Overview
- Pakistan’s Defence Ministry issued notifications appointing Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as the first Chief of Defence Forces for five years, concurrent with his COAS role, and extending Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sodho’s tenure by two years effective March 19, 2026.
- During Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov’s Islamabad visit, the two countries signed 15 agreements and MoUs spanning energy, trade and connectivity, with leaders citing progress linked to projects such as CASA‑1000.
- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government ordered province‑wide service points to register undocumented Afghan residents with biometric verification, data‑sharing mechanisms, dedicated counters for women and children, and directions to speed enforcement and wind down camps.
- The Interior Ministry directed a crackdown on fake‑visa networks and approved immigration reforms, including a January AI‑based screening pilot in Islamabad, tougher action against deportees through passport cancellations, and a standardized international driving licence via the National Police Bureau.
- Institutional service measures advanced as Punjab converted the Suthra Punjab program into a statutory authority and named Babar Sahabdin its director general, while NADRA signed for a sixth Karachi mega‑centre in Malir targeting 30 counters and capacity for over 3,000 daily visitors.