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Pakistan positions itself as ‘leading digital nation’ at inaugural online FDI forum

Pakistan positions itself as ‘leading digital nation’ at inaugural online FDI forum
Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar speaks during the Digital Foreign Direct Investment forum in Islamabad on April 30, 2025. (Photo courtesy: Handout/DFDI)
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Updated 30 April 2025
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Pakistan positions itself as ‘leading digital nation’ at inaugural online FDI forum

Pakistan positions itself as ‘leading digital nation’ at inaugural online FDI forum
  • Pakistan ranks among top 10 nations by online population, with 140 million Internet and 73 million smartphone users
  • PM Sharif says Pakistan stands on brink of digital transformation, backed by investor confidence and young workforce
Updated 30 April 2025
Fatimah Amjad
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar emphasized the country’s young and dynamic population was capable of positioning it as a competitive provider of high-quality information technology services while addressing the Digital Foreign Direct Investment (DFDI) forum in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The two-day forum, inaugurated on April 29, is co-hosted by Pakistan and the Riyadh-based Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO). It has brought together over 400 delegates and more than 200 IT and telecom companies from over 30 countries.
The DCO, established in November 2020, is a global multilateral organization that seeks to accelerate the inclusive growth of the digital economy. Its founding members include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Pakistan.
Pakistan is also set to assume the DCO presidency, reflecting the South Asian state’s commitment to digital transformation.
“Digital services exports have become a cornerstone of [Pakistan’s] economic strategy,” Dar said. “Pakistan’s growing pool of highly skilled tech professionals is creating world-class solutions for clients across the globe.”
“With our young, dynamic workforce and expanding capabilities, we are positioning Pakistan as a reliable and competitive source of high-quality digital services,” he continued.
Dar highlighted the country’s demographics as a significant advantage, adding Pakistan had over 140 million Internet users and 73 million smartphone users, making it among the top 10 countries globally in terms of online population.
He also emphasized the opportunities within the DCO region.
“The potential of the DCO region is immense,” he pointed out. “With a combined GDP of $3.5 trillion and a population of over 800 million, it is one of the most promising frontiers for digital investment.”
“At this forum, we are not just identifying investment-ready markets and emerging startup ecosystems,” he continued. “We are spotlighting scalable innovations in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing and other frontier technologies.”
He highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to building world-class digital infrastructure and invited global investors to benefit as well.
“Let me emphasize that Pakistan offers a compelling proposition to global investors,” he said. “With investor-friendly policies, regulatory reforms and a cost advantage of up to 70 percent compared to North America, Pakistan creates the ideal environment for sustainable and profitable growth.”
A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced Pakistan had secured approximately $700 million in foreign investment commitments by hosting the forum, underscoring the country’s appeal as a digital investment destination.
Sharif also met DCO Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya earlier today and called the forum a “transformative moment” for the country’s digital economy.
“Pakistan’s most valuable asset is our young workforce,” he said. “Equipping them with digital skills and training is among our top priorities.”
The prime minister said the DFDI forum and its international participation reflected Pakistan’s potential to lead in the global digital economy.
He also met executives from major IT firms participating in the two-day forum, including Russoft, sAi Venture Capital, Mashreq Bank and Mindhyve.ai, who collectively pledged about $700 million in digital sector investment.
“Pakistan stands on the threshold of a transformative leap,” he told delegates, reaffirming his government’s support and commitment to building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships.
Sharif said Pakistan’s goal was to become a regional hub for technology, finance and innovation, aligned with its ongoing fiscal reforms and digital infrastructure expansion.

Topics: Digital Foreign Direct Investment Forum Ishaq Dar Pakistan economy

Pakistan Senate chief in Moscow to strengthen Pakistan-Russia collaboration in key sectors

Pakistan Senate chief in Moscow to strengthen Pakistan-Russia collaboration in key sectors
Updated 33 sec ago
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Pakistan Senate chief in Moscow to strengthen Pakistan-Russia collaboration in key sectors

Pakistan Senate chief in Moscow to strengthen Pakistan-Russia collaboration in key sectors
  • The visit comes as Pakistan is gradually recovering from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that pushed it to the brink of a default in 2023
  • Discussions will focus on enhancing trade and economic cooperation, and exploring avenues in energy, regional connectivity and security sectors
Updated 33 sec ago
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani has arrived in Moscow on an official visit to explore new avenues of collaboration between Pakistan and Russia in key sectors, a Pakistani government statement said on Sunday.
Pakistan and Russia, once Cold War rivals, have strengthened ties in recent years through increased dialogue and trade. In 2023, Islamabad began purchasing discounted Russian crude oil banned from European markets due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and also received its first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas from Moscow.
In Dec., Russia and Pakistan held intergovernmental meetings in Moscow and discussed cooperation on oil and gas offshore exploration and refining. Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Albert P. Khorev this year announced cooperation with Pakistan in energy and industrial sectors, including the modernization of a state-owned steel mill.
Gilani is visiting Moscow at the invitation of Valentina Matviyenko, chairperson of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, and is scheduled to hold high-level meetings in the Russian capital, according to Pakistan’s Press Information Department (PID).
“Discussions will focus on enhancing parliamentary exchanges, boosting trade and economic cooperation, and exploring collaboration in key sectors such as energy, regional connectivity, and security,” the statement said.
The visit comes as Pakistan is striving to draw overseas investment amid a gradually healing macroeconomic environment after a prolonged downturn that forced Islamabad to seek external financing from friendly nations and multiple loan programs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In an interview, Gilani recalled that Speaker Matviyenko had previously visited Pakistan and addressed parliament, which contributed significantly to fostering bilateral understanding, according to the PID.
He highlighted Pakistan’s successful foreign policy initiatives under the current government, which have enhanced the country’s global standing, and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to deepening strategic ties with Russia.
“The visit marks a significant milestone in advancing bilateral engagement and reflects the two nations’ shared interest in broad-based and forward-looking cooperation across multiple sectors,” it said.

Topics: Pakistan Russia Ties Senate Yosuf Raza Gillani

‘Precise, proportionate’: Pakistan says only targeted Indian facilities involved in civilian killings

‘Precise, proportionate’: Pakistan says only targeted Indian facilities involved in civilian killings
Updated 11 May 2025
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‘Precise, proportionate’: Pakistan says only targeted Indian facilities involved in civilian killings

‘Precise, proportionate’: Pakistan says only targeted Indian facilities involved in civilian killings
  • Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides
  • The hostilities were triggered by an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists on April 22
Updated 11 May 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan exercised restraint and only targeted Indian military facilities and entities that were involved in the killings of Pakistani civilians in this week’s incursions, a Pakistani military spokesman said on Sunday, a day after the United States (US) brokered a truce between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Tensions between India and Pakistan over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir escalated on Wednesday, when India struck multiple Pakistani cities with missiles, quickly followed by what Islamabad said was the downing of five Indian fighter jets.
Both neighbors continued to attack the other’s territory with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery until Saturday evening, when US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire that has largely held, except for a few alleged violations in Kashmir.
Briefing the media about operational details, Pakistani military spokesman, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said Pakistan hit 26 Indian military facilities and dozens of its drones hovered over major Indian cities, including India’s capital New Delhi, in their counter-offensive against India.
“Pakistan’s military response has been precise, proportionate and still remarkably restrained,” Chaudhry said, sharing details of ‘Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.’
“It was carefully calibrated to avoid civilian casualties and it exclusively targeted those entities and facilities which were directly involved in orchestrating and executing cold-blooded killings of Pakistani civilians.”


Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides, with some residents of border villages still waiting to return to their homes.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed that the conflict was spiraling alarmingly. But within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both.
A top Indian army officer said on Sunday the Indian military had sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan about violations of a ceasefire agreed this week and informed it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if it was repeated.
“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, India’s director-general of military operations, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The [Indian] armed forces were on a very, very high alert [on Saturday] and continue to be in that state.”
The hostilities were triggered by the attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort town that killed 26 tourists on April 22. India accused Pakistan of backing the assault, Islamabad has denied it and called for a credible, international probe.
The Pakistani military spokesman said Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos had been a “great example” of coming together of all elements of Pakistan’s national power to effectively counter the threat to national sovereignty and integrity, warning of a similar response to any such attempt in the future.
“No one should have any doubt that whenever our sovereignty would be threatened and territorial integrity violated, the response would be comprehensive, retributive and decisive,” he said.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
On Sunday, Trump said he would try to work with both India and Pakistan to see if they can resolve their dispute over the Kashmir territory, vowing to “substantially” increase trade with both nations.
“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, referring to India and Pakistan.
“Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he added.

Topics: dg ispr Pakistan India ceasefire Pakistan India clash

Pakistan’s Kashmiris return to homes, but keep bunkers stocked

Pakistan’s Kashmiris return to homes, but keep bunkers stocked
Updated 11 May 2025
AFP
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Pakistan’s Kashmiris return to homes, but keep bunkers stocked

Pakistan’s Kashmiris return to homes, but keep bunkers stocked
  • More than 60 people were killed in four days of intense conflict between Pakistan, India before a US-brokered truce was announced Saturday
  • At heart of the hostilities is Kashmir, a mountainous Muslim-majority region divided between the two countries but claimed in full by both
Updated 11 May 2025
AFP

CHAKOTHI: As an uneasy calm settled over villages on the Pakistan side of contested Kashmir on Sunday, families returned to their own beds but were sure to leave their bunkers stocked.
More than 60 people were killed in four days of intense conflict between arch-rivals Pakistan and India before a US-brokered truce was announced on Saturday.
At heart of the hostilities is Kashmir, a mountainous Muslim-majority region divided between the two countries but claimed in full by both, and where the heaviest casualties are often reported.
On the Pakistan side of the heavily militarised de facto border, known as the Line of Control (LoC), families wearied by decades of sporadic firing began to return home — for now.
“I have absolutely no faith in India; I believe it will strike again. For people living in this area, it’s crucial to build protective bunkers near their homes,” said Kala Khan, a resident of Chakothi which overlooks the Neelum River that separates the two sides and from where they can see Indian military posts.
His eight-member family sheltered through the night and parts of the day under the 20-inch-thick concrete roofs of two bunkers.
“Whenever there was Indian shelling, I would take my family into it,” he said of the past few days.
“We’ve stored mattresses, flour, rice, other food supplies, and even some valuable belongings in there.”
According to an administrative officer in the region, more than a thousand bunkers have been built along the LoC, around a third by the government, to protect civilians from Indian shelling.
Pakistan and India have fought several wars over Kashmir, and India has long battled an insurgency on its side by militant groups fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan.
New Delhi accuses Islamabad of backing the militants, including an attack on tourists in April which sparked the latest conflict.
Pakistan said it was not involved and called for an independent investigation.
Limited firing overnight between Saturday and Sunday made some families hesitant to return to their homes on the LoC.
In Chakothi, nestled among lush green mountains, surrounded by an abundance of walnut trees at the foothills, half of the 300 shops were closed and few people ventured onto the streets.
“I’ve been living on the LoC for 50 years. Ceasefires are announced, but after a few days the firing starts again,” said Muhammad Munir, a 53-year-old government employee in Chakothi.
It is the poor who suffer most from the endless uncertainty and hunt for safety along the LoC, he said, adding: “There’s no guarantee that this latest ceasefire will hold — we’re certain of that.”
When clashes broke out, Kashif Minhas, 25, a construction worker in Chakothi, desperately searched for a vehicle to move his wife and three children away from the fighting.
“I had to walk several kilometers before finally getting one and moving my family,” he told AFP.
“In my view, the current ceasefire between India and Pakistan is just a formality. There’s still a risk of renewed firing, and if it happens again, I’ll move my family out once more.”
A senior administrative officer stationed in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir where a mosque was struck by an Indian missile killing three people, told AFP there had been no reports of firing since Sunday morning.
In Indian-administered Kashmir, hundreds of thousands of people who had evacuated also began to cautiously return home after heavy Pakistani shelling — many expressing the same fears as on the Pakistani side.
The four-day conflict struck deep into both countries, reaching major cities for the first time in decades — with the majority of deaths in Pakistan, and almost all civilians.
Chakothi taxi driver Muhammad Akhlaq said the ceasefire was “no guarantee of lasting peace.”
“I have serious doubts about it because the core issue that fuels hostility between the two countries still remains unresolved — and that issue is Kashmir,” said the 56-year-old.

Topics: Pakistan India clash Pakistan India ceasefire

Suicide blast kills two policemen in Pakistan’s northwest, police say

Suicide blast kills two policemen in Pakistan’s northwest, police say
Updated 11 May 2025
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Suicide blast kills two policemen in Pakistan’s northwest, police say

Suicide blast kills two policemen in Pakistan’s northwest, police say
  • The blast targeted a police vehicle within the remits of Chamkani police station in Peshawar
  • No group immediately claims responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban
Updated 11 May 2025
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: A suicide blast killed two policemen in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan, police said on Sunday, amid a surge in militancy in the region.
The blast targeted a police vehicle within the remits of Chamkani police station in the provincial capital of Peshawar, according to a Peshawar police spokesman. Three other persons were injured in the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who have mounted their attacks against security forces and police in the region in recent months.
“SI (sub-inspector) Laeeqzada Khan and Constable Alamzeb were martyred as a result of the blast,” Alam Khan, the police spokesman said.
Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for KP Rescue 1122 service, said they shifted the bodies and injured to hospital for medico-legal formalities.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in KP since the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), called off their months-long ceasefire with the government in late 2022.
Islamabad has frequently accused that militant groups use Afghan soil to launch cross-border attacks in Pakistan, an allegation the Afghan Taliban deny, maintaining there are no militant groups operating in their territory.
Late last month, Pakistan’s army said it had killed over 70 militants who were attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Topics: peshawar attack militancy in Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)

India’s diplomatic ambitions tested as Trump pushes for deal on Kashmir

India’s diplomatic ambitions tested as Trump pushes for deal on Kashmir
Updated 11 May 2025
Reuters
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India’s diplomatic ambitions tested as Trump pushes for deal on Kashmir

India’s diplomatic ambitions tested as Trump pushes for deal on Kashmir
  • India’s rapid rise as the world’s fifth-largest economy has boosted its confidence, clout on world stage
  • But the decades-old conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir touches a sensitive nerve in the Indian politics
Updated 11 May 2025
Reuters

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan have stepped back from the brink of all-out war, with a nudge from the US, but New Delhi’s aspirations as a global diplomatic power now face a key test after President Donald Trump offered to mediate on the dispute over Kashmir, analysts said.
India’s rapid rise as the world’s fifth-largest economy has boosted its confidence and clout on the world stage, where it has played an important role in addressing regional crises such as Sri Lanka’s economic collapse and the Myanmar earthquake.
But the conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir, which flared up in recent days with exchanges of missiles drones and air strikes that killed at least 66 people, touches a sensitive nerve in Indian politics.
How India threads the diplomatic needle — courting favor with Trump over issues like trade while asserting its own interests in the Kashmir conflict — will depend in large part on domestic politics and could determine the future prospects for conflict in Kashmir.
“India ... is likely not keen on the broader talks (that the ceasefire) calls for. Upholding it will pose challenges,” said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst based in Washington.
In a sign of just how fragile the truce remains, the two governments accused each other of serious violations late on Saturday.
The ceasefire, Kugelman noted, was “cobbled together hastily” when tensions were at their peak.
Trump said on Sunday that, following the ceasefire, “I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great nations.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for his part, has not commented publicly on the conflict since it began.
India considers Kashmir an integral part of its territory and not open for negotiation, least of all through a third-party mediator. India and Pakistan both rule the scenic Himalayan region in part, claim it in full, and have fought two wars and numerous other conflicts over what India says is a Pakistan-backed insurgency there. Pakistan denies it backs insurgency.
“By agreeing to abort under US persuasion ... just three days of military operations, India is drawing international attention to the Kashmir dispute, not to Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism that triggered the crisis,” said Brahma Chellaney, an Indian defense analyst.
For decades after the two countries separated in 1947, the West largely saw India and Pakistan through the same lens as the neighbors fought regularly over Kashmir. That changed in recent years, partly thanks to India’s economic rise while Pakistan languished with an economy less than one-10th India’s size.
But Trump’s proposal to work toward a solution to the Kashmir problem, along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s declaration that India and Pakistan would start talks on their broader issues at a neutral site, has irked many Indians.
Pakistan has repeatedly thanked Trump for his offer on Kashmir, while India has not acknowledged any role played by a third party in the ceasefire, saying it was agreed by the two sides themselves.
Analysts and Indian opposition parties are already questioning whether New Delhi met its strategic objectives by launching missiles into Pakistan on Wednesday last week, which it said were in retaliation for an attack last month on tourists in Kashmir that killed 26 men. It blamed the attack on Pakistan — a charge that Islamabad denied.
By launching missiles deep into Pakistan, Modi showed a much higher appetite for risk than his predecessors. But the sudden ceasefire exposed him to rare criticism at home.
Swapan Dasgupta, a former lawmaker from Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, said the ceasefire had not gone down well in India partly because “Trump suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pronounced his verdict.”
The main opposition Congress party got in on the act, demanding an explanation from the government on the “ceasefire announcements made from Washington, D.C.”
“Have we opened the doors to third-party mediation?” asked Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh.
And while the fighting has stopped, there remain a number of flashpoints in the relationship that will test India’s resolve and may tempt it to adopt a hard-line stance.
The top issue for Pakistan, diplomats and government officials there said, would be the Indus Waters Treaty, which India suspended last month but which is a vital source of water for many of Pakistan’s farms and hydropower plants.
“Pakistan would not have agreed (to a ceasefire) without US guarantees of a broader dialogue,” said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, a former foreign minister and currently chairman of the People’s Party of Pakistan, which supports the government.
Moeed Yusuf, former Pakistan National Security Adviser, said a broad agreement would be needed to break the cycle of brinksmanship over Kashmir.
“Because the underlying issues remain, and every six months, one year, two years, three years, something like this happens and then you are back at the brink of war in a nuclear environment,” he said.

Topics: India Pakistan stand off Pakistan India clash Pakistan India ceasefire US President Donald Trump

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