ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will visit India next month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s meeting, his ministry’s official spokesperson confirmed on Thursday, making it the most senior-level visit from Pakistan to the country in seven years.
The development comes as a surprise since Pakistan decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with India after the administration in New Delhi revoked the special constitutional status of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir in August 2019 to integrate it with the rest of the Indian union.

NEW YORK CITY: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed on Thursday for a three-day cease-fire in Sudan over the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr to allow trapped civilians to escape to seek medical treatment, food and other essential supplies.
Guterres did not specify when the cease-fire should start. The three-day holiday begins in Sudan on Friday.

AMMAN: A Jordanian lawmaker on Thursday called for united international action to tackle food security issues around the world.
MP Mohamed Alaqmeh, chairman of the Jordanian Lower House Agriculture, Water, and Badia Committee, said that “no country could face the impacts of global crises on food security.”
His comments came during a meeting with Elizabeth Milo, the US Department of Agriculture’s regional attache.

DUBAI: A UAE delegation met representatives from almost 30 German companies on Tuesday to advance collaboration and build on cooperative efforts to promote sustainable industrial development, decarbonization, and energy security, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Representatives from the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, the ADNOC Group, Abu Dhabi Investment Office, KEZAD Group, and Dubai Industrial City attended the roundtable discussion at Hannover Messe, one of the world’s largest industrial trade fairs.

AMMAN: Jordan will defend the Palestinian people and their presence in Jerusalem “no matter the cost or sacrifice,” the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs chief said on Thursday, Jordan News Agency reported.

Secretary-General Abdullah Kanaan highlighted the need to end the Israeli occupation and restore Palestinians’ legitimate rights to their land and sanctuaries during Ramadan.