Ambassador Kazi lists shared experiences, eyes stronger ties between the two countries
Updated 03 May 2021
May 02, 2021 21:44
MANILA: Pakistan is ready to share its “vast and valuable experience” with the Philippines in its war against terror to strengthen ties between the two nations, particularly in security and cultural diplomacy, Pakistani Ambassador to the Philippines Imtiaz Kazi said in an exclusive interview with Arab News.
“Pakistan can rightly claim it has won the war on terror, albeit at a costly price,” Kazi said.
“Inside Pakistan, there were suicide attacks, terror attacks, our entire fabric of society was really disrupted. We suffered $130 billion (in economic losses). More than that . 60,000 to 70,000 people have died,” he said, adding that 8,000 to 9,000 of those were “officers and men of the Pakistan Army.”
LONDON: Kuwaiti citizens who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be able to travel abroad from May 22, the information ministry said on Monday.
A decision was taken “not to allow citizens and their companions who are first-degree relatives and domestic workers to travel outside the country unless they have been immunized from the coronavirus,” the ministry said.
The ban does not include people in age groups not eligible to receive vaccinations against the coronavirus. A previous directive banning the entry of non-Kuwaitis into the country still stands, the statement said.
The Ministry of Health has extended the period between administering the first and second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine due to a delay in the shipment from the manufacturer.
Natural Gas News
The future of natural gas in a low-carbon world: GECF and Shell present divergent pathways [Gas in Transition]
May 3, 2021 10:15:am
Summary Shell sees natural gas demand peak in 2034 in its new Sky 1.5 scenario, which is designed to keep temperature increase limited to 1.5 degrees. From that point on, the role of gas will dwindle quickly, to virtually nothing by century’s end. By contrast, the Global Gas Outlook 2050 from the Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum (GECF) sees no peak at all for gas demand up to 2050 and views gas as the great winner of the energy transition. What are the assumptions behind these widely different perspectives? And how should gas companies deal with this kind of uncertainty? [Gas in Transition, Volume 1, Issue 1]
LONDON: Iraq launched a diplomatic protest against Turkey on Monday after the Turkish defense minister visited troops in northern Iraq.
The foreign ministry summoned the charge d’affairs at the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad to protest against the minister’s trip on Saturday.
Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq on April 23. Baghdad has repeatedly complained about Turkish offensives on its territory. Turkey claims it is hitting bases belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which the group uses to carry out attacks inside Turkey.
Iraqi officials handed the Turkish diplomat a protest note expressing the Iraqi government’s “strong dissatisfaction and condemnation of the presence of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in Iraqi lands without coordination or prior approval from authorities,” the ministry said.
LONDON: British ministers have denied rumors that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be released shortly, and condemned Tehran’s use of dual nationals to gain “political leverage.”
In a press conference hosted with his US counterpart, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government is “working very intensively” to secure the release of British-Iranian Zaghari-Ratcliffe, as well as that of other detained dual nationals.
“It is incumbent on Iran, unconditionally, to release those who have been held arbitrarily and in our view unlawfully. The reports are not yet accurate in terms of the suggestion of her release,” Raab said.
Earlier on Monday, Britain’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, James Cleverly, said British dual nationals should not be used as “political leverage” by Iran, and that their plight should be treated as a separate issue to the legal dispute over an old debt between the two countries.