Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

‘Difficult but not impossible’: Pakistan seeks $5 billion bilateral trade with Turkey

Shehbaz Sharif promises all facilities to Turkish investors

‘Difficult but not impossible’: Pakistan seeks $5 billion bilateral trade with Turkey

PAKISTAN prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited Turkish businesses to invest in his country, saying Islamabad “sincerely” seeks to strengthen bilateral ties with Ankara.

Promising that his government would provide “all facilities” to investors, he said alternative energy, automobile industry and agriculture sectors of Pakistan offered ample business opportunities.

Sharif told the Turkey-Pakistan Business Council in Ankara on Wednesday (1) that the two countries, which “supported each other through thick and thin”, should explore opportunities in the textile industry where a joint strategy would further boost the sector.

Islamabad and Ankara should achieve an ambitious bilateral trade target of $5 billion which was “difficult but not impossible”, Shehbaz, who came to power amid rising inflation and depleting forex reserves in his country, said.

“Your active participation in investments in Pakistan is highly appreciated. And above all your participation in humanitarian projects in Pakistan is very well-known. Today, we are here to seriously engage ourselves with you because you are very serious-minded business people, and your achievements are outstanding and a shining example for all of us,” he said.

“We genuinely and sincerely want to work with the Turkey Business fraternity to transform our brotherhood into promoting our bilateral trade, investment and culture,” the south Asian country’s information and broadcasting minister Marriyum Aurangzeb quoted the prime minister as saying.

Sharif’s invitation to Turkish investors comes as Pakistan is buckling under crippling debt and a falling currency.

Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had visited its weather ally China recently as Islamabad sought to address its economic headwinds, complicated by the rising fuel costs and a delayed IFM help.

The downturn was used to oust former prime minister Imran Khan from office, but the new government is now facing the gruelling task of bolstering the economy.

Its currency has been nosediving against the dollar and breached the Rs 200 mark, before rebounding to 197.72 on Wednesday (1).

More For You

Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

Anti-migrant protesters demonstrate outside the Cladhan Hotel on August 30, 2025 in Falkirk, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Police arrest five after anti-asylum protesters target Heathrow hotel

BRITISH police said they arrested five people on Saturday (30) after masked men tried to force their way into a hotel used by asylum-seekers, a day after the government won a court ruling on the use of another hotel to house migrants.

Two groups of anti-asylum protesters marched to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow Airport before some demonstrators tried to break in, London's Metropolitan Police force said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy (L) and Narendra Modi

Modi backs peaceful Ukraine settlement in call with Zelenskyy

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his support for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Modi's office said.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address on Saturday (30), said Modi supported Ukraine's call for a ceasefire in the war with Russia and hoped that notion would be heard at the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

India's prime minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Chinese president Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China, August 31, 2025. India's Press Information Bureau/Handout via REUTERS

Modi says "peace and stability" achieved on China border in Xi meeting

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi was committed to improving ties with Beijing in a key meeting with China's president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional security forum on Sunday (31).

Modi is in China for the first time in seven years to attend a two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, along with Russian president Vladimir Putin and other leaders from Central, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East in a show of Global South solidarity.

Keep ReadingShow less
wasim bashir

Bashir retired from the force while under investigation but will still face misconduct proceedings. (Photo credit: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Former West Yorkshire Police officer jailed for misconduct

A FORMER West Yorkshire Police officer has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison after being convicted of misconduct in a public office.

Wasim Bashir, 55, who worked as a detective constable in Bradford District, was found guilty of one count of misconduct in a public office for forming a sexual relationship with a female victim of crime. He was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, 29 August.

Keep ReadingShow less
Epping protests

Protesters calling for the closure of The Bell Hotel, which was housing asylum seekers, gather outside the council offices in Epping on August 8, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Over a dozen councils plan legal action despite Home Office court win

Highlights:

  • Court of Appeal has overturned injunction blocking use of Epping hotel for asylum seekers.
  • Judges say human rights obligations outweigh local safety concerns.
  • At least 13 councils preparing legal action despite ruling.
  • Protests outside the Bell Hotel lead to arrests and police injuries.

MORE than a dozen councils are moving ahead with legal challenges against the use of hotels for asylum seekers despite the Home Office winning an appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Keep ReadingShow less