Islamabad

01 Feb 2021; AA: Pakistan on Monday received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine as a gift from its longtime ally China.

A special Pakistan Air Force plane carrying 500,000 doses of the vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm landed at the Islamabad airport.

The shipment was received by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chinese envoy Nong Rong. Another 1.1 million pre-ordered doses are expected later this month.

Islamabad, Jan 30 (PTI) Pakistan has extended the travel restrictions on several countries, including the UK, till February 28 to contain the spread of the deadly variant of the coronavirus amidst a second wave of infections, authorities said.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) on Friday said people from countries in its category-C including South Africa, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands would be affected by the travel restrictions till February 28, Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.

(APP) --- Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday launched Pakistan’s first instant payment system – Raast – to enable end-to-end digital payments among individuals, businesses and government entities instantaneously.

The Prime Minister while addressing the gathering termed the launch a major step forward by the State Bank of Pakistan towards Digital Pakistan and said it would help include the low income groups and make them part of the mainstream economy. He was optimist that it would go a long way in fighting poverty, particularly in the rural areas.

02 Jan 2021; MEMO: Pakistan's prime minister on Friday inaugurated a 100-bed shelter home constructed by Turkey's state-run aid agency for people in poverty near the capital Islamabad, Anadolu Agency reports.

31 Dec 2021; AA: China on Thursday assured Pakistan that Beijing will provide more than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Islamabad for emergency use.

This came in a phone talk between Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to a statement by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

Qureshi said that Pakistan had approved Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use in Pakistan and expressed hope for its early availability from China.

23 Dec 2020; MEMO: Pakistan cannot and will not recognise Israel before a "concrete and permanent settlement" of the Palestinian issue is reached, the country's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday.

"I categorically presented Pakistan's stance on Israel to the UAE's foreign minister that we will not and cannot establish a relationship with Israel until a concrete and permanent solution to the Palestine issue is found," Qureshi told reporters in the northeastern Multan city.

16 Dec 2020; MEMO: Pakistan has returned $1 billion to Saudi Arabia as a second instalment of a $3 billion soft loan, as Islamabad reaches out to Beijing for a commercial loan to help it offset pressure to repay another $1 billion to Riyadh next month, officials said on Wednesday according to a report by Reuters.

Islamabad, Dec 15, IRNA -- Iran and Pakistan are scheduled to open Rimdan-Gabd cross-border gateway on December 19 in presence of senior officials.

The opening of the Rimdan-Gabd crossing would help accelerate economic activities in the bordering region with creating more opportunities for expanding economic and trade ties between the two countries. 

In recent years, Iranian and Pakistani officials have put on the agenda a plan to increase border crossings.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has increased its funds allocation for purchasing COVID-19 vaccines amid a surge in the coronavirus.

Dr. Nausheen Hamid, parliamentary secretary for National Health Services, says the budget for the vaccines has been enhanced to $250 million. Earlier, the government had set aside $150 million.

Pakistan recorded 3,369 new cases of the virus and 72 new deaths on Saturday.

A surge in the virus comes amid massive disregard by people for precautionary measures despite constant warnings by the authorities.

Islamabad, Oct 28 (AP/PTI) Pakistan's state-run council of clerics, which advises the government on religious issues, gave its approval Wednesday to the construction of a new temple for minority Hindus, ruling Islamic law allows them a place of worship.

Lal Malhi, a prominent Hindu leader who is also a member of parliament, applauded the ruling but noted the council also recommended the government not spend public funds directly on the construction of private places of worship.