��������

KARACHI: Pakistan plans to cut container dwell time at its seaports by up to 70% to improve trade competitiveness and ease congestion, according to an official statement by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs on Tuesday, which also announced the formation of a committee to present recommendations within ten days.

The initiative is part of the government’s broader efforts to modernize its port infrastructure and position Pakistan as a regional trade and transit hub.

Islamabad is working to increase the efficiency of its ports in Karachi and Gwadar as it seeks to expand connectivity with global markets, including plans to launch a ferry service to Gulf countries and encourage landlocked Central Asian states to use Pakistani ports for access to international sea lanes.

The announcement to reduce the dwell time followed a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry at the Federal Board of Revenue headquarters with senior officials from Pakistan Customs, Karachi Port Trust and other relevant bodies.

“Minister Junaid Chaudhry emphasized that reducing dwell time is not merely an administrative change, but a strategic move to enhance port efficiency, lower logistics costs and strengthen Pakistan’s standing in the regional trade and logistics landscape,” the statement said.

He also announced the formation of the committee and tasked its members with identifying procedural bottlenecks and proposing measures to expedite cargo clearance.

Currently, container dwell time at Pakistani ports averages around a week. The government’s target is to reduce this to just two days, following directives from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

To support implementation, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs will establish a dedicated monitoring room to oversee real-time container movements. 

“Drones and AI technology will also be deployed to monitor vessel docking operations through to the container’s exit from the terminal,” the minister said during the meeting.

He noted that persistent delays in container release impose additional costs on importers and exporters, diminishing Pakistan’s competitiveness in international markets.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad this week called on the international community to acknowledge the de facto Taliban rule in Afghanistan, warning that failure to do so could risk igniting another conflict in the war-torn country. 

Pakistan has not officially recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which seized Kabul in August 2021 after the chaotic withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from the country, but has retained high-level diplomatic engagement with Kabul. Islamabad has also called on the international community to engage with the Taliban government and unfreeze Afghanistan’s financial assets to ward off the country’s humanitarian crisis. 

Ahmad’s statement follows Russia’s move to become the first country to recognize the Taliban last week as it accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan. 

“We should acknowledge that there is one authority that controls the territory of Afghanistan with no credible challenge to it,” Ahmad said on Monday, during a UN General Assembly plenary meeting on Afghanistan. “We must avoid actions that could ignite another conflict in Afghanistan which can affect the entire region.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan have had rocky relations mainly due to a spike in militancy in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan. Islamabad says anti-Pakistan militants carry out cross-border attacks using safe havens in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies. Another source of tension has been Pakistan’s drive to expel Afghans, which first began in Nov. 2023.

Ahmad warned that “terrorism” emanating from Afghanistan continues to be a serious threat to its neighbors, particularly Pakistan. He said Daesh and other militant entities such as the Al-Qaeda, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch militant groups continue to operate from “ungoverned spaces” in Afghanistan.

He said the TTP is directly threatening Pakistan’s national security with 6,000 fighters at its disposal, alleging that Islamabad has evidence of the outfit’s collaboration with Baloch militant groups to disrupt infrastructure and economic development projects in Pakistan.

“The international community must speak with a unified voice to hold the de facto authorities to their commitments, including not to allow the use of Afghan soil against any country and to ensure the shared goal of a stable and prosperous Afghanistan free from terrorism, at peace within, and without,” Ahmad said. 

The Pakistani envoy said Islamabad is ready to support regional and international engagement efforts with Afghanistan via clear objectives, reciprocal steps and a realistic roadmap. 

“What could not be realized through force, will not be achieved through isolation, sanctions or financial coercion,” he said. 

The development took place the same day that Pakistan and Afghanistan held the inaugural additional secretary-level talks between the two countries, pursuant to the decisions reached during the visit of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to Kabul in April. 

The two sides discussed deepening trade and transit cooperation, militancy, the deportation of Afghan refugees from the country and the legal travel of the citizens of the two nations in the talks on Monday.