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Wednesday, 30 September, 2026 | 17 Rabius Sani, 1448

Rs 50.00 | Vol XVII No 186 | 48 Pages | Islamabad Edition

‘HISTORY MADE’: PM OPENS LSE TRADING SESSION, LAUNCHES PAKISTAN’S LANDMARK $3B EUROBOND g

PREMIER SHEHBAZ BECOMES FIRST PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER TO OPEN LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE TRADING SESSION

PM HIGHLIGHTS STRONGER MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS, STRUCTURAL REFORMS

$3B DUAL-TRANCHE EUROBOND DRAWS NEARLY $6B GLOBAL INVESTOR DEMAND INVITES LSE CHIEF TO PAKISTAN, SEEKS GREATER INVESTMENT IN ECONOMY

PM woos global financial giants to expand investment, services in Pakistan LONDON/ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

LONDON SALEEM JADOON

RIME Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday became the first Pakistani prime minister to open the London Stock Exchange (LSE) trading session and formally inaugurate Pakistan’s landmark US$3 billion dualtranche sovereign Eurobond. Addressing the ceremony at the LSE headquarters in Paternoster Square, the prime minister highlighted Pakistan’s immense potential to attract high-yield, safe and mutually beneficial foreign investment.

He said that in recent years, the government had worked very hard to strengthen Pakistan’s economy. “As I speak, we have strengthened our macroeconomic indicators, which are very promising and augur very well for the future,” he added. The ceremony was attended by London Stock Exchange Group CEO David Schwimmer, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Advisor on Privatization Mohammad Ali, Pakistan High Commissioner Tipu Usman, members of the Pakistani delegation and relevant British authorities. The prime minister’s visit to the London Stock Exchange underscored

Ahsan calls for turning CAREC routes into next-generation economic corridors ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA STAFF REPORT

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday called for transforming CAREC transport routes into next-generation economic corridors by integrating infrastructure, logistics, digital connectivity, energy cooperation and climate resilience, describing Corridors 5 and 6 as an opportunity to connect Central Asia with the Arabian Sea and generate economic activity along the routes. “The question is no longer simply, ‘Can a truck travel this route?’ It is, ‘Can a business use this route reliably, competitively and profitably?’” he emphasized while participating in a session of the 25th Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Ministerial Conference here. The minister said Pakistan viewed CAREC Corridors 5 and 6 as an opportunity to connect Central Asia with the Arabian Sea and generate economic activity along the routes. He said transforming regional corridors required completion of the transport chain through upgraded CAREC roads, modern border facilities at Torkham and Chaman, stronger rail freight capacity through the proposed ML-1 upgrade, and efficient links to dry ports and seaports. He stressed the need to establish logistics and production hubs at strategic locations, saying cold storage, packaging, warehousing and light manufacturing could transform transit traffic into exports, jobs and value for communities along the corridors. The minister also called for building a digital corridor across the CAREC region, noting that the Pakistan Single Window provided a foundation for phased digital integration with regional partners. “A consignment’s documents should be checked before it reaches the border,” he said. Highlighting the importance of regional energy cooperation and climate resilience, Prof.

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met senior executives of leading global financial institutions in London and invited them to invest in and expand their services in Pakistan, reaffirming the government’s broader efforts to strengthen international investor confidence and attract sustained capital flows into the country. The premier spent a busy day in the UK capital, holding a series of meetings with top executives of Barclays, JP Morgan, Citi, BlackRock and Rothschild & Co. In a statement, the PM’s Office (PMO) said the premier’s engagements with the global firms “underscored growing international financial sector interest in Pakistan’s economic reform trajectory and improving investment climate”. During his meeting with a high-level JP Morgan delegation led by its Co-CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa

Pakistan’s return to global capital markets and reflected renewed international investor confidence in the country’s eco-

Matthieu Wiltz, PM Shehbaz invited the firm to expand its footprint in Pakistan. The two sides discussed deepening the partnership across capital markets, trade finance and investment banking. According to the PMO, the JP Morgan delegation “reaffirmed its interest in sovereign debt capital markets and corporate banking opportunities”. Earlier in the day, the prime minister also became the first Pakistani prime minister to open trading at the London Stock Exchange, according to his office. In his meeting with Mohammad Kamal Syed, Head of Private Bank and Wealth Management UK at Barclays, PM Shehbaz briefed him on the government’s macroeconomic stabilisation measures and encouraged the bank to explore opportunities in Pakistan’s financial sector. The prime minister welcomed the bank’s “interest in Pakistan”, the PMO said.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

nomic trajectory.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

PPP weighs opposition APC invite as TTAP seeks broader support ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Peoples Party will consult Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari before deciding whether to participate in an upcoming all-parties conference being organised by the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan. A TTAP delegation visited the PPP Central Secretariat in Islamabad on Tuesday and formally invited the party to attend the opposition gathering. The delegation met PPP Parliamentarians Secretary General Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, who said the invitation would be placed before Bilawal and the opposition alliance would subse-

quently be informed of the party’s decision. The visiting delegation included PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Senator Zeeshan Khanzada and TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai. During the meeting, TTAP representatives briefed PPP leaders on the proposed conference’s objectives and agenda. The two sides also discussed the broader political situation, constitutional supremacy, the strengthening of democratic institutions and the need for continued engagement among political parties. Speaking after the meeting, Gohar said the opposition alliance was awaiting a response from the

PPP and expressed hope that the party would participate. He also called for greater political consensus on issues including the independence of the judiciary and the Election Commission. The outreach forms part of TTAP’s attempt to expand participation in the opposition conference. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl has already agreed to attend. PTI, a key component of the opposition alliance, is separately preparing for a long march towards Islamabad on October 4 after postponing its earlier September 27 plan. TTAP has said it will continue supporting the march despite internal differences over parts of PTI’s protest strategy.

Dar seeks coordination for smooth fuel relief rollout ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday directed relevant authorities to maintain close coordination to facilitate beneficiaries and ensure uninterrupted delivery of services under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Fuel Relief Scheme across the country. Chairing a meeting of the National Steering Committee on the scheme after returning from New York, Dar reviewed the implementation of the relief initiative, including beneficiary registration, issuance and redemption of fuel tokens, payments and mechanisms for resolving complaints. Officials told the meeting that around 7.6 million consumers had so far been successfully registered under the scheme, while 7.71 million fuel tokens had been redeemed. The token redemption process has entered its second week, according to an official statement. Dar expressed satisfaction over the progress of the scheme and credited the coordinated efforts of various government institutions for its implementation. The meeting appreciated the contributions of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Petroleum, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, the State Bank of Pakistan and provincial governments. The deputy prime minister stressed that continued coordination among all relevant departments was essential to facilitate beneficiaries and ensure that relief services remained available without disruption across the country. The scheme, initially operational in Islamabad, was expanded nationwide at midnight on September 16. Three days later, Dar directed authorities to bring all operational fuel stations onto the system to ensure its effective implementation. The steering committee has also approved an SMS-based mechanism for the redemption of fuel tokens at petrol stations in areas without internet access. Beneficiaries can redeem their tokens by sending an SMS to 9771. The government has continued to expand the scope of the relief package amid public pressure over rising fuel prices. Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on September 28 that the government could continue the subsidy programme for up to 10 months, if required, and allocate between Rs400 billion and Rs500 billion from the budget for public relief. The government has also widened eligibility under the scheme to include 20-yearold motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqi rickshaws. Motorcyclists and owners of Qingqis and rickshaws purchasing less than five litres of petrol are entitled to a Rs500 discount against a single token within a week. The five-litre monthly ceiling for fuel relief has also been removed. Under the revised mechanism, users of vehicles up to 800cc will continue to receive a Rs100per-litre discount on 10 litres of petrol every 10 days, with three such tokens issued each month. Dar returned to Islamabad after participating in the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he held a series of bilateral and multilateral engagements.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

Three Pakistani sailors killed as Somali pirate rescue turns deadly ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

Three Pakistani sailors were among five crew members killed after Somali pirates opened fire on hostages while fleeing the hijacked vessel Honour 25 during a rescue operation off the Somali coast. Four other crew members were injured in the incident, including three Pakistani nationals, according to survivors. Pakistani sailors Hussain Yousuf and Imran Ali, who survived the attack, contacted the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust in Karachi using the ship captain’s mobile

phone and provided details of the operation. Somali and Puntland security forces launched a joint operation on Tuesday to free the crew, triggering an exchange of fire with the pirates. As security forces increased pressure and the pirates began retreating, the captors allegedly opened indiscriminate fire on the hostages before abandoning the vessel. The three Pakistanis killed were identified as Second Officer Kashif Umar, Third Engineer Mahmood Ansari and boiler operator Rafiullah. An Indian crew member, Tanveer, and the ship’s chief en-

gineer from Myanmar were also killed. The injured sailors were identified as Usman, Aqeel, Ameen and Vicky, an Indonesian national. Yasir Khan, Hussain Yousuf, Imran Ali and Yaseen escaped without injuries. The pirates also damaged the vessel’s steering system before fleeing, leaving Honour 25 unable to operate independently. A Somali naval vessel is now towing the ship towards shore, a journey expected to take at least two days because of its distance from the coast. The Honour 25 was hijacked by pi-

rates on April 21 while travelling from Oman to Somalia. Of the 17 crew members aboard, 10 were Pakistani nationals. Families of the Pakistani sailors had spent months appealing for their safe release and approaching government authorities for assistance. The pirates initially demanded a ransom of $3 million before reducing the amount to $1.9 million and later to $1 million. Piracy has risen again off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden this year, with at least 15 attacks reported since April, the highest annual figure since 2013.

Tarar warns Afghanistan against testing Pakistan's patience ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday warned that Pakistan’s commitment to peace should not be mistaken for weakness, saying Islamabad would respond to any attempt by Afghanistan to destabilise the country. “Any attempt from Afghanistan to disrupt peace in Pakistan, these attempts to destabilise Pakistan have been responded to and shall be responded to,” Mr Tarar said while addressing a seminar titled Afghan Predicament and the Trajectory to Peace in Islamabad. The minister said Pakistan and Afghanistan were neighbours and would remain so, with longstanding links between their peoples. He stressed that Pakistan had consistently advocated peaceful coexistence and had made repeated efforts to resolve differences through dialogue. Mr Tarar said several high-level Pakistani delegations had travelled to Afghanistan in an effort to find a solution to

outstanding issues and establish a sustainable framework for peaceful relations. He urged the Afghan interim government to abandon what he described as a “militant mindset” and adopt a state-oriented approach to dealing with regional and internal challenges. According to the minister, many of the problems between the two countries stemmed from what he called this “militant mindset”. Mr Tarar said Afghanistan had significant potential to serve as a trade corridor linking Central Asia with Pakistan’s seaports. He said peace in Afghanistan could pave the way for trade routes connecting the landlocked Central Asian states with warm-water ports through Pakistani territory. “The only problem that exists is violent extremism and militancy,” he said. The minister alleged that terrorist safe havens and members of internationally proscribed organisations continued to operate from Afghan territory. He said Pakistan had repeatedly raised the issue with Kabul

through diplomatic engagement and maintained that lasting peace required a viable and sustainable mechanism based on dialogue. Mr Tarar said greater regional stability could unlock trade and investment opportunities, including long-discussed routes connecting Central Asia with Karachi and Gwadar. He said there was broad regional interest in peace and economic integration, but the realisation of that potential depended on stability in Afghanistan. The information minister also criticised restrictions on fundamental rights in Afghanistan, particularly those affecting women. He said Afghanistan had a young population but that a significant number of women remained outside the workforce because of restrictions arising from what he described as a particular ideological mindset. Mr Tarar also criticised what he termed a “self-created ideology of Islam” under which fundamental rights were denied to sections of Afghan society. “This brand of Islam which is trying to

be imposed is not the true ideology of Islam,” he said, stressing that peaceful coexistence required acceptance of the principle of “live and let live”.

He argued that Afghans deserved the right to education, peaceful assembly, association, economic opportunity and a voice in determining their future.

02 NEWS

OGDCL, PINSTECH SIGN AGREEMENT TO EXPLORE LITHIUM, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS IN WELL WATER

ISLAMABAD

AhmAD AhmADAni

IL and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has signed an agreement with the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) to investigate the potential of lithium and other critical minerals in produced water and brine from its oil and gas wells. The agreement was signed at OGDCL headquarters in Islamabad in the presence of Managing Director and CEO Ahmed Hayat Lak, senior management of OGDCL and representatives of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and PINSTECH. Under the agreement, PINSTECH will

SECP proposes raising microenterprise, housing loan limits to Rs5m PROFIT

Wednesday, 30 September, 2026 | ISLAMABAD

More than 2,000 saMples froM selected oGdcl wells will be tested to Map lithiuM and other critical Mineral concentrations

Punjab, World Bank agree to develop digital tax reform plan PROFIT

Web Desk

The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) and the World Bank have agreed to develop a digital tax reform plan aimed at broadening the province’s tax base and improving revenue collection through greater use of government data. The plan will be prepared jointly by the PRA and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) with technical and financial support from the World Bank, according to the provincial revenue authority. The development followed a meeting between PRA Chairman Moazzam Iqbal Sipra and a World Bank delegation led by Regional Director Michael Roggi and Manager Sylvia Solf. Discussions focused on integrating databases maintained by different government departments to identify businesses outside the tax net and improve the transparency and efficiency of tax administration. The two sides also agreed to work on the Digital Economy Enhancement Project and examine international practices that could be incorporated into Punjab’s tax system. Sipra said greater use of digital data could help authorities identify tax evasion, misappropriation and discrepancies in business records while bringing additional businesses into the tax net. The PRA said a practical roadmap for the proposed reforms would be developed with World Bank technical assistance.

tracting lithium and other elements from such water could create an additional resource opportunity from existing oil and gas operations. OGDCL’s earlier pilot work at the Wahid Bukhsh-01 well identified geothermal brine containing 291 milligrams per litre of lithium. According to the company, the concentration is comparable with leading geothermal-lithium brines internationally. The expanded sampling programme is expected to provide a broader scientific picture of the distribution of lithium and other critical minerals across OGDCL’s candidate wells. Lithium is increasingly important for

Fuel relief scheme records 7.6m registrations as govt reviews rollout g

neWs Desk

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has proposed increasing borrowing limits for microenterprises and housing finance customers of non-banking microfinance companies to Rs5 million as part of draft regulatory amendments issued for public consultation. The proposed changes to the Non-Banking Finance Companies and Notified Entities Regulations, 2008, would also raise the annual income threshold for individual borrowers in the non-banking microfinance sector to Rs1.5 million from the existing Rs1.2 million. SECP has also proposed revising the turnover thresholds used to classify small and medium enterprises (SMEs), allowing non-banking finance companies to cater to businesses with higher annual revenues. Under the draft amendments, businesses with annual turnover ranging from Rs30 million to Rs400 million would be classified as small enterprises. The existing threshold for small enterprises is up to Rs150 million. For medium enterprises, the proposed annual turnover range has been set at Rs400 million to Rs2 billion, compared with the existing range of Rs150 million to Rs800 million. The regulator said the proposed changes were aimed at enabling non-banking finance companies to respond to growing financing requirements and expand access to credit for businesses, households and individuals.

and rare earth content and map areas with high and low concentrations. The data will provide a technical basis for assessing the feasibility of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), a technology designed to recover lithium directly from liquid resources. The initiative is part of OGDCL’s broader strategy to diversify beyond conventional oil and gas operations and explore opportunities in critical minerals and new energy resources. Produced water, which is generated during oil and gas production and is generally treated as a waste stream, is being examined as a potential source of valuable minerals. If technically and commercially viable, ex-

conduct advanced Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) elemental profiling and radioactive element profiling of produced water and brine from selected OGDCL wells. More than 2,000 samples will be collected from candidate wells to determine the presence and concentration of lithium, rare earth elements, precious metals and radioactive elements. The exercise will enable OGDCL to develop a comprehensive geochemical database of its produced water and identify wells and areas with higher concentrations of lithium and other critical minerals. The company will use the results to rank candidate wells according to their lithium

dar calls for continued coordination as token redeMption enters second week; GovernMent also reviews fuel conservation Measures PROFIT

Web Desk

Around 7.6 million registrations have been completed under the Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme, as the government reviewed implementation of the targeted subsidy programme for motorcycles, rickshaws and small cars on Tuesday. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Fuel Subsidy, where officials reported that the token redemption process had entered its second week, according to a statement from his office. The statement said 7.71 million tokens had been redeemed to date. The scheme, rolled out nationwide on September 17, provides a subsidy of Rs100 per litre to eligible vehicle owners following a sharp increase in do-

mestic fuel prices amid disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supplies. Owners of motorcycles and threewheelers are eligible for the subsidy on a monthly quota of up to 20 litres, while owners of cars of up to 800cc can receive relief on up to 30 litres per month. Dar called for continued coordination among federal ministries, provincial governments and regulatory bodies to facilitate beneficiaries and maintain service delivery. He said implementation had involved coordinated efforts by the information, information technology and petroleum ministries, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and provincial governments. Separately, Dar chaired a meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures to re-

view progress on measures introduced to curb fuel consumption. The government reintroduced fuel conservation measures on September 17, including a 9pm closing time for markets and a 50% reduction in fuel allocations for official vehicles for three months. Dar directed ministries and divisions to implement decisions taken at previous meetings, while discussions also covered fiscal discipline and the use of public resources. The fuel relief and conservation measures were introduced as disruptions to major Middle Eastern oil supply routes pushed up international and domestic fuel prices. Pakistan shifted to daily fuel price revisions in July in response to increased volatility in international petroleum markets. The government had previously been revising prices weekly since March.

PSX falls 825 points as late selling drags KSE-100 below 170,000 g

Pakistan’s ongoing talks with benchMark closes at 169,600 as 305 stocks decline; tracked the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government on Monday tradinG voluMe rises to 568 Million shares briefed the visiting IMF review mis-

PROFIT

Web Desk

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended lower on Tuesday as selling pressure intensified in the final hours of trading, pulling the benchmark KSE100 Index below the 170,000 mark. The KSE-100 closed at 169,600.40 points, down 825.22 points or 0.48% from the previous session. The benchmark had opened on a firmer footing and climbed to an intra-day high of 170,944.34. It subsequently traded largely within the 170,400-170,600 range before selling accelerated after 2pm.

The index fell to an intra-day low of 169,538.22 towards the close before recovering marginally. Market activity, however, picked up, with volume on the all-share index rising to 568.04 million shares from 421.01 million in the previous session. The value of shares traded increased to Rs20.81 billion from Rs17.74 billion. Of the 496 companies traded, 154 advanced, 305 declined and 37 remained unchanged. Cnergyico PK led volumes with 56.53 million shares, followed by Tasdeeq Information with 56.29 million shares and K-Electric with 34.67 million shares. The decline came as investors

sion on revenue losses and slower economic activity attributed to the Gulf War and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. International markets also remained under pressure amid rising bond yields and weakness across Asian equities. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield climbed above 5.27%, while bond markets in Japan, South Korea and Australia also came under pressure. Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee gained marginally against the US dollar in the interbank market, appreciating by Re0.03 to close at 277.12. The KSE100 had also ended lower on Monday, shedding 339.60 points, or 0.20%, to settle at 170,425.62.

batteries, electric vehicles and energy-storage systems, while rare earth elements are used in electronics, advanced manufacturing and other high-technology applications. The identification of minerals in produced water, however, would not by itself establish commercial viability. The potential for future extraction would depend on mineral concentrations, recovery rates, extraction technology, processing costs, infrastructure requirements and market conditions. The OGDCL-PINSTECH agreement will therefore provide the scientific and technical data needed to determine whether the identified mineral resources warrant further exploration and potential development.

OICCI elects Umar Ahsan Khan president for 2026-28

dawlance chief succeeds Yousaf hussain as chamber names new leadership, flags weak fdi and investment climate PROFIT

neWs Desk

The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) has elected Dawlance CEO and Managing Director Umar Ahsan Khan as its president for the 2026-28 term, the chamber announced on Tuesday. The election was announced at OICCI’s Extra-Ordinary General Meeting, where Chevron Pakistan Lubricants Country Chairman and General Manager Ahmed Zahid Zaheer was elected senior vice president, while Meezan Bank President and CEO Dr Syed Amir Ali was elected vice president. Khan succeeds Yousaf Hussain, who headed the chamber during the 2024-26 term. The incoming president said OICCI would focus on evidence-based advocacy and practical policy proposals while stepping up engagement with the government, regulators and international institutions. The chamber said its new managing committee would also strengthen datadriven research and continue work through its platforms covering climate, diversity and inclusion, technology and artificial intelligence. Khan highlighted the decline in foreign direct investment, which fell 34% to $1.65 billion in the last financial year, and said macroeconomic stabilisation alone was insufficient to secure investment without improvements in the broader business environment. Outgoing president Hussain similarly said recent progress towards economic stability needed to translate into higher investment, exports, productivity and employment. The OICCI Managing Committee for 2026-28 comprises Ahsan Zafar Syed of Engro Corporation Limited, Amin Mohammad Khowaja of J.P. Morgan Pakistan (Private) Limited, Erum Shakir Rahim of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited, Khurram Shahzad Khan of Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited, Sami A. Wahid of The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, Syed Anis Ahmed of Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited and Syed Kashan Hasan of FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan Limited, in addition to the three office-bearers.

ABAD moves to form Sindh-wide business pressure group PROFIT

Web Desk

The Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) is spearheading the formation of a province-wide business forum bringing together industry associations to press the Sindh government on infrastructure, land grabbing, water shortages and other governance issues. Outgoing ABAD Chairman Muhammad Hassan Bakshi said

title of the relevant land is

proposed sindh business foruM to focus on infrastructure, land cleared, he said. Bakshi said parameters govGrabbinG, GovernMent hirinG, diGitalisation and water shortaGes erning Roshan Digital Accounts

the proposed Sindh Business Forum would comprise presidents and secretaries of business associations across the province and operate around a five-point agenda. The forum would seek improvements in Sindh’s infrastructure, action against land grabbing and extortion, merit-based recruitment in provincial departments, digitalisation of government departments and measures to address chronic water shortages, he said. Bakshi announced the initiative while outlining developments in the construction and real estate sector during his two-year tenure. He was joined by ABAD Patron-

in-Chief Mohsin Sheikhani, incoming chairman Hanif Gohar, Senior Vice Chairman Afzaal Hameed, Southern Region Chairman Ahmad Ovais Thanvi and Vice Chairman Tariq Aziz. On housing finance, Bakshi said developers could now access project financing of up to Rs10 billion at a 5% rate subject to maintaining an escrow account. He also said ABAD expected real estate projects backed by its members to enter the capital market through real estate investment trusts (REITs) within the next three to six months. Bakshi cited tax measures affecting the construction industry, including the abolition of Section

7E and a 50% reduction in taxes under Section 236C. He said builders and developers paying tax under Section 7F were now exempt from payments under Section 236C. He also said restrictions on changes in land use in the Karachi region, imposed following a Supreme Court order in 2019, had been lifted in 2026. On housing supply, Bakshi said ABAD had asked the Sindh government around six months ago to allocate 10,000 acres at departmental rates for a low-cost housing project. The association also plans to construct homes free of cost for people affected by the demolition of Nasla Tower once the legal

PSX adds Rs27.8b debt instruments in first quarter of FY27

PROFIT: Three debt instruments with a combined value of Rs27.8 billion were listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) during the first quarter of FY202627, expanding the bourse’s offerings across conventional and Shariah-compliant debt securities. Bank Alfalah accounted for the largest of the three listings, with Rs20 billion worth of rated, unsecured and subordinated Tier-2 Term Finance Certificates (BAFLTFC9), according to a PSX notice issued on Tuesday. Faysal Bank listed Rs7 billion in rated, unsecured and subordinated Sukuk (FABLSC), while At-Tahur Limited added Rs800 million through a rated and secured Sukuk (PREMASTSC). The three issues have a combined value of approximately $100.34 million. PSX said secondary-market trading in all three instruments has commenced, providing Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) with additional investment options in the domestic debt capital market. Web Desk

had also been expanded to allow resident Pakistanis holding foreign assets to bring capital into the country through legal channels. He further cited the revival of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Housing and the resolution of issues surrounding completion certificates for grey structures among developments secured during his tenure. Speaking at the event, Sheikhani criticised governance constraints in Sindh, saying the provincial administration’s ability to deliver was impeded by the wider system. He also criticised past policies that he said favoured a single large property developer while other commercial projects in Karachi faced restrictions.

news 03

ATC ENDS CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ADIALA AUTHORITIES

wednesday, 30 september, 2026 | islaMabaD

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

N anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Tuesday closed contempt proceedings against Adiala jail authorities after being informed that lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha had signed their powers of attorney, while the court issued notices on their bail applications and fixed October 5 for arguments. ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra heard an application against the jail authorities, with Riasat Ali Azad, Zainab Janjua and other lawyers appearing for the two accused. The proceedings against the Adiala administration were closed after the court was informed that Mazari and Chattha had signed the required power of attorney documents. Judge Sipra directed the jail superintendent to formulate clear rules for the signing of such documents. “If this is happening with lawyers, one can only imagine what happens to ordinary litigants seeking to sign power of attorney documents,” the judge remarked. Advocate Zainab told the court that the Islamabad High Court had already formulated standard operating procedures (SOPs)

for the process. She urged the jail authorities not to turn procedural requirements into a form of punishment. Judge Sipra observed that, in the past, people had been required to obtain signatures on powers of attorney either at the court lock-up or inside prison vans. “The first step towards accessing justice begins with the signing of a power of attorney,” he remarked. Following the signing of the documents, the court consigned the application against the jail authorities to the record. In a separate case registered at Kohsar Police Station over allegations of an altercation with police, Judge Sipra ordered that Mazari and Chattha be indicted on October 6. The two accused appeared before the court through video link, while their lawyers represented them. Copies of the charge sheet were also provided to the defence lawyers. Separately, ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain issued notices on the bail applications filed by Mazari and Chattha and directed the parties to present arguments on October 5. The development came days after the ATC ordered that the couple be produced through video link after expressing displeasure over their absence from court. Mazari and Chattha were rearrested after

the Supreme Court granted them bail on September 17 and suspended a trial court’s February 19 decision in a social media posts case pending a final determination by the Islamabad High Court. The couple had initially been arrested on January 23 near the underpass outside the Serena Hotel while travelling to the district courts and were subsequently sent on 14-day judicial remand by an ATC. A district and sessions court later sentenced both to a combined 17 years’ rigorous imprisonment on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). The sentences included five years under Section 9, along with a Rs5 million fine; 10 years under Section 10, along with a Rs30 million fine; and two years under Section 26-A, along with a Rs1 million fine. Additional imprisonment was prescribed in case of non-payment of fines. The trial court, however, acquitted the couple of the PECA hate-speech charge under Section 11, observing that prosecution witnesses had not supported the allegation. During video-link proceedings, Mazari alleged mistreatment in custody and announced a boycott of the hearing. The judgement noted that the two were already in custody in another case and would remain

PM woos global financial giants to expand investment, services in Pakistan CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

PM Shehbaz also met representatives of Rothschild & Co, including Chair of Geostrategic Advisory Lord Mark Sedwill and Head of UK Investment Banking Majid Ishaq. “Discussions centred on Pakistan’s geo-economic priorities and potential advisory collaboration on capital markets and investment strategy,” the PMO said. The premier also met a group of senior Citi officials, led by Chief Client Officer David Livingstone, and encouraged the bank to expand its “corporate and institutional banking services” in Pakistan. The prime minister commended Citi’s long-standing presence in Pakistan, the statement added. During his meeting with a BlackRock delegation, PM Shehbaz “invited increased allocations to Pakistani equities and fixed income within the firm’s frontier markets strategy, with both sides emphasizing the importance of sus-

tained policy consistency in building investor confidence”. The delegation comprised CoHeads of Emerging Markets and Frontiers Gordon Fraser and Sam Vecht, along with Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst Emily Fletcher. “Across all engagements, the visiting executives expressed confidence in Pakistan’s economic reform momentum and reaffirmed their institutions’ commitment to deepening engagement with the country’s financial sector,” the PMO said. It said the meetings reflected the “growing traction of Pakistan’s economic reform programme among the world’s leading financial institutions”. The engagements also “mark a significant step in the government’s broader effort to strengthen international investor confidence and attract sustained capital flows into the country”, the statement highlighted. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Adviser to the PM on Privatisation Muhammad Ali,

who also heads the Privatisation Commission, were present in the meetings. LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE CEREMONY In an earlier statement, the PMO noted that PM Shehbaz became the first prime minister from Pakistan to open the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) trading session. He also formally inaugurated Pakistan’s landmark $3 billion dual-tranche sovereign Eurobond, raised earlier this month. The LSE’s market opening ceremony is held at its headquarters in Paternoster Square and formally marks the start of the trading day in London. London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer and senior officials of the group welcomed the prime minister on his arrival. Aurangzeb, the LSEG CEO, the Privatisation Commission head, Pakistan High Commissioner Tipu Usman, members of the Pakistani delegation and relevant British authorities attended the ceremony.

Dar seeks coordination for smooth fuel relief rollout CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

During his visit, he participated in UN and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meetings and chaired the 27th Informal Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organisation. He also addressed high-level meetings on artificial intelligence and pandemic preparedness. The foreign minister held consultations with his counterparts from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Egypt under the Regional-4 framework, where the ministers discussed the regional situation and expressed support for efforts aimed at peaceful resolution of conflicts. Dar also held meetings with the foreign ministers of Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Greece, as well as his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and other regional officials, with dialogue and diplomacy featuring prominently in his engagements. At an OIC Contact Group ministerial meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, Dar criticised India’s unilateral at-

tempt to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, describing the move as another dangerous dimension in the regional dispute and stressing that international agreements could not be set aside unilaterally. At the ECO meeting, Dar also reiterated Pakistan’s concerns over terrorism emanating from Afghan soil, saying it was undermining regional peace, development and economic integration. He said Islamabad expected the Afghan Taliban authorities to take concrete and verifiable action against militant groups threatening Pakistan. He maintained that Pakistan sought a peaceful, prosperous and stable Afghanistan integrated with the region and at peace with its neighbours. Dar also reiterated Pakistan’s support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and an independent, sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state, while expressing concern over attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

Ahsan calls for turning CAREC routes into next-generation economic corridors CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

Ahsan said initiatives such as CASA-1000 demonstrated the potential of cross-border energy connectivity, while new roads, railways and logistics infrastructure must be designed to withstand floods and extreme heat. “The transformation occurs when a corridor carries more than cargo: it carries investment, technology, energy and opportunity,” he said. Responding to a question on regional actions needed to ensure shared benefits, the minister emphasized coordinated planning of entire corridors, stronger cross-border cooperation and measuring the impact of connectivity on businesses and communities. He said CAREC countries should identify priority cross-border projects, prepare them to common standards and coordinate investment and construction schedules, with the Asian Development Bank playing a role in mobilizing financing, including private investment where appropriate. The minister called for treating borders as a shared service, with compatible operating hours, advance electronic information, coordinated procedures and fewer repeated checks. He also emphasized measuring border delays, delivery times, local employment, SME participation and opportunities for women and youth.

“Regional cooperation succeeds when a trader can predict the journey, a farmer can reach a distant market without losing the harvest, and communities along the corridor share in its prosperity. That is how we move from connectivity to competitiveness,” Ahsan Iqbal said. Earlier, addressing the opening session of the 25th CAREC Ministerial Conference under the theme “25 Years of Partnership, Shaping the Future Together,” the minister said Pakistan looked forward to assuming the CAREC Chairmanship in 2027 and hosting the 26th Ministerial Conference. He said Pakistan, located at the intersection of Central Asia, South Asia and maritime routes, sought to turn its geographical position into an engine of shared regional growth through stronger connectivity, trade, digital integration and regional value chains. On the sidelines of the conference, Ahsan Iqbal witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the CAREC Capital Markets Development Forum (CMDF) and the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF). The MoU aims to strengthen cooperation and facilitate greater connectivity between the capital markets of CAREC and ASEAN member countries, creating opportunities for knowledge sharing, regulatory cooperation and deeper regional financial integration.

incarcerated to serve their sentences, with credit for time spent in detention under Section 382-B of the Criminal Procedure Code. Mazari subsequently approached the Supreme Court seeking suspension of her sentence after the IHC did not list her application for hearing. Her petition argued that the trial court’s order was illegal and mala fide and had violated due-process guarantees under Articles 10 and 10-A of the Constitution, as well as mandatory provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. In June, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency challenged an earlier Supreme Court order directing the IHC to

decide the couple’s sentence-suspension applications within a specified timeframe. The agency argued that the Supreme Court could not interfere in proceedings already pending before the high court and that the authority to decide applications for suspension of sentence rested with the concerned high court. The IHC subsequently fixed July 24 for hearing the sentence-suspension applications, while the Supreme Court had also scheduled proceedings on the matter. On July 21, the Supreme Court adjourned its hearing after arguments over the continuation of parallel proceedings before the IHC.

FBR says small shopkeepers tax scheme in initial implementation stage PROFIT STAFF REPORT

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said on Tuesday that its special tax scheme for small shopkeepers remained in the initial stages of implementation, with the tax authority working to address technical and practical problems faced by traders during registration. The FBR said traders encountering difficulties while registering under the scheme could approach the board directly for assistance and guidance, adding that

necessary facilitation would be provided to eligible businesses. According to the tax authority, the government and FBR remain in contact with traders, market representatives and trade bodies over the implementation of the scheme. Feedback from the business community is being considered as part of efforts to resolve difficulties arising during the registration process, it added. The FBR said the scheme was intended to provide small shopkeepers with a simplified framework for entering the documented tax system while encouraging voluntary compliance.

04 COMMENT

The democratic national committee won’t change Middle East policy

Wednesday, 30 September, 2026

Building a better mousetrap

Prospects are emerging in packaging, for Pakistan to diversify its portfolio

AKISTAN has long had textiles as its primary source of foreign exchange. Pakistan dependence on imports for fuel and food have meant that it has a dire need of foreign exchange. It has eked itself out by exporting its best and brightest, and its most highly qualified, as a labour force to send remittances, apart of course from borrowing for budgetary support, usually on onerous terms. Thus it has constantly been in search of new sources of foreign exchange, new products that can be exported, so as to buttress textiles. One of the most exciting new prospects has been information technology, from which great things are expected. However, there are unexpected success stories which illustrate the truth of the aphorism, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” One example is in the packaging industry, where the :success of Ipak provides an example of how an apparently limited product like packaging plastic can become a source of foreign exchange for the country. The company and the industry have been covered in depth in this week’s issue of this newspaper’s Profit magazine. Ipak did not start as the market leader. It entered the field where one company was far ahead. However, by the previous financial year, it was not only the leader, but had also achieved $37 million worth of exports, to 39 countries, including in the European Union. There are two obvious takeaways. First, the Company established a technological edge by importing German technology. Second, it was first a successful domestic company before succeeding in foreign markets. However, perhaps the most important takeaway is that there are many opportunities in manufacturing that could lead to future exports, but which need exploring. One example ready to hand is automobile parts. The existing vendor industry for local manufacturers can begin to export if it meets sufficient quality standards. Industry and entrepreneurs do not need tax holidays or subsidies from the government. They just need not to be held back. Packaging film is not the wave of the future. All industry can be. Native ingenuity must be married to appropriate input from academia, which itself must be oriented in that direction. There is no reason why Ipak should not be a precursor rather than the outlier it is a present.

That’s not what the party does

WASHINGTON WATCH Dr JAmeS J ZOGby

HERE is compelling evidence that voter disaffection with the Biden Administration’s failure to confront Israel’s war on Gaza played a role in the Harris presidential campaign’s devastating loss in 2024. The groups most impacted by this failed policy have been central to the Democratic Party’s support base— young voters, voters of colour, and those who self-identify as liberal. Polling data establishes that these groups did not turn out to support Harris in 2024 in the same numbers that had voted for Biden in 2020. These disaffected voters, however, have coalesced in 2026, supporting several Democratic progressive challengers who ousted incumbents in Congressional and Senate contests across the country. While some of these victorious challengers self-identify as socialists, many do not. What most have in common is opposition to continued US military assistance to Israel. In fact, the electorate’s negative attitudes toward Israeli behaviour in the occupied Palestinian lands, US support for Israel, and the role played by pro-Israel groups attempting to silence and defeat critics of that support have become so widespread, that even some incumbents joined the critics in an effort to buttress their campaign electoral chances. In the wake of these developments, a slew of articles have asked: “What will the Democratic National Committee do now to change its support for Israel and win back disaffected voters?” While the sentiment prompting this question may be understandable, it is the wrong question to be asking because it is born of a misconception of what the Democratic Party is and isn’t and what it can and cannot do. In the first place, this question mistakenly assumes that the Democratic Party operates as a policymaking governing body that provides direction for party members and candidates. It does not. What the party governs is its internal affairs and how it runs the process of selecting delegates who are elected in the states to the quadrennial national convention that writes its platform and chooses the presidential nominee. Despite this limited role, there is the persistent misconception that the DNC operates like European

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

political parties who run for elections in a parliamentary system. There, a party defines policies and can enforce an internal discipline. In the US system, candidates— whether for president, senator, or representative— run largely on their own, controlling their own budgets and staff, and defining their own policies. Other factors should also be considered, foremost among them the role of money in our politics. In addition to the party itself, party-related entities operate independently of the national party, principally the party’s congressional and senate campaign committees. These bodies raise money to support Democrats running for these offices. And then there are what are known as Super PACs and “dark money” entities— often funded by wealthy donors, who aren’t required to report their contributions (hence the term “dark money”)— that make independent expenditures on behalf of Democratic candidates. The amount of money raised and spent by these entities combined far exceeds the money raised and spent by the party itself. In the last presidential election, for example, while the Harris campaign reported a budget of one billion dollars, the super PACs combined far exceeded that amount. Where does this money go? The recipients of the monies raised by party-affiliated entities, Super PACs, dark money funds, and individual campaigns are largely a handful of Democrat-leaning consultant groups who have increasingly come to play an outsized role in elections. In each election cycle, they go through billions of dollars on advertising, polling, digital messaging, and even usurping the roles once played by the state and national parties. Because they are at the receiving end of donor largesse, these consultants are creatures of conventional wisdom. They are risk averse, out of touch with changes in the electorate, and as driven by the profits they can make, given by their donors’ largesse, as they are in the results they can achieve. The new chair of the Democratic Party has come under attack from some quarters (including consultants and their donor allies) because he is less inclined to view the party as simply a conduit funneling money to consultants and has instead directed record amounts to building state parties. With this background, it is wasted energy to focus protests against the Democratic National Committee for the failure in 2024 or to change their policies on the Middle East. The DNC is not the problem, nor is it the solution. The problems are with the consultants and the big money funding their work

Babar Nizami Editor Profit

Is humanity losing control? AbID SAqlAIN

HE evolving geopolitical situation suggests that a new chapter of the 21st century has already begun. First came the uncontrolled curiosity surrounding artificial intelligence; now come warships, military systems and weapons being positioned in the vacuum of outer space. The world appears to be creating a catastrophic strategic realm around the globe, where nuclear weapons remain a terrifying reality while new capabilities in space and AI are filling the vacuum created by the absence of effective global authority. Human rights institutions and international organisations have repeatedly failed to protect the basic principles of humankind. The AI revolution must therefore remain a tool for humanity, not become a weapon capable of independently rewriting or destroying human history. The US Space Force said on Monday that it had deployed “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending... against hostile adversary action”, without providing specific details. Such announcements may be presented as defensive measures, but they also serve another purpose: projecting technological supremacy and directing public attention towards military competition. China’s Foreign Ministry opposed the move, warning against the “weaponisation of outer space, turning it into a battlefield, as well as an arms race there”. Beijing urged Washington to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space. This is not merely diplomatic rhetoric. China understands that control of space could become a decisive element of future strategic competition, particularly as the Trump administration seeks greater leverage over global strategic assets and attempts to counter China’s expanding influence. The US Space Force has explicitly identified China as a threat, stating that Beijing develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of its military modernisation strategy. Russia was also named, with Washington arguing that Moscow believes space supremacy could become decisive in future conflicts. But the question remains: if Russia can invade Ukrainian territory and the USA increasingly expands strategic military capabilities across multiple domains, where does the balance of the international order actually stand? The militarisation of space is not new. It is almost as old as the space race itself. After the USSR launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, in 1957, Washington and Moscow began exploring ways to protect, arm and potentially destroy spacecraft. The greatest concern was once nuclear weapons in orbit. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 subsequently prohibited weapons of mass destruction in orbit. Today, however, the strategic competition is entering a much more complicated phase.

Then comes AI— the more alarming frontier. Imagine an AI system capable of generating armies of miniature bots, expanding itself, manipulating information and then erasing its own traces, almost like a criminal carefully planning a heist. Such possibilities demonstrate why AI cannot simply be treated as another commercial technology. The question is not whether AI can become more intelligent; the question is whether humanity will remain intelligent enough to control it. Public alarm over AI risks is escalating, with industry leaders expressing concerns that advanced AI could pose significant dangers in the near future. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has advocated regulatory measures, including independent audits of advanced AI systems. Yet President Donald Trump has argued that the USA already has sufficient guardrails to regulate and prosecute AI companies, appearing to downplay some of the concerns raised by technology leaders. The concerns are nevertheless becoming harder to dismiss. AI-related stocks have faced pressure after industry figures called for caution in the development of increasingly powerful systems. Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon reportedly resigned while warning that people de-

veloping AI seriously believe it could potentially become an existential danger by the end of the decade. Many countries are already considering restrictions or bans on specific AI applications as a precautionary response to the technology’s rapid expansion. The irony is profound: humanity is developing technologies powerful enough to transform civilization while simultaneously struggling to control the institutions that are supposed to regulate them. The same instruments of power that governments claim will protect national security could eventually become threats to the societies they are designed to defend. Whether the future brings strategic stability or greater danger will depend on one fundamental decision: will humanity control technology, or will technology increasingly control humanity? AI and outer-space weapons must remain subject to international law, transparent rules and human accountability. The world does not need another arms race disguised as technological progress. Before the strategic competition moves beyond the point of control, major powers must write the rules—not after the catastrophe, but before it. The writer is a freelance columnist

Whether the future brings strategic stability or greater danger will depend on one fundamental decision: will humanity control technology, or will technology increasingly control humanity? AI and outer-space weapons must remain subject to international law, transparent rules and human accountability. The world does not need another arms race disguised as technological progress. Before the strategic competition moves beyond the point of control, major powers must write the rules—not after the catastrophe, but before it.

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The writer is President, Arab American Institute

Making Middle East policy isn’t the role of the DNC. That is why calling on the party to pass a resolution on the issue is a misdirected and wasted effort. Far more consequential are the victories of Brad Lander and Abdul El-Sayed. That’s where real change will occur. And energy ought to be focused on continuing these electoral victories.

AI and the militarisation of space M. A. Niazi

Editor Pakistan Today

and the candidates whom they advise and elect. Nevertheless, as we’ve seen this year, change is coming and it is being led by Democratic voters, both those in progressive organizations and those motivated by issues who have delivered defeats to Democratic incumbents who maintain the failed pro-Israel policies of the past. Abdul El Sayed’s defeat of a pro-Israel, establishment-supported congresswoman backed by over $70 million in superPAC and dark money expenditures, and other electoral victories by progressive critics of the pro-Israel status quo, sent a clear message that change is afoot. Making Middle East policy isn’t the role of the DNC. That is why calling on the party to pass a resolution on the issue is a misdirected and wasted effort. Far more consequential are the victories of Brad Lander and Abdul El-Sayed. That’s where real change will occur. And energy ought to be focused on continuing these electoral victories. If Democrats want to pass resolutions, they should start in areas where the DNC can make changes: campaign finance reform to get big money out of politics and eliminate the corrupting role of superPACs and dark money in elections. They could also support efforts by the party’s chair to focus more party resources on building state parties, instead of simply funneling money to consultants. And instead of trying to pass a resolution to change Middle East policy, Democrats could pass a resolution supporting the 40 (out of 47) Democratic senators who voted for the amendment to curtail some forms of military aid to Israel— because the party has a history of passing resolutions supporting the actions of Democratic lawmakers.

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Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Banned but not broken

THREE years ago, I was one of the last girls in Afghanistan to take the Kankor exam under the Taliban regime. I scored 305 out of 360 marks in the national university entrance exam in Afghanistan, and was accepted into the law faculty of Kabul University. My dream career was finally within my reach. I left my home in Jawzjan in great excitement to start my university life but the next day things changed; everything changed. The Taliban regime banned all universities for girls. I packed my bag in silence and returned home. My dreams were shattered, and there was isolation, depression and tears. I stayed home, unable to study, thinking about the future I could no longer reach. Every day felt heavier than the last. I applied for many scholarships, but getting a visa as an Afghan girl was almost impossible. The hope I had slowly faded. One day, I applied for Pakistan’s Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship for Afghan Students. I did that without expecting anything. One midnight, I got an email stating that I had been selected. I still remember that night. I could not sleep at all. It all felt like a dream, the kind you do not dare to believe is true. However, it was just the beginning of another struggle. I needed a passport, and mine had only four months left before it was to expire. Under the Taliban regime, getting a passport was close to impossible. My sister found someone who promised to get it extended from Iran for a huge amount of money, but he disappeared. I lost hope again, but decided to apply for the visa with the shortvalidity pass-port. Cutting a long story short, I did cross the passport hurdle, and my father accompanied me to Peshawar. He was old and tired, but my father took that difficult journey just to giveme, his child, a future. A couple of months later, I got admission to the Department of International Relations of the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. This was the real beginning. Initially, I did not know even a single word of Urdu. When I entered my class for the first time, I felt like an alien. I could not understand the teacher and could not speak to my classmates. But slowly things changed. Teachers were a big help, and I started picking up words; one word from each conversation. Now I can understand Urdu much better and feel like a part of the class. The university has become my home. My classmates are my family. I have spent four Eids here without my own family. I miss them a lot, especially my mother. But I have done all this for a reason, for myself, for my family who believed in me, and for my country that still awaits a better future. Not every journey is this beautiful, but every step can be meaningful. SHOGOFA SHOKORI ISLAMABAD

Slippery standards

THE prevailing discount model in the lubricants sector that is being followed by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) at its retail outlets needs attention. The PSO has mandated dealers to lift a certain quantity of lubricants with every load of petrol and diesel. Consequently, these lubricants are being sold in the market at significantly discounted rates that often range from Rs200 to Rs250. This practice appears to be driven by dealers’ efforts to dispose of the mandated stock quickly, potentially to offset losses. However, it raises serious concerns about two key areas. The heavy discounting on genuine lubricants is distorting the market and putting rather undue pressure on other lubricant brands, especially those maintaining standard pricing and quality. Besides, there is growing concern that non-PSO dealers may be compensating for these discounts by delivering less-than-standard quantity and quality of petrol and diesel to customers, leading to possible consumer dissatisfaction and ethical implications. This situation, if left unaddressed, may impact fair market competition, and will harm consumer trust in fuel retailing practices. The issue merits a closer review, and further broad discussion to find a balanced solution that may protect both market integrity and consumer interests. NAVEED AHMED KARACHI

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COMMENT 05

Organic farming: Returning to the soil Wednesday, 30 September, 2026

Not competing but supplementing ali Nawaz Rahimoo

GRICULTURE is facing a difficult contradiction. The world needs to produce more food for a growing population, yet the intensive use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and other chemical inputs is putting increasing pressure on soil, water, biodiversity and rural livelihoods. Against this backdrop, organic farming has emerged as an important alternative; not necessarily a complete replacement for conventional agriculture, but a farming system that places greater emphasis on soil health, ecological balance and sustainable production. Organic farming is an agricultural approach that works with natural biological processes. Instead of relying primarily on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, organic farmers use compost, farmyard manure, crop residues, green manure, crop rotation, biological pest control and other ecological practices. The objective is not simply to produce food without chemicals, but to maintain a healthy agricultural ecosystem in which soil, plants, animals and microorganisms work together. The modern organic movement has deep roots. Sir Albert Howard, the British agricultural scientist who worked for many years in India, is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern organic agriculture. His observations of traditional Indian farming practices led him to emphasise composting, soil fertility and the recycling of organic matter. His influential book An Agricultural Testament, published in 1940, became an important foundation for the modern organic farming movement. Howard’s work is particularly relevant to South Asia because many of the practices he studied were already part of traditional agriculture. Farmers had long used animal manure, crop residues, mixed cropping and natural methods to maintain soil fertility. Modern organic farming therefore represents, in part, a combination of traditional knowledge and contemporary agricultural science. The benefits of organic farming are considerable. One of its greatest advantages is the improvement of soil health. Regular application of compost and organic matter can improve soil structure, water retention and biological activity. Healthy soils are better able to support crops and withstand environmental stresses. Organic agriculture can also contribute to biodiversity conservation. Excessive and inappropriate use of pesticides can harm beneficial insects, pollinators and other or-

ganisms. Organic farming encourages biological pest management and greater diversity of crops and habitats. Another potential benefit is reduced pollution. When synthetic fertilisers are overused, nutrients can move into rivers, lakes and groundwater. Excessive pesticide use can also contaminate ecosystems. Better nutrient management and biological approaches can reduce these risks. The issue, however, should not be presented as a simple battle between “organic” and “chemical” farming. Conventional agriculture has also contributed enormously to global food production. Synthetic nitrogen fertilisers, improved seeds, irrigation, pesticides and mechanisation have helped farmers produce substantially higher yields in many regions. The problem is often excessive, inappropriate or poorly managed use, rather than the existence of agricultural chemicals itself. This distinction is important when discussing seeds. Seeds themselves do not normally require chemical fertilisers for growth. A seed contains the initial nutrients needed for germination, while subsequent plant growth depends on soil nutrients, water, sunlight and other conditions. Conventional agriculture may use synthetic fertilisers such as urea, DAP and other nitrogen-, phosphorus- and potassium-based products to supply nutrients. Farmers may also use pesticides, fungicides or herbicides to protect crops. Organic systems instead emphasize soil fertility through compost, manure, legumes, crop rotation and other biological methods. Organic farmers may also use certain naturally derived or approved crop-protection substances depending on the applicable organic standard. Thus, the real comparison is between different systems of soil fertility and pest management, rather than simply “chemical seeds” versus “organic seeds”.

Organic farming is now practiced across the world. According to the World of Organic Agriculture 2025 report, organic agriculture is practiced in nearly 190 countries, with about 99 million hectares of agricultural land managed organically and millions of farmers involved in the sector. Europe has developed one of the world’s strongest organic markets, with countries including Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Spain playing important roles. Australia has one of the world’s largest areas of organically managed agricultural land, much of it associated with extensive grazing. India has a large organic farming sector and has promoted organic and traditional agricultural practices through government programmes. China, Japan, the United States and Canada also have significant organic markets and production systems. Organic agriculture is also growing in Africa and Latin America. Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya have organic production in areas such as coffee, tea, cotton and horticulture, while countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico produce a range of or-

ganic commodities for domestic and international markets. The expansion of organic agriculture raises an important question: Can organic farming feed the world? There is no simple yes-or-no answer. Organic yields vary significantly according to crop, soil, climate, farmer skills and management. In some circumstances, organic farming can perform very well, while in others conventional systems may produce higher yields. Organic agriculture can also require more labour and knowledge, and farmers may face difficulties obtaining certification and accessing premium markets. For countries such as Pakistan, therefore, the debate should move beyond slogans. Agriculture needs approaches that increase productivity while protecting soil and water. Integrated farming, integrated pest management, efficient irrigation, soil testing, composting, crop diversification and responsible fertiliser use can all form part of a more sustainable agricultural future. This is particularly important in waterstressed areas of Sindh and Balochistan, where declining groundwater, drought and

As the world confronts climate change, water scarcity, declining soil fertility and growing food demand, agriculture will need to produce more while damaging less. Organic farming offers one important part of that solution. The challenge for policymakers and farmers is to combine the best available science with ecological responsibility and local knowledge.The future of agriculture should not be a choice between nature and technology. It should be about using technology wisely while working with nature rather than against it.

soil degradation threaten rural livelihoods. Increasing soil organic matter and improving water retention could be valuable components of climate-resilient agriculture. The future of organic farming will probably not be defined by a complete abandonment of modern agricultural science. Instead, it is likely to involve a convergence of traditional ecological knowledge, organic principles and modern technology. Soil testing, precision agriculture, biological pest control, improved composting, drought-resistant varieties and digital monitoring can make sustainable farming more efficient. Governments also have a role. Farmers need training, research, access to markets, affordable certification and policies that reward environmental stewardship. Consumers, meanwhile, need reliable information so that organic becomes a meaningful and trustworthy standard rather than merely a marketing label. Organic farming should therefore not be romanticised as a perfect agricultural system, nor dismissed as an impractical return to the past. Its greatest lesson is perhaps a simple one: soil is not merely a medium in which crops grow; it is a living resource that must be protected for future generations. As the world confronts climate change, water scarcity, declining soil fertility and growing food demand, agriculture will need to produce more while damaging less. Organic farming offers one important part of that solution. The challenge for policymakers and farmers is to combine the best available science with ecological responsibility and local knowledge. The future of agriculture should not be a choice between nature and technology. It should be about using technology wisely while working with nature rather than against it. The writer is a Social Development professional. He can reached at anrahimoo@gmail.com

How India and Israel’s brutal use The future is AI of pellet guns spread worldwide AIAI willvsbe needed to police AI, but that doesn’t The real danger isn’t in how these lethal technologies, including pellet guns, are exported and shared; the greater peril is in the precedent their use against civilian protesters sets

strike multiple people in a crowd at once. In short, it doesn’t choose its target. It can hit anyone within that range. The enormous scale of injuries, even deaths, caused by pellets in Kashmir and the people they hit - a girl sitting by her window, a baby in her mother’s arms - made no distinction between allegedly violent protesters and those who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong moment.

MIDDLE EAST EYE aNuRadha BhaSiN

N July 2026, Amnesty International published a report Made in India: the supply of weapons and munitions to Israel. It found India shipped hundreds of thousands of weapon parts and munitions components to Israel throughout its Gaza offensive, and it warned the exports carry a “substantial risk” of contributing to what it calls Israel’s “ongoing genocide”. The real danger isn’t only in how these lethal technologies are exported and shared. The greater peril is in the wrong precedent their use against civilians sets. A telling example is the use of pellet guns by police in Delhi to control a student’s march to the Indian parliament in protest against an examination leak scam, which injured at least 10 civilians, including a young man who may lose his vision forever. The journey of the use of pellet guns for crowd control from Indian Occupied Kashmir to New Delhi reminds us that any battleground is always a testing ground. What gets legitimised in one place does not stay there. India introduced pellet guns in 2010 in Kashmir and framed it as a “non-lethal” or “less-lethal” weapon for crowd control. Between 2010 and 2019, 24 people were killed. Most casualties happened after their widespread use to control violent protests following the death of militant commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter in 2016. Between July 2016 and February 2019, metal pellets killed 18 people, blinded 139, and resulted in 2,942 injuries, of which 1,459 were serious eye injuries. A pellet gun is a .12-bore pump-action shotgun, normally used in bird hunting, that fires a cartridge loaded with several hundred metal pellets that disperse over a wide area rather than travelling as a single projectile. Each cartridge holds up to several hundred small pellets. On firing, the pellets scatter outward in a wide spray at about 100-150 metres per second. Because of this spread, one shot can

OPENING OLD WOUNDS: The brutality of the pellet guns cannot be fully comprehended without understanding how the lives of the majority of the victims are scarred forever. Despite the “less-lethal” tag, the pellets are sharp enough to pierce the skin and stay embedded in the body, causing permanent pain in some cases. On occasion, they have caused permanent blindness. The psychological wounds they inflict are irreparable. There have also been cases of injuries resulting in deaths. Yet, the use of pellet guns in Kashmir was justified under a manufactured broad consensus built entirely through a security prism. The state embraced the weapon, framing it as “non-lethal”, despite documentary evidence of hundreds blinded, scores killed, and many others permanently disabled. It invited no uproar or outrage. This nationwide tendency to see Kashmir as a state of exception has also encouraged a shameful mocking of its victims the latest example being the forthcoming Bollywood film Chauhaan. It was used with the bland justification: terrorism, national security. This, even as there is no documentary evidence of the weapon ever being used against insurgents only on civilian protesters. A security doctrine, borrowed from international playbooks, and built for a region on the pretext of insurgency, is now being exported.

HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Before its use in Delhi, pellet guns were used during the farmers’ protest and in Manipur. Their use in Delhi against protesting students evoked nationwide outrage, with the framing “they were students, not terrorists’”. That framing never extends to the community the national imagination has already conflated with terrorists - Kashmir, Manipur and Punjab (whose farmers led the protests). The presumption of innocence isn’t universal. It is assigned by identity. Far more problematic is the state response that is still relying on old tactics of skirting questions about pellet injuries. It has moved from denial to deflection but no accountability. As opposition leaders led by Congress, a party that ironically introduced pellet guns in

2010, are uniting and demanding answers to who ordered the pellet guns and why, India’s home minister Amit Shah has refused to attend parliament. Zero accountability automatically translates to a continuum of use of pellet guns or other weapons framed as “non-lethal’”. In Indian Occupied Kashmir, there is a documented record of young men killed when tear gas shells were directly aimed at their upper bodies in 2010. Even the Supreme Court has refused a total ban on the use of pellet guns and has deflected the question to examining the gaps between standard operating procedures and realities on the ground. The debate on whether lethal weapons can be used for crowd control is incomplete if restricted to these issues. The debate also needs to take into account the impact of weapons that are projected as “non-lethal” or “less-lethal” but kill people nonetheless. It needs to weigh up the fact that a bad precedent travels from one geography to another and beyond borders.

LETHAL EXPORT: Pellet guns have already travelled the globe. The United Kingdom is the first known country to have deployed shotguns with rubber and plastic pellets during the Troubles, the 30-year violent conflict in Northern Ireland, and inspired the United States police to adopt similar versions of the weapon for crowd control. Pellet guns are just another demonstration of how quickly any state learns that civilians can be treated as acceptable targets once the first wrongful justification goes unchallenged Pellet guns, along with other so-called “non-lethal” weapons, have been used with impunity in Palestine. Whether India borrowed this method of repression from Israel or not, the list of countries now using it to target their own citizens is growing. In Chile in 2019, 230 people lost their vision. Bangladesh used it in 2024, killing 22 student protesters and blinding 400. They were used in the recent Iran protests, with at least 74 documented cases of pellet injuries in vital parts of the body. A man’s lung was damaged by 174 pellets tightly packed inside his right chest cavity. The pellet guns are just another demonstration of how quickly any state learns that civilians can be treated as acceptable targets once the first wrongful justification goes unchallenged. Nuclear strikes may be a rare exception, but there are enough examples, like the use of white phosphorous and drone air strikes that reveal a brutal truth: what is used in one place doesn’t stay there; it travels wherever the next authority wants the same cover of impunity.

Anuradha Bhasin is the managing editor of Kashmir Times and author of A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370.

mean it will happen automatically. Humans will have to successfully set priorities and goals to keep powerful models safe AXIOS

NathaN Bomey aNd Sam SaBiN

More AI is the surest solution to an emerging AI security crisis, industry execs and researchers say. Why it matters: The revelation in Axios that researchers are investigating tens of thousands of problematic AI security incidents — rather than the dozens that had been publicly revealed — raised questions about whether AI leaders have control over their technology. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sought to calm escalating fears across governments, markets and industries, announcing an open-source safety platform for monitoring and potentially quarantining AI agents. “We all need to hope that it’s an engineering problem,” he said in an interview on CNBC Monday. “If it’s not an engineering problem, it’s not solvable.” The fact that companies continue to advance the frontier means they also believe it’s a problem they can solve, he said. Between the lines: The fundamental challenge humans face in policing powerful AI is that it requires them to imagine all the ways the models may behave in unexpected ways order to meet their given objectives. One top AI executive compared the process to finding ways to keep a teenager from sneaking out at night. A parent might make rules such as don’t leave through the front or back doors, don’t open the garage or don’t leave through any windows. But what if the teen could build a bulldozer and use it to break through a brick wall, allowing an escape? Would any parent have thought to tell them not to do that? The solution, according to executives, researchers and cybersecurity professionals, is to use AI to help create those guardrails, to help investigate and stop rogue agents, to help secure systems and to build safer training environments. The big picture: The AI-vs.-AI approach has been taking shape across cybersecurity as hackers and rogue agents outrun human-only response capabilities. Companies are increas-

ingly turning to AI to automate threat detection, red teaming and patching. Nvidia’s platform brings that approach to the systems running agents. Microsoft, Cisco, Google and CrowdStrike have introduced cyber-focused AI models. Palo Alto Networks recently launched a service that uses frontier and open-weight models to find security flaws and recommend fixes. “If security agents or validation models are running alongside production agents, that creates another inference workload that did not previously exist,” Brad Gastwirth, global head of research and market intelligence at Circular Technology, writes. The dynamic was on display recently when OpenAI agents escaped a testing environment and breached Hugging Face. The open-source AI platform then used a Chinese AI model to assess the attack after running into guardrails when trying to use U.S. models. Hugging Face was blocked from using Anthropic’s Mythos, which had been designed to limit its responses to certain cybersecurity requests to thwart potentially harmful usage. In other words, AI investigated AI. Threat level: The recent security incidents have created a crisis of confidence in AI safety. Models have sought to bypass guardrails, escape sandboxes, hijack websites, self-prompt and attempt to evade monitors. Companies are also working on ways to learn from those failures. In addition to the new agent security platform, which involved more than 100 companies in addition to Nvidia, industry players have proposed a framework for reporting incidents and preserving records. The idea is to give investigators a kind of flight recorder for AI agents. Yes, but: More AI defense tools don’t mean every company can adopt them quickly. Some security teams are already overwhelmed by the changing threat landscape and choices about what to buy. Reality check: AI will be needed to police AI, but that doesn’t mean it will happen automatically. Humans will have to successfully set priorities and goals to keep powerful models safe.

06 NEWS

US, IRAN RETURN TO INDIRECT DIPLOMACY AS TRUMP REJECTS PROPOSAL BUT SEEKS MORE TALKS

WASHINGTON AGENCIES

S and Iranian officials spoke separately with mediators on Monday as part of a renewed effort to end seven months of war, according to officials of both countries. Any further talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters. The war began in late February with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, killing thousands of people over seven months and shocking global markets as vital waterways for oil remained choked. The US and Iran have twice previously agreed to ceasefires in mediated peace talks,

Wednesday, 30 September 2026 | ISLAMABAD

in April and June. Those agreements quickly unravelled. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who remained in New York after attending the General Assembly, said Iran expected to receive the US response to its latest ceasefire proposals and its conditions for restoring passage of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state news agency IRNA. "If the Americans claim they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution," Araghchi said. US officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details. TRUMP SIGNALS FURTHER TALKS WITH IRAN THIS WEEK Iran's seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the

unfreezing of billions of dollars' worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on

When bloodshed reaches the UN ZEHRA BATOOL

AKISTAN is one of the world's clearest victims of terrorism, and one of the countries fighting it hardest. Over the past ten days, militants have struck a mosque inside a police compound, bombed a highway checkpoint and abducted laborers at a construction site. In the same days, security forces have carried out major operations, and the prime minister has taken the country's case to the United Nations. The most recent attacks show how wide the threat is. On September 18, militants attacked Kohat's Old Police Lines during Friday prayers, killing 23 people, including 17 police officers. Investigators identified one of the two suicide bombers as an Afghan national. A week later, a suicide bomber struck a joint Customs, police and Excise checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan, killing 13 people, including two women and a young girl. The violence then targeted the people who came to help, as armed men fired on a Rescue 1122 ambulance carrying the injured, killing two rescuers. The TTP claimed responsibility. Balochistan faces a different but equally cruel form of violence. On September 26, dozens of gunmen attacked a road construction site in Duki, killing a

security guard and abducting workers from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after checking their identity cards. Outlets reported between 12 and 18 abductees. Insurgents have also turned highways into hunting grounds, setting up an illegal checkpoint near Kalat to kidnap for ransom, extort money and snatch vehicles. Independent data confirms that this is not a passing spike. The Institute for Economics and Peace ranked Pakistan first on its 2026 Global Terrorism Index, with 1,139 terrorism deaths in 2025, the highest level since 2013. The world moved the other way that year, with global terrorism deaths dropping by 28 per cent. The report also recorded a sharp rise in hostagetaking, from 101 victims in 2024 to 655 in 2025, largely because of the Jaffar Express attack. It noted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan together accounted for over 74 per cent of attacks. Against this backdrop, the state has not stood still. In Balochistan, the military says security forces killed more than 71 terrorists in 96 hours in Operation Shaban and other intelligence-based operations, clearing hideouts in Ziarat and surrounding areas. Officials say the effort continues under the Azm-e-Istehkam vision approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan. The operation near Kalat shows what this means for

ordinary people: troops killed five militants and recovered 23 abductees, along with six trucks, three buses and two cars. The provincial government has closed the door on talks with insurgents, as Balochistan's chief minister ruled out negotiations and said operations would continue until militancy is eliminated. Islamabad has also made clear that it will not let sanctuaries beyond its border go unchallenged. After Kohat, its Information Ministry urged the Afghan Taliban to dismantle militant sanctuaries and recruitment and training networks, saying Pakistan had the will and capability to eliminate threats wherever they are. It also reminded Kabul that it cannot evade its counterterrorism obligations under the 2020 Doha Agreement. Pakistan then carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, which it says killed 28 militants, while Kabul reports three civilians killed. Islamabad has also stressed that condemnation alone is not enough. When Afghanistan's foreign ministry condemned the Kohat attack, Pakistan replied that condemnation must be matched by concrete action. It was this record that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to the UN General Assembly on September 25. He told delegates that Pakistan had lost nearly 100,000 civilians and members of its armed forces and suffered economic losses exceeding

Iranian ports. Iran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil

$150 billion in the fight against militancy, and argued that the world is safer because of those sacrifices. He warned that Afghan territory continues to be used by the TTP and the Balochistan Liberation Army to destabilize Pakistan, and demanded that the abuse stop. He asked the Taliban authorities to take verifiable and decisive action so that Afghan soil is not used against Pakistan or any other country. The same speech showed Pakistan positioning itself as a force for stability. Sharif said his government had helped bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiating table in Islamabad, leading to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding. The message was that a country that has suffered so much from violence is working to prevent it elsewhere. Not everyone accepted Pakistan's account. India used its right of reply to warn that cross-border terrorism by Pakistan would have consequences and rejected Islamabad's remarks on Kashmir. Pakistan holds that India backs militant groups in Balochistan, a charge India denies, and Kabul denies sheltering the TTP. These disputes will continue, but the human cost is not in question. Police officers were killed at prayer, a child died at a checkpoint, and rescuers were shot while carrying the wounded. Pakistan's answer is to keep fighting, keep pressing for action against cross-border networks, and keep making its case to the world. zehrabatool345@gmail.com

US forces exit Iraq after two decades, leaving opening for Iran WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Xi Jinping urges Sichuan University to leverage strengths in serving national strategies BEIJING

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Sichuan University to leverage its interdisciplinary strengths and play a pioneering and exemplary role in serving national strategies, as he extended congratulations on the 130th founding anniversary of the university. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in a reply letter to the university's teachers and students. In the letter, Xi congratulated the university's faculty members, students and alumni on the anniversary. He noted that serving the country with dedication, taking root in western China, and fostering talent through education are fine traditions of Sichuan University. Xi expressed the hope that the university will carry forward its revolutionary legacy, leverage its strengths of interdisciplinary integration across humanities, sciences, engineering and medicine, and contribute to building China into a leading country in education, science and technology, and talent development. The history of Sichuan University dates back to the Sichuan Chinese and Western School founded in 1896, the earliest institution of higher learning in southwest China.

US forces are set to pull out from their last bases in Iraq by Wednesday, a departure celebrated as a victory by Iran and its allies, who now influence the country where around 4,500 US soldiers died during more than two decades of war. Iraqi security experts say the withdrawal — agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried out by Donald Trump's administration even as it wages war against Iran — could give Tehran and its allies free rein, while also allowing other US enemies to stage a comeback, including Islamic State. "Iran stands to benefit strategically from the coalition's departure because it removes a military presence that for years acted as a counterweight to Tehran's influence in Iraq," said Jasim al-Bahadli, an Iraqi security analyst specialising in studying groups aligned with Iran. He predicted that the pro-Iranian military groups would not only portray the departure as a victory for their movement, but also "seek to translate that momentum into greater influence over security and political decision-making". Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, described the US withdrawal as "a historic victory for the Iraqi Islamic resistance groups and honourable Iraqis, and a crushing defeat for the American project". "On September 30, we will celebrate the turning of a black page in Iraq’s history and the failure of the occupation to impose its will on our country," he told Reuters. "Iraq has proven that its sovereignty cannot be secured by foreign forces, but by the resistance and the will of its people." NOT READY While the eventual departure of US forces is broadly popular among Iraqis, those who worry about the strength of the Iran-backed groups fear the withdrawal

is premature. "We believe Iraq is still not fully ready to take over the security file at this time," Abdulrahman alZobaie, a tribal leader in Fallujah, told Reuters. "All Iraqis aspire to full sovereignty, and no Iraqi would dispute that. But I believe that the (US-led coalition) leaving in this way and creating a vacuum is what all Iraqis fear." American forces invaded Iraq in 2003 and went on to occupy the country, forcibly installing a government sympathetic to US interests and leaving a million Iraqis dead due to conflict before withdrawing at the end of 2011. They returned less than three years later to help Iraqi forces defeat the Islamic State in a major war from 2014 to 2017. Around twice as many US soldiers were killed in "Operation Iraqi Freedom" as in the parallel war in Afghanistan, which ended with an abrupt US withdrawal in 2021. In recent years, Iraq has been the only country to maintain close political and military alliances with both the United States and Iran. The United States killed a top Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, with a strike on Baghdad Airport in 2020. Iran's allies repeatedly fired retaliatory strikes on US bases, sometimes drawing reprisals. In this year's war against Iran, 7 of the 18 US service members listed as killed were in Iraq, the last an army sergeant who died during the controlled detonation of a drone at a base near Erbil in July. VICTORY FOR IRAN'S AXIS Iran, which says its ultimate aim is to force American forces to leave the entire Middle East, casts the US withdrawal from Iraq as a victory for its "axis of resistance" of allied armed groups across the region. "Lasting security will prevail in Iraq" once the Americans leave the country and the region, the deputy chairman of the National Security Commission of Iran's Parliament, Amir Hayat Moqaddam, said on Monday. Iran "welcomes the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and will undoubtedly support it," he told Iran's parliamentary news service. "Resistance groups are cur-

China among world's fastest-rising innovators, ministry says BEIJING

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

China has accelerated science and technology innovation over the past five years, the country's science and technology minister Yin Hejun said at a State Council Information Office press conference on Tuesday. In 2025, China's R&D spending exceeded 3.92 trillion yuan, or 2.8% of GDP, surpassing the OECD average for the first time. China has ranked first globally for years in PCT international patent applications and high-level international journal papers. It has also built the world's largest education system and the world's largest R&D workforce. Major breakthroughs span multiple fields. The "Jiuzhang" quantum computer series has repeatedly set world records. Its latest generation, the Jiuzhang 4.0, demonstrated

"quantum computational advantage" on a specific mathematical task, solving it over 10 to the power of 54 times faster than the world's fastest supercomputer. The Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter, still operational, captured

rare images of an interstellar object in 2025, while the newly launched Tianwen-2 is en route to collect samples from a nearEarth asteroid. Tianwen-3 is planned for a Mars sample-return mission around 2031. Progress was also made in

chips, open-weight large AI models, new energy vehicles, robots, innovative drugs and new crop varieties. China now ranks ninth worldwide in national innovation capability and is one of the fastest-rising innovators, Yin said. The 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is a key stage in building a powerhouse in science and technology, Yin told reporters. The ministry will prioritize strategic, original basic research, support young scientists, diversify funding and strengthen research platforms. It will tackle core technologies in AI, quantum tech and chips. It will promote demanddriven industrial innovation, with enterprises leading collaboration among industry, universities and research institutes, and speed up commercialization. It will also improve people's livelihoods through advances in health,

agriculture and the environment, and strengthen links between education, science and talent so young researchers can take the lead.

tankers, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran's nuclear program and Trump's wish to seize or eliminate its highly enriched uranium. Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran's proposal, saying Iran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under. However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week. Araghchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection, and that Iran was awaiting Washington's definitive position before deciding its next steps. "Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met," he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.

PTML, GNEXT pair iPhone 18 Pro series with next-generation 5G for an enhanced digital experience ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

Leading telecom operator, Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) has partnered with GNEXT, Pakistan's leading Apple Authorized Distributor & Service Provider, to launch the latest iPhone portfolio in Pakistan, featuring the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and DUO. The partnership advances PTML’s 5G journey by bringing together 5G-ready devices and next-generation 5G connectivity to unlock a premium digital experience for its customers. Chief Commercial Officer, PTML, Syed Atif Raza and CEO, GNEXT, Shahid Khan signed the partnership agreement here in Islamabad. The collaboration brings together PTML’s extensive reach and connectivity ecosystem with GNEXT’s device distribution capabilities to create a convenient and reliable channel for PTML customers to access the latest iPhone models. The booking and registration process will be accessible through PTML’s digital touchpoints, including an in-app web-view, social media, and the official Ufone & Telenor websites. Customers will be able to avail the offer at Ufone – Telenor Pakistan Joint Shops in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

PINSTECH, OGDC sign analytical services contract for lithium extraction initiative ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) and Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) signed a contract at OGDC Headquarters on Tuesday to strengthen institutional cooperation, including analytical support for OGDC’s lithium extraction initiative. Established in 1965, PINSTECH is a premier research and development institute of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). Under the contract, PINSTECH will provide elemental profiling and radioactive-element analysis services to OGDC. The contract signing was witnessed by Dr. Shakeel Abbas Rofi, Member (Science), PAEC, and Mr. Ahmed Hayat Lak, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, OGDC. Dr. Qamar-ulHaque, Director General, PINSTECH, and Mr. Ejaz Abbas Rizvi, General Manager, Supply Chain Management Department, OGDC, signed the contract on behalf of their respective organisations. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Rofi and Mr. Lak expressed confidence that the contract would strengthen cooperation between PINSTECH and OGDC by bringing together their respective scientific and technical capabilities in support of national objectives. Mr. Munib Ahmed Shafique, Head of the Spectrometry Group at PINSTECH, gave a presentation on the institute’s capabilities in elemental analysis. Ms. Shagufta Shafique, JE (Production), OGDC, presented an overview of the company’s scope of work and diversification plans, including its lithium extraction initiative in collaboration with PINSTECH.

NEWS 07

Wednesday, 30 September 2026 | ISLAMABAD

CORPORATE CORNER

Curb on Illicit Trade Can Strengthen Pakistan's Hand in IMF Talks ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

As Pakistan engages with an International Monetary Fund mission over revenue targets and fiscal discipline for FY2026-27, the billions lost annually to illicit trade have come into sharper focus as one of the most immediate and credible sources of revenue recovery available to the government. The IMF, which has urged Pakistan to expand its tax base and strengthen revenue collection mechanisms, has set a primary surplus target of 2 per cent of GDP by 2027. The FBR is targeting Rs778 billion in enforcement-based revenue for the next fiscal year, with the government signalling it will rely on enforcement measures rather than new taxation to meet its commitments. In this context, the estimated Rs1,000 billion lost annually to illicit trade across tobacco, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, tea, and auto parts represents a direct obstacle to meeting IMF programme targets. The tobacco sector alone illustrates the scale of the opportunity being missed. Illicit cigarettes account for over 53 per cent of Pakistan's total cigarette market, costing the exchequer an estimated Rs300 billion annually. Despite ongoing enforcement operations that have yielded over Rs50 billion in collections from the tobacco sector in the last fiscal year, illicit products continue to dominate the market, pointing to structural gaps that periodic raids alone cannot close.

Umar Ahsan Khan elected President OICCI; Managing Committee for 2026-28 announced KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Umar Ahsan Khan, CEO and Managing Director Dawlance (Private) Limited, has been elected President of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI). The result was announced at the Chamber's ExtraOrdinary General Meeting on Tuesday. Ahmed Zahid Zaheer, Country Chairman and GM Chevron Lubricants Pakistan (Private) Limited, was elected Senior Vice President, and Dr. Syed Amir Ali, President and CEO Meezan Bank Limited, was elected Vice President. Umar Ahsan Khan succeeds Yousaf Hussain, who led the Chamber during 2024-26. Outgoing President Yousaf Hussain welcomed the progress on economic stability but said it was not enough on its own. He said the gains now had to be turned into growth, backed by stronger investment, exports, productivity and job creation. Umar Ahsan Khan said the Chamber's advocacy would remain grounded in evidence. “Our advocacy must remain constructive, credible and evidencebased. We should not simply highlight what needs to change. Wherever possible, we should bring practical solutions to the table and work with the government and other stakeholders to make them happen,” he said. He noted that foreign direct investment fell 34 per cent to USD 1.65 billion last financial year. “Macroeconomic stabilisation may get a country onto an investor's shortlist, but it is the broader investment environment that ultimately determines whether capital is committed,” he said. Over the coming term, the new Managing Committee will deepen engagement with government, regulators and international institutions. It will also strengthen OICCI's data-driven research and continue its platforms on climate, diversity and inclusion, technology and AI.

FCEPL deploys 450kW solar system to optimize energy utilization

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

In a significant step towards achieving a sustainable industrial ecosystem, FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan Limited has announced the deployment of a 450 kW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system integrated with a 255 kWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at its Nara Dairy Farm facility.Awarded to DSG Energy, the project represents a strategic investment in clean energy infrastructure that will strengthen the plant’s energy resilience, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate the company's transition toward a lower-carbon future. ‘This installation represents the futuristic, energyconscious mindset that guides us at FCEPL’ said Kashan Hasan, CEO and Managing Director of the company. He added, ‘we are eager to expand our solar footprint further, which now includes our production facilities as well as our dairy farm. Our efforts to bring clean energy into our operations truly reflects our purpose of Nourishing Pakistan throughout the Grass to Glass journey, ensuring that we continue to care for our environment and communities whilst providing safe, healthy and nutritious products to the millions of families who consume our products everyday.

CM MARYAM ORDERS REMOVAL OF 3 SUTHRA PUNJAB MDS OVER POOR SANITATION

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PUNJAB CM SETS 15-DAY TARGET TO IMPROVE DOOR-TO-DOOR WASTE COLLECTION LAHORE

SALEEM JADOON

UNJAB Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday ordered the removal of the Managing Directors (MDs) of ‘Suthra Punjab’ in Kasur, Faisalabad and Okara over complaints of poor sanitation and expressed displeasure over sanitation conditions in various cities, directing warnings to be issued to the concerned MDs over poor performance. Chairing a meeting on the ‘Suthra Punjab’ programme, the chief minister reviewed its performance in detail and decided that MDs removed from ‘Suthra Punjab’ for poor performance would not be given any other posting. The meeting decided to install body cameras to track the Field Monitoring Officers (FMOs) of ‘Suthra Punjab’. The chief minister directed Deputy Commissioners to ensure daily monitoring of FMOs and ordered the establishment of a dedicated monitoring section to oversee their performance. CM Maryam Nawaz directed that the ‘Suthra Punjab’ beat system be made fully operational across the province. She also ordered the activation of digital challans through Safe City cameras under the anti-littering campaign. The chief minister set a 15-day target for improving the door-to-door waste collection campaign. During a detailed briefing on the performance of ‘Suthra Punjab’, the meeting was informed that timely payments to

‘Suthra Punjab’ workers had been completed in most tehsils of Punjab. Anti-littering squads are active in all divisions of the province and have conducted 77,137 inspections and issued 9,353 warnings. The squads also issued 19 challans for littering. In Lahore, the anti-littering squad has conducted 53,186 inspections, while 2,156 digital challans have been issued through Safe City cameras. The briefing further revealed that 37,852 bins had been installed at different locations across Punjab for waste disposal. A total of 676,551 complaints related to ‘Suthra Punjab’ have been received across the province, of which 99 per cent have been resolved. Healthy Heart, Healthy Punjab Our Resolve: CM Meanwhile, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that “Healthy Heart, Healthy

Punjab” is their resolve. On World Heart Day, the chief minister paid tribute to the services of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff. In a special message on World Heart Day, CM Maryam Nawaz said prevention was better than cure when it came to heart diseases and that healthy lifestyle changes were essential. The chief minister reiterated her commitment to establishing cath labs and cardiology centres in all district hospitals across Punjab. Successful procedures have been performed on 7,294 cardiac patients at cath labs in six districts of Punjab. Angiography has been performed on 4,448 patients, while 2,763 patients have undergone angioplasty at cath labs in Jhelum, Jhang, Vehari, Kasur, Mianwali and Bahawalnagar. CM Maryam Nawaz said temporary pacemakers had been successfully im-

Azma congratulates Mian Amjad Farzand on election as chairman PFPA LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bokhari on Tuesday congratulated Mian Amjad Farzand on election as Chairman of the Pakistan Film Producers Association (PFPA). In a congratulatory message, Azma Bokhari also extended her best wishes to the newly elected members of the Association’s Executive Committee. The Punjab Minister for Information and Culture said that the Pakistan Film Producers Association had played a significant role in

promoting the country’s film industry. She noted that prominent figures associated with the Association had contributed several major and successful films to Pakistani cinema. Azma Bokhari expressed hope that, under the leadership of Mian

Groundbreaking ceremony of dumlottee–DHA water pipeline project

Amjad Farzand, Pakistani producers would create more high-quality films, particularly family-oriented productions, that would contribute to the growth of the country’s film industry. She said the Punjab government had taken historic and practical measures to help the film industry stand on its own feet and promote its sustainable growth. Extending her best wishes to the newly elected office-bearers of the Pakistan Film Producers Association, the provincial minister expressed hope that the Association would play an increasingly effective role in the development and revival of the country’s film industry.

OGDC welcomes 2nd batch of female management trainees ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig Member National Assembly NA-241 Karachi at the groundbreaking ceremony of Dumlottee–DHA Water Pipeline Project, said that it’s a dream come true of tanker free DHA. He consented election in February 2024, showing PC-1 of dedicated Dumlottee DHA pipeline project of additional 10 million gallon water per day to the residents of DHA and Clifton. Dr. Baig thanked Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Chairman PPP, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Nasir Hussain Shah Minister for Local Govt Sindh, Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Station Commander CBC Brig. Imran Asghar, Project Director Brig Adnan Akhtar Ali and KW&SC MD, COO and management, to pursue the project with revised cost of Rs. 14.23 billion. He referred his recent meeting with DRS organized by president and members, expressing their utmost joy and happiness on signing of the agreement between KW&SC and FWO. Dr. Baig proposed a monitoring committee of eminent residents of DHA and Clifton to monitor the progress of the project to be completed in 15 months.

Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) has welcomed the second batch of its all-female Management Trainee Officers (MTOs) Programme 2026-27, comprising of 52 female graduates from diverse academic backgrounds and institutions across Pakistan. The programme reflects OGDC’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and its efforts to increase the participation of women in the energy sector.A ceremony was held at the OGDC Training (Oil & Gas Training Institute – OGTI) to formally welcome the management trainees. Addressing the ceremony, MD/CEO OGDC Ahmed Hayat Lak welcomed the new MTOs and said the initiative was aimed at making greater female representation a sustainable part of the organisation. “We want more women in our company to make our work environment more diverse and inclusive,” he said.MD/CEO Lak said the trainees would contribute to OGDC’s growth journey while developing the skills required to support Pakistan’s energy security. “We have a target to double our production in the next three years,” he said, adding that OGDC would continue to optimise production from its mature assets and contribute to import substitution.The 52-week programme combines classroom learning, onthe-job training, field visits, departmental placements and mentorship. It is designed to provide trainees with a broad understanding of OGDC’s operations, the oil and gas value chain and the opportunities and challenges facing the sector.

Special Tax Scheme for Small Shopkeepers in Initial Implementation Phase

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has stated that the Special Tax Scheme for Small Shopkeepers is currently in its initial implementation stages, during which the Board is actively working to facilitate traders and address any practical or technical issues arising out of the registration process.The Government of Pakistan and the FBR remain in continuous contact with traders, market representatives and trade bodies to ensure that the scheme is implemented in a smooth, transparent and trader-friendly manner. Feedback received from the business community is being duly considered, and efforts are underway to resolve genuine difficulties being faced by traders.The FBR has further advised traders who encounter any technical difficulty or problem while registering under the scheme to approach the FBR directly for assistance and guidance. The Board is committed to providing the necessary facilitation so that eligible traders can complete the registration process without unnecessary difficulty.The Government strongly believe that the Special Tax Scheme provides an opportunity for small shopkeepers to become part of the documented tax system through a simplified and facilitative framework. The scheme has been designed with the objective of encouraging voluntary compliance while providing greater certainty and ease of doing business for small traders.The FBR has expressed confidence that, with the continued cooperation of the trading community and trade bodies, the scheme will achieve its intended objectives and become a successful initiative for the business community. STAFF REPORT

planted in two patients at the Cath Lab of District Headquarters Hospital, Kasur. Cath labs will be established in eight districts by November and in seven districts by February, she added. The chief minister directed that free medicines be provided at all cardiac hospitals, including the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. “Free medicines, free stents and free bypass surgeries are being provided to heart patients,” CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif said. Free blood pressure and blood sugar screening is being carried out at Clinics on Wheels and Field Hospitals, she added. The chief minister urged students to avoid junk food and smoking. She said state-of-the-art cardiac centres would be established in every division of Punjab. CM Maryam Nawaz stressed the need to launch an awareness campaign regarding heart diseases among women. She also directed the launch of awareness programmes in schools focusing on children’s heart health and physical activity. The chief minister expressed her resolve to provide every citizen of Punjab with a healthy life protected from heart diseases. CM EXPRESSES DEEP GRIEF OVER STUDENTS INJURED IN MURREE VAN ACCIDENT In a related development, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressed deep grief and sorrow over students sustaining burn injuries in a van accident in Murree.

HBL Microfinance Bank, 1LINK & Euronet sign agreement to launch Pakistan’s first PayPak Credit Card

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

HBL Microfinance Bank (HBL MfB), 1LINK (Pvt.) Limited and Euronet Pakistan have signed a landmark tripartite agreement to introduce Pakistan’s first PayPak Credit Card, with HBL Microfinance Bank becoming PayPak’s inaugural credit card partner. This milestone marks an important development in Pakistan’s payments landscape.The agreement was signed by Mr. Amir Khan, President & CEO, HBL Microfinance Bank; Mr. Najeeb Agrawalla, CEO, 1LINK; and Mr. Kashif Gaya, CEO, Euronet. Under the partnership, HBL Microfinance Bank will issue the PayPak Credit Cards and lead the customer proposition, 1LINK will provide the PayPak payment scheme, while Euronet will provide the card processing technology platform and implementation support.HBL Microfinance Bank plans to introduce the PayPak Credit Card across all four variants: Green, Standard, Pink and Edge, designed to provide customers with greater choice and flexibility in meeting their livelihood needs. This initiative is part of bank’s broader plans to introduce both conventional and Islamic PayPak Credit Card offerings, expanding access to innovative credit solutions for microfinance customers across Pakistan.

CDA Intensifies Tree Plantation Drive to Make Islamabad More Beautiful, Green ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has intensified its extensive tree plantation drive across Islamabad under the directions of Federal Minister for Interior Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi and the able and effective supervision of Chairman CDA, with a comprehensive focus on enhancing the beauty, greenery, environmental and tourism friendly federal capital.As part of this extensive initiative, plantation, landscaping and beautification activities are being carried out across Islamabad, including major roads, green belts, parks, recreational areas, public spaces and other suitable sites. The initiative is aimed at further strengthening Islamabad’s distinctive green character and creating a cleaner, healthier and more attractive environment for citizens as well as domestic and international tourists.The intensified plantation drive is a key component of CDA’s broader efforts to further transform Islamabad into a beautiful, clean, green, safe, environment friendly and tourist friendly federal capital. Special emphasis is being placed on enhancing green belts, improving public spaces, strengthening roadside greenery and beautifying prominent locations and major corridors across the city.Under the able and effective supervision of the Chairman CDA, Environment Wing of CDA is actively engaged in tree plantation and landscaping activities across Islamabad very vigorously. The Chairman CDA has directed the concerned

Wednesday, 30 September, 2026

SEvEN INdIA-bACkEd TErrOrISTS kIllEd IN kP, bAlOCHISTAN OPErATIONS: SECurITy SOurCES

PRAYER TIMINGS

NEWS

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

ECURITY forces killed seven India-backed terrorists in separate operations in KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, security sources said on Tuesday. Two terrorists were killed during an operation in the Nokcha area of Chagai district after militants allegedly set an empty water bowser on fire, according to security sources. The sources said the terrorists attempted to flee after torching the vacant water bowser, prompting security forces to launch an operation in the area. The militants were also allegedly involved in arson attacks at various locations along the N-40 highway, the sources said. They added that 11 terrorists belonging to what the sources described as Fitna

al-Hindustan and involved in similar acts of sabotage had been killed on August 31. Security operations would continue until the last terrorist was eliminated from Balochistan, the sources said.

Govt cuts petrol by rs1.49, diesel by rs2.73 per litre PROFIT

WEB DESK

The federal government has reduced the price of petrol by Rs1.49 to Rs387.54 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.73 to Rs402.24 per litre, effective September 30. The Petroleum Division said on Tuesday that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) revised the prices under the government's petroleum pricing mechanism. The latest revision follows Monday's cut of Rs2.27 in petrol and Rs3.56 in HSD, which had brought their prices to Rs389.03 and Rs404.97 per litre, respectively. The Petroleum Division attributed the latest adjustment to changes in international Platts rates, premiums and incidentals. Global oil prices also fell on Tuesday, with Brent crude down $1.96, or 1.86%, at $103.32 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate down $1.95, or 2.11%, at $90.65.

Two suspects remanded in Azeri woman gang-rape case LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

A judicial magistrate on Tuesday granted Defence C police a six-day physical remand of two suspects arrested in connection with the alleged gang rape of a 20-year-old Azerbaijani woman in Lahore. The woman, who had travelled to Pakistan for business purposes, alleged that she was sexually assaulted by three men at a rented apartment in a private housing society near Raiwind on the night between Friday and Saturday. One of the main suspects was arrested on Monday, while police confirmed the arrest of another on Tuesday. Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Investigation) Zeeshan Raza said investigators had identified the third suspect and were conducting raids to arrest him. The two arrested suspects were produced before Magistrate Azhar Mahmood at the Cantonment Courts. The investigating officer sought 14-day physical remand for interrogation, recovery of evidence and DNA testing. The magistrate, however, granted police six days’ physical custody of the suspects. Meanwhile, a sessions court granted interim pre-arrest bail to a woman allegedly linked to the case, restraining police from arresting her until Oct 5. According to the complainant’s application, two women had invited her to dinner before taking her to a cafe, where she met the three men later accused of assaulting her. One of the women appeared before the court on Tuesday along with her lawyer, who argued that his client had been implicated in the case with mala fide intent. He said she was willing to join the police investigation to establish her innocence. The court granted her bail until Oct 5 and directed her to join the investigation before the next hearing. Victim records statement A day earlier, the Azerbaijani woman recorded her statement before Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Sagheer under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to the statement, she arrived in Islamabad from Istanbul on Sept 13 and subsequently travelled to Faisalabad before coming to Lahore. She said she had intended to visit Skardu but abandoned the plan because she was travelling alone. The complainant told the magistrate that she had contacted two women on the day of the alleged incident and met one of them at a Lahore cafe late at night. She later accompanied the woman to a house in Bahria Town, where she met the second woman. She alleged that around 2am, two men arrived in a white car and that she was subsequently taken to an apartment, where another two men arrived.

Separately, five terrorists belonging to Fitna al-Khawarij were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Bara town of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to security sources.

A large quantity of weapons and ammunition was recovered from the militants, while their hideouts were also destroyed during the operation, the sources said. Security forces reiterated their commitment to eliminating terrorism from the country and establishing lasting peace, the sources added. Pakistan has witnessed an increase in cross-border terrorist attacks, particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by militant organisations to carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Pakistan maintains that the Afghan Taliban authorities have failed to take effective action against groups responsible for attacks on Pakistani security forces and civilians.

Eleven children injured as school van catches fire in Murree RAWALPINDI

STAFF REPORT

Eleven children were injured on Tuesday when a private school van fell off Sign Road in Masiari, Murree, and caught fire, with four critically injured students being shifted to hospitals in Rawalpindi, police said. The van was carrying 12 children from two private schools when its brakes allegedly failed, causing it to fall off the road. It caught fire shortly afterwards and was completely gutted. Local residents rushed to the scene and helped rescue the children from the burning vehicle. Rescue teams and firefighters later reached the site and brought the blaze under control. Eight children with minor injuries were admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Murree, while four children suffering more serious burns were referred to hospitals in Rawalpindi.

Murree District Police Officer Raza Tanveer Supra said four children had sustained burns covering more than 25 per cent of their bodies and required specialised treatment. Eight-year-old Arham, son of Ali Nawaz, suffered burns to around 38 per cent of his body, while eight-year-old Hassan Talib, son of Muhammad Talib, sustained burns to around 26 per cent. Ayesha, daughter of Kaleem, suffered burns to around 42 per cent of her body. The DPO said two children escaped burns, while six sustained burns covering less than 10 per cent of their bodies. Mr Supra visited the injured children at the hospital and reviewed the medical facilities being provided to them. Police said the exact cause of the accident was being investigated and legal proceedings had been initiated. The DPO said a similar incident involving a school van fire had occurred in Murree previously.

Sohail Afridi 'unhappy' over PTI march preparations PESHAWAR

STAFF REPORT

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has expressed displeasure over what he described as a lack of interest among some Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) lawmakers in preparations for the party’s planned march on Islamabad on October 4. Afridi made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the PTI parliamentary party at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar. Some lawmakers attended the meeting through video link instead of appearing in person, according to party sources. The chief minister criticised what he considered inadequate commitment to preparations for the mobilisation and questioned the level of participation among party members. “We also have Mir Jafars and Mir Sadiqs within our ranks,” Afridi was quoted as saying. Reiterating the party’s plan to

march towards Islamabad on October 4, the chief minister said PTI workers would set out from Peshawar for the federal capital. “We are not going to conquer Islamabad, and the federal government is blocking our way,” he said. Responding to suggestions that protesters could carry sticks or slingshots during the march, Afridi said: “We will go with two hands and two feet.” The PTI had originally planned to hold the march on September 27 but later postponed it until October 4. Afridi had described the delay as part of the party’s political strategy, while maintaining that negotiations with the federal government would continue alongside the mobilisation. In a post on X, the chief minister subsequently urged party workers to prepare for the march, saying: “You should prepare; I am ready.” Meanwhile, PTI KP President Junaid Akbar directed lawmakers and party leaders currently abroad

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan reported its fifth polio case of the year on Tuesday after the virus was detected in a 17-month-old girl from Bannu district, underscoring the persistent threat in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite a sharp decline in infections nationwide. The affected child belongs to Khandar Khankhel union council of Domel tehsil in Bannu district, a National Emergency Operations Centre official told Dawn. Four of the country’s five polio cases reported so far this year have been detected in

to return to Pakistan ahead of the October 4 mobilisation. Akbar warned that MPAs, MNAs and party leaders who remained outside the country on October 4 would have no connection with the PTI. He told such members that they could form another party if they wished. The planned march has already triggered a political confrontation between the PTI-led provincial government and the federal authorities. The PTI had initially announced September 27 as the date for the march, arguing that it had exhausted other constitutional and legal avenues and was therefore mobilising supporters across the country. As the original date approached, the Islamabad High Court directed federal and provincial authorities to prevent the use of state resources for the protest and ruled that political parties or public office holders could not block roads in the capital.

IHC seeks final arguments in petition challenging PEMRA Chairperson’s appointment ISLAMABAD APP

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday sought final arguments in a petition challenging the appointment of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Chairperson Ambreen Jan, after responses from all respondents were

submitted before the court. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir heard the case filed by petitioner Sohail Sajjad Rana, with Advocate Shahid Mahmood Khokhar appearing on his behalf. Responses from the President’s House, Cabinet Division and Ministry of Information were submitted before the court, along

Fifth polio case detected in Pakistan STAFF REPORT

He added that vehicle fitness checks would also be conducted on vehicles operating in rural areas to help prevent such incidents. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed concern over the injuries suffered by the students and sought a report on the incident, according to PTV. The chief minister also took notice of alleged overloading and the absence of adequate fire-safety measures in school vans. The incident comes amid a series of serious road accidents in the Murree area in recent months. On June 11, at least 10 people were killed and 13 others injured when a passenger van carrying members of the same family plunged into a stormwater drain and caught fire on the RawalpindiMurree Expressway near Khajut. On August 26, five people were killed and 13 injured when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine near Lower Barian at the Murree-Galiyat junction.

Bannu division, with three of those cases originating from Bannu district. The latest case was also confirmed by Pakistan’s polio eradication programme, which said vaccination had reduced the number of cases by 99.8 per cent from an estimated 20,000 in the early 1990s to five so far this year. However, the programme warned that poliovirus transmission remained persistent in southern KP and stressed the need to maintain surveillance and vaccination activities across the country. “This new case underscores the urgent need to maintain strong surveillance and

with the response of PEMRA Chairperson Ambreen Jan and other respondents. After receiving replies from all parties, the court directed the lawyers to present their final arguments at the next hearing. The court adjourned further hearing of the case until November 25.

vaccination efforts nationwide, because no child will be safe from polio until every child is vaccinated and safe,” the programme said. With four cases reported in KP and one in Sindh so far this year, Pakistan’s 2026 tally remains substantially below the 31 cases recorded in 2025 and 74 in 2024. Officials expect the number of cases this year to remain considerably lower than the previous two years, attributing the improvement to better vaccination campaign performance and the onset of the winter low-transmission season. “The ongoing calendar year has proved to be much better in terms of performance.

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Mastung hotel levelled in blast, nearby homes damaged irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

A powerful explosion destroyed a hotel in Mastung’s Khadkocha tehsil on Monday night and damaged several nearby houses, police said. Mastung Superintendent of Police Allah Bakhsh said Madina Hotel was completely destroyed in the blast, while more than 250 solar panels were also damaged. No casualties were reported as nobody was inside the hotel when the explosion occurred. Police cordoned off the area following the blast and began collecting evidence from the site. A search operation has also been launched as authorities investigate the cause and circumstances of the explosion. The incident comes amid continuing security concerns in Balochistan, where several explosive attacks have been reported in recent months. In June, three brothers were killed and another person injured when an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle in Dukki district’s Luni tehsil. Days earlier, another IED attached to a motorcycle exploded in Ormara, Gwadar district, killing a man as he attempted to start the vehicle.

IHC seeks judgments in MPO detention case of PTI MNAs ISLAMABAD APP

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday directed the counsel for National Assembly members Adil Bazai and Dawar Kundi to submit copies of relevant court judgments in a petition challenging their detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. Justice Khadim Hussain Somroo heard the case. During the hearing, Advocate Babar Awan appeared before the court and contended that both Members National Assembly (MNAs) had been picked up from the Parliament Lodges. He said a person named Khushdil Khan Bazai was also taken into custody from the Parliament Lodges. Babar Awan read out the MPO orders and said the orders had been issued on the basis of the prevailing law and order situation. He questioned how an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) could receive information that two MNAs were allegedly planning to create a law and order situation. The court accepted the request and directed the counsel to submit copies of the judgments against the MPO orders. “You submit those judgments; we will pass the order,” the court remarked.

Pakistan, IMF formally begin fourth EFF review talks PROFIT

WEB DESK

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formally began discussions on the fourth review of the country’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the third review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) on Tuesday. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb held a kick-off meeting with an IMF mission led by Iva Petrova, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Rashid Langrial and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani also participated in the meeting virtually. The IMF mission arrived in Pakistan last week to begin negotiations on the two reviews. The talks follow briefings by Pakistani authorities to the visiting mission on the impact of the Gulf War and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz on economic activity and government revenues during the first quarter. The government has also informed the IMF that around 10,000 federal government employees will be required to digitally declare their movable and immovable assets by October 30, 2026, under a mandatory asset declaration regime. Pakistan’s 37-month EFF, worth around $7 billion or SDR5.32 billion, was approved by the IMF Executive Board in September 2024. A separate 28-month RSF arrangement worth around $1.3 billion was agreed at the staff level in March 2025 alongside the first EFF review. If IMF staff and Pakistani authorities reach staff-level agreements on the latest reviews, these will subsequently require approval from the Fund’s Executive Board. Successful completion would give Pakistan access to around $1 billion under the EFF and another $200 million under the RSF.

Moreover, as we have entered into the lowtransmission season, there are fewer chances of polio cases,” Anwarul Haq, head of the Pakistan Polio Programme, told Dawn after the latest vaccination campaign concluded. The weeklong sub-national polio campaign ended on Sept 27, with more than 28.2 million children vaccinated across the country. Despite the encouraging national trend, security challenges continue to pose a serious threat to eradication efforts in northwest Pakistan, particularly in Bannu. Polio experts have repeatedly warned that insecurity in the district can disrupt vaccination campaigns and expose health work-

Published by Asad Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

ers to attacks and kidnappings. “There is a need to address the securityrelated issues in Bannu because it is the only place from where the polio virus can bounce back,” a polio expert said. Data from the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme also showed encouraging signs in environmental surveillance. A majority of samples collected during the first two months of 2026 tested negative for poliovirus. A comparison with the same period last year showed a more than threefold decline in positive environmental samples, indicating a significant reduction in viral circulation.