Day: May 20, 2022

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada had a meeting with Ms. Noriko Yoshida, Country Representative of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pakistan, today in his office in Islamabad.

Secretary Human Rights and other senior officers were also present in this meeting. UNHCR Representative conversed in detail over the issues of 1.8 Million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. She commended the generous efforts of a developing country like Pakistan that has been hosting such a huge number of refugees for last four decades. She acclaimed that Pakistan has allowed every facility to Afghan refugees particularly of health and education just parallel to its own citizens.

She admitted that even vaccination facility during Covid-19 pandemic was extended to the refugees that was praised all over the world. Furthermore, she stressed upon few concerns for the Afghan refugees that were restoration of issuance of birth certificates and adoption of asylum laws by the government of Pakistan. She said that policies have been shifted drastically in the new set-up in Afghanistan after Taliban’s take over in 2021. Due to this, an alarming surge has been observed in the issue of statelessness.

She asked for maximum support and attention from the minister on these issues. In his response, the Minister for Human Rights said that Afghans enjoy maximum freedom in Pakistan especially they are free to move throughout the country without any restrictions. He said that people of Pakistan and Afghanistan have very strong cultural affinity.

Pakistan is like a second home for majority of Afghans and we have been hosting them for forty years despite our limited resources. He stated that thousands of people are crossing boarders daily for trade and livelihood and Pakistan has never imposed ban on their movement. He further assured that the Ministry of Human Rights would coordinate soon with other two major stakeholders i.e., Ministry of SAFRON and interior in these issues.

While concluding, the minister said that Afghanistan had multiple problems due to ethnic disputes among tribes that is major cause of sufferings for people over there. India, our hostile neighbor, is hiring innocent people in Afghanistan for its own vested interests and creating security issues in Pakistan.

It has been resulted in some policy changes for boarders and Afghan refugees yet we stand by our commitments towards our Afghan brethren and Pakistan will keep supporting Afghanistan on all fronts for its stability and peace.

ISLAMABAD: Minister of Planning Development and Special Initiatives chaired a preparatory meeting on joint working group on transport infrastructure which was attended by officials from CPEC Authority, NHA, Gwadar Port Authority and senior officers from the Ministry of Planning and Railways.

In the meeting, the minister observed that due to negligence of previous regime, the depth of Gwadar port had decreased to 11 meters which should be 18 meters deep for navigation of big ships it had led to hindering the anchoring of big ships on the port. In this connection, he directed to take urgent measures to initiate dredging process at Gwadar Port so that Gwadar port could be made a viable transportation of big ships.

The minister also expressed his concern on the ML-1 project and took notice that the project should have been started in 2018 but the delay has caused huge financial loss on the national exchequer. Minister also directed to evaluate the cost of 250 km/hour track for the future viability of the project. He asked Railway authorities to speed up processing of ML-1 project.

The minister emphasized that laying down Fiber optic cable project should be integrated within ML-1 to economize the project. The minister said that Karachi Circular railway (KCR) is another important mass transit project which should be executed on same model as Orange Line in Lahore. The minister remarked that the Mansehra – Muzaffarabad and Babusar Tunnel and Zhob – DI Khan Projects should be taken up on priority for inclusion in upcoming JCC. He directed NHA to do feasibility study of Kabul-Peshawar Motorway.

ISLAMABAD: At the special invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will visit China on 21-22 May 2022.

This would be Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s first bilateral visit abroad since assuming office last month. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and senior officials will be part of the Foreign Minister’s delegation. During the visit, the Foreign Minister will hold extensive consultations with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The two leaders will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, with a particular focus on stronger trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and China. Fast-tracked progress on the transformational China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, flagship project of President Xi Jinping’s visionary Belt and Road Initiative, will also feature in the discussions.

The two sides will also have wide-ranging exchange of views on major regional and international issues. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit will also coincide with the 71st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China.

State Councilor Wang Yi had written a letter of congratulations to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on his assumption of the office of Foreign Minister. The two Foreign Ministers had previously held a virtual meeting on 11 May 2022.

The Foreign Minister’s visit is part of the high-level exchanges between the two sides, which recently also included message of felicitations to the Prime Minister from Premier Li Keqiang, and telephone conversation between the two Premiers on 16 May 2022. The Foreign Minister’s visit will contribute towards further fortifying the time- tested All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between Pakistan and China, enhance and deepen CPEC-related engagement, and help in identifying new avenues for bilateral cooperation to the benefit of the two countries and peoples.