Browsing: International – Pakistan
Pakistan’s government presented its annual budget yesterday, including plans to boost tax collection and defence spending, as citizens expressed weariness with surging inflation sparked by the Middle East crisis that Islamabad is mediating to end.Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb unveiled planned spending of 18.77 trillon rupees ($67bn), proposing an increase in defence spending by 16% while development spending remained flat.His government targeted an increase in tax revenues by 18% as it seeks to meet fiscal targets agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The measures could deepen frustration in a country where many households are already struggling with rising living costs.”The rising inflation caused by the conflict in the region has made our survival very difficult. I don’t expect this budget to bring anything positive,” Moin ud Din Khan, a social organiser at a Karachi NGO, told AFP.Petrol prices in Pakistan have soared more than 40% since US-Iran hostilities began in late February, exacerbated by competing blockades around the Strait of Hormuz maritime oil trade route.Pakistan’s average inflation spiked due to the impacts of the Middle East war, the official annual economic survey released before the budget showed, leaping to a rate of 10% in the three months after the conflict began up from 5.5% in the July-February period.Pakistan has been mediating between Iran and the US in a bid to end their conflict.The war came as Islamabad was trying to consolidate a fragile economic recovery after narrowly avoiding sovereign debt default in 2023 through multi-billion dollar IMF bailout programmes that required tough austerity measures.The economic survey showed GDP growth in the year ending June projected at 3.7%, below the target of 4.2%.The finance minister said growth was expected at four % in the coming financial year with 8.2 % inflation.At markets selling staples like rice, wheat and spices in the city of Rawalpindi this week, shopkeepers complained of poor business as customers said rising costs were leading them to pull back on spending.”People’s purchasing power has disappeared… now markets are deserted,” 46-year-old shopkeeper Khursheed Ahmed told AFP.Others warned a new government scheme aimed at bringing small businesses into the tax net was being introduced at the worst possible time.”Rather than imposing more taxes on the poor and small shopkeepers, the government should reduce its own expenditure,” said 53-year-old Rashid Mahmood Khan, a wholesale trader.The IMF has urged Islamabad to broaden its tax base and increase revenue collection as part of its current three-year $7bn lending package, measures that successive governments have struggled to implement in a country where the majority of workers are employed informally.Outside the parliament in Islamabad on Friday, dozens of government employees staged protests against the budget, chanting anti-government slogans as they demanded salary increases and higher pensions to offset inflation.Inside, lawmakers from jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s opposition party thumped on their desks and threw paper at the finance minister, causing him to pause several times as he outlined the budget, which must now pass through both chambers of Pakistan’s legislature. Source link
Pakistan said yesterday two river projects by arch-rival India would “weaponise” water and violate a major treaty between the neighbouring nations, threatening a response if they move ahead.India, which has announced the two initiatives separately this year, insists it is within its rights to press ahead with projects on the waters it controls, even though rivers flowing though both countries would be impacted.Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told journalists that New Delhi had not consulted Islamabad on the two Chenab River projects that he said would undermine the Indus Water Treaty.”These projects confirm that India seems to weaponise water,” he said. “This carries dangerous implications not only for Pakistan’s economy but also for regional stability and international peace and security.”India announced last year it was suspending the bilateral Indus Water Treaty that governs the use of waterways relied on by hundreds of millions, in the lead up to armed conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.Andrabi, however, said the treaty still binds both governments.Pakistan has previously said it would consider any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways an “act of war” and said there was no mechanism for either country to unilaterally withdraw from the 1960 pact that had survived three armed hostilities.In May, India’s government-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corp issued a tender notice for a proposed tunnel project that would transfer water from the Chenab River to the Beas basin.India’s power ministry said in January it was undertaking “sediment removal” at Salal Power Station on the Chenab River “following the termination of the Indus Waters Treaty”.Andrabi said that “any illegal measure to endanger Pakistan’s water, food and economic security as well as the survival and well-being of its 250mn people is unacceptable.””Pakistan will retain all options necessary for safeguarding rights under the treaty and to protect its vital national interest,” he said, without elaborating on a course of action.Water risks becoming a flashpoint in a region grappling with climate change and population growth, which are stretching resources in the agricultural sectors that form the backbone of both countries’ economies, experts say.India’s foreign ministry rejected a May 15 decision by what it termed the “illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration” — the Hague-based body used to resolve disputes between India and Pakistan related to the treaty.Pakistan said the decision supported its stance that the treaty remained in effect, which New Delhi denied.”India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance remains in force,” New Delhi’s foreign ministry said.The water treaty provided a rare avenue of diplomatic engagement between the rival sides until India suspended its involvement following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in April 2025.New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the attack, which Islamabad denies.The two countries engaged in intense drone, missile and artillery exchanges the following month which left nearly 70 people dead on both sides. Source link
China and Pakistan have reached a “new broad consensus” on deepening strategic ties to beef up development of a joint economic corridor and establish the port of Gwadar as a regional connectivity hub, the neighbours said yesterday.The remarks came in a joint statement as Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrapped up a visit to Beijing at a time when Islamabad is seeking investment while navigating tension with Afghanistan and mediating in the Iran war.”Both sides welcomed third parties to participate in the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the model agreed,” they said in the statement, issued after Sharif met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.They agreed to promote “high-quality” development of CPEC, a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road initiative, develop Pakistan’s port of Gwadar, and strengthen road and port links.These plans encompass the Khunjerab Pass and an upgrade of the Karakoram Highway, the main overland link between China and Pakistan.Pakistan also promised targeted steps to boost security and co-operation to ensure the safety of Chinese workers and investments in Pakistan, a key concern for Beijing after repeated militant attacks on its nationals and projects.REGIONAL DIPLOMACYChina said it appreciated Pakistan’s efforts in easing the temporary US-Iran ceasefire and hold talks in Islamabad. Both reiterated support for early adoption of a five-point initiative to restore Middle East peace, offering to make positive contributions towards it.Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China principle, calling the democratically-governed island of Taiwan, claimed by China, an “inalienable” part of China and saying it opposed any form of Taiwan independence.Taiwan rejects China’s claims, saying only the island’s people can decide its future.Pakistan welcomed China’s efforts to boost its dialogue with Afghanistan. Both opposed the use of territory by groups, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, to imperil regional security or launch attacks. Related Story Source link
Pakistan is repatriating 11 of its nationals and 20 Iranians from vessels seized in the high seas by the US, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday.They were repatriated through Singapore to Bangkok en route to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Friday night, Dar added in an X post, with the Iranians due to continue to their homeland.’All individuals are in good health and high spirits,’ the Pakistani minister said.It was not immediately clear which vessels they had been on.The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which began in February, was suspended last month after a fragile ceasefire but Washington and Tehran have engaged in naval confrontations and seizures of each other's vessels as they struggle to reach a peace pact.Pakistan has been mediating between the US and Iran.Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles about one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil and gas supply, to most shipping after the war began. Source link
Families of Pakistan’s crew members of an oil tanker seized by pirates in Somalia demonstrate during a protest near Karachi Port Trust (KPT) in Karachi yesterday,…
Iranian FM Abbas Araqchi in Islamabad yesterday. * US negotiators Witkoff and Kushner depart for Islamabad today* Iranian FM Araqchi and delegation land in Pakistan capital* US Vice-President JD Vance to join talks if there’s breakthrough US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Islamabad today for talks with Iran mediated by Pakistan, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt said the Trump administration has seen “some progress” from the Iranian side in the last couple of days, without elaborating.”Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out. We hope progress will be made and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting,” she told reporters yesterday. Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance, who led a first round of unsuccessful talks with Iran in Islamabad earlier this month, is ready to travel to Pakistan to join talks if they prove successful. “The president, the vice-president, the secretary of state, will be waiting here in the United States for updates and the vice-president, I understand, is on standby and will be willing to dispatch to Pakistan if we feel it’s a necessary use of his time,” Leavitt said.In the meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad late on Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States, amid conflicting signals on whether he would meet with US negotiators there.Pakistan’s foreign minister said Araqchi would meet with senior Pakistani officials to discuss the peace efforts. Araqchi wrote on X that he was visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia to co-ordinate with partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments, adding that Iran’s neighbours remained Tehran’s priority. The tour will include consultations on the latest efforts to end the war, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson later told state media.Two Pakistani government sources aware of the discussions said Araqchi’s visit would be brief and focus on Iran’s proposals for talks with the US, which mediator Pakistan would then convey to Washington. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a briefing earlier on Friday that Iran had a chance to make a “good deal” with the United States.”Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely … at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways,” he said.Reports on Araqchi’s trip in Iranian state media and the Pakistani sources made no mention of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who was the head of its delegation at the talks earlier this month.The Iranian parliament’s media office denied a report that Qalibaf had resigned as head of Iran’s negotiating team, and added that there was no new round of talks scheduled yet.Pakistani sources said earlier that a US logistics and security team already was in place in Islamabad for potential talks.The last round of peace talks had been expected to resume on Tuesday but never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a US delegation led by Vance never leaving Washington. Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday at the 11th hour to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators. Source link
* Iran foreign minister expected on Friday in Islamabad* US security teams already in place Peace talks between Iran and the United States could resume soon in Pakistan, where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected to arrive on Friday night, three Pakistani sources said.Two of the sources, from the Pakistani government, said a U.S. logistics and security team was already in place for potential talks.There was no immediate direct response from Washington or Tehran to the report, but US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking around the same time, told a briefing that Iran had a chance to make a “good deal” with the United States. The last round of peace talks had been expected on Tuesday but never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance never leaving Washington.President Donald Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday at the 11th hour to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators.LEBANON CEASEFIRE EXTENDEDOn Thursday, Israel and Lebanon extended a separate ceasefire for three weeks at a meeting at the White House brokered by Trump. Iran considers maintaining the ceasefire in Lebanon a precondition for talks with the United States on the wider war.Trump said on Thursday he was in no rush to reach an agreement and wanted it to be “everlasting,” while asserting that the U.S. had an upper hand in a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route.The United States has yet to find a way to open the strait, where Iran has blocked nearly all ships apart from its own since the start of the war eight weeks ago. Iran showed off its control this week by seizing two huge cargo vessels there.Trump imposed a separate blockade of Iranian shipping last week, with U.S. forces boarding several Iranian ships in international waters. Iran says it will not reopen the strait until Trump lifts his blockade.Only five ships crossed the strait in the last 24 hours, shipping data showed on Friday, compared to around 130 a day before the war. Those included one Iranian oil products tanker, but none of the vast crude-carrying supertankers that normally feed global energy markets.Container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd also said one of its ships had crossed, without giving details. Source link
Pakistan’s powerful military chief and prime minister concluded yesterday separate visits aimed at ending the Iran war, with Field Marshal Asim Munir leaving Tehran and premier Shehbaz Sharif headed home from Turkiye. Munir met Iran’s top leadership and peace negotiators during a three-day visit to Tehran, a Pakistani military statement said. The visit showed Pakistan’s “unwavering resolve to facilitate a negotiated settlement… and to promote peace, stability, and prosperity”, the military said ahead of expected US-Iran talks in Islamabad in the coming days.The Pakistani military chief held negotiations with the country’s president, foreign minister, parliament speaker and the head of Iran’s military central command centre. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian delegation to Islamabad for peace talks with the US last week, the highest level face-to-face contact between the two countries in decades. Those talks ended without an agreement, but diplomacy continued thereafter, with Pakistan’s prime minister undertaking a three-country tour to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye to push the peace process. That visit also concluded yesterday, with Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar departing a diplomacy forum in Antalya, according to statements from both officials. A second round of talks between the United States and Iran is expected in Islamabad this coming week. In Tehran, “the Field Marshal underscored the need for dialogue, de-escalation, and peaceful resolution of outstanding issues through sustained diplomatic engagements”, the Pakistani statement said. Source link
Motorists ride along a road on Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue on April 14, 2026. As the clock ticked down to US President Donald Trump’s deadline to destroy…
Two sides could return to Pakistan by week’s end, say sources* Oil prices fall below $100* Trump says Iranians want to make a deal* VP Vance, leading US side, says future talks depend on IranNegotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Islamabad this week to resume talks to end the war, sources told Reuters on Tuesday, after the collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.While the US blockade drew angry rhetoric from Tehran, signs that diplomatic engagement might continue helped calm oil markets, pushing benchmark prices below $100 on Tuesday..But a source involved in the talks said on Tuesday both countries could return as early as the end of this week, and that a proposal had been shared with Washington and Tehran to resend their delegations.”No firm date has been set, with the delegations keeping Friday through Sunday open,” a senior Iranian source said.US President Donald Trump said Iran had been in touch on Monday and wanted to make a deal, adding that he would not sanction any agreement that allowed Tehran to possess a nuclear weapon.Since the United States and Israel began the war on February 28, Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz to nearly all vessels except its own, saying passage would be permitted only under Iranian control and subject to a fee. The fallout has been widespread, as nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas previously flowed through the narrow waterway.In a countermeasure, the US military said it began blocking shipping traffic in and out of Iran’s ports on Monday. Tehran has threatened to hit naval ships going through the strait and to retaliate against its Gulf neighbours’ ports.Nearly 24 hours into the US blockade, there had yet to be reports of Washington taking direct action against shipping to enforce it. Three Iran-linked tankers were seen transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, shipping data showed, but the vessels were not heading to or from Iranian ports.The United States’ NATO allies including Britain and France said they would not be drawn into the conflict by taking part in the blockade, although they have offered to help safeguard the strait when an agreement is in place.French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will chair a video conference on Friday for countries willing to contribute to a defensive multilateral mission to restore freedom of navigation in the strait when security conditions permit, Macron’s office said.China, the main buyer of Iranian oil, said the US blockade was “dangerous and irresponsible” and would only aggravate tensions.Reflecting the growing disruption, the International Energy Agency on Tuesday sharply cut its forecasts for global oil supply and demand growth, saying both are now expected to fall from 2025 levels as war in the Middle East disrupts oil flows and weighs on the global economy. Source link