Federal cabinet's national strategy meeting deferred for second time

A crucial federal cabinet meeting convened to review and finalise a future strategy regarding the recent violent protests against the United States in various cities has been postponed for the second time, sources told 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.

The session had been scheduled to take place at 9:30am on Tuesday morning. However, just as it was about to begin, it was postponed once again without any official explanation. Sources said a fresh date and time for the meeting will be announced later.

According to details, the meeting had initially been called by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday before the joint session of parliament at 9:30am. It was later deferred to Tuesday at the same time. The rescheduling follows earlier changes to the parliamentary timetable.

The government had also altered the timing of the joint sitting of parliament. The session, originally set to be held at 10am on Monday, was subsequently moved to 3pm. President Asif Ali Zardari addressed the joint session after the revised schedule was implemented.

As reported earlier by the 24NewsHD TV channel, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was expected to chair the federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday instead of Monday to deliberate on the recent wave of violent protests against the United States in cities including Karachi and Islamabad. The unrest followed regional developments after Iranian strikes and heightened tensions in the Middle East.

The cabinet was expected to undertake a comprehensive review of the evolving regional security environment. A detailed briefing was to be presented on developments linked to the ongoing US-Israel attacks on Iran.

Sources further said that the cabinet members were also to be briefed on the Pak-Afghan war and the Taliban’s terror activities inside Pakistan.

In addition to security matters, significant economic and administrative decisions were anticipated at the meeting.

According to the report, key decisions regarding the possible issuance of newly designed currency notes and the future of the Rs10 banknote were expected to come under discussion.

Insiders said that recommendations on the introduction of redesigned banknotes had been included in the cabinet agenda. The federal cabinet had earlier assigned a committee headed by the finance minister to examine the matter and submit proposals for consideration.

Sources revealed that the committee proposed issuing new design banknotes in denominations of Rs100, Rs500, Rs1,000 and Rs5,000. These recommendations were likely to be discussed and potentially approved during the meeting.

The cabinet had also sought proposals regarding the future of the Rs10 banknote. The committee was directed to assess the feasibility of abolishing the Rs10 note and replacing it with a Rs10 coin.

The meeting was set to deliberate on a seven-point agenda, which included the presentation of a summary related to the Hajj Policy 2027–30.

Reporter: Awais Kiyani