Pakistan says Syria needs ‘credible political transition,’ condemns Israeli incursions and airstrikes

ISLAMABAD: A senior US official has expressed interest in enhancing cooperation with Pakistan in the minerals sector, citing President Donald Trump’s vision of securing rare materials as a “strategic priority” that could benefit both countries, the US Embassy said on Wednesday.

The mission released the statement after Eric Meyer, a senior official from the US Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, attended an international minerals summit in Islamabad aimed at attracting foreign investment in the country’s mining sector. Apart from gold and copper, Pakistan is also rich in lithium used to make batteries, as well as other minerals.

The summit has drawn participation from major international companies, including Canada-based Barrick Gold, as well as government officials from the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and other nations.

“President Trump has made it clear that securing diverse and reliable sources of these materials is a strategic priority,” the US Embassy quoted Meyer as saying. “Pakistan’s vast mineral potential — if responsibly and transparently developed — can benefit both our countries.” 

Despite rich reserves of salt, copper, gold and coal, Pakistan’s mineral sector contributes only 3.2 percent to GDP and 0.1 percent to global exports. The country is now aiming to tap into this underutilized potential. 

Pakistan is home to one of the world’s largest porphyry copper-gold mineral zones, while the Reko Diq mine in southwestern Balochistan has an estimated 5.9 billion tons of ore. 

Barrick Gold, which owns a 50 percent stake in the Reko Diq mines, considers them one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas, and their development is expected to have a significant impact on Pakistan’s struggling economy.

However, Balochistan is plagued by a decades-long insurgency, with ethnic Baloch separatists opposing any foreign investment which they say is an attempt by Islamabad to solidify its hold through external players on their regional resources.

They have been fighting for decades for a greater share of local resources, but some of their armed groups now say they will not settle for anything less than a separate homeland. 

One of the largest insurgent groups, the Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the train hijacking, which resulted in the deaths of 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers. At least 33 insurgents were also killed.

Addressing the minerals summit on Tuesday, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir said the military would “ensure a robust security framework, proactive measures to protect the interests and trust of partners and investors.” 

“You can count on Pakistan as a reliable partner.”

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan intensifies its campaign to expel thousands of Afghan migrants, opinions in Islamabad remain divided, according to interviews with residents.
Earlier this year, Pakistan’s interior ministry asked all “illegal foreigners” and holders of Afghan Citizen Cards — a document launched in 2017 to grant temporary legal status to Afghan refugees — to leave the country before Mar. 31, warning that they would otherwise be deported from April 1. The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of foreign citizens that began in November 2023, with over 900,000 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since.
While 19-year-old student Rubab Iffat called the deportations “not right,” others like teacher Pervaiz Akhtar supported the government’s decision, saying Afghans were against Pakistan and were behind terror attacks in the country. The government in Kabul denies Afghanistan is to blame for Pakistan’s security problems. 
“Even on social media, they [Afghans] are against Pakistan ... They make their living here, but they are against us,” Akhtar said. 
“If you look overall, even locally, if you ask someone what Afghans say about us, they are against our country. Terrorism is also being carried out from there [Afghanistan] so it is justified that they leave. And they should go by all means, their country is Afghanistan.”
But Iffat said the government was not “doing the right thing” by expelling Afghans:
“Because they have been living here [Pakistan] for a long time and their home is here now, their children are studying here, so this is their country too. They should be given the same rights as us.”
Meanwhile, Afghanistan-bound trucks have been piling up outside Pakistan migrant camps as pressure to leave mounts.
In a migrant camp in the southwestern border town of Chaman, Afghan migrant Ismail prepared to return to his home country, leaving behind an “unfinished” life after a decade in Pakistan.
“I had a stable job, I had found stability,” he said, standing in front of rows of loaded trucks bound for Afghanistan. “Then the government told us we had to leave.”
Ghulam Hazrat said he had to leave behind his house and business and in the days leading up to leaving Karachi where he has lived for years, he had faced harassment from police.
“We were harassed every day. They didn’t even spare us on the streets and threw us straight into jail,” Hazrat added.
“Because of all this, we became very desperate and decided to leave Karachi [for Afghanistan].”