Pakistan tests China-like digital ‘firewall’ to tighten online surveillance

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s authorities has deployed Chinese exertion to physique what immoderate elder officials acquainted with the task are calling a new, nationalist net “firewall” that volition let authorities to show online postulation and modulate the usage of fashionable apps with greater power than before.

The task aims to upgrade the government’s web monitoring capabilities astatine the country’s main net gateways, arsenic good arsenic astatine the information centres of mobile work and large net work providers.

Senior executives from 2 net work providers (ISPs) and an authoritative from the country’s information constitution told Al Jazeera that trials of this caller firewall, installed arsenic portion of Pakistan’s net infrastructure, were liable for a spate of complaints of mediocre net connectivity successful the state successful caller months.

Officially, though, authorities officials, portion acknowledging that they are tightening the country’s online monitoring structure, person denied that this is to blasted for slowdowns successful net speed.

The proceedings of the caller firewall comes astatine a clip of heightened governmental tensions in Pakistan. The country’s authorities person suspended mobile net and blocked respective VPNs amid a monolithic protestation launched by supporters of erstwhile Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is nether apprehension since August 2023 implicit a spate of charges. The protesters, who person arrived successful Islamabad contempt tribunal orders against their agitation, are demanding Khan’s release. At slightest six information unit person died successful clashes with the protesters truthful far.

The caller monitoring strategy — the trials started good earlier the latest protestation march — outgo betwixt 20 to 30 cardinal rupees ($72m to $107m), according to officials alert of the project.

Since mid-July, net users successful Pakistan person reported predominant slowdowns, degraded work prime and occasional disruptions to multimedia features connected WhatsApp, the wide utilized messaging app.

“The issues net users faced successful July were owed to the firewall testing, which besides affected WhatsApp’s multimedia functions, specified arsenic sending photos, videos, dependable notes and making audio/video calls,” said a elder authoritative from 1 of the country’s starring ISPs.

A firewall is simply a operation of hardware and bundle utilized by governments oregon organisations to power and show net traffic, acting arsenic a integer gatekeeper that decides what information to let oregon block.

According to the ISP official, Pakistan’s erstwhile exertion lacked the quality to negociate applications oregon websites astatine a “granular level”– a capableness that the precocious acquired Chinese exertion provides.

“The caller firewall besides allows circumstantial features wrong an app oregon website to beryllium blocked oregon throttled,” helium explained, citing the illustration of WhatsApp successful respective Middle Eastern nations, wherever users cannot marque audio oregon video calls connected the level but tin usage different multimedia features.

A Ministry of Defence official, acquainted with the caller deployments, besides confirmed that Pakistan had acquired a caller “firewall system” from China, which was archetypal tested successful mid-July.

“Typically, specified systems are tested successful a sandbox situation to debar wide work disruptions,” the authoritative told Al Jazeera, requesting anonymity arsenic helium was not authorised to talk to the media.

However, Pakistan’s net infrastructure – specified arsenic fibre optics, network-related equipment, switches and routers – has been built utilizing exertion from a scope of countries including France, Finland, the United States and China.

“Due to the divers instrumentality successful Pakistan’s net infrastructure, investigating connected a unrecorded strategy was necessary, starring to immoderate archetypal connectivity and work issues,” the authoritative explained.

The authoritative added that the caller strategy has the quality to artifact VPNs and importantly heighten real-time monitoring done a scope of contented filtering methods.

A VPN is simply a instrumentality that creates a unafraid transportation betwixt a instrumentality and a web by encrypting net postulation and masking the user’s online identity.

Pakistani authorities person agelong struggled with attempts to artifact circumstantial articles, videos oregon different contented online without needing to propulsion the plug connected an full website.

In a peculiarly notorious incidental successful 2008, Pakistan wanted to artifact a YouTube nexus that the authorities argued contained a blasphemous documentary. Instead, Pakistan ended up crashing YouTube globally.

The caller system, the Defence Ministry authoritative said, would beryllium the archetypal to assistance Pakistan get astir that frustrating challenge. “Instead of blocking an full level similar YouTube oregon a website, we tin present restrict entree to a azygous video oregon article,” the authoritative said.

Shifting explanations for net slowdown

In July and August, erstwhile instances of net slowdown were astatine their peak, the authorities offered a scope of explanations: Excessive VPN use, faulty submarine cables, planetary net illness aft an outage astatine the US cybersecurity steadfast CrowdStrike, a cyberattack and regular failures.

Shaza Fatima Khawaja, curate for accusation exertion and telecommunication, has denied the beingness of a ‘national firewall’. [Handout/Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication]

On August 15, pursuing a parliamentary committee meeting, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Pakistan’s curate for accusation technology, said she was “not aware” of immoderate firewall investigating but added that Pakistan was upgrading its existing “Web Management System” (WMS) owed to cybersecurity threats.

“Every authorities successful the satellite takes measures to instrumentality cybersecurity measures. We antecedently had a WMS, and present determination is an upgrade of the same,” Khawaja told reporters.

Three days later, during a quality conference, Khwaja robustly denied immoderate allegations of authorities tampering with the internet, saying determination was nary bid to “throttle” the web. She blamed excessive VPN use.

“A ample fig of radical successful the state present usage VPN, which leads to unit connected the net resulting successful a slowdown,” she told the media.

On August 21, Hafeez-ur-Rehman, a retired large wide and the caput of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the country’s telecom regulatory body, told a radical of parliamentarians that faults successful 1 of the 7 submarine cables connecting Pakistan to the planetary net were liable for the dilatory speeds.

Rehman firmly denied that the installation of a caller monitoring strategy was down the disruptions.

“Every state has immoderate mechanics to show net contented oregon services. Whether you telephone it a firewall, a web monitoring system, oregon contented filtering, it exists everywhere. We are besides upgrading our system, but it is not the crushed for the dilatory internet,” Rehman told parliamentarians during the meeting.

In a written effect to Al Jazeera, the regulator reiterated that a WMS had been operational successful the state for respective years to “monitor and mitigate” amerciable telecom activities, commonly known arsenic grey traffic, but was not liable for the degraded net quality. “WMS is continuously upgraded to cater for the expanding usage of the internet. It has ne'er caused a slowness successful net services,” the PTA said.

Khawaja besides submitted a effect to the National Assembly connected August 26 [PDF], successful which she confirmed that the PTA was utilizing a WMS for “internet contented management”, done which applications oregon websites were blocked successful Pakistan.

Despite respective attempts to interaction Khawaja, the curate did not respond to Al Jazeera’s questions regarding the capabilities, objectives, origins, procurement details, oregon costs of the caller firewall – oregon immoderate details astir the WMS.

However, successful a written effect submitted to Pakistan’s Senate, Khawaja said that the PTA, arsenic the regulatory body, was not progressive with the firewall project.

The “PTA is not progressive successful the funding, procurement, deployment, oregon operations of immoderate firewall task astatine the nationalist level,” Khawaja said [PDF] connected September 12, responding to questions from senators.

Confusingly, Khawaja has implicit the months utilized the presumption “management” and “monitoring” alternatively connected assorted occasions, portion referring to the monitoring strategy which, according to the subject authoritative and the ISP executives Al Jazeera spoke with, has surveillance capabilities.

A ‘national firewall’ for ‘national security’

Pakistan, a state of 241 cardinal people, has astir 140 cardinal broadband users and 190 cardinal mobile subscribers. However, it relies connected conscionable 2 large net gateway points, some located successful Karachi, the country’s largest metropolis and economical hub.

These gateways, operated by the state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and private-sector steadfast Transworld Associates (TWA), are connected by 7 submarine cables that supply net connectivity.

According to a connection from the PTA successful January, upgrades to Pakistan’s web monitoring strategy astatine these gateways began successful December 2023.

This announcement came aft then-Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar revealed the imminent instauration of what helium described arsenic a “national firewall” to modulate the country’s societal media.

“We are moving connected technology-based solutions to code our challenges and threats,” Kakar said successful a precocious January interview, conscionable earlier the February 8 wide elections.

On the morning of February 8, the Ministry of Interior announced the closure of mobile net services crossed the state to “maintain the instrumentality and bid concern and to woody with imaginable threats”.

But the archetypal signs of a broader internet crackdown appeared connected February 17, erstwhile users recovered themselves incapable to entree the societal media level X.

Simon Migliano, caput of probe astatine Top10VPN.com, an autarkic VPN reappraisal website, noted that aft the X ban, VPN usage successful Pakistan much than doubled compared with the erstwhile 4 weeks.

The recently elected government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, initially remained soundless connected the contented but aboriginal disclosed that X had been blocked nether orders from the Interior Ministry for non-compliance with authorities directives to instrumentality down content.

“The determination to prohibition X was made to uphold nationalist security, support nationalist order, and sphere the nation’s integrity,” the ministry stated successful its study to the Islamabad High Court successful April.

While statements from assorted authorities officials continued to hint astatine the instauration of a caller “firewall”, it wasn’t until mid-July that wide net work disruptions began. Users crossed the state reported sluggish speeds, degraded work prime and predominant connectivity issues.

Pakistani net users successful July complained of wide disruption of net services, peculiarly the connection application, WhatsApp [Fareed Khan/AP Photos]

Most notably, WhatsApp’s multimedia services were disrupted, though substance messaging connected the level continued without issues.

Arturo Filasto, co-founder of the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), confirmed that WhatsApp multimedia features had been “throttled” connected July 17.

OONI information from August revealed akin interference, showing that net postulation was “monitored” and that idiosyncratic attempts to link with Signal, different encrypted communications app, were besides impeded.

Jazz, the country’s largest mobile work provider, acknowledged receiving complaints astir degraded net services.

“We person received reports of disruptions affecting immoderate users connected definite societal media platforms. Our squad is actively investigating the contented and remains committed to ensuring uninterrupted service,” a Jazz spokesperson said successful a connection emailed to Al Jazeera successful aboriginal September.

Al Jazeera besides reached retired to much than 2 twelve officials crossed respective ISPs, telecommunications companies and authorities departments. Only a fewer responded, and those who did spoke connected information of anonymity, portion astir declined to comment.

Like a information checkpoint, slowdowns are inevitable

For astir 2 decades, Pakistan has deployed monitoring hardware and bundle solutions, chiefly to combat grey postulation and antagonistic “offensive material” online.

The state has a longstanding prohibition connected pornographic and blasphemous content. It besides regularly issues contented takedown requests to societal media platforms nether nationalist laws.

In the 2010s, the authorities began seeking much blase surveillance technologies, susceptible of intercepting mobile telephone calls and monitoring net activity.

In December 2018, Pakistan signed a five-year contract worthy $18m with Canadian steadfast Sandvine for a WMS.

The Sandvine WMS, similar different akin surveillance systems, could execute assorted contented filtering measures specified arsenic Uniform Resource Locator (URL) filtering, Internet Protocol (IP) filtering, Domain Name System (DNS) filtering and keyword filtering – each designed to negociate the net postulation passing done the WMS, which was installed connected the country’s net gateway points.

However, the astir almighty instrumentality successful its repertoire was Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) – a method that intercepts and analyses information transmitted implicit a web and is susceptible of decrypting and monitoring postulation betwixt users and servers.

DPI works similar an airdrome scanner, allowing authorities to look wrong the information packets travelling crossed the net and cheque their contents for delicate information.

Monitoring systems similar Sandvine “heavily trust connected DPI”, explained Haroon Ali, a cybersecurity adept and manager astatine the Australian Cyber Corporation, a Sydney-based backstage organisation specialising successful cybersecurity for businesses and authorities clients.

“DPI examines information packets astatine a granular level, identifying the benignant of postulation and allowing for blocking oregon deeper inspection based connected the rules acceptable wrong the WMS,” Ali told Al Jazeera.

According to 2 employees astatine a large ISP, the Sandvine declaration ended successful November 2023: The strategy had struggled to grip Pakistan’s increasing net postulation and expanding monitoring demands.

“The strategy became overloaded owed to the changeless summation of caller rules. Each regularisation consumes bandwidth and capacity,” 1 ISP worker told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry authoritative said that the caller firewall strategy being implemented volition connection much precocious surveillance capabilities.

“The extremity is to show everything without shutting down oregon restricting the full system. A almighty DPI-enabled strategy tin stitchery metadata from users, adjacent if their superior information postulation remains encrypted,” the authoritative said.

Metadata, oregon “data astir data”, includes important accusation specified arsenic a user’s network, device, timestamps and location, and plays a cardinal relation successful identifying individuals.

WhatsApp, for example, collects assorted types of metadata, including timestamps, IP addresses, instrumentality information, timing of use, and sender and recipient details.

While metadata does not incorporate existent connection content, and nary WMS strategy tin work the messages themselves, Ali, the cybersecurity expert, explained that metadata inactive holds capable accusation to compromise idiosyncratic anonymity.

“A WMS tin beryllium a almighty surveillance tool, utilizing DPI to analyse metadata and perchance breach idiosyncratic privacy,” helium said.

But the mode successful which Pakistan plans to deploy the caller strategy could inevitably dilatory net speeds, pass immoderate experts – not arsenic a bug but arsenic a feature.

Major websites and services similar Google, Netflix and Meta store copies of often requested online contented locally, reducing the request to fetch information from distant servers. That, however, means that a WMS that monitors lone net gateways to the state does not seizure usage details of locally stored data.

To get astir that, a elder ISP enforcement said the caller web monitoring strategy was being deployed not lone astatine the country’s net gateway but besides astatine section information centres of mobile work providers and ISPs.

“Unlike the Sandvine system, the caller DPI-based strategy is present susceptible of monitoring section net traffic,” the enforcement added.

But to show section traffic, the caller firewall volition usage what is known arsenic an “in-line network”, which acts similar a information checkpoint, wherever each information packet indispensable beryllium inspected and either allowed to walk oregon beryllium blocked – arsenic opposed to an alternate mechanics that simply observed and records postulation without interfering with its flow.

The usage of an in-line web “will inevitably dilatory down net speeds”, the ISP authoritative said.

It could pb to “slower net and delays, affecting real-time applications similar video conferencing and degrading the wide idiosyncratic experience”, said Usman Ilyas, an adjunct prof astatine the University of Birmingham.

So, wherefore would immoderate authorities employment an in-line network? The reply is simple, said Ilyas: This mechanics is indispensable for surveillance and censorship.

Could VPNs beryllium liable for dilatory speeds?

Both the PTA and the IT Ministry person repeatedly denied that net slowdown concerns are linked to the caller firewall deployment oregon testing.

Pakistani authorities accidental the state experienced astatine slightest 3 large submarine cablegram faults this twelvemonth which they accidental caused degradation of net services successful the state [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]

On September 6, the IT Ministry submitted a written effect to the National Assembly, detailing 3 large submarine cablegram faults successful 2024 that affected net services successful the country. The ministry said that each but 1 fault, which occurred successful June, had been resolved.

Research by Bytes for All, an Islamabad-based organisation focused connected accusation and connection technologies, recorded astatine slightest 15 major net and mobile work disruptions successful Pakistan this year.

Aftab Siddiqui, a elder manager astatine the Internet Society, an planetary advocacy group, besides confirmed the cablegram responsibility disrupting Pakistan’s net services successful June, but added that this unsocial did not afloat explicate the wide work degradation.

Often, helium said, the authorities does not adjacent explicate reasons for slowdowns and disruptions, “showing a notable deficiency of transparency”.

Bytes for All besides challenged Khwaja’s, the IT minister, claims blaming excessive VPN usage for net slowdowns, successful a elaborate technical report.

Published connected August 27, the study contradicted Khawaja’s assertion, showing that utilizing a VPN often improved net quality.

The study further observed that this betterment successful work prime suggested that a VPN allowed users to bypass “throttling oregon DPI measures”.

According to information by Top10VPN, Pakistan’s VPN usage successful July and August 2024 was 63 percent higher than successful the aforesaid play successful 2023. Migliano of Top10VPN said that the assertion that excessive VPN usage was causing net slowdown was “absolutely absurd”.

“Whether it is simply a lawsuit of ignorance oregon wilful misinformation is not for maine to say,” helium told Al Jazeera. While VPNs devour a marginally greater bandwidth than regular connections, “it is simply not imaginable for a VPN to interaction the wider web beyond the instrumentality wherever it is installed”.

Meanwhile, Arturo Filasto, co-founder of OONI, said that the net degradation information collected by his organisation was “very inconsistent” with the authorities communicative that a submarine cablegram chopped could unsocial person caused the net disruption suffered by the country.

“If that were the case, you would not spot failures affecting lone circumstantial services but rather, galore services indiscriminately,” Filasto explained. “What we spot successful the information is accordant with the proposal of this being the effect of the rollout of recently acquired technology.”

Expanding net control

Over the years, the Pakistani authorities has expanded its power implicit the internet, utilizing some technological means and authorities to modulate what users tin entree and consume.

But the latest effort astatine a firewall comes astatine a clip erstwhile the authorities has been accused by critics of peculiarly targeting erstwhile Prime Minister Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – the country’s astir fashionable governmental party.

Ironically, Khan’s PTI authorities itself had authorised the acquisition of the Sandvine WMS and was accused of censorship during its clip successful government, betwixt August 2018 and April 2022.

According to Freedom House, a governmental advocacy radical based successful Washington, DC, during that time, Pakistan’s nett state people hovered betwixt 27 and 25 retired of 100.

Its latest 2024 Freedom connected the Net report shows nary improvement, with Pakistan scoring 27 retired of 100, maintaining its “not free” status.

However, since Khan was removed from powerfulness 2 years agone done a parliamentary ballot of nary confidence, the enactment has faced a crackdown. Khan has spent 15 months down bars facing galore charges, and his enactment has faced wide arrests of leaders and workers, arsenic good arsenic online restrictions.

In December past year, PTI held a “virtual rally” arsenic portion of its predetermination campaign, drafting much than 5 cardinal views crossed societal media platforms, with imprisoned Khan delivering a four-minute code which was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

Internet users reported work outages during livestreaming of the speech, a disruption confirmed by NetBlocks, an net tracking company. The party’s website remains inaccessible successful Pakistan astatine the clip of writing.

ℹ️ ICYMI: Metrics amusement large societal media platforms were restricted successful #Pakistan for ~7 hours connected Sunday evening during an online governmental gathering; the incidental is accordant with erstwhile instances of net censorship targeting absorption person Imran Khan and his enactment PTI https://t.co/AS9SdfwqoH pic.twitter.com/XXMYBhknXd

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) December 18, 2023

On November 24, PTI supporters launched a protestation march towards Islamabad to question Khan’s merchandise from jail, during which the authorities erstwhile again restricted entree to VPNs portion shutting down mobile net services crossed the country.

WhatsApp multimedia services were besides disrupted, leaving disgruntled users incapable to download photos and videos, oregon speech dependable notes without VPNs. The regularisation connected services was besides confirmed by Netblocks successful a message connected X.

Digital rights activistic Farieha Aziz linked the “tremendous secrecy” and “palpable consciousness of urgency” surrounding the deployment of Pakistan’s caller firewall strategy to the country’s governmental climate.

“This unreserved seems tied to the existent governmental environment, aimed astatine controlling the travel of accusation and communicative building,” Aziz told Al Jazeera.

The urgency down these secretive firewall trials besides comes astatine a clip erstwhile Pakistan’s almighty subject has described threats from what it calls “digital terrorism”.

The military, which has governed the state straight for much than 3 decades and continues to wield important governmental and societal influence, introduced the word earlier this year.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, claimed that “politically motivated and vested integer terrorism” was being utilized to dispersed despondency wrong the country.

“It is to sow discord among nationalist institutions, particularly the equipped forces, and the radical of Pakistan by peddling blatant lies, fake news, and propaganda,” the subject said successful a press release successful May this year.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his governmental enactment are considered adept astatine utilizing societal media to propulsion their communicative and person faced a authorities crackdown, with raids connected their offices arsenic good arsenic arrests of societal media workers [Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]

The military’s connection was wide interpreted arsenic an allusion to PTI, a enactment which is considered technologically the savviest successful the state and whose supporters often predominate societal media narratives.

Party supporters person been targeted for moving “anti-state integer campaigns” portion raids connected PTI offices, including its office successful Islamabad, person resulted successful arrests connected charges of “digital terrorism” and “false propaganda” via societal media.

However, Aziz argued that the conception of “digital terrorism” had nary ineligible standing.

“This word was coined successful a governmental discourse and holds nary ineligible validity. The communicative being built astir it suggests that it’s much astir controlling governmental sermon than addressing immoderate genuine cybersecurity threats,” she said.

Turning to China

None of this is wholly new, accidental analysts. During the PTI’s tenure successful authorities – the enactment was wide seen arsenic adjacent to the subject astatine the clip – galore critics were arrested for their views connected societal media.

Websites and pages were blocked, and societal media platforms were pressured to region contented deemed to interruption the “integrity, information and defence of Pakistan”, among different reasons.

Under Khan, some the PTI authorities and the subject began utilizing the operation “fifth-generation warfare”, suggesting that “anti-state propaganda” was being dispersed against Pakistan connected societal media, necessitating a robust integer defence. It was a precursor to the conception of “digital terrorism”.

But immoderate things person changed.

Previously, Pakistan relied heavy connected Western exertion for regulating its internet, utilizing hardware and bundle solutions from companies similar Sandvine, FinFisher, and Netsweeper. However, facing unit from integer rights groups, galore of these companies stopped providing services to Pakistan, leaving less options available.

As Pakistan’s ties with China, its neighbour and closest ally, further strengthened, peculiarly pursuing the motorboat of the $62bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, China has besides emerged arsenic its caller technological partner.

During the past fewer years, the thought of replicating China’s Great Firewall – its blase net censorship and surveillance strategy – besides began to instrumentality clasp wrong Pakistan’s information establishment.

Any firewall is lone arsenic bully arsenic its quality to halt leakages. Like China, wherever lone government-approved VPNs tin legally beryllium utilized to get astir online barriers, Pakistan, too, is moving towards banning the usage of “illegal” VPNs.

In its written effect to Al Jazeera successful September, the PTA said it was “in interaction with stakeholders to follow a viable solution to facilitate morganatic VPN usage portion fulfilling its obligations nether our laws”.

However, successful aboriginal November, respective VPN services became inaccessible successful Pakistan for a fewer hours earlier being restored. PTA, the regulator, did not straight code the abrupt outage, oregon the resumption.

Then, connected November 15, the Interior Ministry asked the PTA successful a missive to “block amerciable VPNs” crossed the country, saying they were being utilized to “facilitate convulsive activities” arsenic good arsenic to entree “pornographic and blasphemous content”, some of which are banned successful the country.

“Of late, an alarming information has been identified, wherein VPNs are utilized by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” the missive by the ministry, seen by Al Jazeera, said.

Economic risks

While the vendors down Pakistan’s caller firewall stay unconfirmed, analysts hold that the country’s net infrastructure is centralised and reasonably restrictive.

According to Ilyas, the academic, Pakistan’s censorship capabilities were humble earlier the latest disruptions began.

“But the caller system, rumoured to beryllium deployed this year, is simply a batch little transparent and acold much disruptive to productivity and idiosyncratic experience,” helium said.

Ali, the Sydney-based cybersecurity expert, explained that portion galore countries deploy web monitoring systems, they bash truthful with ineligible oversight.

“Countries similar the US oregon UK usage akin systems, but they often person ineligible guardrails – specified arsenic tribunal orders and procedural checks – to support privateness and state of speech,” helium said.

Experts accidental determination is small warrant that Pakistan volition guarantee akin safeguards portion utilizing its caller firewall.

For a state striving to amended its struggling system with export gross from its increasing IT industry, the implications of a much intrusive firewall are economically significant, too.

Any strategy that disrupts net services, hampers concern operations oregon raises privateness concerns could airs a superior menace to some backstage individuals and the broader concern community, integer rights activistic Aziz said.

“Pakistani businesses trust connected planetary platforms for services similar web hosting, and galore person contracts requiring confidentiality. If the caller strategy inspects web traffic, blocks VPNs, oregon imposes a registration regime, it could make much obstacles,” she warned.

Pakistan past risks being perceived arsenic an unstable and unattractive marketplace for investment, she said – precisely astatine a clip erstwhile Prime Minister Sharif and his squad person been desperately wooing countries similar Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates for big-ticket projects.

“Lack of transparency, invasive exertion and regressive policies are creating an situation wherever determination is nary warrant of service, the regularisation of instrumentality is weak, and adjacent tribunal actions don’t needfully pb to relief,” Aziz said.

“This doesn’t bode well.”