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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has concluded its participation in a two-week multinational air exercise, Bright Star, in Egypt, the PAF said on Sunday, after demonstrating its prowess in air combat. 
The Bright Star 2023 exercise, held at Mohammed Naguib Military Base in Egypt, brought together a total of 30 countries, including prominent participants such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Oman, Jordan, Greece and Qatar. 
Since its inception in 1977 as a bilateral training event between the US and Egypt, the Bright Star exercise has grown into a remarkable multinational initiative, promoting combined force interoperability and shared learning among participating nations to counter regional, hybrid threats. 
“The exercise showcased the exemplary performance of PAF’s contingent and its state-of-the-art JF-17 Thunder fighter jets. This participation not only highlighted PAF’s commitment to regional and international cooperation, but also underscored its capabilities and prowess to operate in diverse and challenging environments,” the PAF said in a statement. 
“Pakistan Air Force, with its commitment to regional stability and international cooperation, actively immersed in this exercise, emphasizing the profound strategic significance of this collaborative endeavor. The PAF contingent, comprising dedicated air and ground crews, demonstrated exceptional capabilities during the exercise, highlighting the prowess of the pride of Pakistan, the JF-17 Thunder aircraft.” 
The PAF, through rigorous training and realistic aerial warfare scenarios, reaffirmed its operational readiness and commitment to tackle contemporary strategic challenges during the two-week exercise, according to the statement. 
Its distinguished engagement in this prestigious event stood as a testament to the PAF’s dedication to the cause of global peace and security. 
“Pakistan Air Force looks forward to future collaboration with Air Forces of allied countries and to continue developing its capabilities to meet the evolving challenges in the face of contemporary security threats,” the statement read. 
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is claiming that the country’s former powerful military and spy chiefs orchestrated his ouster in 2017 when he was forced to step down after being convicted of corruption.
Sharif spoke on Monday to leaders of his Pakistan Muslim League party via a video link from London, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since 2019.
At the time — and though convicted on corruption charges, which he has always denied — Sharif was permitted to leave Pakistan for medical treatment abroad by the government of Imran Khan, who succeeded him as prime minister. After Sharif later failed to return, a court declared him a fugitive from justice.
Sharif’s party said on Tuesday he will return next month ahead of parliamentary elections.
After Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022, Sharif’s younger brother Shehbaz Sharif served as a prime minister until August, when he stepped down to allow an interim government to run daily affairs and organize the elections.
In his remarks to party officials on Monday, Nawaz Sharif claimed former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and ex-spy chief Faiz Hameed conspired with two judges to remove him.
He offered no evidence for his claim and there was no immediate comment from the military, the intelligence agency or the judiciary.
Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, also an official in the Pakistan Muslim League, said Monday at a party gathering at a hotel in the eastern city of Lahore that her father’s return would be “historic.”
“Nawaz Sharif’s comebacks have been stronger than his setbacks. Another one is unfolding,” she wrote Tuesday on X, a platform previously known as Twitter.
As a fugitive from justice, Sharif would have to be arrested under the law, but it’s uncelar if that will happen. His lawyers have no filed for court protection from arrest for him.
It’s also unclear whether he would have to serve his prison sentence once he gets back.
Pakistan has been in deep political turmoil since Khan’s ouster last year. The Pakistan Muslim League is hugely unpopular and Shehbaz Sharif’s government has been unable to contain spiraling inflation.
The party wants Nawaz Sharif to head its election campaign. The vote was expected to be held in November but is likely to be delayed as the elections oversight body says it needs more time to redraw constituencies to reflect the census.
Under Shahbaz Sharif’s government, Khan was convicted of corruption and is now serving his three-year prison sentence. However, he is still the leading opposition figure in Pakistan and enjoys a huge following, along with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
ISLAMABAD: The Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) of Pakistan issued a cautionary statement to the government on Monday regarding the potential shortage of petroleum products in the country, as oil transporters continued their strike while seeking a “fair share” in a pipeline project that may impact the quantum of their business.
The White Oil Pipeline project, inaugurated in 2005, aims to facilitate the smooth transportation of oil between Karachi’s Keamari district and Mehmood Kot in Punjab, with the goal of reducing the traffic congestion caused by approximately 4,000 trucks and mitigating negative environmental impacts.
The project is managed by the Pak-Arab Pipeline Companies Limited (PAPCO) and is considered crucial for sustaining industrial growth and agricultural productivity, especially as energy demands in the country continue to rise.
However, the Oil Tankers Contractors Association of Pakistan initiated a strike over the weekend, citing dissatisfaction with their share in the project and its failure to compensate for their lost business.
“On behalf of OCAC Member Companies we would like to bring to your attention regarding the ongoing strike by oil transporters which has resulted in a significant disruption in operations and distribution of petroleum products across the country,” OCAC said in letter addressed to the country’s petroleum division at the energy ministry.
The letter noted that the oil loading activities at Port Qasim, Qur’angi and Keamari terminals had been severely affected, while the supply chain disruptions were beginning to create problems at Jaglot, Sihala and Shikarpur depots.
“We request your immediate intervention in this matter and further request you to intimate the Chief Secretary of respective provinces to take prompt action to ensure the uninterrupted loading of tank lorries at the depots,” it added.
Meanwhile, the oil transporters association said its members would continue their wheel-jam strike until they got a “fair share” in the pipeline project.
“We should be given 50 percent quota in White Pipeline and 50 percent quota for oil supply through road,” it said in a statement released on Monday.
It also emphasized the potential idling of their modern vehicles and the risk of job losses among their workforce.
As of now, the government has not responded to these developments or engaged in negotiations with the oil transporters to resolve the situation.
KARACHI: Muhammad Amir Khan, a driver with a private company, has been in despair since last month when he received an electricity bill of Rs28,457 ($95.99).
With a monthly salary of Rs27,000 ($91.7) — his only source of income to support a seven-member household — Khan had no option but to default on paying the bill.
Now he waits for the inevitable: the power supply company to turn the lights off.
Khan is not alone.
Pakistan saw nationwide protests and trader strikes all of August over rising electricity prices and brisk inflation, as citizens and businessmen came out to burn electricity bills in a show of defiance and despondency. A $3 billion loan program, approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, averted a sovereign debt default in Pakistan but reforms linked to the bailout have fueled annual inflation running at 27.4 percent.
Pakistan increased its power tariffs in July under the IMF deal, part of moves to reduce unsustainable public debt in the power and gas sectors. Tens of thousands of Pakistanis thus received steep electricity bills during August for power units consumed in July. To make matters worse, Pakistan last Friday also announced a record rise in petrol and diesel prices, the second big increase in two weeks.
“My electricity bill [last month] was so high that I could not pay it, because do I pay the bill or buy food or provide for my children?” Khan told Arab News.
“And in case of non-payment of the bill, if my electricity is disconnected then I will be forced to live in the darkness because I don’t have any other resources.”
“How can I carry on with an income that is less than the electricity bill I’ve been handed?”
Inflationary pressures are hitting the masses hard. August data from Pakistan’s statistics bureau showed a slight easing from July’s 28.3 percent inflation rate, but food inflation remained elevated at 38.5 percent.
Financial expert Ali Nawaz said low-income groups across the country were unable to make ends meet as food inflation and record power bills had increased their cost of living significantly.
“Higher electricity bills have reduced their disposable income to a very large extent, which has been impacting their livelihood,” Ali said. “They are unable to fund their daily living, they are unable to fund their health care expenditure, they are unable to fund their food-related expenses.”
“We should focus on reducing electricity prices as soon as possible by focusing more on alternative energy sources so we can give some relaxation to the common people,” Ali added.
But what is driving electricity prices in Pakistan?
One is the cost of non-renewable fuel resources such as gas, furnace oil, diesel and coal while the other is the rising value of the US dollar and the depreciating rupee.
Energy purchases account for most of Pakistan’s import bill. As the rupee withers against the dollar, imported fuel has become costlier.
The IMF deal-mandated hike in electricity prices has not helped.
The lender had pointed out that liquidity conditions in the power sector were acute, with a buildup of arrears and frequent power outages. The arrears — a form of public debt that builds up due to subsidies and unpaid bills — were a major issue in the eight months of negotiations between the IMF and Islamabad before a deal was reached in June.
Debts to power generation companies have accumulated to nearly 2.6 trillion rupees ($9.04 billion), according to official figures, which show a separate government debt of around 1.6 trillion rupees ($5.56 billion) to the gas sector. The power sector is also beset by theft, which needs to be overcome.
With the recent tariff hikes, the per unit price of electricity has gone up to Rs35.57 for off-peak electricity hours and Rs41.89 for on-peak hours. Previously, the rates were Rs19.66 for off=peak hours and Rs25.98 for on-peak times. The per unit rates, with the addition of various taxes, have increased to Rs53-63 for different consumer categories. 
Another reason for the high cost of electricity is “capacity payments” to Independent Power Producers (IPPs), private entities that own facilities to generate electric power for sale to end users. Pakistan’s energy mix consists of 58.8 percent thermal power, which means the country is heavily dependent on IPPs. But contracts entered into with the independent producers are widely believed to be skewed in favor of the companies.
Among major criticisms of IPP contracts is that they require the government to make capacity payments even when power generated is not fully utilized. Experts say the arrangement leads to a high cost of electricity which augments the production costs of factories and industrial units. IPPs have also been accused of making exorbitant profits and dividends on capital invested under existing contracts and of over-invoicing and misreporting, while experts and politicians have called for a heat rate audit.
Representatives from the Power Division told Senate last month capacity payments to IPPs for the current fiscal year had reached a staggering Rs1.3 trillion.
In a briefing to journalists earlier this month, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar admitted problems with IPP agreements and said his government was “thoroughly” discussing its contractual obligations with the producers.
“We are on a course where we feel that we should find some sort of resolution, as everyone feels that they are uneven contracts,” the PM said, adding that he would share more details in due course of time.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s stock exchange this week bagged the ‘Best Islamic Stock Exchange’ award presented by the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) for a third consecutive year, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said in a report on Tuesday, highlighting the bourse’s achievements during the current year. 
Founded in 2011, GIFA celebrates the achievements of individuals, institutions and governments in promoting and advocating Islamic banking and finance through the annual awards. According to its website, GIFA acknowledges excellence and best practices in Islamic finance under various categories from industry players to service providers. GIFA previously awarded the Best Islamic Stock Exchange award in 2021 and 2022 to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). 
“Pakistan Stock Exchange is very proud to have been presented the Global Islamic Finance Award for the third consecutive year by Global Islamic Finance Awards,” PSX’s Managing Director and CEO Farrukh H Khan was quoted as saying by the APP. “We are honored by GIFA for recognizing us for our commitment to providing excellence in Islamic finance products, offerings and regulatory enhancements.”
He said the PSX is a “robust and strong platform” for Shariah compliant products and capital raising. 
“With an aggregate of 251 Shariah compliant companies listed on PSX capturing more than 65 percent of the total market cap, PSX provides an excellent platform for investors to channelize their funds into Islamic financial offerings and for financial institutions to create and bring new products,” he said. 
On August 3, Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index crossed the psychological barrier of 49,000 points for the first time in six years, as a last-gasp deal secured with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) helped fuel investors’ confidence in the South Asian country.
The development takes place as the South Asian country reels from an economic crisis that has fueled inflation in the country and weakened its national currency against the US dollar. Pakistan has taken the painful measures of hiking fuel and energy prices as it seeks to implement the tough conditions of the IMF’s bailout program.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani met his UAE counterpart on Tuesday to discuss investment projects and strengthening cooperation between the two countries at the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, the foreign ministry said. 
Pakistan and the UAE enjoy fraternal relations based on shared culture, faith and cooperation in various sectors such as trade, defense and economy. The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trade partner after China and the United States. It is also viewed as an ideal export destination by policymakers in the South Asian country due to its geographical proximity with Pakistan that reduces transportation and freight costs. 
In June, Pakistan established the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a hybrid civil-military body to attract foreign investment in minerals, agriculture and other sectors. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar announced earlier this month that the UAE and Saudi Arabia had both pledged to invest $25 billion each as part of projects under the SIFC. 
“FM @JalilJilani met FM of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of #UNGA78,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement. “They reaffirmed commitment to fraternal ties and agreed to further strengthen cooperation in multiple domains. Various investment projects of the UAE in Pakistan were also discussed.”
The UAE is also home to an estimated 1.8 million Pakistani expatriates and after Saudi Arabia, the second-largest source of remittances for the South Asian nation of over 240 million. Earlier this month, Pakistan’s caretaker commerce minister Dr. Gohar Ejaz said Islamabad and Abu Dhabi were expected to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) during the upcoming visit of an Emirati delegation in the last week of September. 
Jilani is in New York to attend the annual 78th session of the UNGA, which will run from September 19-26. PM Kakar will address the session on September 22, which would make him the first caretaker prime minister in Pakistan’s history to address the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN.

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