In this file photo, Energy Minister Hammad Azhar addresses a press conference in Lahore. DawnNewsTV/File
KARACHI: Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar said on Thursday the government has taken up with Iran the issue of reduced electricity supply from the neighbouring country, which is causing hours-long outages in Balochistan.
“Power shortfalls in Iran have led to loadshedding in our Gwadar, Turbat and Makran regions. These areas are not connected to the national grid and are dependent on Iranian power supply,” he said on Twitter, adding that Islamabad has requested Tehran to normalise power supply to the affected areas of Balochistan.
Xi Jinping’s BRI Speech at Bo’ao Forum for Asia Reveals CCP’s Global Ambitions
News Analysis
Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), delivered a speech at the Bo’ao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2021 via video on April 20, promoting the CCP’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) also known as “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) and the expansion of communism.
The Bo’ao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2021, which is an annual event, was held from April 18 to 21 in Bo’ao, Hainan Province, China.
At the beginning of his speech, Xi said that the annual forum was held in a “very special background,” and that its theme was “A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance Belt and Road Cooperation,” which “is most opportune and relevant under the current circumstances.”
Background interviews with traders and locals based in Makran suggest there are still hundreds of Zambad drivers stuck at Pakistan-Iran border. Photo by Saher Baloch/File
QUETTA/GWADAR: In the initial days of Ramazan, I was on a trip to the Pakistan-Iran border region, amid the soaring temperatures. There was not a single vehicle I could hire to return to Quetta. This is why I had to hitch a ride on a blue Zambad vehicle (a pickup truck) filled with oil canisters our journey of over 300km was through katcha and dusty roads.
Due to the tough journey, I was not fasting while both the driver of the Zambad vehicle and its cleaner were fasting. There were three bottles wrapped up in wet cloth to keep the water relatively cool. In the middle of the journey, the harsh weather forced the driver to break his fast, by drinking from one of the bottles. He had not taken anything at Sehri apart from a few sips of water from one of the bottles at the border. “The Almighty will forgive me f