The federal cabinet met on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and took a series of decisions touching defence cooperation, provincial administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, energy allocation and currency reform. The meeting brought together the central questions facing the government at the start of November, from the management of a province under emergency rule to the future shape of the country’s banknotes.
One of the principal decisions was the ratification of the defence cooperation agreement between Pakistan and Kuwait. According to a handout issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the agreement is intended to strengthen institutional linkages between the armed forces of the two countries. Ratification by the cabinet gives formal effect to the understanding reached between Islamabad and Kuwait City, and places the cooperation on a structured footing rather than leaving it as an informal arrangement between the two sides.
The cabinet also turned its attention to the allocation of liquefied petroleum gas quotas. It announced a transparent and competitive mechanism for allocating LPG quotas, a step that reflects the sensitivity of fuel distribution at a time when households and businesses are watching energy costs closely. The decision suggests that the government wants the process of deciding who receives LPG, and on what terms, to be open to scrutiny and based on competition rather than discretion alone.
The most consequential administrative decision concerned Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The powers of the chief minister of the province, who became non-functional after the imposition of governor’s rule, were transferred to Governor Faisal Karim Kundi. The transfer is intended to ensure the smooth execution of administrative affairs, improve governance and handle day-to-day matters during the provincial state of emergency. In practical terms, it means that the governor now carries the responsibilities that would ordinarily rest with the chief minister, at a moment when the province requires steady administration and clear lines of authority.
The Prime Minister told the cabinet that the government had finalised a comprehensive development and security package for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa worth Rs160 billion. The scale of the package underlines the importance the federal government attaches to the province, where development needs and security challenges have long been intertwined. A package of this size is designed to address both dimensions together, recognising that progress on roads, services and livelihoods cannot be separated from the wider question of stability in the region.
The cabinet also approved designs for new currency notes and the introduction of a Rs10 coin to replace the existing 10-rupee banknote. The change will affect one of the most widely used denominations in daily transactions, and the move from a note to a coin reflects a judgement about durability and cost over time. Coins generally last longer in circulation than low-denomination notes, which wear out quickly with constant handling, and the cabinet’s approval sets the process in motion for the new designs to be prepared and issued.
Taken together, the decisions illustrate a cabinet session that ranged across foreign defence ties, provincial governance, energy policy, regional development and the currency in people’s pockets. The ratification of the Kuwait agreement strengthens a bilateral relationship with a Gulf partner, while the arrangements for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa address an immediate administrative gap created by the emergency. The LPG mechanism and the Rs160 billion package both speak to the government’s attempt to combine transparency in resource allocation with investment in a province facing particular pressures. The currency decisions, by contrast, are longer-term in their effect, changing something that citizens encounter every day.
The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister, and the outcomes were set out in the official handout from his office. The transfer of powers to the governor, in particular, will be watched closely in Peshawar and Islamabad in the days ahead, as the province continues to operate under the state of emergency and as the development and security package begins to take shape.
Source: Dawn.
