Highlighting the continuing restrictions on political and civic space in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday urged the OIC member states to maintain a unified position on Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations and other international fora.

The deputy prime minister briefed the participants on the Indian attempts to change its demographic, political and cultural identity while addressing the Ministerial Meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly here.

He expressed gratitude to the OIC Secretary General, members of the Contact Group, the OIC Special Envoy on Jammu and Kashmir and the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission for their strong and principled support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir remained an internationally accepted dispute on the agenda of the UN Security Council and stressed that no domestic law, judicial verdict, electoral exercise or demographic manipulation could replace the inalienable right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.

He emphasized Pakistan’s commitment for a just and peaceful solution of the dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and demands of the Kashmiri people.

Saudi petroleum exports to Pakistan via the Red Sea reopened after drone attacks stopped a crucial pipeline, alleviating scarcity concerns as regional violence affects the country’s primary Middle Eastern supply sources, officials said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia resumed the operation of its East-West Pipeline that transports crude from oilfields in the Kingdom’s east to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, after it was interrupted on Sept 13 due to attacks that also suspended loadings at the export terminal.

The route helps Saudi crude avoid the Strait of Hormuz, where commerce had been severely affected since the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran broke out in February. TANKERS FROM YANBU TO PAKISTAN SAILING SOUTH THROUGH THE RED SEA AND THE BAB AL-MANDAB STRAIT TO THE ARABIAN SEA.

Reuters reported Tuesday that the East-West Pipeline had resumed at a slower rate and work was ongoing to get flows back up to their pre-war level of about 4 million barrels a day, or four percent of the world’s oil supply.

The restart helped send benchmark Brent crude down more than $2 to about $98 a barrel Tuesday, its lowest level in two weeks, while prices remain high on continuing disruption across the Middle East.

A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has landed in Pakistan to discuss the country’s economic performance under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

The IMF mission will begin technical talks with officials of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), sources in the Finance Ministry said. The first round of talks will be held on current account, policy rate and exchange rate while SBP officials will update the delegation on economic performance of the country.

Pakistan will also advise the IMF team on its foreign currency reserves, which have crossed the $17 billion level and an increase in foreign direct investment. The delegation will be informed about the successful issuance of the Eurobond and funds received from external sources.

The IMF mission will then go to Islamabad to meet with the Finance Ministry, Federal Board of Revenue, Ministry of Energy and other relevant departments after meetings with the State Bank.

The discussions are planned to take place over a period of around two weeks and will include economic developments and program performance up to June 2026. The discussions will also focus on fundamental benchmarks and milestones tied to Pakistan’s economic reform program.

The assessment will look at, among other things, improvements in the energy sector. Targets in circular debt in the electricity and gas sectors, as well as other structural and budgetary measures are likely to be discussed by the two parties.

Recent reporting suggests that a successful evaluation might make Pakistan eligible for roughly $1 billion under the EFF and another $200 million under the RSF, bringing the potential combined payment to some $1.2 billion.

Pakistan entered the $7 billion, 37-month EFF program in September 2024. These talks are the fourth review of the EFF and the third review under the RSF.