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Saturday, 25 April, 2026 | 7 Dhul-Qadah, 1447
Rs 20.00 | Vol XVII No 30 | 8 Pages | Karachi Edition
ARAGHCHI LEADS IRANIAN DELEGATION TO ISLAMABAD AS US CONFIRMS DELEGATION VISIT TO PAKISTAN
g FM ABBAS ARAGHCHI RECEIVED BY
DPM/FM DAR, CDF ASIM MUNIR, INTERIOR MINISTER AND OTHER SENIOR OFFICERS
g IRAN’S STATE MEDIA, WHILE CONFIRMING
THE VISIT, SAID THAT ARAGHCHI WOULD HOLD ‘BILATERAL CONSULTATIONS’
g WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES US ENVOY g US LOGISTICS AND SECURITY TEAM ALREADY
STEVE WITKOFF AND ADVISER JARED KUSHNER TO DEPART FOR PAKISTAN
IN ISLAMABAD AS SECOND ROUND OF US, IRAN TALKS EXPECTED TO GAIN MOMENTUM
g LEAVITT CONFIRMS ‘DIRECT TALKS’ WITH PAKISTANI INTERMEDIATION, HIGHLIGHTING
PAKISTAN’S ROLE AS KEY MEDIATOR
Dar, Lavrov discuss rescheduling PM Shehbaz’s Russia visit ISLAMABAD
staff report
I
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON saleem jadoon/agencies
RANIAN delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad Friday night as White House also announced that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner would be leaving for Pakistan on Saturday, amid renewed anticipation for a much-awaited second round of peace talks between the United States and Iran. Confirming the development, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Friday that an Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad. He said FM Araghchi-led delegation was received by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Interior Minister Mohsen Naqvi and other senior officials. “During the visit, the Iranian foreign minister will hold meetings with Pak-
istan’s senior leadership to discuss the latest regional developments as well as ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability,” he added. Earlier, Pakistani sources said that FM Araghchi was expected to arrive in Islamabad with a “small negotiating team.” The sources indicated that preparations for the next phase of engagement were underway, with a US logistics and security team already present in Islamabad, signalling potential momentum toward the resumption of negotiations. However, Iran’s state media, while confirming the visit, said that Araghchi would hold “bilateral consultations”. “Iran’s foreign minister will begin a regional tour on Friday evening, April 24, travelling to Islamabad, Muscat and Moscow,” the official IRNA news agency said. “The purpose of this trip is to hold bilateral consultations, discuss ongoing developments in the region, and review the latest situation regarding the war imposed by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran,” it said.
PM says US–Iran mediation anchored in diplomacy and multilateralism ISLAMABAD
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday held a detailed telephonic conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, focusing on bilateral relations, regional developments, and the rescheduling of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s postponed visit to Russia. The high-level contact comes against the backdrop of shifting geopolitical dynamics, particularly following the recent escalation in the Middle East triggered by strikes involving the United States and Israel against Iran. The situation had prompted Islamabad to defer the prime minister’s official visit, which, according to earlier reports, was scheduled for March 3 to 5. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pakistan, both leaders reaffirmed the importance of maintaining regular high-level exchanges to sustain momentum in Pakistan-Russia relations. They agreed to work towards identifying new dates for Prime Minister Shehbaz’s visit at a mutually convenient time, reflecting a shared commitment to strengthening diplomatic engagement.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said Pakistan’s ongoing mediation efforts between the United States and Iran are firmly anchored in the principles of diplomacy and multilateralism, reaffirming an “unwavering commitment” to dialogue, cooperation, and the peaceful resolution of disputes in line with the United Nations Charter. Islamabad has been positioning itself as a key intermediary, leveraging its relations with both Washington and Tehran to facilitate dialogue and ease tensions following weeks of conflict that had raised concerns over a wider regional escalation. “At a time when the global community faces complex security challenges, Pakistan is promoting dialogue and diplomacy as the path toward regional and international peace and security,” the prime minister said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on the occasion of the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, observed annually on April 24.
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staff report
22 India-backed terrorists killed in Khyber operation, says ISPR ISLAMABAD
staff report
Security forces and law enforcement agencies killed 22 India-sponsored militants in an intelligencebased operation in Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on April 21, according to the InterServices Public Relations. In a statement issued on Friday, the military’s media wing said the joint operation was launched after reports about the presence of India-backed militants, also referred to as Fitna al-Khawarij, in the area. The ISPR said the militants opened indiscriminate fire in panic and in an effort to evade arrest during the operation. It said a 10-year-old child was martyred as a result; however, it added, "such sacrifices of our innocent civilians further strengthen our resolve." According to the statement, weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the slain militants. The ISPR said those killed had been actively involved in multiple terrorist activities in the area. "Sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other Indiansponsored kharji found in the area," the ISPR said, adding that the counter-terrorism drive under vision Azm-e-Istehkam would continue at full pace to eliminate what it described as foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country. Security situation Pakistan has seen an increase in cross-border militant activity, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the two provinces that border Afghanistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Amid the rise in attacks, Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had said that around 796 Afghan Taliban fighters and allied militants were killed during the operation. The minister had also said that more than 1,000 Afghan Taliban fighters and militants were injured in Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, while 286 posts of the Afghan Taliban regime were destroyed and 44 were captured. In October 2025, Pakistan and Afghanistan were also involved in border clashes after Afghan Taliban fighters and allied militants carried out what the report described as unprovoked attacks on Pakistan’s border positions.
Pakistan among 10 countries home to two-thirds ‘Fuel shock’: Fuel prices go dearer as of world’s most hungry: UN-backed report petrol, diesel rise Rs26.77 per litre ROME
ISLAMABAD
afp
Two-thirds of people facing food crises globally last year lived in just 10 countries, with a third of them in Sudan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN-backed yearly report said Friday. Conflict remained the main driver of acute food insecurity, according to the Global Report on Food Crises, based on data from the United Nations, the European Union and humanitarian agencies. And with conflicts and climate extremes “likely to sustain or worsen conditions in many countries,” the outlook for 2026 is “bleak,” it said. “Acute food insecurity remains highly concentrated (in) 10 countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen,” the report said. Improvements in some countries, such as Bangladesh and Syria, were “almost fully offset by notable deteriorations” in Afghanistan, DRC, Myanmar and Zimbabwe, it said.
staff report
For the first time in the report, which is in its 10th edition, famine was confirmed in two separate contexts — in Gaza and parts of Sudan — in the same year. Around 266 million people in 47 countries or territories experienced high levels of acute food insecurity last year, nearly double the share recorded in 2016, the report said. It also warned about the sharp decline in international aid and said the Middle East war risked aggravating existing crises by increasing the numbers of displaced in a region already hosting millions of refugees, and driving up fertilizer costs. The blocking of the Strait of
Hormuz, a key oil supply route, has sent fertilizer prices soaring since they rely on oil-based inputs. “Now we’re in planting season,” Alvaro Lario, head of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), told AFP. “So for sure this current food shock — both with the energy prices going up and also fertilizers going up — I think it’s going to have a massive impact in terms of production,” Lario said. He called for more help to small-scale farmers, for example by investing in water- and climate-resilient crops.
The government on Friday announced an increase of Rs26.77 per litre in the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD), effective for the week starting April 25. According to a press release issued by the Petroleum Division, the revised price of petrol now stands at Rs393.35 per litre, while HSD has been fixed at Rs380.19 per litre. The price of high-speed diesel has increased from Rs353.42 per litre to Rs380.19 per litre, reflecting a 7.5% rise, the statement added. The government has been revising petroleum prices on a weekly basis every Friday night amid shifting global oil trends following what officials described as the nowpaused US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which began on February 28. The situation reportedly triggered a global fuel supply crunch after disruptions linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows in normal conditions. In a statement, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said international oil prices were once again rising due to regional tensions, forc-
ing adjustments in domestic rates. “Due to the pressure of rising oil prices and agreements with global partners, the government is having to take steps to transfer the burden of increasing oil prices,” he said. He added that while the government had “tolerated” global price hikes as far as possible, the current revision was unavoidable. The minister also said that provincial and federal governments had previously extended what he termed a “historic relief package” to the public and expressed hope for regional stability. “I pray that progress is made soon in achieving regional peace and relief can be provided to the
people in the prices of petroleum products,” he said. Following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, fuel prices have seen significant volatility. On March 6, the government initially raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre and later introduced austerity measures on March 9. Subsequently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejected multiple proposals for further hikes despite rising global prices. However, on April 2, the government announced a sharp increase of 43% in petrol and 55% in diesel prices along with a targeted fuel subsidy programme.
Govt eyes Russia, Nigeria and Venezuela for fuel amid supply disruption ISLAMABAD
staff report
Pakistan is scrambling to secure alternative fuel supplies and prevent a deepening energy crisis as disruptions linked to the Iran-US conflict choke key import routes, forcing authorities to turn to the global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil. In a key move, Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) has floated a tender for three LNG cargoes — its first such spot purchase in over two years — after Qatar declared force majeure and halted shipments amid escalating regional tensions. The disruption stems largely from instability in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy corridor, where conflict-related restrictions have slowed or blocked fuel shipments. The chokepoint handles a
significant share of global oil and gas flows, making Pakistan particularly vulnerable due to its heavy reliance on imports. Officials say the country is already facing load shedding as LNG-based power plants struggle with fuel shortages, contributing to an estimated electricity shortfall of up to 6,000 megawatts. LNG is a key component of Pakistan’s energy mix, powering a substantial portion of electricity generation. Traditionally dependent on oil imports from Gulf suppliers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, Pakistan is now exploring alternative sources, including Russia, Nigeria and Venezuela, as supply chains come under pressure. State-run Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has reportedly imported diesel at a record premium of up to $34 per barrel, highlighting the cost pressures emerging from disrupted
supply routes. The issue was taken up by the executive committee of the National Coordination and Management Council (NCMC), which has directed the Petroleum Division to explore diversified sourcing options, while evaluating crude compatibility with domestic refineries. Authorities have also tasked Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), in coordination with the Ministry of IT and provincial stakeholders, to map the oil supply chain and develop a centralised system aimed at improving monitoring and preventing hoarding or misreporting. The crisis reflects Pakistan’s structural exposure to external energy shocks. Analysts warn that disruptions in the Gulf — particularly around Hormuz — can quickly translate into domestic shortages, higher fuel costs and prolonged power outages.
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