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Tag: Shehbaz Sharif

  • UAE President’s visit to Pakistan postponed

    UAE President’s visit to Pakistan postponed

    President HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will not visit Islamabad on Monday after his scheduled trip has been postponed to a later date, due to weather conditions.

    Nahyan was scheduled to pay an official visit today to Islamabad to discuss cooperation in relations between the UAE and Pakistan and ways to enhance them in various fields.

    Nahyan was to arrive in Islamabad today on a one-day visit. He was be escorted by JF-17 aircrafts to PAF Noor Khan Air Base where the distinguished guest was to be given a 21 gun salute; Prime Minister Muhammad (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and important members of the federal cabinet had to welcome the distinguished guest at the air base.

    It was expected that Nahyan will be presented a guard of honor by the armed forces of Pakistan at the Prime Minister’s House, after which he will have a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

    Nahyan arrived in Pakistan on January 25, 2023 on a private visit. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif welcomed him at Rahim Yar Khan Airport. There was also a meeting between the two leaders in Rahim Yar Khan.

  • ‘He cannot make accusations every time his wife has a dream’: Bilawal roars at Khan for accusations on his father

    ‘He cannot make accusations every time his wife has a dream’: Bilawal roars at Khan for accusations on his father

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took Imran Khan, Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), to task for the allegations he made against Asif Ali Zardari.


    Tweeting from his official account, the foreign minister minced no words while responding to Imran Khan’s statement that former President Asif Ali Zardari was plotting to assassinate him.


    Bilawal wrote that after terrorist outfits called him and his party out by name in direct threats, Imran Khan has now made false accusations against his father.

    “These statements increase threats to my father, my family and my party. We take them seriously given our history,” tweeted Bilawal, whose mother, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a terrorist attack in 2007.

    “We are exploring legal responses to Imran latest defamatory and dangerous accusations. In the past he threatened my father that he was ‘in the crosshairs of his gun’. His and his associates history as both sympathisers and facilitators of terrorists are well documented”, said Bilawal.

    “Imran must realize every time his wife has a dream he cannot just come on tv and make accusations about people. Her dreams won’t stand up in court,” said Bilawal taking a jibe at the former First Lady, Bushra Bibi.

    “His latest accusation that my family has any association to a terrorist organization or that we would employ them to cause him harm not only defies logic but exposes us all to an increased threat.”

    Stating that PPP will challenge Imran, Bilawal said that populist fiction cannot be allowed to dominate our discourse, poison our politics and damage our democracy. “We will not tolerate being victims of terrorist and put up with propaganda from their political front men.”

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif tweeted, “Imran Niazi’s baseless & dangerous allegations against former President Asif Ali Zardari are not only irresponsible but also conform to a pattern of conspiracy theories meant to spread venom against his political opponents.”

    “Such nonsensical rhetoric is an attempt to remain politically relevant. The whole nation knows how he has used politics of hatred to divide the society for the sake of power.”

    Adviser to the Prime Minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira, also responded to Imran Khan’s accusations, stating that PPP will not let Imran Khan off the hook for alleging that former Asif Ali Zardari plotted to kill him.

    Imran Khan had alleged on Friday in a televised speech that PPP Co-Chairman Zardari was plotting and financing an assassination attempt for which the ex-president had hired terrorists.

    Kaira, a PPP stalwart, rejected the allegations as “atrocious”. He said that the allegations had gone beyond lies, promising that PPP won’t spare Imran Khan.

    “A former prime minister talks about his alleged assassination plan. The court should order an investigation. If his allegations are genuine, then those responsible should be brought to the book. If the allegations are proven untrue, Imran should be punished,” said Kaira while speaking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada kay Sath.

    PPP leader Kasim Gillani also spoke up tweeting, “The absolutely vile, slanderous and defamatory allegations by Imran Khan against President Asif Zardari will be responded to robustly and legally.”

    Khan had claimed that four people orchestrated a plan “behind closed doors” to assassinate him.

    “I got to know about it and then I recorded a video explaining the attack. In a public rally, I announced that I would release the video if something happened to me. They stepped back after this,” said Khan.

    Without naming anyone again, Khan said that another plan was made to have me killed by a religious extremist — hinting towards the November 3, 2022, Wazirabad attack, where he was shot in the legs and is still recovering from the injuries.

    “Now, there’s a Plan C. Asif Zardari is behind it. He has amassed a lot of money through corruption, invested that money with terrorists and hired a militant organisation.”

  • PM Shehbaz regrets ‘inconvenience’ to Pakistanis from major power outage

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has addressed Monday’s major power breakdown that left most of the country without electricity for more than 12 hours.

    In a tweet, the Premier expressed his “sincere regrets”. He wrote, “On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to the power outage yesterday.”

    He added that an inquiry is going on to determine what led to the sudden blackout.

    A day after the power outage, Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir said that electricity has been fully restored at grid stations across the country. However, the minister pointed out that there will be a shortage of electricity for the next two days.

    Residents complained of increased load-shedding even after the restoration, laying doubt on the government’s claims that power was fully restored.

    In a televised address on Tuesday, the minister explained said that there was a “delay in synchronisation” between Tarbela and Mangla power plants.

  • PTI decides to take back resignations of remaining MNAs: Asad Umar

    PTI decides to take back resignations of remaining MNAs: Asad Umar

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary-General Asad Umar has said on Monday that 44 party lawmakers have decided to withdraw their resignations from the National Assembly (NA).

    Taking to Twitter, Umar announced that the remaining 44 MNAs of the party, whose resignations are yet to be accepted, have decided to take back their decision to leave the national assembly.

    “An email has been sent to the speaker,” said the PTI leader in his tweet. He also shared the names of the MNAs who have withdrawn their resignations.

    Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said 45 lawmakers had decided to withdraw their resignations so that the party could take back the post of the leader of the Opposition and parliamentary party leader.

    He added that the aim of the move was to get rid of the “fake” NA opposition leader and prevent “turncoats” from voting for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a vote of confidence.

    Following the announcement, the PTI lawmakers staged a sit-in outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) headquarters after being barred from entering the speaker’s house.

    However, authorities restricted the MNAs from entering the building by placing barbed wires on the road leading to the ECP.

    The development comes about after the National Assembly Speaker Pervez Ashraf, in a surprise move accepted the resignations of 69 MNAs during the previous week.

  • ‘Deeply disrespectful act’: Swedish PM condemns desecration of Holy Quran

    Swedish Prime Minister (PM) Ulf Kristersson has condemned the abhorrent act of desecration of the Holy Quran in Stockholm.

    On Saturday, far-right politician Rasmus Paludan set fire to a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the Turkish embassy.

    PM Kristersson reacted to the abhorrent incident, tweeting: “Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act.”

    “I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm,” he said.

    Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif has also condemned the incident.

    In a tweet, the Premier said: “No words are enough to adequately condemn the abhorrable act of desecration of the Holy Quran by a right-wing extremist in Sweden.”

    Shehbaz emphasised that “the garb of freedom of expression” was used to hurt the religious sentiments of the 1.5 billion Muslims across the world, calling the act “unacceptable”.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan also condemned the incident as he highlighted the steps his government took against Islamophobia.

  • Pakistan will start importing crude oil from Russia in March

    Pakistan will start importing crude oil from Russia in March

    Pakistan and Russia have decided on the deadline for crude oil exports in late March after the conclusion of the annual inter-governmental commission between the two countries concluded.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, said that Pakistan intends to import 35 per cent of its entire crude oil needs from Russia. He added that Russia does not have liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Pakistan currently.

    Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov also stated that Pakistan will pay for its energy purchases from Russia in the currencies of friendly nations when they begin in late March.

    Last year, the government of Pakistan sent representatives to Russia, and as a result, the state minister for petroleum of Pakistan announced that Russia would supply crude oil at a reduced price.

    Russian oil and gas have not historically been widely imported by Pakistan.

    Islamabad and Moscow agreed during the negotiations that the oil and gas trading transaction will be set up such that both nations can profit economically after reaching an agreement on the technical details.

    The leaders also decided to expand energy infrastructure investment, improve energy trade, and strengthen energy cooperation under advantageous strategic and commercial circumstances.

    A “Comprehensive Plan for Energy Cooperation” that will serve as the framework for future work and be completed in 2023 has been agreed to by both parties.

    The federal and provincial governments of Pakistan welcomed the Russian side to consider prospective initiatives, including those involving public-private partnerships and asked the Russian businesses to investigate these options.

    “Both sides have resolved the pending issues related to the exchange of information on certificates of origin of goods with the use of an electronic verification system and shall endeavour to finalise the above-mentioned protocols by the end of May 2023,” the joint statement issued in this regard read.

    In order to improve their mutual collaboration and talk about issues pertaining to connectivity and logistics in Central and South Asia, the authorities decided to designate focus points for each side.

    It was also resolved at the talks held over the last three days that creative business practises, such as bartering, would be used. They also agreed to further investigate the possibility.

    “In the context of the desire of both parties to promote regional integration and Eurasian connectivity, the two sides agreed to share information towards developing and improving rail and road infrastructure,” the statement read.

    The documents signed during the session included an “Agreement regarding cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters,” a “Protocol on the Exchange of Documents and Data on the Customs Value of Goods Transported,”  and a “Working Agreement on the Airworthiness of Aeronautical Products.”

    The seventh IGC’s debates and choices served as the foundation for the eighth session, which moved the process ahead and looked at new possibilities for collaboration.

    Additionally, Pakistan and Russia decided to extend their cooperation in the areas of commerce and investment, energy, communication, transportation, higher education, industry, railroads, banking, finance, customs, agriculture, science, and technology.

  • Pakistan gets $2 billion from UAE, with $1 billion additional loan in pipeline

    Pakistan gets $2 billion from UAE, with $1 billion additional loan in pipeline

    Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Wednesday that the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has rolled over their deposit of $2 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

    In a tweet, the minister highlighted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had discussed the rollover with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, during his recent visit to the country.

    The UAE agreed to give Pakistan $1 billion and roll over an existing $2 billion loan on January 12, according to the Pakistani information minister, as the nation’s central bank’s foreign reserves had shrunk to only three weeks’ worth of imports.

    The UAE’s financial assistance gave the nation, which is still recovering from devastating countrywide floods that have cost more than $30 billion in damage, some solace.

    Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, announced the loans as he began a two-day trip to the United Arab Emirates. In a statement, Sharif stated, “This support will help us weather economic hardships.

    He met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and was scheduled to speak with other government representatives and business executives about commercial and economic potential, according to Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.

    External finance is essential for Pakistan’s faltering economy because the IMF’s ninth review to approve the transfer of a fresh $1.1 billion tranche of money to Pakistan has been on hold since September.

    According to Geo, SBP’s foreign exchange holdings dropped to an alarming $4.3 billion level, barely enough for three weeks’ worth of imports, according to the bank. Net foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.8 billion, and total liquid reserves at $10.1 billion.

  • ‘Naye army chief ke saath koyi relationship nahin hai’: Imran Khan

    ‘Naye army chief ke saath koyi relationship nahin hai’: Imran Khan

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday that his party currently has no relationship with the new military leadership.

    The reporter from BBC asked that there is a general opinion that the government cannot take any economic decision due to political instability. Some observers claim that Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s campaign is adding to this instability.

    Imran Khan’s responded by saying, “Someone should ask him why he overthrew our government by plotting.” He claimed that his government had the best economic performance in the past 17 years. “What mistake were we making that they brought down (our) government together with an army chief? After that, it was not handled by them.”

    Imran Khan revealed that he and Shaukat Tarin, the then finance minister, together told General Bajwa that if you create political instability, to succeed in this conspiracy, no one will be able to manage the economy. “And that’s what happened,” Imran said.

    “It was not handled by them. The market quickly lost faith in him. They were taking their NRO-2. Chaos began to arise in the country. So just ask (any) business personality today. Is it because of us? As soon as they arrived, they realised that they did not have a road map. What General Bajwa has done together with them, even an enemy would not have done to Pakistan.”

    The former Prime Minister alleged that rhe current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had come into power through horse-trading. He remarked that coalition rulers have kept themselves above the law and ended corruption cases that they were booked in years back. “Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari, and Maryam Nawaz — all of their cases have been forgiven.”

    He said that in a bid to move towards free and fair elections, his party “sacrificed” two assemblies — Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KP) and Punjab. “Now this government will be forced into holding elections in April,” he predicted.

  • ‘Vote ko izzat do’ dumped? PML-N to adopt new aggressive narrative against Bajwa, Faiz, Khan, Saqib Nisar, Asif Khosa

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will soon adopt an aggressive narrative against five individuals as it prepares for elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

    According to a news report, the five individuals against whom the PML-N will turn its guns with full ferocity are General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, former Chief Justices of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa along with former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    The report states that the senior leadership of PML-N have recommended to party supremo Nawaz Sharif that the PML-N’s focus should be on Bajwa, Faiz, Khan, Nisar and Khosa for being solely responsible for conspiring to dislodge the Nawaz-led government in 2017 and rigging polls in 2018 to install the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

    After ‘vote ko izzat dou’ [Give respect to the vote], almost everyone in the PML-N agrees that attacks on these five individuals should be the new narrative of the party.

    Quoting a senior unnamed member of PML-N, the report shared, “Almost everyone is of the view that the rebranded narrative cannot succeed unless it takes the fight directly to the main characters of the political events of the last six years, who played a key role in bringing about the Tabdeeli project in the shape of Imran Khan. This is a project which could never have succeeded without full support from Saqib Nisar, General Bajwa, General Faiz Hameed, Asif Khosa and Saqib Nisar. Everyone in Pakistan is aware of the role these characters played violating rules, Constitution, law and oath.”

  • ‘Let us sit, have serious and sincere talks’: PM Shehbaz extends olive branch to Modi

    ‘Let us sit, have serious and sincere talks’: PM Shehbaz extends olive branch to Modi

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, extending an olive branch to his Indian counterpart PM Narendra Modi has said that both leaders should hold serious and sincere talks.

    “My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that let us sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir,” said PM Shehbaz in an interview with Al Arabiya news channel.

    “In Kashmir, flagrant human rights violations are taking place day in and day out,” he pointed out.

    The Premier further added that the neighbouring country had usurped any semblance of autonomy given to the Kashmiris according to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The autonomy was revoked in August 2019.

    Reminding the world that both Pakistan and India were neighbouring countries who had to find a way to live together, Shehbaz Sharif said, ” “It is up to us to live peacefully and make progress or quarrel with each other, and waste time and resources. We have three wars with India and it only brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people. We have learnt our lesson and we want to live in peace provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems. We want to alleviate poverty, achieve prosperity, and provide education and health facilities and employment to our people and not waste our resources on bombs and ammunition, that is the message I want to give to PM Modi.”

    The Premier remarked that both countries are nuclear powers and armed to teeth. “If God forbid a war breaks out who will live to tell what happened,” he said.

    He said the leadership of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could play a vital role in bringing Pakistan and India together., adding he would hold talks with the Indian leadership with sincerity of purpose.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, Fawad Chaudhry rejected PM Shehbaz’s approach of holding talks with Modi and tweeted, “Shehbaz Sharif cannot be allowed to sell Kashmir”.

    Later, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) gave a statement on the issue and said, “The Prime Minister has repeatedly stated on record that talks can only take place after India has reversed its illegal action of August 5, 2019. Without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible.”