ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Saturday approved a reinvigorated and re-energised national counter-terrorism campaign, Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, that symbolised the national resolve to eradicate extremism and terrorism from the country. The campaign was launched with the consensus of all stakeholders, including the provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, during a meeting of the Central Apex Committee on the National Action …

ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Raoof Hassan on Tuesday said that former premier and party founder Imran Khan would consider any “constructive suggestions” brought forward by Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai through his dialogue with the government. In February, PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan said that party founder Imran Khan had given instructions to initiate contact with all other …

KARACHI: Criticising political leaders both in the government and in the opposition and “politics of hatred in Islamabad,” Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday called for dialogue among all democratic forces to strength the parliament, saying it was only way forward to take the country out of the crisis. He also urged the political leadership to shed their …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said time-tested Pak-China friendship is indispensable for bilateral as well as regional peace and development, expressing great satisfaction over complete political consensus in both countries on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. He expressed these views while talking to Minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) Liu Jianchao, who along with a …

ISLAMABAD: Senators on Friday called for a broader dialogue to evolve consensus on long-term consistent economic policy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and shore up economy, saying frequent changes in policy shatters trust of investors. Taking part in budget discussion, they also underlined the need for plans to get out of the debt trap and exploiting huge natural resources the …

ISLAMABAD: As an additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) resumed hearing the pleas seeking suspension of sentences of former PM Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in the Iddat case, the counsel for her ex-husband repeatedly sought an adjournment, trying to delay the case further. Zahid Asif, the counsel for Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar Fareed Maneka, requested ADSJ Afzal …

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday stressed the urgent need for reforms in Pakistan, which he said was facing severe crises and required surgery. He asserted that only a government with a public mandate can effectively implement these changes and dismissed the possibility of negotiating with the PML-N, predicting the government’s imminent collapse. Speaking from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail …

ISLAMABAD: The ruling PML-N faced an unprecedented backlash in the National Assembly on Fri­day, with even lawmakers from the treasury benches joining their opposition counterparts as they lashed out at Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb for presenting a ‘tax-loaded and IMF-dictated budget’, while a key ally in the ruling coalition continuing its boycott of the general debate on the budget. The second …

RAWALPINDI: Five Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district on Friday, according to the military’s media wing. A press release from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the IED exploded on a vehicle of the security forces in the district’s general area of Sadda. The ISPR said …

ISLAMABAD: Rare political consensus was shown on Friday at the third meeting of the Pakistan-China Joint Consultative Mechanism (JCM) of Political Parties on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Islamabad as a visiting Chinese minister stressed that internal stability was essential for Pakistan’s development. The cross-party political unity was shown at the CPEC Pakistan-China Political Parties Forum co-chaired by Deputy …