch to Root in the slips.
Agha took charge with meticulous drives and sweeps. His third test century followed tons by captain Shan Masood (151) and Abdullah Shafique (102) on day one.
Agha gave Pakistan an ideal finish on the benign pitch. In the company of Shaheen Shah Afridi (26), Agha hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in his 119-ball knock to propel Pakistan past 550.
England was scratchy late in Pakistan’s innings as wicketkeeper Jamie Smith missed an easy stumping of Abrar, and Atkinson couldn’t judge a catch over his shoulder before Root folded the innings.

Topics: Pakistan v England

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