Pakistan | Pakistan

70 terrorists killed in selective strikes on seven terrorist camps Camps of FAK and Islamic State Khorasan province were targeted n Government urges interim Afghan authorities to prevent use of their soil for attacks against Pakistan.

The Ministry of Finance on Sunday dismissed claims that Pakistan was paying up to eight per cent interest on external loans as “misleading,” clarifying that public external debt interest outflows rose by 80.4 per cent between fiscal years 2022 and 2025, not 84pc. The ministry issued a clarification in response to “recent press commentary” on Pakistan’s external debt, saying the figures cited needed context to provide an “accurate and comprehensive understanding” of the country’s debt and interest payments. “Pakistan’s total external debt and liabilities currently stand at $138 billion. This figure, however, encompasses a broad range of obligations, including public and publicly guaranteed debt, debt of public sector enterprises (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed), bank borrowings, private-sector external debt, and intercompany liabilities to direct investors,” the statement said. “It is therefore important to distinguish this aggregate figure from external public (government) debt, which amounts to approxima...

Somalia is in advanced talks with Pakistan to purchase up to 24 JF-17 Thunder Block III fighter jets, in a defence deal valued at approximately Rs2.

Pakistan has witnessed a staggering 7,906% surge in sugar imports during the first seven months of the current fiscal year, according to the latest Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data.

Pakistan, along with 13 other nations, has condemned the remarks made by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, where he suggested that he would not be opposed to Tel Aviv taking over large swathes of the Middle East, the Foreign Office said on Sunday. Huckabee made the remarks in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Friday, where the envoy asserted that Israel’s borders are based on the Bible when questioned about the country’s current boundaries. In response, Carlson noted that the biblical verse included the region between the Euphrates River in Iraq and the Nile in Egypt. To this, Huckabee, who is a staunch pro-Israel conservative, said, “It would be fine if they (Israel) took it all”. In a joint-statement issued today, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Kuwait, Oman, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, along with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the League of Arab States (LAS), and the Gulf...

• Highlights its major peace mission role • Opposes adding new permanent members to Security Council, calling it contrary to sovereign equality UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar has cautioned that the deepening liquidity crisis at the United Nations is significantly undermining peacekeeping operations, reinforcing urgent concerns previously raised by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Antonio Guterres earlier this month warned that the United Nations could face an “imminent financial collapse” unless member states pay their dues fully and on time, or reform budget rules that require the organization to return unspent funds despite cash shortages. Ambassador Iftikhar speaking at the opening of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, said funding shortages are undermining mandate implementation, civilian protection, violence deterrence, and the safety of peacekeepers. He stressed that UN peacekeeping remains vital to international peace and security but is facing mounting politic...

WASHINGTON: As a guilty plea in New York confirms India’s involvement in an assassination attempt on US soil, Pakistan has highlighted Indian-sponsorship of extraterritorial terrorism and threats against dissidents abroad, warning that the Modi government, in the garb of extremist Hindutva ideology has become the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Islamabad has shared “irrefutable and concrete evidence of Indian sponsorship of terrorism and terrorist groups operating in Pakistan from across our borders,” said Tahir Abdrabi, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a recent press briefing. The warning comes as Nikhil Gupta, an American citizen, formally stands convicted in a US federal court after a Manhattan judge accepted his guilty plea in a murder-for-hire conspiracy targeting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh activist living in New York. The case carries a maximum prison exposure of 40 years. Observers say conviction confirms Indian plot to kill Sikh activist, but it does not resolve bro...

England captain Harry Brook said on Saturday that it would be “a shame” if Pakistani players were shut out of England’s domestic white-ball Hundred competition by Indian-owned franchises. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan on Friday urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to “act fast” on BBC reports that Pakistani players will be “overlooked” in the player auction next month. Ahead of England’s opening Super Eights clash against Sri Lanka in Kandy on Sunday, Brook — who will play for Indian-owned Sunrisers Leeds in the Hundred this year — was asked about the issue. “Our main focus now is what’s coming up in the T20 World Cup. It’s not really any of our business, to be honest,” said Brook. “But what I would say is Pakistan have been a great cricket nation for many years.” Long-standing political tensions between India and Pakistan have led to the border rivals only playing each other in international cricket events. Their Colombo showdown at the ongoing T20 World Cup only went ahead after Pakistan...

Pakistan and the United States on Saturday expressed the desire to enhance economic cooperation, especially in the fields of trade and investment, according to the finance ministry. In a post on the social media platform X, the ministry said that a delegation led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met US Commerce Secretary Howard A. Lutnick in Washington. It said that finance minister was accompanied by the commerce secretary, Pakistan’s ambassador to US, and trade and economic ministers. “Both sides expressed the desire to enhance our economic cooperation, especially in the fields of trade and investment, besides discussing the USA’s interest in investing in fields of information and communication technology, mining, minerals and energy,” the ministry said. According to the ministry, Aurangzeb appreciated the role of the US Chamber of Commerce in organising the US-Pakistan Trade and Investment Forum, which will take place on March 31 and will be attended by renowned companies and ministerial representati...

Pakistan has reaffirmed its firm opposition to the creation of new permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), warning that such a move would deepen dysfunction within the 15-member body and undermine the principle of sovereign equality among member states.

COLOMBO: The struggles of stalwarts Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi have come under the spotlight as Pakistan eye a winning start to their T20 World Cup Super Eight campaign against New Zealand at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Saturday. While Babar failed to deliver in his newly-assumed number four role — barring a decent outing against the USA — during the group stage, Shaheen has emerged as one of Pakistan’s weaker links throughout the tournament so far. The duo may well take a back seat against the BlackCaps, with the less experienced yet promising Khawaja Nafay and Salman Mirza expected to be entrusted with middle-order batting and new-ball bowling duties, respectively. On the eve of the fixture, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson laid bare Babar’s vulnerabilities with the bat and hinted the former skipper could contribute only in a specific role, providing context as to why he was not sent in during the last group game against Namibia. “We think he’s a fine player through the middle, if required, in t...

ISLAMABAD - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Pakistan remains under an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and that an IMF staff team is expected to visit the country starting Feb.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday that the Green Shirts would tour Bangladesh in March for a three-match One Day International (ODI) series. In a press release, the PCB said, “Pakistan men’s cricket team will tour Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series, the Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed on Friday.” It said that the team would arrive in Bangladesh on March 9 and hold a training session the next day, ahead of the opening ODI against the hosts on March 11. The board added that the second ODI would be played on March 13, while the third and final match was scheduled for March 15. It added that all three matches would be played at the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. “This will be Pakistan’s second tour of Bangladesh since July 2025. Pakistan last toured Bangladesh for a three-match T20I series in July, which the hosts won 2-1. Meanwhile, Bangladesh toured Pakistan for a three-match T20I series in May/June last year, which the Salman Ali Agha-led side won 3-0,” the PCB said. The ...

Former captain Michael Vaughan has urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to “act fast” on reports that Pakistani players will be overlooked by Indian-owned teams in the domestic Hundred competition. Longstanding political tensions between India and Pakistan have led to the border rivals only playing each other in international cricket events, although their recent Colombo showdown at the ongoing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka only went ahead after Pakistan called off a boycott. It has been claimed that politics has also led to an effective ban on Pakistani players participating in the Indian Premier League, world cricket’s most lucrative T20 franchise competition. And with several IPL owners now owning teams in several different countries, opportunities for Pakistani cricketers to participate in various leagues are in danger of being reduced further. The BBC has now reported that the issue could be a factor during next month’s player auction for English cricket’s Hundred, a 100 balls-per-side ...

Policy efforts undertaken by Pakistan under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) “helped stabilise the economy and rebuild confidence,” the lending agency’s spokesperson said on Thursday. IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack made the statement during a weekly press briefing. In response to a question regarding Pakistan’s progress in meeting terms set by the Fund, Kozack said, “Pakistan’s policy efforts under the EFF have helped stabilise the economy and rebuild confidence.” She further said that fiscal performance had been “strong”. Kozack said that Pakistan currently had a primary fiscal surplus of 1.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), which was “in line with programme targets”. “Headline inflation has been relatively contained. And Pakistan posted its first current account surplus in 14 years in FY25,” Kozack added. She also said that an IMF staff team was expected to visit Pakistan starting February 25 for discussions on the third review under the EFF and the...

Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan had received “great recognition and honour” at the Board of Peace meeting, terming it a moment of pride for the country and its people. In a video shared on X by Radio Pakistan on Friday, the information minister said that the way US President Donald Trump praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, and appreciated Pakistan’s role, had added to the country’s prestige and enabled it to gain wider global recognition. He added that the praise had raised Pakistan’s stature and that the country had “emerged as an important player on the global stage”. Tarar described the development as a success of Pakistan’s foreign policy and “the result of teamwork between the prime minister and field marshal”. He added that PM Shehbaz had consistently raised the Palestinian cause at every platform, especially at the United Nations (UN) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). “Today, he stated three points: that Palest...

ISLAMABAD - The Governments of Pakistan and the United States have formally launched a strategic economic initiative, including collaboration with the US General Services Administration (GSA) regarding the operation, maintenance, renovation, and redevelopment of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday promised $10 billion and Muslim-majority nations offered funding and troops for Gaza at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington. Pakistan, however, was not named among the five nations who have committed troops for the International Stabilisation Force, which will be tas­k­ed with securing reconstruction zones and supporting a post-conflict governance arrangement in Gaza. Trump brought together allies from around the world — many authoritarians, with few Western democrats who traditionally ally with the United States — to hail his peacemaking at the first Board of Peace meeting. Presiding with a gavel over the meeting in the gleaming Washington building of the former US Institute of Peace, which has been gutted and renamed after the 79-year-old Republican, Trump hailed the “powerful people” who joined his board. “We will help Gaza. We will straighten it out. We’ll make it successful,” Trump said, holding up a document with pledges before the disco beats of his ...

The finance ministry said on Thursday that Pakistan and the United States had formally launched a strategic economic initiative, including collaboration regarding the operation, maintenance, renovation and redevelopment of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. In a statement, the ministry said that the initiative would include collaboration with the US General Services Administration (GSA) for the redevelopment of the hotel. “This engagement was negotiated and stewarded by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,” it said. “To advance this partnership, both governments have signed an MoU formalising their cooperation,” the ministry added. The statement said the MoU was signed by GSA Administrator Edward C Forst and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, and was witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Witkoff. “It establishes a structured, time-bound framework for joint evaluation of the technical, commercial, and economic parameters of cooperation, reflecting a shared ...

Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan on Thursday underscored Pakistan’s transformative role as a vital “Economic Bridge” linking South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Eurasia.