(): Pakistan’s interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani will visit China to participate in the 3rd Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Tibet on October 4-5, according to a media report here. The Forum meeting is being held at Nyingchi in Tibet Autonomous Region, 400 km east of Lhasa and, north of and very near to Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district.
“The foreign minister is undertaking the visit at the special invitation of the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported, quoting the Foreign Office on Monday. The Trans-Himalaya Forum was initiated in 2018 to deepen practical cooperation among regional countries on diverse subjects, including geographical connectivity, environmental protection, ecological preservation, and enhancing cultural linkages, the report said. The last in-person meeting of the Forum was held in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in China and led to worldwide lockdowns. The theme of this year’s Forum is “Ecological Civilization and Environmental Protection.” The Foreign Office in a statement said that Foreign Minister Jilani will address the opening ceremony of the Trans-Himalaya Forum.
On the sidelines, he will meet with several regional dignitaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, the Foreign Minister of China and the Interim Foreign Minister of Afghanistan.
IMF mission to arrive by late October for economic review
The IMF will send its delegation to Pakistan in the last week of October to review the cash-strapped country’s economic performance in the first three months of the current fiscal year, according to a media report on Tuesday.
Quoting sources in the Ministry of Finance, The Express Tribune newspaper said that during the meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, the caretaker government will also discuss reforms in various sectors, including taxes and energy. The report said once the economic review is successfully completed, Pakistan will receive the next installment of USD 700 million from the IMF after its board’s approval.
The Washington-based global lender transferred USD 1.2 billion to the cash-strapped country in July, as part of the USD 3 billion bailout programme for nine months to support the government’s efforts to stabilise the country’s ailing economy. Although essentially a bridge loan, it offered much respite to Pakistan, which was battling an acute balance of payments crisis and falling foreign exchange reserves, the report said.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that a plan for expenditure reduction is prepared, and discussions will be held on the plan to reduce expenses, including freezing allowances, and pensions, and suspending officer recruitment.
The government is also likely to be compelled to increase gas prices on IMF demands.
Pakistan’s economy has been in a free fall mode for the last many years, bringing untold pressure on the poor masses in the form of unchecked inflation.