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ISLAMABAD: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto arrived in Pakistan on Monday for an official two-day visit, the Pakistan Foreign Office confirmed. He was warmly received by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari upon his arrival. At the invitation of Prime Minister Sharif, President Prabowo&rsquo;s visit marks his first to Pakistan and coincides with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. &ldquo;This visit provides an important opportunity to deepen bilateral ties and expand mutually beneficial cooperation,&rdquo; the Foreign Office statement said. During his stay, President Prabowo will hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Sharif and meet with President Zardari. He is also scheduled to meet Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defense Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. The agenda for discussions spans trade, investment, defence, health, information technology, climate, education, and cultural cooperation. Several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) are expected to be signed during the visit, further strengthening the long-standing partnership between Pakistan and Indonesia. The Foreign Office highlighted that the two countries share &ldquo;close, cordial and long-standing relations underpinned by shared values and mutual interests,&rdquo; and said President Prabowo&rsquo;s visit will help &ldquo;enhance collaboration at regional and global levels.&rdquo;

President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto is received by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif upon his arrival in Islamabad for a two-day official visit to Pakistan.

Foreign Affairs

President Prabowo will hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, meet President Asif Ali Zardari, and receive a call from Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.

Indonesian president in Pakistan with defense and trade among key agenda

WASHINGTON: Social media platform X announced Tuesday it would suspend creators from its revenue sharing program for 90 days if they post AI-generated videos of armed conflicts without disclosing they were artificially made, the company said.&nbsp;The policy change, announced by an X executive on the Elon Musk-owned platform, targets what the company described as a threat to information authenticity during wartime, as generative AI tools make it increasingly easy to produce misleading footage.&nbsp;&quot;During times of war, it is critical that people have access to authentic information on the ground,&quot; X&#39;s head of product Nikita Bier said, adding that current AI technologies make it &quot;trivial to create content that can mislead people.&quot;

Artificial Intelligence

Social media platform X said it will suspend creators for 90 days from its revenue-sharing program if they post AI-generated armed conflict videos without disclosure. The move aims to protect information authenticity during war time, amid growing misuse of generative AI tools.

X suspends revenue sharing for undisclosed AI war videos

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan passed on to Iran Saudi assurances that their territory would not be used for attacks against it. This resulted in minimal or no attacks by Iran on Saudi Arabia and Oman during the recent escalation, said Pakistan&rsquo;s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday.&nbsp;Addressing a media briefing at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, the foreign minister said that Pakistan remains engaged in &quot;shuttle communication&quot; to de-escalate the recent situation in the Middle East.&nbsp;&nbsp;Dar said he spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, and mentioned the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed in September 2025.&nbsp;&nbsp;Based on the agreement, Dar said that he sought assurances from the Saudis and passed them on to the Iranian side, reiterating that Saudi territory would not be used for attacks against Iran. Because of these assurances, he said, there have been minimal or no Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia and Oman during the recent escalation.&nbsp;In the session, the foreign minister said that he has been in contact with foreign ministers of Turkey, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Palestine, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, as well as representatives from the European Union, to promote diplomacy and dialogue.&nbsp;Regarding Afghanistan, Dar said that Pakistan continues to pursue regional connectivity, specifically a rail project connecting Uzbekistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan.&nbsp;He expressed disappointment that the current Afghan regime has failed to prevent its soil from being used by terrorist groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).&nbsp;Addressing concerns about stranded Pakistanis in Iran and the Gulf region amid the fluid security situation, Foreign Minister Dar noted that, with the exception of Oman and Saudi Arabia, most airspace in the region is currently closed.&nbsp;To assist stuck citizens, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has activated its Crisis Management Unit, which is operational 24/7.&nbsp;&nbsp;The minister said that 792 Pakistanis have already returned from Iran through various border points: 694 via Taftan, 59 via Ramdan, and 39 via Astara. Additionally, 46 students returned through Taftan and 62 through Ramdan, he added.&nbsp;Because the northern part of Iran is closer to Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan government is providing &quot;Visa on Arrival&quot; and logistical support to Pakistanis, he added.So far, 64 Pakistanis have reached Azerbaijan from Iran; 42 have arrived in Lahore via Azal Airlines&nbsp;&lsquo;Unwarranted&rsquo;Earlier, Foreign Minister Dar sharply condemned the recent attack on Iran and the martyrdom of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for an immediate halt to regional escalation through diplomacy.&nbsp;Addressing the Senate, Dar described the Feb. 28 strike against Iran as &quot;unwarranted&quot; and expressed deep concern over the violation of international law, noting the &quot;age-old convention&quot; that heads of state should not be targeted.&nbsp;&quot;The government and the people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their hour of grief and sorrow,&quot; Dar said, following a formal statement of condolence from the prime minister.&nbsp;The deputy prime minister revealed that, prior to the escalation, Pakistan had been actively mediating between the United States and Iran, alongside Oman.&nbsp;&nbsp;He noted that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi had expressed optimism about the &quot;positive direction&quot; of the talks during a recent meeting in Austria.&nbsp;Dar told the Senate that Pakistan has consistently advocated for Iran&#39;s right to the &quot;peaceful use of nuclear energy.&quot; He disclosed that Pakistan had argued against the total destruction of Iran&#39;s nuclear infrastructure, supporting the 3.67% enrichment level previously accepted under the JCPOA, provided it remained under international surveillance.&nbsp;According to Dar, both Washington and Tehran had previously expressed willingness to use Islamabad as a venue for mediation.

Security

Pakistan passed on to Iran Saudi assurances that its territory would not be used for attacks against it, resulting in minimal or no attacks by Iran on Saudi Arabia and Oman during the recent escalation

Pakistan passed on Saudi assurances to Iran of no use of territory: Dar   

RIYADH: The US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday warned of an imminent attack in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran, home to much of the kingdom&#39;s energy installations along the Gulf coast.&nbsp;&quot;There is a threat of imminent missile and UAV attacks over Dhahran. Do not come to the US Consulate&quot; the embassy wrote on its official X account.&nbsp;The warning came just hours after the US mission in Riyadh was attacked by two drones that sparked a small fire on the embassy grounds, as Iran pressed on with retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.&nbsp;On Monday, the massive Ras Tanura refinery on Saudi Arabia&#39;s Gulf coast went into partial shutdown after a strike by drones.&nbsp;The complex run by the Saudi state oil giant Aramco is home to one of the largest refineries in the entire Middle East and a cornerstone of the kingdom&#39;s energy sector.&nbsp;Saudi Arabia is the world&#39;s biggest oil exporter, with most of its oil fields and petroleum infrastructure located along its eastern coast, across the Gulf from Iran.

Americas

Asia

The US embassy in Riyadh warned of imminent missile and drone attacks over Dhahran after two drones struck the mission. A strike also partially shut Ras Tanura refinery, highlighting threats to Saudi Arabia’s vital eastern oil infrastructure.

US embassy warns of imminent attack in eastern Saudi Arabia

TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday urged the United Nations Security Council to take action to stop the Islamic republic&#39;s war with Israel and the United States.&nbsp;&quot;The United Nations Security Council has a duty... if it wishes, it can certainly act, because there is no obstacle to its action except its own will,&quot; said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a foreign ministry briefing.

Iran asked the United Nations Security Council to help stop its war with Israel and the United States. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the council can take action if it wants to and has the will to do so.

Iran urges UN Security Council to move to stop war

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Tuesday dismissed media reports claiming a partial closure of the country&rsquo;s airspace, terming the interpretation &ldquo;incorrect and misleading.&rdquo; The authority clarified that a recently issued Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was a routine operational advisory. The NOTAM announces the temporary unavailability of specific Air Traffic Services (ATS) route segments within the Karachi and Lahore Flight Information Regions during daily time windows from 0400 to 1000 UTC (0900 to 1500 Pakistan Standard Time) from March 3 to 31. The PAA said the route segments are closed from ground level to unlimited altitude for standard operational reasons, stressing that the country&rsquo;s airspace remains fully open and safe for all civil aviation traffic, including commercial flights. &ldquo;No restrictions have been imposed on commercial operations, arrivals, departures, or overflights across Pakistan,&rdquo; the authority said, adding that alternative routing options are available and routinely used where required. Air traffic services across the country are continuing without disruption, and controllers and airport teams are managing flight operations normally, the statement added. The authority urged media outlets and social media users to rely on official statements to avoid unnecessary concern among passengers and the public.

An Israeli Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft flies over Tel Aviv on February 28, 2026. (Photo: AFP/File)

The authority clarifies that a recently issued Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was a routine operational advisory.

Pakistan Airports Authority rejects reports of airspace ‘partial closure’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned that a Zionist-orchestrated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-israel-strikes-iran-live-updates" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">war against Iran</a>&nbsp;aims to extend Israeli influence to Pakistan&rsquo;s border, threatening to surround the nuclear-armed nation with a joint hostile front. The defense minister characterized Zionism &ldquo;as a primary threat to humanity&rdquo; and the &ldquo;cause of every catastrophe in the Islamic world&rdquo; since Israel&rsquo;s establishment. He stated that Zionist ideology and the state have controlled the global economic system for a century. Khawaja Asif stated that major world powers currently remain hostage to these interests. Pakistan&rsquo;s nuclear deterrent and sovereignty The minister stated that Pakistan&rsquo;s status as a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/un-nuclear-agency-to-hold-extraordinary-meeting-on-iran-monday" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">nuclear power</a>&nbsp;protects its national sovereignty. He credited the courage of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for conducting nuclear tests and praised the worldwide recognition of the nation&#39;s armed forces. Khawaja Asif said the country remains indebted to its &ldquo;martyrs and ghazis&rdquo; for protecting its security. Threats of regional encirclement The defense minister stated that a war is being imposed on Iran despite its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-lawmakers-say-no-evidence-iran-had-planned-first-strike-on-us" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">readiness for agreements</a>. He said the agenda seeks to create a &quot;single point&quot; of enmity involving Afghanistan, Iran, and India. This alignment would make Pakistani borders insecure and turn the nation into a &quot;vassal state.&quot; &ldquo;Despite Iran&#39;s readiness for agreement, a war has been imposed upon them, and its agenda, orchestrated by the Zionists, includes bringing Israel&#39;s influence right up to Pakistan&#39;s border. The joint single point agenda of Afghanistan, Iran, and India will then be enmity towards Pakistan, making our borders insecure, surrounding us with enemies from all sides, and turning Pakistan into a vassal state,&rdquo; he said. Call for national unity The defense minister urged all 250 million Pakistanis to look past political and religious affiliations to understand these intentions. He called for unity across the Muslim world to recognize its &ldquo;eternal enemies.&rdquo; Khawaja Asif concluded with prayers for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/arab-countries-condemn-us-ambassadors-remarks-on-israels-right-to-mideast-land" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">freedom of Palestine</a> and the continued strength of Pakistan.

Defense Minister of Pakistan Khawaja Muhammad Asif. (Associated Press of Pakistan)

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif says Israel is creating a hostile front to surround and destabilize the nuclear-armed nation.

War on Iran aims to bring Israeli influence to Pakistan border: Defense Minister

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) struck Afghanistan&rsquo;s&nbsp;Bagram Air Base&nbsp;as part of the ongoing <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/operation-ghazab-lilhaq-435-killed-as-pakistan-strikes-afghan-targets" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Operation Ghazab lil-Haq</a>&nbsp;against the Afghan Taliban, security sources confirmed Tuesday. The sources referred to a report issued by Afghanistan&rsquo;s defense ministry detailing the damage caused by the strike. The report stated that several key military assets were destroyed. This includes Black Hawk helicopters, a Hercules cargo aircraft, a Tucano aircraft, armored vehicles and other equipment, targeting one of the Afghan Taliban&rsquo;s most prized military assets The strike on <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-deal-on-bagram-base-not-possible-afghan-taliban" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bagram Air Base</a> was confirmed by satellite images obtained by The New York Times. The American newspaper reported that Pakistan carried out multiple strikes to destroy equipment and supplies. Afghan officials confirmed Sunday that there had been an attack on the base.

Bagram Airfield (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Afghanistan

PAF strike on Bagram destroyed key Taliban assets: Black Hawk helicopters, Hercules cargo aircraft, Tucano aircraft, armored vehicles, and other equipment, per Afghan defense ministry report cited by security sources.

Operation Ghazab Lil Haq: Pakistan Air Force strikes Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed 464 Afghan Taliban terrorists and injured more than 665 during cross-border strikes under Operation &ldquo;Ghazb lil Haq,&rdquo; the country&#39;s information minister reported. In a summary of the operation posted on X at 1600 hours on March 3, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that 56 locations across Afghanistan were effectively targeted by air. The ongoing strikes destroyed 188 check posts and 192 tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery guns, while Pakistani forces captured an additional 31 posts. <div class="fr-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">✅Operation Ghazb lil Haq ✅Update 1600 hours 3 March ✅Summary of Afghan Taliban losses ▪️464 Killed, ▪️665 + Injured ▪️188 Check posts destroyed ▪️31 Posts captured, ▪️192 tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery guns destroyed ▪️56 locations across Afghanistan effectively&hellip;&mdash; Attaullah Tarar (@TararAttaullah) <a href="https://twitter.com/TararAttaullah/status/2028791616123634016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">March 3, 2026</a></blockquote></div> The large-scale military response followed multiple attempted cross-border attacks by Afghan Taliban fighters overnight in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. In an earlier update at 1000 hours, Tarar said terrorists in northern Balochistan launched physical attacks at 16 locations across the Qilla Saifullah, Noshki, and Chaman districts, alongside fire raids at 25 locations. Those initial attacks were effectively repulsed, leaving 27 terrorists dead and scores injured. One soldier from FC Balochistan (North) was killed, and five soldiers were wounded during the clashes. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an attempted physical attack at one location and fire raids at 12 locations were repelled without any Pakistani casualties. Security forces killed 40 Afghan Taliban in overnight operations in the province.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says Afghan Taliban attacks repulsed in Balochistan and KP, claims 67 terrorists killed; one FC soldier martyred, five injured.

Operation Ghazb Lil Haq: Pakistan’s cross-border offensive kills 464 Taliban terrorists

LONDON: US President Donald Trump said the historical relationship between his country and Britain was &quot;not like it used to be&quot;, in an interview to British daily newspaper The Sun, amid a major transatlantic fall out over US-Israeli strikes against Iran. &quot;This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe,&quot; he said, singling out France and Germany, after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer&#39;s initial refusal to allow the United States to use British military bases in its war with Iran. Trump said Starmer &quot;has not been helpful&quot;, adding: &quot;I never thought I&#39;d see that. I never thought I&#39;d see that from the UK. We love the UK.&quot; In a telephone interview from the White House on Monday evening, Trump said: &ldquo;This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in &nbsp;Europe.&rdquo; &quot;It&#39;s a different world, actually. It&#39;s just a much different kind of relationship that we&rsquo;ve had with your country before. &quot;It&rsquo;s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was,&quot; he added. The scathing comments come a day after Trump described Starmer&#39;s reaction as &quot;very disappointing&rdquo; in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. He added that Starmer&rsquo;s later decision to allow the use of UK bases on specific grounds as &quot;useful&quot; but said it &quot;took far too much time&quot;. Any potential military action in the Middle East is politically sensitive in the UK following former prime minister Tony Blair&#39;s disastrous support for the US-led invasion of Iraq. &#39;National interest&#39;&nbsp; Starmer defended his position to parliament on Monday. &quot;President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain&#39;s national interest,&quot; he told lawmakers. &quot;That is what I have done and I stand by it,&quot; he added. After initially refusing to have any role in the strikes, Starmer on Sunday announced that he had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for a &quot;specific and limited defensive purpose&quot;. His Downing Street office said Starmer took the decision after Iran fired missiles over the weekend that put British interests and people &quot;at risk&quot;. &quot;We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learnt those lessons. Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan,&quot; he added in parliament. The prime minister also said that British military bases in Cyprus &quot;are not being used by US bombers&quot; during the US-Israeli war with Iran. Britain&#39;s Akrotiri air force base on Cyprus came under attack by an unmanned Iranian drone that hit the base&#39;s runway early on Monday. Starmer said the strike &quot;was not in response to any decision that we have taken,&quot; adding that the British government believed the drone &quot;was launched prior to our announcement&quot;. Iran&#39;s approach is becoming &quot;more reckless and more dangerous&quot;, Starmer said. &quot;They are working ruthlessly and deliberately through a plan to strike, not only military targets, but also economic targets in the region, with no regard for civilian casualties. That is the situation we face today and to which we must respond,&quot; he added.

United Kingdom

Trump told The Sun the US-UK relationship is “not like it used to be,” criticizing PM Keir Starmer for denying Cyprus base access in the Iran war, while praising ties with France and Germany.

Trump says US-UK relationship 'not like it used to be'

ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;Pakistani nationals hauled heavy suitcases across the border from neighbouring Iran on Monday, recounting scenes of missile launches and travel chaos as they rushed to leave following US and Israeli strikes over the weekend. AFP journalists witnessed a steady flow of people passing through large metal gates at the remote crossing between Mirjaveh in Iran and Taftan in Pakistan&rsquo;s southwestern Balochistan province. Families, traders and pilgrims wheeled bulky luggage across the frontier&rsquo;s pedestrian route, while freight trucks lined up in long queues nearby. Powerful explosions have rocked Iran&rsquo;s capital, Tehran, since Saturday, prompting embassies from several countries to advise their citizens to leave. &ldquo;All our Pakistani brothers who were in Tehran and other cities had started to leave and were arriving at the terminal, which caused a lot of crowd pressure,&rdquo; said Ameer Muhammad, a 38-year-old trader. &ldquo;Due to the crowds, there were major transport problems.&rdquo; The Taftan crossing lies about 500 kilometres (310 miles) from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, and is one of the few official land routes between the two countries. On the Iranian side, AFP reporters saw the national flag flying at half-mast as security personnel stood guard. Irshad Ahmed, a 49-year-old pilgrim, described seeing missiles launched near his accommodation in Tehran. &ldquo;There was an army base near the hostel, and we saw many missiles being fired,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;After that, we went to the Pakistani embassy so that they could evacuate us from there. They brought us here safely.&rdquo; Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killing of Iran&rsquo;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling it a &ldquo;violation&rdquo; of international law. &ldquo;It is an age-old convention that the Heads of State/Government should not be targeted,&rdquo; Sharif wrote on social media platform X. He added that the people of Pakistan stood with Iran &ldquo;in their hour of grief and sorrow&rdquo; and extended condolences on Khamenei&rsquo;s &ldquo;martyrdom.&rdquo; A teacher at the Pakistani embassy in Tehran, who identified himself as Saqib, said the situation had initially appeared manageable. &ldquo;Before we left, the situation was normal. The situation was not that bad,&rdquo; the 38-year-old said. However, he added that strikes on Saturday night forced many to reconsider. &nbsp;&ldquo;The situation became bad when attacks caused precious lives to be lost.&rdquo; As tensions continue to escalate, more Pakistanis are expected to cross through Taftan in the coming days, seeking safety amid growing regional uncertainty.

Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province on March 3, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)

Middle East

AFP journalists witness a steady flow of people passing through large metal gates at the remote crossing between Mirjaveh in Iran and Taftan in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. Families, traders and pilgrims wheeled bulky luggage across the frontier’s pedestrian route, while freight trucks lined up in long queues nearby.