National

Pakistan has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD), taking a leading role in international discussions on arms control and global security. Additional Secretary for Arms Control and Disarmament Tahir Hussain Andrabi is representing Pakistan and will preside over the conference’s meetings during the presidency. Pakistan holds the final presidency of the CD’s 2026 session. It will therefore oversee the conclusion of the conference’s proceedings for the year and guide work on its annual report and the related resolution for the UN General Assembly’s First Committee. As part of the opening activities, Ambassador Andrabi chaired a meeting with former presidents of the conference for the 2026 session. He also held consultations with representatives of different regional groups. The Conference on Disarmament, headquartered at the United Nations Office in Geneva, is the principal multilateral forum for negotiating international disarmament and arms-control agreements. The forum has 65 member states, including countries that possess nuclear weapons. Its discussions cover some of the most sensitive issues affecting international peace and security. Key areas on its agenda include preventing a nuclear arms race, reducing the risk of nuclear war and stopping the weaponisation of outer space. The conference and its predecessor bodies have played a significant role in developing major international security agreements. These include the Biological Weapons Convention, Chemical Weapons Convention and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Pakistan’s presidency comes at a time when nuclear risks, arms competition and emerging security challenges remain major concerns for the international community. The Foreign Office said Pakistan’s leadership of the conference reflects international confidence in its diplomatic role and its continued engagement in multilateral arms-control efforts.

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) held protest sit-ins in several major cities on Monday for the second consecutive day, intensifying its campaign against high petroleum levies, rising inflation and increased utility bills. The protests were organised in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and other cities across the country. The party said its demonstrations would continue until the government addresses its demands. Addressing a sit-in in Lahore, JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman described the protests as the beginning of a broader nationwide movement. He said the party had prepared a strategy to expand the campaign and expressed satisfaction with the participation in different parts of the country. JI leaders criticised the government over the growing financial burden on ordinary citizens. They argued that higher fuel-related charges have contributed to increased prices of essential goods and made household expenses more difficult to manage. In Karachi, a JI demonstration was held outside the Governor House. Party leaders accused the government of relying excessively on petroleum levies and taxes to generate revenue. JI Karachi women wing leader Javed Fahim called on the government either to withdraw what she described as unnecessary financial burdens or face stronger public resistance. She warned that the party could expand its sit-ins to major roads across Karachi if its demands were not accepted. JI Karachi Emir Monem Zafar Khan said the party’s demands included a reduction in fuel prices and a forensic audit of independent power producers (IPPs). He said controlling inflation should be among the government’s top priorities and argued that ordinary citizens were bearing the impact of rising fuel costs, electricity bills and prices of daily-use commodities. The protests come after the government recently increased the petroleum levy on diesel by Rs1 per litre, taking it to Rs77.28. The levy on petrol remained at Rs80 per litre, while the levy on kerosene was unchanged at Rs20.36 per litre. JI leaders said they would continue mobilising supporters across the country and would consider further expanding the protest movement if their demands were not met.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar has defended the government’s position on meetings with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in prison. He said matters that are pending before the courts should generally not be debated in parliament. However, he noted that the Senate was discussing such issues. Tarar made the remarks during a Senate session. Lawmakers were debating Imran Khan’s health and concerns over restrictions on meetings with him. The minister said cases related to the May 9 incidents and other cases involving Imran Khan were before the courts. He said the PTI founder and other individuals had filed appeals against decisions in their cases. According to Tarar, several legal matters remain pending before different judicial forums. He said the delay in deciding appeals and cases was a broader problem within the judicial system. The law minister pointed to delays in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases. He said some NAB appeals had remained undecided for as long as six years. He said Imran Khan’s petitions and applications were also pending before the relevant courts. Therefore, he argued, those matters should be addressed through the judicial process. Tarar also referred to the cases involving former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He said Sharif had been convicted by the courts and later challenged the decisions through appeals. He added that relief was subsequently granted to Sharif by the judiciary itself. The minister said this showed that legal disputes should be settled through the courts. The Senate debate also focused on Imran Khan’s access to visitors in prison. Tarar said prison authorities had to follow the jail manual. He said the rules applied to all prisoners and could not be changed for one individual. He argued that if special permission was given to one prisoner, similar requests from other prisoners would also have to be considered. The minister said the government wanted a system in which everyone was treated equally before the law. He referred to the principle that the powerful and ordinary citizens should stand on the same footing. His remarks came after opposition lawmakers demanded that the Senate discuss Imran Khan’s health and the restrictions on meetings with him. Senator Raja Nasir Abbas had specifically called for a discussion on the PTI founder’s health. The issue has remained a major point of political disagreement between the government and PTI. The opposition has repeatedly raised concerns about Imran Khan’s health and access to family members, lawyers and political leaders. Tarar maintained that the government’s position was based on existing legal and prison procedures. He said pending court cases should not be settled through political debate.

Lawyer and social activist Jibran Nasir has criticised the country’s political and economic situation, alleging that pressure, censorship and coercive measures have failed to change public opinion about PTI founder Imran Khan. Speaking to anchorperson Ameer Abbas, Nasir said authorities had been unable to alter public sentiment toward Imran Khan despite what he described as years of pressure and attempts to control political discourse. He argued that if public opinion had genuinely changed, millions of people would not have voted for Imran Khan and his political movement in the February 8 general elections. Nasir questioned how the authorities could claim to change broader public thinking about the economy, Constitution and rule of law when they had not been able to change people’s views about a single political leader. He also criticised what he described as restrictions on political expression and media freedom. Nasir alleged that force, state pressure, censorship and arrests were being used to control political developments. According to Nasir, suppressing criticism does not resolve underlying public grievances. He said people who speak about alleged injustices are sometimes portrayed as creating unrest rather than being allowed to raise their concerns. He warned that continued reliance on pressure could increase frustration among citizens instead of resolving political differences. Nasir further claimed that people were now more aware of political developments and could not easily be persuaded through fear or restrictions. He said arrests, cases and harsh measures had not succeeded in changing the position of a significant section of the public. The lawyer maintained that political issues could not be permanently controlled through force. He called for greater space for political expression and a process through which public grievances could be addressed. His comments come amid continued political tensions between the government and PTI. The party has repeatedly raised concerns over the treatment of its leadership, legal cases against its members and restrictions on political activities.