Shandur festival starts tomorrow

Shandur polo festival starts tomorrow

CHITRAL: The three-day Shandur polo festival will be held on the scheduled date on June 20 (Friday) despite boycott of the event by the Gilgit-Baltistan team.
Talking to Dawn, on Wednesday, Chitral deputy commissioner, Aminul Haq, said that the provincial government had decided to hold the event on its scheduled date keeping in view the enthusiasm of the game lovers and arrival of tourists to the venue in large numbers.
Mr Haq said that the festival might be a low profile affair this year due to boycott of the Gilgit-Baltistan team, but it would still provide the level of entertainment and joy the people had been waiting for, for so long.

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Know more: GB boycotts the festival

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Meanwhile, president of district polo association, Shahzada Sikandarul Mulk, dispelled the impression that the absence of GB team would render the event less interesting for the fans.
“Eight teams from across the district are participating in the event, which means that the fans will have four thrilling matches to watch and be entertained,” he said.
Meanwhile, the tourists have started reaching here to travel onward to the Shandur polo ground to witness the event.
The administrations of a number of leading hotels in the city, including PTDC hotel, told Dawn that they almost had all their rooms booked. However, they said a fraction of tourists had cancelled their bookings over the decision of the GB government not to send its team to the event.
Meanwhile, the district police claimed to have made foolproof security arrangement to ensure safety of the participants of the event. DPO Ghulam Hussain said under a special security plan, 1,200 personnel had been deployed at the venue and on the roads leading to Shandur.

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Bad news for 'Good' Taliban?

Zarb-i-Azb — Bad news for 'Good' Taliban?

The North Waziristan military offensive is on.
As we all hope, it will change the militant landscape of the country besides having a far-reaching impact on the political and strategic dynamics of conflict in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
So far, militants in North Waziristan were the ones least challenged by the state’s counter-terrorism efforts. The tribal agency is (or was) considered the last resort of militants, which is why a comprehensive military campaign was required to establish the writ of the government.
But when news of the offensive first broke, one thing many Pakistanis found themselves submerged in was questions:

• How long, how large will this operation be?
• What happens to the 'good Taliban', to those who reportedly wanted peace?
• Will a successful operation mean an end to terrorism?

Below, I've sketched a picture of the security scenario which the ongoing operation might create. It may answer the questions above to some extent.

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Comprehensive and all-out

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It is an inbuilt compulsion in the North Waziristan operation that Pakistan should go after the militants comprehensively and objectively. It will make Pakistan’s position difficult both on international and domestic fronts if militants continue using the tribal territories for hiding and launching operations both in Afghanistan and Pakistan or elsewhere.
The airstrikes going on in North Waziristan are mainly targeting foreign militants but boots will be on the ground soon in the second phase of the operation.

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Good and Bad now hard to distinguish

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The operation will eventually lead to termination of all the peace treaties made by the government with some of the militant groups in the past and distinction between the good and bad Taliban will become blurred.
Most importantly, it will become harder for Haqqani militants to stay in the tribal agency as their argument of having sought shelter in uncontrolled territories will no longer be valid.
Even during the operation, distinguishing between the good and bad militants would be difficult.

Just a day before the launch of the military operation, the government was trying to resolve some issues with a so-called good Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who heads local Taliban’s council, Shura Mujahideen.

He had signed a peace agreement with the government in 2006.
Bahadur was not happy about military’s surgical strikes, before the launch of operation, and warned the government of revoking the peace agreement. A tribal jirga mediated and tried to convince Gul Bahadur to clear the region of foreign militants.

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Also read: 'Analysis: Why Bahadur is so vexed'

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Perhaps Gul Bahadur was among the few who were certain that the military was going to launch an operation in North Waziristan. He had asked the residents to leave North Waziristan before June 20. His announcement, which asked people to move towards the Afghan border instead of going to relief camps in Bannu, expressed his anger over pre-operation military strikes, which he declared a violation of the peace treaty.
Though considered a “good Taliban” commander, Bahadur is known to have provided sanctuaries to foreign militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and Al Qaeda. His friendly attitude towards anti-Pakistan militant groups and special affiliation with the ETIM was frustrating for the security establishment.

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Sajna's future hangs in the balance

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Apart from Gul Bahadaur, the future of Said Khan Sajna has also become uncertain.
Sajna was recently trying to emerge as a new good Taliban commander. He was planning to organize a new Taliban alliance to replace Mullah Nazir group, which is currently headed by Bahawal Khan. In 2007, Mullah Nazir successfully threw out Uzbeks from South Waziristan; Uzbeks militants again started pouring in after Nazir’s death in a drone strike in January 2013.

Though Sajna is trying his best to be bracketed with the good ones, his group’s network in Karachi has become a matter of trouble for him. His faction is involved in criminal and terrorist activities in Karachi.

The Gul Bahadur episode reflected that the government considers it important to make the anti-state militant groups including the TTP weak enough before 2015 so that the Afghan Taliban would not be able to use them as a bargaining lever and should continue to look towards Pakistan for political support.

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Lots to decide for the Army

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Eventually it is the military leadership that will have to decide the fate of the militant groups based in North Waziristan during the recently launched offensive.
On the face of it, it appears as if the security establishment has decided to eliminate or push the militant infrastructure towards the other side of the Pak-Afghan border.

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Also see: 'Operation Zarb-i-Azb: Interactive map'

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Now, when the operation has been launched, past peace deals with the militants have no legal and moral grounds. At the same time, allowing Haqqanis to live in and operate from Pakistan’s tribal belt will not be strategically suitable as it will raise questions about the ability of Pakistani troops to hold its own areas after clearing them of the militants.

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TTP elimination not guaranteed

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The military operation in itself is not a difficult task. Pakistan army has capabilities to reclaim and hold the area in a minimum time-frame.

The post-operation situation seems hazy and subject to different scenarios. For example, a full-scale operation in North Waziristan cannot guarantee the TTP’s elimination.

There are two reasons for that:
First, the TTP and its local and international affiliates have expanded their networks in other parts of the country, and the number of terrorist sleeper cells is increasing.
Secondly, the North Waziristan militants can relocate to Afghanistan like Fazlullah did after Swat operation. Some media reports suggest that the foreign and local militants from North Waziristan had already started fleeing to neighbouring Khost province of Afghanistan, even before the launch of the operation.
It is not yet certain if the North Waziristan operation entails a strategic shift in the government's approach. Questions abound plenty, and we'll need more time for more answers.

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fighters head to Syria, Iraq

Indonesia fears terror return as fighters head to Syria, Iraq

JAKARTA: Indonesians are joining the procession of jihadists to Syria and Iraq, sparking fears they will revive sophisticated militant networks when they return and undermine a decade-long crackdown that has crippled the most dangerous cells.
Support for groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Sunni radicals currently rampaging through northern Iraq, is growing among Indonesian with dozens believed to have joined the insurgency.
Analysts say the fighters will pose a new and serious threat to Indonesia when they return home with honed insurgency tactics and international militant connections, echoing the concerns of Western governments.
Britain and Australia have expressed fears that Syria and Iraq are breeding grounds for violent militants who travel there from the West to fight and pose a threat to national security on their return.
Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, has long struggled with terrorism but a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks–ironically fuelling interest in Syria and Iraq.
“There's not much going on with jihad in Indonesia for militants anymore, “said Taufik Andrie, a terrorism expert at the Institute for International Peacebuilding.
“There are just fragmented groups with no resources or support, so many are inspired by what's going on in Iraq and Syria,” he told AFP.
“When they return, they will be seen as high-profile Jihadi. Young people will come to them for training, to form new groups, to plan attacks, to teach how to fight and make bombs.

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- Support for ISIL 'growing' -

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Indonesia's anti-terror unit has acknowledged that support for ISIL is growing, judging by rallies, social media and the sermons of radical preachers.
The militants have crossed the border from Syria into northern Iraq and taken over key cities in lightning gains, bringing the Iraqi army to its knees.
Indonesia estimates that 60 Indonesians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight but experts say the figure is closer to 100 and growing fast.
There are no laws prohibiting Indonesians from joining foreign militant groups and Islamic organisations have openly held fundraisers for ISIL.
“The government must pass legislation to criminalise citizens supporting and travelling overseas to join terrorist groups,” Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told AFP.
Analysts point to neighbouring Malaysia which has been more active, arresting a dozen men in April who were trying to leave the country to fight in Syria.
It failed, however, to prevent a 26-year-old Malaysian from leaving the country for Iraq, where he carried out a suicide attack that killed 25 soldiers.
Indonesians know well the threat of returnees -- many of the country's most notorious terrorists trained in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s and came back with vast networks, bomb-making skills and access to funding.
Some were in the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, which was behind the 2002 twin bombings that killed 202 people on the resort island of Bali as well as other blasts on hotels and churches. The Bali bombings were a wake-up call that galvanised the government. An elite anti-terror police unit was established which has eliminated the masterminds of the attacks in bloody armed raids.

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- Syria reigniting jihadist interest

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The country has had no significant bombings for around five years as the JI network crumbled, leaving only splinter groups and small cells with little capacity.
But the civil war in Syria has reignited interest in jihad as some Muslims believe it is the start of the Islamic equivalent of Armageddon.
“Some jihadists in Indonesia see ISIL as the embryo of an Islamic caliphate, which is their ultimate goal,” said Solahudin, author of “The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia” who goes by one name.
The fighters, almost entirely young men, are being wooed online. YouTube pulled a video from two channels Thursday of five Indonesian men in balaclavas claiming to be in Syria, calling for their compatriots to join the fight.
Radical Islamic websites, such al-Mustaqbal and VOA Islam, are publishing pro-ISIL news stories, describing its takeover of Iraqi cities as the “liberation” of Sunni Muslims in Shia-majority Iraq.
Most Indonesians are Sunni Muslims and tensions with minority Shias have intensified in recent years. Terrorism expert Andrie said returnees would likely exacerbate sectarian clashes.
Governments are increasingly concerned over the flow of foreigners to the Syria conflict, with the New York-based intelligence Soufan Group estimating some 12,000 have done so in the past three years.
Last month, an American man killed 37 people in a suicide bombing in Syria while a Belgian man who had fought with ISIL in Syria killed four people in a gun attack on a Jewish Museum in Brussels.
This week, Australia said around 150 Australians had learnt the “terrorist trade” fighting alongside Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria.
And in Britain the government has banned ISIL, with its security minister saying terrorism related to Syria's civil war “will pose a threat to the UK for the forseeable future”.

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TTP commander Killed

Karachi Rangers kill alleged TTP commander during operation

KARACHI: Rangers personnel conducted an operation in Sultanabad area of Manghopir in Karachi on Thursday, allegedly killing a key commander and the local vice-emir of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), DawnNews reported.
Rangers personnel had cordoned off the area sealing all entry and exit points of the locality while conducting the search operation.
Although the official Rangers spokesperson declined to give confirmation of the identities of those killed during the operation, security sources said that the vice-emir of the TTP's Karachi chapter identified as Abid 'chotu' was killed during the Rangers' operation in Sultanabad area of Karachi's Manghopir area.
The other TTP commander killed during the operation was identified as Fakhruddin Mehsud, according to the sources.
Two security persons also sustained injuries during the operation. They were later shifted to a hospital for medical treatment.

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Zarb-i-Azb

Zarb-i-Azb: 20 militants killed, 150,000 civilians evacuated

BANNU: Pakistan's military gunship helicopters pounded militant targets in North Waziristan tribal region on Friday, killing up to 20 suspected rebels, as the number of civilians fleeing an expected ground offensive passed 150,000.
Nearly 100,000 people have left North Waziristan tribal area, on the Afghan border, this week after the military launched a long-awaited assault against Taliban hideouts.
The authorities eased a shoot-on-sight curfew on Wednesday to give civilians a chance to leave before troops began a full-blooded ground operation.
A senior security official told AFP that gunship helicopters targeted militant hideouts in an early morning raid in Kutabkhel area of Miramshah, the main town of North Waziristan, killing up to 20 militants.

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Also read: Zarb-i-Azb: 232 militants killed, 20 hideouts destroyed

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A local intelligence official also confirmed the attack and casualties.
The military offensive began last week after a bloody and dramatic attack on Karachi airport earlier during the month brought an end to months of largely fruitless government efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Washington has long demanded action against militant hideouts in North Waziristan, which has served as a rear base for insurgents battling US-led forces in Afghanistan.
The area, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions on the Afghan border, has been an important base for the TTP, which has killed thousands in bombings and gun attacks during its seven-year insurgency.
The fighting also triggered a huge exodus of civilians from North Waziristan into Bannu, Peshawar and Kohat and across the border into Afghanistan.
“Some 157,000 people have arrived in Bannu from different areas of North Waziristan,” Arshad Khan, director general of the Fata (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Disaster Management Authority, told AFP on Friday.
Registration points and camps have been set up to deal with the influx of people in Bannu, but many prefer to travel on to stay with relatives in other areas.
Thousands of people including women and children were seen travelling to Bannu by foot on Friday morning.

Civilians, fleeing from a military operation in North Waziristan tribal agency, carry their belongings as they arrive in Bannu district on June 20, 2014. — Photo by AFP

Women were sitting along the roadsides as vehicles and passenger vans kept moving at a snail's pace in long queues.

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Threaten Afghan Elections By Talban

Taliban threaten Afghan election, warn voters to stay away

KABUL: Taliban insurgents threatened Monday to attack Afghanistan's run-off presidential election, warning voters to stay away from polling stations for fear of injury or death.

Afghans are due to go to the polls on June 14 to choose whether Ashraf Ghani or Abdullah Abdullah should succeed President Hamid Karzai.

The militants, ousted from power in Kabul by a 2001 US-led invasion, threatened to attack the first round of voting on April 5 but the day passed off with a high turnout and no major security incidents.

In a statement in English on their website, the Taliban said their fighters “are once again fully prepared to operate against the workers and polling stations in the second phase of these counterfeit elections”.

“Therefore, you (the masses) should remain far away from the polling stations on 14th June, 2014, lest you should be hurt or killed.”

On Friday, Ghani, a former World Bank economist, said if elected he would put his name to a long-delayed security pact with the United States that Karzai has refused to sign. Abdullah has also said he would sign.

Ghani's pledge came only days after US President Barack Obama said the 32,000 American forces in Afghanistan will be scaled back to 9,800 by early 2015 and complete a full withdrawal by the end of 2016.

Ghani faces an uphill task after finishing second with 31.6 per cent — behind Abdullah with 45 per cent — in the eight-candidate first round.

The Taliban last week denounced US plans to keep troops in Afghanistan until the end of 2016, threatening to wage war against the “occupation” until the very last foreign soldier pulls out.

The militants' statement Monday quoted Islamic scripture to urge people to shun the poll, and poured scorn on the “cruel, corrupt” candidates and their Western backers.

A US general warned Saturday that the Taliban would redouble efforts to disrupt the second-round vote.

“I think the enemy is going to make a push on run-off day,” said Major General Stephen Townsend, commander of Nato-led forces in eastern Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the Taliban freed the only US soldier in their custody, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for five of their own senior figures held at Guantanamo Bay.

The swap has ignited a political row in the United States but also raised hopes for peace as the US prepares to leave Afghanistan.

Washington has defended the swap as critical to saving Bergdahl's life after five years in captivity but Republican lawmakers criticised it, saying the freed Taliban could still pose a threat to Americans.

Mullah Mohammad Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban, issued a rare statement praising the release of the Guantanamo five as a “big victory”.

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India int-ruble in Afghanistan

Indian aid worker abducted in Afghanistan

HEART: An Indian aid worker was Monday abducted by unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan's western Herat province, local officials and India's foreign ministry said.

Sayed Fazullah Wahidy, governor of Herat province, said the aid worker was kidnapped in the afternoon, adding “police have started the search operation for him.”

India's foreign ministry confirmed the incident, with spokesman Syed Akbaruddin posting on Twitter: “Indian national working with an NGO (non-profit group) in Herat province of Afghanistan has been kidnapped.”

The Indian mission was “pursuing the matter with local authorities,” he added, without giving any further details.

Indian TV channels said the official was working with a global non-profit group in the education sector.

The kidnapping comes close on the heels of an attack on the Indian consulate in Herat on May 23 by four heavily armed gunmen who were later repelled by security forces.

The consulate assault was the latest in a long line of attacks against Indian targets in Afghanistan.

Nine civilians, including seven children, were killed in August last year when suicide bombers targeted the Indian consulate in the main eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, detonating an explosives-packed car.

In 2008, a car bomb at the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 60 people and the embassy was again hit by a suicide strike in 2009. And in 2010, two guesthouses in Kabul used by Indians were attacked.

India was one of the chief enemies of the hardline Taliban regime which ruled Afghanistan before its ouster in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Pakistan was the Taliban's main ally and there have been accusations in India that the Pakistani security forces were complicit in previous attacks on its missions in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is due for a run-off presidential election on June 14.

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Indian aid worker abducted in Afghanistan

By AFP

Updated 32 minutes ago

Local officials and India's foreign ministry said that the aid worker was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Heart. – File Photo

HEART: An Indian aid worker was Monday abducted by unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan's western Herat province, local officials and India's foreign ministry said.

Sayed Fazullah Wahidy, governor of Herat province, said the aid worker was kidnapped in the afternoon, adding “police have started the search operation for him.”

India's foreign ministry confirmed the incident, with spokesman Syed Akbaruddin posting on Twitter: “Indian national working with an NGO (non-profit group) in Herat province of Afghanistan has been kidnapped.”

The Indian mission was “pursuing the matter with local authorities,” he added, without giving any further details.

Indian TV channels said the official was working with a global non-profit group in the education sector.

The kidnapping comes close on the heels of an attack on the Indian consulate in Herat on May 23 by four heavily armed gunmen who were later repelled by security forces.

The consulate assault was the latest in a long line of attacks against Indian targets in Afghanistan.

Nine civilians, including seven children, were killed in August last year when suicide bombers targeted the Indian consulate in the main eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, detonating an explosives-packed car.

In 2008, a car bomb at the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 60 people and the embassy was again hit by a suicide strike in 2009. And in 2010, two guesthouses in Kabul used by Indians were attacked.

India was one of the chief enemies of the hardline Taliban regime which ruled Afghanistan before its ouster in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Pakistan was the Taliban's main ally and there have been accusations in India that the Pakistani security forces were complicit in previous attacks on its missions in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is due for a run-off presidential election on June 14.

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America sit down infront of Talban

US lawmakers assail release as incentive for capturing Americans

WASHINGTON: Republican lawmakers berated US President Barack Obama on Sunday for releasing five Taliban prisoners in exchange for a US soldier, claiming that the bargain had created a new incentive for capturing Americans.

Also, some media reports suggested that the soldier, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, had apparently defected to the Taliban in June 2009 because he was unhappy with the war.

“Our terrorist adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans,” said Senator James Inhofe and Congressman Howard McKeon in a statement issued after Sgt Bergdahl’s release on Saturday. “That incentive will put our forces in Afghanistan and around the world at even greater risk.”

Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said the five Taliban prisoners released by the US were dangerous terrorists who might resume their activities once they returned to Afghanistan.

“These particular individuals are hardened terrorists who have the blood of Americans and countless Afghans on their hands,” said Senator McCain, who himself was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, however, defended the bargain, saying that worrying intelligence reports about Sgt Bergdahl’s safety and health had persuaded the government to conclude the deal with the help of the Qatari government.

“It was our judgment that if we could find an opening and move very quickly, we needed to get him out of there, essentially to save his life,” he said.

Top on the list of the released prisoners is Mullah Mohammed Fazl, the former deputy defence minister of the Taliban. The 47-year old was arrested from the Kunduz province in 2001 and was brought to Guantanamo in January 2002. He was kept in extrajudicial detention and no specific charges were brought against him.

The second prisoner released from Guantanamo is Khairullah Said Wali Khairkhwa, a senior Taliban commander and former governor of Herat. Khairullah was one of the original Taliban members who launched the movement in 1994 and also served as the Taliban’s minister of foreign affairs’ spokesman, a deputy interior minister and the minister for information. He arrived at Guantanamo on May 1, 2002.

The third prisoner, Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq, is well-respected by the Taliban as a religious leader. The Karzai government also considered him a moderate and demanded his release. He arrived at the Guantanamo detention camp in January 2001.

Mullah Norullah Noori was the Taliban governor of Balkh and also had cordial relations with Gen Rashide Dostum. He reportedly arranged a peaceful surrender of the Taliban fighters to Gen Dostum’s Northern Alliance in 2001. He arrived at the Guantanamo prison on Oct 28, 2002.

Mohammed Nabi Omari, the fifth prisoner, was not only a senior Taliban commander but had also admitted to working for Al Qaeda,

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PAK ARMY COAS

COAS leaves for China

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Monday left for China on an official visit.

“General Raheel Sharif is visiting China at the invitation of Chinese defence authorities,” a spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

It is General Sharif’s first ever visit to China since he assumed the command of the country’s military last year.

During his visit, General Sharif will call on China’s political and military leadership.

“The interaction during meetings will encompass Pak-China relations with particular emphasis on defence and security cooperation,” the spokesman said.

Pakistan and China enjoy close military and defence ties and both countries have recently conducted joint military and air exercises.

Owing to the diversifying military scenario of the region, this visit is being considered of a significant nature, during which new defence pacts are expected to be signed between the two allies.

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PAKISTAN GDP growth recorded

4.14pc GDP growth recorded, highest since 2008-09

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ISLAMABAD: Admitting failure towards achieving the economic targets set for the outgoing fiscal year 2013-14, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Monday released the Pakistan Economic Survey, a pre-budget document saying the country, however, provisionally achieved 4.14 per cent GDP growth rate.

He will also present the second budget by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The pre-budget document highlights the overall performance of economy during the outgoing fiscal year, providing a realistic feedback and basis for planning.

Launching the survey at a press conference, he said this is less than the targeted 4.14 per cent but it is for the first time in six years that the country has entered the territory of four per cent growth this year.

And, the GDP growth rate would be increased one per cent each during the next three years taking it to 7 per cent in 2017. Similarly, the industrial growth has been recorded at 5.84 per cent as against 1.37 per cent last year.

The minister also said that the large-scale manufacturing recorded growth of 5.135 per cent as against 4.08 per cent last year. He said electricity generation and gas distribution growth last year was minus 16.33 per cent and this year it has grown by 3.72 per cent.

Construction recorded growth of 11.31 per cent this year as against minus 1.685 per cent last year while wholesale and retail trade increased by 5.181 per cent as against 3.38 per cent last year, he said.

Ishaq Dar said that transport and communication recorded growth of 2.89 per cent as against 2.88 per cent last year while agriculture sector showed growth of 2.12pc against 2.88pc last year.

Major crops showed growth of 3.74 per cent as compared to 1.19pc last year. Wheat production this year is 25.29 million tonnes as compared 24.21 million tonnes last year, he said.

Rice production this year stood at 6.8 million tonnes as against 5.54 million tonnes; sugarcane 66.47 million tonnes as compared to 63.75 million tonnes last year and maize production this year is 4.531 million ronnes as against 4.22 million tonnes last year.

Provisional estimates of cotton production this year are 12.77 million bales as against 13.03 million bales last year. Similarly, grams and oil seeds recorded growth of minus 3.52 per cent.

The minister said inflation in the first eleven months of the current financial year was 8.6 per cent as against 7.5pc last year.

Exports in ten months of the outgoing financial year stood at $21 billion as against $20.1 billion last year, showing an increase of 900 million dollars.

Ishaq Dar said the grant of GSP Plus concession by the European Union has started impacting our textile sector positively as it grew by 7 per cent in value terms.

According to the survey, imports in ten months of the outgoing financial year stood at $37.1 billion as against $36.7 billion last year, indicating 1.2 per cent increase. The minister said there was a significant increase in import of plant and machinery which was a positive indication.

Workers' remittances in ten months of current financial year reached $12.9 billion as against $11.6 billion last year, showing a growth of 11.5pc. Foreign investment this year stood at $2.979 billion against $1.277 billion last year.

Foreign exchange reserves presently stood at $13.63 billion against $11.4 billion dollar last year, said the minister.

The survey further unveiled that per capita income this year has increased to $1,386 from $1,339 last year. Stock market crossed 29,700 points and its capitalisation increased by about 38 per cent. Tax revenue as percentage of GDP this year is 7pc as against 6.8pc last year.

Non-tax revenue as percentage of GDP remains at 2.7pc while total expenditure as percentage of GDP reduced to 12.9pc from 14.8pc last year.

Development expenditure this year as percentage of GDP was 2.2 per cent as against 2pc last year. Fiscal deficit in first ten months was 3.2 per cent as compared to 4.7pc last year.

The finance minister further said that FBR tax collections in 11 months have grown by 16.4 per cent.

Ishaq Dar said the State Bank of Pakistan’s borrowing last year was Rs416.8 billion, but this year the government paid back Rs10.5 billion to the bank.

Hinting an increase in the defence budget, he said the PML-N government has made the defence of the country invincible.

To a question, he said major incentives will be given to the private sector to restore the confidence of the investors.

Dar dispelled the impression that the federal developmental projects were all Central Punjab specific, adding that major development projects were being executed in all parts of the country.

To another question, he said SROs will be rolled out in the next three years.

The minister said that Rs75 billion have been allocated for the Benazir Income Support Programme during the current year and an increase in the allocation is expected for the next year.

It is estimated that around 900,000 jobs will be created in the next four years after the introduction of G-3 and G-4 spectrum, said the finance minister.

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