Pakistan PM meets UAE president, thanks him for role in defusing India tensions
Pakistan PM meets UAE president, thanks him for role in defusing India tensions/node/2604304/pakistan
Pakistan PM meets UAE president, thanks him for role in defusing India tensions
In this handout photo, released by Pakistan Prime Minister Office, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan receives Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Qasr Al Shati in Abu Dhabi, UAE on June 12, 2025. (PMO/Handout)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday met United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and thanked him for his government’s efforts in defusing last month’s military conflict with India.
Sharif, who arrived in the UAE earlier in the day, held talks with the Emirati leader on bilateral, regional, and global issues. He had previously met Sheikh Mohamed in February while attending the World Government Summit in Dubai.
According to a statement from the PM’s office, Sharif specifically appreciated the UAE’s “constructive role in promoting peace and stability in the region, including its efforts to de-escalate tensions between Pakistan and India.”
“Both sides expressed satisfaction over the positive trajectory of bilateral ties and ongoing engagements at all levels,” the statement added. “The leaders agreed to maintain close coordination and continue working together to advance shared goals of regional peace and prosperity.”
In this handout photo, released by Pakistan Prime Minister Office, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaks during a meeting with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Qasr Al Shati in Abu Dhabi, UAE on June 12, 2025. (PMO/Handout)
Between May 7 and 10, nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan exchanged drone, missile, and artillery strikes in their worst cross-border escalation in years. A ceasefire was later brokered by the United States, but Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, were widely reported to have played a quiet but significant role in back-channel diplomacy.
During Thursday’s meeting, Sharif also extended a renewed invitation for Sheikh Mohamed to visit Pakistan.
The UAE is one of Pakistan’s most important regional partners, with cooperation spanning trade, investment, defense, energy, and diaspora affairs. Roughly 1.5 million Pakistanis live in the UAE, making it the second-largest overseas Pakistani population after Saudi Arabia.
The UAE is also the second-largest source of remittances to Pakistan behind Saudi Arabia and in May sent $754.2 million home, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
Bilateral ties have deepened in recent years, especially in areas like infrastructure, renewable energy and logistics. In May 2024, the UAE pledged to invest $10 billion in Pakistan’s key economic sectors as part of its long-term regional economic strategy.
Pakistan needs foreign investment to boost its economy and shore up its currency reserves to meet rising external repayment obligations as it treads a tricky path to economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF bailout deal.
ISLAMABAD: Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are likely to face each other in the upcoming Asia Cup cricket tournament on September 7 in the UAE, a report by an Indian publication said on Wednesday.
According to a report in Indian publication ‘Times of India,’ the Asia Cup is likely to start on September 5 with the title clash taking place on September 21. It said that all participating nations, including official hosts India, are close to getting clearances from their respective governments for the tournament which is set to be played in the UAE.
Already-soured relations between India and Pakistan further worsened after four days of intense fighting before a ceasefire was announced in May. Bilateral cricket has been suspended since 2013 between the Asian neighbors, who play each other only in multi-team events as per an International Cricket Council arrangement.
“The 17-day window has been almost finalized by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and India are set to take on Pakistan on September 7 as per the initial schedule,” a report by the Times of India said.
The tournament is set to feature hosts India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and UAE, the report said, adding that it is set to follow the group stage and Super Fours format. This means fans will witness the India-Pakistan contest at least twice, and the second contest could take place on September 14, the report said.
Uncertainty has clouded over the Asia Cup after the two countries were locked in conflict in May. Political tensions have always adversely affected cricket ties between the two countries.
India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy this year and played all their matches, including the March 9 final, in Dubai.
India will host the women’s 50-overs World Cup this year but Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka under an arrangement made by the International Cricket Council.
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir is against playing Pakistan even in neutral venues but will follow whatever the BCCI decided, he said in May.
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Wednesday it would hold a nationwide movement against the government after the Islamic month of Muharram, days after Pakistan’s top court denied the party reserved seats for minorities and women in parliament.
The announcement followed a meeting of the PTI’s parliamentarians in Islamabad. The party’s lawmakers discussed several issues such as the political situation after the Supreme Court’s verdict last week which denied the party reserved seats in parliament, launching a movement to demand the release of Khan and PTI supporters from prison.
The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench on June 27 ruled that former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI is not entitled to reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies, upholding an earlier verdict by the Peshawar High Court. The dispute arose after PTI lost its electoral symbol ahead of the February 8 national polls and its candidates contested as independents.
Despite its candidates winning the most general seats, the PTI was denied reserved seats for women and minorities, which are allocated to parties based on proportional representation, by the ECP. The government lost its two-thirds majority in parliament in July 2024 when the top court reversed the ECP’s decision, terming it unconstitutional and ordering the reserved seats to be allocated to PTI. The ECP and the political parties had filed a review petition, which were accepted by the top court last week.
“We [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] are starting a movement after Muharram,” Ali Amin Gandapur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and a senior PTI leader, told reporters after the party’s meeting.
“This will be a Pakistan-wide movement, god willing. We will protest peacefully, politically, like we always do. We will proceed and take it forward but if they [government] fire bullets, we will plan for that as well.”
The government rejects the PTI’s allegations that the February 2024 polls were rigged, accusing Khan’s party of disrupting its efforts of ensuring the sustainable economic growth.
RULING COALITION GETS TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY
The ECP’s latest notification granting parties other than the PTI reserved seats for women and minorities means the ruling coalition government now has two-thirds majority in parliament. The electoral authority also withdrew its earlier notifications of July 24 and July 29, 2024 on Wednesday, which declared the successful candidates on general seats in the national and provincial assemblies as PTI-returned candidates.
Sixteen reserved seats for women and three for minorities in the National Assembly were allocated to various parties, with the lion’s share going to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the PTI’s chief rival. The PML-N were allocated 13 seats, while four were allocated to the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and two to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-F).
In this file photo, taken and released by Pakistan’s Press Information Department on October 21, 2024, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) shakes hands with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, key coalition partner and former foreign minister, at the National Assembly in Islamabad. (PID/File)
With this development, the ruling coalition has crossed the two-thirds majority mark, securing 233 seats in the 336-member National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. A political party or a coalition government needs 224 seats to reach the threshold.
As per the notification, 21 reserved seats for women were reinstated in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly, with eight allocated to the JUI-F, six to the PML-N and five to the PPPP. One seat each was also allotted to the PTI Parliamentarians and the Awami National Party (ANP).
Meanwhile, out of the four reserved seats for minorities in KP Assembly, two were given to the JUI-F and one each to the PML-N and the PPPP.
The ECP restored 24 reserved seats for women in the Punjab Assembly, of which the PML-N received 21, while one seat each was allocated to the PPPP, the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
Additionally, three minority seats were allocated--two to the PML-N and one to the PPPP.
Two reserved seats for women and one for minorities were reinstated in the Sindh Assembly, with two allotted to the PPP and one to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
‘GRAVE INJUSTICE’
Political analysts noted the development would further weaken the PTI’s position at the center.
“This move is likely to further undermine democracy in Pakistan and encourage horse-trading, as the ruling coalition may try to woo legislators particularly in KP,” Mazhar Abbas, a political analyst and journalist, told Arab News.
The PTI has a large support base in KP, where it has been emerging as the largest party since the 2013 polls.
Zahid Hussain, another political analyst, said the move has given the ruling coalition government the much-desired two-thirds majority, enabling them to make constitutional changes as per their will.
“The government and [military] establishment appear intent on securing a two-thirds majority to push through legislation and constitutional amendments of their choosing,” he noted.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) said the move would further strengthen the ruling PML-N as it would reduce the party’s reliance on the PPP.
“In National Assembly, PML-N-led coalition has come closer to having a simple majority without the PPP,” Mehboob said.
He added that after securing the reserved seats, the PML-N-led coalition needed only 11 seats to secure a simple majority on its own.
KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 Index breached the 130,000 points barrier to close at an all-time high on Wednesday, as financial analysts attributed the surge to low inflation and surging crude oil prices.
The development takes place a day after Pakistan’s KSE-100 Index closed at an impressive 128,199.42 points on the first day of the new fiscal year, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling the stocks’ performance a sign of growing investor confidence in the economy and government policies. The latest milestone builds on a strong showing in the previous fiscal year, when the KSE-100 Index rose by 60 percent, according to Karachi-based Topline Securities.
The Pakistani stock market closed at 130,344.03 points when trading ended on Wednesday. Continuing its bullish momentum, the index surged by 2,144.61 points, recording a gain of 1.67 percent from the previous day’s close.
“Stocks closed at new all-time high in the earning season at PSX as investors weigh drop in CPI inflation to 3.2 percent YoY and upbeat data on POL sales surging by 7pc for June 25,” Ahsan Mehanti, chief executive officer at Arif Habib Commodities Limited, said.
Mehanti said higher global equities and Pakistani power regulatory authority’s recent move to slash the base power tariff for industries for the current fiscal year also played a role in the bullish close. He also paid credit to surging crude oil prices, saying they had played a “catalyst role” in the surge.
Karachi-based brokerage firm Topline Securities said the surge was fueled by “aggressive institutional buying” and a wave of fresh fiscal-year optimism among investors.
“With the index in uncharted territory, all eyes are now on earnings season and macro signals to see if the bulls have more steam left or if a breather is around the corner,” it said in a statement.
Pakistan’s stocks surge as Islamabad seeks to consolidate its financial recovery after years of economic turbulence.
In recent years, the country has undertaken difficult structural reforms under International Monetary Fund loan programs aimed at curbing fiscal deficits and restoring investor trust.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu is on a high-level official visit to the United States, the military said on Wednesday, the first by a serving Pakistan Air Force (PAF) chief in more than ten years.
The visit comes just weeks after Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir met US President Donald Trump at the White House last month, part of a broader push to re-engage Washington on defense and other matters after years of fluctuating ties.
During his trip, Sidhu met senior US military and civilian leaders, including General David W. Allvin, Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, and called on Kelli L. Seybolt, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs.
“The high-profile visit marked a strategic milestone in Pakistan-US defense cooperation and proved instrumental in deepening institutional ties in addition to addressing key regional and global security issues,” the army said, adding that talks included discussions on interoperability, joint training initiatives, and avenues for technology exchange.
At the Pentagon, the air chief highlighted the “historic and multifaceted relationship between Pakistan and United States, particularly in the domains of defense and security cooperation.”
Both sides agreed to sustain senior-level engagements to “maintain momentum in the ongoing cooperative endeavors in the areas of joint training, operational exercises and military exchange programs.”
In meetings at the US State Department with officials from the Bureaus of Political-Military Affairs and South & Central Asian Affairs, the air chief “underscored Pakistan’s constructive role in promoting regional stability” and reiterated its “firm commitment to counterterrorism efforts.”
On Capitol Hill, Sidhu met with several members of the US Congress, including Representatives Mike Turner, Rich McCormick and Bill Huizenga.
The engagements “reinforced the importance of robust engagement in strengthening bilateral relations” and allowed Pakistan to share its “views on strategic challenges, regional security frameworks and the impact of emerging technologies on defense cooperation.”
The PAF has historically maintained close ties with the US military, particularly during the Cold War and the post-9/11 period, when Pakistan received significant military assistance as part of post-9/11 counterterrorism cooperation, including F-16 sustainment and Coalition Support Funds.
However, ties had frayed in recent years amid growing American frustration over Islamabad’s ties to the Afghan Taliban and Washington’s strategic pivot toward India. A US freeze on security assistance to Pakistan in 2018 under the first Trump administration marked a nadir in bilateral defense ties.
Some cooperation resumed under the Biden administration, most notably a $450 million sustainment package for Pakistan’s F-16 program approved in 2022.
In this context, Sidhu’s visit signals renewed efforts by Pakistan’s military leadership to re-engage Washington on security cooperation, even as Islamabad deepens its defense ties with China and explores alternative partnerships in the Gulf and Central Asia.
The Pakistan army said in its statement the landmark visit “reaffirmed Pakistan Air Force’s commitment to promoting regional and global peace,” while laying “the groundwork for renewed institutional collaboration, strategic dialogue and enhanced interoperability” between the two air forces.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ruling coalition government finally secured a two-thirds majority in parliament on Wednesday after the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) latest notification, allocating reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies to parties other than the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in line with the top court’s recent ruling.
The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench on June 27 ruled that former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI is not entitled to reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies, upholding an earlier verdict by the Peshawar High Court. The dispute arose after PTI lost its electoral symbol ahead of the February 8 national polls and its candidates contested as independents.
Despite its candidates winning the most general seats, the PTI was denied reserved seats for women and minorities, which are allocated to parties based on proportional representation, by the ECP. The government lost its two-thirds majority in parliament in July 2024 when the top court reversed the ECP’s decision, terming it unconstitutional and ordering the reserved seats to be allocated to PTI. The ECP and the political parties had filed a review petition, which were accepted by the top court last week.
“Pursuant to the Order dated 27 June, 2025 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan (Constitutional Bench) in Civil Review Petitions, the ECP hereby notifies the names of under-mentioned returned candidates against various categories of Reserved Seats with immediate effect,” the ECP’s notification said.
Furthermore, the ECP also withdrew its notifications of July 24 and July 29, 2024, which declared the successful candidates on general seats in the national and provincial assemblies as PTI-returned candidates.
Sixteen reserved seats for women and three for minorities in the National Assembly were allocated to various parties, with the lion’s share going to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the PTI’s chief rival. The PML-N were allocated 13 seats, while four were allocated to the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and two to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-F).
With this development, the ruling coalition has crossed the two-thirds majority mark, securing 233 seats in the 336-member National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. A political party or a coalition government needs 224 seats to reach the threshold.
As per the notification, 21 reserved seats for women were reinstated in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly, with eight allocated to the JUI-F, six to the PML-N and five to the PPPP. One seat each was also allotted to the PTI Parliamentarians and the Awami National Party (ANP).
Meanwhile, out of the four reserved seats for minorities in KP Assembly, two were given to the JUI-F and one each to the PML-N and the PPPP.
The ECP restored 24 reserved seats for women in the Punjab Assembly, of which the PML-N received 21, while one seat each was allocated to the PPPP, the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
Additionally, three minority seats were allocated--two to the PML-N and one to the PPPP.
Two reserved seats for women and one for minorities were reinstated in the Sindh Assembly, with two allotted to the PPP and one to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
‘GRAVE INJUSTICE’
PTI’s spokesperson for international media, Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, vowed the party would do everything to expose the latest “injustice” before the public.
“The judgment on reserved seats must be highlighted as a grave injustice and the undemocratic nature of the decision should be exposed before the entire nation,” he told Arab News.
Political analysts noted the development would further weaken the PTI’s position at the center.
“This move is likely to further undermine democracy in Pakistan and encourage horse-trading, as the ruling coalition may try to woo legislators particularly in KP,” Mazhar Abbas, a political analyst and journalist, told Arab News.
The PTI has a large support base in KP, where it has been emerging as the largest party since the 2013 polls.
Zahid Hussain, another political analyst, said the move has given the ruling coalition government the much-desired two-thirds majority, enabling them to make constitutional changes as per their will.
“The government and [military] establishment appear intent on securing a two-thirds majority to push through legislation and constitutional amendments of their choosing,” he noted.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) said the move would further strengthen the ruling PML-N as it would reduce the party’s reliance on the PPP.
“In National Assembly, PML-N-led coalition has come closer to having a simple majority without the PPP,” Mehboob said.
He added that after securing the reserved seats, the PML-N-led coalition needed only 11 seats to secure a simple majority on its own.
