The first sign comes from exports. Pakistan’s textile exports increased marginally to $17.93 billion in FY26 from $17.89bn in FY25, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The increase was only 0.26 per cent, but the significance lies in the fact that exports held their ground despite pressures on production, energy costs, financing and competitiveness. More encouragingly, readymade garment exports rose 3.87pc to $4.29bn, while cotton yarn exports increased 12.4pc to $765 million.

The beginning of FY27 has been more promising. During July-August, textile and clothing exports rose 5.55pc to $3.38bn from $3.20bn a year earlier. Readymade garments increased 13.59pc to $827m, knitwear 4.79pc to $1.004bn, towels 6.74pc to $191m and cotton yarn 34.8pc to $161m. Cotton cloth, however, declined 7.66pc while bedwear remained almost unchanged.

The composition of this growth is more important than the headline number. Demand appears to favour some of Pakistan’s more value-added and competitive products rather than driving broad-based expansion across the entire textile chain.

Textile production itself declined marginally by 0.03pc, but wearing apparel expanded 22pc

Greater value comes from converting fibre and yarn into garments, knitwear, towels, home textiles and other finished products, generating more value and employment from the same raw material. The continuing strength of garments and knitwear therefore provides a more useful indication of resilience than the overall export figure alone.

Manufacturing data also signals stabilisation, as provisional Pakistan Bureau of Statistics figures showed large-scale manufacturing expanded 4.98pc overall in FY26. While the broader textile group declined 0.63pc, key sub-sectors registered growth, with wearing apparel rising 5.49pc and cotton yarn posting modest gains of around 1pc.

The latest monthly figures are revealing. In July 2026, overall large-scale manufacturing (LSM) increased 3.03pc year-on-year. Textile production itself declined marginally by 0.03pc, but wearing apparel expanded 22.03pc. The divergence suggests that while the traditional textile chain remains under pressure, downstream garment manufacturing is showing considerably greater momentum.

There are also signs of investment in machinery and technology, indicating that parts of the industry are attempting to improve productivity, modernise plants and strengthen export competitiveness. The cotton crop provides another, though provisional, reason for optimism. By September 15, cotton arrivals at ginning factories had reached 2.389m bales, 19.17pc higher than the 2.004m recorded during the same period last year. Punjab’s arrivals were up 24.73pc and Sindh’s 16.25pc. Industry representatives have suggested production could exceed 6m bales if favourable conditions continue.

But cotton also illustrates the limits of the optimism. Arrivals have begun to lose momentum, while pests, rainfall, acreage and crop quality remain big risks. Pakistan’s domestic cotton production has fallen sharply from its historical highs, leaving the textile industry increasingly dependent on imported fibre.

The export numbers illustrate the problem. Textile exports fell 16.71pc year-on-year in June to $1.27bn, with weakness visible in major value-added categories including knitwear, readymade garments and bedwear. Stable annual exports should consequently not be confused with a durable recovery.

The industry remains highly sensitive to international demand, energy prices, freight disruptions, exchange-rate movements and the availability and cost of working capital. An improvement in any one of these can lift exports temporarily; it cannot transform underlying competitiveness.

Energy remains one of the most persistent constraints. Textile manufacturers have repeatedly called for regionally competitive electricity and gas prices, tariff rationalisation and a predictable policy environment. Energy costs affect more than the immediate price of an exported product. Expensive electricity and gas reduce the ability and incentive to invest in modern machinery and energy-efficient production.

This makes Pakistan’s ageing industrial base a serious concern. The country cannot indefinitely compete by relying on relatively inexpensive labour while competitors invest in automation, product development and efficient manufacturing.

Cotton presents an even more fundamental problem. Pakistan produced a record 14.81m bales in FY12. Recent production has fallen to roughly 5.5m bales, leaving the industry increasingly dependent on imported fibre. This exposes mills to international prices, freight costs and exchange-rate movements. For an industry historically built around cotton, the decline has become an industrial competitiveness issue, not merely an agricultural one.

The government’s draft Textile and Apparel Policy 2025-30 recognises several of these weaknesses. It sets an ambitious target of raising textile and apparel exports to $29.381bn by FY30, with greater emphasis on value-added products, productivity, investment, sustainability and diversification.

Diversification is nevertheless becoming unavoidable. Global fibre consumption has shifted substantially towards man-made fibres, while Pakistan remains heavily dependent on cotton. Greater participation in man-made fibre apparel and technical textiles would open wider global markets and reduce excessive dependence on an increasingly unreliable domestic cotton crop.

The issue, therefore, is not whether Pakistan can produce another few hundred million dollars of textile exports. It is whether the country can build an industrial ecosystem capable of creating considerably greater value from the same resources.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 28th, 2026

DIG Operations Faisal Kamran described the individual as a PTI “goon” who wanted to sabotage peace. The PTI vehemently rejected the Lahore police claim.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Faisal Kamran claimed that police had seized an audio recording from the mobile phone of the suspect who was identified as Amin.

He said the suspect and a PTI woman could be heard arranging 20 to 30 `rioters’ for the May 9-like violence across the provincial capital.

Party vehemently rejects claim

The DIG said the woman, yet to be arrested, was identified as Fatima Haider, whom the suspect described as a ‘PTI welfare wing’ member.

She was already involved in the May 9 cases and was on bail, Faisal Kamran said, adding that she could be heard talking to Amin in the audio recording that the individuals would be imparted training to create an unrest during Sept 27 protests.

He said the ‘goons’ were to be brought to Lahore to create a situation similar to the May 9 violence.

“The police got information of the conspiracy on Sept 26 and arrested Amin who hailed from Sahiwal and was working as a driver for the woman’s family”, the DIG said.

The police also seized several other audio recordings from the mobile phone of the arrested suspect which further revealed more such disturbing plans of the PTI’s individuals despite the fact that the party leadership had multiple times claimed of carrying out ‘peacful protests’.

Following the sensitivity of the matter, the police formed multiple teams to track down all the suspects involved in the ‘nefarious’ plan.

PTI reaction: PTI strongly rejected Punjab police allegations surrounding individuals named Amin and Fatima Haider as part of Punjab government’s “vague narrative campaign.”

Responding to Faisal Kamran’s news conference, Punjab PTI information secretary Shaukat Basra told Dawn that Punjab’s “Gullu Butt” should stop creating false narratives like the May 9 false-flag operation. He said the PTI had always been peaceful and remained so in the light of explicit instructions of party founder Imran Khan.

Mr Basra asked police to stop asking riddles and bring clear evidence to light. He said the party’s stance had always remained clear that May 9 was a false-flag operation and added those who stole the May 9 CCTV footage had not presented it in courts and were responsible for the May 9 violence.

“Like the May 9 false-flag operation, the DIG Lahore’s claim is a white lie and the allegation is planted”. He said all police officers in Punjab had “actually become Jati Umra slaves, orchestrating a campaign of lies.”

Referring to an IGP claim that “the police has not entered anyone’s house and took no illegal action,” the PTI information secretary said that he had challenged the IG and posted videos on his X handle, showing police entering private residences of people. He said no police officer had so far refuted his claim. He said the PTI still challenged the IGP and the CCPO to present the May 9 CCTV footage in courts.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2026

M-1, sections of M-14 (Islamabad-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway) and the GT Road (N-5) were closed to traffic last week for an indefinite period amid government pushback ahead of PTI’s long march towards Islamabad — initially scheduled for September 27, but later postponed to October 4.

According to a Motorway Police spokesperson, restoration work remained underway on the M-14 motorway between Hakla and Kundal and on the loop connecting the M-1 motorway with the Hazara Motorway.

Traffic travelling from Islamabad to Abbottabad via the M-1 can exit at Burhan Interchange, use the GT Road via Hasan Abdal and rejoin the Hazara Expressway at Jhuri Kas Interchange, the spokesperson said.

The N-5, or GT Road, between Islamabad and Peshawar has also been reopened to all traffic, the spokesperson said.

In its Sept 22 directives, the motorway police announced that the M-1 was closed to all traffic in both directions between the Islamabad Toll Plaza and Chhachh Interchange, while the M-14 was closed between Hakla and Kundal. The GT Road was also closed at Attock Khurd.

Security arrangements were also intensified in Attock, with containers and sandbags placed at key bridges and security tightened at major entry and exit points as authorities prepared for the PTI protest.

However, on Sept 25, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said PTI’s long march towards Islamabad would now commence from Peshawar on Oct 4.

The party was set to hold a nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad to press for the release of its founder, Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

Ahead of the protest, the Punjab government imposed a ban on gatherings across the province for 13 days and prohibited inciting people to “unlawful assembly”. A similar ban under Section 144 has been enforced in Islamabad for two months.

The Punjab government also sent a letter to the interior ministry requesting mobile and internet services at specific locations in Rawalpindi and Attock to be downgraded or jammed on Sept 27. The federal government also approved the deployment of Rangers in Islamabad and several districts of Punjab from Sept 20 to Oct 5.