Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need to further harness the existing potential to enhance trade and investment relations between Pakistan and Italy.

Talking to Ambassador of Italy in Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese in Islamabad, the Prime Minister termed Italy a close friend of Pakistan and a reliable partner, both bilaterally and in the EU context.

The Prime Minister further observed that Pakistan-Italy relations are marked by growing bilateral cooperation as well as commonality of views on a whole range of regional and global issues.

He highlighted the immense cooperation that Pakistan continued to extend to the international community in the wake of the situation in Afghanistan, particularly since August last year.

Seoul: The death toll from South Korea’s record-breaking rains and flooding has risen to 11, officials said Thursday, with eight more people still missing as Seoul struggles to clean up after the deluge.

Two days of torrential rain flooded streets and subway stations in the capital, with President Yoon Suk-yeol saying it was the heaviest rainfall since Seoul weather records began 115 years ago.

Images shared on social media earlier this week showed people wading through waist-deep water and overflowing metro stations, with the posh Gangnam district particularly hard hit.

Of the 11 dead, six were in Seoul, three in Gyeonggi province and two in Gangwon province, according to data from the interior ministry. Three of the eight missing were from the capital.

More than 5,300 people were forced to evacuate their homes, the ministry added.

Among the 11 victims, three died while trapped in their flooded semi-basement apartment, known as a banjiha, according to the ministry. Local reports say the victims were a teenager, her mother and her aunt.

One victim is believed to have been electrocuted while removing a tree that had fallen onto a sidewalk while another died when a landslide buried his home in mountainous Gangwon.

At an official meeting on relief efforts, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the government had already completed the bulk of emergency repair work.

SOURCE: AFP

Islamabad: President Dr. Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have expressed the government's resolve to achieve the noble objective of building an inclusive society in line with the vision of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

In their separate messages on the occasion of National Day of Minorities, they resolved to make all efforts to safeguard minorities' rights and work for their well-being as their rights have been enshrined in the Constitution.

The President lauded the role being played by minorities, especially in the fields of education, health, and social welfare.

He said 11th August is celebrated as Minorities' Day in Pakistan to acknowledge the invaluable contribution made by our minorities to the development of Pakistan and to reaffirm our commitment as a nation to safeguard their rights.

In his message, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said freedom of religion and sanctity of the person and properties of minorities have been statutorily formalized in our constitution.

He said National Day of Minorities serves to highlight the contributions that our non-Muslim Pakistani citizens are making to national development.  

Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Mufti Abdul Shakoor has said that Islam is a religion that respects humanity.

In his message on the occasion of National Minorities Day, he said according to the eternal teachings of Islam, there is no rule against the basic principles of humanity.

The Minister said that Islam never encourages forced conversion of followers of other religions.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed the coalition government's resolve for the betterment and welfare of our minorities and their fullest inclusion in the national life and development.

National Minority Day is observed today to commemorate the contribution of minorities in the progress of Pakistan. 

On August 11, the day is observed every year to recall the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and to reaffirm the commitment that despite belonging to different faiths we are one nation.

The Government of Pakistan had declared 11 August as National Minority Day in 2009.