Epaper – April 18-2022 ISB

Monday, 18 April, 2022 I 16 Ramzan, 1443 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XII No 290 I 48 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Peaceful, cooPerative ties between Pakistan, india are indisPensable: shehbaz tells Modi ISLAMABAD

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Staff RepoRt

Rime minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday told his indian counterpart, Narendra modi, that peaceful and cooperative ties between the two neighbours are indispensable for the prosperity of the people. in response to the letter sent by modi to Shehbaz congratulating him on becoming the prime minister, the premier said Pakistan is committed to regional peace and stability.

Shehbaz Sharif said seeking peaceful resolution of all issues including long-standing Kashmir dispute between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Pakistan’s sacrifices and efforts to eradicate the menace of terrorism are well-known and have

been recognised globally, Shehbaz told modi.

On Tuesday, Pm Shehbaz thanked indian premier Narendra modi for felicitations on becoming the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan

as he sought peaceful resolution of conflicts between india and Pakistan for the sake of socio-economic development of people.

The newly elected prime minister made these remarks in response to

the message shared by modi on Twitter wherein he congratulated the Pakistani premier on getting elected as the new chief executive.

“Congratulations to H e mian muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on his election as the Prime minister of Pakistan. india desires peace and stability in a region free of terror, so that we can focus on our development challenges and ensure the wellbeing and prosperity of our people,” modi had written on Twitter a day earlier. in his response shared on Twitter, Pm Shehbaz said that Pakistan desired peaceful settlement of outstanding disputes, including Jammu and Kashmir. “Pakistan’s sacrifices in fighting terrorism are well-known,” Shehbaz told the indian premier.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

MORE INSIDE

Punjab cabinet to be formed by April 18: Sources STORY ON PAGE 02

FBR allocates free imports quota for industries in tribal districts STORY ON PAGE 03 IN TODAY S ISSUE

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Monday, 18 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PuNjAB CABINet to Be ForMeD By APrIL 18: SourCeS LAHORE

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UNJAB cabinet will be formed on April 18 following Hamza Shehbaz’s election as chief minister from the Punjab Assembly with the support of votes cast in his favour

by estranged PTI lawmakers in an unprecedented violent session.

According to sources having knowledge of the process, the Punjab cabinet will be finalized in two phases and in the first phase, allies would be adjusted in the cabinet.

“In second phase, PML-N will add its own lawmakers in the cabinet,” they said

Pakistan decides to resume talks for IMF package revival ISLAMABAD stAff RePoRt

The new government has decided to resume talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington from tomorrow, sources said on Sunday. According to the sources, negotiations with IMF officials will begin from the point where it had been suspended. Pakistan will formally announce restoration of the IMF programme after which the IMF will decide about US dollar one billion tranche of the IMF bailout, sources added. The new government’s reservations will also be discussed in the fresh round of talks. The government sources earlier said that Pakistan will work with the IMF to stabilise the economy. The dialogue is expected to focus over subsidies, amnesty and new conditions, sources said. Top government officials are expected to participate virtually in the upcoming talks, according to sources. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s new government has yet to take decision about the new federal cabinet and the finance minister who will lead Pakistan’s side in crucial talks with the IMF for revival of $6 billion programme that went into jeopardy after former government decreased energy prices, despite an agreement with the lender for the opposite.

PM urges completion of Diamer Bhasha Dam by 2026 NEwS DESk Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday urged the authorities to expedite the Diamer Bhasha Dam project and have it completed by 2026 instead of its currently scheduled time of 2029. The newly elected prime minister issued the instructions during his visit to the site to inspect the project’s pace of work and activities.

He was accompanied by other PML-N leaders, including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Khawaja Asif. PM Shehbaz was briefed by Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman retired Lt General Muzammil Hussain. He was informed of the issues resolved after efforts made by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan administrations. In his address to the project staff and Wapda officials, PM Shehbaz credited his elder sibling and former premier Nawaz Sharif for “launching the project in 2016”.

“Some of the problems were resolved by the Wapda chairman and his team very speedily. I am sure that all of you are going to work as a team and make efforts for the biggest energy project and complete it as early as possible,” he said. He said that he could understand that the terrain of the area was hard to work on and there were financial problems but he was glad to know that the project was able to raise funds from the international market. The prime minister said power generation from the project, once it begins, would help the economy immensely along with fulfilling irrigation requirements and protecting the country from flash floods. He added it would make the country “prosperous and progressive”. He appreciated Wapda, Chinese companies and the Frontier Works Organisation for their combined work on the project. PM Shehbaz urged international investors to come forward and invest in the project so that its power generation could begin as soon as possible. The premier said Dasu dam was also on its way towards completion and very soon it would be operational and help the country overcome its energy crises. The prime minister also announced the construction of a 13-kilometre long tunnel at Babusar Top. Additionally, the premier asked the chief secretary and Wapda chairman to finalise a proposal for a 300-bed hospital within one week. Regarding the early completion of the project, the experts who have completed hydropower projects in the region claimed that it was impossible to complete the 4400-megawatt project in four years and instead it would actually take more time than the scheduled time. Engineer Abdul Tawab, who served as a director at Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation and also completed several projects as project manager, told Dawn.com that Diamer Bhasha Dam Reservoir may take around four years to be completed and its diversion of the Indus river and tunnel was not an easy task. Replying to a question, he said the project was not only an energy project but also the biggest reservoir site of the country. Chairman Wapda, during the briefing, had also told the prime minister that it would be impossible to complete the project in such a short period of time.

and added the entire cabinet would comprise of 40 to 45 lawmakers. Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Hamza Shehbaz was elected Chief Minister Punjab after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and allied parties boycotted the session after ruckus which saw police enter the house.

Hamza Shahbaz got 197 votes from the

house. The session chaired by Dost Mazari was earlier delayed after some MPAs attacked Dost Mazari and he called Punjab police. Later, the brawl between the ruling alliance MPAs and joint opposition lawmakers resulted in Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi being left injured.

Hamza Shahbaz was the joint

opposition’s candidate while PTI and allied parties favoured former Speaker Pervaiz Elahi for the coveted slot.

The newly elected chief minister of the Punjab province, Hamza Shehbaz will take oath of his new responsibility on Sunday night, however, Governor Punjab Omar Sarfraz Cheema would not administer oath to him.

Farewell lunch for Pakistani envoy Asad Majeeb triggered ‘Lettergate’ fiasco NEwS DESk The conversation that set off the so-called ‘Lettergate’ scandal took place on March 7 at a farewell lunch for the then Pakistan ambassador Asad Majeed Khan at his residence, which is also known as Pakistan House.

Diplomatic and official sources said that although it was lunch, a note-taker also attended the meeting. The cable that Ambassador Khan later sent to Islamabad was based on the notes taken by the note-taker, who was also from the Pakistan Embassy.

US officials who attended the lunch included US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Deputy Assistant Secretary Lesslie C Viguerie. The Pakistani side comprised Deputy Chief of Mission Syed Naveed Bokhari and the defence attaché.

Since the March 7 lunch-meeting was held less than two weeks after the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the invasion dominated the conversation. The sources said the US side expressed its ‘disappointment’ with Pakistan’s decision to send its prime minister, Imran Khan, to Moscow the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

“They pointed out how the invasion had angered the entire American nation and explained why they thought Mr Khan should have postponed his visit,” one of the sources said.

Another source said Mr Lu hinted that “Washington believes the final decision to go ahead with the visit despite the invasion was that of Imran Khan” although some Pakistani officials had suggested postponing it.

Ambassador Khan, according to these sources, argued that it was a collective decision and that Pakistan had been trying for a Moscow visit for years. And when the invitation came, they could not turn it down or postpone it. The Americans, however, argued that Islamabad should have also “considered Washington’s sensitiveness” on this issue before going ahead with the visit.

The sources said the conversation then drifted to the

current political environment in Pakistan, and Mr Lu pointed out that Washington was keenly watching the situation and the outcome of the no-trust move against the then prime minister would impact US-Pakistan relations as well.

One source claimed Mr Lu’s arguments were “alarming and far from routine”, but he did not threaten a regime-change. The source also claimed that no one attending the meeting felt that the Americans were hatching a conspiracy to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf government. “No, there’s no conspiracy. Nobody got that impression,” the source added. “But they did say the outcome will impact bilateral ties, which can be interpreted either way.”

The sources said the Americans never concealed “their disappointment” with Pakistan over Mr Khan’s Moscow visit. They claimed that Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa had planned to visit Washington in April, but postponed it after learning how the Americans felt about Ukraine.

“I never thought it was a US conspiracy, but it

Memories of a Jinnah cap and P’a Tariq City Notes M A NiAzi It’s funny, but there was no one I remembered more than the late P’a Tariq, as we young cub reporters used to call Tariq Ismail, when watching Mian Shehbaz Sharif take oath as Prime Minister.

I learnt more about political reporting from him than from anything else. It was he more than anyone else who taught me how important a role the biradari played in politics.

It was through this lens that he viewed people as political or nonpolitical. That was an important issue for all of us then, and his yardstick was simple and authoritative.

Someone who was the first in his family to contest an election was a ‘ghair siyasi aadmi’ (an apolitical person), but someone whose family included a ticketholder was a ‘siyasi aadmi’ (a political person).

Thus, concluded we young cubs, back in the end of the 1980s, Nawaz Sharif was to be disapproved of as an apolitical person, while his younger brother Shehbaz was to be approved of, as a political person, which he was by virtue of his having a brother who had contested election. P’a Tariq was great believer in pedigree.

He never explained it, but I’ve come to learn that he was probably right. Mian Shehbaz is perhaps the best example. Back in those days, he was indefatigable in minding his brother’s constituency, and became President of the PML LMC. Nawaz entered the Punjab Assembly as CM, and the National Assembly as PM. Shehbaz entered both as a backbencher.

As a matter of fact, I think he was the first brother to contest an election, that of Lahore Chamber President. One way in which he surprised me was how he took oath bareheaded. I was expecting the reappearance of the Jinnah cap in which he was first sworn in as CM, and which seemed the same Jinnah cap as Nawaz wore for his respective first oaths as CM and PM. It wasn’t a Jinnah cap as worn today, or even by the Quaid himself. It was a very slim Jinnah cap, a sort

of idealised version, which I only saw favoured by Field Marshal Ayub Khan. Oh yes, some of the hamnawa in qawwali troupes still wear it.

I don’t suppose that Jinnah cap went to Hamza Shehbaz, who became the first of the second generation of Sharifs to hold office. P’a Tariq would have approved of him, as a natural-born political person,whose father and uncle preceded him in office.

And he would have approved of Raja Pervez Ashraf, whose uncle had once been a federal minister.

I wonder if the PPPP has just parked him as Speaker, or if it has him in reserve.

It had parked Hanif Ramay as Punjab Speaker in 1993, while his predecessor as Punjab Speaker, Manzoor Wattoo, had become CM. The PPP itself had picked up Raja Pervez’s predecessor as PM, Yousaf Raza Gilani, from the Speakership. Then there is the case of the current Balochistan CM. He was first , then Speaker after the 1998 election.

Mirror image is Ch Pervez Elahi, who has been twice Speaker, and once CM, who tried to get the job again, but couldn’t. Before Wattoo, I think there were two career paths: Speakers did not descend to Leader of the House.

But now it seems the examples are proliferating.

But Imran isn’t paying attention. He is looking at Michael Vaughan, the England Test captain, who is showing the most arrant poltroonery by resigning voluntarily from the captaincy.

Imran knows more about England than Vaughan, and knows how to fight to the last ball. Imran might also look at Sri Lanka, which has defaulted, and said that the country is one-up on him.

It’s not been a good time if you’ve been named Imran Ahmed Khan. Over here, Imran got removed from the PMship, while in the UK, and a tory MP of that name got convicted of plying a boy in January 2008 with gin and tonic, and then assaulting him after watching pornography.

Does that match the Tosha Khana Sale that Fawad Chauhdy is constrained to defend? I wonder which gifts Shehbaz Sharif will get that will tempt him?

Remember, it’s not just Imram who is supposed to have slipped. Mian Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Reza Gilani are both facing NAB references in connection with the Tosha Khana.

triggered certain reactions that impacted the domestic political situation in Pakistan,” another source said.

“What Mr Lu said reflected what the Biden administration feels and thinks. It was very unusual.

Not one bit routine.”

The source claimed that the defence attaché’s presence in the lunch-meeting, and his earlier engagement with US officials on the Ukraine issue, explained why Gen Bajwa’s comments on Ukraine “marked a significant departure” from Imran Khan’s policies on this issue.

Former prime minister Khan argued that Pakistan made a mistake by joining the West during the Cold War, it should remain neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion.

Addressing a seminar in Islamabad on April 2, Gen Bajwa had slammed Russia’s military attack on Ukraine, calling for immediate cessation of what he described as a “huge tragedy” inflicted on a smaller country.

On Thursday, the military’s media wing — ISPR — also dismissed Imran Khan’s allegations of a US conspiracy, although it acknowledged that Washington had used language in the lunch-meeting that amounted to interference in Pakistani affairs.

The ISPR chief pointed out the National Security Council’s meeting on this issue expressed “grave concern” at the communication from Washington, but did not use the word ‘conspiracy’.

On April 8, in his last address to the nation as prime minister, Mr. Khan reiterated his allegations that a senior US diplomat threatened a regime-change in Pakistan.

In another statement, Mr Khan also named the official — Donald Lu — who allegedly made that threat during a meeting with Ambassador Khan.

On April 10, while commenting on Mr. Khan’s claim, a US State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter stated that “Let me just say very bluntly there is absolutely no truth to these allegations.”

Commotion in Punjab Assembly termed a blot on democracy: PML-N LAHORE iNP

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders – Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan and Attaullah Tarar – Sunday vehemently criticised the commotion in Punjab Assembly and said that the responsible would be dealt with as per the law. Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan said, “Those who were ‘selected’ in 2018 elections claim that they are not interested in power.

Even the gifts of treasure-house were not spared.

Constitution and the law were blatantly violated in Punjab.” He deplored, “The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) violated the values of the House while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) taught the nation foul language.” “The power of not allowing anyone to vote in the election of Chief Minister in the Punjab Assembly rests with the Constitution,” Mashhood said. “You [Parvez Elahi] have been trying to run the assemblies according to your wish. You repeatedly went to the High Court for delaying the election of Punjab chief minister,” he flayed. “The Punjab Assembly deputy speaker was not allowed to enter the House. Those who were involved in the unlawful act in the Punjab Assembly will not be spared,” he vowed. “What happened Saturday in the Punjab Assembly is the worst stain for democracy. The real face of PTI and PML-Q has been exposed in the national and provincial assemblies,” stated Rana Mashhood. “These people want to cling to power. They do not care about the prosperity of Pakistan. They are responsible for poverty, unemployment and billion-dollar scandals in the country,” he blamed. PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar said, “Yesterday was the darkest day in the history of the Punjab Assembly.” He said to Pervez Elahi, “Stop it now. The province has been without Chief Minister for 15 days. Elections were repeatedly postponed on the pretext of incomplete numbers of parliamentarians.” He blamed Parvez Elahi for orchestrating the rumpus in the Punjab Assembly through private goons that were stayed in the galleries of the House.

Monday, 18 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

FBr ALLoCAteS Free IMPortS quotA For INDuStrIeS IN trIBAL DIStrICtS ISLAMABAD

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HE Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allocated quota for import of raw material without any duty for industries located in merged tribal districts.

The FBR has issued Sales Tax General Order (STGO) No. 14, dated April 16, 2022, regarding quota for import of raw materials for industries located in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

The FBR said that import of plant and

machinery and inputs by industrial undertakings located in erstwhile FATA/ PATA are exempt under Serial number 151 of Table-1 of the Sixth Schedule to the Sales Tax Act, 1990 till 30th day of June 2023. To prevent misuse of said exemption, a number of significant amendments have been introduced in the Sales Tax Act, 1990 including section 40D and S. No. 74 of Table-1 of the Eighth Schedule to the Sales Tax Act, 1990. Different administrative measures are also being taken by FBR including escort of containers from Azakhail Dry Port to the location of the concerned unit.

Shahzad, Khusro travel abroad

In order to ensure further transparency and prevent leakage of revenue, the FBR has decided that industrial units located in erstwhile FATA/PATA shall be allocated import

quota of raw materials as determined by Directorate General IOCO-Inland Revenue in consultation with the Regional Tax Office (RTO), Peshawar on the basis of installed capacity of these units. The annual import quota as per the attached Annex-A shall be apportioned equally in 12 equal parts on monthly basis and that shall be duly entered in the WeBOC against each manufacturer/ industrial unit.

After each updation, the balance available quota for the remaining year shall also be clearly mentioned. The FBR said that the STGO shall come into effect immediately until further order.

Kashmir assembly to elect prime minister today

ISLAMABAD MoNitoRiNg RePoRt

MUZAFFARABAD

Shahzad Akbar and Khusro Bakhtiar, former aides to then-prime minister Imran Khan, flew abroad after their names were removed from the Exit Control List (ECL). People familiar with the development said both Akbar and Bakhtiar flew from Islamabad airport to Dubai. They added that Akbar boarded an Emirates flight at 3:10 am on Sunday. It is pertinent to mention here that Akbar and another former adviser to prime minister Shahbaz Gill had moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the removal of their names from the nofly list. The court had ordered to remove the names of both of them from the list forthwith.

stAff RePoRt

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will elect the 14th prime minister of the region on Monday following the resignation of incumbent Abdul Qayyum Niazi. The unified opposition has nominated Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin, Kashmir president of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), for office. His candidature was approved by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Whereas, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has nominated Tanveer Ilyas for the post. The ruling PTI has 33 members in the 53-seat House whereas the unified opposition enjoys the backing of 21 MPs. Per the Constitution of

the region, the prime minister will be elected by show of hand. The assembly session has been convened at 10:30 am on Monday. Speaker Chaudhry Anwar ulHaq will preside over the proceedings.

On Friday, the PTI convened an assembly session to hold the election but the opposition went to the High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, insisting that the assembly could not elect a new leader of the House as the session was summoned to table noconfidence motion against Niazi. However, since he has already stepped down, the speaker could not hold the election in the same session. They said the speaker was bound by the Constitution to wait for two working days after PM’s resignation, only then he could convene the session.

Amid spate of militant attacks, Pakistan asks Taliban to secure border ISLAMABAD stAff RePoRt

Increasingly frustrated by continuing cross-border militant attacks, Pakistan urged Kabul to secure its side of the porous border and take action against the elements involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.

Only this week, militants ambushed a military convoy in North Waziristan near the border, triggering an intense shootout in which seven soldiers and four insurgents were killed.

Since January, the military has killed 128 militants in the region bordering Afghanistan. It acknowledged that nearly 100 soldiers have been killed in militant attacks during the same period.

In a statement issued Sunday, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said incidents of terrorism along the border have increased in recent weeks, observing that security forces are being targeted from across the border.

He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged for the past several months through institutional channels for effective coordination and security along their long shared border.

“Unfortunately, elements of banned

terrorist groups in the border region, including TTP, have continued to attack Pakistan’s border security posts, resulting in the martyrdom of several troops,” said the spokesperson.

Pakistan has enjoyed good relations with the Taliban for years. Since the

When all else fails, amateur radio rescues people in distress LAHORE ANAdolu AgeNCy

Modern communication systems may seem robust, but they prove useless during disasters for want of power or due to spotty network coverage. In such emergencies, it is still the good old amateur or ham radio technology that provides communication links and saves lives. As the world observes the Amateur Radio Day on Monday, Asadullah Marwat, 50, vice president of Pakistan Amateur Radio Society (PARS), told Anadolu Agency that this comparatively old communication system has helped to network people and the government in critical times. Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration.

It was on this day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris. “In the earthquake of 2005 and floods of 2010 in Pakistan, the PARS did the main relief work by establishing a network and connected government with the people on the grass-root level,” he said. When the telephone lines and mobile towers had been dismantled by the earthquake, his ham radio network sent 30,000 messages from quake-affected Muzaffarabad to

Islamabad in one month, till other modes of communications were restored. Although, from a legal background, his father’s working with walkie-talkies, radio antennas and transmitters had fascinated Marwat from his childhood. “We both joined PARS in 1992 and got our licenses. Now both my sons, are also license holders,” he said. He urged parents to encourage their children to understand and learn ham radio technology, so they are capable to help people in distress during disasters. In contrast to the one-sided commercial radio, used by the general public, the amateur radio is twosided communication technology. A walkie-talkie used by police personnel and security guards is an easy example of two-way communication.

“The amateur radio service has its dedicated frequencies and it comes under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that is governing all the frequencies of the world through the radio regulations,” said Marwat.

He said that governments regulate the technical and functional area of transmissions and then issue station licenses to the individuals. All the amateur operators have to get these government-approved licenses to function.

Taliban took over Afghanistan, there have been numerous standoffs along the 2,600 km (1,615 miles) border with Pakistan — drawn by British colonial rulers and disputed by Kabul.

The Taliban deny harbouring militants but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along the border.

Pakistan Army has stepped up operations along the border in recent months. On Saturday, the army reportedly fired rockets in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan in a predawn assault.

A similar pre-dawn assault was carried out in Khost province near the border, another Afghan government official said.

“Pakistani helicopters bombarded four villages near the Durand line in Khost province,” he said on condition of anonymity.

There has been no official confirmation of the incident from InterServices Public Relations (ISPR).

NEWS

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jemima takes the brunt of PtI’s demos outside Sharif’s flats LONDON AgeNCies

PMLN-UK supporters on Sunday held a protest in Richmond outside the residence of Jemima Goldsmith, the ex-wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, in retaliation to the PTI workers’ protest outside Avenfield flats — the London home of Nawaz Sharif. Both sides protested at the family homes of their opponents for about three hours and then dispersed. PTI had originally called for a march from Hyde Park to the American Embassy in Walsall but cancelled the plan of protest outside the US embassy and gathered outside the residence where former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is currently staying. Supporters of both parties gathered from all over the UK to register their support for their leadership – and against the other parties. PML-N supporters waved flags, held banners and placards, and chanted slogans in favour of their party supremo Nawaz Sharif. Jemima had expressed her anger after the protest was announced outside her home and also stated that she had fears of stalking and harassment. Around 20 policemen stood outside in two vans to ensure that the protest remained peaceful. PML-N’s Zubair Gull said that his party was forced to stage the protest outside Jemima’s house to “teach PTI a lesson” that they are not “scared” and PTI members will not be “spared” if PMLN leaders are continuously “targeted”. He said PML-N was organising the protest to highlight the alleged corruption, nepotism, and incompetence of the PTI government. “Imran Khan’s family was living in London but he was asking sons of others to break the law and go on a rampage to preserve his power,” claimed Gull. On the other hand, PTI UK’s leader Mian Waheed-ur-Rahman said the party was protesting against the foreign intervention in Pakistan. He alleged that former prime minister Imran Khan was removed from power through a conspiracy and his supporters will continue protesting. Another PTI leader Amjad Khan said that protests were planned initially outside US Embassy but PTI leadership from Pakistan directed them not to go outside the US mission and focus on Avenfield flats.

After PML-N UK announced the protest, Jemima Goldsmith took to Twitter and said it looked like she was back in 90s Lahore – a reference to the time when she was married to Imran Khan and lived in Lahore with her in-laws. “Protests outside my house, targeting my children, anti-semitic abuse on social media…. It’s almost like I’m back in 90s Lahore. #PuranaPakistan,” she had tweeted. Jemima had responded to a tweet by PML-N’s Abid Sher Ali who had announced the protest. Jemima Goldsmith has not made any political statement after the ouster of Imran Khan but her brothers Zac Goldsmith, who is a UK government minister, and Ben Goldsmith have expressed support for their former brother-in-law.

Monday, 18 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

04 NEWS

PunjAb governor seeks rePort on PunjAb AsseMbly fiAsCo LAHORE

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MonitoRing RepoRt

uNJAB Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema on Sunday condemned the ruckus in the Punjab Assembly during the election of the chief minister and sought a report from the secretary on the violent session.

The governor also directed the assembly secretariat to clarify four questions in this regard.

He asked if the deputy speaker conducted the assembly proceedings from the rostrum or from the gallery, if Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the speaker, was tortured in the assembly hall, and if police entered the assembly premises.

Cheema also directed the secre-

tary of the assembly to provide footage of the session.

The governor reportedly asked the secretary to submit the response by noon.

Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz has also announced his plan to hold an inquiry into the fiasco in which the lawmakers attacked the deputy speaker and Elahi.

Shehbaz, while speaking on the floor after being elected as the new Punjab chief minister, said that police entered the Punjab Assembly today in violation of the parliamentary traditions.

He added that police would have arrived inside the assembly if the deputy speaker is tortured. Shehbaz said that he wanted to congratulate the police officials for their role.

Police lodge complaint of torture of Mazari LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Covid-19 daily update: 97 new cases ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan confirmed 97 new Covid-19 cases and no death from the pandemic during the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday. According to data released by the ministry, the total tally of Covid-19 cases has risen to 1,527,248, including 1,493,606 recoveries. Currently, there are 3,279 active cases in the country, including 213 patients who are in critical condition. Sindh is the most affected province in terms of the number of cases, with 576,549 infections in total, followed by Punjab which has reported 505,660 cases so far.

Mazari calls off key Punjab Assembly session LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari withdrew on Sunday an earlier order convening a session of the Punjab Assembly on Monday to hold voting on the no-confidence motion against the speaker. Mazari, who was manhandled during Saturday’s session at the hands of some MPs on conducting elections for the new chief minister, appears to be indecisive regarding his decisions.

He summoned the session for Monday at 11:30 am but shortly after withdrew his order. He had already issued the agenda of the session that consisted of voting on the no-confidence motion against Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Speaker Elahi was also contesting for the chief minister’s office and lost it.

Police on Sunday registered a case against torture of Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari and hooliganism inside the premises during the election of the chief minister.

The case was registered on the complaint of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shahzad Manzoor at Qila Gujjar Singh police station under charges of attempt to murder, interference in governmental affairs and other relevant sec-

tions. Mazari was attacked with lotas by treasury MPs during the election of the chief minister. He was taken out of the building by police and the security detail of the assembly.

He, however, later carried out the proceedings which resulted in Hamza Shehbaz becoming the chief minister, by securing some two dozen votes from defecting members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Shehbaz has also announced his intention to hold an inquiry into the brawl in which the lawmakers attacked Mazari and Speaker Pervaiz Elahi.

Grave injustice: Not even the dead rest easy in Karachi KARACHI afp

In the teeming metropolis of Karachi, graveyards are filling up and the dead are running out of space to rest.

But for the right price to the right person, a plot can be “found” for the body of a loved one by shady crews who demolish old graves to make room for the new.

In the coastal megacity — a crush of 20 million people — the Pakistan Employees Cooperative Housing Society (PECHS) cemetery has been officially full for five years.

The necropolis is choc-full. Tombs big and small are slotted like Tetris into every nook — some pitted deep in the ground, others raised high on petalstrewn plinths.

Still, new tombs appear all the time, erected on smashed or scooped-out graves by men charging outsized fees.

AFP witnessed one team hacking at stonework and furtively carrying away baskets of dirt until they had carved out

a fresh opening in the cramped earth.

“There’s no space in the whole of Karachi — none of the graveyards has space for fresh burials,” said digger Khalil Ahmed. “We have to destroy old graves if we want to create new ones.”

The government burial fee in this district is Rs7,900 but two locals reported paying Rs55,000 and Rs175,000 to lay a loved one to rest in the PECHS graveyard last year.

Ahmed said the fees are split between 40 men and teens who, when not working, spend their time lolling on day beds in the shade.

GravediGGer mafia: Ahmed and his colleagues are part of what politicians and the media call the “gravedigger mafia” — a typically flamboyant term in the parlance of social affairs.

Officials rail against the “milk mafia” watering their wares, the “sugar mafia” driving up prices and the “land mafia” annexing space.

But the freelance gravediggers are profiting from Pakistan’s changing population dynamic.

Punjab advocate general steps down LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Punjab Advocate General Ahmad Awais has decided to step down from his position, it was learnt on Sunday. He will tender his resignation to Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema. It merits a mention here that Awais remained in the office of Punjab’s principal law officer from October 2018 to April 11, 2019. He had resigned from his post after the Lahore High Court (LHC) summoned the Punjab chief minister in the 2014 Model Town massacre.

The Punjab government once again appointed him as advocate general in July 2020.

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Pakistan is the world’s fifth mostpopulous nation with 220 million citizens and more than four million added every year.

As the population grows, so does the migration of people from the countryside to the cities, looking for work to escape rural poverty.

Muhammad Aslam has witnessed the gravedigger mafia flourish as Karachi’s population boomed.

The 72-year-old said the PECHS graveyard was a “deserted place” when he moved next door in 1953 but “space shrank fast” as burial prices rose for 14 family members interred over the years.

In 1967, Aslam’s family paid Rs50 to bury his grandfather but a relative buried at the hands of the mafia in 2020 cost Rs33,000.

“The basic issue is that infrastructure is insufficient,” said Ali Hassan Sajid, a spokesman for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

The KMC manages 39 of around 250 graveyards citywide — including PECHS Six are closed, while the rest are

“almost full”.

“In some parts of the city, the infrastructure is the same that existed when Pakistan was founded,” Sajid admitted.

He openly acknowledged the existence of gravedigger mafias conducting burials at closed sites — and claimed efforts to evict them are underway.

The gangs are also reported to be flourishing in the cities of Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore. a missinG memorial: Fault for the gravedigger mafia — and even whether they represent a problem — depends on who you ask.

Sajid said families eager to bury relatives alongside previous generations in full yards offer high prices that “lure the gravedigger so he falls prey to his greed”.

Ahmed the gravedigger says he provides an essential service in a city unable to administer itself, scratching out a meagre living in return.

And while some locals view the practice as part of the faulty fabric of life in a teeming city, for others it is a source of angst.

Muhammad Abdullah Saif’s father was buried in the PECHS graveyard decades ago.

Today, the faded green tomb is surrounded by empty sacks of cement and the shattered cusps of tombstones — the mafias generally pick untended graves for demolition.

“We have to come and visit regularly or the grave will be knocked down,” said the 32-year-old.

Muzammil Asif, meanwhile, must clamber over a carpet of ankle-twisting hazards to reach the grave of his teenage sister, buried here last summer.

“Graves are desecrated when one walks over them,” the 21-year-old complains.

And in the nearby Korangi graveyard, Muhammad Munir has experienced the saddest loss.

Every year, he comes to offer prayers in the cemetery where his father was buried — an amphitheatre of tumbledown tombstones fringed by ragged flags.

But the grave is long gone, demolished more than 20 years ago and replaced by another. That replacement is gone too, swapped out for a new one.

Now he’s unsure of exactly where his father lies in rest. “It’s painful,” he said. “The grave was the last sign of him.”

Monday, 18 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

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PSX likely to remain tricky thiS week KARACHI

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Staff RepoRt

AKISTAN Stock Exchange (PSX) is likely to remain tricky in the week starting today (Monday) on the back of extraordinary gains last week, result season, political clarity and expected rollover of Chinese loans worth $2.3 billion.

The outgoing week proved to be an outstanding one for the stock market as the benchmark index surged from 44,444.58 to 46,601.54 points during the week, witnessing a gain of 2,156.96 points (4.85 percent), which has been the highest weekly gain

since April 2020.

The market has gained over 3,000 points in the last six sessions. Keeping this huge gain in the last week in mind, it seems that the market may move towards correction once it crosses the 47,000 point level.

A report from Arif Habib Limited predicted that the market will remain positive in the upcoming week. With the commencement of the result season and clarity on the political front, certain sectors and scrips are expected to stay under the limelight.

“Furthermore, we are expecting the rollover of Chinese loans worth $2.3 billion and IMF negotiations will help bolster our foreign exchange reserves.,” the report said.

The report said that any dip in oil prices should also have a positive impact on the equity bourse, adding the KSE-100 is currently trading at a PER of 5.0x (2022) compared to the Asia-Pacific regional average of 11.5x while offering a dividend yield of 8.3 percent versus 2.6 percent offered by the region.

Besides political clarity, the rupee recovered against the dollar at a rapid pace last week, marking a 1.69% appreciation. Additionally, the country received record-high remittances this month clocking in at $28.3 billion, showing a 28% increase month-onmonth, on account of Ramzan and Eid. Other major developments during the

week were: SBP’s reserves slip below $11 billion, banks approved Rs180 billion in housing loans, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) renewed mobile operator licence for $486 million, cars’ sales surged 53.78% in nine months, Rs1 billion Islamic finance facility for renewable energy power plants, weekly inflation witnessed the biggest rise since November.

Meanwhile, foreign buying was witnessed this week, clocking in at $1.29 million against a net sell of $3.78 million recorded last week. Buying was witnessed in technology ($2.21 million), and fertilizer ($1.16 million).

On the domestic front, major selling was

reported by a mutual fund ($9.89 million), followed by insurance companies ($7.76 million). During the week under review, average volumes clocked in at 477 million shares (up by 213% week-on-week), while average value trade settled at $66.3 million (up by 135.6% week-on-week).

Sector-wise positive contributions came from commercial banks (395 points), fertilizer (292 points), technology and communication (268 points), cement (241 points), and refinery (129 points). On the flip side, negative contributions came from real estate investment trusts (2.19 points), and vanaspati and allied industries (1.55 points).

PA secretariat allegedly refuses to provide CCTV footage to police LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Punjab police on Sunday formed teams to arrest people involved in the attack on deputy speaker during the proceeding of CM election Saturday but the assembly secretariat allegedly is not very forthcoming as it refused to provide the CCTV footage of the incident.

During Saturday’s proceedings, the Punjab Assembly descended into the worst kind of bedlam during which many assembly members got injured including its Speaker Ch Pervaiz Elahi.

When Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Mazari entered the hall to conduct the election proceedings, the PTI MPAs rushed towards him, punched, thrashed and dragged him by hair. Lotas were hurled at him.

Later, Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was targeted by

PML-N lawmakers and he was beaten blue and black. Later, Elahi’s arm was fractured while he also sustain other injuries.

On Saturday police registered a case against unidentified people for attacking and torturing the deputy speaker under sections 324, 353, 186 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code on behalf of the state.

Today, Punjab police formed teams to arrest people involved in the attack on Deputy Speaker Mazari. However, the assembly secretariat has refused to provide the CCTV footage of the incident.

Now the police are trying to identify the culprits with the help of videos made on mobile phones by the assembly members. On the other hand, the deputy speaker has formed a committee that will present its report on the Punjab Assembly ruckus within seven days. It has been learnt that assembly staff also perpetrated violence during the mayhem.

Governor Punjab inquires after Pervaiz elahi’s health LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Pakistan grants extension to India to transport wheat, life-saving medicines to Afghanistan via Wagah border ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan has granted an extension to India for the transportation of wheat and life-saving medicines to

Afghanistan via Pakistan, the Foreign Office spokesperson in a statement.

Pakistan on Sunday granted an extension to India in the “time period for transportation” wheat and life-saving medicines that New Delhi was transporting to

Afghanistan via the Wagah border.

The spokesperson said that in November 2021 Islamabad had “approved, as a special gesture to the Afghan people, the transportation of 50,000 MTs of wheat and life-saving medicines as humanitarian assistance from India to Afghanistan via Wagah border”. The gesture was given on an “exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes”.

“The time period granted for transportation of the humanitarian assistance expired on March 21, 2022. The Government of India recently requested for extension in time period to complete the transportation process,” said the spokesperson.

The spokespersons said that Islamabad has granted two months extension to facilitate the transportation “as a manifestation” of its “sincere efforts towards addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan”.

“All the modalities shall remain the same as earlier communicated to the Indian side. The High Commission of India in Islamabad has been informed of the decision in this regard,” said the spokesperson.

The greenlight to transport Indian wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan was given by former prime minister Imran Khan last year when Acting Afghan Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, had come to Islamabad.

Governor Punjab Umar Sarfraz Cheema Sunday visited Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi at his residence in Lahore on Sunday and inquired after his health. According to details, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Umar Sarfraz Cheema inquired after PML-Q leader’s health and he also further condemned the attack on the latter in the Punjab Assembly Saturday. In the meeting, the Governor Punjab said that the breach of the sanctity of the Punjab Assembly is condemnable.

It merits mention here that earlier, the leader of the PML-Q Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi sustained injuries during a commotion in the Punjab Assembly. Candidate for Chief Minister (CM) Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was injured during a scuffle and altercation in the Punjab Assembly session. The PML-Q leader was provided with medical aid by the rescue personnel where he was left with fractured arm. Talking to reporters, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi explained that he was not feeling good at all and further stated that they attempted to kill him. This action was taken by Shehbaz Sharif over a phone call to the Inspector General (IG) Punjab, he added.

Peaceful, cooperative ties between Pakistan, india are indispensable: Shehbaz tells modi CONtINuED fROM pAGE 01 During his speech in parliament after becoming the premier with the support of 174 lawmakers, Shehbaz offered an olive branch to New Delhi, saying that Pakistan wanted a “better relationship with India”. But he had also cautioned that no lasting peace would be possible without a resolution to Kashmir’s status. “I would suggest Prime Minister Modi let us resolve the Kashmir issue and divert all our energies to bring prosperity to our countries,” he had said.

APHC leaders demand immediate release of Kashmiri political detainees SRINAGAR INp

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders have demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists lodged in different jails of India and the territory.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Zamrooda Habib in a statement issued in Srinagar deplored that hundreds of Hurriyat leaders and activists had been languishing in overcrowded prisons and the authorities were

not releasing them despite the court directives.

She appealed to the international community and human rights bodies to take serious note of Indian colonial acts in IIOJK and use their influence to press the Indian rulers to respect the human rights of Kashmiri political detainees.

She also paid glowing tributes to liberation leader, S Hameed Wani on the eve of his 24th martyrdom anniversary. Indian police had arrested S Hamid Wani on April 18, 1998 in Soura area of Srinagar and killed him in custody.

APHC leaders Jameel Mir and Dr Musaib in a joint

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statement in Srinagar demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists.

They said that the freedom-loving people of Kashmir were peacefully struggling to secure their birthright to self-determination but the Indian forces had implicated thousands of Kashmiris in fake and baseless cases and lodged them in various prisons of India and Kashmir.

They appealed to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres and other international human rights organizations to help release the illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists the political detainees

included APHC Chairman Masarrat Alam Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Dr Muhammad Shafi Shariati, Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Dr Ghulam Muhammad Butt, Ghulam Qadir Butt, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Yousuf Mir, Ayaz Akbar, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Peer Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Shahid-ul-Islam, Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar, Muhammad Rafiq Ganai, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Hayat Ahmad Butt, Muhammad Yousuf Falahi, Syed Shahid Yusuf Shah, Syed Shakeel Yousaf Shah and Fayyaz Ahmad Zargar.

06-07 Comments - 18th April 2022_Layout 1 4/18/2022 12:18 AM Page 1

Monday, 18 April, 2022

06 COMMENT

Misadventure that backfired

Sticking to the narrative Imran Khan’s Karachi rally showed that nothing has changed

The reformer tried sabotage

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TI chief and former PM Imran Khan showed at his Karachi rally that he was not abandoning the narrative of having been removed from office because he had an independent foreign policy. This was despite the DG ISPR’s statement about the national Security Committee meeting, that there was no mention of a conspiracy. Mr Khan has based his narrative on that letter, from the outgoing Pakistani Ambassador to the USA. The statement at the rally showed that he was not willing to abandon the claim, though it involved not just the armed forces, the Supreme Court and the opposition.

The willingness of the PTI to confront the military was shown by former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari’s counterclaim that the military had originated three options for the opposition, in contradiction to the DG ISPR’s claim that the military leadership had merely passed on Mr Khan’s message.

Mr Khan has not shown sufficient signs of pulling back from a dangerous course. It is as if he still wants to drag the military into the political vortex, and the means he has chosen is to call out the military in any place where its narrative does not agree with his. This might make for catching crowd enthusiasm, but there is going to be a limit to how long he can attract attention this way. So far, his claims of a conspiracy are attracting attention, but if he were to leave the urban centres he is presently appearing in, he might find it difficult to gather so many people.

One reason why he finds people to hear him, is that people are in search of some post-fast activity during Ramzan. As temperatures creep up after Ramzan, and after the monsoons set in, he might find it difficult to get large crowds to listen to him. Another factor against him is that time will drag away attention from the conspiracy. As the new government is formed, and as the new government takes steps, the PTI will have to change its rhetoric to take account of the most immediate events. Critics of Mr Khan have already argued that he is beating a dead horse, and that he is irrelevant. He should fear the day when his supporters get the chase feeling. Worse, if the military finds any takers for the narrative that he was just plain wrong, he will not only be irrelevant, but even pathetic.

Malik MuhaMMad aShraf

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LTHOUGH Pakistan’s political history is replete with criminal indiscretions committed by men in power, but the misadventure unfurled by Imran Khan, a self-styled reformer, on April 3 to sabotage the no-confidence motion filed against him by the PDM, was an unprecedented act of skullduggery. The move not only stunned the opposition but also left all those who understood the implications of that ‘Maula Jat’ -like action for the political future of the country, extremely distraught and flabbergasted.

However, the diehard supporters of Imran Khan, hired pseudo-intellectuals and all the carpetbaggers and turncoats who had their vested interests linked to the survival of PTI regime, hailed it as a master stroke and an act of unprecedented bravery by a man who thought differently and acted differently, making him stand out as a rare breed wedded to the cause of changing the society.

One of the hired intellectuals who writes weekly column in a national daily and has been fulfilling his assignment of heaping scorn on the opposition and extolling virtues of his paymaster, while dilating on the rejection of no-confidence motion wrote “His recent innings in parliament has not been any different; the impact was literally inscribed on the faces of his adversaries who all sat there looking unbelievingly at what was unfurling in front of them. So with one stroke he not only dismantled the opposition’s narra-

The western border heats up

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HE Pakistani Foreign Office has said that it was going to ‘look into’ the allegations of air strikes

by Pakistan in Afghanistan’s Khost and Kumar.

Whether or not the allegations are true; that they have been made at all represents a new low in the relationship between the two neighbours. That the acting Afghan Foreign Minister, Mullah Amir Muttaqi, has taken personal notice of the matter, and that Afghanistan has seen fit to summon the Pakistani Ambassador to receive a démarche on the subject indicates a tension in relations that was not contemplated in the jubilation in Pakistan when the Taliban defeated the Ghani Administration.

Pakistan seems to have reached an unprecedented level of hostility because of the Taliban government’s obstinate refusal to do anything about those members of the TTP who seem to have taken the Taliban victory as an opportunity to step up their terror campaign. This refusal to take action has meant that they have a safe haven of the kind that Pakistan gave the Taliban. This has led to a terrorist campaign against the armed forces. A major reason for the support of the Taliban was to establish law and order, and bring such episodes to an end.

While Pakistan should be concerned about the state of the relationship, Afghanistan should be more concerned.

The Taliban government should realise that if it cannot maintain normal relations with its neighbours, it is failing a very basic test of its readiness to be included in the comity of nations. Other standards have been laid down, such as respect for human rights and readiness to allow female education, but the very basic minimum, preventing its territory from being used to launch terrorism against other countries, is hardly an imposition; it is merely something states do for each other.

The USA’s help India is making matters worse

MohaMMad Sa’ad Malik

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n the last day of the two-day ‘Islamabad Security Dialogue’ conference, Pakistan COAS Gen. Javed Qamar Javed Bajwa said that all disputes with India should be settled peacefully through dialogue. He stressed Islamabad continues to believe in using diplomacy to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, to keep the “flames of fire away from our region”. He made the remarks while discussing emerging challenges in international security under the theme “Comprehensive Security: Reimagining International Cooperation”.

His tentative proposal for peace with India suggested having some sort of trilateral dialogue involving India, Pakistan and China to create an inclusive peace. In response, India kept harping that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of India.

A major obstacle to the lasting peace is India’s long-cherished desire to become a mini-superpower in South Asia. Regrettably, some influential countries, particularly the USA, buttressed India’s ambition to emerge as a regional bully. India is now a member of forums such as the G-20, a strategic partner to the USA, a member of the anti-China QUAD,

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had been keeping an eye on the political developments in the country immediately took suo motu notice of what happened in the national Assembly and issued notices to all the stake-holders. The Supreme Court heard the lawyers of all the concerned parties and even the political leaders for well over three days and finally delivered its verdict on the evening of April 7, declaring the ruling of the deputy speaker as well all the steps taken as a consequence of that ruling to be unconstitutional, restored the national assembly and ordered the speaker to hold the no-confidence proceedings not later than 10.30 am on April 9.

The SC decision, unanimously delivered by a five-member larger bench, has surely changed the course of our political and legal history. It is for the first time that the judiciary has played a true role as protector of the Constitution and blocked the way for any adventurer to pummel the Constitution through his criminal indiscretions to reap political advantage.

It is indeed a day of great rejoicing for all those who believe in running the state affairs strictly according to the Constitution and prevalence of rule of law in the country. The judges have surely erased the unenviable history of playing into the hands of the powers that be and chosen the option to stand by the Constitution. The decision is a true reflection of responding to voice of the conscience. The misadventure by Imran Khan has backfired.

I am sure, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan who himself was a staunch believer in the sanctity and ascendency of the constitution, must also have felt elated in his grave that an auspicious beginning has been made to put the country on constitutional path.

Though the Supreme Court decision would discourage any future adventurers from playing with the Constitution, it would not eliminate the culture of political confrontation and polarization that has marred the political landscape of the country. This phenomenon has become even more worrisome since Imran’s advent on the political scene. Instead of accepting the verdict of the apex court he and his party have started throwing flak at the judiciary and also unleashed a smear campaign against the Army. He is also inciting the youth to attack and humiliate the PTI members who switched loyalties during the no-confidence motion. Media has already reported a number of ugly incidents in this regard. We are fast moving towards chaos and anarchy. He is better advised to retract and do politics in accordance with the rules of the game.

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com.

Islamabad security dialogue and India’s obduracy

Alleged air strikes in Khost and Kunar signal problems

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

tive he also garnered further support and strengthened his position.”

Without delving into the narrative that was built to justify this unprecedented action—- on which a lot has been already written in the media—- I do agree that there is nothing wrong with thinking differently, acting differently and orchestrating a change because societies and nations cannot remain static or stuck into their past. But the question is whether the change for the sake of change or change for the better is a much needed and preferred option. no one in his right mind can differ with the second option.

Change for betterment of the society and the nation cannot occur without respect for the constitution and rule of law. Unfortunately that has been missing for the last seven decades pushing the country off the track. Imran Khan has proved even worse than the previous rulers as far as respect for internationally recognized democratic norms and constitution is concerned. Only fools can give credence to the narrative that change for the better was possible only by thinking differently and acting differently, without being subservient to the constitution and ensuring rule of law in the country. The history of developed nations which are now ruling the world amply proves that contention. We are living in this world and if we want to progress as a nation, destined to earn respect among the comity of nations, we have to adopt the constitutional way of doing things and practicing politics. Disrespect for the constitution and rule of law has been the bane of our socio-economic development.

The nation bewilderingly saw the enactment of thinking differently and acting differently by Imran Khan on April 3. Within two to three minutes the deputy speaker plunged the country into a constitutional and political crisis by giving the ruling on a point of order by the federal law minister. Within minutes, the Prime Minister, in his brief address which was pre-recorded, congratulated the nation and said that he had advised the President for the dissolution of the national Assembly. A minute later a report came that the President had dissolved the national Assembly and asked Imran Khan to remain in office until a new Prime Minister was elected and also initiated a process for installation of the caretaker government and elections in 90 days. The haste with which things happened itself told the story of sinister designs of the PTI government led by Imran Khan and backed and supported by the President.

All the constitutional experts and distinguished lawyers and representative bodies of the legal fraternity immediately condemned the move by Imran Khan as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court which

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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and a member of the nuclear Supplier Group.

India aspires to become a permanent member of the United nations’ Security Council. As far back as March 2005, the USA announced its intention “to help India become a major world power in the 21st century” (K. Alan Konsstadt, CRS Report for Congress: India US Relations, updated February 13, 2007 (Congressional Research Service 2007).

C. Raja Mohan says: ‘India’s grand strategy divides the world into three concentric circles. In the first, which encompasses the immediate neighbourhood, India has sought primacy and a veto over the actions of outside powers. In the second which encompasses the socalled extended neighbourhood, stretching across Asia and the Indian Ocean littoral, India has sought to balance influence of other powers and prevent them from understanding its interests. In the third which includes the entire global stage , India has tried to take its place as one of the great powers, a key player in international peace and security’(C. Raja Mohan, India and the Balance of Power, Foreign Affairs July-August 2006 issue). Chanakya, in his magnum opus Arthashastra also talks about mandala (inter-relationships or circles).

Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski have exposed India’s ambition to emerge as a hegemon in South Asia as a rival to China.

Kissinger says: ‘Just as the early American leaders developed in the Monroe Doctrine a concept for America’s special role in the Western Hemisphere, so India has established in practice a special position in the Indian Ocean region between the East Indies and the Horn of Africa. Like Britain with respect to Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, India strives to prevent the emergence of a dominant power in the vast portion of the globe, just as early American leaders did not seek the approval of the countries of the Western Hemisphere with respect to the Monroe Doctrine, so India in the region of its special strategic interests conducts its policy on the basis of own definition of a South Asian Order’ (Henry Kissinger, World Order, new York: nY:Penguin Press, 2014, p. 205).

Brzezinski points out:

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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‘Indian strategists speak openly of a greater India exercising a dominant position in an area ranging from Iran to Thailand. India is also positioning itself to control the Indian Ocean militarily, its naval and air power programs point clearly in that direction _ as do politically guided efforts to establish for India strong positions with geostrategic implication in adjoining Bangladesh and Burma’(Zbigniew Brzezinski, Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power, new York, nY: Basic Books, 2012, p. 85).

At the conclusion of the recent two-plus-two dialogue, the USA over-ebulliently mentioned Pakistan with negative undertones in the communiqué. The joint statement stated: ‘The Ministers strongly condemned any use of terrorist proxies and cross-border terrorism in all its forms and called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, and Pathankot attack, to be brought to justice. They called for concerted action against all terrorist groups, including groups proscribed by the UnSC 1267 Sanctions Committee, such as alQa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizb ul Mujahideen.

The Ministers called on Pakistan to take immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks.

The Ministers committed to continued exchange of information about sanctions and designations against terror groups and individuals, countering violent radicalism, use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, and cross-border movement of terrorists. The Ministers also emphasized the importance of upholding international standards on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism by all countries, consistent with FATF recommendations.”

The skewed remarks about Pakistan (as also about Afghanistan) were unwarranted. The dialogue was essentially meant to take stock of the situation emerging from the role of critical and emerging technologies in the new world order. Or, to examine how to further strengthen the QUAD as a bulwark against China.

Unless the USA adopts a balanced policy concerning nuclear-capable India and Pakistan, always at daggers drawn, peace in the region will remain a far cry.

The writer, a freelance contributor, is a Kashmiri student of the Economics Department of the PMASArid University.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

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Sustainability

Was the regime change part of the US Indo-Pacific strategy?

Pakistan joined those countries where de-dollarisation was followed by regime change koMal khan

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HE geopolitical and geoeconomic competition in theIndo-Pacific is specified by the intense US-China competition to secure their national interests, however, at the cost of national security and stability of the other states in the Indo-Pacific. The ongoing political crises in the IndoPacific neighbouring states of Afghanistan, Myanmar, and more recently Pakistan and Sri Lanka, can be identified as the resurgence of ‘fait accomplis’ as a viable tactic of strategic competition adopted by the USA to construct a shared networking and deterrence at the expense of China’s preference in the Indo-Pacific.

Fait accomplis make gains unilaterally, imposing a change to the status quo without the adversary’s consent. Fait accomplis can be military or non-military, coercive or non-coercive in practice. These are basically crisis-bargaining compulsions that induce decision paralyses in states that are targeted. Biden’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, announced by the White House on February 11, is one such compulsion that is based on the policy of integrated deterrence and shared networking as ‘fait accomplis’ for the Indo-Pacific states with the objective of constructing creative collaborations that anchor the USA firmly in the Indo-Pacific.

The recent constitutional crisis accompanied with regime change in Pakistan may be analysed as resurgence of the ‘fait accompli’ once again since 9/11 under the creative collaboration policy of the Biden Administration. Washington’s alleged intervention in Pakistan’s sovereignty by funding the regime change against Khan’s government in Pakistan by investing in rival democratic institutions has been claimed by outgoing Prime Minister Imran Khan. nonetheless, it is a fact that the no-confidence movement against a democratic government in Pakistan was also carried out in the name of democracy. Moreover, Khan’s claims have been based on a lettergate which is under probe and is allegedly claimed to be from the Biden administration, enforcing the USA’s regional and global interests in a growing multilateral world order; however, at the cost of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Pakistan’s multilateral approach has been evident in Khan’s foreign policy which has seen an unwelcoming response from the USA. Pakistan’s growing ties with Russia are seen as a major cause of regime change in Pakistan. The event of Khan’s visit to Russia despite pressure from the USA and its coincidence with the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also been recognized as the immediate happening linked to the ouster of Prime Minister Khan from government, which has been described by Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian foreign ministry, as ‘punishment to the disobedient Khan.’

Describing retreat in the USA’s relationship with Pakistan, which served as its ally during and in the post-Cold War decade; former JCSC Committee chairman Adm Mike Mullen holds the USA responsible for distancing itself from Pakistan in the last decade which made Pakistan fall into China’s strategic camp. Cashing in on

the realisation, at the event of the Islamabad Security Dialogue, Pakistan’s COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa proposed ‘counter investment’ as the only mechanism by which the USA culd counter the intense Chinese influence in Pakistan. This proposal exhibits the state’s intention to partner with the USA in its ‘Indo-Pacific economic framework’ while benefitting from the Chinese camp simultaneously. On the other hand, the national Security Policy by the Khan administration also underlines the openness of Pakistan for such regional creative collaborations, but in the economic domain, while preserving neutrality in the US-China Indo-Pacific competition.

Furthermore, Pakistan’s partnership in the de-dollarization drive supported by China, Russia and Turkey is another major cause of the regime change in Pakistan.

Pakistan initially signed the Currency Swap Agreement with China back in 2011; however its extension by the State Bank in 2018 under the CPEC dynamics with the rationale of easing the dollar pressure over Pakistan’s stock exchange proved to be a major development attracting US concern. Since then, there has been significant increase in the bilateral currency swap value from Rs 475 billion in 2020 to Rs 731.7 billion in 2021. Pakistan had also signed a currency swap agreement with Turkey back in 2011, while another with Iran has been in process since 2018.

Pakistan is not the only partner in the dedollarization initiatives.

On Dec 11, 2017,Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia also entered into a local currency settlement framework that was further extended in 2021. Followed by Pakistan, Sri Lanka has also signed a #1.5 billion currency swap deal with China in March 2021; consequently falling victim to a constitutional crisis and regime change against Mahinda Rajapakshaled by an opposition coalition;hence, presenting a case similar to that of Pakistan. De-dollarization movements have a history of consequential regime change, with the toppling of Saddam’s regime in Iraq being a significant one.

Hence, Asia in general and the Indo-Pacific in particular present an emerging de-dollarization

axis. The United States Department of Defence Indo-Pacific strategy 2019, and the Indo-Pacific Strategy February 2022 identify Indo-Pacific as the primary consequential region for the USA’s future and the established world order based on the facts that the region accounts for 60 percent of world GDP, two-thirds of the world economy, and two- thirds of global economic growth. It supports three million US jobs, and provides $900 billion in FDI to the USA.The Indo-Pacific holds seven of the largest militaries in the world.

While analyzing China’s grand narrative of its inexorable rise and the USA’s irreversible decline, Graham Allison states that as per the current trajectory, China’s GDP would stand at twice the size of the USA’s and thrice by 2040, based on reports of China’s quadrennial add up of economy that is equivalent to India’s entire GDP. The USA is accustomed to the correlation between GDP and its impact on world order which is significantly different.

It accounted for half of the world’s GDP post World War II, a quarter of the global GDP during the Cold War, and 1/7th today. With a transformational increase in China’s GDP from $191 billion in 1980 to $14.7 trillion today, China is rightly countered by the USA as the potential stakeholder in world order.

The Indo-Pacific is witnessing a revision by China’s extending influence there. Relating Graham Allison’s analysis of the USA’s decline in world affairs to Indo-Pacific dynamics, his argument is based on the facts stated by the CIA factbook and the IMF that it is China which provides the most critical links in the supply chain. Hence China has been legitimising its influence through geo-economic partnerships which the USA aims to counter via resilient allies, partnerships and regime change in the other states of the Indo-Pacific as manifestations of ‘fait accompli’, with Pakistan being a significant one.

The Indo-Pacific is witnessing a revision by China’s extending influence there. Relating Graham Allison’s analysis of the USA’s decline in world affairs to Indo-Pacific dynamics, his argument is based on the facts stated by the CIA factbook and the IMF that it is China which provides the most critical links in the supply chain. Hence China has been legitimising its influence through geoeconomic partnerships which the USA aims to counter via resilient allies, partnerships and regime change in the other states of the IndoPacific as manifestations of ‘fait accompli’, with Pakistan being a significant one

*The writer is working as a Research Officer at the Strategic Vision Institute (SVI), a non-partisan think-tank based out of Islamabad, Pakistan.

SUSTAInABLE development can be defined as the practice of maintaining productivity by replacing used resources with resources of equal or greater value without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems. Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

It contains within it two key concepts. The concept of “needs”, in particular, the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given. The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.

The world’s ecosystems depend on clean water for survival and sustainability. Discharge of waste in freshwater sources must be eliminated or reduced to safe levels commensurate with the carrying capacity of the receiving body of water. Water could be a limited and fundamental asset that’s crucial to human well-being. It is as if it were renewable on the off chance that well overseen. nowadays, more than 1.7 billion individuals live in waterway bowls where consumption through utilisation surpasses characteristic revive, a slant that will see two-thirds of the world’s populace living in water-stressed nations by 2025.

Water can posture a genuine challenge to feasible advancement but overseen proficiently and evenhandedly, water can play a key empowering part in strengthening the strength of social, financial and natural frameworks in the light of quick and erratic changes.

In the 21st century, we have to take filtered and preserved water due to unhygienic chemicals and bacteria present in water. We have to buy water from companies like nestlé Aquafina etc. We know that water is the basic need of life and clean water is the necessity of life. So it is more important to buy clean water than to drink tap water.

When we buy water in preserved form without any harmful bacteria we have to pay for this and this is the direct cost of water that saves us from getting any disease. It makes us near to life.

As we know that nowadays industrial work is at its peak and the waste of industries is sunk into the water sources. These chemicals can cause cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. If someone drinks dirty water there is 75% chance he can get hepatitis or typhoid.

Then he has to go to a physician for the cure of these diseases and had to spend money on them. This is the indirect cost of water which we had to pay in case of drinking tap water. This is necessary for the savage of our lives. If we spend directly on water then we don’t have to spend on the diseases that can be caused by drinking chlorinated water or tap water.

SHANZAY AFZAL LAHORE

The circumstances of Gwadar BALOCHISTAn Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has said that the provincial government has decided to declare Gwadar and Kech districts calamity-hit areas and issued directives for the chief secretary to take steps in this regard. CM Bizenjo said the authorities concerned, including the army, navy, Frontier Corps, police and Levies Force, had started rescue and relief operations in the rain-hit areas immediately, along with the civil administration and he said the government was making all-out efforts to provide relief and shelter to the people rendered homeless as rain and floodwater had entered their houses in Gwadar and Kech districts and the government had issued an alert before the start of rains and snowfall in the province and sent relief goods and machinery well before time to face any disaster. The government’s action brought good results as the affected people were immediately rescued and provided relief and adding that roads, closed due to heavy snowfall and rains, had been opened within 24 hours and traffic on all highways had also been restored and more relief goods would be provided to the PDMA to send them to all areas as there were reports that the authority had faced shortage of relief goods during the earthquake in Harnai.

HAMMAL ZAHID KOLAHOO

Old Pakistan THE title of this letter refers to Bilawal Bhutto’s remarks on the sacred floor of Parliament when after the no-confidence motion was passed, he said “welcome back to Purana Pakistan” (old Pakistan). One is convinced that Bilawal is truthful in his saying, because there is nothing new in Pakistan. Our political leaders used conventional ways to destabilise Pakistan politically. Yes, this is old Pakistan because no Prime Minister has completed the five-year tenure. now, again there would be hue and cry of rising inflation, absence of rule of law, a debt-ridden economy and most important of all the oldest aspect of Pakistan’s “dictated foreign policy.”

Yes, congratulations! Pakistan the “Old Pakistan”.

SYEDA HADIA BAKHTAWAR NANAKANA SAHIB

Mobility Across Lahore I will like to drive the attention of the concerned authorities through your publication on the rising issue of heavy traffic load and its effect on the environment. Lahore has witnessed an increase in motor vehicles in a short period which has turned out to be a major hurdle in easy mobility, especially during peak hours.

Gulberg and its suburbs are the zones of major economic activities of the city and the magnitude of traffic has increased immensely in these areas.

State-of-the-art flyover and underpass are already constructed at Kalma Chowk and the signal-free main boulevard is doing justice with their roles in sharing the traffic load. The need of the hour is infrastructure reforms because of the increase in traffic flow. Long ques of cars with running engines are damaging the environment stems in the said areas due to traffic jams and congestion. Extension and remodelling of roads will help to counter the traffic issues for easy mobility. Planned infrastructural reforms are stewards of development for a country, proactive swift actions on the said issue will help in easy mobility and will also help to curb noise and air pollution which will be a dynamic step toward green and breathable Lahore.

UMAR MAHMOOD LAHORE

08 WORLD VIEW 18th April 22_Layout 1 4/17/2022 9:25 PM Page 1

Monday, 18 April, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

For IndIAn MUslIMs The end TIMes hAve ArrIved SINCE NARENDRA MODI TOOK OVER IN 2014, MUSLIMS HAVE BEEN USED AS A CRUTCH FOR ALL OF INDIA’S ILLS

Middle east eye azad essa

I

T was the first week of the fasting month of Ramadan. indian Muslims in the town of Karauli, Rajasthan were minding their own business when hundreds of Hindu worshippers on motorcycles draped in saffron scarves arrived in their neighbourhood.

They turned up the volume on their loudspeakers and played a couplet.

“The day the Hindus wake up, the consequence will be, “that the skull-cap wearer will bow down and say victory to Lord Ram. “The day my blood boils, I wish to show you your place, “then I will not speak, only my sword will.” as Muslims watched in fear and panic, the rally grew boisterous and threatening. when this happens and a provocative rally is conducted by the Rss, the paramilitary Hindu supremacist organisation who are leading the charge into making india into a Hindu Rashtra, or Hindu state, there is literally no one Muslims can turn to. The procession had arrived to humiliate and assert Hindu supremacy. They will only leave

when satisfied. what happened next is still not clear. it is understood that some young Muslim men in the neighbourhood decided to take matters into their own hands. They picked up stones and flung them at motorcyclists. a scuffle ensued. in the mayhem, houses and shops were set alight. The neighbourhood began to burn.

The police, as ever, watching calmly among the crowd, eventually closed in. They arrested Muslim residents and a select few of the visiting provocateurs. Before long, videos began to circulate suggesting that Muslims attacked peaceful Hindus as they celebrated the birth of their deity, Ram. They were naturally blamed for the ‘violence’. On cue, international media described the incidents as ‘clashes’ between Hindus and Muslims. Meanwhile, Hindu neighbours are instructed to boycott Muslim shops. as penance for daring to stand up to the hate, the state government shut down the internet and imposed a curfew in the area. The government sent in 600 police officers to ‘patrol’ the area.

MESSAGE OF HATE: Over the past 10 days, scenes like the one described above have played out across several states in india.

Under the guise of celebrating the birth of the deity Ram, known as Ram Navami, thousands of Hindu nationalists and supremacists, some carrying sticks and swords, have been visiting Muslim neighbourhoods spouting messages of hate and daring Muslims to stand up for themselves.

if the stand-off results in any type of scuffle, the state has acted with stupendous brutality. in the district of Khargone in Madya Pradhesh, india’s second-largest, at least 16 houses and 29 shops were demolished, a majority of which were Muslimowned, following a similar act of provocation on 10 april. indian authorities argued that the demolished structures were illegal. But, as asaduddin Owaisi, president of the all india Majlis-e-ittehadul Muslimeen party (aiMiM), inferred at a press conference, even if the houses were illegal, there was still a due process to be followed. This, Owaisi said, was an act of collective punishment.

Muslims have lived on the periphery of political and economic life for decades in india. But since Narendra Modi took over in 2014, Muslims have become a scapegoat for all of india’s ills.

Muslim men have been attacked and accused of courting Hindu women for the purposes of conversion (‘Love jihad’). Others, including dalits, have been lynched on the streets by cow vigilante groups. in 2020, an obvious attempt to dehumanise the community saw Muslims accused of spreading the coronavirus, or taking part in a “corona jihad” as it was called.

But even by the horrific standards of the past eight years, the past six months have been arguably unprecedented.

CALL FOR VIOLENCE: whereas calls by a group of monks for Hindus to arm themselves in the coming genocide against

IF THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF AL-AQSA HARAM SHARIF IS FOR ALL MUSLIMS AND THE ISRAELI VIOLATIONS ARE BEING SUFFERED BY THE PALESTINIANS, THE IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK IS WHAT ARE THE MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD DOING FOR THEIR HOLY SITE

Middle east Monitor IsmaIl Patel

M

asjid al-aqsa has been in danger since the israeli Occupation of East jerusalem began in 1967. since the occupation, the israeli authorities have allowed israeli extremists to intimidate and violate the sanctity of Masjid al-aqsa. However, in the past decade, the attacks on Masjid al-aqsa have been directed by the israeli political elites.

One point of direct political incitement is marked by ariel sharon, who in 2019 flanked by Likud politicians stormed the aqsa Haram al-sharif. The Palestinian reaction to the israeli provocation led to the al-aqsa intifada. during the intifada thousands of Palestinian homes were demolished, thousands more were arrested and over 3,000 Palestinians killed.

The attacks on Masjid al-aqsa and on its peaceful worshippers over recent years have become so frequent that it has become normalised. in Ramadan 2019, israeli extremists violating the sanctity of Masjid al-aqsa were provided military cover by israeli politicians. in 2021 Ramadan, al-aqsa witnessed one of the most brutal attacks from israel, which included randomly beating worshippers, firing rubber bul-

Muslims prompted pockets of liberal ‘outrage’ as recently as december 2021, today calls for the mass murder of the minority have become as routine, and regular, as the bigotry of a Bollywood film.

The recent escalation in attacks follows a series of episodes in the southern state of Karnataka, where right wing Hindus have called for a boycott of Muslim fruit traders, taxi drivers, and Halal stores, while Muslim women have been banned from wearing headscarves at several colleges in the same state.

The state government is now also considering banning mosques from broadcasting the azan from loudspeakers. Over the past week alone, calls for violence and resultant acts of arson against Muslims were reported in at least seven states, including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, jharkhand, and west Bengal. in Goa, a mob carrying saffron flags tried to enter a mosque just as worshippers were opening their fast.

To be clear, none of these incidents have elicited outrage or condemnation from the national government, illustrating once more that calls for violence against Muslims were neither separate nor antithetical to the goals of the state.

They are part of a project by the Hindu right to “Hinduise” the social and economic landscape toward building a state for the Hindu majority.

THE ABYSS: Twenty years may have passed since the anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat, but today an entire generation of young Hindu nationalists now believe that

eliminating Muslims will improve their lives. in previous rallies in Kauralai in Rajasthan, Hindu nationalists reportedly played songs for hours outside Muslim homes.

One of these songs included the following lyrics: “We are hardcore Hindus, we will create a new history “We will enter the homes of enemies, and will cut their heads […]

“In every home the saffron flag will be seen, the rule of Ram will return.

“There is only one slogan, one name, victory to Lord Ram, victory to Lord Ram.” One 22-year-old Hindu man told a journalist that “when we listen to the song, we feel strengthened, we get the feeling that we want to kill every single Muslim around”. a larger project of ethnic cleansing is underway in india. as per the logic of the Hindutva - the ideology that underpins the Hindu nationalist movement - Muslims will have to convert or perish. indian Muslims are now staring firmly at the abyss. and they know they when it comes to causes, they are close to the bottom of the heap.

Azad Essa is a senior reporter for Middle East Eye based in New York City.

He worked for Al Jazeera English between 2010-2018 covering southern and central Africa for the network. He is the author of ‘The Moslems are Coming’ (Harper Collins India) and ‘Zuma’s Bastard’ (Two Dogs Books).

What’s up with India and its Ukraine policy?

Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa is an insult to Muslims worldwide

lets and stun grenades inside the mosque. Ramadan 2022 has again seen a repeat of israeli aggression, that is going on for longer and being more violently brazen.

Masjid al-aqsa is the holiest Muslim site in jerusalem. For Muslims around the world, al-aqsa is the symbol of Prophetic memory that not only links the three holiest sites of Makkah, Medina and jerusalem but also the Prophet’s biography. al-aqsa also forms the fabric of Muslim historicity. al-aqsa calls on Muslims to draw lessons from Umar, the second Caliph on how to behave in victory. al-aqsa through the life of salahudeen teaches Muslims steadfastness and perseverance. al-aqsa is also the site of meditation and reflection. it is for these reasons that al-aqsa was resident for a period to great scholars like imam Ghazali, Rabia Basari, shaykh ibrahim ibn adham and others.

The centrality and importance of Masjid al-aqsa to Muslims remain undisputed. The israeli attacks on Masjid al-aqsa therefore cannot be reduced to being against the Palestinians. The israeli desecration of Masjid al-aqsa is an affront to Muslims across the globe. israel through its actions and support for the extremists is indicating its disregard of the sanctity Muslims hold al-aqsa.

Throughout the violent israeli onslaught, Palestinians have gathered to protect Masjid al-aqsa. in fact, in Ramadan 2021 within hours of merciless israel attacks over 260,000 Palestinians gathered to worship on the last Friday. similarly, this year despite the restrictions, checkpoints, arrests, beatings and possibly being killed over 100,000 performed Friday prayers in al-aqsa. if the spiritual significance of alaqsa Haram sharif is for all Muslims and the israeli violations are being suffered by the Palestinians, the important question to ask is what are the Muslims around the world doing for their Holy site.

INDIAN MUSLIMS ARE NOW STARING FIRMLY AT THE ABYSS. AND THEY KNOW THEY ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HEAP

THE CONFLICT HAS INCREASED INDIA’S STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE AND WIDENED ITS OPTIONS Project syndicate sHasHI tHaROOR

T

OwaRd the end of March, an unusual sequence of diplomatic visitors passed through india’s capital.

First came japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, austrian Foreign Minister alexander schallenberg and U.s.

Under secretary of state for Political affairs Victoria Nuland. They were followed by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos dendias, Omani Foreign Minister sayyid Badr albusaidi and Chinese Foreign Minister wang Yi. The parade continued. Next to arrive were Gabriele Visentin, the European Union’s special envoy for the indo-Pacific; Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign minister; jens Plotner, foreign and security policy adviser to German Chancellor Olaf scholz; and Geoffrey van Leeuwen, foreign affairs and defense adviser to dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Last and by no means least were U.s. deputy national security adviser daleep singh, U.K. Foreign secretary Liz Truss and Russian Foreign Minister sergei Lavrov. There was also an online indo-australian summit.

The Ukraine war has exposed india’s strategic vulnerabilities in a tough neighborhood as arguably nothing else could, raising fundamental questions about the country’s global position and regional security. But, paradoxically — as the slew of recent highprofile visits confirms — the conflict has increased india’s strategic importance and, in the short term, widened its options.

Has Prime Minister Narendra Modi used this room for maneuver well? The west, even as it seeks to line up india on its side vis-avis Ukraine, has signaled its understanding of india’s dependence on Russia for vital defense equipment and long history of close diplomatic relations with the Kremlin.

China has been somewhat surprised to find itself on the same page as india regarding the war. Both countries abstained in a series of United Nations votes condemning the Russian invasion and have maintained their communication channels with the Kremlin despite western sanctions. China has been asking for restoration of “normal” bilateral

relations with india, which have been in a deep freeze since violent border clashes in june 2020 killed 20 indian soldiers. “The world will listen when China and india speak with one voice,” wang reportedly stated on his recent visit to delhi.

Russia, no doubt eager to thank india for “understanding” the Kremlin’s position, has offered the country economic incentives — notably, discounted oil and gas and affordable fertilizer — to dissuade it from changing its stance. while india’s long-standing focus on “strategic autonomy” has kept it out of formal alliances, its broad geopolitical orientation has been veering toward a special partnership with the United states, notably in the indoPacific. india is a member of the U.s.-led “Quad,” an informal grouping also including japan and australia that is widely seen as a way to check China’s regional ambitions. india has also significantly increased its defense purchases from the west in recent years, and, with the U.s., is seeking to modernize its manufacturing base for military equipment. This process is likely to be accelerated by india’s current realization that its dependence on Russian supplies imposes significant constraints, particularly in the event of a future border crisis with China. singh, the U.s. deputy national security adviser, pointedly warned of “consequences” should india breach the western-led sanctions on Russia, and he urged india to recognize the diminishing value of its close relationship with the Kremlin. “The more Russia becomes China’s junior partner, the more leverage China gains over Russia, the less and less favorable that is for india’s strategic posture,” he told an indian TV channel. “does anyone think that if China breaches the Line of actual Control, that Russia would now come to india’s defense? i don’t.”

China has been pushing the BRiCs grouping (of which it is a member, along with Brazil, Russia, india and south africa) and the shanghai Cooperation Organization as models of non-western collaboration that can ensure a multipolar world order. But Chinese blandishments toward india are unlikely to succeed if China’s leaders are not willing to reverse their military gains from unprovoked Himalayan incursions in the spring of 2020. india will accept nothing less than a return to the status quo ante of april 2020 as the price for normalizing

bilateral relations. But whether it can leverage China’s overtures to achieve results on the ground remains to be seen.

Russia, meanwhile, is aware that india’s refusal to condemn its assault on Ukraine does not imply support. india has at no stage endorsed the Russian military campaign and its language has notably hardened as the war has dragged on. indian statements now pointedly refer to the inviolability of borders, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and the inadmissibility of resorting to force to resolve political disputes, even while calling on “both sides” to pursue diplomatic negotiations. india has also been quick to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, sending 90 tons of relief materials. as the destruction has become more intense, its aid is likely to continue. india will gladly purchase essential supplies of fuel and fertilizer from Russia at discounted rates in rubles. But its diplomatic stance and decreasing reliance on Russian defense equipment mean that it is not completely in Russia’s camp. still, india’s calls for peace in Ukraine would have been more credible had it taken steps to bring about that outcome. whereas countries like Turkey and israel have been actively engaged in peace diplomacy, india has made no effort to play a mediating role, despite at one point sending four cabinet ministers to Europe to supervise the evacuation of indian citizens from Ukraine. Even Lavrov suggested in delhi that india could help “support” a mediation process. india could have used the diplomatic attention it has been getting over Ukraine to carve out a role worthy of its aspirations for a permanent seat on the U.N. security Council. sadly, its ambitions seem to have been too modest. india’s first prime minister, jawaharlal Nehru, observed in 1946 that “india, constituted as she is, cannot play a secondary part in the world. she will either count for a great deal or not count at all.” Ukraine is a test case — and the jury remains out. will today’s india count at all?

Shashi Tharoor, a former U.N. undersecretary-general and former Indian minister of state for external affairs and minister of state for human resource development, is an MP for the Indian National Congress.

Monday, 18 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

09

Pakistani celebrities take to karachi streets in suPPort of imran khan

s

newS DeSK

EVERAL industry A-listers took to the streets in support of ousted former Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Jalsa in Karachi over the weekend.

Celebrities spotted at the event included Sinf e Aahan actor Syra Yousuf, Feroze Khan, Mariyam Nafees, as well as couple Sarwat Gillani and Fahad Mirza.

Syra took to her Instagram to share a picture with the national flag in hand, quoting Jinnah in the caption, writing, “There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan.”

Her sister, hairstylist Palwasha Yousuf also took to the photosharing app to share pictures of the group heading to the gathering, held at

MA Jinnah Road.

Aye Musht e Khaak actor Feroze Khan took to his Instagram stories to share views from the stage, as well as videos of Khan at the event.

Actor Mariyam Nafees and filmmaker husband Amaan Ahmed also shared pictures from the stage, wearing PTI colours around their necks.

Celebrity couple Sarwat Gillani and Fahad Mirza were also present at the Jalsa with Pakistani flags in hand. Fahad wrote on his Instagram stories along with a picture of him and his wife, “Pakistan Zindabad. To see this passion, this fervour, this national unity for the first time in my life was an awe-inspiring experience!”

Singer Haroon Shahid came with family to the venue, posing with his kids in a picture posted on his social media.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday

CORPORATE CORNER

aiou to close admissions today ISLAMABAD

evening claimed that the “imported” government was trying to push his party out of the political arena through the foreign funding case, therefore, for the sake of fairness, the court cases against PPP, PTI, and PML-N must be heard together.

Addressing a massive public gathering at Karachi’s Bagh-e-Jinnah, Imran thanked the people of the metropolis for coming out of their houses to show support for him, saying that the purpose of his visit to Karachi was not in the interests of the PTI but it was for the sake of Pakistan and the future of its children.

The former prime minister also shared that since a “strong and powerful” Pakistani community lived in the United States, he believed in establishing congenial relations with all countries.

IESCO operations circles in-charge will conduct e-kachery via Facebook live and telephonically on April 19

Press reLease

Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has set April 18 (Monday) as the last day of its 2nd Phase admissions for the semester Spring, 2022. The interested students have been advised to apply for the admission before the expiring date. It was hoped that the students will avail the opportunity to continue their future study. Admission forms and prospectuses for the all programs are available on the University website www.aiou.edu.pk.

The university has recently digitized its administrative, financial and educational affairs and provided online facilities to the students. Applicants for admission in any program can now apply only under online mode. Candidates who do not have access to computer and internet can go to the nearest regional office of the university and apply online using free computer and internet facility.

Where the staff of the university is providing all possible facilities and support to the students.

Fee-to-face workshops on teaching practice of MA Education and M.Ed programs offered in the fall semester 2021 are also starting today(April 18). These workshops will be held at the Regional Offices of the University from 1pm to 5pm. Letters have been sent to students to attend workshops. Workshops’ schedule is also uploaded on the students' CMS portals and on the university's website. In addition, examinations of BA (Associate Degree), Associate Degree in Education, Associate Degree in Commerce, Associate Degree in (Human Resource Management, Islamic Banking and Marketing), B.Ed, B.B.A. , BS Accounting and Finance and Certificate Course will start from 25th April across the country and will continue till 22nd June. Date-sheet has been uploaded on the University's website www.aiou.edu.pk while roll number slips are also been uploaded on students' CMS portals.

technical glitch at some utility stores Pos systems rectified ISLAMABAD Press reLease

Technical glitch experienced at a few Utility Stores POS systems, was rectified immediately this Sunday. Prompt response and rectification measures by the management of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) helped restore the technical problem within a short span of time. Under the recently deployed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system by USC, 4000 retail outlets and warehouses nationwide, have been linked digitally to manage inventory in an effective manner, for enhanced customer trust and satisfaction. It is important to note that due to the massive relief being provided by Government of Pakistan, there has been an unusual increase in the traffic at Utility Stores. The team is working day and night to ensure maximum relief is provided to customers.

While tendering apologies for inconvenience suffered by the customers, the USC management has reiterated its commitment to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential items and smooth operations through technology-based solution for its customers. Till date USC has served more than 8.8 million households during the ongoing Ramzan relief package.

ISLAMABAD Press reLease

Prompt and timely action for the rectification of customer’s complaint is the top priority of IESCO Management. By following same on the instruction of Chief Executive Officer IESCO Dr. Muhammad Amjad Khan, all IESCO Operation Circles Incharge

will listen to the complaints and suggestions of power consumers across the region through Facebook Live and telephone calls.

According to details on Tuesday, April, 19th 2022 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm consumers of Islamabad, Rawalpindi City, Rawalpindi Cantt, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal Circles and surrounding area can participate

in Facebook Live E-Katchery via facebook IDs of Islamabad Circle, SE IESCO Islamabad E-Kachery Phone No. 051-9260194, Rawalpindi City Circle, SE IESCO Rawalpindi-City E-Kachery Phone No. 051-9292675, Rawalpindi Cantt Circle, SE IESCO Rawalpindi-Cantt E-Kachery Phone No. 051-9293048, Attock Circle, SE IESCO Attock E-

Kachery Phone No. 051-4950343, Chakwal Circle, SE IESCO Chakwal E-Kachery Phone No. 0543-668500, Jhelum Circle, SE IESCO Jhelum EKachery Phone No. 0544-9270377.

IESCO customer can be participate in this Facebook Live E-Kachery directly with their name, address, contact number and electricity bill reference number.

PMC improving healthcare standards in Pakistan MuhAMMAD uMAIr KhAn The Pakistan Medical Commission strives to improve healthcare education through the advancement of quality medical and dental education in Pakistan. The healthcare regulator is setting benchmarks in line with global best practices to ensure quality healthcare for every citizen of our great nation. Following a vision of excellence in education, every local and foreign undergraduate will undergo a National Licensing Examination (NLE) before being issued a full license to practice in Pakistan.

The criteria for the National Licensing Examination have been introduced to assess the graduate’s ability to utilize the acquired knowledge, and principles, and to demonstrate competency in clinical skills of required for patient care. NLE is a licensing examination principally to test the candidate’s ability to function as a safe practitioner.

The NLE was the first computer-based examination conducted by PMC. The digital format of the examination is part of PMC’s vision to promote transparency and meritocracy while setting international benchmarks of quality, skills, and competence. The result of the Pakistani and Foreign graduates qualifying for the NLE is a fair indicator of the level of education and clinical training imparted in the colleges. It is the right of the patient to be treated well and accordingly by a seasoned pro-

fessional practitioner doctor/dentist. PMC is dedicated to improve the medical/health care delivery standards so that doctors/dentists can serve the patients well in a more efficient and professional manner.

From introducing computer-based testing for the first time in Pakistan for the NLE or updating medical and dental curricula as per international best practices, or through our comprehensive inspection and verification criterion with respect to clinical infrastructure conducive to medical and dental academia. PMC has taken it upon itself to create a healthcare delivery system that has the infrastructure, resources, and healthcare practitioners at par with global best practices to ensure every Pakistani citizen receives quality patient care.

On behalf of the Pakistan Medical Commission; the sole medical and dental regulator in Pakistan. PMC will continue working towards the targets we have set to raise the standard of medical and dental education and licensing in Pakistan while continuing to discipline individuals and organizations who do not meet the benchmarks of excellence set by PMC. Students on the other hand have acknowledged the efforts of the Pakistan Medical Commission in regulating medical and dental reforms. Students followed by medical and dental educational institutions have appreciated the role of PMC in improving the healthcare service and delivery standards.

sehar tarar notified as fPcci convener of overseas investment Promotion LAhore: News Desk

FPCCI has appointed CEO of Second Passport Sehar Tarar as the Convener of Overseas Investment Promotion on Sunday. In this regard, President FPCCI Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, along with former senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzaib Ikram handed over the notification to Sehar Tarar, during a meeting held today, in Lahore. The entire business community expressed good wishes to Sehar Tarar upon her appointment.

Petroleum products production rises 0.3pc in 8 months ISLAMABAD TLTP

The production of petroleum products surged 6.34 percent during February 2022 as compared to February 2021; however, the overall production in first eight months of the current fiscal year witnessed an increase of 0.30 percent on yearly basis.

According to a report of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the petroleum products that contributed in positive growth in production included jet fuel, the output of which increased by 27.29 percent.

Likewise, the production of

kerosene oil increased by 8.53 percent, motor spirits by 5.39 percent, high speed diesel by 6.94 percent, furnace oil by 2.02 percent, lubricating oil by 5.9 percent, jute batching oil by 18.86 percent, solvent naptha by 18.55 percent, and LPG by 2.64 percent.

The commodities that witnessed negative growth in production included diesel oil, the output of which went down by 68.48 percent while the output of all other petroleum products declined by 7.84 percent.

The overall production of petroleum commodities during July to February of the current fiscal year

witnessed an increase of 0.30 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

During this period, the production of jet fuel went up by 27.53 percent, kerosene oil by 21.96 percent, diesel oil by 11.73 percent, lubricating oil by 14.86 percent, jute batching oil by 30.71 percent, solvent naptha by 14.42 percent and LPG by 3.97 percent.

The commodities that witnessed negative growth in production during July-February (2021-22) included, motor spirits, output of which declined by 0.49 percent while the output of high speed diesel declined by 1.25 percent

and furnace oil by 8.65 percent.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall production of Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) grew by 4.6 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported Friday.

The LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 156.9 points during July-February (2021-22) against 150.0 points during July-February (2020-21), showing growth of 4.6 percent, according to latest PBS data.

Monday, 18 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

10 FOREIGN NEWS

MBS, PuTin diSCuSS OPeC+ COOPeraTiOn, ukraine

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AUDI Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a “positive assessment” about their cooperation

in the Opec+ alliance in a phone call on Saturday, the Kremlin said.

The leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine during the talks, the Kremlin added.

The call is the second between the two leaders since Russia began its military offensive in Ukraine in late

February. They had previously spoken on March 3.

“Bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them in all fields in a way that achieves the interests of the two countries were discussed [at the call],” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said, without providing details about Opec+ or energy talks.

Prince Mohammed “asserted the support of the kingdom for efforts that would lead to a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine and achieve security and stability”, it said.

The war in Ukraine, which led to western sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports, pushed crude prices up, with Brent touching a notch under $140 per barrel in March.

Prices have since cooled, as supply has been boosted in the market and demand has dampened slightly, due to Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

The 23-member Opec+ group, which includes Russia, is unwinding record output cuts put in place in 2020. The group plans to add another 432,000 bpd of crude to the market in May, staying the course of incremental increases in global oil supply and resisting calls to increase supply further to balance prices in the market.

The group will hold its next meeting on May 5 to review market dynamics and decide about future production.

Russia is the world’s secondlargest energy exporter, accounting for about 10 per cent of the world’s energy output, including 17 per cent of its natural gas and 12 per cent of its oil.

The US and UK have already banned Russian energy imports and Moscow’s oil supply is expected to decline further, according to the International Energy Agency.

APHC leaders demand immediate release of Kashmiri political detainees

Morocco condemns israel attacks on al-aqsa mosque RABAT ReuteRs

Morocco condemned on Saturday the Israeli attacks on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, saying the escalation undermines peace efforts. At least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli riot police inside the mosque compound on Friday, the latest outbreak in a recent upsurge of attacks that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict. “This blatant attack and systematic provocation during the holy month of Ramadan […] will stoke hatred and extremism and undermine chances to revive the peace process in the region,” Morocco’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Morocco, whose king chairs the Al Quds Committee at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), resumed diplomatic ties with Israel in December 2020.

australia says China pact would not end its Solomons security treaty

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Five injured in mosque shooting in Canada Agencies Five people were injured in a mosque shooting Saturday in the Toronto area of Canada, according to police sources. A group of men, who had finished midnight prayers during the Holy month of Ramazan, was randomly attacked in a drive-by shooting in the Scarborough district, said Toronto Police Department spokesperson David Rydzik. At least six shots were fired but it remains unknown how many suspects were involved in the shooting, he said. “We are unable to say whether the victims were targeted because of their religious beliefs,” said Rydzik. Meanwhile, Nadeem Sheikh, board member of the Scarborough Muslim Association said he is concerned about the shooting. He urged authorities to do their best to bring the perpetrators before authorities and said more steps should be taken to curb gun violence.

Twelve injured, 10 by gunfire, in shooting at South Carolina shopping mall Agencies Twelve people were injured, 10 of them by gunfire, in a shooting that erupted on Saturday inside a shopping mall in Columbia, South Carolina, and three people were taken into custody, police said. Columbia Police Chief William Holbrook said the shooting at the Columbiana Centre mall was not believed to have been a random act of violence but rather stemmed from “some kind of conflict” among a group of armed individuals who knew each other. However, details surrounding the shooting remained sketchy, he said.

Local media outlets reported a heavy presence of police and emergency personnel at the mall about 10 miles north of downtown Columbia, the state capital.

No one was killed in the incident, which unfolded at about 2 p.m. local time. But 10 people were struck by gunfire, and eight of them were transported to area hospitals. Of those, two were listed in critical but stable condition and six in stable condition, Holbrook told a news briefing hours later. The gunshot victims ranged in age from 73 to 15, he said. Two other people were injured in a “stampede” of bystanders running for safety. At least three people were found to have been carrying firearms inside the mall, and at least one of them actually fired a weapon, Holbrook said. Three individuals were detained in connection with the shooting, he said.

AFP

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders have demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists lodged in different jails of India and the territory.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Zamrooda Habib in a statement issued in Srinagar deplored that hundreds of Hurriyat leaders and activists had been languishing in overcrowded prisons and the authorities were not releasing them despite the court directives.

She appealed to the international community and human rights bodies to take serious note of Indian colonial acts in IIOJK and use their influence to press the Indian rulers to respect the human rights of Kashmiri political detainees.

She also paid glowing tributes to liberation leader, S Hameed Wani on the eve of his 24th martyrdom anniversary. Indian police had arrested S Hamid Wani on April 18, 1998 in Soura area of Srinagar and killed him in custody.

APHC leaders Jameel Mir and Dr Musaib in a joint statement in Srinagar demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists.

They said that the freedom-loving people of Kashmir were peacefully struggling to secure their birthright to self-determination but the Indian forces

had implicated thousands of Kashmiris in fake and baseless cases and lodged them in various prisons of India and Kashmir.

They appealed to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres and other international human rights organizations to help release the illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists the political detainees included APHC Chairman Masarrat Alam Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Dr Muhammad Shafi Shariati, Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Dr Ghulam Muhammad Butt, Ghulam Qadir Butt, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Yousuf Mir, Ayaz Akbar, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Peer Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Shahid-ul-Islam, Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar, Muhammad Rafiq Ganai, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Hayat Ahmad Butt, Muhammad Yousuf Falahi, Syed Shahid Yusuf Shah, Syed Shakeel Yousaf Shah and Fayyaz Ahmad Zargar.

Australia’s foreign minister said Sunday that a controversial security deal between the Solomon Islands and China would not spell the end of her country’s defence cooperation with the Pacific nation. Marise Payne told national broadcaster ABC that an existing bilateral security treaty between Australia and the Solomon Islands would continue even if the nation ignored entreaties from Canberra and signed a security pact with China. She noted it was under this treaty “that the assistance force made up of Pacific family countries — Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea — went to the Solomon Islands at the end of last year to support them in dealing with the unrest” sparked by protests against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. A leaked draft of the Solomon Islands-China deal prompted fears last month in Canberra that it would open the door to a greater Chinese military presence in the Pacific. Particularly controversial were provisions that would allow Chinese security and naval deployments to the Solomon Islands and others that required both nations to keep the existence of security missions secret. Sogavare has been adamant since the deal became public that he has “no intention whatsoever… to ask China to build a military base in the Solomon Islands”. Payne said Sunday these were “very important assurances” but noted concern “that there has been a lack of transparency in relation to this agreement”. Last week, in a sign of Australia’s mounting anxiety about the deal, Pacific Minister Zed Seselja was dispatched to the Solomons capital Honiara for an unusual mid-election campaign meeting with Sogavare. He asked the Solomon Islands’ leader “to consider not signing the agreement” but the prime minister was not persuaded. Instead, Sogavare said after the meeting that he will send his foreign minister to other countries in the region to “expound” on the security deal “with a view that a strong and stable Solomon Islands is healthy for the security of the region”.

Top opposition parties raise voice over incidents of hate speech, communal violence in India neW DeLHi AgeNcIes

Leaders of 13 opposition parties have expressed deep concern over the recent incidents of hate speech and communal violence in the country and urged people to maintain peace and harmony.

In a joint statement the leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand counterparts M K Stalin and Hemant Soren, raised concern over the manner in which issues relating to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by the ruling establishment to polarise society.

They also demanded stringent punishment for the perpetrators of communal violence in the country.

“We are shocked at the silence of the Prime Minister, who has failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and

provoke our society,” they said in the joint statement.

Asserting their collective resolve to work together to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that “defined and en-

riched India for centuries”, the opposition leaders said, “We reiterate our commitment to combat and confront the poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness in our society.”

“We appeal to all sections of the people to maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation. We call upon all our party units across the country to independently and jointly work for maintaining peace and harmony,” they said in the joint appeal.

Incidents of communal violence were reported from some parts of the country on the occasion of Ram Navami on April 10.

The Opposition leaders said they reiterate their firm conviction that the country will prosper only if it respects, accommodates and celebrates its many diversities in full measure.

Monday, 18 April, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

SPORTS 11

ICC rates knoCks of BaBar, azhar among Best BattIng performanCes In WtC23 so far

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APTAINS have led the way with the bat so far in the ICC World Test Championship 2023 cycle.

Babar Azam continues to dominate in red-ball cricket, while stand-in New Zealand skipper Tom Latham showed calm with the extra weight of leadership responsibilities, hitting back with a double hundred to help the Black Caps level their series with Bangladesh.

The recently resigning Joe Root also enjoyed a fine 2021 with the bat in spite of extra responsibilities, underlined by a knock of 180* against India.

Tom LaTham – 252 (373) v BangLadesh, ChrisTChurCh: The Black Caps were desperate for a response following a catastrophic first Test defeat to Bangladesh, and it was the captain opening the batting who proved to be the catalyst.

Shaking off scores of 1 and 14 in Mount Maunganui, Latham hit back on the first morning in Christchurch, reaching fifty before lunch and contributing 70 of the first 100 runs put on with Will Young for the first wicket.

Latham would then put on 215 with Devon Conway, a period in which a bulk of his 36 boundaries were scored. Latham hit 10 boundaries alone through the point region on the cut, and was quick on anything too short or straight, making 66 runs between mid-wicket and backward square-leg.

The 373-ball stay went into the second session of day two, breaking the back of Bangladesh in the field. New Zealand would go on to win by an innings and 117 runs.

BaBar azam – 196 (425) v ausTraLia, KaraChi: The seventh-highest individual score in the fourth innings of a Test match, Babar Azam’s 196 is made more remarkable by the difficulties faced deep into day five in Karachi.

Flattened by a colossal first innings total and a meagre 148 in response, Australia piled on the pressure through a swift second innings charge. Set 506 for an unlikely victory, Pakistan would have to endure the second-longest fourth innings stay of all time to rescue a draw.

Walking out at 21/2 just after lunch on day four, Babar looked a class above. Taking just 83 balls to reach fifty, Babar brought up three figures with a measured sweep over the head of short fine-leg.

Babar fell to a bat-pad catch off the bowling of Nathan Lyon four short of a double century, but he had quashed any chance of Australia taking a series lead, and passed Michael Atherton’s record for the highest individual fourth-innings knock by a skipper in Test cricket.

In what is a telling indication of Babar’s variety of strokeplay in the knock, his most productive shot – the cover drive – yielded just 25 runs.

Babar’s performances across March, including his match-saving innings, were rewarded with a second ICC Player of the

Month crown. azhar aLi – 185 (361) v ausTraLia, rawaLpindi: Before Babar’s heroics, it was Azhar Ali in Rawalpindi that pushed Australia’s bowling attack to the limits, taking away the prospect of a rare away victory first up.

Azhar Ali batted for 535 minutes, mostly with Imam-ul-Haq, who put 157 next to his own name on the scoreboard in Pakistan’s first innings.

The pair compiled 208 runs together, with Azhar notably strong off the front foot both through cover and mid-wicket.

Azhar was still standing deep into day two, falling to the part-time spin of Marnus Labuschagne.

Joe rooT – 180* (321) v india, Lord’s: Joe Root’s unbeaten hundred at Lord’s proved the No.4 is not only a class above his England peers, but one of the game’s modern greats.

Coming in at 23/2 following the early wickets of Dom Sibley and Haseeb Hameed, Root traversed a tricky end to day two, and batted throughout the entirety of day three as his partners fell at the other end.

Guiding balls behind square on the offside, and punishing anything too straight, Root opted to put the straight and on-drives away, scoring a total of ten runs between mid-off and mid-on.

Root’s importance to the side was highlighted in his side’s second-innings collapse, as the side fell to 120 all out to lose the Test match despite top-scoring with 33. ravindra JadeJa – 175* (228) v sri LanKa, mohaLi: Mohali has become a happy hunting ground for ICC Test No.1 all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

Becoming just the sixth man to score 150+ and take a five-wicket haul in the same Test in India’s thumping win against Sri Lanka, Jadeja picked up his third straight Player of the Match award at the venue.

India’s scoring rate ticked along at well over four-an-over, with every player in the top six making starts. Walking out at 228/5, Jadeja was allowed to settle into his knock given the ever-attacking Rishabh Pant was 22 yards away, scoring just seven in his first 26 balls.

Pressing on to register his second Test century and passing his Test highest score, Jadeja went on compile 130 together with Ravichandran Ashwin, and score 71 of his unbeaten 103-run stand with Mohammed Shami before Rohit Sharma’s declaration.

Moreno likely to miss Liverpool clash

MADRID Agencies

Villarreal’s star striker Gerard Moreno

could miss the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Liverpool after he scored and then went off injured in a 2-1 win over Getafe on Saturday.

Moreno scored one goal and then made another against Getafe before being substituted in the second half, with a reported injury to his right hamstring.

The 30-year-old will undergo tests to diagnose the extent of the problem. Villarreal have 10 days before they play the first leg against Liverpool at Anfield.

Moreno has endured a difficult year with injuries, having already suffered problems in October and February, when he was out for just over a month each time. “We are going to see how serious it is, but it has been a bad year for him,” said Villarreal coach Unai Emery after the game. “It’s been frustrating for everyone, let’s see how he is.”

After knocking Bayern Munich out in the Champions League quarter-finals with a surprise 1-1 draw in Munich on Tuesday, Villarreal claimed victory against a Getafe side trying to secure survival in Spain’s top flight.

Despite their Champions League

heroics, Emery’s team are adrift of the European qualification places, with this win taking them six points behind Real Sociedad in sixth.

Villarreal took the lead in the seventh minute through Moreno after Manu Trigueros’ long ball over the top found Paco Alcacer, who passed across for Moreno to send a deflected finish in.

Nine minutes later, the visitors doubled their advantage after this time Moreno slipped in Trigueros, who guided a smart finish into the far corner.

Enes Unal pulled one back for Getafe shortly after the hour mark and Unal wanted a penalty late on after a clumsy challenge from Aissa Mandi.

Villarreal, though, survived to leave Getafe 15th, four points above the bottom three.

Valencia had earlier suffered their first defeat in eight games at home to Osasuna, whose 2-1 win at Mestalla sees them leapfrog their opponents into ninth.

Australia’s Wright, Brazil’s Toledo win and ring at Bells CANBERRA ReuteRs

Australia’s twice world champion Tyler Wright crushed ratings leader Carissa Moore of Hawaii to win the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach on Sunday, capping a dominant week at the famed point break to ring the bell for the first time. Brazil’s Filipe Toledo claimed the men’s event, putting on a clinic of aerials and razor sharp turns to beat Australian rookie Callum Robson.

Wright got off to a dream start against the reigning world and Olympic champion with an 8.93 out of 10 for a series of critical turns. She followed up with another excellent score that Moore never came close to matching.

“There’ve been so many times I wanted to give up on getting back to this sort of form. It’s taken all of me and really feel that right now,” said Wright, who is coming back after two years of injury and illness.

Toledo, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Saturday, won his first Bell’s event and took the lead for 2022 tour rankings.

“It’s always been a dream to win this event – so much history, so many special names on the stairs,” Toledo said.

In its 59th year, Bells is professional surfing’s longest-running competition and an Australian Easter institution, where AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” blares from loudspeakers each morning to welcome competitors to the dedicated surfing reserve.

Wright and Toledo were marked with ochre by Aboriginal Wadawurrung traditional owners of the local land, before ringing the coveted Bells trophy in

front of a big Easter Sunday crowd.

Australians were well represented on finals day, with three of the four men’s semi-finalists and Wright on the women’s side.

Waves had eased from earlier in the week and all but petered out when Toledo took on Ethan Ewing in the first men’s semi-final.

Toledo went searching for the small waves on offer and got a decent score by taking to the air twice on one fast right-hander, leaving Ewing sitting forlornly waiting for bigger waves that never came.

Robson, who had been working on building sites before making the 2022 Tour as a relative unknown, held his nerve against compatriot Jack Robinson in the second semi as stiff offshore winds made conditions challenging.

But after catching the best waves all week, Robson could not match Toledo’s speed and variety in the final.

The tour now moves to Western Australia’s Margaret River ahead of a new, mid-season cut that will halve the number of surfers, a change that prompted protests by some competitors.

Afghanistan’s Naveen-ul-Haq trains at Shaheen Afridi’s gym in Peshawar AgENCIEs Afghanistan’s medium pacer Naveen-ul-Haq is currently in Peshawar where he was seen training at the gym of Pakistan spearhead pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi. The ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year for 2021 owns a gym in Peshawar named ‘Shaheen Run 4 Life ‘ where he and other Pakistan cricketers usually train during the off-season. In a Twitter post shared by the ex-media manager of the Afghanistan cricket team, M. Ibrahim Momand, Naveen can be seen working hard on his bowling action. It must be noted that Naveen was dropped from Afghanistan’s side after he opted to focus on the T20 format and prepare for the upcoming World Cup in Australia rather than playing in the ODIs against the Netherlands in Qatar. Since making his debut in 2016, Naveen has played seven ODIs and 13 T20Is.

Thompson-Herah posts fastest 100m of 2022 at Golden Games LOs ANgELEs AFP

Jamaica’s two-time Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah clocked the fastest 100m in the world this year at 10.89sec at the Golden Games at Walnut, California. Thompson-Herah, running her first outdoor 100m of the season, won her semi-final heat in the meeting east of Los Angeles with a favourable wind of 1.6 meters per second. She opted out of the final, which was won by American Twanisha Terry in a wind-aided 10.77sec. Americans Aleia Hobbs and Gabby Thomas were second and third in the final, run in a favourable wind of 3.3 m/sec. Thomas, the Olympic 200m bronze medallist, notched the fastest time of the season in her preferred distance, winning in 22.02sec ahead of 2019 World silver medallist Brittany Brown. Fred Kerley, silver medallist in the 100m at the Tokyo Games, won the men’s 200m in 19.80sec ahead of fellow American Michael Norman (19.83). World 100m champion Christian Coleman, who is making his return to competition this season after an 18-month suspension for failing to comply with his anti-doping obligations, was announced at the start of the 200m but did not run it. American Micah Williams won the men’s 100m in a wind-aided 9.83sec. Tonea Marshall (12.46) beat Olympic silver medallist Keni Harrison (12.56) in the 100m hurdles.

Only Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, the defending Olympic champion, has run faster this year.

Monday, 18 April, 2022

prayer tiMingS

News

ANy effort to creAte wedge BetweeN ArMy ANd PeoPle woN’t Be tolerAted: coAS BAjwA LAHORe

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HIEf of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Sunday said that Army draw its strength from people and any effort to create wedge between army and population won’t be tolerated.

The COAS expressed these views while interacting with the garrison officers and veterans in two separate interactive sessions held in Lahore Garrison.

The COAS visited Lahore Garrison over the weekend. On his arrival, the COAS was received by Corps Commander Lieutenant General Muhammad Abdul Aziz.

COAS appreciated Lahore Corps for maintaining high standards of operational preparedness and training.

He said that misinformation and propaganda threatens state integrity requiring timely and unified response to effectively counter speculations and rumours.

“Army draw its strength from people and any effort to create wedge between army and population won’t be tolerated. The hostile forces are trying this for a long time but they won’t succeed, Insha Allah,” COAS concluded.

Earlier in the day, the COAS visited Combined Military Hospital Lahore (CMH) and inquired about the well being of Major Haris who was manhandled and injured in a road rage incident recently.

COAS said that law will take its course. “Perpetrators, who are under arrest, will be brought to justice. No one can be allowed to take law into their hands,” the COAS assured.

PML-N, PPP fail to iron out differences over cabinet formation IsLAMABAD Mian abrar

The new coalition set up led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has yet failed to iron out differences with regard to the federal cabinet on Sunday. Even Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been divided over joining the federal cabinet or not, sources said.

Moreover, the JUI-f and MQM are also unhappy over the distribution of cabinet slots among the coalition partners.

According to sources, former president Asif Ali Zardari has been against the People’s Party’s joining the cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. However, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is supporting the idea

to become part of the federal cabinet.

The PPP and PML-N, two major parties in the alliance, have differences over distribution of the constitutional offices, according to sources.

People’s Party sources said that the PML-N have rigid stance over allocation of key ministries.

“The PPP wants ministries of its choice and constitutional offices in the new government,” party sources said. The PML-N, however, avoiding to give the PPP the portfolios it wants, sources further said.

People’s Party also wants its man as the Chairman of the Senate, but the PML-N has not yet promised to give the top office of the upper house to the coalition partner, according to sources. Earlier, there were reports that the PPP had decided to become part of the federal

cabinet after talks with the PML-N. Presently, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has been elected the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Despite multiple meetings between PPP and PMLN, the new coalition set up failed to iron out differences over the formation of federal cabinet.

Moreover, the JUI-f leader Maulana fazlur Rehman is also unhappy over refusal of PPP and PML-N to award the slot of president to him.

Other coalition partners like MQM is also unhappy on the trajectory of the decision making among the coalition partners. PPP likely to get foreign ministry: Rana Sanaullah PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah on Sunday said that following consultation between the allied parties of the government it has been decided that PPP will likely get to head the foreign ministry.

Speaking to the media, Sanaullah said that the allied parties have completed the talks related to the distribution of ministries, however, the parties have asked for a day to deliberate on the decision.

“The ministries have been divided among the allied parties and now each party will name their preferred candidates,” he said.

Sanaullah said that in accordance with the number of members each party has in the Parliament, PPP will get 11 ministerial positions, while PML-N will get 14.

“If names of other parties to head ministers surface, the PML-N will make that information public too,” he said. He added that the ministry of foreign affairs will most likely be handed over to the PPP, while the party’s chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is deliberating over the decision to head the ministry.

“I cannot ascertain whether Bilawal Bhutto will become part of Shahbaz Sharif’s cabinet,” he said.

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Imran Khan condemns violence in Punjab Assembly, calls Hamza’s election ‘sham’ News Desk PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday condemned the violence and ruckus that took place in the Punjab Assembly one day prior and said that such an act was against the prescribed norms of democracy and the Constitution. Taking to Twitter, the PTI chairman wrote: “What happened in Punjab Assembly was condemnable & against all democratic norms and constitutional provisions. No one was in the Chair conducting the supposed elections — a total violation of all norms. We reject this sham mafiacaptured “elections”. The assembly session was scheduled to start at 11:30am on Saturday. However, it was delayed as PTI and PML-Q lawmakers resorted to violence. At least three PTI members of the Punjab Assembly were arrested for attacking Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari as the party boycotted the session to elect the new chief minister.

They attacked the deputy speaker and pulled his hair despite the presence of security guards. The deputy speaker left the hall after this and the session was delayed. Before assaulting Mazari, the PTI lawmakers caused a ruckus when they brought “lotas” to the house and started chanting “lota, lota” (turncoats) as they lashed out at the dissident PTI MPAs who parted ways with the party and decided to support the Opposition before the ouster of Imran Khan. As the situation got intense and requests were made for the police to control the situation, the anti-riot force personnel entered the assembly wearing bulletproof jackets and arrested the PTI MPAs. The police entered the premises of the Punjab Assembly through the old building and took control of the situation.

Amid the ruckus, Elahi, who was a candidate for chief minister, was also not spared as well and became a target of the violence in the assembly that left him injured. “They have rewarded me well in return for my goodness,” said Elahi, who got his hand bandaged after he was injured during the ruckus. “Has this ever happened to any speaker before,” asked the PML-Q leader, adding that everything was pre-planned.

PM meets BNP, BAP leaders News Desk Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday met with Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) president Akhtar Mengal and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) parliamentary leader Khalid Magsi. During the meeting, the leaders congratulated the premier on assuming office and expressed their determination to work alongside the federal government towards the socio-economic development of the country. PM Shehbaz thanked Akhtar Mengal, Khalid Magsi and their allies for their determination to work collectively to ensure a stable democracy and the welfare of the people. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) national assembly members Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Rana Sanaullah were also present at the meeting.

On March 28, ahead of the no-confidence vote which ousted ex-premier Imran Khan, the provincially-ruling BAP parted ways with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) coalition and announced its support for the opposition’s motion.

Federal govt sacks Punjab governor Mushahid says PM Shehbaz would take CPEC News Desk A day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz was voted as the Punjab chief minister amid reservations by the opponents, the federal government on Sunday removed Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema, who was appointed to the post by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government earlier this month.

The development was confirmed by PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb. The government has yet to name a new governor.

Cheema was sacked amid reports that he has sought an inquiry report from the Punjab Assembly speaker over the election of the new chief minister that was won

by Hamza after a violent confrontation between the PML-N and lawmakers of the PTI and PML-Q. On April 3, Cheema was named as the new governor after the ruling PTI sacked Chaudhry Sarwar on the demand of PA Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, who was a contender for the CM post, hours before the session to elect the chief minister.

On Saturday, Advocate General Punjab Ahmad Awais also raised questions on the legality of the process of CM Punjab election and declared it illegal.

He said that governor Punjab has sought an inquiry report from Secretary Punjab Assembly.

He said that thus far the governor through proper a channel has not been informed of the outcome of the

house proceeding.

Awais added that the deputy speaker had informed the governor on a simple piece of paper which legally does not count and was not the official procedure, adding that the entire procedure was tainted, and it seemed that it was being done so to reach a predetermined conclusion.

Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema has “delayed” the oath-taking ceremony of Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz due to the ruckus that took place in the assembly a day earlier. Cheema, in a press conference Sunday, condemned the violence that took place in the Punjab Assembly one day prior and said that such incidents set a very wrong precedent. “I am a political worker and have fought elections. This a very wrong precedent being set,” said the governor. It should be noted that during yesterday’s session, 197 MPAs had cast their votes to elect Hamza Shehbaz as the chief minister. The Punjab governor accused the CM elect of using “state power” on the polling day against his rival the PTI and PML-Q. “I believe if Hamza Shehbaz had enough votes, then he should not have made the election controversial like this,” said Cheema. The governor also questioned whether the elections for the Punjab chief minister were conducted as per the directives of the Lahore High Court and said that he had summoned a report from the secretary of the Punjab Assembly related to the ruckus and violence that took place during the session yesterday.

forward with new vigour, vitality IsLAMABAD Mian abrar

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will take China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) forward with new vigour, vitality and in a rejuvenated manner ensuring multifaceted development of the flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said on Sunday while discussing the future of Pakistan-China relations and future cross border collaboration in CGTN programme ‘The Hub’ with Wang Guan.

“In the first day in office as Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif met the Chinese Acting Ambassador and told her that Pakistan considers China as Pakistan’s closest friend and strongest partner and we will take the CPEC forward with new vigour, with new vitality and in a rejuvenated manner,” he said Mushahid remarked that China has a very old and long standing re-

lationship with PM Shehbaz Sharif.

When the Belt and Road Initiative of President Xi Jinping was launched, the CPEC was its centrepiece, and that was taken forward by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif was then the Chief Minister of Punjab.

He said that under the new government, there would be a broad based acceleration in PakistanChina relations in all domains.

“China is number one, in terms of a foreign policy priority, which the prime minister made clear when he listed the list of countries and his formulation has been very warmly welcomed in China. So, we have no doubt,” he added. Senator Mushahid said that China was one country in Pakistan, on which there was across the board national consensus and the entire leadership agreed that China was the number one friend.

“So, China friendship is the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy, and I see this relationship being

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

further developed and taken to new heights of development,” he added.

In response to a question about continued momentum in CPEC projects, he said that the first phase of CPEC was completed under the period when Nawaz Sharif was in power. “The second phase is bigger.

And you will see perhaps acceleration in the field of agriculture, in the field of Information Technology, in the field of tourism, and also infrastructure, especially the railway project,” he added.

He said that Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif had already announced during his visit to Karachi that his government would expand CPEC. So, there would be multifaceted development of CPEC. Senator Mushahid opined that CPEC framework also united the federation of Pakistan through infrastructure and energy projects and it had resolved a lot of problems, adding, “So, we feel CPEC is the character of a better tomorrow for the people of Pakistan.”