Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan on Sunday (September 8, 2024) declared an education emergency on International Literacy Day to educate around 26 million out-of-school children in the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the measure and urged the private sector and civil organisations to join hands with the government, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

The 72-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader reaffirmed his commitment to advancing the education agenda, striving for a more informed and sustainable nation.

“We have declared an educational emergency across the country, launched an enrolment campaign for students and initiated midday meals for children in schools,” he stated.

He said that literacy is a fundamental human and constitutional right that guarantees the future of our country and added that literacy was not merely the ability to read and write but rather a “gateway to empowerment, economic opportunities and active participation in society”.

Also read: Over 22 million Pak children out of schools: Dawn report

To reduce the dropout rate and encourage every child to complete their education, the prime minister pointed out that the government had introduced scholarships and other incentives.

“In this rapidly emerging world, developing literacy and skills in line with technology is inevitable,” the premier stressed, adding that the government was implementing a comprehensive plan to integrate technology into the educational system and ensuring that the youth were equipped with the necessary skills to thrive in the digital economy.

He said that the private sector and civil society organisations were equal partners in the government’s efforts.

“By establishing effective partnerships, we can link education with employment and self-employment opportunities, creating a stronger and more inclusive workforce,” he added.

Earlier in May, Mr. Shehbaz had declared an education emergency and vowed to get around 26 million out-of-school children enrolled.

“Today, with iron conviction, and the support of provinces, we will handle the challenge of 26 million out-of-school children. We will bring them back to school…I declare from this moment an emergency in education all over Pakistan…The way we did it in Punjab, we will do it in Pakistan,” the prime minister had said while addressing the National Conference on Education Emergency.

The premier said the enrolment of 26 million out-of-school children and stunted growth were major challenges facing Pakistan which required huge financial resources.

International Literacy Day is observed on September 8 to remind policy-makers, practitioners, and the public of the critical importance of literacy for creating a more literate, just, peaceful, and sustainable society.

UNESCO has highlighted that the lack of access to education remains a significant barrier, as three out of four children in developing countries cannot read or comprehend a basic text by the age of 10, and there are still 754 million illiterate adults globally, two-thirds of whom are women.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday (August 27, 2024) strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in the restive Balochistan province as he reiterated the unwavering resolve of his government to root out terrorism from the country.

Heavily armed Baloch gunmen killed at least 37 people in separate attacks in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Monday (August 26, 2024), as insurgent attacks spiked in the region bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

Chairing a Cabinet meeting a day after violence in Balochistan stunned the country, Mr. Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist incidents that resulted in the death of innocent Pakistanis including security personnel, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

He said the sacrifices rendered by the people and the Armed Forces of Pakistan in the war against terrorism will not go waste. “The entire nation is committed for complete elimination of terrorism from the country,” he said.

Mr. Sharif said all available resources would be provided to the Armed Forces to curb terrorism. He said time has come to eliminate terrorism. “We need to move forward towards this path with firm resolve,” he said.

He said doors of dialogue are open for those who believe in Pakistan and its Constitution. However, no talks will be held with the enemies and terrorists, he added.

Referring to the terrorist incidents, he said it is no secret now that the terrorists of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, operating from Afghanistan, are behind terrorist attacks. He said the government has already sensitised the Afghan government on the issue.

He said the terrorist acts being carried out in Balochistan are aimed at creating anarchy and disturbance in Pakistan and to disrupt the steps being taken by the government for development of the country. However, their nefarious designs could not terrorise the people and disrupt the development process.

Mr. Sharif stressed the need for forging unity, saying such despicable designs are only meant to impede the country’s progress, ongoing CPEC projects in Balochistan and undermine the time-tested friendship between Pakistan and China.

He announced to soon visit Balochistan to hold in-depth deliberations on the situation and decide on immediate measures to deal with it.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Balochistan on Tuesday to support the provincial government in its efforts to tackle militancy.

“My aim to visit is to let you all and the people of Balochistan know that the federal interior minister is standing behind the Balochistan chief minister. Whatever decision he (chief minister Bugti) makes, we will support him,” he told the media in Quetta flanked by Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti.

Mr. Naqvi ruled out any fresh operation, saying that a police station house officer was enough to tackle the law and order with proper and timely response. “They are terrorists and our civil armed forces, armed forces, and the police know how to combat them,” the minister said.

Mr. Bugti on the occasion rejected the impression about lack of response to the terrorist attacks and said that the hunt for terrorists was under way.

“How can you say that there was no response [to the attacks]?” the chief minister said, as he cited the example of a captain who was killed fighting the rebels.

Balochistan faces a double threat by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch militants.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency. Baloch insurgent groups have previously carried out several attacks targeting the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is opposed to China’s investments in Balochistan and accuses China and Pakistan of exploitation of the resource-rich province, a charge rejected by the authorities.

In this photo released by the Pakistan Air Force, bodies of Shiite Muslim pilgrims who were killed in a bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, arrive at an airbase in Jacobabad, Pakistan, on Augist 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

“Pakistan brought home on Friday (August 23, 2024) the bodies of 28 Shiite pilgrims killed in a bus crash in Iran this week while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage. A Pakistani military aircraft also flew back 23 pilgrims injured in the accident,” officials said.

Earlier in the day in Iran, officials handed over the bodies of the crash victims to Pakistani diplomats. Prayer services were held in both Iran and later in Pakistan.

Funeral were to take place in the victims’ home districts on Saturday (August 24, 2024). The pilgrims were from Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, according to Nasir Shah, a provincial government spokesman.

The plane, requested by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the repatriation, landed at the airport in Jacobabad, about 1,000 km southwest from the capital of Islamabad. The coffins, covered in Pakistan’s national flag, were handed over to the victims’ relatives for burial.

State-run PTV broadcast the ceremony at the Jacobabad airport, where relatives of the victims cried and hugged each other.

Authorities have not revealed the cause of the crash near the city of Taft, some 500 km southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

In a state TV report, Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, a local Iranian emergency official, blamed the crash on the bus brakes failing and a lack of attention by the driver. A surveillance video later aired by the state TV showed the bus speeding past a parked car into a dirt lot just before the crash, narrowly missing bystanders.

Iran has one of the world’s worst traffic safety records with some 17,000 deaths annually. The grave toll is blamed on wide disregard for traffic laws, unsafe vehicles and inadequate emergency services in its vast rural areas.

The pilgrims had been on their way to Iraq’s holy city of Karbala, to commemorate Arbaeen — Arabic for the number 40 — marking the end of the annual 40-day mourning period after the date of the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, a central figure in Shiite Islam.

Hussein died at the hands of the Muslim Umayyad forces in the Battle of Karbala, during the tumultuous 1st century of Islam’s history.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Pakistan is expected to get an investment of $5 billion over the next three years from local and international firms for the exploration and development of petroleum and gas reserves that will save the cash-strapped country’s valuable foreign exchange and provide relief to the common man bearing the brunt of high fuel prices.

The announcement was made in a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday during a meeting with a delegation of oil and gas exploration and production sector companies.

According to the state-run Associated Pressof Pakistan, the meeting was informed that during three years, around 240 places would be excavated with an investment of $5 billion to explore petroleum and gas in Pakistan.

The meeting was informed that currently, Pakistan’s domestic production stood at 70,998 barrels and 3,131 MMSCFD (million standard cubic feet) gas per day.

The Prime Minister invited petroleum and gas exploration and production companies to also find offshore reserves.

“Exploring the oil and gas reserves at the local level in Pakistan is our top priority,” Prime Minister Sharif said, adding that Pakistan spent billions of dollars every year on importing oil and gas.

“Production from local reserves will save Pakistan’s valuable foreign exchange and fuel and gas will become affordable for the common man,” he added and directed the concerned authorities to provide solutions to all the problems of the sector on a priority basis.

Currently, the price of petrol in Pakistan is Rs. 265.61/Ltr, high-speed diesel is Rs. 277.45/Ltr and light-speed diesel is Rs 166.86/Ltr.

The Prime Minister constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar that would include experts, secretaries and the relevant authorities.

The committee, after consultation with the representatives of the sector, would formulate proposals to create an attractive policy for the exploration and development of petroleum and gas reserves in Pakistan.

Mr. Sharif directed the relevant authorities to solve all the problems of the sector and submit policy proposals to the constituted committee on priority.

The delegation thanked the Prime Minister for making the petroleum and gas exploration and production sector a part of the consultation process, listening to their problems and finding serious solutions to them.

Islamabad:

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday extended an olive branch to his predecessor and political rival Imran Khan, offering to hold talks with him if was facing “troubles” in jail.

Mr Khan, the founder of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, has been in jail since August last year after being convicted in some of the nearly 200 cases slapped on the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician since his ouster from power in April 2022.

“If their [PTI] founder is facing troubles [in jail], then I reiterate: come, let’s sit down and talk,” Mr Sharif said while addressing the National Assembly.

“Let us sit together to take the country ahead. Let us talk for the betterment of the country. There is no other way forward,” he said.

The Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have been at loggerheads for years, particularly after the February 8 elections, which Mr Khan’s party claims it had won.

Commenting on the 2018 elections won by Mr Khan’s PTI, Mr Sharif said: “We joined Parliament despite the [rigged] polls. The sort of slogans that were raised during my first speech will always be remembered as a dark chapter in the history books.”

“If someone is facing any injustice, then I believe that the scales of justice should be in favour of those [being victimised], there is no difference over it — whether it be any politician or anyone from any walk of life,” Geo News quoted Sharif as saying.

Mr Sharif lamented that he had once again, while he was in the opposition, proposed to Mr Khan to sit for a dialogue but such slogans were raised again.

“So who is responsible for this bitterness [between politicians]. We don’t even shake hands now,” he said.

Mr Sharif, 72, also recounted his ordeal of facing victimisation by Mr Khan’s government and that he was in jail when his mother passed away. He said that despite being a cancer survivor and with a backbone issue, he used to be taken to courts on the ordinary prison van just to exacerbate the condition, but he never complained.

In response to Prime Minister Sharif’s remarks, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub reiterated that the PTI would talk with the government only when Mr Khan and other incarcerated leaders and workers are released from jail.

“This should be in your minds: you torture our workers, you’ve kept our lady workers in prison vans at 45°C. My prime minister Imran Khan was kept in a death cell, there’s an oven-like environment over there,” he said, amidst sloganeering from the treasury benches.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

This is the first air freight route linking the province with a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) country.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

A new air cargo route has been launched between Pakistan and China to further enhance trade ties between the two all-weather allies, ahead of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing next week.

According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, the new air cargo route inaugurated on May 28 linked Guizhou, China with Karachi, Pakistan.

The route was launched with the departure of an all-cargo plane carrying six tonnes of freight, including clothing, electronics, and various commodities, from Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

After nearly six hours of flight time, the plane arrived in Karachi. It was to return to Guiyang loaded with blue crabs from Pakistan, according to Guiyang Customs.

The flights on the route were planned to be operated three times a week, carrying goods including hardware accessories, clothing fabrics, and electronic accessories.

This air route is significant as it marks the first direct connection between Guizhou and Pakistan, as well as the first air freight route linking the province with a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) country.

Officials believe that this new route will help establish Guiyang as a cargo distribution centre in southwest China and reduce the time for Pakistan’s quality fresh products to reach Guizhou.

The inauguration of the Guiyang-Karachi air cargo route is expected to facilitate trade between the two regions, according to the APP report.

In January, the two countries launched an air cargo route connecting Ezhou Huahu Airport in central China’s Hubei province with Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore.

The air cargo link comes ahead of the five-day official visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from June 4. He will meet the top Chinese businessmen to seek more investments in the second phase of the Pak-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

Mr. Sharif is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang and other leaders to draw a blueprint to strengthen bilateral ties further, as the all-weather allies seek to upgrade cooperation under the multi-billion dollar CPEC.

File picture of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Commemorating the 26th anniversary of Pakistan’s first successful nuclear tests, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said it encapsulates the arduous yet remarkable path of the country towards establishing a “credible minimum deterrence.”

Pakistan conducted six nuclear tests on May 28, 1998, inside a deeply dug tunnel in the remote Chaghi mountain of Balochistan province, as a tit-for-tat response to India’s nuclear tests in the same month at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range.

Pakistan’s nuclear tests, state-run Radio Pakistan, said was conducted in response to the regional security dynamics and one that ensured that Pakistan’s defence capabilities were robust and credible.

Pakistan became the seventh nuclear nation in the world and the first Muslim state in 1998 having the nuclear arsenal in its defence stockpile to exercise deterrence.

Designated as Youm-e-Takbeer, translated as ‘the day of greatness’ or ‘the day of God’s greatness’, and observed annually with national zeal and fervour, Sharif has declared Tuesday as a public holiday, for the first time in the recent past.

Congratulating the nation in his message on social media platform X, Mr. Sharif said the day symbolises the collective effort of all facets of national power.

“May 28 signifies more than just a mere commemoration of a day; it encapsulates the narrative of our nation’s arduous yet remarkable path towards establishing a credible minimum deterrence,” he said, adding, “On this historic day, in 1998, PM Nawaz Sharif demonstrated bold leadership by rejecting nerve-wracking pressures and inducements to make Pakistan a nuclear-armed nation.”

Mr. Sharif also paid tribute to Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear programme for his “strategic foresight and unwavering commitment to the cause.”

However, Mr. Sharif’s statement did not mention the name of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a nuclear scientist who played a major role in the programme after being in protective custody for almost two decades.

Mr. Sharif said the nation should resolve to work tirelessly to ensure economic security with the same spirit it made the defence invincible on May 28, 1998.

In his message, acting President Yusuf Raza Gilani reiterated the resolve to continue working towards a peaceful and stable world. “We successfully demonstrated our nuclear capabilities and joined the ranks of nuclear powers,” he said and added that Youm-e-Takbeer serves as a testament to our nation’s resilience, unwavering determination, and commitment to maintaining regional peace and stability.

The Pakistan Army, in a statement, said that the Armed Forces pay tribute to the unwavering dedication and selfless sacrifices of all those who contributed to this remarkable feat, achieved against overwhelming odds.

The Armed Forces reaffirm their unwavering resolve to defend the motherland, protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and ensure the nation’s security at all times and at any cost, the statement added.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Cash-strapped Pakistan will privatise all state-owned enterprises, including the loss-making Pakistan International Airlines, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on May 14, broadening the government’s initial plans to make only loss-making state firms private.

The announcement to privatise state-run enterprises barring strategic ones comes a day after Pakistan started negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new long-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Mr. Sharif announced this while chairing a review meeting on the privatisation process of loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to media reports.

During the meeting, he said that apart from strategic state-owned firms, all other enterprises — profitable or loss-making — will be privatised, Geo News reported.

Asserting that the government’s job is not to do business but to ensure a business and investment-friendly environment, Mr. Sharif directed all ministries to take action and cooperate with the Privatisation Commission.

Underscoring the need for the privatisation process to be transparent, he ordered the privatisation process of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to be televised, including the bidding and other important steps. The PIA’s privatisation is in its final stage, the report said.

Pakistan’s ailing national flag carrier stood as the country’s third-highest public sector loss-making entity, requiring Pakistani Rs. 11.5 billion per month solely for servicing its debts.

The process of privatisation of other institutions will also be broadcast live, the report said.

A roadmap of the Privatisation Programme 2024-2029 was also presented during the meeting, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Ministers were informed that loss-making SOEs were to be privatised on a priority basis and that a pre-qualified panel of experts was being appointed in the Privatisation Commission to speed up the sell-off process, the report said.

Prime Minister Sharif-led government has pushed for the privatisation of several state-owned enterprises to tackle the burden on the exchequer and the prevailing financial crunch.

Previously, debt-struck Pakistan had plans to privatise only loss-making state-owned enterprises, the Dawn newspaper reported.

On May 12, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that privatisation is necessary to achieve economic stability in the country.

“You have to move towards privatisation if you want economic stability in the country,” Mr. Aurangzeb said while speaking at the Pre-Budget Conference 2024-25 here.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said the government would limit its business only to strategic and essential SOEs under its domain and their number would be reduced from 40 after scrutiny.

Privatisation has long been on the Washington-based IMF’s list of recommendations for Pakistan, which is struggling with a high fiscal shortfall, the report said.

Pakistan narrowly averted default last summer, and the economy has stabilised after the completion of the last IMF programme, with inflation coming down to around 17% in April from a record high of 38% last May.

The country is still dealing with a high fiscal shortfall, and while the external account deficit has been controlled through import control mechanisms, it has come at the expense of stagnating growth, which is expected to be around 2% this year compared to negative growth last year.

Islamabad:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said the party’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif was not returning to the country to “seek revenge” but rather to take the nation towards prosperity, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to return to the country on October 21 which would mark an end to his three-year self-imposed exile in London.

His expected arrival has created quite a stir in the country’s politics.

Shehbaz said: “Nawaz Sharif is not returning for revenge. Although, everyone knows the culprits behind the injustices suffered by him.”

“As a worker of Nawaz Sharif, I will stand with him in this fight,” he said while addressing party workers in Lahore.

The PML-N president said that Nawaz Sharif ended the 20-hour-long power outages the country had been experiencing in 2013, bringing an end to the chronic electricity crisis in just four years.

“There was no inflation during the tenure of Nawaz but in 2018, historical rigging and manipulated elections took place which deprived the public of progress and happiness,” he added, as per The Express Tribune.

Shehbaz said that Nawaz Sharif was not removed from power, but the path of public development and prosperity was obstructed

Nawaz Sharif has booked flight ticket to return to Pakistan from the UK on October 21, ARY News reported.

Sources said he will return to Pakistan on October 21 via a connecting flight. He will land at the Abu Dhabi International Airport from London on October 21 and will leave for Lahore on the same day, according to ARY News.

Sharif’s business class ticket for flight 243 of a private airline had been booked in advance, he will land at the Lahore airport at approximately 6:25 pm.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on August 29 slammed Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial for “favouring” Imran Khan, saying his messages to the lower courts led to the suspension of the sentence of the former Premier and called the verdict a “dark chapter” in the country’s history.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on August 29 suspended Mr. Khan’s three-year sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case and ordered his release from jail, in a major relief to the former Pakistan Prime Minister. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was sentenced on charges of unlawfully selling state gifts acquired by him and his family during his 2018-2022 tenure.

A Division Bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri announced the much-anticipated verdict which was reserved on August 28. Separately, a three-member Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail is also set to resume hearing petitions against the Toshakhana case.

Taking to microblogging site X, formerly Twitter, Mr. Sharif said that the IHC had been influenced by the Supreme Court’s leniency toward the PTI chief.

Taking an indirect jibe at Mr. Khan, Mr. Sharif said, “The ‘favourite’s’ sentence has been suspended, not terminated.” “Chief Justice’s message of “Good to see you” and “Wishing you good luck” reached Islamabad High Court. If everyone knows what the decision will be before the decision comes, it should be a moment of concern for the justice system,” the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president said, slamming the court for suspending Mr. Khan’s sentence.

The former Premier further said that when a “clear message” was received from the higher judiciary, the subordinate court would follow suit.

On Wednesday, the apex court, after hearing various petitions against the Toshakhana case, observed that there were “shortcomings” in the judgment of the sessions court.

The panel observed that the verdict was given in haste and without giving the right of defence to the accused. “Prima facie, there are shortcomings in the trial court verdict,” the Chief Justice said.

The Supreme Court had also stated it would wait for the IHC hearing before giving its judgment. It resumed the hearing Thursday but adjourned it without fixing any date after it was told that the IHC was holding a hearing.

Asking why lenience was not extended to his brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Mr. Shehbaz Sharif said, “A monitoring judge was appointed to ensure Nawaz Sharif’s punishment, [and now] the chief justice himself [has become] a monitoring judge to save the ‘favourite’.” “This role of the justice system will be written as the dark chapter of history. Scales tilted to one side, and a justice system that undermines justice are not acceptable,” he said, adding that the law was powerless before those who “sold the watches”.

According to the details of an official inquiry, Mr. Khan allegedly earned ₹36 million by illegally selling three watches gifted to him by foreign dignitaries to a local watch dealer during his tenure as Prime Minister.

“If thieves and state terrorists are facilitated, where will the common man get justice in the country?” Mr. Sharif asked.

Alleging undue leniency by the country’s courts to Mr. Khan, Mr. Sharif said, “Be it May 9, be it an attack on the judicial complex, be it raining petrol bombs on the police, everything is forgiven.” Pakistan saw massive nationwide anti-government protests following the arrest of Mr. Khan by paramilitary Rangers in a corruption case on May 9. Mr. Khan was later released on bail.

Dozens of military installations and government buildings, including the Corps Commander’s House in Lahore and the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, were damaged or torched during the riots. Over 100 vehicles of police and other security agencies were set on fire.

Following the violent protests, law enforcement agencies arrested over 10,000 PTI workers across Pakistan, 4,000 of them from Punjab Province only.

The Toshakhana case was filed by ruling party lawmakers in 2022 in the ECP, alleging that Mr. Khan concealed the proceeds from the sale of state gifts.

The ECP first disqualified Mr. Khan and then filed a case of criminal proceedings in a sessions court which convicted him, and subsequently, Mr. Khan was sent to jail.

Mr. Khan is currently in Attock Jail following his arrest from his Lahore home.

The case alleges that Mr. Khan had “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana — a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept — during his time as the Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022 and proceeds from their reported sales.

As per Toshakhana rules, gifts/presents and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division.

According to reports, Mr. Khan received 58 gifts worth more than ₹140 million from world leaders during his three-and-a-half-year stint and retained all of them either by paying a negligible amount or even without any payment.