ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan diplomatic mission in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced extended work hours to facilitate Pakistani nationals following the decision of the UAE authorities to implement an amnesty scheme for individuals with expired visas until October 31.
The program, which started on September 1, aims to help various categories of visa violators, including residents, tourists and absconders to either adjust their legal status or leave the country without penalties or a future travel ban.
The amnesty scheme is designed to reduce the number of undocumented residents to enhance social stability and ensure regulatory compliance.
“The Government of the United Arab Emirates has announced an amnesty scheme from 01 September to 31 October 2024,” the embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a statement. “In the wake of this announcement, the Embassy of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai are extending all possible assistance to the Pakistani nationals living in the UAE to ensure that they can benefit fully from the UAE government’s amnesty scheme.”
“National Identity Cards (NICs), Passport Sections and attestation services will remain open on Saturdays until the end of October 2024 to accommodate applicants who need to renew, update or validate their documents,” it continued. “The Out-Pass Sections are available for issuance of out-pass/ emergency travel document for those who are Pakistani nationals and do not possess passports to facilitate their travel back to Pakistan.”
The embassy urged all eligible Pakistani nationals to take advantage of the scheme offered by the UAE.
It added the embassy and consulate general would remain fully committed to supporting fellow Pakistani citizens during this period.
ISLAMABAD: The first batch of Pakistan’s national cricket team has arrived in Australia for the upcoming ODI and T20I series, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Tuesday, including some of the most prominent bowlers and batters.
The Pakistan team has delivered underwhelming performances in recent international tournaments and tours, with their outings at the Asia Cup and the ICC World Cup last year leaving fans disappointed due to inconsistent displays and significant defeats.
Despite these setbacks, Pakistan’s recent Test series victory against England at home has rekindled hope among fans as the team sets out for tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.
“Members of the Pakistan ODI squad for the Australia series arrive in Melbourne,” PCB announced in an Instagram post, sharing pictures of Haris Rauf, Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi at airport in Australia.
“The remaining ODI players will depart for Melbourne today,” it added.
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The first group includes seven key players, while the second batch has white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan and others.
Pakistan will kick off their tour with a series of white-ball matches in Australia, followed by fixtures in Zimbabwe later in November.
The team is set to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Australia before heading to Zimbabwe for another white-ball series.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh and discussed ongoing bilateral engagements and Pakistan’s future economic plans, Sharif’s office said in a statement.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the eighth edition of the two-day Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit for which global business, technology and financial leaders have converged in the Saudi capital, looking for opportunities to forge relations with some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest companies and its $925 billion sovereign wealth fund.
Sharif arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday for a visit that comes after one to Islamabad by Saudi Investment Minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, during which over $2 billion in agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed between Saudi and Pakistani businesses.
“The two leaders took stock of the ongoing bilateral engagements, especially in follow up to the decisions taken in previous high-level meetings held in Makkah and Riyadh in April 2024,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after his meeting with the Saudi crown prince.
In April this year, after PM Sharif met the crown prince in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its commitment to expedite a $5 billion investment package for Pakistan.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Sharif apprised the crown prince of Pakistan’s economic, institutional and policy reforms agenda, saying that the Kingdom had a “central role” to play in Pakistan’s “future economic plans.” He also appreciated the Kingdom’s efforts to promote regional peace and stability in the Middle East and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to stand by Saudi Arabia in such efforts.
“The two leaders exchanged views on regional developments and agreed to closely coordinate positions on regional issues,” Sharif’s office said.
’PARTNERSHIPS IN AI, EDUCATION, HEALTH’
Prior to his meeting with the Saudi top leader, Sharif attended the FII summit in Riyadh where he said his government was looking to form partnerships with Saudi and other global companies in the realms of artificial intelligence (AI), education and health.
“Pakistan is laying the foundation for a knowledge-based economy driven by innovation in three pivotal domains, artificial intelligence, education and health, in which we look forward to forging useful partnerships,” Sharif said during his address at the summit, which is focusing on global investments in AI, robotics, education, energy, space, finance, health care and sustainability,
“Our mission is clear, and it is to encourage young minds to redefine the boundaries of AI, training skilled engineers and data scientists as the backbone of Pakistan’s AI growth and equipping our workforce to harness the power of AI across industries.”
The prime minister said Pakistan had more than 275,000 registered doctors, with the country’s youth pioneering new health tech solutions.
“With advancements in health care standards, we envision a future where our doctors and scientists collaborate across borders for a healthier tomorrow,” Sharif added as he invited participating nations to invest in Pakistan and bring their expertise to the South Asian country as it built a future “rooted in resilience and shared prosperity.”
“Pakistan stands ready to join those countries who dare to dream big,” Sharif said.
The Pakistani PM’s visit takes place at a time when Islamabad is seeking to strengthen trade and investment ties with friendly nations, particularly the Kingdom, which has promised a $5 billion investment package that cash-strapped Pakistan desperately needs to shore up its dwindling foreign reserves and fight a chronic balance of payment crisis.
ISLAMABAD: Telenor Pakistan and China’s ZTE Corporation have achieved a new data transmission record of 1.9 gigabits per second (Gbps) over a distance of 11.6 kilometers, according to a statement by the latter company on Tuesday, marking the highest transmission speed recorded in Pakistan.
The trial, conducted on Telenor’s live network, tested next-generation microwave transmission technology aimed at improving network capacity and performance. The test utilized state-of-the-art Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology, which allows for faster data transmission over longer distances.
“This achievement reflects our strategic focus on enhancing network efficiency and delivering superior data experiences to our customers,” said Awais Vohra, Chief Technology Officer of Telenor Pakistan, was quoted in a statement circulated by ZTE.
“By deploying cutting-edge MIMO technology, we aim to strengthen network performance and expand our capacity,” he added.
Li Ningtao, Chief Marketing Officer of ZTE Pakistan, said the trial underscores the potential of “microwave backhaul technology” to meet evolving network requirements.
“ZTE is dedicated to providing high-capacity, easy-to-deploy transmission solutions that simplify operations and maintenance,” he maintained. “Our goal is to offer flexible, leading-edge solutions that support the future evolution of mobile networks.”
Telenor Pakistan and ZTE said they would continue collaborating to push the boundaries of telecommunications technology in the country, with the goal of providing advanced connectivity solutions to both individuals and businesses.
The successful trial can turn out to be a significant step in improving Pakistan’s telecommunications infrastructure, which is key to expanding high-speed Internet services in the country.
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has voiced concern over the continued supply of advanced weapons and sensitive technologies to “one state” in South Asia and says it has been fueling instability in the region, Pakistani state media reported on Tuesday.
The statement by Pakistani delegate Gul Qaiser, a clear reference to India, came during a debate on conventional weapons held by the UN General Assembly’s Disarmament and International Security Committee.
Qaiser said some countries continued to prioritize financing wars over peaceful solutions at a time when the world was besieged by conflicts and cooperation was most needed to bolster peace-building efforts.
The Pakistani delegate lamented that efforts such as the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) had achieved only limited success in regulating conventional weapons, the Pakistani state-run APP news agency reported.
“Despite its emphasis on assessing arms transfers based on humanitarian, legal and security considerations, the reality is stark: advanced weaponry continues to flood volatile regions, often exacerbating disputes and even contributing to atrocities, including genocides,” Qaiser, a counsellor at Pakistan’s UN mission, was quoted as saying by the APP.
“In South Asia, one state is being supplied with advanced weapons and sensitive technologies leading to destabilizing accumulations despite the fact that it adopts hostile policies toward its neighbors and remains in defiance of multiple UNSC (UN Security Council) resolutions.”
Nuclear-armed neighbors, Pakistan and India, have remained at loggerheads and fought multiple wars since their independence from the British rule in 1947. The two South Asian countries regularly engage in testing newly developed weapon systems in an attempt to claim strategic dominance over each other.
But Qaiser said Pakistan, for its part, was committed to the establishment of a strategic restraint regime in South Asia, which included an element of conventional force balance.
“Pakistan neither wants, nor is engaged in an arms race in the region,” he said, calling for addressing the causes that propelled arms trade, instead of an exclusive focus on managing its effects.
The success of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) lies in the “delicate balance” it seeks to maintain between humanitarian considerations and legitimate security interests of states, according to the Pakistani delegate.
Pakistan shares concerns about the possibility of acquisition and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by “non-state actors and terrorists.”
He said work on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS), also known as ‘killer robots,’ should continue with an aim to develop international rules through a new protocol that spells out prohibitions and regulations governing autonomous weapon systems to ensure compliance with the international humanitarian law and consistency with the objectives and purposes of the CCW.
Qaiser also called for addressing broader concerns regarding artificial intelligence (AI) in military capabilities and the use of autonomous weapon systems, saying these issues go beyond the international humanitarian law and require urgent international attention.
ISLAMABAD: Mawlawi Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb, acting ambassador of Afghanistan to Islamabad, said on Tuesday his country did not have a policy of supporting “elements” who crossed into Pakistan to carry out militant attacks, urging the neighboring country to streamline bilateral relations by opening all border crossings for trade.
Islamabad says the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group uses Afghanistan as a base to launch attacks and says the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group along their shared border. Pakistan has recently variously accused TTP militants harboring in Afghanistan as well as Afghan nationals for being behind a surge of attacks in the South Asian nation. The Taliban deny this.
The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the group that now rules Afghanistan after the US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.
“This allegation [of harboring militants] is not correct. Afghan soil is not being used against Pakistan,” Shakeeb said at a talk arranged by the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad. “We don’t support it. This is not correct.”
He, however, admitted that “some elements” may have infiltrated Pakistan through the shared border, but insisted this was against the “policy” of the Afghan government.
“Maybe some elements, they are crossing some areas [into Pakistan],” he added, “but our policy is very clear, we don’t support these elements.”
The official said the Afghan government had captured “a lot of people” in recent months who had attempted to cross over into Pakistan, calling for “effective negotiations” between the two neighboring countries to check illegal movement.
Shakeen also spoke about Pakistan’s efforts to curb the flow of people and trade with Afghanistan, as Islamabad vows to implement a strict visa and passport policy on border crossings due to security concerns.
Pakistani officials say the restrictions, which were put in place last year, are a necessary security measure as the country grapples with a resurgence in militant violence.
Pashtun tribes straddling both sides of the British-era border’s Durand Line have historically moved freely for businesses and communal life. But starting last year, for the first time since the border was drawn over a century ago, Pakistani authorities are requiring residents to show a passport and visa before crossing over, paperwork virtually none of them possess.
“This [cross-border militancy] should not affect trade and lead to closure of the borders,” Shakeeb said, adding that Afghanistan’s geographical location could serve as an important corridor for trade with Pakistan and Central Asian states, though political and security challenges had hampered the realization of this potential.
“Our trade ties with Pakistan are affected due to different challenges, but we are committed to address them,” the Afghan diplomat said, adding that Afghan commerce ministry officials were engaged with Pakistani counterparts to iron out differences and restore the full potential of bilateral trade.
