Islamabad

26 Sep 2021; MEMO: Pakistan will pursue individual trade deals with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, a Pakistani official said on Sunday, as talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council remain stalled, reports Reuters.

The GCC, which includes those three countries plus Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, started free trade talks with Pakistan in 2004. It has not implemented a free trade deal since 2015.

11 Sep 2021; MEMO: Pakistan and Qatar urged the US today to unfreeze Afghanistan's assets to save the country from total economic collapse, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said protecting the interests of the Afghan people must be a top priority.

Islamabad, Sep 6 (PTI) Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Monday said that his country was fully cognisant of the developments in its neighbourhood and prepared to thwart any plot hatched to hamper peace in the region

Alvi, in his message to the country on the occasion of Defence Day, pledged to continue supporting the people of Kashmir.

Islamabad, Sep 3 (PTI) Pakistan's coronavirus death toll crossed the grim figure of 26,000 on Friday, even as the country reported 3,787 new cases during the last 24 hours.

So far the country has recorded 1,171,578 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 26,035 total deaths since the first patient was diagnosed on February 26, 2020, the Ministry of National Health Services reported.

Islamabad, Aug 31 (PTI) Pakistan on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of allowing the long-term presence of US troops coming from Afghanistan in Islamabad, saying the American forces' stay in the country would be for a limited period.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad's response came after pictures of US troops at Islamabad airport circulated on social media, sparking rumours about a possible long-term presence of American forces on Pakistani soil.

Islamabad, Aug 18 (PTI) Asserting that Pakistan is reaching out to all Afghan leaders for a peaceful settlement of the current crisis in the neighbouring nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the international community to stay engaged, particularly to support the people of the war-ravaged nation economically.

The Prime Minister's Office in a late night statement on Tuesday said Khan received a telephone call from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the two leaders exchanged views on the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan.

Islamabad, IRNA -- Pakistan, which was set to hold an Afghan peace conference last month, is now preparing to host a meeting of foreign ministers from neighboring countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, to help overcome Afghan crisis.

Local media reported on Monday that Pakistan has planned a conference as its latest diplomatic effort to bring peace in Afghanistan.

"Islamabad is trying to host the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries," a senior Pakistani foreign ministry official told the Express Tribune.

Islamabad, Jul 20 (PTI) Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Tuesday reiterated the police's claim that the daughter of Afghanistan's ambassador was not kidnapped even as he urged her to come forward and join the probe, in a case that has further soured relations between the two neighbours.

Islamabad, Jul 17 (PTI) Pakistan's parliament has passed a bill for providing legal assistance in international criminal matters as part of efforts to fulfil the conditions set by the global financial watchdog FATF.

The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters) Amendment Bill was passed by the Senate, the upper house, on Friday amidst protest by the Opposition.

Islamabad, Jul 11 (PTI) Pakistan is well prepared to deal with the spillover effect it may face in case of a civil war in neighbouring Afghanistan, the country's Army spokesman has said, insisting that Islamabad is only a facilitator of the Afghan peace process, not a guarantor.

Major Gen Babar Iftikhar's comments came as Taliban officials said the group had taken control of 85 per cent of territory in Afghanistan.