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ISLAMABAD: A high-level Pakistani government delegation on Thursday held the first round of talks with a civil rights alliance in Azad Kashmir, officials said, after days of unrest that has claimed lives of at least nine people.

The development comes amid tense situation in the disputed northern region following calls for a ‘lockdown’ by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) since Sept. 29, seeking removal of perks for government officials, ending 12 seats in the regional assembly reserved for Kashmiri migrants who came from the Indian-side of the territory, and royalty for hydel power projects.

The protests have turned violent over the course of the last four days as protesters and police came face to face and clashed at various locations, with authorities confirming killing of six people and three policemen. JKJAAC leaders this week accused the government of reneging on promises and said at least 12 of their supporters have been killed, claims denied by the regional government.

On Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern over the situation and tasked a negotiations committee with reaching out to the protesters and resolving the issue. The committee includes Senator Rana Sanaullah, federal ministers Sardar Yousaf and Ahsan Iqbal, former AJK president Masood Khan and Qamar Zaman Kaira.

“I will particularly request the Joint Action Committee leadership and the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir that we should keep the regional and global situation in view amid this crisis,” Iqbal told state TV, following the first round of talks that failed to break the impasse.

“Our enemy country will not waste a single second in capitalizing on a crisis situation in our country. And we should avoid lighting a fire through which our enemy can benefit and tarnish the image of Pakistan, cause unrest in Pakistan or the loss of life and property of the people.”

Iqbal’s statement was a reference to India. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in its entirety, but rule in part. 
Azad Kashmir is the part administered by Pakistan.

“We, the members of the [JKJAAC] core committee, will hold consultations and then we will make a decision,” Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a senior JKJAAC member, told reporters after the first round of talks in Muzaffarabad, which included representatives of the Pakistani and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) regional governments.

The development a day after AJK PM Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq appealed for an end to protests organized by JKJAAC, saying the government is ready to talk to the protesters.

“For resolving any conflict, the best and most well-known way in the world, which has been used continuously and will continue to be used, is through dialogue,” he said at a presser.

“The government is ready to talk to you [JKJAAC], your legitimate demands will be resolved as soon as possible. The path of violence will only go toward the loss of human lives.”

The call for dialogue came as shutter-down and wheel-jam strikes disrupted public life in the territory, with protesters and police clashing in various areas.

In May 2024, a similar wave of protests paralyzed the region. After six days of strikes and violent clashes that left at least four dead, PM Sharif approved a grant of Rs 23 billion ($86 million) for subsidies on flour and electricity, and a judicial commission to review elite privileges.

Protest leaders suspended their campaign at that time but warned that failure to implement the package would fuel fresh unrest.

ISLAMABAD: After signing of the defense pact last month, Pakistan and ������Ƶ are fast moving to enhance economic cooperation and some major announcements are expected during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to Riyadh by the end of this month, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain said on Thursday.

Hussain was part of a Pakistani delegation that included several ministers and other officials who visited ������Ƶ last week to fine-tune an economic cooperation framework between the two countries.

Pakistan and ������Ƶ signed a landmark defense pact during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to Riyadh last month. While the pact says any aggression against one country shall be considered an aggression against both, the two allies are also moving to further enhance economic ties after signing 34 memoranda of understanding worth $2.8 billion in October 2024.

“In the follow-up [to the defense pact], we went there [������Ƶ] to formalize [economic agreements] because when the prime minister goes to ������Ƶ again, he will make some announcements,” the food security minister told Arab News in an interview. “So, we went there to follow up and see how we can formally see what can be done [and] in which areas.”

Hussain said Sharif was expected to visit the Kingdom by the end of October.

Asked what kind of announcements were expected, he said the prime minister would announce areas of cooperation and fix targets for each one of them.

The minister maintained the Kingdom was particularly keen to enhance cooperation in the agriculture sector like China, Iran and other neighboring countries.

“In ������Ƶ also, they [the officials] said that agriculture is [the] number one [priority] where [they] wanted to do investment and trade,” he said, adding that the Pakistani delegation told the officials that their country had rice, meat, corn, sesame and other food items like dried camel milk.

Hussain said a private Pakistani company was already exporting dried camel milk to China and the US for the last two years, and that the Saudi government and their ministers also expressed interest in the product.

He also informed Saudi government had shown interest in investments in Pakistan’s livestock, agriculture and contract farming.

Asked if cooperation in these areas were expected to take a formal shape soon, he said: “They agreed that they will work with us on these projects ... I saw they were keen and passionate. They have made timelines for every step. We will finish this on Oct. 7, and that on Oct. 15 and something else on Oct. 20. This way they have planned out everything until December 2025.”

Hussain said under the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, Pakistan will focus on agriculture technology transfer, infrastructure and farmer training.

“Agriculture is a major part of CPEC 2. We have discussed agriculture infrastructure, mechanization and other areas.”

He pointed out that decision-making on critical issues like crop yield projections had often been hindered in Pakistan due to outdated or inaccurate information. To address this, he revealed that the government was working with China on integrating advanced satellite systems and data collection tools.

“Right now, Pakistan does not have real-time accurate data to make decisions about food security measures, crop yield projections, etc. With China’s support, our decision-making will be better,” he said.

“I have proposed to them [the Chinese] to start pilot projects in different areas of Pakistan so that farmers could learn best practices for better growth,” he added.