Pakistan, Bangladesh envoys in UAE meet, propose direct flights from Islamabad, Karachi to Dhaka/node/2586651/pakistan
Pakistan, Bangladesh envoys in UAE meet, propose direct flights from Islamabad, Karachi to Dhaka
Tareq Ahmed (right), the newly appointed Bangladesh Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, gestures for a photograph with Pakistan Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi at the Pakistan House in Abu Dhabi, UAE on January 16, 2025. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Embassy)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Bangladesh discussed the resumption of direct flights between Islamabad, Karachi and Dhaka during a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, signaling a potential step toward closer bilateral cooperation.
Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one nation but split in 1971 after a bloody civil war, which saw the part previously referred to as East Pakistan secede to form an independent nation.
In the decades since, Bangladeshi leaders, particularly former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid, maintained close ties with India, Pakistan’s arch-rival. However, ties between the two countries warmed up since her ouster in a student-led uprising last year in August, marking a new phase of bilateral relations.
The discussion focusing on the ties between both nations took place between Tareq Ahmed, the newly appointed Bangladeshi envoy to the United Arab Emirates, and Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE.
The interaction happened at Pakistan House in Abu Dhabi.
“During the meeting, matters of mutual interest including cooperation in trade and investment, efforts to increase people-to-people contact, and resumption of direct flights from Islamabad and Karachi to Dhaka, were discussed,” said a statement released after the two diplomats met. “Both sides underscored the importance of supporting the welfare of the large Pakistani and Bangladeshi diaspora in the UAE.”
The Pakistani ambassador highlighted the deep historical and cultural ties between the two nations and stressed the untapped trade potential that could contribute to their economic growth.
His counterpart reaffirmed Bangladesh’s commitment to strengthening ties with Pakistan and emphasized the need for dialogue and cooperation to tackle shared challenges in the region.
There have also been interactions on multilateral forums between the top leaders of both countries since the fall of Wajid’s administration.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar is also scheduled to visit Dhaka in the beginning of February to further consolidate relations between the two countries.
KARACHI: Pakistan has extended the deadline for expressions of interest (EOI) in purchasing Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to June 19, the country’s privatization ministry said on Tuesday.
Cash-strapped Pakistan is seeking to privatize the debt-ridden PIA to raise funds and reform state-owned enterprises, as outlined in the $7 billion International Monetary Fund program secured last year.
The earlier EOI deadline was June 3.
“The deadline for submission of Expressions of Interest and Statements of Qualification for ‘Divestment of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited through privatization’ has been extended till 16:00 hours on Thursday, June 19, 2025,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The remaining terms and conditions shall remain the same.”
Speaking to Arab News, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity the deadline had been extended due to Eid Al-Adha next month along with “the recent crisis situation.”
Asked if by “crisis” he meant the recent India-Pakistan military standoff and the ensuing tensions, he concisely responded, “yes.”
Pakistan has been seeking to sell a 51 percent to 100 percent stake in the debt-ridden carrier to raise funds and reform cash-draining state-owned enterprises.
The final bidding round for the privatization of PIA last October drew only one offer of $36 million for a 60 percent stake in the national flag carrier.
Although the government had pre-qualified six groups in June, only the real estate firm Blue World City submitted a bid, which fell significantly short of the government’s minimum price of $303 million.
Potential bidders raised several concerns, including lack of policy continuity, uncertainty around contract enforcement, inconsistent government communication and unfavorable terms and taxation in the aviation sector.
Last year, PIA received permission to resume operations in Europe after a 2020 ban by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which had raised concerns about the oversight capabilities of Pakistani authorities and the Civil Aviation Authority in ensuring compliance with international aviation standards.
EASA and UK authorities had suspended PIA’s operations in the region following a probe into pilot licensing irregularities, launched after a 2020 crash that killed 97 people.
In March this year, the government endorsed a plan to fast-track PIA privatization while reiterating its resolve to offload loss-making public entities from the national exchequer.
ISLAMABAD: A police official providing security to a polio vaccination team was shot dead in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, the provincial administration said, highlighting the persistent threat to workers involved in the country’s polio eradication campaign.
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside Afghanistan. Efforts to eradicate the disease have faced numerous challenges, including parental refusals, misinformation and persistent attacks by militant groups.
In many remote and volatile regions, vaccination teams operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have frequently been targeted.
“A police officer was martyred in Nushki while guarding a polio team,” said Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind in a statement.
“The polio campaign is a national duty, and any attack on it is intolerable,” he added. “We pay tribute to the officer who embraced martyrdom in the line of duty.”
The slain officer, identified as Waheed Ahmed, was a resident of Jamalabad, Nushki, according to the provincial spokesperson.
Rind termed the shooting “a conspiracy to sabotage the national campaign and spread fear.” He also vowed stricter action against the perpetrators.
“The government will further strengthen security measures for both polio teams and the personnel assigned to protect them,” he added.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the incident, expressing sorrow over the death of the police official and extending condolences to his family.
“An attack on a polio team working to safeguard the future of our children is unacceptable,” he said. “Elements opposing the polio campaign will be dealt with firmly.”
Pakistan witnessed a sharp rise in polio cases last year, with 74 children diagnosed with the crippling disease, 27 of them from Balochistan.
So far this year, 10 cases have been reported across the country, prompting authorities to ramp up door-to-door vaccination drives despite the ongoing threat from militant groups.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged his party and supporters to prepare for a “full-fledged nationwide protest movement,” renewing his challenge to the country’s government in a social media message from behind bars.
Khan, a former cricket star-turned-politician, was ousted from power in April 2022 through a parliamentary no-confidence vote. He later accused his political rivals and Pakistan’s military leadership of orchestrating his removal in coordination with the United States, a charge denied by all of them.
Following his ouster, Khan led a year-long anti-government campaign, holding rallies and sharply criticizing the army’s role in politics, further escalating civil-military tensions in the country. In August 2023, he was arrested and sentenced on graft charges, and has remained incarcerated since.
“I instruct my party, workers and supporters to get ready for a vigorous, countrywide movement,” Khan said in Urdu on the social media platform X. “This time, I will call for all of Pakistan to rise, not just Islamabad.”
The remarks come amid persistent speculation of backchannel talks between Khan’s camp and the military establishment, with reports suggesting he might accept a deal to secure release. However, Khan dismissed such suggestions in the same message, saying he would never bow to tyranny or accept injustice.
“I would rather spend my entire life behind bars than kneel before oppression and authoritarianism,” he said, adding the rule of law remained the central goal of his political struggle.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has repeatedly complained about a persistent government crackdown, with dozens of its leaders and workers detained. Khan said that peaceful protest was now the only option left.
“When all doors are shut on a political party, when oppression is inflicted and the judiciary is not free, peaceful protest is the only path left,” he said.
The former prime minister also addressed his party members directly in the message, warning those who defied party discipline and appeared to be aligning with rival interests.
“None of you are ‘electable’ in your own right,” he said. “You won on the basis of an ideology. I know who’s playing both sides on the wicket. Anyone who doesn’t follow party orders has no place in PTI.”
Khan added he intends to hold intra-party elections at the first available opportunity to bring grassroots workers into leadership positions.
“Party elections are essential so that committed workers can rise to the top,” he said.
While no date or timeline for the protest movement was announced, the call raises the prospect of renewed political instability in a country still reeling from economic crisis, a fragile coalition government and volatile civil-military relations.
India and Pakistan’s drone battles mark new arms race in Asia
India plans to invest as much as $470 million on UAVs over the next 12 to 24 months
Pakistan is likely to advance domestic drone production with Turkish and Chinese help
Updated 27 May 2025
Reuters
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: A little after 8:00 p.m. on May 8, red flares streaked through the night sky over the northern Indian city of Jammu as its air-defense systems opened fire on drones from neighboring Pakistan.
The Indian and Pakistani militaries have deployed high-end fighter jets, conventional missiles and artillery during decades of clashes, but the four days of fighting in May marked the first time New Delhi and Islamabad utilized unmanned aerial vehicles at scale against each other.
The fighting halted after the US announced it brokered a ceasefire but the South Asian powers, which spent more than $96 billion on defense last year, are now locked in a drones arms race, according to Reuters’ interviews with 15 people, including security officials, industry executives and analysts in the two countries.
Two of them said they expect increased use of UAVs by the nuclear-armed neighbors because small-scale drone attacks can strike targets without risking personnel or provoking uncontrollable escalation.
India plans to invest heavily in local industry and could spend as much as $470 million on UAVs over the next 12 to 24 months, roughly three times pre-conflict levels, said Smit Shah of Drone Federation India, which represents over 550 companies and regularly interacts with the government.
The previously unreported forecast, which came as India this month approved roughly $4.6 billion in emergency military procurement funds, was corroborated by two other industry executives. The Indian military plans to use some of that additional funding on combat and surveillance drones, according to two Indian officials familiar with the matter.
Defense procurement in India tends to involve years of bureaucratic processes but officials are now calling drone makers in for trials and demonstrations at an unprecedented pace, said Vishal Saxena, a vice president at Indian UAV firm ideaForge Technology.
The Pakistan Air Force, meanwhile, is pushing to acquire more UAVs as it seeks to avoid risking its high-end aircraft, said a Pakistani source familiar with the matter. Pakistan and India both deployed cutting-edge generation 4.5 fighter jets during the latest clashes but cash-strapped Islamabad only has about 20 high-end Chinese-made J-10 fighters compared to the three dozen Rafales that Delhi can muster.
Pakistan is likely to build on existing relationships to intensify collaboration with China and Turkiye to advance domestic drone research and production capabilities, said Oishee Majumdar of defense intelligence firm Janes.
Islamabad is relying on a collaboration between Pakistan’s National Aerospace Science and Technology Park and Turkish defense contractor Baykar that locally assembles the YIHA-III drone, the Pakistani source said, adding a unit could be produced domestically in between two to three days.
Pakistan’s military declined to respond to Reuters’ questions. The Indian defense ministry and Baykar did not return requests for comment.
An Indian army soldier looks at a drone at Akhnoor sector near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region on May 19, 2025. (AFP/File)
India and Pakistan “appear to view drone strikes as a way to apply military pressure without immediately provoking large-scale escalation,” said King’s College London political scientist Walter Ladwig III.
“UAVs allow leaders to demonstrate resolve, achieve visible effects, and manage domestic expectations — all without exposing expensive aircraft or pilots to danger,” he added.
But such skirmishes are not entirely risk-free, and Ladwig noted that countries could also send UAVs to attack contested or densely populated areas where they might not previously have used manned platforms.
DRONE SWARMS AND VINTAGE GUNS
The fighting in May, which was the fiercest in this century between the neighbors, came after an April 22 militant attack in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists.
Delhi blamed the killings on “terrorists” backed by Islamabad, which denied the charge. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed revenge and Delhi on May 7 launched air strikes on what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan.
The next night, Pakistan sent hordes of drones along a 1,700-kilometer (772-mile) front with India, with between 300 and 400 of them pushing in along 36 locations to probe Indian air defenses, Indian officials have said.
Pakistan depended on Turkish-origin YIHA-III and Asisguard Songar drones, as well as the Shahpar-II UAV produced domestically by the state-owned Global Industrial & Defense Solutions conglomerate, according to two Pakistani sources.
But much of this drone deployment was cut down by Cold War-era Indian anti-aircraft guns that were rigged to modern military radar and communication networks developed by state-run Bharat Electronics, according to two Indian officials.
A Pakistan source denied that large numbers of its drones were shot down on May 8, but India did not appear to sustain significant damage from that drone raid.
India’s use of the anti-aircraft guns, which had not been designed for anti-drone-warfare, turned out to be surprisingly effective, said retired Indian Brig. Anshuman Narang, now an UAV expert at Delhi’s Center for Joint Warfare Studies.
“Ten times better than what I’d expected,” he said.
India also sent Israeli HAROP, Polish WARMATE and domestically-produced UAVs into Pakistani airspace, according to one Indian and two Pakistan sources. Some of them were also used for precision attacks on what two Indian officials described as military and militant infrastructure.
The two Pakistani security sources confirmed that India deployed a large number of the HAROPs — a long-range loitering munition drone manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries. Such UAVs, also known as suicide drones, stay over a target before crashing down and detonating on impact. Pakistan set up decoy radars in some areas to draw in the HAROPs, or waited for their flight time to come toward its end, so that they fell below 3,000 feet and could be shot down, a third Pakistani source said.
Drones are displayed during the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS 2024) in Karachi, Pakistan November 21, 2024. (Reuters/File)
Both sides claim to have notched victories in their use of UAVs.
India successfully targeted infrastructure within Pakistan with minimal risk to personnel or major platforms, said KCL’s Ladwig. For Pakistan’s military, which claimed to have struck Indian defense facilities with UAVs, drone attacks allow it to signal action while drawing less international scrutiny than conventional methods, he noted.
CHEAP BUT WITH AN ACHILLES HEEL
Despite the loss of many drones, both sides are doubling down.
“We’re talking about relatively cheap technology,” said Washington-based South Asia expert Michael Kugelman. “And while UAVs don’t have the shock and awe effect of missiles and fighter jets, they can still convey a sense of power and purpose for those that launch them.”
Indian defense planners are likely to expand domestic development of loitering munitions UAVs, according to an Indian security source and Sameer Joshi of Indian UAV maker NewSpace, which is deepening its research and development on such drones.
“Their ability to loiter, evade detection, and strike with precision marked a shift toward high-value, low-cost warfare with mass produced drones,” said Joshi, whose firm supplies the Indian military.
And firms like ideaForge, which has supplied over 2,000 UAVs to the Indian security forces, are also investing on enhancing the ability of its drones to be less vulnerable to electronic warfare, said Saxena.
Another vulnerability that is harder to address is the Indian drone program’s reliance on hard-to-replace components from China, an established military partner of Pakistan, four Indian dronemakers and officials said.
India continues to depend on China-made magnets and lithium for UAV batteries, said Drone Federation India’s Shah.
“Weaponization of the supply chain is also an issue,” said ideaForge’s Saxena on the possibility of Beijing shutting the tap on components in certain situations.
For instance, Chinese restrictions on the sale of drones and components to Ukraine have weakened Kyiv’s ability to produce critical combat drones, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said in response to Reuters’ questions that Beijing has always implemented export controls on dual-use items in accordance with domestic laws and regulations as well as its international obligations.
“Diversification of supply chain is a medium to long term problem,” said Shah. “You can’t solve it in short term.”
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday praised the Iranian leadership for its “farsightedness” in pursuing nuclear negotiations with the United States and expressed hope for a positive outcome during a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.
Sharif arrived in Iran earlier in the day after a stop in Istanbul, as part of a regional diplomacy tour that includes upcoming visits to Azerbaijan and Tajikistan. His trip follows a brief but intense military standoff with neighboring India, in which the two nuclear-armed rivals exchanged missile, drone and artillery fire.
Pakistan has thanked Tehran for its support during the conflict.
“The Prime Minister praised the farsightedness of the Iranian leadership in pursuing the nuclear negotiations with the United States and hoped that a constructive deal is reached between the two countries that can promote peace and stability in the region,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Talks between Iran and the US aim to limit Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions. A key sticking point remains uranium enrichment, with Washington asking Iran to halt its program, while Tehran insisting on its right to continue enrichment for civilian purposes.
During the meeting, Sharif also informed Khamenei about Pakistan’s recent conflict with India and accused New Delhi of “hegemonistic and revisionist designs.”
He emphasized Pakistan’s desire for regional peace and economic development, and expressed a commitment to deepening strategic cooperation with Iran “in complex geo-political times.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said Khamenei praised Sharif’s efforts to promote peace and regional stability and reaffirmed support for closer bilateral ties.
Earlier on Monday, Sharif also met newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
At a joint press conference, the two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation, with Pezeshkian emphasizing the need for secure and peaceful borders free from militant and criminal activity.
Relations between the two neighbors became strained last year after Iran launched strikes inside Pakistani territory against suspected militant hideouts, prompting retaliatory strikes by Islamabad against separatist militants in Iran.
Both sides have since sought to de-escalate tensions and pledged to respect each other’s sovereignty.
Sharif concluded his meeting with Khamenei by inviting the Supreme Leader to visit Islamabad and expressed appreciation for his admiration of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan’s national poet.
