
Trade, connectivity, regional cooperation in focus as Pakistani PM at ECO summit
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office, Sharif will also hold bilateral meetings with other leaders attending the summit to discuss matters of mutual interest.
The theme of this year's summit is 'New ECO Vision for a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Future.'
'Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will participate in the ECO summit in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, where he will speak on global and regional issues, trade promotion, sustainable development, regional connectivity and solutions to regional challenges,' the PMO said.
The summit brings together heads of state and government from ECO member states to discuss economic and political cooperation.
This is Sharif's third visit to Azerbaijan in 2025. He last traveled to Baku in May, where he held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on strengthening bilateral cooperation in energy and trade.
The Economic Cooperation Organization was established in 1985 by Iran, Turkiye and Pakistan and later expanded to include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The ten-member bloc aims to promote economic, technical and cultural collaboration across Central and South Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
33 minutes ago
- Arab News
No bids received for Pakistan's tender for 50,000 sugar metric tons, say traders
HAMBURG: No trading companies were believed to have submitted price offers in the international tender to buy 50,000 metric tons of sugar from Pakistan which closed on Tuesday, European traders said in initial assessments. Traders said the shipment and arrival periods were regarded as having too short notice for realistic offers. The tender from the state trading agency Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) sought loading from August 1-15. The entire volume purchased was sought for arrival in Pakistan by August 30. Pakistan's government had on July 8 approved plans to import 500,000 tons of sugar to help maintain price stability. Market analysts said that retail sugar prices in the country have risen sharply since January.


Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
Without paper: Ghost lives of millions of Pakistanis
KARACHI: Ahmed Raza is invisible in the eyes of his government, unable to study or work because, like millions of other Pakistanis, he lacks identification papers. In the South Asian nation of more than 240 million people, parents generally wait until a child begins school at the age of five to obtain a birth certificate, which is required for enrolment in most parts of Pakistan. Raza slipped through the cracks until the end of elementary school, but when his middle school requested documentation, his mother had no choice but to withdraw him. 'If I go looking for work, they ask for my ID card. Without it, they refuse to hire me,' said the 19-year-old in the megacity of Karachi, the southern economic capital. He has already been arrested twice for failing to present identification cards when stopped by police at checkpoints. Raza's mother Maryam Suleman, who is also unregistered, said she 'didn't understand the importance of having identity documents.' 'I had no idea I would face such difficulties later in life for not being registered,' the 55-year-old widow told AFP from the single room she and Raza share. Pakistan launched biometric identification cards in 2000 and registration is increasingly required in all aspects of formal life, especially in cities. In 2021, the National Database and Registration Authority estimated that around 45 million people were not registered. They have declined to release updated figures or reply to AFP despites repeated requests. To register, Raza needs his mother's or uncle's documents — an expensive and complex process at their age, often requiring a doctor, lawyer or a newspaper notice. The paperwork, he says, costs up to $165 — a month and a half's income for the two of them, who earn a living doing housework and odd jobs in a grocery shop. Locals whisper that registration often requires bribes, and some suggest the black market offers a last resort. 'Our lives could have been different if we had our identity cards,' Raza said. In remote Punjab villages like Rajanpur, UNICEF is trying to prevent people from falling into the same fate as Raza. They conduct door-to-door registration campaigns, warning parents that undocumented children face higher risks of child labor and forced marriage. Currently, 58 percent of children under five have no birth certificate, according to government figures. Registration fees depend on the province, ranging from free, $0.70 to $7 — still a burden for many Pakistanis, about 45 percent of whom live in poverty. 'Our men have no time or money to go to the council and miss a day's work,' said Nazia Hussain, mother of two unregistered children. The 'slow process' often requires multiple trips and there is 'no means of transport for a single woman,' she said. Saba, from the same village, is determined to register her three children, starting with convincing her in-laws of its value. 'We don't want our children's future to be like our past. If children go to school, the future will be brighter,' said Saba, who goes by just one name. Campaigns in the village have resulted in an increase of birth registration rates from 6.1 percent in 2018 to 17.7 percent in 2024, according to UNICEF. This will improve the futures of an entire generation, believes Zahida Manzoor, child protection officer at UNICEF, dispatched to the village. 'If the state doesn't know that a child exists, it can't provide basic services,' she said. 'If a child does not have an identity, it means the state has not recognized their existence. The state is not planning for the services that the child will need after birth.' Muhammad Haris and his brothers, who have few interactions with the formal state in their border village in the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have not registered any of their eight children. 'The government asks for documents for the pilgrimage visa to Makkah,' a journey typically made after saving for a lifetime, he told AFP. For him, this is the only reason worthy of registration.


Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
In meeting with UN chief, Pakistan deputy PM calls for settlement of Palestine, Kashmir disputes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, has called for a just settlement of the Palestine and Kashmir disputes, the Pakistani foreign office said on Monday, following Dar's meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York. The meeting came amid Dar's week-long visit to the United States (US) to preside over key events in the UN Security Council during Pakistan's presidency for the month of July, according to the Pakistani foreign office. The Pakistani deputy PM reassured the UN chief of Pakistan's resolute commitment to multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations in addressing the most pressing global challenges. 'The DPM/FM reiterated Pakistan's unwavering support for Palestinian statehood, an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and firm opposition to Israel's annexation plans in the West Bank,' the Pakistani foreign ministry said. Pakistan has maintained that the only viable remedy to the Palestine dispute was the realization of the two-state solution, which includes the establishment of Palestine as a viable, secure and contiguous state on the basis of pre-1967 borders. The South Asian country is using its presidency of the UN Security Council to help refocus global attention on the crisis in Gaza and the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dar reassured Secretary-General Guterres of Pakistan's focus on strengthening the UN's role in resolving conflicts, promoting sustainable development and upholding fundamental rights of all peoples, according to the foreign office. He said Pakistan is fully committed to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, especially the need to advance peace through dialogue and diplomacy. The Pakistani deputy PM also discussed issues of critical national and regional importance to Pakistan, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, India's violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and 'externally sponsored terrorism' in Pakistan. 'He stressed the imperative of a just settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council,' the Pakistani foreign office said. 'The DPM/FM lauded the Secretary-General's leadership and sincere efforts for de-escalation of recent tensions between Pakistan and India.' The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries rule parts of the Himalayan territory but claim it in full. In May, the two neighbors engaged in a four-day military conflict over a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denied the charge. Soon after the attack, which killed 26 tourists, New Delhi suspended the World Bank-brokered Indus Waters Treaty, which ensures water for 80 percent Pakistani farms, while Pakistan closed its airspace for Indian aircraft in a raft of measures against each other.