Engage with 'well connected' foreign nationals to lobby for Pakistan, Qureshi tells ambassadors

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday urged Pakistan's ambassadors deputed in different countries to regain the "lost touch" with the younger generation to achieve foreign policy objectives and brighten the country's image.

"Ambassadors have a responsibility to lobby for the country. You can find many skilled, well connected and influential people. They have their own professional expertise. Why don't we use them to lobby for Pakistan and to improve the image of the country," the minister said at the launching ceremony of the Foreign Minister's Portal in Islamabad.

Qureshi advised the embassies to regain the "lost touch" with overseas Pakistanis, especially the younger generation. "We have to effectively utilise this excellent diaspora to improve Pakistan's image and achieve Pakistan's foreign policy objectives."

Earlier in April, Pakistan had [suspended][1] the outgoing ambassador to Saudi Arabia and recalled six of the diplomats posted at the embassy in Riyadh over allegations of improper treatment of the Pakistanis living in the Kingdom.

Raja Ali Ejaz, the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was suspended weeks before his retirement and called back to Islamabad at a short notice. Prime Minister Imran Khan had personally met Ejaz on his return and censured him.

The Foreign Office later said in a statement that the country had a policy of “zero tolerance, whatsoever, for any lapse in the public service delivery”.

In his address today, Qureshi said it was expected of envoys to improve their behaviour with the overseas community and "focus on resolving their complaints".

The minister said he knew about limited resources, adding that "we can still improve our access and outreach through technology".

Qureshi said around nine million Pakistanis were based abroad, noting that "they remit money to the country more than that of our exports." The minister added it would be sad for the country if its people living abroad "don't feel welcome".

"We need to review our approach and behaviour in dealing with our Pakistanis abroad," he told the gathering. He said millions of overseas Pakistanis could be facilitated "if we change our mindset".

Qureshi reiterated that overseas nationals were the "best assets" of the country.

He said it was among the government's top priorities to gain access to all Pakistanis, including successful businessmen, bankers, lawyers who were living abroad.

"Ambassadors often arrange our meetings with people. But there are millions who are left out. We have to effectively utilise them," remarked the minister.

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Engage with 'well connected' foreign nationals to lobby for Pakistan, Qureshi tells ambassadors

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday urged Pakistan's ambassadors deputed in different countries to regain the "lost touch" with the younger generation to achieve foreign policy objectives and brighten the country's image.

"Ambassadors have a responsibility to lobby for the country. You can find many skilled, well connected and influential people. They have their own professional expertise. Why don't we use them to lobby for Pakistan and to improve the image of the country," the minister said at the launching ceremony of the Foreign Minister's Portal in Islamabad.

Qureshi advised the embassies to regain the "lost touch" with overseas Pakistanis, especially the younger generation. "We have to effectively utilise this excellent diaspora to improve Pakistan's image and achieve Pakistan's foreign policy objectives."

Earlier in April, Pakistan had [suspended][1] the outgoing ambassador to Saudi Arabia and recalled six of the diplomats posted at the embassy in Riyadh over allegations of improper treatment of the Pakistanis living in the Kingdom.

Raja Ali Ejaz, the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was suspended weeks before his retirement and called back to Islamabad at a short notice. Prime Minister Imran Khan had personally met Ejaz on his return and censured him.

The Foreign Office later said in a statement that the country had a policy of “zero tolerance, whatsoever, for any lapse in the public service delivery”.

In his address today, Qureshi said it was expected of envoys to improve their behaviour with the overseas community and "focus on resolving their complaints".

The minister said he knew about limited resources, adding that "we can still improve our access and outreach through technology".

Qureshi said around nine million Pakistanis were based abroad, noting that "they remit money to the country more than that of our exports." The minister added it would be sad for the country if its people living abroad "don't feel welcome".

"We need to review our approach and behaviour in dealing with our Pakistanis abroad," he told the gathering. He said millions of overseas Pakistanis could be facilitated "if we change our mindset".

Qureshi reiterated that overseas nationals were the "best assets" of the country.

He said it was among the government's top priorities to gain access to all Pakistanis, including successful businessmen, bankers, lawyers who were living abroad.

"Ambassadors often arrange our meetings with people. But there are millions who are left out. We have to effectively utilise them," remarked the minister.

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It’s not time to bring no-trust motion against PM Imran: Shehbaz

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif Monday said that time has not come to move a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Addressing a press conference in Dera Ghazi Khan, Shehbaz Sharif vowed that they will give a tough time to the government in the coming days.

Criticising the PTI-led government, the PML-N president said that the rulers have failed to fulfil their promises made with the masses during the election campaign and brought the country to the verge of economic disaster.

Slamming the government's economic policies, he said that it will be difficult for the upcoming government to rebuild the economy. The PML-N leader said that the government had spared no efforts to push the opposition to the wall. He claimed that the government had introduced a new NAB ordinance to give itself NRO.

PPP and ANP were backing the PML-N in the parliament, claimed Shehbaz Sharif.

Earlier on October 17, PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz had told the nation that the time for them to decide their future and to change their fate was "then", as she sought their support to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Addressing a Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Faisalabad's Dhobi Ghat ground, Maryam had said the people were fully aware of how PM Imran Khan had "disrespected the vote's sanctity".

The PML-N vice-president had said the prime minister had fulfilled only one promise — that he would "make everyone cry" — and today, "the entire nation is crying".

"When a person leaves their matters to God [...] no matter how powerful one is, or how they say they are on 'one page' [with others], historic defeat, historic humiliation, historic disgrace becomes the fate of the oppressors," she had said.

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Matters with IMF 'settled', agreement to be signed this week: Tarin

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Monday announced that an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the revival of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) had been reached and a formal accord will be signed later this week.

The deadlock between the Pakistan government and the IMF broke after the two sides decided to show some flexibility in their respective stances on the issue of granting autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Sources said that the IMF was not happy with Islamabad backtracking on its commitment of granting aut­o­nomy to the SBP, prompting the Washington-based lending agency to halt the resumption of a $6bn loan facility. In March 2021, Pakis­tan had reached an agreement with the Fund on granting autonomy to the central bank, which was also approved by the IMF board.

Pakistan’s economic team, led by Tarin, has had several rounds of talks with the Fund officials to apprise them of the numerical strength of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the lower and upper houses of parliament where the Constitution will be required to be amended to grant autonomy to the SBP.

On March 9, the federal cabinet cleared a bill that was aimed at providing greater autonomy to the central bank over price control and fighting inflation. Autonomy was also linked with adopting exchange rates and monetary policy in an autonomous manner without the government’s interventions. Under the proposed law, no one will question the decisions of top officials of the SBP.

Soon after the decision, two leading opposition parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party — announced that they would block the passage of the bill in parliament.

Talking to the media in Islamabad today, Tarin said the matters had been settled with the IMF, however, "there is just one issue and we are seeking a legal opinion on it, while everything else is already agreed upon".

"There are certain conditions in the IMF agreement that require constitutional amendments and such changes cannot be effected because we lack a two-thirds majority [in the parliament]," he told journalists.

When asked whether the amendments were related to the SBP, the adviser replied in the affirmative.

Commenting on growing inflation in the country, Tarin said inflation was a global issue, adding that "the prices of commodities in the world are not in my control".

He stressed that the supply chain was affected due to the coronavirus pandemic, adding however that the economy was now "recovering".

 

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Efforts underway to avert looming gas crisis in country: Hammad

Energy Minister Hammad Azhar Monday said that the government was taking all possible measures to avert the looming gas crisis in the country.

Hammad Azhar said that they had arranged 11 LNG cargoes for the month of November. However, two of the LNG trading companies have unofficially informed the authorities about the non-provision of two LNG cargoes for this month, he added.

The minister maintained that talks were under way with the companies about the matter. Responding to a question, Azhar said that the country will have 9 LNG cargoes if the companies excused themselves from providing the cargoes.

Talking about the looming LNG crisis, the minister said that the entire world was facing the shortage but the government is making all the efforts to overcome the crisis.

In a major setback for the country, two LNG trading companies have backed out of an agreement made with Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) to provide two cargoes for November for mammoth monetary gains of up to 200% profit in the international spot market.

The two LNG trading companies had made an agreement with PLL, with Italy-based ENI promising to deliver the LNG cargo on November 26-27 and Singapore-based GUNVOR promising delivery on November 19-20.

The move by these LNG trading companies has left top authorities in the energy ministry in the lurch, with some saying that the situation may expose the PTI government to a severe political backlash from the masses in November.

PLL has inked the term agreements with both companies to avoid purchase of LNG cargoes at higher prices, but both companies have backed out and defaulted on the agreements at a time when the spot LNG prices are hovering at $30-35 per MMBTU, the publication reported.

ENI is in a 15-year term agreement with PLL under which it is bound to provide an LNG cargo every month at 11.95% of the Brent and GUNVOR is also in a five-year term agreement and bound to provide a cargo at 11.6247% of the Brent.

Under the contract, in case of default, PLL can impose a penalty of 30% of the contractual price of one cargo to each LNG company and both companies are ready to pay the penalty as profit in the spot market is huge, prompting them to sell Pakistan’s term cargo to the international market.

ENI informed PLL on October 30 that it won't deliver the term cargo on November 26-27. Interestingly, ENI has committed default three times, including the latest one.

It first defaulted in January 2021 by providing half of the term cargo and then it did not provide a full-term cargo in August and now it has backed out of its term cargo due in November.

The LNG trading company has reportedly told PLL that its supplier has cancelled the cargo in the wake of commercial considerations and logistic issues, so it is not possible for it to deliver the term cargo in November.

ENI has become a "habitual defaulter for monetary gains" by repeatedly selling the term cargoes of Pakistan in the spot market wherein LNG prices have jacked up to 200%, sources said.

GUNVOR, meanwhile, defaulted for the first time. It said that there was a system breakdown at the loading port, which is why it may not deliver the term LNG cargo on November 19-20.

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It’s not time to bring no-trust motion against PM Imran: Shehbaz

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif Monday said that time has not come to move a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Addressing a press conference in Dera Ghazi Khan, Shehbaz Sharif vowed that they will give a tough time to the government in the coming days.

Criticising the PTI-led government, the PML-N president said that the rulers have failed to fulfil their promises made with the masses during the election campaign and brought the country to the verge of economic disaster.

Slamming the government's economic policies, he said that it will be difficult for the upcoming government to rebuild the economy. The PML-N leader said that the government had spared no efforts to push the opposition to the wall. He claimed that the government had introduced a new NAB ordinance to give itself NRO.

PPP and ANP were backing the PML-N in the parliament, claimed Shehbaz Sharif.

Earlier on October 17, PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz had told the nation that the time for them to decide their future and to change their fate was "then", as she sought their support to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Addressing a Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Faisalabad's Dhobi Ghat ground, Maryam had said the people were fully aware of how PM Imran Khan had "disrespected the vote's sanctity".

The PML-N vice-president had said the prime minister had fulfilled only one promise — that he would "make everyone cry" — and today, "the entire nation is crying".

"When a person leaves their matters to God [...] no matter how powerful one is, or how they say they are on 'one page' [with others], historic defeat, historic humiliation, historic disgrace becomes the fate of the oppressors," she had said.

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Matters with IMF 'settled', agreement to be signed this week: Shaukat Tarin

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Monday announced that an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the revival of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) had been reached and a formal accord will be signed later this week.

The deadlock between the Pakistan government and the IMF broke after the two sides decided to show some flexibility in their respective stances on the issue of granting autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Sources told Dawn that the IMF was not happy with Islamabad backtracking on its commitment of granting aut­o­nomy to the SBP, prompting the Washington-based lending agency to halt the resumption of a $6bn loan facility. In March 2021, Pakis­tan had reached an agreement with the Fund on granting autonomy to the central bank, which was also approved by the IMF board.

Pakistan’s economic team, led by Tarin, has had several rounds of talks with the Fund officials to apprise them of the numerical strength of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the lower and upper houses of parliament where the Constitution will be required to be amended to grant autonomy to the SBP.

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