New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) Debt-ridden Pakistan is facing a grim financial situation as it has to repay $3.5 billion to the United Arab Emirates this month. The repayment, confirmed by a senior cabinet minister during a press briefing, as reported by Pakistan’s Express Tribune, comes at a time when Islamabad’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen to abysmally low levels, raising concerns about the country’s capacity to fulfil its external debt obligations.This financial burden has been int…
Latest United Arab Emirates News & Updates
Seoul, April 7 (IANS) South Korea President Lee Jae Myung’s chief of staff said he will depart for Kazakhstan, Oman and Saudi Arabia later Tuesday to discuss ways to secure crude oil and naphtha supplies amid few signs of apparent progress toward a truce in the US-Israeli war with Iran.The planned visit by presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik to the region comes as the government has been seeking to secure crude oil as the traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed, wi…
New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) With no end in sight to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Gulf nations are intensifying efforts to reduce their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit chokepoint through which nearly 20 million barrels of oil pass daily, a report has said.Rising geopolitical risks and recent attacks on shipping have pushed long-discussed alternatives, including pipelines and overland corridors, closer to implementation.According to a report by the Financial Times, countries …
New Delhi/Islamabad, April 4 (IANS) Facing mounting pressure, Pakistan has agreed to fully repay approximately “USD 3.5 billion” in deposits and loans to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the end of April, after the Gulf nation sought the immediate return of the money. The development comes amid reports that the UAE asked for the swift repayment of the funds, reportedly due to regional tensions linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia involving the US, Israel, and Iran.Multiple media repo…
Islamabad, April 4 (IANS) The Finnish Embassy in Islamabad will cease its operations this summer, with the mission continuing to function until the final date is announced. After reopening its Embassy in 2022 following a decade-long closure, Helsinki has decided to shut it again, the local media reported. Finland’s neighbouring country, Sweden, had already closed its mission in Pakistan indefinitely in 2023 due to security concerns.Citing Finnish Embassy sources, leading Pakistani daily ‘The New…
New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) Pakistan’s already weak economy is coming under fresh pressure as the country prepares to repay $3.5 billion to the United Arab Emirates this month, even as relations between the two sides show signs of strain.According to a report by The Express Tribune, Islamabad has decided to return the loans in phases throughout April.The report said that around $450 million will be paid next week, followed by $2 billion and another $1 billion later in the month.The move comes af…
Islamabad, April 2 (IANS) As Pakistan claims of being a potential mediator between the United States and Iran during the ongoing conflict in West Asia, a report has highlighted that Islamabad has consistently sought to turn crisis into opportunities for relevance, projecting itself as useful to all parties while avoiding the “costs of full alignment” with any one of them. Writing for ‘EuropaWire,’ Dimitra Staikou, a Greek lawyer, writer, and journalist, recently emphasised that Pakistan’s contin…
Kuwait City, March 30 (IANS) The Indian Embassy in Kuwait on Monday condoled the demise of an Indian national in an attack on a desalination facility, stating that the mission is in close contact with the concerned authorities to ensure possible support and assistance.In a post on X, the Embassy said, “Embassy of India in Kuwait expresses its deepest condolences at the tragic demise of an Indian national due to an attack on a desalination facility in Kuwait yesterday. The Embassy is closely co…
Kuwait City, March 30 (IANS) An Indian worker was killed in a strike carried out by Iran on a power and water desalination facility in Kuwait early on Monday, the Kuwaiti government announced. This has now pushed the number of Indian nationals killed in the ongoing West Asia conflict to at least eight.In a post on X, Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity and Water confirmed that the attack also caused damage to a service building at the facility and strongly condemned it as a “sinful Iranian aggr…
Tehran, March 29 (IANS) Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed its air defence has struck a US F-16 Fighting Falcon and an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the country’s southern airspace.Making the announcement in a statement on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the US fighter jet and drone were hit during joint retaliatory missile and drone operations by its Navy and Aerospace Division against heavy industries belonging to the United States and Israel, Xinhua news agency rep…