by Munza Mushtaq in Nikkei Asia, Oct 27, 2023COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped government is breathing slightly easier after a week that brought an agreement on more support from the International Monetary Fund and a promise of “no strings” help from China. But the country still must climb out of bankruptcy, and President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration must prepare a budget presentation for Nov. 13 that will likely highlight the difficulty of balancing financial constraints with…
Posts tagged as “crucial”
Report in Dawn, Sept 19th, 2023ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Monday sternly rejected a report that claimed Pakistan sold arms and ammunition to Ukraine in order to secure a crucial bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Russia-Ukraine crisis began last year when President Vladimir Putin ordered the latter’s invasion on February 24. Separately, the IMF executive board approved a $3 billion bailout programme for Pakistan in July of this year, with the…
by Hasnaat Malik in The Express Tribune, Aug 22, 2023ISLAMABAD: As the clock ticks towards his retirement, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial has kept the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) hopes of finding relief in crucial matters alive. The chief justice of Pakistan has formed a special bench to take up Imran Khan’s three pending petitions, which were filed during his trial in the Toshakhana (gift repository) case. The bench will take up the case…
UN Will Hold Another Crucial Afghanistan Talks in Doha; Taliban Representatives Will Also Be Invited
By Fidel Rahmati in Khaama Press online, July 6, 2023Scott Smith, Head of the United Nations political office in Afghanistan, announced during a meeting at ARG that a new Doha summit is being prepared and that, this time, representatives of the current regime will be invited to attend. He pointed out that the meeting will be scheduled before the end of this year. Smith assured the de factor authorities that the international community would continue…
by Porimol Palma in The Daily Star, Jul 6, 2023The assessment of the EU exploratory mission, which will visit Bangladesh for two weeks starting July 9, could determine the international acceptability of the next parliamentary election, analysts have said. The EU is sending the mission to observe the pre-polls atmosphere, and the response will determine whether it would send a team to observe the election. The initiative, the first of this kind with regard to…
By Tika R Pradhan in The Kathmandu Post, April 17, 2023With ruling parties including the Nepali Congress opposing the CPN-UML’s demand that the second-largest party must have four House members in the hearings committee, crucial bills are stuck in Parliament. Even the scheduled meetings of the top leaders of the three major parties—the Congress, the UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre)—have failed to take place due to the dispute. In a clear sign of conflict,…
By Nizamuddin Rezahi in Khaama Press, Mar 2, 2023Senior diplomat Mohammad Sadiq Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan resigned on Wednesday, thanking colleagues for helping him serve in the crucial position. Mohammad Sadiq said in a series of Tweets on Wednesday that after serving nearly three years as Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan, the time had come for him to move on and focus on personal stuff – family, books and agriculture, and more. The prominent…
by Ayesha Ijaz Khan in Dawn, January 22nd, 2023The writer is a lawyer in London.Nearly every civilian prime minister in Pakistan has had to leave office prior to the expiration of his/her stated term. Just as the army’s blessings were crucial for the PMs to ascend to the highest civilian office, so too they have had to leave unceremoniously once they fell out with the establishment. The three-year itch is when things have historically gone…