Cabinet approves Omar Sarfraz Cheema's removal, okays appointment of DG IB

- Also endorsed Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement

ISLAMABAD, May 10: The Federal Cabinet on Tuesday approved the summary to remove Omar Sarfraz Cheema from the Punjab Governor slot.

The federal cabinet meeting was held in Islamabad with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.

The cabinet also approved the appointment of Fawad Asadullah Khan as permanent directorgeneral of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), an officer of grade-21, whose notification had already been issued by the Establishment Division. He was previously posted as Commandant IB Academy.

The meeting discussed the current political situation in the country and other matters of importance.

Cabinet members said that a constitutional process was adopted to remove Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema from his post but President Arif Alvi misused his powers. The cabinet was briefed about the court order details to de- seat Punjab Governor.

The cabinet also approved the resignation of the Wapda Chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Muzzamil Hussain and now additional charge has been given to the Wapda member finance Naveed Asghar Chaudhry for the period of three months only.

The federal cabinet also endorsed the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement.

The agreement has been extended for the fourth time. The trade ministry presented a summary seeking another six-month extension in the agreement. The previous PTI government had extended the agreement for three times.

The 10- year- long PakAfghan Transit Trade agreement was finalized on Oct 28, 2010 in Kabul.

Sources infirmed that as per the Pak-Afghan trade agreement, Afghanistan has been given access to the Central Asian countries. It has also been granted access to Pakistani ports.

Besides this, Afghanistan has also been given access to the Wagah border for its trade with India.