ISLAMABAD S TA F F R E P
The federal cabinet in its special meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday, approved the budgetary proposals for the next fiscal year, 2025-26 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a cabinet meeting discussed the budget proposals and approved the Finance Bill 2025 for presentation to the National Assembly for its onward consideration, according to Radio Pakistan Speaking at the Cabinet meeting, PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the country’s economy was improving with each passing day as all economic indicators were showing upward trends The meeting deliber-
ated upon the key budget proposals and layout and accorded its approval accordingly At the end of the Cabinet meeting PM Shehbaz Sharif signed the document of the Federal Budget 2025-2026, according to state broadcaster PTV News He said that despite limited resources the government was presenting the best budget according to a statement issued from the Prime Minister s Office (PMO) During the meeting, the prime minister rejected the Finance Ministry s proposal of 6 percent hike in salaries of the government employees stressing that at least 10 percent pay raise should be given in the budget The Cabinet
Assembly Omar Ayub said that his party and its allies categorically reject the budget describing it as unrealistic and disconnected from ground realities Senator Shibli Faraz, PTI s Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, and Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram were also present on the occasion “The claim of 2 7% GDP growth is simply not possible he said questioning the credibility of official statistics Who exactly went out and counted the increase in donkeys? he remarked sarcastically adding Tell us how many four-legged and how many twolegged donkeys have increased
Criticizing the government’s economic narrative, he noted that while services like IT were being cited as growth areas major industries and the food sector were registering negative trends Purchasing power has declined drastically he said citing the price hike in essential commodities Wheat was Rs58 per kg during our time; it s now Rs75 Eggs were Rs135 a dozen; now they’re Rs288 ” PTI’s Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram also lambasted the budget referencing the finance minister ’s earlier remarks He himself admitted that $10 billion in losses were incurred due to anti-farmer policies said Akram You didn t have $2 billion, yet you inflicted $10 billion in losses Calling the budget a “sham document,” Akram added, “This is the budget the government couldn’t even name We’ve given it a name: Leila Budget (referring to a sacrificial goat)
PROFIT REPORT
The federal budget is a bunch of numbers that may or may not mean much to the people looking at it However these numbers have a huge impact on the lives of not only the taxpayers but every citizen of the country Profit explains how a common man can make sense of the Rs 17 573 trillion budget announced today in the parliament house Central to a country s economic policy is the annual budget It is in this document that a government decides whether it will increase or decrease its expenditure in a particular sector
The government also projects the revenues that it will collect through taxes and other sources in the budget and it is based on those estimates that the government allocates budgets to different sectors, ministries and provinces Making a budget is hence an accounting exercise with underlying policy objectives The accounting exercise is divided into 6 essential steps namely, Preparation, Authorisation, Execution, Reporting and Monitoring, Review and Policy setting This sounds a well-rounded approach to tackle the exercise however oftentimes the miscalculation in the first two steps, renders the last 3 utterly moot A good example of that would be the federal budget of FY23 which was changed majorly within days after being presented in the parliament The annual budget statement (ABS) is the main document for the federal budget After the prepa-
ration and authorisation, the ABS makes its way to the senate and eventually to the public In terms of expenditures the ABS categorically differentiates between Receipts and Expenditures
Revenues/Receipts
Receipts or revenue consists of balances of all budgetary receipts, e g Revenue Receipts, External Receipts Public Account Receipts Revenue receipts contain all the tax and non-tax revenue to be collected by the FBR and the government during that year Combined, these resources constitute federal gross revenue receipts For the year 2025-26 the federal government has estimated this figure to be at Rs 19 28 trillion At this step the provincial share is deducted to arrive at net federal receipts available to finance the federation’s expenditures which is going to be Rs 11 02 trillion It s important to note that the distribution of revenue between the federal government and the provinces is guided by the principles laid out in the NFC Award The award determines the share of each province in the federal revenue pool based on factors such as population backwardness revenue generation capacity, and other socio-economic indicators While this award has been highly criticised by economic experts at various levels the provincial share in this year s budget turned out to be Rs 8 2 trillion of which Punjab is expected to take the most at 51 74% It is important to note that the total amount of the NFC award is not only
more than the total income tax estimated to be collected by all filers (Rs 6 8 trillion but also less than the total indirect taxes Pakistan is estimated to collect during this year i e Rs 7 2 trillion Additional resources in receipts may include privatisation proceeds plus credit from the banking sector to finance government expenditures The government has estimated Rs 87 billion almost at the minimum price it set for the sale of just the flag carrier PIA which was Rs 85 billion This showcases the amount of hope the government has for the privatisation of all loss making State Owned Enterprises (SOE s) including PIA during the next year Pakistan s tax revenue (a large part of the gross federal revenue) for the fiscal year 2025-26 is projected at approximately Rs 14 131 billion marking a significant increase from the revised estimates of Rs 11 900 billion in FY 2024-25 This represents a growth of around 18 5%, with the expectation that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will be instrumental in meeting the targets In the last year FBR s collection has fallen short of the target which was set at Rs 12,970 billion, by nearly Rs 1 trillion, with one month yet to go, a gap primarily attributed to structural inefficiencies and an expanding informal economy In FY 2025-26 a more aggressive push is expected to bring in Rs 12 970 billion from federal taxes alone, with a notable emphasis on improving tax compliance and modernising collection mechanisms
from the previous year
The report highlighted that despite these significant losses, the government s tax base remains narrow, limiting its revenue potential
The need for a more sustainable approach to tax exemptions and the expansion of the tax base remains a critical challenge for the government as it plans
Govt proposes Rs13.5b for IT Projec ts in PSDP 2025-26
Special Communications Organisation (SCO) and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) have a combined total cost of Rs85 7 billion Of this Rs54 6 billion has already been spent by June 30 2025 One of the largest allocations is for the Establishment of IT Park at Karachi, a flagship project approved by the Executive Committee of the
Park Development Project”
originally approved in 2016 with a
of
3 billion By June 2025 Rs19 8 billion had been spent on the project For the coming fiscal year, a further Rs4 9 b
development and operational readiness
The government has also prioritized the “Digital Economy Enhancement Project ” which aims to modernize and digitize the country s economic infrastructure
This project has already seen substantial progress with Rs8 3 billion expended out of a total cost of Rs8 3 billion However, Rs2 billion has been allocated for FY2025-26 to cover final stages of implementation and additional enhancements
The government has also continued its support for digital health initiatives, as evidenced by the “One Patient One ID” project which aims to create a unified digital health record for citizens With a total cost of Rs200 million the project has received Rs97 5 million for FY2025-26
Other key projects include the Expansion of Cellular Services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Phase-IV” and “Support for IT Startups and Venture Capital ” Both initiatives are essential for promoting digital inclusivity and entrepreneurial growth in underserved regions Each project has been allocated Rs500 million for FY202526, underscoring the government s efforts to bridge the digital divide and support innovation
provide a solid foundation for sustained economic growth The proposed budget will be presented for parliamentary approval during the upcoming budget session for FY2025-26
The “Cyber Security for Digital Pakistan” initiative designed to safeguard the nation s digital assets has been allocated Rs250 million for FY202526 The project s total cost stands at Rs1 8 billion, with Rs1 05 billion spent as of June 2025 Similarly, the “National Semiconductor HR Development Program (NSHRDP) Phase-I ” launched to build a skilled workforce in the semiconductor industry has been allocated Rs250 million for its inaugural year reflecting the government s commitment to high-tech industry development
TTH E Israeli government of Benjamin Ne-
tanyahu is setting the stage for the upcoming United Nations International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the TwoState Solution The three-day session, to be held in New York on June 17-20 will be chaired by the President of France Emmanuel Macron and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz It is believed that at this confab France and a number of other countries will formally recognize the State of Palestine In an angry response, Netanyahu announced that should France and others make this announcement Israel will retaliate with the formal annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories In a sense the threats are meaningless not because Israel couldn t take measures to sabotage a Palestinian state but because this is precisely what it has been doing for several decades and it has accelerated its efforts in the past few years
The daily news from Gaza is numbing After 18 months of an immense toll in lives and property Israel agreed to a ceasefire in March only to break it and intensify their plans to ethnically cleanse and annex large swathes of this territory Daily
In a real
t o c u r r e n c y m i n i n g A new digital frontier
each
which it never does must be guilty of harbouring an antiIsrael bias) The result is that there is no accountability and the killings continue The Netanyahu government s plan for Gaza is taking shape The logic behind the Israeli-US humanitarian mission in Gaza is now established and that is to facilitate their “ethnic cleansing” masterplan for the area First the Israelis are conducting “mopping up” operations in the north evicting as many Palestinians as possible from 80 percent of Gaza and forcing them to congregate in congested areas along the southern border Then, after denying Palestinians food aid for three months, they have set up these Israeli-run food distribution sites in the south with the clear message that “if you’re hungry and want food, this is the only place you’ll get it ” As throngs of desperate Palestinians mass at the sites
viewing crypto as both an investment and a pathway to financial inclusion Third, global trends have influenced Pakistan s strategy The USA s pro-crypto policies under the Trump Administration, including the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve, have inspired similar moves in Pakistan The involvement of high-profile figures like Finance co-founder Changpeng Zhao as an advisor to the PCC underscores international confidence in Pakistan s crypto ambitions Despite the enthusiasm, Pakistan s crypto mining push is not without hurdles The country’s energy infrastructure remains a significant concern While surplus capacity exists on paper outdated transmission and distribution systems high line losses and frequent power shortages such as the 6,000 MW shortfall reported in October 2023 could strain the grid if energy-intensive mining operations scale up Critics warn that diverting power to mining could exacerbate load-shedding for households and industries deepening public discontent Regulatory uncertainty is another major issue Despite the government s progressive rhetoric, cryptocurrencies remain illegal under existing laws, as reaffirmed by the State Bank of Pakistan and the Ministry of Finance in 2024 This contradiction has raised concerns among lawmakers who question the risks of encouraging public investment in a legally ambiguous sector The International Monetary
Fund (IMF), a key lender to Pakistan, has also expressed reservations about the 2000 MW allocation citing potential impacts on power tariffs and fiscal stability Security risks loom large as well Pakistan s history of scrutiny over terrorism financing, coupled with the anonymity of cryptocurrencies, raises fears of misuse for illicit activities The US Department of Justice’s 2020 seizure of crypto assets linked to terrorism highlights these risks Without a robust regulatory framework Pakistan risks undermining its recent removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list To succeed, Pakistan must address these challenges strategically The establishment of the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority to license and supervise crypto service providers is a step in the right direction Regulatory clarity as emphasized by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, is essential to foster investor confidence and ensure compliance with international standards Investing in energy infrastructure upgrades and prioritizing renewable energy for mining operations will be critical to balancing economic benefits with grid reliability
Moreover Pakistan should focus on education and upskilling its youth in blockchain and AI technologies Initiatives like regulatory sandboxes can nurture innovation while mitigating risks Collaboration with global energy and tech firms as well as learning from countries like Bhutan which successfully uses hydroelectric power for mining can position Pakistan as a competitive player Pakistan s embrace of cryptocurrency mining reflects a bold vision to harness digital innovation for economic growth By leveraging surplus energy and a young dynamic population the country has the potential to become a regional crypto hub attracting investment and creating jobs However the path forward requires careful navigation of regulatory, infrastructural, and security challenges A balanced approach combining clear regulations, sustainable energy policies, and robust oversight will determine whether Pakistan’s crypto ambitions catalyze a digital revolution or court unintended crises As the nation stands at this critical juncture its ability to align innovation with responsibility will shape its place in the global digital economy
The writer is a chartered accountant and chartered financial analyst with a multinational nonbanking financial institution in Dubai
A test of endurance
IN T E R N AT I O N A L conflicts often occur due to irredentist claims security dilemma, competing political ideologies, and economic interests However, in case of India and Pakistan, the sources of conflict go beyond these These include allegations of proxy warfare growing chauvinism of Modi and putting Indus Water Treaty (IWT) in abeyance by New Delhi is the standout irritant between two nuclear armed states of the region right now India, since its inception, has exploited this vulnerability of Pakistan by using water as a coercive tool to serve its geo-strategic ambitions Mark Zeitoun and Jeroen Warner scholars at the London WATER Research Group (LWRG) aptly explain this phenomenon under the Hydro-hegemony theory in 2005 According to this theory, dominant states use water to exert their influence over less powerful states by threatening the water security of weaker states In this context India is a powerful state that consistently weaponizes water against Pakistan Nonetheless the issue was resolved when both archrivals signed the landmark IWT with the facilitation of the World Bank (WB) Under this treaty, India secured its control over three eastern rivers; the Sutlej Ravi and Beas Whereas Pakistan secured got three western rivers namely the Indus Chenab and Jehlum Unfortunately Indian hydro-aggression did not end by this treaty, but even increased since Bharitya Janta Party s (BJP) ascended to power India in last two decades started a series of hydropower projects on western rivers Though IWT does allow India to use western rivers for hydropower generation but these should not require the need to built dams or reservoirs; rather it can generate electricity from natural flow and elevation of the river Contrary to that, India initiated the construction of mega projects to generate hydroelectricity on western rivers For instance it has started 330 Kishangana MW project and Wullar barrage on Jehlum Besides it has also initiated the construction of 850 MW Rattle hydropower plant and Baghlihar dam on Chenab As per reports, water flow in river Chenab declined to 6,000 cusecs from 10,000 on average in last decade Not only this, but these projects have potential to increase reg-
ulation capacity of India also Such as India can stop Chenab’s water to Pakistan for 30 to 40 days However prior to these projects it had capability to stop Chenab s water for only 8 to 10 days Similarly, the proposed Wullar barrage will help India to stop the water of river Jehlum for 30 days This increased Islamabad’s apprehensions that forced it to invoke Article IX of the IWT This article delineates the procedure a three stage process for addressing grievances of any party It includes Permanent Commission, neutral expert appointed by the WB, and the Court of Arbitration (COA) established by the WB Thus, in January 2023, Pakistan took Indian violations to the COA and it was set to announce its verdict However India not only boycotted the proceedings of the COA but also issued a notice to Pakistan on January 25 2023, calling for the revival of the treaty by invoking Article 12(3) Since that date, India has sent several notices to revive the treaty; else wise, it has threatened to withdraw from the treaty unilaterally What is more concerning is the more aggressive and uncanny attitude of New Delhi over IWT in post-Pahlgham incident as it has placed the treaty in abeyance Verily, it is a chagrined move of New Delhi where all else tried by it has been failed If it continues to act this way, it may lead to unthinkable consequences One might wonder that what went wrong with the treaty which had survived several wars but seems to struggle this time Answer to this includes many, and the one is growing Modi s malice where international law has become fragile in the face of aggressors across the world Besides, the elevated status of India in the eyes of western powers in Indo-Pacific region may have bolstered it to act with impunity Internally pressure to revive the treaty by Indian think tanks is one of the significant causes For instance, the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis (IDSA) published a report titled “Water Security for India: The External Dynamics”
which called for the revival of the treaty As per this report IWT contains stringent provisions which deprive India from building hydropower projects on western rivers, so, it should be revised immediately Furthermore, this report proposed that Pakistan should be penalized under the “International Law Commission - Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts 2001 a principle adopted by the UN in the wake of the War on Terror, since India alleges Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism In addition, Indian policy makers believe that this treaty does not meet the current environmental constraints particularly the adverse effects of climate change Therefore this should be revised They also argue that this treaty is the outcome of bloc politics, where Pakistan enjoyed many benefits including this treaty by the west So, this was the growing opinion
that the treaty is favorable to Islamabad and the only option for India is to exploit it and then cry for more because only crying child gets mother s milk Lastly, had Islamabad showed timely diplomatic deftness to Indian first notice, the situation would not have festered to such level What India has done is a blatant violation of both the treaty and international law India has invoked Article XII (3) of the treaty which states that the provision of this treaty may from time to time be modified The subsequent clause of same article explicitly states that, “provisions in treaty shall continue in force until terminated by a new duly ratified treaty concluded for that purpose between the two states This is how New Delhi is skewing the terms of treaty Furthermore, putting treaty in abeyance constitutes as an act of aggression under United Nations General Assembly’s resolution 3314 of 1974 Moreover, unilateral termination of the treaty by India would be a clear violation of Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties (VCLT) 1969 Article 54 of VCLT deals with the termination of treaties it stipulates that, the termination or withdrawal of treaty may take place either in accordance with the provisions of particular treaty, or by the consent of all parties included in treaty” But India neither acted as per the law of the treaty nor it is ready to sit with Pakistan However obligation to consult other party has origin in London Declaration of 1871 which states that no power can liberate itself from the engagement of treaty, nor can modify the stipulation, unless with the consent of other party Lastly, termination of IWT would be the violation of
T h e n e w b a l a n c e o f p o w e r i n t h e M i d d l e E a s t
DU R I N G his visit to the Middle East in May,
U S President Donald Trump did several things that few would have predicted months or even weeks earlier One was his surprise meeting with Syria’s new leader Ahmed alShara and the subsequent lifting of U S sanctions on Syria notwithstanding Shara s history as a leader of a militant Islamist group Another was his decision not to include Israel on the itinerary, despite his administration s ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza The trip followed the administration’s decision in early May to sign a bilateral cease-fire with the Houthis in Yemen without consulting or including Israel Along with Trump’s initiation of direct talks with Iran a step that Israel adamantly opposes but Arab leaders in the Persian Gulf welcomed and even helped facilitate these developments suggest how much the regional balance of power has changed since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel
The war in Gaza has altered the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East In the years before the October 7 attack Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf states shared with Israel the perception that Iran and its alliance of proxy forces were the region s overriding threat They supported the first Trump administration s maximum pressure campaign on Tehran, and they began to normalize relations with Israel Today the situation has dramatically shifted Twenty months into the war Tehran appears far less of a threat to the Arab world Meanwhile Israel looks increasingly like a regional hegemon Amid these developments, Washington s Arab allies and Israel are now in opposite camps on the merits of a new nuclear deal Israel still sees a deal as a lifeline for the Islamic Republic and has been urging the Trump administration instead to take military action to destroy Iran s nuclear facilities The Gulf states by contrast dread a new and potentially uncontainable war on their doorsteps and view a diplomatic resolution with Tehran as vital to regional security and stability They are also wary of creating a Middle East in which Israel has free rein even in a future in which normalization with Israel can move forward In their effort to achieve a new balance between Israel and Iran the Gulf states have be-
Tehran appears far less of a threat to the Arab world Meanwhile, Israel looks increasingly like a regional hegemon
Since Trump took office, Oman, Qatar, S audi Arabia, and the UAE have all counseled against war and ac ted as intermediaries and mediators bet ween Tehran and Washington
pressure economic sanctions At the time the Trump administration expected that this pressure would weaken Iran and shrink its regional influence in favor of a new regional order centered on Israel and Washington’s Arab allies The administration promoted expanded Arab-Israeli security and intelligence cooperation culminating in the 2020 Abraham Accords the agreement that normalized relations between Israel and a series of Arab and North African states including Bahrain and the UAE and subsequently Morocco and Sudan The tougher U S strategy toward Iran continued under President Joe Biden Contrary to expectations, the Biden administration did not restore the JCPOA and eschewed engaging with Iran agreeing to talks only after Iran raised the stakes by accelerating its accumulation of highly enriched uranium Biden s focus much like Trump s was instead on forging an Arab-Israeli axis
ISRAEL UNLEASHED: As events would soon make clear, that assumption was terribly misguided The Trump-Biden strategy only aggravated regional tensions Iran responded to U S pressure by expanding its nuclear program and its support for the Houthis in Yemen in their war with the Gulf states It also began directly attacking U S and Gulf interests, most notably Saudi oil facilities, in 2019 Even before the October 7 attack, the Gulf states had lost confidence in Washington’s strategy In March 2023 Saudi Arabia broke ranks to normalize ties with Iran in a deal brokered by China One immediate benefit was an end to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE The Gulf states remained committed to expanding ties with Israel, but maintaining a balance between Iran and Israel would prove difficult Then came Hamas’s attacks and Israel’s blistering war in Gaza, which derailed normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia A resurgent “axis of resistance ” backed by Iran including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen who along with Hamas saw the prospect of Israeli-Saudi normalization as an existential threat was now at open war with Israel The Biden administration assumed that this new regional conflict would strengthen the case for an Israel–Gulf state security alliance, but the Gulf states were loath to be dragged into that conflict In January 2024 when Biden resolved to respond militarily to the Houthis attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea Saudi Arabia and the UAE assiduously avoided getting involved, despite their years-long struggle against the group Arab states also had to account for the growing anger among the Arab public about the treatment of the people of Gaza, which precluded any further tightening of Arab-Israeli security cooperation Then in the fall of 2024 a series of Israeli successes turned the tide of the war By the end of the year the axis of resistance had been diminished, and Tehran found itself largely cut off from the Levant Even Iran s defense of its homeland looked vulnerable With Trump, a strong backer of Israel, poised to return to the White House a confident Netanyahu government in Israel saw a rare opportunity to deal a decisive blow to Iran destroying its nuclear facilities and devastating its economic infrastructure in an attack that would push the Islamic Republic to the brink
IRAN IN THE BALANCE: Yet Trump has not followed the expected Israeli script Worried that military
strikes on Iran will pull the United States into a costly war the president has thus far resisted Israeli pressure to dispense with diplomacy and wage open war on Iran Instead, he has pushed for a new version of precisely the thing he repudiated during his first term: a nuclear deal
In doing so he is backed by the Gulf states which despite their opposition to the earlier deal also now favor diplomacy with Iran Since Trump took office Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all counseled against war and acted as intermediaries and mediators between Tehran and Washington In part, Gulf support for an Iran deal has to do with Israel’s own changed position in the region Even as it continues its offensive in Gaza Israel has already begun to emerge triumphant confident in its absolute military superiority and ready to use it to assert domination over the Middle East In addition to expanding its occupation of Gaza, which Israeli leaders have suggested could be put under indefinite military rule, Israel has been imposing its will on south Lebanon and is occupying and carrying out military incursions into large swaths of Syria And now it wants to extend its victorious campaign in the Levant to the Gulf with a military attack on Iran In addition to provoking Iranian retaliation that could soon include targets on the Arabian Peninsula, such an attack could disrupt world energy supplies and cast doubt on the long-term viability of the economic boom in the Gulf
The Middle East’s main power brokers including the Arab states Iran Israel and Turkey have historically resisted domination by one regional actor When the Arab world was reaching for primacy under the banner of Arab nationalism in the 1950s and 1960s, Iran, Israel, and Turkey banded together to contain it Even after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Israel was not reflexively hostile to Iran if regional power balancing dictated otherwise: in the early years of the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s when Saddam Hussein s Iraq was gaining an upper hand and posing as a claimant to leadership of the Arab world Israel supplied revolutionary Islamist Iran with intelligence and war materiel Later, as Iran emerged as a rising power, Israelis joined hands with Arab states to counter it Now that Israel is laying claim to being the region’s unrivaled power Arab states and Iran and also Turkey need each other to establish a balance Among the former are Bahrain Egypt and Jordan which do not have diplomatic relations with Iran but like other Arab powers have drastically increased their engagement Above all, Gulf states have become Iran s crutch in pursuing nuclear negotiations with the United States The Gulf states understand that, in the rivalry between Iran and Israel, they are the prize Israel wants an axis with the Arab world that would contain Iran and Iran wants to deny Israel a footprint in the Arabian Peninsula For their part Gulf leaders want a regional order that restrains both Iran and Israel while empowering their own governments It is this balancing imperative that has turned Washington s Gulf allies from
The Middle East ’s main power brokers, including the Arab states, Iran, Israel, and Turkey, have historically resisted domination by one regional ac tor
and bullying, while promoting mutual dignity and equality instead “Second, we should facilitate exchanges among civilizations,” Wang said, calling for drawing wisdom from dialogue among civilizations to address global challenges and broaden the pathways to world modernization Wang said that China is actively considering hosting the 2028 United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Global Forum “Third, we should promote progress of civilizations,” Wang said, calling for facilitating the flow of ideas, technologies and people He also emphasized leveraging emerging technologies like artificial intelligence in inheritance and innovation of civilizations to continuously enrich shared material and spiritual wealth
In 2024, the 78th session of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by China and 82 other countries, designating June 10 as the International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations each year
would present a “reasonable, logical and balanced” counter-proposal to the United States through mediator Oman Trump has said new US-Iran talks this week could clarify if a nuclear deal is possible to avoid military action He added that the latest meeting with Iran was expected Thursday, although a source familiar with preparations said it would more likely be on Friday or Saturday Iran and the United States have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a “non-negotiable” right and Washington calling it as a “red line” Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3 67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes
ag e n C i e s
Normal life has been badly affected in Indian state Manipur due to the indefinite curfew coupled with incidents of arson violence suspension of internet service and 10-day shutdown called by the Meitei outfit Arambai Tenggol Manipur in India’s northeast has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than two years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community that have killed more than 250 people To control the prevailing situation the state government has banned mobile Internet and data services for five days and imposed an indefinite curfew in five Imphal valley districts Imphal West Imphal East Thoubal Bishnupur and Kakching Arambai Tenggol has called the 10-day shutdown in Manipur from Sunday to protest against the arrest of their leader by Indian agencies The state has been rocked by violent protests since Saturday following the arrest of Meitei organisation Arambai Tenggol leader Kanan Singh and four others Overnight demonstrators held torchlight processions set fire to a government building and clashed repeatedly with security forces despite prohibitory orders in place Clashes ?were reported from various parts of Imphal including Kwakeithel Singjamei Wangkhei Yairipok and Khurai The police resorted to firing tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the mob Protesters blocked roads with soil mounds and burnt tyres causing widespread disruption and smokefilled streets across the city In a significant act of arson the Sub-Divisional
Collector (SDC) Office at Yairipok Tulihal was set ablaze, resulting in partial destruction and loss of official records The unrest has deepened as women’s groups also joined the protests On Saturday and Sunday the protesters set fire to some vehicles, including those belonging
Eidul A zha Qurbani Ser vice witnesses record suppor t
