Page 15 - Pakistan Link - July 30, 2021

PAKISTAN JULY 30, 2021 – PAKISTAN LINK – P15
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia to Work Army Grants Refuge, Safe Passage to

for Easing Travel Restrictions Afghan Soldiers at Chitral Border

‘Expansion’ in bilateral ties
Earlier, Al Saud said the kingdom
was looking to expand the dimen-
sions of its relationship with Pakistan
through the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme
Coordination Council (SP-SCC).
The SP-SCC, which is co-chaired

by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad
bin Salman and Prime Minister Imran

Khan, was established after the two
leaders signed an agreement in this re-
gard in May when the latter was on a
three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia.

Referring to his visit, the Saudi
foreign minister said he was in Paki-
stan “to follow up on the important
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud shakes hand with Foreign Min- visit of Prime Minister [Imran Khan]

ister Shah Mahmood Qureshi – Photo courtesy Foreign Office Twitter to Saudi Arabia in May, during which Rawalpindi: Forty-six soldiers of the ficers would be returned to the Afghan

we established the Saudi-Pakistan Su- Afghan National Army (ANA) and government in a “dignified manner af-

Islamabad: Pakistan and Saudi Ara- proved the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Mod- preme Coordination Council”. Border Police were granted “refuge and ter due process”.
bia on Tuesday discussed measures erna and Johnson and Johnson vac- He said he hoped that the council safe passage” by the Pakistan Army on Mentioning a similar incident, the
to ease Covid-19 travel restrictions, cines, so anyone arriving without one would turn out to be a “milestone in Sunday, according to an Inter-Services ISPR statement said 35 Afghan soldiers
which have stranded around 400,000 of those shots is required to quarantine taking the relationship between [Saudi Public Relations (ISPR) statement. who had asked for refuge on July 1 had

Pakistani workers back home, foreign at a cost many Pakistani workers say Arabia and Pakistan] to new levels, in- The statement said that a local also been “given safe passage into Paki-

ministers of the two countries told re- they cannot afford. stitutionalizing it and exploring all the ANA commander opposite Arundu, stan and handed over to Afghan govt
porters. Most of the people in Pakistan opportunities that it has to offer”. Chitral, had requested help for the 46 authorities after due procedure”.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood have received a Chinese vaccine, al- Prince Faisal added that while soldiers — including five officers — as Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid

Qureshi took up the issue with his Sau- though Al Saud said his government Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had worked “they were unable to hold their military Ahmed had previously told Dawn that
di counterpart Prince Faisal bin Far- had given Covid-19 shots to 1.7 mil- in multiple areas in the past as well, posts along [the] Pak-Afghan Interna- Pakistan has moved the Frontier Con-
han Al Saud, who was on a day-long lion Pakistani workers. he believed that the SP-SCC would tional Border due to [the] evolving se- stabulary, Levies Force and other mili-

visit to Pakistan. The Pakistani workforce in Saudi be a “more effective tool” to enhance curity situation in Afghanistan.” tias from the front line positions along

Al Saud is the first high profile Arabia contributes $7 billion, or a bilateral cooperation between the two The Pakistan Army contacted Af- the Pak-Afghan border as the army has
Saudi official to arrive in Pakistan after quarter of the country’s total annual countries. ghan authorities for the relevant infor- started to man those positions.

cracks in their historically friendly re- remittances. The Saudi foreign minister em- mation and necessary formalities, the “Now regular army troops are

lations earlier this year. “We talked about the challenges phasized the importance of enhancing statement added. manning the border after replacing the

Qureshi told a joint news confer- that Covid-19 has imposed on all of economic ties, saying that it had been “These Afghan soldiers arrived at paramilitary forces,” the minister said,
ence in Islamabad that around 400,000 us. It has imposed challenges, travel the main focus of his discussion with Arundu sector, Chitral late last night. adding the decision had been made in

of over two million Pakistani workers restrictions, all of these we are working Qureshi prior to the press conference. After contact with Afghan authorities the wake of the volatile situation across

in Saudi Arabia had been stranded at on,” Al Saud said. “We focused very much on the and necessary military procedures, the border. “The current volatile situ-

home due to travel restrictions. Would-be Pakistani expatriate economic side of the relationship 46 soldiers including five officers have ation (in Afghanistan) demands that

“They are facing challenges, you workers, desperate to obtain a Pfizer/ and on opportunities to expand it been given refuge [and] safe passage regular military troops be deployed

know the travel restrictions and you BioNTech or AstraZeneca Covid shot beyond the traditional areas of in- into Pakistan. along the border,” he had said.
know the issues of vaccination,” he so they can travel to work in Saudi Ara- vestment.” “Afghan soldiers have been pro- Earlier in July, more than 1,000

said. bia, have been holding violent protests, He also stressed expanding bi- vided food, shelter and necessary Afghan security personnel fled across
Saudi Arabia, which bars direct at times storming vaccination centers. lateral coordination in the areas of medical care as per established military the border into Tajikistan following
travel from Pakistan, has only ap- technology and the environment. norms,” the ISPR statement said. Taliban advances in northern Afghani-
It added that the soldiers and of-
stan.
Indian Claims about EU Parliament Withdrawing Zahir Jaffer Confesses to Killing

Pakistan’s GSP+ Status Rejected Noor, Claims Police
Islamabad: The Foreign Offi ce stan and the European Union main- try as well as rising number of on- Islamabad: In a late-night develop-

(FO) has rubbished Indian media’s tain close high-level engagement line and offline attacks on journal- ment on Monday, Zahir Jaffer, who

claims that Pakistan’s Generalized through multiple dialogue mecha- ists and civil society organizations. is accused of killing Noor Mukadam,
Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) nisms, adding that the country re- The resolution also called on confessed to committing the crime.

status was being withdrawn, calling mains committed to the full imple- the government to “unequivocally A police officer close to the in-
such reports “fabricated” and a con- mentation of the 27 international condemn” incitement to violence vestigation told Dawn on condition
tinuation of New Delhi’s “malicious conventions related to the preferen- and discrimination against religious of anonymity that the accused made
propaganda” against Islamabad. tial trade regime. minorities in the country. the confession during interrogation.
While the FO statement did not “Pakistan has successfully “A statement of Zahir Jaffer is

name the specific media report it completed three biennial reviews Sultana Zafar being recorded and he will also be
was referring to, the rebuttal comes of GSP+ and the fourth biennial re- produced before a magistrate to re-
after Indian news agency ANI re- view is currently under way. Passes away cord his statement under CrPC 164,”

ported on July 26 that the European “Currently, the European par- he said.
Parliament had moved to withdraw liament is on summer recess till au- Police sources also revealed that
Pakistan’s GSP+ status over “abuse tumn and there has been no discus- the investigators had found footage

of blasphemy laws”. sion on Pakistan since April,” the FO from CCTV cameras installed in the office of a senior police officer where

In response, FO spokesperson spokesman concluded. neighborhood. the accused was brought from the Is-
Zahid Hafeez Chaudri, in a state- The GSP+ is a special trading “In the footage, the girl can be lamabad district and sessions courts.

ment issued late on Tuesday, said arrangement that provides develop- seen trying to escape from the house During the first phase of the
that the news item was “fabricated ing countries preferential access to by jumping from the first storey and meeting, the embassy staff met the

and a continuation of India’s mali- European markets by slashing tariffs rushing towards the main gate,” the accused in the presence of a couple

cious propaganda against Pakistan”. to zero on most products. sources said. of senior police officers. Later, an-

“India’s malicious smear cam- The countries benefiting from They further said the woman other round of discussions was held

paign against Pakistan is well- the scheme have to implement 27 hides herself in a guard’s room after in the police officers’ absence.

known and independent organiza- international conventions related to Well-known character actress finding the gate locked, adding that A police officer also briefed the

tions, including EU DisinfoLab, human rights, labor rights, protec- Sultana Zafar died in Dallas, USA, later the accused can be seen break- embassy officials about the case and

have established India’s credentials tion of the environment and good on July 16. She was 66. ing into the room and dragging her the progress made so far, the officials
as [a] purveyor of anti-Pakistan pro- governance. Before leaving for the US for back into the house. said, adding that later the accused
paganda globally,” he said. Pakistan, which has ratified all good, she acted in a number of Meanwhile, the US embassy was shifted to the lockup in the

He said that the Indian state 27 conventions, has been benefiting popular TV plays such as Tanhai- staff met Zahir Jaffer on Monday, Kohsar police station.

and “obliging” Indian media re- from the GSP+ status since January yaan and Uroosa — the former was police officers told Dawn. “I cannot comment on the case
mained busy “concocting baseless 2014. Its GSP+ status was extended penned by Haseena Moin and the The embassy had requested the due to privacy concerns,” the US em-

stories against Pakistan” despite the for another two years in March 2020. latter by Fatima Surayya Bajia. police for a meeting with the accused bassy spokesperson, Heather Eaton,
unearthing of India’s disinformation However, the European Parlia- Sultana Zafar’s performances as he was a dual national of the US said when contacted to seek details
campaign. ment in April adopted a resolution were always liked, not just by televi- and Pakistan. of the meeting.

“The recent rumors are yet an- calling for a review of the GSP+ sta- sion viewers but by her colleagues as The officers said police high- She also refused to divulge any

other demonstration of India’s ne- tus granted to Pakistan in view of well. ups discussed the matter and gave information when asked if the em-
farious designs,” he said. an “alarming” increase in the use of May her soul rest in peace. permission to the embassy staff for bassy was following the case or was

The spokesman said that Paki- blasphemy accusations in the coun- Ameen. the meeting, which took place in the in contact with any authority.
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