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PAKISTAN, US AGREE TO ENHANCE BILATERAL TRADE, ECONOMIC TIES AND COUNTERTERRORISM COOPERATION Saturday, 21 February, 2026 | 3 Ramazan, 1447
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PM SHEHBAZ MEETS US SECRETARY RUBIO AS TALKS COVER CRITICAL MINERALS, ENERGY COOPERATION AND COUNTERTERRORISM
PM REAFFIRMS READINESS TO WORK WITH BOARD OF PEACE FOR GAZA RECONSTRUCTION, LAUDS TRUMP’S MEDIATION IN GAZA AND SOUTH ASIA CRISES
US SECRETARY OF STATE THANKS PAKISTAN FOR SUPPORTING TRUMP’S GAZA PEACE PLAN AND JOINING ‘BOARD OF PEACE’ AS FOUNDING MEMBER
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LEADERS EXPRESS SATISFACTION OVER ‘MOMENTUM AND POSITIVE TRAJECTORY’ OF PARTNERSHIP
REITERATES IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUED COUNTERTERRORISM COLLABORATION, EXTENDING CONDOLENCES OVER JAN 31 ATTACKS IN BALOCHISTAN AND FEB 6 BOMBING IN ISLAMABAD
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Rs 20.00 | Vol XVI No 228 | 8 Pages | Islamabad Edition
WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD
Pakistan emerges as an important player on ‘global stage’: Tarar
saleem jadoon
RIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, with discussions focused on critical minerals, energy cooperation, counter-terrorism, and avenues for increased American investment, according to a US State Department statement. The State Department said Secretary Rubio thanked Pakistan for supporting Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan and for joining the inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace” as a founding member. He also extended condolences over the Jan 31 attacks in Balochistan and the Feb 6 bombing in Islamabad, reiterating the importance of continued counter-terrorism collaboration. The talks highlighted Pakistan’s participation in the recent Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, with the US welcoming Islamabad’s engagement and exploring cooperation in developing Pakistan’s energy and mineral resources, along with commercial opportunities for American companies. Separately, according to a Press Information Department (PID) statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz congratulated Rubio and President Trump on the “successful” inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s readiness to “work with the Board of Peace for
WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD staff report
implementation of the Gaza peace plan.” The statement added that both leaders underscored the importance of Pakistan-US strategic relations and expressed satisfaction over the “momentum and positive trajectory of the partnership under President Trump.” They also agreed to expand bilateral trade, economic cooperation, and counter-terrorism collaboration. During the meeting, the premier emphasized the importance of continued high-level
engagement between Pakistan and the US to advance shared goals in a rapidly evolving global environment. Meanwhile, Rubio reiterated his appreciation for Pakistan’s support for the Gaza Peace Plan in a post on X, noting that discussions had also focused on critical minerals development and counter-terrorism.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan had received “great recognition and honour” at the Board of Peace meeting, terming it a moment of “pride for the country and its people.” In a video shared on X by Radio Pakistan on Friday, the information minister said that the way US President Donald Trump praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, and appreciated Pakistan’s role, had added to the country’s prestige and enabled it to gain wider global recognition. He added that the praise had raised Pakistan’s stature and that the country had “emerged as an important player on the global stage”. Tarar described the development as a success of Pakistan’s foreign policy and “the result of teamwork between the prime minister and field marshal”.
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Pakistan poverty rises to 28.8% in Pakistan ‘won’t hesitate’ to strike across border 2024-25, up from 21.9% in 2018-19 amid Delhi-Kabul complicity in ‘proxy war’: Asif PROFIT
staff report
Poverty in Pakistan has increased to 28.8 per cent in 2024-25, compared to 21.9 per cent in 2018-19, marking a rise of 6.9 percentage points over six years, according to official figures. Official sources said poverty has increased across provinces, particularly in Punjab and Sindh, while Balochistan recorded a slight rise. In recent years, poverty had shown a declining trend, but this reversed in 2024-25 as the headcount rose sharply over the six-year period. “Owing to various factors — including three IMF stabilisation programmes over the past six years, the effects of Covid-19, commodity super-cycles, soaring inflation,
lower GDP growth rates, two super floods and abandonment of wheat support prices — poverty levels in Pakistan have surged,” top official sources confirmed while speaking to The News here on Thursday. According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, a 17-member Poverty Estimation Committee was constituted following completion of HIES 2024-25. The committee, led by Dr G M Arif, former Joint Director of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), was tasked with estimating national poverty and inequality figures. The government measures poverty using the Cost of Basic Needs (CBN) approach, adjusted for inflation through the Consumer Price Index.
ISLAMABAD
staff report
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Thursday said that the surge in terrorist attacks in Pakistan was the outcome of a “proxy war” being waged by India in collusion with the Taliban government in Kabul, warning that Pakistan “will not hesitate” to conduct fresh strikes inside Afghanistan unless someone in Kabul can “underwrite peace”. In an interview with FRANCE 24, the defence minister said that “almost all the franchises of terrorism” were present in Pakistan due to
what he termed the Kabul government’s lack of seriousness in curbing militancy, adding that “complicity would be a better word”. Highlighting the prevailing security situation, Asif referred to a recent bomb blast at a mosque in the capital that resulted in multiple casualties. He said India was waging a proxy war against Pakistan and asserted that New Delhi and Kabul were “on the same page” when it came to targeting Pakistan. Responding to a question on Pakistan’s possible contribution to an international stabilisation mission in Gaza, the defence minister said any such decision would de-
pend on the “terms of reference” framed for the proposed peace force. He noted Pakistan’s extensive experience in United Nations peacekeeping operations and described participation in a Gaza mission as a “good opportunity” to work towards a two-state solution in the Middle East. Asked about the possibility of normalising relations with Israel, Asif categorically said the option was “not even being considered”, stressing that such a step could only be contemplated if Palestinians were granted the right of self-determination in their own homeland under a two-state framework.
PTI criticises PM Shehbaz for joining Board of Peace without ‘consultation’ ISLAMABAD
staff report
The Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) on Friday criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for attending the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace and reiterated its objection to Pakistan joining the forum without broader consultation. The Board of Peace— formally established last month after being proposed in September 2025 and initially intended to oversee peace efforts in Gaza—held its first meeting on February 19. The session was attended by several world leaders, including PM Shehbaz. In a statement posted on X, PTI expressed “grave concern” over what it described as the government’s decision to join the Board without transparency, parliamentary debate or consultation with major political stakeholders. “Decisions of such international significance must be rooted in constitutional procedure, democratic oversight and national consensus,” the party said. Questioning Legitimacy and Process: The party maintained that it did not recognise the legitimacy of the present Parliament, formed after what it called the “manipulated 2024 elections.
FBR to auction Bahria Town’s 527 kanals in Murree on 5th March. But what exactly has led to this action? g
FBR SCHEDULES AUCTION TO RECOVER RS26B IN UNPAID INCOME TAXES FOLLOWING NEW FBR POWERS AND LEGAL SHIFT IN HOW DEVELOPERS MUST REPORT INCOME PROFIT
shahzad paracha
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to auction 527 kanals of land owned by Bahria Town in Tehsil Murree on the 5th of March 2026. The auction is meant to help recover Rs 26 billion in unpaid taxes that Bahria Town owes to the federal government for the tax years 2020 and 2022. This is the second date that the FBR has given for the auction. Originally, the auction
was supposed to take place on the 16th of February, but the FBR rescheduled it to the 5th of March and will be held at the Large Taxpayers Office in Islamabad. Under powers given to the FBR under the last budget, the revenue authority can seize and auction property from defaulters. The FBR recently auctioned Bahria Town’s corporate office on Park Road in Islamabad, eventually selling it for over Rs 2 billion in connection with a settlement reached in the £190 million case involving Malik Riaz
Hussain, the founder of Bahria Town. The announcement of the Muree land’s auction is linked with Bahria Town’s alleged tax evasion in 2020 and 2022. While no official word has come from the FBR, Profit understands that the reserve price for the property is possibly over Rs 1.5 billion and could be as high as Rs 2 billion. Legal Background: A Shift in Accounting The upcoming auction is the culmination of a decade-long dispute over tax accounting. For years, Bahria Town utilized
the “Percentage of Completion” (POC) method, which allowed them to defer tax payments by treating customer payments as “advances”, and not as taxable revenue, until construction milestones were met. However, a landmark Supreme Court judgment on March 18, 2025 (M/s Emaar DHA Islamabad v. CIR), conclusively settled that land developers selling plots are ineligible for the POC method. The Court ruled that because developers do not physically build houses for plot customers, they
must use the accrual method, requiring them to recognize income immediately upon a sale. Consequently, what Bahria Town once recorded as deferred advances were reclassified as taxable income, creating the current Rs 26 billion default. Crucially, this tax recovery action is entirely separate from, and unrelated to, the historic Rs 460 billion settlement case concerning Bahria Town’s land acquisition in Malir, Karachi.
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