29 October 2026
Pakistan and China signed an agreement to run a green channel for farm trade at the Sost-Khunjerab crossing. The two customs administrations signed it online at the Federal Board of Revenue headquarters in Islamabad. Pakistan's side was led by Member Customs (Operations) Syed Shakeel Shah, China's by Li Qinghua, deputy head of Urumqi Customs and director of Tashkurgan Customs. An agreed list of agricultural products will now get priority processing and examination, while risk-based customs controls stay in place. The two sides will share information, send each other risk alerts and clear perishable loads first. Officials of the Department of Plant Protection, NAFSA, Pakistan Single Window and the Ministry of Commerce took part. The Khunjerab Pass, at 15,500 feet, is the highest paved international border and links Gilgit-Baltistan with China's Xinjiang. Pakistan Customs collected a record Rs15 billion on imports from China through the pass last year.
Crossing:
Sost-Khunjerab
Height of Khunjerab Pass:
15,500 feet
Customs revenue through the pass last year:
Rs15 billion
Exports through the crossing:
Rs2.8bn
Why it matters for exams: The green channel for agricultural trade runs at the Sost-Khunjerab crossing, the highest paved international border, and was signed by Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue with China's customs.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
FBR Federal Board of Revenue — Pakistan's federal tax and customs authority.
PSW Pakistan Single Window — Pakistan's one-stop digital platform for trade clearances.
24 October 2026
Pakistan's Water and Power Development Authority signed the HM-1 contract of the Diamer-Basha Dam project for Rs133.18 billion. The work went to the Power China-IKAN Joint Venture. Arif Ali, the project's chief engineer and project director, signed for WAPDA and Ling Jianke for the joint venture. The contract covers the hydro-mechanical equipment and hydraulic steel structures that control water flow: gates for the flushing tunnels on both banks, the power intakes and the dam outlets, along with steel lining, hoisting and pumping systems and related electrical works. The dam is being built on the Indus about 40 kilometres downstream of Chilas. It is designed for a gross storage of 8.1 million acre-feet and an installed power capacity of 4,500 megawatts. The signing was held at Wapda House in Lahore.
Contract value:
Rs. 133.18 billion
Contract:
HM-1 Contract
Contractor:
Power China - IKAN Joint Venture
Installed power capacity:
4,500 MW
Gross storage capacity:
8.1 MAF
River:
Indus
Why it matters for exams: The Diamer-Basha Dam on the Indus is designed for 4,500 megawatts and 8.1 million acre-feet of gross storage, and is being built by WAPDA.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
WAPDA Water and Power Development Authority — Pakistan's authority for water and hydropower projects.
MAF Million acre-feet — The unit in which large reservoirs are measured in South Asia.
23 October 2026
Pakistan took part in the R4 Ministerial Meeting held at Istanbul. The R4 group is made up of Turkiye, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Their foreign ministers met their counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. The talks covered the conflict involving Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the need for a negotiated two-state solution, and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and on the Government of Yemen. The ministers also discussed safety and freedom of navigation and rising tension in the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab El Mandeb and the Black Sea. They said regional conflicts must be settled urgently through dialogue, diplomacy and de-escalation, in line with relevant United Nations resolutions. The eight ministers agreed to continue the dialogue in this format.
R4 members:
Turkiye, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
European counterparts:
France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom
Venue:
Istanbul
Why it matters for exams: The R4 group in which Pakistan sits is Turkiye, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and it met France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom at Istanbul.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
R4 Turkiye, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — A four-country grouping that meets European foreign ministers on regional conflicts.
Bab El Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden — One of the shipping chokepoints the R4 ministers discussed.
21 October 2026
Pakistan, Turkiye, Qatar and Indonesia signed the Badr Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation at Doha. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif signed for Pakistan. Turkiye was represented by National Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Qatar by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman, and Indonesia by Deputy Defence Minister Yusuf Jauhari. Haluk Gorgun, who heads Turkiye's Secretariat of Defence Industries, attended the ceremony. The pact covers military production, building up military capability, technical military training, and research and development. It is meant to move the four countries beyond buying and selling equipment towards joint production, transfer of technology, interoperability and shared supply chains. Turkiye's defence ministry said the memorandum reflects a wish to deepen cooperation and develop partnerships.
Name of pact:
Badr Memorandum of Understanding
Signatories:
Pakistan, Turkiye, Qatar, Indonesia
Venue:
Doha
Pakistan's signatory:
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif
Why it matters for exams: The Badr Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation binds Pakistan, Turkiye, Qatar and Indonesia and was signed at Doha by their defence ministers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Badr MoU Badr Memorandum of Understanding — The four-country defence industry cooperation pact signed at Doha.
8 October 2026
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement that clears the way for about $1.2 billion. The deal covers the fourth review of Pakistan's 37-month Extended Fund Facility and the third review of its 28-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Of the money, about $1 billion comes under the Extended Fund Facility and about $210 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, equal to SDR 760 million and SDR 154 million. The IMF mission that worked on the reviews was led by Iva Petrova and visited Pakistan from 23 September to 7 October. The Extended Fund Facility is worth $7 billion in all. The agreement must still be approved by the IMF Executive Board, after which Pakistan can draw the money. Once approved, total disbursements under the two arrangements would reach about $5.7 billion.
Amount unlocked:
about $1.2 billion
Under the EFF:
about $1 billion (SDR 760 million)
Under the RSF:
about $210 million (SDR 154 million)
Size of the EFF:
$7 billion
IMF mission chief:
Iva Petrova
Why it matters for exams: The staff-level agreement covers the fourth review of Pakistan's $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and the third review of its Resilience and Sustainability Facility, releasing about $1.2 billion after Executive Board approval.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
EFF Extended Fund Facility — An IMF lending arrangement for countries needing medium-term support.
RSF Resilience and Sustainability Facility — An IMF facility that lends for climate and other long-term risks.
SDR Special Drawing Rights — The IMF's own unit of account.
24 September 2026
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elected Dr Najeeb Naqi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz as President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He polled 32 votes against 13 for the Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Chaudhry Latif Akbar. Forty-five of the 46 sitting members voted; one was absent. Under the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Constitution the President is elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly, and the winner needs a majority of the house's total strength of 53. The office had been vacant since January 2026 after the death of the previous President. Naqi took the oath the same day, administered by the Chief Justice of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Supreme Court, Raja Saeed Akram Khan. Seats in several constituencies are still unfilled, which is why only 46 members were sitting.
Office:
President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Elected:
Dr Najeeb Naqi (PML-N)
Votes:
32 against 13
Total strength of the Assembly:
53
Why it matters for exams: Dr Najeeb Naqi of the PML-N is the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, elected by the 53-member Legislative Assembly with 32 votes.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
PML-N Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz — The party of Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
AJK Azad Jammu and Kashmir — The Pakistan-administered territory with its own Legislative Assembly, President and Prime Minister.
23 September 2026
Pakistan appointed Lieutenant General (retired) Nauman Mahmood as the first Secretary General of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the appointment, which is for an initial term of three years. He will head the agreement's General Secretariat, which is being set up at Riyadh. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on 7 August, binds Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, and has since also been called the Makkah Defence Alliance. Its stated aim is collective deterrence, with an attack on one signatory treated as an attack on all. The alliance's Strategic Political and Defence Committee, at its first meeting at Istanbul, agreed to set up the General Secretariat and gave the post to Pakistan. At a later emergency meeting at Riyadh the three countries agreed to deploy forces and capabilities rapidly in Saudi Arabia. Mahmood carries the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military).
Office:
First Secretary General, Makkah Joint Defence Agreement
Appointee:
Lt Gen (retd) Nauman Mahmood
Term:
Three years
Member countries:
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye
Secretariat:
Riyadh
Why it matters for exams: Lt Gen (retd) Nauman Mahmood is the first Secretary General of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Turkiye pact with its General Secretariat at Riyadh.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
MJDA Makkah Joint Defence Agreement — The Pakistan-Saudi Arabia-Turkiye collective defence pact, also called the Makkah Defence Alliance.
Background
The Commonwealth's country profile places Pakistan to the north-west of India.
Its other neighbours are China, Afghanistan and Iran.
It borders the Arabian Sea to the south, so the country has a sea coast.
The profile describes vast mountain ranges in the north, an area of desert in the west and the Indus River plain in the centre.
The east is fertile and has many lakes.
The profile gives the area as 882,000 square kilometres and the capital city as Islamabad.
Other neighbours named in the profile:
China, Afghanistan and Iran
Sea to the south:
Arabian Sea
Central plain:
the Indus River plain in the centre
Area:
882,000 square kilometres
Capital city:
Islamabad
Why it matters for exams: Neighbours, the sea to the south and the central river plain are the standard map questions on Pakistan in Kerala PSC and UPSC prelims.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Indus River plain — The broad lowland built by the Indus and its tributaries, occupying the centre of Pakistan.
Background
The United Nations list of Member States gives Pakistan's date of admission as 30-09-1947.
The Commonwealth records that Pakistan joined in 1947, on partition from India; left in 1972, rejoined in 1989.
It is therefore one of the members that has left the association and later returned to it.
The World Trade Organization records that Pakistan has been a WTO member since 1995.
The same record shows Pakistan as a member of GATT since 30 July 1948, under the trading system that the WTO later replaced.
Date of admission to the United Nations:
30-09-1947
Joined the Commonwealth:
1947, on partition from India; left in 1972, rejoined in 1989
WTO member since:
1995
Member of GATT since:
30 July 1948
Why it matters for exams: Dates of accession to the UN, the Commonwealth and the WTO are the kind of one-mark fact a Kerala PSC or UPSC paper sets, and the Commonwealth gap makes Pakistan a favourite example.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — The post-war trade agreement that governed world trade rules until the World Trade Organization took over.
Commonwealth — A voluntary association of independent countries, most of them with a shared constitutional past.
Background
Article 1 of the Constitution provides that Pakistan shall be a Federal Republic to be known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The territories of Pakistan comprise the Provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, together with the Islamabad Capital Territory.
The Constitution refers to the Islamabad Capital Territory as the Federal Capital.
Seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each Province on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published.
Members to fill the general seats of the National Assembly are elected by direct and free vote in accordance with law.
In the Senate, by contrast, the same number of members is elected by the members of each Provincial Assembly, by proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
The Senate shall not be subject to dissolution, and the term of its members shall be six years, with retirements staggered.
Number of provinces:
four
Federal Capital:
Islamabad Capital Territory
Basis of National Assembly seat allocation:
the basis of population
How Senate seats of a Province are filled:
elected by the members of each Provincial Assembly
Senate voting system:
proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote
Term of a Senate member:
six years
Why it matters for exams: The contrast between a lower house allocated by population and an upper house in which every Provincial Assembly elects the same number of members is the comparison examiners draw between Pakistan's Senate and India's Rajya Sabha.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — One of the four provinces of Pakistan, in the north-west of the country.
Provincial Assembly — The elected legislature of a province, whose own members vote in the Senate election for that province.
Single transferable vote — A system in which electors rank candidates and surplus or unused votes pass on, so seats track the strength of each group of voters.
Background
Article 50 provides that there shall be a Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) of Pakistan consisting of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the National Assembly and the Senate.
Majlis-e-Shoora is the constitutional name of the Parliament.
A Bill with respect to any matter in the Federal Legislative List may originate in either House, and if it is passed there it is transmitted to the other House.
If that House rejects the Bill, or does not pass it within ninety days of its laying in the House, the Bill is, at the request of the House in which it originated, considered in a joint sitting.
The President may summon either House or both Houses in joint sitting.
A Money Bill shall originate in the National Assembly, and a copy is transmitted to the Senate, which may within fourteen days make recommendations on it to the National Assembly.
The National Assembly considers those recommendations, and once it has passed the Bill, with or without incorporating them, the Bill is presented to the President for assent.
Constitutional provision:
Article 50
Parliament consists of:
the President and two Houses
Constitutional name of Parliament:
Majlis-e-Shoora
A Money Bill must originate in:
the National Assembly
Senate's window to recommend on a Money Bill:
fourteen days
Period after which a Bill may go to a joint sitting:
ninety days
Why it matters for exams: The ninety-day limit, the joint sitting and the Senate's fourteen-day window to recommend on a Money Bill are the points where Pakistan's procedure departs from India's, and that contrast is what an examiner tests.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Majlis-e-Shoora Parliament of Pakistan — The constitutional name of Pakistan's Parliament.
Money Bill — A bill dealing with matters such as taxation, government borrowing or the Federal Consolidated Fund, which must start in the lower house.
Joint sitting — A single meeting of both Houses together, used to resolve a deadlock over a bill.
Federal Legislative List — The list of subjects, set out in the Fourth Schedule, on which the federal Parliament may make law.
Background
The green channel Pakistan and China have just agreed for farm trade runs through the Sost-Khunjerab crossing, so the pass itself is worth knowing. The Khunjerab Pass sits at 15,500 feet above sea level and is the highest paved international border in the world. It is also the highest point on the Karakoram Highway, the road that links Pakistan to China. On the Pakistani side the pass lies in Gilgit-Baltistan; on the Chinese side it opens into Xinjiang. Under a border protocol the two countries signed in 1985, the pass stays open for travel and trade from April to November, and heavy snowfall shuts it in winter. Pakistan Customs collected a record Rs15 billion in revenue on imports from China through the pass last year, while goods worth Rs2.8bn went out to China and Central Asia through the same crossing.
Height:
15,500 feet
Highway:
Karakoram Highway
On the Pakistani side:
Gilgit-Baltistan
On the Chinese side:
Xinjiang
Open for trade:
April to November
Why it matters for exams: The Khunjerab Pass, at 15,500 feet, is the highest paved international border and the highest point of the Karakoram Highway, linking Gilgit-Baltistan with Xinjiang.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Karakoram Highway The road between Pakistan and China over the Khunjerab Pass — Its highest point is the Khunjerab Pass.