New Delhi will "never" reinstate a key water treaty it suspended with Pakistan over deadly violence in India-administered Kashmir, the interior minister said in an interview published Saturday

ICAN said Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States together spent nearly $10 billion more than in 2023.

Poonch, India -  A ceasefire appeared to hold on Sunday between India and Pakistan, hours after the nuclear-armed rivals accused each other of violating a truce that brought them back from the brink of all-out war. The ceasefire was agreed on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery...

Pakistan and India agreed Saturday to a full and immediate ceasefire after days of deadly jet fighter, missile, drone and artillery attacks -- news surprisingly announced by US President Donald Trump, who congratulated them on using "common sense".

Washington, United States - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged India and Pakistan to restore direct communication to "avoid miscalculation" in a series of calls as the conflict neared all-out war, the State Department said early Saturday. Rubio placed telephone calls to the rivals' top diplomats and, for the...

Pakistan charged India Friday with bringing the nuclear-armed neighbours "closer to a major conflict", as the death toll from three days of missile, artillery and drone attacks passed 50.

India and Pakistan accused each other Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks, as deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed foes drew global calls for calm. The fighting comes two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.

India's army said it destroyed nine "terrorist camps" in Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday, two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists in the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir -- a charge Pakistan denies.

New Delhi, India - India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery along their contested frontier in Kashmir on Wednesday in a major escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours. The latest crisis erupted after New Delhi launched missile strikes on its arch-rival, with deaths subsequently reported on both sides.New Delhi accuses Pakistan of...

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the strikes to "shore up" his domestic popularity, but said that Islamabad had struck back.

New Delhi, India - Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that water from India that once flowed across borders will be stopped, days after suspending a key water treaty with arch-rival Pakistan. New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for backing a deadly attack on tourists on the Indian side of contested...

Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan conducted a second missile test and India ordered civil defence drills in an escalating stand-off over contested Kashmir that the UN said on Monday has brought the two nations to the brink of war. New Delhi blames Islamabad for backing an attack on tourists last month...

India, furious after a deadly attack, has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, with Islamabad warning any attempt to stop water flows would be considered an "act of war".

The United Nations urged India and Pakistan to show "maximum restraint" as the nuclear-armed rivals imposed tit-for-tat diplomatic measures over a deadly shooting in Kashmir.

India took a raft of punitive diplomatic measures against arch-rival Pakistan on Wednesday, accusing Islamabad of supporting "cross-border terrorism" after a deadly attack on civilians in Kashmir.

Kabul, Afghanistan - Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border province of Afghanistan killed 46 people, the Taliban government spokesman told AFP on Wednesday."Last night (Tuesday), Pakistan bombarded four points in the Barmal district of Paktika province. The total number of dead is 46, most of whom were children and women,"...

In an interview with TRENDS, CEO of ITCN Asia, Muhammad Umair Nizam highlights the expanding role of Pakistani IT firms in the GCC tech landscape.

Pakistan's IT sector is thriving, with growing exports and recognition as a tech hub, driven by government support, skilled talent, and strategic GCC collaborations.

The International Air Transport Association on Tuesday urged Pakistan and Bangladesh to remove barriers to airlines repatriating ticket revenues after Nigeria released the vast majority of blocked funds.Pakistan and Bangladesh collectively owe $731 million out of a global total of $1.8 billion in blocked airline funds, according to the world...

Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan reached a tentative deal to unlock a $1.1 billion tranche of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout deal, the global lender said Wednesday, giving much-needed respite to the South Asian nation.Last summer, cash-strapped Pakistan sketched a $3 billion deal with the IMF as it battled a balance-of-payments...

Dubai, UAE--A study undertaken by Dubai Chamber of Commerce has revealed that Indian investors topped the list of nationalities of new non-UAE businesses joining the chamber last year. A total of 15,481 new Indian-owned companies became members in 2023, representing year-over-year (YoY) growth of 38 percent and underlining Dubai’s continuing...

He has spent more than 11 years in jail, a long time even by the standards of Pakistani politicians, with a wheeler-dealer's talent for bouncing back after scandals. Back in 2009, the New York Times said he had a knack for "artful dodging" -- "maneuvering himself out of the tight...

Tehran, Iran -- In a significant step towards enhancing energy cooperation between Pakistan and Iran, Islamabad has given the green signal for advancing much-delayed work on gas pipelines within its territory.This marked considerable progress in the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project, Mehr News Agency reported.The approval comes as Pakistan has scrambled...

Tehran, Iran -  Pakistan has decided to link the gas pipeline from the country's Gwadar port city to the Iranian border as part of the Iran-Pakistan project.According to Pakistani media, the country will expedite the project, which faced significant delays, in two phases.Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) ratified a...

After weeks of negotiations, Khan's adversaries announced at a late-night press conference in the capital Islamabad that a power-sharing agreement had been reached. Under the deal, the PML-N and PPP will put forward former leader Sharif as prime minister and Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of assassinated former prime minister...

Islamabad, Pakistan - A senior bureaucrat said on Saturday he helped rig Pakistan's elections, a week after polls marred by allegations of manipulation returned no clear winner.Liaqat Ali Chattha, commissioner of the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where the country's powerful military has its headquarters, said he would hand himself over to...

"The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarization, which does not suit a progressive country of 250 million people," said General Syed Asim Munir, according to a statement from the military.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected to win the most seats in Thursday's vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder Nawaz Sharif has won the blessing of the generals. Outside a polling station in Islamabad, 22-year-old psychology student Haleema Shafiq said she was determined to vote.

Since being ousted in 2022, Khan has been buried by court cases he claims have been triggered to prevent his return to office after a campaign of defiance against Pakistan's military kingmakers. The 71-year-old had accused the powerful military -- with whom he ruled in partnership for much of his...

Islamabad, Pakistan - Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in prison, less than two weeks before the country votes in an election his party has been hamstrung from contesting.Pakistan goes to the polls next Thursday in an election already marred by allegations of pre-vote...

Tehran carried out strikes against an anti-Iran group in Pakistan on January 16, the same week the nation's military targeted Iraq and Syria. Two days later, Pakistan responded in kind with a pre-dawn raid on "militant targets" in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province, one of the few mainly Sunni Muslim regions in...

Tehran, Iran - Gunmen in southeastern Iran near the Pakistan border killed nine foreign nationals on Saturday, Iranian media reported, more than a week after the neighbors exchanged deadly cross-border fire."According to witnesses, this morning unknown armed men killed nine non-Iranians in a house in the Sirkan neighborhood of Saravan city"...

Davos, Switzerland - Pakistan and Dubai signed two agreements totaling over $3 billion on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The agreements will focus on collaboration in railways, economic zones, and infrastructure projects.One of the key agreements involves the establishment of a rail-based dedicated freight corridor (DFC)...

"The Chinese side sincerely hopes that the two sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid an escalation of tension," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press conference. "We are also willing to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides so wish," she said.

Iran and Pakistan routinely blame each other for allowing militants to operate from the other's territory to launch attacks, but it is rare that official forces on either side engage. China, close partner of both countries, urged restraint, with foreign ministry spokeswoman saying both should "avoid actions that would lead...

The statement did not say where the strike took place, but various Pakistani social media accounts reported blasts in Balochistan province, where the two countries share a sparsely populated border of nearly 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).

Washington, United States - The IMF's executive board approved an immediate disbursement of around $700 million for Pakistan Thursday as part of a program to support the cash-strapped South Asian country through an economic crisis.The funds were unlocked after the International Monetary Fund board approved the first review of a nine-month,...

New Year's Eve is usually marked in boisterous fashion in Pakistan, with fireworks and aerial gunfire -- as well as a bank holiday on January 1. Sharjah, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday banned New Year's Eve fireworks over the war in Gaza.

Abu Dhabi, UAE - The UAE and Pakistan recently sealed a significant deal, potentially injecting between $20 to $25 billion into Pakistan's struggling economy, according to media reports. The agreements, covering diverse sectors like energy, ports, food security, and finance, were signed after a meeting between caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Around 80% of consumers surveyed across 16 countries now view climate change as the world’s No. 1 challenge, a recent research conducted by GSMA Intelligence with support from Huawei, revealed. The countries include Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Pakistan,...

Commercial traffic ground to a halt Tuesday when Pakistan began requiring the crew of commercial vehicles to have passports and visas to enter, and Afghanistan responded by refusing to allow any trucks to pass. Long-fraught relations between Kabul and Islamabad have worsened since October, when Pakistan announced plans to deport...

Moscow, Russia - Pakistan has filed an application to join the BRICS group of nations in 2024 and is counting on Russia’s assistance during the membership process, the country’s newly appointed Ambassador to Russia Muhammad Khalid Jamali has told Russian news agency TASS in an interview.When asked whether the country...

Tashkent will host the Iranian and Turkish presidents, as well as Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and Central Asian leaders. The war between Israel and Hamas is not on the agenda, Uzbekistan said.

Global outcry mounts as thousands protest in the US, UK, France, and Germany, defying their governments' support for Israeli aggression and demanding ceasefire in Gaza.

In landmark developments, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have taken significant strides to enhance their bilateral relations, especially in the economic and technological arenas.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pakistan here on Sunday to expand bilateral cooperation in communications and information technology by accelerating digital transformation, promoting innovation and developing digital infrastructure.Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Alswaha and...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi said that preliminary free trade agreement (FTA) between the GCC and Pakistan will help strengthen trade relations and economic cooperation with countries and international blocs.The statement was made during the signing ceremony of the preliminary FTA...

Sharjah, UAE -- The UAE-based technology firm AstraTech is seeking to expand across India, Pakistan, and Egypt in the near future as part of its global expansion strategy.“Last month, we acquired a banking company in the Philippines as part of our global expansion, and now we are looking at the...

Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, announced on Monday that Saudi Arabia plans to invest up to $25 billion in Pakistan over the next two to five years across various sectors. The investment is part of a concerted effort to boost foreign direct investment in the South...

Military helicopters and zipline experts rescued four children from a group of eight people trapped for hours in a stricken cable car high above a remote Pakistan valley. The daring rescue began with a helicopter plucking two children to safety as daylight faded, but the chopper was forced back to...