ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s fresh offer to the opposition PTI for a dialogue on Wednesday met with a strong rebuke, as the latter made it conditional with the release of the party’s founding chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders and activists. “If any hardships are being faced by your [PTI’s] founder in jail, then [let’s] talk about them,” said PM …
ISLAMABAD; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reiterated his invitation to the opposition, including the PTI, for open dialogue for the “betterment of the country”. In a brief speech in the lower house of the Parliament today, the prime minister regretted that his repeated offers for the Charter of Economy following the 2018 elections were never responded in a positive manner. “Come, …
ISLAMABAD: Building on recent engagements between Pakistan and China, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday gave the greenlight to relocate Chinese industries to Pakistan as part of joint ventures between the two countries’ companies. Chairing a meeting to discuss matters of the Board of Investment (BoI), the prime minister said that promoting both local and foreign investment in Pakistan was among the …
WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Wednesday said that no country should face the kind of terrorist attacks Pakistani people have suffered from, adding that Washington has a shared interest with Islamabad in combating threats to regional security. On Saturday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government approved a reinvigorated and re-energised national counter-terrorism campaign — originally titled Operation Azm-i-Istehkam but later rebranded as Vision …
LAHORE: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday explicitly laid down the government’s expectations from the judiciary with regards to ‘Vision Azm-i-Istehkam’ — which has been dubbed a “reinvigorated and re-energised national counter-terrorism campaign” by the government — saying that the courts should not provide any relief to those arrested as part of this action. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, …
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed on Tuesday that the federal budget for next year was prepared in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). His remarks came as Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced significant amendments to the proposed finance bill for 2024-25. “We had to prepare the budget jointly with the IMF” because of the prevailing circumstances and ground realities, the prime minister …
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday advocated for the normalisation of relations with India, expressing Pakistan’s openness to dialogue, while also outlining conditions aimed at easing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, who have long been embroiled in disputes. Speaking at the 51st founding anniversary of the government-run think tank Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), Mr Dar, …
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday that next year’s fiscal budget will aim to reduce fiscal deficit by focusing on measures that enhance the government’s revenues and reduce unnecessary expenditures. Aurangzeb presented the budget on June 12 in the National Assembly, after which the lower house of parliament mulled over the financial plan …
ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad district and sessions court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on petitions requesting suspension of sentences given to former premier Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the iddat case. On Saturday, while resuming the hearing for pleas seeking suspension of sentences, additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Afzal Majoka asked Zahid Asif — the counsel for Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, …
ISLAMABAD/QUETTA / PESHAWAR: In a late-night move, the government clarified that the campaign to be launched under the banner of Azm-i-Istehkam would not be a kinetic large-scale military operation, nor would it entail the mass displacement of the local population. The clarification came apparently in the wake of intense opposition criticism of the government’s plans to launch military action, ostensibly to safeguard …