An open wound
THE Cabinet Committee on State-Owner Enterprises was told that the SOEs had run up an accumulated loss of Rs 5 8 trillion of which Rs 342 billion were lost from July to December 2024 The CCoSOEs was considering a report of SOE performance up to December in its meeting on Friday The SOEs are known to be a burden on the government for a long time, but the state has only now acknowledged that this is the result of poor governance, unfunded pension liabilities, thus eroding fiscal space and undermining business confidence Attention seemed focused on the power sector, with the CCSOEs meeting being informed that cumulative power sector circular debt, oil and gas combined, had crossed Rs 4 9 trillion It must not be forgotten that these losses have to be picked up by the federal government, in other words the taxpayer
The problem is one of management of the callousness of the government Seats on the boards of directors of SOEs are not regarded as vital positions, but as sinecures for bureaucrats, who will earn generous travel allowances for attending board meetings while towing the government’s line Competence apart these people are outsiders, and do not provide the kind of direction to the company that a business enterprise should get The appointments they make of the managers to run the enterprise on a day-to-day basis are based either on seniority or influence, neither of which makes for good business leaders The result is before us all: SOEs are a burden on the budget The justifications for SOEs; that they provide employment; that they allow the government to provide services which private enterprise might not; that they provide import substitution; all do not wash when they meet the inexorable argument of affordability
Indeed, the CCSOEs is paying such close attention because they form the core of the government s commitments to the IMF about privatisation One of the IMF’s major concerns is about the power sector and the circular debt owed by the SOEs involved Some of its concerns may be met by the Rs 3 69 trillion struck with the IPPs and the recent trillion-rupee deal with the banks but while power sector reforms have been accelerated, they have not been completed The sector still has the capacity to pull down the whole edific of government finance The other SOEs are now part of the problem not the solution which is for government to get out of the business of business, where it has no business
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
Crises coming together
Dr MuhaMMaD Tayyab Singhanvi
30°C a once-rare event that has now become common due to the climate crisis leading to thousands of deaths Research indicates that even a 1 C rise in temperature increases interpersonal conflicts by two percent and intergroup violence by 2 5–5 percent When agriculture is disrupted due to water scarcity or crop failure food insecurity worsens amplifying tensions in agrarian regions For example the Sahel region in Africa suffering from severe drought has seen heightened conflict between groups like Fulani herders and local militias This region is now among the worst affected by terrorism and climateinduced violence Wars, in turn, also exacerbate environmental destruction The Ukraine–Russia conflict for instance resulted in an estimated 230 million tonnes of CO2e emissions stemming not just from warfare equipment but also the destruction of infrastructure forest fires and mass displacements The environmental devastation caused by such conflicts further disrupts the ecological balance and accelerates climate change
In South Asia treaties like the Indus Waters Treaty between Pakistan and India are crucial for irrigation and energy security However climate-induced stress and increasing Indian aggression have placed this agreement at risk Heatwaves, droughts, and dwindling water resources are escalating tensions, which could lead to insecurity, migration, and political instability across the region
A UN report highlights that at least 22 regions including Sudan the Palestinian territories Mali and Haiti are facing severe food insecurity with climate shocks being a primary factor The outcome is largescale displacement and profound humanitarian crises If CO2 emissions continue at the current pace for the next three years, the 1 5°C target will become unreachable This would effectively nullify global climate accords such as the Paris Agreement and fuel heightened political
and societal impacts of global warming are evident Recently, a heatwave in southern England approached
Tby B-2 stealth bombers was intended as a decisive blow to Iran s nuclear program However the effects remain murky While the USA claimed the site was completely obliterated," setting Iran s programme back by “several years,” Iran downplayed the damage, admitting to a temporary disruption of “a few months” but insisting that its nuclear scientists engineers and infrastructure remain intact and resolute Even Israeli intelligence agencies and atomic energy officials acknowledged significant damage but were unsure of the long-term impact Then came the contradictory statements from President Trump himself In one breath he asserted that Iran had advance warning and evacuated all personnel saving lives In another he insisted that Iran failed to remove its enriched uranium and sensitive equipment before the attack indicating the material was destroyed
Amid these contradictions, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) took a professional stance: unless inspectors are allowed back into Iran s nuclear facilities any claims American Israeli or Iranian remain speculative
Amid this narrative warfare, Iran has taken a bold and provocative step In a sharp rebuke to the international community Iran’s parliament passed legislation permanently banning
IAEA inspectors from accessing any of its nuclear facilities Iranian officials accused IAEA inspectors of acting as spies for the USA and Israel, allegedly providing intelligence that aided the airstrike on Fordow While Iran admitted that the site was damaged and pushed back temporarily its leadership emphasized that the knowledge expertise and capability of its nuclear scientists remain undiminished The program, they declared, will not only be restored but advanced beyond previous levels with the strategic advantage of zero international oversight from here forward In a chilling warning an Iranian spokesperson declared that while Iran may not need nuclear weapons to defeat Israel any future confrontation would result in a complete knockdown" of Israel once and for all Iran’s fury wasn’t only directed at the military assault Tehran reserved special condemnation for the IAEA’s Director General accusing him of cowardice and double standards Despite Iran being a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and abiding by international protocols, no condemnation came from the agency after the unilateral strike on a sovereign, peaceful state The USA and its Western allies justified the attack by invoking Israel’s “right to self-defence a phrase that has now become to many in the international community an Orwellian euphemism Iran was not the aggressor It launched no missiles It issued no military threat And yet it was bombed without provocation, without due process, and without international consensus In the same breath Western leaders repeated the refrain Israel has the right to exist as justification not only for the Iran strike but also for Israel s campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and beyond But global patience is wearing thin A fiery speech in the European Parliament recently captured this moral exhaustion “I’m sorry a female member of parliament declared that we could not protect the Palestinian children I m sorry for the hospitals we failed I m sorry for the doctors, paramedics, and UN staff killed by Israeli bombs We’ve lost our ethics We’ve lost our moral compass And with that, we’ve lost our humanity ”
What is emerging in 2025 is a historic pivot in global opinion The sympathy that Israel once commanded has eroded For the first time, we are witnessing a near-consensus backlash against Israeli militarism and Western hypocrisy Enter Zohran Kwame Mamdani the newly elected Muslim mayor of New York City, whose bold remarks have gone viral across the globe He announced an aggressive clampdown on New York-based charities funneling millions into illegal Israeli settlements He vowed to shut down financial channels that siphon taxpayer funds to build settlements on stolen land at the expense of the original Arab and Palestinian inhabitants Even more striking was his legal stance: Mamdani has pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he ever sets foot in New York City invoking the International Criminal Court s warrant for war crimes Netanyahu Mamdani declared bluntly is a war criminal This represents not just a political shockwave it’s a symbolic break from decades of blind support Israel’s aura of invincibility is now under siege not from Iranian bombs but from collapsing global credibility
Despite its nuclear arsenal advanced technology and unmatched military capabilities in the region, Israel has failed to crush Iran s strategic depth or dismantle its deterrent capability Iran has now proven that without even using nuclear weapons it can survive retaliate and escalate on its terms
Moreover criticism is no longer limited to outsiders Even within Jewish communities worldwide, dissent is growing Increasingly, Jewish intellectuals, religious leaders, and diaspora voices are questioning the direction of Israeli policies Many argue that Israel has become the most dangerous place on Earth for Jews themselves Why? Because in the name of security Israel is isolating itself diplomatically and endangering Jewish lives through perpetual war Jews live peacefully in countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas without fear of daily missile strikes Only in Israel do they live under constant threat surrounded by adversaries created by their government s own aggressive actions What began as a US airstrike on Fordow has ignited a crisis that now spans nuclear diplomacy, global ethics, and public opinion The USA Israel and their allies hoped to showcase strength but may have instead exposed weakness Iran may have lost centrifuges but it has gained something more powerful: global sympathy, diplomatic leverage, and internal resolve Israel, once seen as
Don't trust the colonisers
QaMar baShir
TIsrael s relentless military campaign throughout the Middle East is at the core of the recent chaos Israeli jets launched a series of strikes against suspected Iranian assets in Syria and Lebanon under the pretence of "defensive operations " The number of civilian casualties increased Hospitals were destroyed Once more the world watched as Tel Aviv used its immunity which was provided by US support and international silence
These attacks, according to the Israeli government were preventative actions against Iran's growing regional influence In-
dependent European intelligence reports, however, paint a different picture, one of inflated threats, false nuclear claims, and clandestine operations meant to entice Iran into a wider war Over 2 400 civilians were killed by Israeli operations outside of Israel s borders in 2023 alone, including hundreds in southern Lebanon and Syria, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Precision-guided bombs dropped in heavily populated areas were the cause of many of these deaths; they were hardly defensive in nature Iran which has long been the object of Western sanctions and Israeli animosity, reacted quickly and forcefully Not only with words, but also with cyberwarfare, drones, and ballistic missiles The extent of the retaliation shocked the entire world
According to reports Iranian proxy groups attacked a number of Israeli-affiliated intelligence posts in Qatar on May 9, thrusting the Gulf state into the centre of a geopolitical nightmare The Al Udeid Air Base, which is home to more than 10,000 US and coalition personnel was just barely hit by missiles Threat levels in the Middle East were raised by the US military An important ally of the USA and a centre of diplomacy Qatar was forced to walk a tightrope Despite not taking sides, it denounced the violence For the first time, the richest and most neutral territory in the Gulf was directly under the shadow of a regional conflict
The USA has had a conflicting role in Middle Eastern conflicts for decades and this time was no exception On the one hand, the USA vetoes every significant UN resolution against Tel Aviv, gives Israel more than $3 8 billion in military aid each year and keeps supplying the weapons used in attacks against targets in Gaza Syria and now Iran
The administration of President Biden on the other hand, has called for "restraint" on numerous occasions while avoiding holding Israel responsible Washington refrained
from denouncing Israel's initial provocations even after Iranian retaliation reached US military zones Within 48 hours oil prices rose by 15 percent The world stock market trembled Any broader conflict could cut 1 2 percent off the world's GDP in a quarter, the IMF warned In other words, Israel was the trigger, and the global economy was held hostage Donald J Trump s voice unexpectedly broke through the chaos during the storm
After destroying the Iran Nuclear Deal and ordering General Qassem Soleimani s assassination in 2020, the US president assumed a new role: peacemaker
Trump personally used backchannel channels to communicate with Saudi Qatari and even Israeli officials according to leaks from Gulf diplomatic circles He reportedly asked Netanyahu to de-escalate before this turns into a war the world cannot afford "
Despite its bluntness, his message resonated Trump threatened "unimaginable global fallout" if Israel launched a preemptive nuclear strike or if Iran retaliated fully According to an unnamed diplomat Trump wasn t attempting to save lives He was working to preserve the global economy and possibly his own legacy
The actual, current threat of nuclear war was what made this conflict more terrifying than any others
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Iran s uranium enrichment levels approached 60 percent, which is dangerously close to weaponsgrade Israel is thought to have more than 90 nuclear warheads, despite never having confirmed this officially Neither side blinked in public According to analysts Armageddon could be triggered by a single cyberattack gone awry an Israeli submarine misfiring or an Iranian counterattack that goes too deep
Many people view Israel's military doctrine, known as the "Samson Option," as a global threat masquerading as national defence It theoretically permits a nuclear response in existential situations
Palestinians were still under siege as attention turned from Gaza to Iran In the last 18 months alone, more than 35,000 people have died in Gaza Entire communities were destroyed Hospitals turned into mass graves
According to reports however Trump is now trying to mediate a ceasefire agreement between hardline Israeli officials and Hamas intermediaries in Gaza, leveraging his renewed prominence The objective? a brief ceasefire before the area erupts once more
According to insiders Trump is pressuring
Netanyahu with pressure from Europe the Gulf and Egypt One thing is certain regardless of the outcome of the negotiations: Trump is once again in the spotlight Trump's name keeps coming up in international crises from Taiwan and Ukraine to North Korea and now the Gulf He is campaigning as a global negotiator in addition to being a president Growing support for Trump s direct brazen, and frequently successful foreign policy approach is evident in polls conducted in Europe and Latin America His unpredictable nature which was once viewed as dangerous is now seen as a strength Trump s strategy appeals to both authoritarian governments and weak democracies in contrast to Biden s paralysis and NATO s diplomatic exhaustion Is this a planned diplomatic comeback to power? Israel continues to pose one of the biggest threats to international peace Israel has violated international law repressed the Palestinian people destabilized neighbors and drawn superpowers into never-ending wars for more than 70 years while operating with impunity The USA has blocked or disregarded more than 50 UN resolutions that denounce
preparing for an aerial strike against Iran
THE US seems to have learned no lessons from the post-Cold War phase of its unilateralism and regime-change policies in the Middle East Instead of a new peaceful and stable order being established under Washington s tutelage it ended in the collapse of countries – not merely regimes –chaos civil war and the rise of Islamic extremism and terrorism
It is not clear what legitimate US core interests were served by its military interventions to re-order the political forces in the region
If the objective was also to remove regimes that were a threat to Israel s security and erode Russian influence in the region some success may have been achieved in Iraq and Syria, though in a divided Libya Moscow seems to have gained ground Giving Israel a freer hand in Lebanon and Syria and a virtual carte blanche in Gaza and in the West Bank too may have in the short term given it an upper hand in se-
curity terms but longer term the answer to Israel s security dilemmas may not lie in asserting its regional hegemony with the backing of the US Israel has long viewed its core security challenge as emanating from a nucleararmed Iran It has worked hard over the years to mobilize US and European opinion against Iran s nuclear program That this program has been subject to stringent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards has not reduced the virulence of Israel s campaign against it Israel has for years raised the specter of Iran becoming nuclear within months or even weeks even though no proof is produced to support this belief The IAEA has not backed Israel s allegations These Israeli claims have resonated in the pro-Israel lobbies in the US to the point that President Donald Trump in his first term repudiated the nuclear agreement signed between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the UK and US) plus Germany Under this agreement, Iran had accepted severe and even humiliating curbs on its nuclear program as a sovereign country which included highly intrusive monitoring by the IAEA In his second term Trump sought to negotiate a new, much tougher, nuclear agreement with Iran that would deny it even some rights it had under the first one A couple of rounds of talks took place and the date for another round had been slated These talks were being held under the shadow of timelines and intimidating ultimatums by Trump
It is not improbable that the US was engaged in a show of negotiations while actually
With Hamas and Hezbollah decimated and regime change having been carried out in Syria, Iran’s hand was greatly weakened vis-à-vis Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu evidently calculated that this was the most opportune moment to do the unthinkable –attack Iran militarily and open the door to US military intervention in support of Israel
In other words, for Israel the objective would be to prevent any possible negotiated agreement between the US and Iran and for Trump to seize the opportunity to eliminate Iran s nuclear capability by force in particular its underground facilities with the use of B2s armed with bunker-busting bombs
PEACE PRIZE PATH
That Trump has chosen a military solution over a negotiated one is a throwback to US unilateralism and regime-change policies The US attack on Iran is a gross violation of international law It infringes the UN Charter The US had no mandate from the UN Security Council to act against Iran
There is no provision in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that would allow the recognized nuclear powers to eliminate a suspected nuclear program of a non-nuclear state in violation of the Treaty The US attack also cannot be justified as a pre-emptive one as Iran was not threatening to attack the US The rhetoric of a rules-based international order has been exposed for what it is
The irony is that Trump’s election rhetoric was against the US getting involved in wars abroad which he believed had drained America s resources His MAGA base wanted the US to focus on domestic priorities Trump projected himself as against wars
Gold glitters as mistrust spreads
as such, as someone who would work to end conflicts His position on the Ukraine conflict reflected this His unfounded claim that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan as well as his offer to mediate between the two countries on Kashmir, is part of how he projects himself as a peacemaker He now claims to have brokered an agreement between Rwanda and Congo and between Egypt and Ethiopia among others His efforts should as he says entitle him to four or five Nobel Peace Prizes
Pakistan tried to capitalize on Trump s obsession with a Nobel Prize by officially nominating him for one after his unprecedented invitation to a foreign military chief (the Pakistani field marshal) to lunch with him at the White House This ploy recoiled on Pakistan when virtually the next day Trump attacked Iran militarily Trump believes that now summoning Israel and Iran to a ceasefire shows his commitment to peace Unsurprisingly, his supporters in the US Congress have nominated him for the Nobel Prize While Netanyahu publicly speaking of killing Ali Khamenei Iran s spiritual leader is one thing Trump visualizing the possibility of assassinating him at an opportune moment on his social media account is egregious Such talk of political assassination are being normalized in diplomatic discourse Trump has also not ruled out regime change in Iran potentially causing chaos in a country of over 90 million A PAUSE IN A LONG-TERM CONFLICT
A ceasefire between Israel and Iran, even if it holds, is simply a pause The underlying issues remain unresolved Iran needs to give up its rhetoric that Israel has no right to exist It is most unlikely that Iran will give up its nuclear program and its rights under the
NPT Iran has decided to end the monitoring of its program by the IAEA Iran has accused the agency head of leaking information about its nuclear scientists to the US and Israelis and facilitating their assassination Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Iran s highly enriched uranium are not known There are also some doubts about the extent of damage caused to Iranian nuclear sites by the US bombers and therefore the assessment is that Iran s program could be revived quickly enough Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has questioned the integrity of IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi for pressuring Iran to allow renewed access to its nuclear facilities Meanwhile, the US
Fed officials have long taken pride in having the world’s biggest gold vault, dug 80ft down into Manhattan’s bedrock But they prefer to keep it discreet, par tly because many of the vault’s 507,000 bars belong to countries such as Germany and Italy
finance system Now, however, figures in the Trump team including Stephen Miran, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and Scott Bessent Treasury secretary are chafing against the cost of this system Thus the question that investors need to ask is what other countries might do if trade wars spawn capital battles as well In Asia, this debate is already under way, as investors look for diversification One sign is surging gold purchases Another is that recent unusual price movements in Hong Kong markets suggest a reluctance to buy dollar assets Meanwhile, Chinese officials are hailing the rising use of the renminbi in trade invoic-
Farzeen nadeem
GA Z A TRUCE ‘WITHIN NEXT WEEK’
“manufactured
which was brokered with international mediation collapsed after Israeli forces launched a new wave of aerial bombardments citing the need to pressure Hamas for the release of captives Since then, Israel has enforced a total blockade on food, fuel, and medicine into Gaza, contributing to what aid organisations have termed a
ACE Money Transfer CEO Meets S enior Ministers to Advance Legal Remittance and Financial D igitization
Mr Rashid Ashraf Chief Executive Officer of ACE Money Transfer conducted a series of strategic meetings in Islamabad with the Honorable Finance Minister, Mr Muhammad Aurangzeb, and other senior government officials to discuss collaborative efforts aimed at strengthening Pakistan s financial infrastructure and enhancing formal remittance inflows
A key focus of discussion was the development of structured incentive programs to encourage overseas Pakistanis to remit funds through official channels Stakeholders reviewed strategic pathways to increase annual remittance volume to USD 50 billion within five years a target aligned with Pakistan’s broader economic ambitions
Mr Ashraf underscored the importance of fostering greater collaboration across financial institutions including banks exchange houses, EMIs, and other stakeholders through a unified digital framework This approach, he noted would reduce reliance on informal cash-based systems enhance PKR retention domestically and contribute to the documentation of the economy A strategic roadmap was shared on how remittances could be more effectively integrated into national economic planning
In a separate engagement with the Honorable Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mr Attaullah Tarar, the dialogue centered on strengthening public awareness around the significance of legal remittances Mr Ashraf reiterated
ACE’s commitment to supporting the Prime Minister ’s digitization agenda offering the company’s technological expertise in areas such as data governance real-time consumer insights and merchant network expansion These capabilities, he noted, can play a vital role in shaping informed, data-driven policymaking
Further consultations were held with the Honorable Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Mr Salik Hussain, and the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Ihsan ul Haq Bajwa The discussions highlighted the role of overseas communities as key contributors to national development Topics included formalizing undocumented migration and money transfer channels, enhancing the arrival experience at ports of entry, and introducing state-led recognition initiatives for overseas Pakistanis who make significant contribu-
tions in their respective fields
Speaking after the meetings, Mr Rashid Ashraf stated “We are proud to support Pakistan s economic future by promoting legal remittance flows Encouraging formal, transparent channels not only strengthens the economy but also directly benefits millions of families ACE remains committed to working alongside the Government of Pakistan to accelerate financial inclusion digitization and long-term economic resilience About ACE Money Transfer ACE Money Transfer, headquartered in Manchester, UK, is a leading provider of online remittance services trusted by millions of customers globally With an extensive network of 375,000+ payout locations across 100+ countries, ACE delivers secure, fast, and reliable money transfer solutions tailored to meet the needs of expatriates and migrant workers
CORPORATE CORNER
Sindh conducting aggressive campaign to control drug abuse: Sukhdev Hemnani
KARACHI s
In
GOVT FACES RESISTANCE FROM MINISTRIES, BUSINESSES OVER PROPOSED GAS PRICE HIKE
ECC on planned measures to reduce UFG and their financial impact
The Ministry also inquired whether lifting the moratorium on new gas connections could help address the surplus RLNG issues and the curtailment of indigenous gas production On the other hand, Chairman of the
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to launch a major operation against illegal structures built along and within the Swat River following the tragic incident in which 11 people from a Sialkot family lost their lives The search is still on for two individuals while four were rescued The incident occurred when 17 members of a family from Sialkot were swept away during a picnic along the
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t
Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair
Motiwala and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Muhammad Jawed Bilwani have strongly opposed the
The Senate Sub-Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on Saturday discussed the plight of over 67 000 intending Pakistani pilgrims who were unable to perform Hajj this year Agenda of the Senate body meeting presided by Senator Aon Abbas Buppi focused on issues related to Mashaheer Services as well Last month Pakistan had admitted surrendering a quota of more than 63,000 for Hajj, over a week before the religious event started Thousands of applicants under private Hajj scheme would not be able to perform this year Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousuf had said addressing a news conference on May 23
The minister for religious affairs had said that only 25,698 intending pilgrims out of quota of nearly 89 605 would be able to perform Hajj this year
The minister had said the prime minister had already constituted a committee to investigate as to why the complete quota could not be utilised and strict action would be taken against those responsible Yousuf had said that previously the payment of only 3600 applicants could be deposited by the previous deadline of February 14 Later the deadline was extended by one week and another 10,600 applications with payment were finalised However following intervention by the foreign minister his Saudi counterpart agreed to give quota of 10 000 in middle of April and a deadline of April 18 was given He had said that some private operators blamed that they were not apprised of the deadline “But as a matter of fact their organisation was addressed letters on different occasion he had said Hajj Organisers Association of Pakistan (HOAP) Chairman
Zaeem Akhtar Siddiqui, earlier, had stated that Pakistan’s Hajj policy was announced on November 27 2024 with public sector applications beginning the next day and continuing until March 25 However, the private sector was only allowed to start collecting applications from January 14 even though the Saudi system’s deadline was February 21 Registration for next Hajj begins Registration has begun for intending pilgrims for next year s Hajj
According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, advance registration is mandatory for both government and private Hajj schemes and that no registration fee is required Overseas Pakistanis are also required to register
Multan FIA arrests two for involvement in human trafficking, visa fraud
lessness was met with Pakistan’s resolute response, which not only preserved national honour but also averted a dangerous broader regional escalation Pakistan despite grave provocations acted with restraint and maturity and demonstrated its commitment to regional peace and stability, which has led to Pakistan s role as net regional stabiliser,” he added
of Pakistan Navy cadets at PNS Rahbar on Saturday urged Pakistanis to remember the Kashmiris during these times and reaffirmed Pakistan s support for Kashmir ’s right to self-determination and its commitment to settling the dispute
“In recent years under the pretext of counterterrorism India s political leadership marked by a troubling absence of strategic foresight has twice undertaken acts of unprovoked aggression against Pakistan, he said, while referring to Indian aggressions after 2019 Palwama attack and the recent Pahalgam attack On both occasions he said India’s reck-
Reiterating Pakistan’s longstanding position on the Kashmir dispute he said: “We continue to stand firmly with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in their just struggle for the right to self-determination, in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people ” Refuting Indian claims that equate the Kashmiri resistance with terrorism he said that the ongoing struggle in IIOJK is a legitimate freedom movement as recognised by international law and conventions Those who have tried to suppress the Kashmiri people’s will and pursue conflict
elimination instead of resolution have only made the movement more relevant through their own actions ” he added He said India will never forget its humiliating defeat in Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos a Pakistani military offensive that forced the enemy to ceasefire He also condemned India s arrogant and aggressive behaviour, asserting that Pakistan’s firm response has prevented a larger conflict in the region
Despite India s provocations Pakistan showed restraint and today Pakistan is recognised as the Net Regional Stabiliser in South Asia Field Marshal Asim Munir emphasised that the strong bond between the armed forces and the public for national progress remains ?indispensable? He also congratulated the successful cadets from brotherly countries including Turkiye Bahrain Iraq and Palestine According to the top military
