PAKISTAN WARNS CEASEFIRE WITH AFGHANISTAN HINGES ON HALTING CROSS-BORDER TERRORIST ATTACKS
g FO SPOKESPERSON CLARIFIES PAK-AFGHAN CEA SEFIRE IS CONDITIONAL, NOT A TRADITIONAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN TWO BELLIGERENT STATES
g PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN BORDER REMAINS TENSE A S ALL CROSSINGS CLOSED, TRADE STALLED SINCE OCTOBER 11
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PA K I S TA N s Foreign Ministry on Friday clarified that the current ceasefire with Afghanistan is not a “traditional” agreement between two states at war but is contingent on the cessation of terrorist attacks emanating from Afghan soil The statement from the Foreign Office comes amid renewed tensions along the 2,600-kilometre PakistanAfghanistan border following recent militant attacks inside Pakistan and accusations of cross-border hostilities The ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan does not imply a conventional ceasefire implemented after a war or conflict between two belligerent states,” FO Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said during his weekly press briefing “The Pakistan-Afghanistan ceasefire implies that there would be no terrorist attack by Afghan-sponsored terrorist proxies into Pakistan There have been major terrorist attacks after this ceasefire ” Andrabi stressed that the agreement should be understood in the context of preventing attacks by groups such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Faisalabad Akhtar Group (FAK), and other Afghan nationals operating from Afghan soil “So, interpreting in that sense, the ceasefire is not holding because the ceasefire was about ceasing terrorist attacks inside Pakistan he added Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban are at their lowest point since the group came to power in 2021
g CONDEMNS AFGHAN TALIBAN CLAIMS OF ISIS PRESENCE IN PAKISTAN A S ‘ OUTRAGEOUS ’ AND BA SELESS
g STRONGLY CONDEMNS WA SHINGTON DC NATIONAL GUARD ATTACK, EMPHA SIZES GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM COOPERATION
Border crossings have remained closed since October 11 with trade stalled following ground fighting and Pakistani airstrikes that killed dozens on both sides the worst fighting along the frontier since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul In an effort to mediate, Turkiye and Qatar hosted multiple rounds of talks in Doha The first round produced a fragile ceasefire the second concluded with a general agreement to develop a verification mechanism, and the third ended without concrete results However, allegations of recent Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan which Islamabad has denied have again heightened tensions prompting threats of retaliation from Kabul If Afghan nationals are attacking as they did in Islamabad and elsewhere, we cannot be very optimistic about the ceasefire,” Andrabi noted “It is not a traditional ceasefire but must be understood
in the context of terrorist attacks from Afghanistan He reassured that Pakistan s security forces remain fully alert with military preparedness robust against any potential threats The security challenges we face will be addressed with the seriousness that they merit,” he said Responding to Afghan Taliban claims that Pakistan harbours ISIS militants Andrabi called the allegations outrageous and baseless It is a figment of the imagination of the Afghan Taliban regime Any extremist element in Pakistan is treated as per our laws This statement of ISIS presence in Pakistan is totally unfounded he said Earlier this month the Information Ministry confirmed that all attackers involved in the Cadet College Wana assault in South Waziristan were Afghan citizens The assailants breached the main gate of the college but a swift response by secu-
rity forces averted a major tragedy Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry also noted that a suicide bomber outside the Islamabad district and sessions court building was not a Pakistani national That blast killed 12 and injured 36 people Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused Afghanistan and India of involvement in terrorism promising a “befitting response ” while Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said attacks on terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan could not be ruled out In a separate statement on Friday, the Foreign Office strongly condemned the shooting of two United States National Guard soldiers in Washington DC reportedly by an Afghan national One soldier succumbed to injuries while the other remains critically wounded President Donald Trump described the incident as an “act of terror ” “Pakistan strongly condemns this shooting incident ” the FO said extending sympathies to the families affected and the US government For the past two decades, Pakistan has endured countless similar terrorist incidents, often linked to Afghanistan This attack underscores the challenges of transnational terrorism and the urgent need for enhanced global cooperation The FO added that Pakistan remains committed to working with the US and the international community to confront terrorism collectively “This incident heralds a troubling resurgence of terrorism on a global scale The international community must take note and reinvigorate collective counterterrorism efforts the statement said
Dar calls for united front against terrorism to safeguard ECO economic goals
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, issued a stark warning on Friday, urging member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to form a collective front against terrorism which he identified as a critical threat undermining the region s economic advancement Addressing the 29th Meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers (COM) via video link Senator Dar underlined Pakistan s steadfast dedication to fostering regional integration and sustainable development outlining a forward-looking agenda as the nation prepares to assume the chairmanship of the council He reiterated that Islamabad
would work diligently with fellow members to finalize the ECO Vision 2026–2035, a new framework intended to deepen regional cooperation He also congratulated Kazakhstan s Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev on hosting the meeting and commended the contributions of Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi and ECO Secretary General Ambassador Dr Asad Majeed Khan A key priority for Pakistan the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted, is the enhancement of multimodal transport corridors He reaffirmed the country’s resolve to fully operationalize significant linkage initiatives including the Islamabad–Tehran–Istanbul Rail Corridor the Eurasian Multimodal Corridor, and emerging railway projects connecting Central Asia
with Pakistan through Afghanistan Pointing to concrete actions, Senator Dar referenced the successful Regional Transport Ministers Conference held in Islamabad in October 2025 and noted Pakistan s liberalized visa policy which now facilitates business and tourist travel from 126 countries
The call for deeper collaboration extended to creating sustainable transport systems improving transit trade harmonizing customs regimes and building climate-resilient infrastructure throughout the economic bloc
In a development boosting cultural ties, Senator Dar expressed gratitude for the designation of Lahore as the ECO Tourism Capital for 2027 and extended an invitation to all member nations for the 30th ECO-COM Meeting, which Pakistan is scheduled to host next year
SINDH APPROVES RECORD RS1.018TR DEVELOPMENT BUDGET FOR F Y26
Fuel prices expected to decline from December 1
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IOthe global discourse on human rights impartiality evidence-based reporting and ethical advocacy are expected hallmarks Yet, Amnesty International s recent statement targeting Pakistan exposes a glaring absence of all three Once again the organization has revealed a blatant agenda-driven bias spotlighting selective narratives while ignoring the harsh realities
istan
against
in its
The
94,000 Pakistani martyrs, who
of
lives defending the homeland against internationally recognized
groups, are conveniently erased from Amnesty’s account In stark contrast the organization elevates the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement whose leadership openly amplifies anti-state rhetoric echoes foreign narratives, and indirectly shields adversaries undermining Pakistan s sovereignty Amnesty International’s selective outrage is less about human rights and more about political optics disguised as advocacy While Pakistan mourns families torn apart by suicide bombers soldiers ambushed along the border and children massacred in attacks such as the APS tragedy, Amnesty s lens remains narrowly fixed on PTM activists The PTM leadership, far from acting as a neutral political entity actively channels narratives aligned with RAW-backed propaganda networks glorifies sanctuaries for cross-border terrorists and persistently undermines the very institutions safeguarding Pakistan By amplifying these voices while ignoring Pakistan s colossal human cost, Amnesty not only diminishes its credibility but also reveals the political motivations behind its so-called
PO L I T I C A L parties in the opposition and some sections of the lawyer s community while rejecting the establishment of constitutional court and other reforms in the judiciary are vociferous in spreading the narrative that the step has undermined the independence of judiciary They are terribly wrong as their criticism is politically motivated rather than an honest appraisal of the 27th Amendment In view of the extreme political polarization that reaction is not surprising A constitutional court is not something out of this world Many countries have separate constitutional courts alongside their supreme courts, particularly in Europe and Latin America Examples include Germany Italy Spain Chile Colombia and South Korea each with distinct courts that interpret their national constitutions It simply means bifurcation of the judicial responsibilities between the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court without any bar on their independence The reforms in the judiciary were long overdue in view of the pendency of thousands of cases in the Supreme Court for years The establishment of the constitutional court has not only been demanded ny the legal community for the last two decades but also one of the priorities in the Charter of Democracy signed between the two major political parties As is evident the idea has been discussed in political and legal circles for a long time Parliame,nt, which represents the collective will has justifiably given this thinking a constitutional and legal status under Article 239(5-6) This thinking developed over the years due to the activism exhibited by the judiciary through its invention of doctrine of necessity and a string of verdicts in violation of the Constitution itself which they were supposed to protect The dismissal of the Nawaz Sharif government in 2017 on flimsy grounds which were not even prayed by the petitioners and blatant attempt to rewrite the Constitution while expressing opinion on Article 63A are classic examples of judicial activism that had undermined governance and promoted political instability in the country This left no choice for the Parliament but to bring about the much needed reforms and bifurcation of the judiciary to ensure quick justice and check judicial activism The Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court
eign-financed efforts that bolster PTM s antistate agenda is not accidental it is deliberate, revealing the organization’s role as a megaphone for networks operating from New Delhi and Kabul The PTM s political theatre revolves around magnifying every narrative critical of Pakistan while ignoring the devastation wrought by terrorism Schools, mosques, tribal jirgas, and police personnel are frequent targets of violent attacks, yet PTM diverts attention to vilify Pakistan’s security forces Notably neither Amnesty International nor PTM condemned terrorist attacks in Islamabad the Cadet College Wana in Waziristan or the Federal Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar Their silence in the face of such atrocities exposes a troubling complicity, underscoring that their selective activism is driven not by principles but by agendas aligned with foreign interests By uncritically echoing PTM propaganda Amnesty aligns itself with these anti-Pakistan campaigns rendering its claims hollow and exposing its advocacy as politically motivated No organization that disregards 94,000 martyrs, children slaughtered in schools, tribal elders executed by terrorists and soldiers guarding Pakistan’s frontiers has the moral authority to lecture Pakistan on human rights Amnesty s hypocrisy is glaring and its credibility erodes with every statement that prioritizes foreign narratives over ground realities Pakistan, in contrast, has both the right and the duty to investigate extremist-linked organizations, foreign-sponsored networks and individuals operating under the aegis of hostile intelligence agencies The PTM has repeatedly crossed red lines by promoting narratives that coincide with adversarial agendas, and Amnesty s defence of such actions serves as a thinly veiled shield for foreign strategic interests
Amnesty International’s concern appears exclusively when PTM activists face scrutiny yet it remains conspicuously silent when ordinary Pakistanis fall victim to IEDs ambushes or cross-border attacks This selective advocacy is not human rights work; it is a politically motivated operation masquerading as moral authority By exposing these double standards,
Bar Association in a joint statement have supported the establishment of the Constitutional Court through the 27th Amendment maintaining that it would strengthen the Federation The statement said that it has been their demand for establishment of the constitutional court with equal representation from the provinces for the last two decades for hearing constitutional and political matters while the Supreme Court dealt with cases involving the general public to ensure quick justice The statement noted with regret that certain political factions within the legal community were attempting to create division amongst the lawyers’ community to achieve their ulterior political motives and to advance their political agenda It further reiterated They often issue statements aimed at sabotaging the democratic system of the country We strongly reject and condemn such statements issued by non-elected people and assure that their futile exercise would soon be rendered ineffective We want to make it explicitly clear that the Pakistan Bar Coun-
Healing family ties
Pakistan underscores a vital truth: advocacy that ignores context sacrifices and national security is not justice it is complicity in eroding the state s foundations
Moreover, the organization s repeated emphasis on PTM narratives creates a dangerous precedent It provides international platforms for foreign-sponsored propaganda that glorifies extremism and undermines Pakistan’s sovereignty
The global community must recognize that genuine human rights advocacy cannot be selective politically driven, or exploited as a weapon against a nation actively fighting terrorism Otherwise, the narrative of victimhood is manipulated to serve strategic interests, while the real victims Pakistan’s martyrs security forces and innocent civilians remain unacknowledged
In conclusion Amnesty International s biased reporting and PTM s foreign-backed agenda represent two sides of the same coin
While Pakistan continues its relentless battle against terrorism, sacrificing citizens and soldiers alike these entities weaponize human rights narratives to serve agendas far removed from reality Silence in the face of attacks on Islamabad Wana and Peshawar further underscores their complicity For international observers, policymakers, and media platforms, the imperative is clear: discern genuine advocacy from orchestrated campaigns Pakistan’s struggle against extremism its enormous sacrifices and its commitment to safeguarding its citizens must not be obscured in a tide of selective outrage foreign manipulation, and political theatrics
The writer is a freelance columnist
Nuclear past repeats
Tariq khan Tareen
not about global polarization; it is about domestic paralysis The country s human-development curve has flatlined for nearly a decade, its institutions fatigued, its governance incoherent and its social investment threadbare Growth in Pakistan s model has become a spectacle that bypasses people
The World Bank s latest country diagnostics echo the same dismay Urbanisation, often a marker of progress, has turned chaotic Pakistan’s cities meant to be engines of innovation are now choking under collapsing infrastructure housing shortages and polluted air Karachi and Lahore the supposed nerve centres of progress have become metaphors for dysfunction: water-starved, overcrowded, and unevenly governed Urban sprawl without planning is not development it is decay at scale The failure to invest in urban management has not just bred inefficiency but has also deepened inequality segregating the privileged from the abandoned
The IMF s 2025 review paints an equally sobering picture Between 2000 and 2022, Pakistan’s per-capita GDP growth averaged just 1 9 percent annually compared to India’s 4 9 percent and Bangladesh’s 4 5 percent This disparity is not about luck; it is about leadership The IMF attributes the stagnation to weak contributions from human and physical capital and declining productivity ” Simply put, Pakistan has built an economy without building its people Productivity has fallen governance has fractured and fiscal cycles keep repeating in a grim loop of bailout and breakdown The constitutional devolution that followed the 18th Amendment was supposed to democratize governance Instead, it fractured it Provinces received powers without capacity; local governments were empow-
ered on paper but starved in practice Municipal authorities remain toothless while provincial departments drown in red tape and turf wars The result is governance in name not in substance laws enacted without enforcement, policies launched without follow-through, and institutions existing more as symbols than systems Nowhere is this dysfunction more visible than in education the very spine of human development Pakistan
Education
Commission itself laments the poor research output and disconnect between academia and industry The tragedy is not that our universities produce less knowledge but that they produce less relevance In a century defined by data, innovation, and AI, Pakistan s education system continues to prepare students for
models Yet Pakistan s crisis is
Texistential liability The numbers alone explain the commotion On Humanity s Last Exam a trial designed to stretch reasoning to its limits Gemini 3 0 scored 37 5 percent, while OpenAI s GPT 5 1 managed 26 5 percent and Anthropic s Claude Sonnet 4 5 landed at 13 7 percent In MathArena Apex, where complex mathematical reasoning is the currency, Google’s system posted 23 4 percent Rival models hovered near 1 percent Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman calls himself the underdog now a line that would have seemed fanciful not long ago Google s advance suggests that the winning structure for the next phase of AI would be vertically integrated systems controlling both model architecture and custom chips Investors took notice, and the announcement moved share prices of Google parent Alphabet and Nvidia Reports that Meta is weighing the adoption of tensor processing units added another twist The idea of a single indispensable supplier now looks outdated This turn carries implications well beyond Silicon Valley The shift toward specialized chips is widening the market for application-specific designs That includes memory where demand for high-bandwidth memory is already strong Hardware fragmentation offers a mix of opportunity and peril for Korean semiconductor giants As the market diversifies demand is exploding for low-power high-performance memory like LPDDR5X/6
has held joint military exercises in waters near Venezuela and deployed carrier strike groups to the region resulting in the largest military buildup in the Caribbean in decades The US Secretary of Defense announced the launch of Operation Southern Spear aimed at eliminating narco terrorists in the Western Hemisphere; the US Army has stated its readiness to take military action against Venezuela The US seems to be creating a situation where war with Venezuela could be imminent Rationally speaking the US should carefully consider the costs of starting a war Even from the perspective of its own interests the US should think twice before it acts The old historical script keeps repeating itself From the US seizure of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898, to its military support for Panama’s secession from Colombia in 1903; from the overthrow of the Guatemalan government of Jacobo Árbenz in 1954 to the invasion of Grenada in 1983 and the Operation Just Cause invasion of Panama in 1989 US military actions abroad often yielded short term economic and military victories but resulted in a long term loss of political credibility and soft power Since the beginning of the 21st century US military operations in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq have exacerbated regional instability entangled the US in prolonged conflicts and severely damaged its international image and prestige The methods and objectives of the US today are identical to those of the past If it truly resorts to force, the negative consequences for the US, the region and the world would be no different
There is no doubt that US military action against Venezuela would constitute a severe viola-
tion of Venezuelan sovereignty and a breach of the UN Charter Any unilateral use of force by the United States without the authorization of the Security Council and beyond legitimate self defense is considered illegal by the mainstream of the international community and legal systems As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, for the US to blatantly and wantonly use force against a weaker nation would undoubtedly provoke global condemnation further cementing the label of hegemonism on the US and damaging its credibility once again More worryingly such a move would open a Pandora s box, potentially returning the world to an era where might makes right Should the US openly use military force against Venezuela it would also substantiate accusations of neocolonialism leaving the US isolated in international relations devoid of support In fact the current US actions have already sparked strong opposition both domestically and internationally US media and public opinion widely oppose the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug traffickers overseas, the designation of drug cartels as terrorist organizations followed by military action and the use of force to overthrow the Maduro government fearing the US could be dragged into another protracted and costly overseas conflict Regional countries including Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, and Brazil have publicly expressed opposition to the use or threat of force Even allies like the UK have raised doubts about the legality of the US military moves Military action against Venezuela could also mire the US in a quagmire of war Venezuela is a major regional country with a well developed military system, including over 120,000 regular troops, 8,000 reservists, and millions of militia members Objectively speaking, the use of force by the US is unlikely to achieve its desired objectives in the short term and could instead force the US into a prolonged war of attrition even a ground war incurring incalculable direct and indirect economic losses If Venezuela s oil supply were completely cut off due to war, it could trigger a global
Majid Nabi burfat
S T Y S AY S I S R A E L ‘ S T I L L
As
SYED HASSAN BIN HAMMAD
Muslims of the subcontinent could live with dignity and self-determination But that very foundation also left us struggling to define what being Pakistani truly meant once the external enemy was gone In the early years our leaders could have built a civic nationalism based on equality justice and belonging for all citizens Instead identity became tied to ideology and ideology was too often used to control rather than unite
The decades that followed turned nationalism into a political instrument From the consptutional debates of the 1950s to the Islamization of the 1980s patriotism was frequently defmed not by shared values but by loyalty to a particular narrative Questioning authority or calling for reform was branded "unpatriotic " We began to confuse dissent with disloyalty and in
doing so, we weakened the very democracy our founders envisioned This crisis of nationalism has had lasting effects We've seen it in how minorities are treated in how ethnic identities are viewed with suspicion and in how political leaders exploit national pride for personal gain Nationalism in Pakistan too often demands uniformity instead of unity It thrives on emotional slogans, not thoughtful debate It celebrates symbolism - flags anthems and
sibility To me, loving Pakistan means holding it accountable
nationalism rooted in purpose Our education syan pust teach critical thinking not conformity Our politics must celebrate service over symbolism And our leaders must learn that strength comes not from suppressing difference, but from embracing it Pakistan s future depends on how we define our nationalism in the years ahead If it remains about exclusion it will keep dividing us
Russia’s Putin to visit India on December 4-5 for talks with Modi
Third anniversar y of GDA Pak-China
CCPO warns of strict action against land grabbers
President
Capital City Police Officer Lahore Bilal Siddique Kamyana has warned that strict action will be taken against individuals involved in the illegal occupation of citizens’ properties He issued the directive while presiding over a meeting at his
The meeting reviewed ongoing measures against land grabbers the repatriation of illegal Afghan nationals and efforts to curb drug peddling across the provincial capital Participants also discussed mechanisms for retrieving unlawfully occupied land and ensuring relief for affected citizens
The CCPO directed that all encroached properties be retrieved emphasizing the need for close coordination with District
The CCPO instructed authorities to expedite the process and ensure regular announcements via mosques to facilitate compliance He reiterated the importance of upholding the rule of law and stressed the timely investigation of pending cases to bring them to their logical conclusion DIG (Admin) Imran Kishwar, DIG (Investigation) Zeeshan Raza, DIG (Operations) Faisal Kamran, SSP (Investigation) Muhammad Naveed, and divisional SPs attended the meeting
Aleema K han files contempt plea over denied jail meetings with Imran K han
ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI
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Sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, Aleema Khan on Friday filed a contempt of court petition against the Adiala jail superintendent and other officials for repeatedly failing to comply with an Islamabad High Court (IHC) order reinstating a twice-aweek meeting schedule for the former prime minister The petition follows an overnight sit-in outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and other PTI members
The demonstration came after Afridi was denied a meeting with Imran for the eighth time on Thursday Aleema and other sisters of the PTI chief have staged similar protests outside the prison on multiple occasions The PTI ended the latest sit-in
on Friday morning with Afridi announcing plans to approach the IHC where Aleema has now filed the contempt plea Named respondents in the petition include Adiala Jail Superintendent Abdul Ghafoor Anjum, Saddar Beroni Station House Officer Raja Aizaz Azeem Federal Interior Secretary Capt (retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha and Punjab Home Department Secretary Noorul Amin
The plea, a copy of which is available with Dawn, highlighted Aleema’s “deep concern about the well-being legal rights and humane treatment of her brother during his incarceration It referenced the IHC s March 24 order reinstating Imran s twice-weekly visitation rights, urging the initiation of contempt proceedings for “wilful non-implementation” of the court s directives According to the petition the
Adiala Jail authorities had devised standard operating procedures on March 28 2024 allocating Tuesdays for family visits and Thursdays for friends and lawyers
Despite this, the respondents allegedly failed to implement the schedule and reportedly “unlawfully detained” PTI leaders who attempted to meet Imran on November 11 2024
The plea described these actions as deliberate contempt of the IHC, seeking the initiation of criminal proceedings and court directives to enforce visitation rights
Denied access to the high court Aleema accompanied by CM Afridi also attempted to meet the IHC chief justice but was reportedly informed that the chief justice “did not want to meet them ” Afridi said no one had been allowed to see Imran or his wife Bushra Bibi since October 27 leaving them in the dark about his condition
