Shahbaz Sharif

The repeated abductions have raised concerns about the safety and well-being of individuals in Balochistan, particularly those who have been targeted by Pakistani forces in the past, as per The Baloch

Iran's foreign minister arrived in Pakistan's capital Tuesday for a two-day official visit to discuss a range of issues, including tensions in the Middle East and further improving bilateral ties, officials said Tuesday. Abbas Araghchi was received by Pakistani officials just after midnight when his plane landed at an airport near Islamabad. He will meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and other officials at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. The visit comes as Iran is in an escalating standoff with Israel. Iranian officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another strike against Israel after its Oct. 26 attack on the Islamic Republic that targeted military bases and other locations and killed at least five people. Pakistan denounced Israel's strikes at the time. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the visit also provides an important opportunity to advance cooperation and dialogue between Pakistan and Iran on a wide rang

Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign on Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated. Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilise children. The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday in response to the alarming increase in polio cases, said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister's adviser for the polio eradication programme. We are re-energised in our efforts to combat polio, she said in a statement. During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than 5 will be vaccinated and given drops of Vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging the

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday held separate meetings with leaders of various SCO member states on the sidelines of the summit, exchanging ideas to promote bilateral ties and strengthen the intergovernmental international organisation. Pakistan is hosting the two-day SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit on October 15 and 16. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or dialogue partners. According to official statements, Sharif held separate meetings with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda, and Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov, discussing ways to further strengthen bilateral relations. During his meeting with Golovchenko, Sharif emphasised the importance of sustained exchanges to unlock the potential for cooperation, particularly in trade, ...

Pakistan and China on Friday vowed to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from its "detractors and adversaries", as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang and assured Beijing of providing complete security to Chinese personnel working on the USD 65 billion project. Sharif is currently on a visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, seeking to upgrade cooperation under the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. In a statement, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office said during the meeting, the two sides discussed the significance of Gwadar as an important pillar of the CPEC and agreed to expedite the timely completion of all related infrastructure projects to transform Gwadar in Balochistan province into a regional economic hub. "They also expressed their firm commitment to protect CPEC from its detractors and adversaries and to upgrade CPEC in the form of

The newly-elected government of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to work on a comprehensive five-year roadmap for the cash-strapped country's economic resurgence, according to a media report on Friday. This strategic blueprint will focus on curbing inflation, alleviating poverty and creating jobs, the Dawn newspaper reported. In the first meeting, the prime minister sought estimates from different ministries and divisions and formed a committee to go back to the ministries to set five-year targets in different sectors, such as IT, agriculture, industries, energy, food and livestock, reforms in FBR (Federal Board of Revenue), ease of doing business, etc, Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja said after the meeting. Khawaja said the committee, after getting the required information from the ministries and divisions, would prepare a consolidated document carrying five-year targets for all sectors. She said several meetings would be held soon on the five-year .

Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday became the prime minister of Pakistan for a second time to lead a coalition government after he comfortably won a majority in the newly-elected Parliament. Shehbaz, 72, who was the consensus candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), received 201 votes in the 336-member house.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday offered talks with India to address all serious and outstanding issues as he said "war is not an option" for both countries as they fight poverty and unemployment. Sharif made the remarks while addressing the inaugural session of the Pakistan Minerals Summit here. The meeting, organised under the slogan of 'Dust to Development', aimed at bringing foreign investment to the cash-strapped country. "We are prepared to talk with everyone, even with our neighbour, provided that the neighbour is serious to talk serious matters on the table because war is no more an option," the prime minister said, in an apparent reference to India. Prime Minister Sharif's comments came amid continued strain in ties between India and Pakistan on a number of issues including Islamabad's continued support to cross-border terrorism and the Kashmir issue. India has also asserted that Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and will" always be part of the country. Prime ..

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has formed a high-level committee, headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, to decide on the national cricket team's participation in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The committee will explore and discuss all aspects of Pakistan and India relations, the government's policy of keeping sports and policy apart, and the situation in India for the players, officials, fans, and media before submitting its recommendations to Sharif. The Prime Minister is also the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Both the International Cricket Council and host BCCI have already announced the World Cup schedule and expect Pakistan to travel to India for the 50-over showpiece beginning October 5. The PCB, however, has conveyed to them that the national team's participation in the premier event is subject to government clearance due to the tense relations between the two countries. Other committee members include Sports Minister Ahsan Mazari, Maryam ...

As the government seeks to revive the IMF programme, Pakistan has also sought to secure assurances from Saudi Arabia and China for more loans

In the first half of the fiscal year, Pakistan paid USD 10.21 billion in external debt servicing while in the same period of 2021-22, the country paid USD 6 billion

Sharif said that both countries are nuclear powers, and if the conflict triggers a war, then there will be no one left to live and tell what happened

The resurfacing of the cases has certainly raised concerns among the partners, including World Health Organization (WHO) and other stakeholders

Pakistan's Punjab Assembly on Saturday evening stood dissolved after Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman refused to sign an advice of Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. Elahi on the "wish" of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan on Thursday had sent the advice to dissolve the assembly. As the governor did not sign the dissolution summary, it stood dissolved 48 hours (Saturday evening) from the time the CM sent it to governor as per the Constitution. The governor said in a tweet: "I have decided not to become part of the process leading to the dissolution of Punjab Assembly. I would rather let the Constitution and law take its own course. Doing so will not hamper any legal process as the Constitution clearly provides a way forward." The governor also invited CM Elahi and Leader of the Opposition in the PA, Hamza Shahbaz (son of prime minister Shehbaz Sharif), to start the process of the appointment of the caretaker chief minister. He asked them to submit their nominations by .

Pakistan's prime minister on Wednesday urged the international community to give his country desperately needed aid to help 20 million flood victims survive the harsh winter, as the country struggles to cope with the humanitarian aftermath of vast floods earlier in the year. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif made the emotional appeal for help in arranging food, tents and other essential items for the millions of people the deadly floods had displaced ahead of an international donors conference in Geneva on January 9, 2023. Even today, 20 million victims of the floods need urgent humanitarian assistance, Sharif said in televised comments during a visit to Kot Diji in the southern province of Sindh, an area widely devastated by the inundations. Cash-strapped Pakistan was already facing a serious financial crisis before the heavy monsoon rains hit in mid-June. The rains triggered unprecedented floods that at one point submerged a third of the country's territory. Sharif said Pakistan was

The $2 billion figure includes that amount. Raiser said the bank is working with provincial authorities to begin as quickly as possible repairing infrastructure and housing

Floodwaters are receding in Pakistan's worst-hit southern Sindh province, officials said Friday, a potentially bright sign in an ongoing crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless in the impoverished South Asian country. The Indus River, which remained swollen until earlier this month, was now rushing at normal levels towards the Arabian Sea, according to Mohammad Irfan, an irrigation official in hard-hit Sindh. The water level in the past 48 hours receded as much as three feet in some of the inundated areas nearby, including the Khairpur and Johi towns, where waist-high water damaged crops and homes earlier this month. A day earlier, engineers had opened a key highway in the southwestern Baluchistan province, allowing rescue workers to speed aid to those suffering in a race against the spread of waterborne diseases and dengue fever. Still, hundreds of thousands of people in Sindh are living in makeshift homes and tents. Authorities say it will take months to ...

After the Samarkand summit, the presidency of the SCO will be handed over to India for the next year till September 2023. New Delhi will most likely host the next SCO summit

Miftah had also claimed that the deal with the global lender was delayed by the previous government and that, too, was poorly negotiated