Pakistan says ‘actively engaged' with UK to ensure lifting of PIA ban
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has assured Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Islamabad is 'actively engaged' with British authorities to ensure a ban on the national carrier from operating flights to the United Kingdom (UK) is lifted at the earliest, state-run media reported this week.
PIA was banned by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), United Kingdom (UK) and United States US authorities after Pakistan opened an investigation into the validity of pilots' licenses following a PIA plane crash in Karachi, in May 2020, that killed 97 people.
PIA resumed flights to Europe in January after EASA lifted its four-year safety ban on the airline. The national carrier has also approached UK authorities for permission to resume its services to the country.
Dar, who also serves as Pakistan's foreign minister, met PIA's Chief Executive Officer Amir Hayat on Saturday to discuss matters related to the airline, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
'On the occasion, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said he and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are actively engaged with the UK authorities to ensure lifting of the ban at the earliest,' Radio Pakistan said.
Hayat requested Dar for 'further diplomatic assistance' to ensure the resumption of PIA flights to the UK, the report said.
Pakistan hopes new European routes and flying approval to the UK will boost PIA's selling potential, as Islamabad plans on privatizing the loss-making national airline.
PIA, once a respected carrier in Asia, has been supported by taxpayers for decades due to political interference, corruption and inefficiencies. Its privatization has also repeatedly collapsed amid union resistance, legal hurdles and low investor appetite.
Cash-strapped Pakistan has been attempting to privatize the debt-ridden PIA to raise funds as part of its efforts to reform state-owned enterprises under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program secured last year.
Late last year, a deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered $36 million for a 60 percent stake in the national flag carrier, a fraction of the asking price of approximately $303 million.
Officials say PIA's cumulative losses alone are close to $3 billion, with the total asset valuation of the airline standing at approximately $572 million.
Pakistan plans to hold the final bidding to sell the PIA by October and complete its sale by the end of this year, the country's privatization czar told Arab News this week.
Last week, five consortiums submitted expressions of interest for a 51–100 percent stake in PIA after the government restructured its balance sheet to make the deal more attractive.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan okays 50 percent increase in fixed gas charges for domestic consumers
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has revised gas prices for the fiscal year 2025-26 and okayed a 50 percent increase in fixed charges for domestic consumers, effective from July 1, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) announced on Sunday. The development comes days after the federal cabinet's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the hike in fixed gas charges for domestic users and to shift the partial burden to bulk consumers, like the power sector and industry. 'Protected category to pay a fixed charge of Rs600 and meter rent of Rs40,' an OGRA notification said on Sunday. 'Non-protected category to pay a fixed charge of Rs1,500, up to 1.5hm³ (cubic hectometers), while Rs3,000 for exceeding consumption of 1.5hm³ and meter rent of Rs40.' While the government has increased the fixed charges, the sale prices of gas for both protected and non-protected consumers remain unchanged, according to the notification. The government also kept prices for tandoors commercial units, compressed natural gas and ice factories unchanged, but increased the rates for general industries, power stations and independent power producers. The move aligns with structural benchmarks agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including rationalization of captive power tariffs and a shift from subsidies to direct, targeted support for low-income consumers.
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Alliance reveals UK defense ambitions extend beyond Europe
One of the key drivers of the UK Strategic Defense Review released earlier this month is the military threat from Russia, especially following its invasion of Ukraine. However, London's focus extends well beyond Europe, including to the Asia-Pacific region with the new AUKUS alliance. One of the key announcements in the defense review is that the UK will build up to a dozen new submarines within the new AUKUS alliance with Australia and the US. This highlights the importance of the new alliance to London — it is perceived by some senior UK policymakers as potentially the most significant development since the 1958 Mutual Defense Agreement, with the US given the future potential to develop and deliver cutting-edge capabilities, and help revitalize the UK defense industrial base. Yet, AUKUS may be about to hit a US political iceberg. The Trump team announced, only days after the UK defense review, that it has launched an AUKUS probe led by the Pentagon. Both the UK and Australian governments have declared optimism that Trump officials will, ultimately, 'green light' next steps with the nascent alliance, which was created in 2021 under the Biden administration. Moreover, at the G7 last week, US President Donald Trump gave credence to this. Speaking with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said that London, Canberra, and Washington are 'very long-time partners and allies and friends.' AUKUS may be about to hit a US political iceberg Andrew Hammond Yet, uncertainty still remains — potential cancelation, or revising the terms of AUKUS, which may cause delay, are plausible. This is not least because US Defense Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby, who is heading the US review, last year criticized the submarine element of the agreement, asserting that for the US 'it would be crazy to have fewer SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines) in the right place and time.' What Colby, who admits to being 'skeptical' about AUKUS, refers to here is the first pillar of the deal, which is centered around providing Australia with SSNs. Currently, Australia only has diesel-electric submarines, and one ultimate goal of AUKUS is for a fleet of new SSNs to be developed by London and Canberra utilizing UK design blueprints with US technology to spur military interoperability between the three. In the interim, existing US and UK SSNs will rotate to Australia while a new nuclear submarine base is being built in Perth that is scheduled to be operational by around 2027. Canberra also plans to buy at least three, and possibly up to five, second-hand so-called Virginia-class SSNs from the US from 2032. Under the terms of the AUKUS deal, Australia has already begun paying the US. This includes around $500 million given to Washington in February, which is a down payment of a bigger $2 billion in 2025. Colby's comments from last year indicate that the lens he will use for the AUKUS review is whether the deal undermines the ability of the US defense industry to meet the nation's military needs. Part of the wider context here is production delays for the Virginia-class submarines, and cost overruns of billions of dollars. These supply challenges are one reason Colby has queried AUKUS, especially given potential future war scenarios in which Washington might need more submarines, fast. It is not just Trump, but also other key figures, such as US Ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens, who have indicated support for AUKUS. Last month, Stephens said Washington is 'proud to stand alongside Britain and Australia, two of our closest allies, as we deepen our collaboration to respond to a changing world.' However, the submarine supply challenge is not the only one that may complicate the deal. In addition, US and UK export controls on sensitive technologies between the three nations has slowed work to develop next generation technologies in wider, so-called pillar-two areas, including development of hypersonic missiles and quantum computing. In this context, outright cancelation of AUKUS by the Trump team is an option that cannot be ruled out. Such an outcome would frustrate not only the UK, but also Australia, which terminated a deal to buy diesel-powered submarines from France when it signed up to the alliance in 2021. Scott Morrison, prime minister at the time, took a big diplomatic hit from this. A wider range of nations may also be keen to join Andrew Hammond However, cancelation appears the least likely option. What may be more likely is a revision of the deal's wider terms so these are more weighted in favor of Washington. For instance, the Trump team could seek to pressure Australia to boost its military spending, which is around 2 percent of gross domestic product, with an intent to raise this to about 2.4 percent by 2033-2034. While this 2 percent figure is higher than some countries in the NATO alliance, it is much less than the US, while the UK has committed to reaching 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027. If the AUKUS alliance does survive, there are a wider range of nations that may also be keen to join as full or associate members in coming years. This includes New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Take the example of Canada, which two former UK prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, have previously backed for AUKUS membership 'to strengthen the West's collective defenses.' Johnson has even said that Canada is the 'most obvious next candidate,' and previous prime minister Justin Trudeau said that he held 'excellent conversations' with London, Washington, and Canberra over joining the alliance. Taken together, if Trump does not scrap AUKUS, the project could assume significant new momentum. While expansion of the alliance is unlikely in the immediate term, collaboration with a range of Western allies in the Asia-Pacific and Americas is possible into the 2030s.
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
Germany and the balance of power in Europe
The 2025 NATO Summit, which took place in The Hague last week, brought together representatives of all 32 member nations of the alliance. Top of the agenda was an agreement to increase national security expenditure, with a target for each country to spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2035. The shift comes as Germany embarks on its biggest military rearmament since the Second World War, signaling its intent to assume a more assertive role within NATO and across Europe. Given that a highly militarized Germany twice brought the world to war, this latest iteration has drawn great interest. It also follows repeated criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has long accused European allies of relying too heavily for their security on Washington, which he argues bears a disproportionate share of NATO's military burden. In 2024, the US spent $935 billion on defense, more than double the combined total of all other NATO members. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this imbalance became clear, as Europe was exposed as being critically reliant on the US for its security. No country reflects the shift toward increased military investment more clearly than Germany. Under the leadership of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, it has embraced rearmament with a boldness unseen since the end of the Second World War. For much of the second half of the 20th century, Germany was characterized by its rejection of military might as an instrument of state power. Under the auspices of the European project, a reunified Germany sought to establish its role through multilateral diplomacy, economic stability and the rule of law. Its military, the Bundeswehr, remained fragmented and poorly equipped, with a defense budget that rarely exceeded 1.1 percent of GDP. Strict controls were placed on arms exports and strategic leadership was largely left to the country's NATO allies, led by the US. This was the established trend in postwar Germany. Even the faintest hint of rearmament was met with public resistance, shaped by memories of the nation's painful past. The Bundeswehr, established in 1955, was intentionally built with no projection of offensive power. For decades, as Germany became Europe's economic powerhouse, its security policies remained largely reactive and rooted within NATO's strategic architecture. However, those days now seem to be firmly behind it, with Berlin emerging as a prominent defense hub for Europe. This year, the Merz government passed a defense budget worth 2.4 percent of GDP, the highest level of military expenditure in Germany's postwar history, and announced long-term aspirations to raise it to 5 percent. At the transatlantic level, Germany's evolving strategy reflects growing uncertainty about Washington's role in NATO. Zaid M. Belbagi The goal is to ramp up annual defense spending from €95 billion ($111 billion) in 2025 to €162 billion by 2029. To enable this shift, Berlin has introduced legal changes allowing it to bypass its constitutional debt brake, a departure from a long-standing tradition of fiscal restraint. The transformation goes beyond budgets and legislation. Merz has pledged to build the Bundeswehr into 'the strongest conventional army in Europe' by 2031. The plan includes an expansion of its active forces from 182,000 troops to 203,000 by 2031, with a long-term target of 240,000. The military's role is expanding beyond Germany's borders as well. In May, Berlin announced that an armored brigade would be permanently stationed in Lithuania, the first long-term deployment of a German force beyond its own borders since the Second World War. This shift aims to support NATO's eastern flank amid growing concerns about Russian aggression. Modernization is proceeding at a rapid pace. Under a new rearmament directive issued by Chief of Defense Gen. Carsten Breuer, the Bundeswehr is acquiring advanced weapons and equipment, including air defense and precision-strike capabilities, space assets, advanced electronic warfare tools and munitions reserves. The procurement program includes Patriot missile systems, Eurofighter and F-35 fighter jets, Leopard 2 tanks, PzH 2000 howitzers and sophisticated military drones. This shift by Germany marks a pivotal moment for NATO and for Europe: the emergence of a post-American mindset in defense policy, with Berlin increasingly taking on responsibilities long championed by the US. At the transatlantic level, Germany's evolving strategy also reflects growing uncertainty about Washington's role in NATO, especially amid the decisions of Trump and his administration during his second term. The result is a more assertive and autonomous German military posture, one that is reshaping the security architecture of Europe. For the Middle East and North Africa, the rearmament of Germany and the revitalization of its defense industry present significant opportunities for deeper cooperation. The country has long been a key supplier of advanced machinery, equipment, motor vehicles and military aircraft components across the region. Amid the ongoing tensions between Iran, Israel and the US, Middle Eastern nations might increasingly look to Berlin as a vital partner, one whose expanding defense capabilities and industrial expertise could help shape their own security and military strategies for years to come.
