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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday gave his assent to a controversial bill that empowers security agencies to detain suspects of “terrorism” and other serious crimes for up to three months, his office confirmed, saying the move would help security agencies maintain law and order. 

Pakistan’s upper house of parliament or Senate approved amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) bill earlier this month. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had defended the bill by saying it created a lawful framework for preventive detention that would strengthen counterterrorism operations. 

Enforced disappearances have long been a contentious issue in Pakistan, particularly in its southwestern Balochistan province, which has been the site of a decades-old separatist insurgency. Families and rights groups there have often accused state institutions of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings. Authorities deny the allegations, but the practice has remained a source of domestic and international criticism.

“President Asif Ali Zardari has assented to the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2025,” the president’s official account on X wrote. 

“The law strengthens security agencies’ ability to counter terrorism, ensures transparency in detentions with a 3-year sunset clause, and introduces judicial oversight & safeguards.”

According to Pakistan’s parliamentary procedures and law, a bill passed by both houses of parliament requires the president’s assent to officially become law. The bill was passed earlier this month by Pakistan’s National Assembly before it was presented in the Senate. 

The government has said the new law will replace illegal practices and address concerns raised by families of “missing persons.”

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The amendment allows the government, armed forces and civil armed forces to place terrorism suspects under preventive detention for up to 90 days, based on credible information or reasonable suspicion. Enforcement in provinces will require approval from respective governments, and detainees will have legal recourse through federal and provincial review boards made up of Supreme Court and high court judges.

The bill also gives legal cover to joint interrogation teams (JITs) comprising officials from multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with the aim of making operations more effective.

Opposition parties, including jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), strongly opposed the amendment in the Senate when it was presented for voting, warning that it could be misused against government critics.
 
The development takes place as Pakistan battles twin insurgencies in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan provinces. The country has seen a spike in militant attacks ever since a fragile truce between the state and the Pakistani Taliban broke down in November 2022. 

Meanwhile, ethnic Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan demand independence from Islamabad, accusing the center of robbing the local population of the province’s natural resources. 

Pakistan’s civilian government and military strongly deny the allegations and say that several health, education and infrastructure projects are in place in Balochistan to help its population. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday called for the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit to promote multilateralism in the form of economic, financial, commercial and technological ties among member states. 

These thoughts were expressed by the Pakistani president in a column for the English-language Chinese newspaper, ‘China Daily,’ on Sunday. The column was published as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joins several world leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the Chinese city of Tianjin for the SCO’s Aug. 31 to Sept. 1 regional summit. 

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners.” China has long sought to present the SCO as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs and has pushed for greater collaboration between its member states. 

“One of the pressing tasks for the Summit is to promote and practice true multilateralism covering not just peace and security but economic, financial, commercial and technological ties among nations,” Zardari wrote.

“It is our obligation to strengthen global institutions.”

The Pakistani president noted that the SCO’s performance over the past decade in countering “terrorism,” curbing transnational crimes, especially drug trafficking, has been “impressive.”

He said the SCO summit gives regional leaders a platform to chart a roadmap for the next decade of “holistic development” for SCO members. Zardari said improving economic, technological and commercial cooperation among member states would help them contain and control volatility in international markets, ensure stability. 

“In 2024, China’s trade with SCO nations rose to a whopping half a trillion dollars, which is proof of the organization’s growing heft,” he wrote. 

China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan. Over the course of a decade, Beijing has funneled tens of billions of dollars into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. 

Zardari said Pakistan is proud of China’s rise and leadership at the global and regional stage. He added that Beijing and Islamabad supported each other on core issues and common principles of respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. 

“My visit to China in February this year reinforced my conviction that although together we have made huge strides,” he wrote. 

“We are destined to play an even bigger role to strengthen our bilateral ties in diverse fields – defense, cybersecurity, new technologies, energy – and make our regions both conduits and destinations for commerce and shared prosperity.”

Sharif, who arrived in China on Saturday, will remain in the country till Sept. 4 and hold talks with senior Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement.

During the visit, the Pakistani prime minister will also chair the second Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference in Beijing on Sept. 4 to boost trade and investment ties, the PM Office said in an earlier statement on Saturday.