Imran Khan holds meetings with UAE leaders

Agencies
November 18, 2018

Dubai, Nov 18: Update: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Abu Dhabi earlier today on a one-day visit and held meetings with the UAE leaders.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nayan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE’s Armed Forces received PM Imran upon his arrival in Abu Dhabi.

Imran is accompanied by a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Minister of Energy and Power Omar Ayub Khan as well as adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan General Qamar Javed Bajwa is also accompanying Prime Minister Imran.

This is Imran's second visit to the country, the first official one being on September 19.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is coming to the UAE on Sunday, November 18, for the second time in two months.

Earlier report

A top official at Pakistan’s Ministry of Information told Gulf News that Premier Imran will be in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to meet the UAE leadership to seek the financial assistance as part of his continuous campaign to salvage his country’s economic situation.

The PM and his economic team are expected to hold meetings with the UAE leadership and officials, the Ministry official confirmed.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has already arrived in the UAE and held a meeting with his UAE counterpart, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the sidelines of the 9th Sir Bani Yas Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Details of the agreements between the UAE and Pakistan are likely to be announced on Sunday.

Shaikh Abdullah has also visited Pakistan early this month as part of the ongoing talks on economic package with Pakistan, a top official told Gulf News.

Shaikh Abdullah has also visited Pakistan early this month as part of the ongoing talks on economic package with Pakistan, a top official told Gulf News.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also discussed the "financial package" with the UAE during his ongoing visit, the official said.

Pakistan is expecting a financial package from the UAE amid the economic crisis.

Economy

Last month, Qureshi had said that Pakistan had requested a Saudi Arabia-like deal from the UAE to stabilise the economy.

He said Islamabad had urged the friendly country to provide a "fiscal space" to Pakistan amid the economic crises.

He said Pakistan wanted to counter International Monetary Fund’s tough conditions through support from the friendly countries.

A high-level UAE delegation comprising senior officials of major companies, including Mubadala Petroleum, ADIA (Sovereign Wealth Fund), Etisalat, DP World, Dubai Investment Authority, property developer Emaar, Aldahra Agriculture and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development had met the Foreign Minister in October.

The Sunday visit is a follow-up of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s official visit to Abu Dhabi on September 19 and his understanding with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to forge closer economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries in all areas of common interest.

Support

In September, Saudi Arabia had agreed to provide $3 billion for one year as balance of payment support and a further one-year deferred payment facility for oil payments up to $3 billion. Economists calculated the impact of the support at $12 billion.

Imran is also scheduled to visit Malaysia on November 20 to discuss economic cooperation with Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad.

An IMF team is already visiting Pakistan to negotiate the programme, likely to cover a period of three years.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) in its latest report said a potential IMF programme for Pakistan could be valued at $15 billion.

The IIF expects an agreement on a three-year IMF programme of $15 billion by end of this year. However, Finance Minister Asad Umar now believes $6-7 billion from the IMF could settle the economic crises.

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News Network
November 5,2024

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Washington: The race between Democratic leader Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump for the White House has been truly unprecedented as it saw drama, tragedy, political comebacks, fierce rhetoric and a historically razor-tight contest.

As the fight reaches its crescendo with the big election day just a few hours away, many political observers billed the unpredictable race for the 47th President of the US as the most consequential one in decades while appearing to project a grim picture for the country’s future under a Trump presidency.

In her final days of campaign, Vice President Harris focused on a message of hope, unity, optimism and women rights whereas Trump remained fiercely combative in targeting his Democratic rival and even suggested that he may not accept the election outcome in case of a defeat.

Overall, it has been a roller-coaster ride for both 60-year-old Harris and 78-year-old Trump.

Trump received his party’s nomination in March and formally at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July — in a historic comeback after remaining in political wilderness for months following several court cases.

In effect, he became the first former president to get the nomination for the top office on the planet after being convicted of a felony.

“Trump has made one of the biggest political comebacks since Richard Nixon’s in terms of the political struggles that he has had in the last four years,” Communication Strategist Anang Mittal said.

Just days ahead of the RNC, Trump was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania. He suffered an upper ear injury. Minutes later, a bleeding Trump raised his fist in defiance, images that drew a lot of emotional support from his die-hard supporters.

For Harris too, it has been a dramatic ride after Biden ended his re-election campaign in July, nearly weeks after he came under severe scrutiny following his incoherent performance at a televised debate with Trump.

While dropping out from the race, Biden, 81, endorsed Harris to succeed him as the Democratic candidate.

Finally in August, the Democratic National Convention formally nominated Harris as the party’s candidate for the presidential election.

The presidential election will be a chance to “move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past”, she said in a powerful speech at the Convention.

If Harris wins, she will become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to become the US President.

In the overall campaign, Harris has been projecting the election as the one to protect the country’s fundamental freedoms, safeguard constitutional values and ensure women’s rights.

On his part, Trump has maintained his signature aggressive rhetoric and promising to rebuild the economy and rid the US from illegal immigrants.

However, there has been strong criticism of the Republican leader’s roadmap to repair the economy.

"Donald Trump is offering a vision of crony rentier capitalism that has enticed many captains of industry and finance,” said Joseph E Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate economist, in a column in Project Syndicate.

"In catering to their wishes for more tax cuts and less regulation, he would make most Americans’ lives poorer, harder, and shorter,” he said.

With election day just a few hours away, there is no clarity on who has a better chance of winning the race.

"The elections are very close. They (the outcome) may change on the basis of a few thousands votes here or there. I think the big issue will be voter turnout tomorrow. That will determine the outcome in certain swing states,” said Executive Director of the US chapter of Observer Research Foundation Dhruva Jaishankar.

Kapil Sharma, a non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programmes, also echoed similar views.

“This election is probably one of the closest elections that I can remember. I have been working in Washington for over 30 years and I don’t recall an election being this tight,” he said.

More than 78 million Americans have already cast their votes as of Sunday, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab that tracks early and mail-in voting across the US.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 4,2024

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Hundreds of Israeli settlers conducted a brutal attack in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

The settlers set fire to numerous homes and vehicles of Palestinians and then moved to the main road connecting Ramallah to other cities, targeting Palestinian cars passing by.

They stormed the city of al-Bireh, near Ramallah, and burned Palestinian property and vehicles.

A woman sustained injuries after the settlers hurled stones at her vehicle, according to Palestinian news outlets.

Tension has been running high across the West Bank because of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 43,341 people, mostly women and children, since last year’s October.

The Monday settler attack came as the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas warned of Israel’s plans to annex the West Bank and drive Palestinians out.

“We warn of the grave danger posed by the plans led by the extremist occupation regime and illegal settler groups to displace the residents of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank,” Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said.

Israel's far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the full annexation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip last week.

Smotrich asserted that Israel should unequivocally declare there would be no Palestinian state.

He repeated his proposal of expanding Israeli settlements within the West Bank and other occupied territories.

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