ISLAMABAD, 29 October 2021, (TON): President Dr Arif Alvi asked the overseas Pakistanis to benefit from the country’s business-friendly environment and invest in various sectors of the economy.

The president, in meeting with a visiting delegation of overseas Pakistanis from Australia, led by Muhammad Nawaz Malik, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, said “Pakistan had adopted a very liberal investment policy to ensure a favourable business climate and attract foreign investment.”

Talking to the delegation, the president highlighted that Pakistan’s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business Index had improved to 108th position from 136th position which provided an enabling environment to foreign investors.

He stated that the government was encouraging investment in information technology, cattle farming and other important sectors of the economy and the expatriates needed to take advantage of investment opportunities in these sectors.

President Alvi said that the IT sector of the country had great potential and the government had taken steps to strengthen and improve that sector by establishing the Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) that encouraged and facilitated foreign investors through its one-window facility.

KABUL, 29 October 2021, (TON): Chief of staff of Afghanistan’s former president Ashraf Ghani said that he made a big mistake by supporting him and for that, he apologizes to the entire people of the country. Matin Bek who has also fled Afghanistan after the collapse said, he was sorry for campaigning for Ashraf Ghani and motivating people to vote for him.

He said “in the podcast that, it was very unfortunate for him to be using the platform and the opportunity for apologizing to the nation.

Bek said “I had lost my father, members of my family, and I dreamt a united and developed country and was struggling for my dream Afghanistan. Today I realized that I was deceived and betrayed.”

Matin Bek accused the former Afghan president to have to be behind the collapse and misery of Afghanistan and added that the real misery of the country began in 2014 when Ashraf Ghani was elected as president.

KABUL, 29 October 2021, (TON): China has pledged to help rebuild Afghanistan if the Taliban agree to join forces to neutralize threats of terrorist networks which “are stoking unrest among its Muslim Uyghur population”.

Taliban’s deputy Prime Minister, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Qatar this week assured him security situation in Afghanistan was under control despite increasing attacks from the rebels.

Wang Yi said that China would help rebuild Afghanistan, calling on US President Joe Biden to lift sanctions against the country.

After the Taliban seized power, more than $9 billion in Afghanistan Central Bank reserves have been frozen in a New York bank.

During the two days of high-level talks in the Qatari capital city of Doha, the Chinese delegation and Islamic Emirate officials agreed to work on strengthening diplomatic relations and implementing Chinese projects in Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD, 27 October 2021, (TON): Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said “Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide a $4.2 billion lifeline to Pakistan on an annual basis in the shape of cash assistance and oil on deferred payments.”

The information minister said “Saudi Arabia would deposit $3 billion cash in the State Bank of Pakistan and also provide $1.2 billion worth of oil on deferred payments.”

It is the second financial assistance package that the kingdom has extended to Pakistan in the past three years, aiming to help the country manage a brewing external sector crisis. The kingdom had extended a similar package valuing at $6 billion in October 2018 to provide a breathing space to

Pakistan before the country went to the International Monetary Fund for an extended loan facility.

The latest development came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from a three-day trip to the kingdom.

A federal minister said that the Saudi government would charge interest rate that will be around the cost of debt taken from the international financial institutions. Last time, Saudi Arabia had charged about 3.2% interest rate on its $3 billion cash deposit.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide financial assistance to Pakistan at a time when the talks between the PTI-led coalition government and the IMF are facing a delay, resulting in holding up of the release of the next loan tranche amounting to $1 billion.

KABUL, 27 October 2021, (TON): The Taliban government said “officials from Turkmenistan will visit Kabul this week to discuss continuing work on the TAPI pipeline linking the energy-rich Central Asian country through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.”

The pipeline is expected to carry 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas each year along a route stretching 1,800 km (1,125 miles) from Galkynysh, the world's second-biggest gas field, to the Indian city of Fazilka near the Pakistan border.

Mohammad Issa Akhund, the acting minister of mines and petroleum in the new Taliban government, said in a statement "we have been working hard for some time and we are ready to take pride in starting work on the TAPI project.”

The Afghan stretch of the pipeline will run from the northwestern border with Turkmenistan, south through the western city of Herat to Kandahar near the border with Pakistan.

'Pakistan-Iran-Turkey trade routes can add value to OBOR project'

The statement said “Akhund met the ambassador of Turkmenistan ahead of a two-day visit by a delegation from the country that will start from Saturday.”

WASHINGTON, 27 October 2021, (TON): The United States urged Iran to show good faith and quickly revive a nuclear deal after the clerical state indicated it would return to negotiations in Vienna next month.

Iran's nuclear negotiator said after talks with European Union mediators in Brussels that Tehran had agreed to resume talks in Vienna next month. These discussions had been on hiatus since June.

A State Department spokesperson said "we are prepared to return to Vienna, and we believe that it remains possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to mutual full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.”

He said “the talks should focus on "closing the small number of issues that remained outstanding at the end of the sixth round of talks in June.”

"As we have also been clear, this window will not remain open forever as Iran continues to take provocative nuclear steps, so we hope that they come to Vienna to negotiate quickly and in good faith."

BRUSSELS, 27 October 2021, (TON): European Union founding member Belgium warned Poland not to treat the EU like “a cash machine” to boost its economic fortunes while disregarding its democratic and rule of law principles at will.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said “you cannot pocket all the money but refuse the values.”

De Croo targeted Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki who accused the EU of threatening “World War III” for insisting that Poland should respect the independence of the judiciary and the primacy of EU law.

The Belgian prime minister said his Polish counterpart was “playing with fire when waging war with your European colleagues for internal political reasons.”

The comments follow years of disputes over changes Poland’s government has made to the country’s courts. The EU believes the changes erode democratic checks and balances, and the European Commission is holding up billions of euros to Poland earmarked in a pandemic recovery plan.

The war of words also comes on the heels of an EU summit, where Polish arguments that fundamental judicial changes the country made would not undermine the EU failed to convince key bloc leaders.

Among them was French President Emmanuel Macron, who will meet his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda later.

RIYADH, 27 October 2021, (TON): Saudi Arabia took part in an international exercise organized by the UN nuclear watchdog agency to practice for a severe nuclear emergency.

The ConvEx-3 drill was held at the UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant and included 76 member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in addition to 12 international organizations.

The 36-hour exercise was one of the most complex emergency exercise organized by the IAEA in terms of the diversity of procedures.

The exercise tested the national system for preparedness and response to a nuclear emergency. It also highlighted the Kingdom’s capabilities to respond to this type of nuclear accident at the international level.

The event was held under the chairmanship of the General Directorate of Civil Defense.

JERUSALEM, 27 October 2021, (TON): Israel moved forward on Wednesday with plans to build some 3,000 homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, defying the Biden administration’s strongest criticism to date of such projects.

A senior Palestinian official said the decision showed that Israel’s new government, led by far-right politician Naftali Bennett, was “no less extreme” than the administration of the veteran leader he replaced, Benjamin Netanyahu.

An Israeli defense official said a planning forum of Israel’s liaison office with the Palestinians gave preliminary approval for plans to build 1,344 housing units and its final go-ahead for projects to construct 1,800 homes.

It will be up to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a centrist in Israel’s politically diverse government, to give the nod for construction permits to be issued, with further friction with Washington looming.

A senior Israeli official said “this government is trying to balance between its good relations with the Biden administration and the various political constraints.”

WASHINGTON, 27 October 2021, (TON): The Biden administration issued its harshest public criticism to date of Israeli plans for Jewish settlement expansion in occupied West Bank, saying that it harmed peace prospects between Israelis and Palestinians.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a briefing “we are deeply concerned about the Israeli government’s plan to advance thousands of settlement units tomorrow, many of them deep in the West Bank.”

Price said “we strongly oppose the expansion of settlements, which is completely inconsistent with efforts to lower tensions and to ensure calm, and it damages the prospects for a two-state solution.”

Israel published tenders for about 1,300 new settlement homes in occupied West Bank and authorities are also expected to discuss proposals for another 3,000 homes.

Price said “Washington was continuing to raise its views on the issue directly with senior Israeli officials.”

Washington-backed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014. Most countries regard Israel’s West Bank settlements as illegal. Israel disputes this.

Israeli settlement activity is a source of disagreement between Tel Aviv and Washington, together with US efforts to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran.