Pakistan receives over 71,000 Hajj applications in first submission round
Pakistan receives over 71,000 Hajj applications in first submission round/node/2611302/pakistan
Pakistan receives over 71,000 Hajj applications in first submission round
Muslim pilgrims perform Tawaf in the grand mosque, during the annual hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Makkah, ֱ, on June 6, 2025. (Saudi Press Agency/REUTERS)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has received more than 71,000 applications in the first phase of Hajj form submissions, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Saturday, citing a senior official.
Pakistan has a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims for 2026, with 129,210 seats allocated for the government scheme and the rest for private tour operators.
Under the government scheme, pilgrims can choose between a long package of 38 to 42 days or a short package of 20 to 25 days, with costs estimated between Rs1.15 million and Rs1.25 million ($4,050-$4,236).
“The next phase will run from August 11 to 16, during which applications will be accepted along with the first installment of expenses,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Muhammad Umar Butt, said, according to APP. “In this stage, unregistered intending pilgrims will also be eligible to apply.”
The report said overseas Pakistanis can also apply through a close relative at any designated bank branch and will be required to provide medical fitness certificates upon arrival in Pakistan.
The official also said the ministry would stop accepting applications immediately once the allocated quota is filled.
ֱ approved the same overall quota for Pakistan in 2025, but a significant portion of the private allocation went unused due to delays by tour operators in meeting payment and registration deadlines, while the government fulfilled its share of over 88,000 pilgrims.
Private operators blamed the shortfall on technical issues, including payment processing and communication problems.
PESHAWAR: Tribal elders from Pakistan’s northwestern Kurram region on Saturday called for negotiations with Afghanistan and the opening of cross-border trade routes during a consultative gathering arranged by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial administration to discuss the overall security situation in the region.
Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has launched a series of regional jirgas, or tribal councils, to deliberate on issues affecting the province, particularly its tribal districts, amid a surge of militant violence and counter-operations by security forces. The gatherings bring together tribal elders, local lawmakers and officials to find a way out of the current security situation in the area.
The last in the series brought together influential figures from Upper, Central and Lower Kurram, a former semi-autonomous tribal area bordering Afghanistan with a long history of violent conflicts that have claimed hundreds of lives. Last year alone, tribal clashes along sectarian lines in the district persisted for months, killing more than 100 people and displacing many more.
“For a permanent solution to the problem, a powerful council comprising federal and provincial governments, security agencies and local tribal elders should be formed to hold negotiations with Afghanistan, because Kurram’s peace is linked to Afghanistan,” the jirga said in its recommendations.
“Trade routes should be opened with Afghanistan to provide employment to the area’s residents,” it added.
Much of the country’s northwestern tribal belt has a narrow economic base, historically dependent on cross-border movement. Traditionally, residents of the areas crisscrossed between what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan, with tribal communities spread across both sides of the frontier.
Past efforts to launch livelihood projects in the area have also had limited impact.
Participants of Saturday’s jirga expressed appreciation for the provincial government’s efforts to restore stability in Kurram.
They said the residents of the district were united for peace and pledged to assist the government in any way necessary to maintain it.
“Peace is our basic need,” the jirga statement said. “If there is peace, there will be development.”
It added the people of Kurram opposed “all forms of terrorism” and stood by the government in efforts to counter it.
The gathering was also attended by provincial and national legislators from the district along with administrative and law enforcement officials.
KARACHI: Nearly half of Pakistan’s heart attack patients are under the age of 49, with up to 15% younger than 40, cardiologists at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) said on Saturday, warning of a sharp rise in early-age cases linked to diabetes, hypertension, obesity, smoking and unhealthy lifestyles.
NICVD’s Director of Cath Lab, Dr Abdul Hakeem, said Pakistan had “the highest rate of young heart attack patients globally.”
“Every third adult has diabetes, 40% have high blood pressure, obesity is common, and smoking rates remain high,” he said. “Many people don’t know they’re at risk because, in our culture, loose clothing hides weight gain. After the age of 30, everyone should get a cardiac check-up.”
Hakeem said nine in ten patients in NICVD’s data reported no severe chest pain, only heaviness or acidity-like discomfort, symptoms that can delay treatment.
“If you feel chest heaviness while walking or climbing stairs, get an ECG immediately,” he said. “The most dangerous anterior heart attack can damage up to 60% of the heart muscle and often causes a clot within four to eight weeks, increasing the risk of stroke.”
NICVD Executive Director Dr Tahir Saghir said the institute was moving into advanced research, including trials on drug-coated balloons that could reduce future artery blockages without stents, backed by international funding.
Senior cardiologist Dr Nadeem Rizvi stressed the value of locally conducted research tailored to Pakistan’s healthcare environment, while Dow Institute of Cardiology Director Dr Tariq Furman said genetic, socioeconomic and physical differences meant Western treatment guidelines often needed adjustment for local patients.
The findings were released alongside results from the country's largest clinical trial on acute left ventricular thrombus (LVT), a dangerous blood clot that can form after a severe heart attack and cause stroke.
Conducted by NICVD in collaboration with local pharmaceutical firm Pharmevo, the study compared rivaroxaban, a newer blood thinner, with the decades-old standard drug warfarin.
The trial, named RIVAWAR, ran from June 2021 to December 2023, enrolling 261 patients within seven days of a heart attack, most of whom had a severe form that also reduced heart function.
The study found rivaroxaban to be a safe, effective alternative to warfarin, with faster early clot resolution and similar success rates over 12 weeks.
Researchers said early diagnosis and treatment of LVT could prevent thousands of strokes in Pakistan each year.
Pakistan’s defense minister rejects Indian claim of downing six jets, says no aircraft lost/node/2611249/pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Saturday rejected the Indian air chief’s assertion his country shot down six Pakistani military aircraft during a standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors, saying no Pakistani aircraft was hit and adding that wars are won through professional competence, not fabrications.
Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh told a gathering in New Delhi earlier today his country had downed five Pakistani fighter jets and one large surveillance plane in “the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill” at a range of 300 kilometers. Singh’s assertion was the first such statement by India months after its worst military conflict in decades with its neighbor.
India targeted what it called “terrorist infrastructure” inside Pakistan earlier this year in May, calling it Operation Sindoor and saying it was in response to a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir which it blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denied any involvement and called for an impartial international probe into the incident.
Pakistan said during the intense, four-day standoff it had shot down six Indian fighter jets, including French-made Rafales, right at the outset of the war. It also gave a technical briefing to the foreign media on how the situation unfolded at the outset of the conflict.
“Not a single Pakistani aircraft was hit or destroyed by Indian,” the minister said in a social media post on X. “Pakistan destroyed 6 Indian jets, S400 air defense batteries and unmanned aircraft of India while swiftly putting several Indian air bases out of action.”
“The belated assertions made by the Indian Air Force Chief regarding alleged destruction of Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor are as implausible as they are ill-timed. It is also ironic how senior Indian military officers are being used as the faces of monumental…
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif)
He called it ironic that senior Indian military officials were “used as the faces of monumental failure caused by strategic shortsightedness of Indian politicians,” pointing out that for three months, no such claims were voiced by New Delhi.
He said if the truth was in question, both sides should open their aircraft inventories to independent verification.
“Wars are not won by falsehoods but by moral authority, national resolve and professional competence,” the minister said. “Such comical narratives, crafted for domestic political expediency, increase the grave risks of strategic miscalculation in a nuclearised environment.”
Asif warned that, as demonstrated during his country’s response to India, every violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would invite a “swift, surefire and proportionate response,” adding that responsibility for any ensuing escalation would rest entirely with “strategically blind leaders who gamble with South Asia’s peace for fleeting political gains.”
India has previously acknowledged some losses, with its Chief of Defense Staff Anil Chauhan saying in an interview with Bloomberg that his forces had made a “tactical mistake” during the May conflict, but denying that six aircraft were lost.
Responding to a question, Chauhan said it was not important how many Indian planes were downed in the war.
“The good part is we were able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets, again targeting at long range,” he said.
Separately, France’s air chief, General Jerome Bellanger, has said he has seen evidence of the loss of three Indian fighters, including a Rafale.
The Indian Air Force has not commented on the claims.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Tajikistan concluded a joint counterterrorism exercise on Saturday, said the military, with Islamabad expressing satisfaction over having met “all training and military diplomacy objectives.”
The two countries have stepped up security collaboration in recent years to combat militancy and cross-border crime.
Earlier this year in May, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, in Dushanbe to discuss bilateral strategic cooperation and expressed a resolve to strengthen their counterterrorism partnership and jointly work to prevent human smuggling and other organized crime.
“Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Counter Terrorism Exercise Dosti-II was conducted from 4-9 August 2025 at Fakhrobod Base, Tajikistan,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. “Two combat teams from the Light Commando Battalion, Pakistan Army, and four combat teams from Tajikistan Special Forces participated in the exercise. All training and military diplomacy objectives were achieved successfully.”
The exercise concluded with a ceremony attended by Pakistan’s Defense Attaché in Tajikistan as chief guest alongside senior Tajik military officials.
Troops from both sides “displayed the highest standards of professional excellence,” ISPR said.
The statement informed the training focused on refining counterterrorism drills, procedures and techniques through joint operations.
Pakistan and Tajikistan enjoy close bilateral ties, underpinned by trade, energy and connectivity projects such as the CASA-1000 electricity transmission line, which will deliver surplus hydropower from Central Asia to Pakistan.
The two countries are also members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Islamabad views Dushanbe as a gateway to the Central Asian market, while Tajikistan sees Pakistan as its route to the Arabian Sea via ports in Karachi and Gwadar.
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to attend the ninth Future Investment Initiative (FII) Forum, the annual investment gathering often dubbed “Davos in the Desert.”
The FII brings together global policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs and innovators to explore investment trends, emerging technologies and global economic strategies in line with ֱ’s Vision 2030.
Sharif attended the event in Riyadh last October during a two-day official visit, engaging with Saudi leadership and participating in high-level discussions on economic and strategic cooperation.
“Amb. Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, Ambassador of the Kingdom of ֱ, called on the Prime Minister at the Prime Minister House earlier today,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after the meeting.
“The Ambassador handed over to the Prime Minister a signed invitation letter from His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to participate in the ninth Future Investment Initiatives (FII) Forum to be held in Riyadh from 27-30 October, 2025.”
Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki presenting PM Sharif an invitation from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to attend the ninth Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh this October. (Handout/PMO)
Upon accepting the invitation, Sharif conveyed warm greetings and respect to both King Salman bin Abdul Aziz as well as to the Saudi crown prince.
The prime minister also discussed recent regional developments in what the statement described as a warm and cordial atmosphere.
Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki speaks during a meeting with PM Sharif at the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad on August 9, 2025. (Handout/PMO)
Pakistan and ֱ enjoy close ties, with Riyadh bolstering Islamabad’s foreign currency reserves in recent years by depositing money into Pakistan’s central bank.
The support helped unlock International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout packages and stabilize the South Asian country’s external finances.
During Sharif’s visit to the kingdom in October 2024, the two nations signed 34 memoranda of understanding worth $2.8 billion, seven of which have since been converted into agreements valued at $560 million.
