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ISLAMABAD: Imperial College London on Tuesday rejected media reports that it was opening an overseas campus in the eastern city of Lahore as part of the planned Nawaz Sharif IT City. 

A flagship infrastructure project spanning about 853 acres near Bedian Road in Punjab, the initiative aims to serve as an education and tech hub with commercial and residential zones.

Senior Punjab Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a social media post on October 18 that the chief minister had chaired a meeting in which “important decisions were made.” She said an Imperial College London campus will be established in the Nawaz Sharif IT City, which would also include a state-of-the-art 300-bed hospital. She added that the project’s foundation stone would be laid in November.

“Reports that Imperial College London plans to open a campus overseas are incorrect,” the UK-based institution said on its website.

“There have been erroneous reports in the media and online that Imperial is opening a campus at Nawaz Sharif IT City in Lahore, Pakistan,” it added. “Imperial has no such plans, with all the university’s campuses based in the UK.”

However, the Central Business District Punjab (CBD) clarified that the upcoming project at the Nawaz Sharif IT City [NSIT] was a health care university and affiliated medical college, adding that it is a collaborative initiative between NovaCare and the Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service (NHS) Trust of the UK. 

It clarified that Imperial College NHS Trust was an independent institution of the NHS. 

“The project remains firmly on track under the NovaCare–ICHT partnership, advancing our mission to establish a world-class hub for health care education, research, and innovation at CBD NSIT [Nawaz Sharif IT City], Lahore, under the direct supervision of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (UK),” it added. 

Nawaz Sharif IT City is backed by the Punjab administration of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz who has named the initiative after her father who previously served three times as the country’s prime minister.

The project promises to make Lahore a major regional hub for technology, education and innovation.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Wednesday condemned the Israeli military for its airstrikes on Gaza last week, criticizing its “violations” of the ceasefire agreement and urging the international community to protect Palestinian lives. 

Gaza’s fragile ceasefire faced its first major test on Sunday as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas fighters had killed two soldiers. The health ministry in Gaza said 45 Palestinians had been killed in the strikes as Hamas denied involvement. An Israeli security official, on condition of anonymity, said the transfer of aid into the territory had been halted amid renewed hostilities. The military later said it resumed enforcing the ceasefire. 

“Pakistan strongly condemns the renewed attacks by the Israeli occupying forces in Gaza, resulting in the loss of numerous civilian lives,” the foreign office said in a statement. 

“Such actions run contrary to the spirit of the peace agreement signed in Sharm El-Sheikh in the presence of leadership from Muslim and the Arab world, US, Europe, and the UN.”

The Gaza Peace Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh earlier this month, co-hosted by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and attended by heads of state and ministers from over 20 countries — including ��������, Turkiye, Qatar, France, the UK and the Palestinian Authority — endorsed a declaration aimed at ending hostilities, guaranteeing humanitarian access, and outlining a roadmap for Gaza’s governance and rebuilding. 

Islamabad urged the international community to take effective measures to end these violations and ensure full implementation of the ceasefire, and to provide protection to Palestinian civilians.

The foreign office called for an immediate end to Israeli hostilities and reiterated its stance of supporting an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-June 1967 border with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. 

Israel’s war on Gaza, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, has killed at least 68,229 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN considers figures by the ministry credible. 

Pakistan and several other Muslim nations have consistently criticized Israel and called on the international community to ensure an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian population.