Pakistan

• Meets IMF delegation, says country on road to economic progress • Govt seeks relief measures in budget; Fund reviewing proposals ISLAMABAD: Amid week-long talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on next fiscal year’s budget, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to fast-track institutional reforms and maintain macroeconomic stability. During a meeting with an IMF delegation led by Regional Director for the Middle East and South Asia, Jihad Azour, the prime minister said the country was now firmly on the path of economic development after a period of recovery and stability. “By the grace of Allah, Pakistan is now moving from economic stability towards sustainable growth,” PM Shehbaz said in an official statement. He said the government’s top priority was to sustain macroeconomic gains and expedite comprehensive institutional reforms, crucial for long-term resilience. The high-level meeting took place at the last leg of negotiations between an IMF staff mission an...

• Lawmakers pass the bill without debate • House passes resolution urging govt to condemn India for suspending Indus Waters Treaty ISLAMABAD: Days before presentation of the federal budget for the next fiscal year, the National Assembly on Thursday passed an IMF-dictated money bill through a supplementary agenda and without any debate. The Off the Grid (Captive Power Plants) Levy Bill, 2025, aimed at providing legal justification for the grid levy imposed on the supply of natural gas or imported liquefied natural gas to industrial captive power plants (CPPs) as of March 7, was tabled by Minister for Petroleum Division Ali Pervaiz after the house suspended the rules. The minister moved the motion for the passage of the bill soon after presentation of the report of the standing committee on petroleum by its chairman Mustafa Mehmood. The bill cleared all the required stages in just one day as the committee had also approved it in a meeting held minutes before start of the NA session. The opposition challenged th...

• AGP Awan says Islamabad willing to discuss water sharing deal • Senate panel slams India’s ‘provocative action’ NEW DELHI: Pakistan will not get water from rivers over which India has rights, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, a month after a deadly attack in India-held Kashmir led New Delhi to suspend a key river water-sharing treaty between the neighbours. The attorney general for Pakistan, in an interview with Reuters, responded that Islam­abad remained willing to discuss water sharing between the neighbours but said India must stick to the decades-old treaty. The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), negotiated by the World Bank in 1960, was among a slew of measures announced by India against Pakistan last month after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people. New Delhi had said the attack was backed by Pakistan, an accusation Islamabad den­ied and the nuclear-armed neig­hbours were involved in their worst military fighting in nearly three decades before agreeing to a ...

RAWALPINDI: Pakis­tan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Thursday the launch of direct flights from Lahore to Paris, with the first flight scheduled to take off on June 18, as part of its strategy to further expand flight operations “PIA has decided to operate a weekly flight from Lahore to Paris every Wednesday,” a spokesman for PIA said. “With the launch of this flight, three direct flights per week will become part of PIA’s operations.” The new route is part of the airline’s broader strategy to extend its network to Europe and meet growing demand from the Pakistani diaspora in France and Pakistan, the spokesman said. “This direct route to Paris addresses a long-standing demand from the Pakistani community, offering affordable fares and time savings,” the spokesman added. Earlier this year, to mark the relaunch of PIA flights from Islamabad to Paris, the airline decorated a Boeing 777 aircraft with a model of the Eiffel Tower on its tail and the slogan “I Love Paris” on the nose. The aircraft was mod...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan was the seventh most affected country for civilians harmed by explosive weapons in 2024, with 790 civilian casualties and 210 killings, recorded across 248 incidents in the country, according to a report released by UK-based NGO, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) on Thursday. Titled, ‘Action on Armed Violence’ (AOAV), the report notes that the casualties in 2024 represent a nine per cent decrease from 2023. However, there was a 11 per cent increase in incidents compared to 218 in 2023. Pakistan was listed at seventh position among the 15 most affected countries and territories in 2024. The majority of civilians harmed was attributed to non-state actors, who were reported responsible for 76pc of civilian casualties. In particular, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) killed and injured 119 civilians in Pakistan last year. The BLA is among the biggest non-state users of explosive weapons in 2024, and it was the reported perpetrator of 15pc civilian casualties, marking a 440pc increase from 22...

Asif Ali Zardari says we will fight for every inch in the air, sea, rivers, jungles, deserts PM says under Field Marshal Asim Munir’s leadership, Armed Forces gave a jaw breaking response to enemy.

Army top brass underscores urgent need for international intervention to prevent further deterioration of peace in South Asia Pakistan will never allow peace to be compromised by externally sponsored terrorism Corps Commanders extend felicitations to Field Marshal.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed his government’s commitment to fast-track institutional reforms alongside macroeconomic stabilization, asserting that Pakistan was now firmly on the path to economic development, following a period of recovery and stability.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar yesterday described his recent three-day visit to China as “highly successful,” underscoring substantial diplomatic, strategic, and eco-nomic gains achieved during engagements with Chinese and Afghan leadership in Beijing.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday held a series of meetings at Zardari House here, focusing on political, organizational, and social welfare matters.

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted post-arrest bails to 86 PTI workers arrested during the November 26, protest.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday rejected all three applications filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) challenging the composition and timing of the constitutional bench hearing review petitions related to the allocation of reserved seats to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday said that former US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s remarks on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons were prompted by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday praised US President Donald Trump’s role in ceasefire.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal has said that Daanish University of Applied and Emerging Sciences will be a flagship center for excellence in education and innovation, contributing significantly to Pakistan’s journey toward becoming a $3 trillion economy by 2047.

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan conducted ground breaking of a dedicated Public Facilitation Centre designed to place litigants and citizens at the very heart of judicial service delivery.

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday accepted the bail pleas filed by 86 PTI workers in the November 26 protest cases.

ISLAMABAD - The Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Neil Hawkins, said that Australia was proud to support young Pakistani professionals through various educational scholarship programmes.

VEHARI - Vehari District Police Officer Muhammad Afzal chaired a series of key meetings aimed at improving investigation standards, enhancing coordination among police units, and effectively curbing crime in the district.

BOUREWALA - The Station House Officer (SHO) of Thana City was suspended, while a sub-inspector and a constable were arrested after being booked for torturing a shopkeeper in custody.