‘No formal meeting’ held between Pakistan and India at SCO summit, says foreign office/node/2576609/pakistan
‘No formal meeting’ held between Pakistan and India at SCO summit, says foreign office
This handout photograph taken on October 16, 2024 and released by Pakistan's Press Information Department (PID) shows Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) shaking hands with India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, in Islamabad. (AFP via PID)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar did not hold a formal meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit (SCO), the foreign office clarified Thursday, saying that viral images of the two officials seated together at a luncheon were simply an exchange of pleasantries.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding political tensions, having fought three wars and numerous skirmishes since they were carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947.
The Indian minister was the first top official from New Delhi to visit Pakistan after nearly a decade. During the visit, a picture of Dar and Jaishankar was shared by media outlets, where the two ministers could be seen engaged in a conversation while sharing a seat next to each other at the official SCO lunch.
This led to speculations and conjectures by political analysts, with some saying the two officials were discussing cricket and trying to break the ice between the arch-rival neighbors.
“There has been no formal meeting between Pakistan and India at the foreign minister’s level including at the SCO,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on Thursday.
She said it was common for delegations in multilateral settings to “exchange pleasantries” and hold informal conversations over lunch and dinner, especially between the hosts and participating guests.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been particularly sour since 2019 when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the limited autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir. The move was celebrated across India but led Pakistan to suspend bilateral trade and downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in full.
Before departing Pakistan, Jaishankar thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy PM Dar and the Pakistan government for the “hospitalities and courtesies” extended to him during the visit.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said that none of the two countries requested a bilateral meeting, though he termed the Indian minister’s presence at the SCO as an “ice breaker.”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari on Thursday met his counterpart from Iran and Chinese energy officials to discuss cross-border collaboration and energy cooperation, the Power Division said in a statement.
Pakistan has suffered from a prolonged energy crisis that stems largely from a gap in the energy the country’s energy supplies and electricity demand.
Cash-strapped Pakistan lacks adequate resources to run its oil- and gas-powered plants and imports most of its energy needs. The country’s energy crisis has taken a toll on its economy as it struggles with a chronic balance of payments crisis, inflation and currency devaluation.
Leghari met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Ali Abadi on the sidelines of the Third Belt & Road Ministerial Conference held in Qingdao, China.
“Minister Awais Leghari underscored the importance of cross-border energy projects in boosting connectivity and trade,” the Power Division said. “Both sides discussed future collaboration, particularly focusing on the development of electricity projects in Gwadar, Balochistan.”
Both stressed the importance of strengthening energy cooperation in power plant operations and maintenance, the statement said, adding that they emphasized the need for regular coordination and communication.
Separately, Leghari held separate meetings with Yao Huan, vice president of Power China and Ni Zhen, the general manager of Energy China, in Qingdao.
“Recalling historic visit of Premier Li Qiang to Pakistan, Minister for Power conveyed Pakistan’s desire to modernize power dispatch and transmission systems, aimed at cutting lines and other losses,” the Power Division said.
In the meeting with Huan, both sides discussed establishing a state-of-the-art research and development center in Pakistan to facilitate the integration of advanced technologies and best practices into the country’s energy framework.
With Zhen, both representatives discussed enhancing the energy mix and advancing new technologies into power generation and dispatch systems, the Power Division said.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir on Thursday witnessed the Indus Shield regional aerial warfare exercises in Rawalpindi, the military’s media wing said, expressing satisfaction over the national air force’s combat readiness and modernization.
Indus Shield-2024 is the largest multinational regional exercise in which air forces from 24 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkiye and others are taking part. The exercise aims to foster interoperability and training through state-of-the-art facilities.
Pakistan frequently holds exercise drills with its regional allies, including those from the Middle East, to strengthen defense ties and bolster regional security.
“COAS expressed his satisfaction over the combat readiness of Pakistan Air Force and the progress made through various modernization and up-gradation programs,” the army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
In this handout photograph, taken and released by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on October 24, 2024, Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir watches aerial exercise during the Indus Shield-2024 in Rawalpindi. (Photo courtesy: ISPR)
Munir was briefed about the PAF’s modernization efforts to stay abreast with security challenges, the ISPR said, adding that he also witnessed exercise operations with the static display of various technologies.
“COAS also interacted with the aircrew and appreciated the resolve of PAF personnel to safeguard the aerial frontiers of Pakistan,” the ISPR said. “He emphasized the critical role of inter-service collaboration, which he believes is essential for achieving operational success.”
In this handout photograph, taken and released by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on October 24, 2024, Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir meets security personnel at the Indus Shield-2024 in Rawalpindi. (Photo courtesy: ISPR)
Air Chief Marshal Sidhu briefed Munir about the modernization and indigenization drive being undertaken by the PAF by inducting state-of-the-art weapons.
“While speaking at the occasion, the air chief highlighted that the ongoing exercise Indus Shield-2024 will go a long way in bolstering interoperability among the participating nations and will train their air & ground crews to face contemporary warfare challenges,” the military’s media wing concluded.
‘Fake news’ of Pakistan rape ignites real protest movement
Protests began this month after online posts alleged Lahore college student had been raped by staffer
Student protests broke out over allegations, with police arresting over 380 after clashes and unrest
Updated 24 October 2024
AFP
LAHORE, Pakistan: For Pakistani police, reports of a college campus rape that went viral this month are “fake news” fomenting unrest. For protesting students, the social media posts offer a rare public reckoning with sexual assault.
But as the clashing accounts have spilled from the Internet and onto the streets, both sides agree the case has ignited a tinderbox of legitimate fears.
“Girls who go to campuses definitely feel threatened,” 21-year-old Khadija Shabbir told AFP at a Monday protest in eastern Lahore city that was swiftly dismantled by authorities.
Senior officer Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi is charged with probing the case police insist has been conjured from unverifiable online rumors.
Students carry placards as they march during a demonstration to condemn the alleged rape of a female student in Lahore on October 16, 2024. (AFP)
But she admits it has struck a real chord on the issue of harassment in Pakistan, a patriarchal country where open discussion of abuse is taboo.
“All of us somewhere have experienced it,” she says. “It’s an extremely sensitive subject.”
It began earlier this month with a swirl of social media posts alleging a staff member had raped a woman in the basement of a Punjab College campus in Lahore.
When police and local media were unable to trace a victim, the local government and school administration dismissed the claims as a hoax.
But student protests broke out last Monday, escalating into unrest in Lahore and other cities later in the week that led to the arrests of at least 380 people over vandalism and arson.
Students throw stones toward police during clashes as they protest over an alleged on-campus rape in Punjab, in Rawalpindi on October 17, 2024. (AP)
Educational institutes were shut across Punjab province last Friday — when protests are generally staged after prayers — and political gatherings were banned for two days, although officials gave no reason.
As a result, about 26 million children were out of school as well as many more university and college students in the country’s most populous province.
But students, banned from officially organizing in unions for the past four decades, have continued to come out this week.
“I haven’t seen it grow into a movement like this or this sort of anger or reaction from them before,” said Fatima Razzaq, a member of the Aurat March women’s rights group.
The Punjab government has a women-only police emergency line where they report receiving 1,300 calls daily from women concerned about their safety.
But with 80 percent of women saying they have been harassed in public places, according to the UN, there is little trust that authorities take the matter seriously.
Razzaq said “a deep-rooted frustration” is surfacing as a result.
While protesters’ opinions vary about the veracity of the rape claim that has sparked the movement, many cite their own experience as more pivotal in their decision to turn out.
Students throw stones toward police during clashes as they protest over an alleged on-campus rape in Punjab, in Rawalpindi on October 17, 2024. (AP)
“A girl I know in my university committed suicide because she was being harassed,” student Amna Nazar told AFP.
“My professor keeps asking me out and calling me to his office,” said another University of the Punjab student, asking to remain anonymous. “This is something I do not want to do.”
On the campus where the crime is alleged to have happened, activists painted the walls with red hand prints and demands of “justice for the rape victim.” But it was quickly painted over.
“If we go and complain about an incident, we are told that nothing happened and we should stop talking about it,” said one female student at another university.
Lahore’s High Court has announced a new committee of judges to investigate campus sexual harassment, indicating authorities are conceding the protests have a point.
But the face-off between students and police is taking place amid a broader crackdown on dissent from political and ethnic activists across Pakistan.
Student social media pages and online chat groups created to mobilize protesters have disappeared and officials have pledged that those spreading misinformation will be prosecuted.
In this photograph taken on October 19, 2024, Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi, a Pakistani senior police officer, speaks during an interview with AFP at her office in Lahore. (AFP)
Naqvi — the police officer — said there was “less tendency of people to believe somebody in uniform” and that the confrontation had spiraled into the “state versus the students.”
Meanwhile, the women whose experiences with harassment have placed them at the center of the movement are finding themselves sidelined as the protests spill into violence often led by men.
As crowds of male students threw rocks at police in the city of Rawalpindi last week, officers returned fire with rubber bullets, and women fearing for their safety cowered away in side-streets.
Nevertheless, 19-year-old female student Inshai said: “We are standing up for our rights.”
Pakistan formally requests IMF RST money, targeting $1 bln, finance minister says
Created in 2022, RST provides long-term concessional cash for climate-related spending
Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, as per Global Climate Risk Index
Updated 24 October 2024
Reuters
WASHINGTON: Pakistan is targeting around $1 billion in a formal request for funding from the IMF facility that helps low and middle-income countries manage external shocks, its finance minister told Reuters.
“We have formally requested to be considered for this facility,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank autumn meetings in Washington.
The International Monetary Fund had already agreed a $7 billion bailout for Pakistan, but has further funding available via its Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST).
The RST, created in 2022, provides long-term concessional cash for climate-related spending, such as adaptation and transitioning to cleaner energy.
The South Asian nation is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change according to the Global Climate Risk Index.
Floods in 2022, which scientists said was aggravated by global warming, affected at least 33 million people and killed more than 1,700. The country’s economic struggles and high debt burden impinged its ability to respond to the disaster.
Pakistan is also in talks with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for a credit enhancement for a planned Panda bond, with an initial issue of $200-250 million, Aurangzeb said.
A Panda bond issuance would be Pakistan’s first foray into China’s capital markets. Aurangzeb said they were talking to “a few other institutions” in addition to the AIIB for a credit enhancement.
Issuing in the world’s “second largest and the second deepest” capital market, Aurangzeb said, was the key aim, rather than a particular issuance size.
“From our perspective it is diversification of the funding base,” Aurangzeb. “Even if the inaugural issue is not significant in size, for us it is important that we print that and of course then we can keep it on tap.”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain and Saudi Arabia’s governor for small and medium enterprises (SME) general on Thursday agreed to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the SME sector.
Hussain departed for the Kingdom this week to attend the two-day United Nations Multilateral Industrial Policy Forum (MIPF) being held in Riyadh from Oct. 23-24.
The Pakistani minister engaged with international delegates to discuss strategies for enhancing industrial growth and sustainable practices during his visit. On Thursday, he met Saudi Arabia’s governor for small and medium enterprises general in Riyadh, Pakistan’s ministry of industries and production said.
“Both sides discussed matters of mutual interest,” the statement said. “Cooperation among small and medium enterprises will be increased.”
The ministry said both sides also agreed to increase the number of visits by business professionals to their countries.
Pakistan has been seeking to strengthen trade and investment ties, particularly with the Kingdom, whose leadership reaffirmed its commitment this year to expedite a $5 billion investment package for the South Asian country.
