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Still cannot decide whether to take or not take Census - Even After 20 Years
SLAMABAD (Staff Report) – After a gap of 20 years, Pakistan is once again weighing its options to hold 6th population census between November 2016 and March 2017, however the realization of this plan greatly depends on law and order situation and availability of army troops.
On Tuesday, responding to a call-to-attention notice moved by Abdul Qayyum in Senate, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid said that there was a possibility to conduct the next census at the end of this year and beginning of year 2017.
He, however, avoided to clearly answer whether a decision to this effect has already been taken or not. According to him, availability of army personnel was one of the demands raised by the provincial governments to establish validity.
He explained that the decision to defer the census was taken at the meeting of Council of Common Interest (what kind of "animal" is this?) in February this year due to the non-availability of the sufficient number of personnel of the armed forces.
The minister told the Upper House that about 3,58,000 security personnel will be required to hold census in all parts of country simultaneously.
It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan had last conducted its population census in 1998 ( so all this time, population and other indicators were based on Lahori Logic and Sialkot Statistics !)and according to the law federal government is subjected to hold census after every ten years. Hence, the census should have been held in 2008.
However, at a meeting Council of Common Interests (CCI) in February where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and all four provincial chief ministers were present, it was decided to postpone the population census due non-availability of military troops.
There was a proposal to hold census without participation of army, however some political parties such as PPP, PTI and MQM announced that no such process will be accepted, as personnel was required for maintenance of law and order situation as well as to ensure credibility.
Just like everything else, this "process" too can be out-sourced to "friendly countries" with loan from World Bank / IMF
It should also be noted that under the constitution, the federal tax collections are distributed among all provinces as per the population share -which is called National Finance Commission Award. The gerrymandering process -change in boundaries of constituencies- is also dependent on the population census.
Last edited by Falijee on 15 Jun 2016 19:14, edited 1 time in total.
Time for BSF mortor fire works to commence. Pakis want to get sandwiched on both sides and we should oblige (especially given their temerity to do == with us on NSG).
LAHORE – Despite an official ceasefire at the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday, the relations between the two Muslim neighbors still remain tense.
While Pakistan says there is an infiltration of fighters from the Afghan side, and fencing of the border was the only immediate solution to keep a check on the people crossing, Afghanistan largely opposes this idea as it does not recognize the gate as a legitimate dividing line.
illegitimacy of the Durand Line !
Where Pakistan’s strong response to the border violations is being hailed as ‘upright’ by warmongers, it is being labelled as ‘callous’ by Afghans living in the heart of Kabul and other settled areas in the neighboring country.
According to a rough estimate, more than one million Pakistanis will lose their occupation in next few weeks if the tense situation prevails.
With Indian influence on the government in Kabul, the situation between the two Muslim countries is not the same as of last year’s. In 2014-15, the trade was reaching $5-8 billion with Afghanistan that is one of the major trading partners of Pakistan and has been the top exporting market for Pakistani products since ages.
But as of now, Afghan authorities appear to have lost interest in pushing forward any trade-related agreements with Pakistan with the alternative route via Iran’s Chabahar port.
This is serious as Iran, Afghanistan and India have just finished negotiating the details of the trilateral transport and transit pact, meant to provide legal framework to operate trade corridors via Chabahar port.
Pakistan blackmail cannot last forever !
Once completed, the Iranian port will help Indian companies hijack( so the Pakis have now become "hostage" ?) the billions-dollar Pak-Afghan trade, as feared by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and other leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Keeping in focus the impacts of sealing Afghan border on Pakistan’s economy, the Army must be having prosperous plans to tackle the situation but an unceasing blockade for the traders is not the solution.
Perhaps Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, with his conditional pardon for neighbors, could knock the sense in Afghan minds that one man’s loss is another man’s gain. The same applies on Pakistanis who would not gain anything with the country’s borders completely sealed for trade.
Another example of "tactical brilliance" and strategic blunder
Last edited by Falijee on 16 Jun 2016 00:05, edited 1 time in total.
WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Tuesday passed a $602 billion defense authorization bill, which has also proposed a new reimbursement mechanism for Pakistan to expedite security enhancement activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the FATA region.
The provision pertaining to Pakistan is called “Pakistan Security Enhancement Authorization” and authorizes $800 million for the country. It also fences $300 million behind a similar Haqqani network provision.
"Same Wine" " New Bottle "?
The Senate Armed Services Committee has used the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) model to restructure security support for Pakistan on the basis that it believes CSF mechanism may soon be ending as it was linked with a specific US mission in Afghanistan which has formally ended.
The new authorization is founded on the need to support Pakistan for its own security needs instead of a broader basis for supporting a coalition. This is not a new provision as similar provisions existed in the Annual Defence Authorization Act since fiscal year 2015.
So, the American Taxpayer will still be saddled in to financially support the "First Islami Atomi Takkat" ; the more things change, the more they remain the same !
A report by the US Senate Armed Services Committee that was filed along with the draft Defense Bill, described Pakistan as a long-standing Strategic partner of the United States. It stated that Pakistan-US relationship will continue to be strong and enduring.
The committee wrote in its report that security and stability within the borders of Pakistan is vital to the stability of the region and to transregional efforts to combat terrorism more broadly.
Noting with concern that terrorist attacks continue to plague Pakistan, the committee strongly supported efforts by the Pakistan government to take steps to degrade and defeat terrorist networks and activities within its own borders.
“For these reasons, the committee believes that security assistance for Pakistan should continue,” the committee report said.
Indian policy makers should not make a mistake and "think" that US will cut off Pakistan and "let it die financially"
Bilal Farooqi @bilalfqi 12h12 hours ago
The irony of it! Afghan army soldiers enter Pakistani territory in Torkham sector in an India-supplied MI-17 chopper
I have said this before, If India do not change the border with Pakistan then Afghanistan will change the border for India. Durand is just distraction , it provides legitimate cause for Afghan army to occupy Gilgit Baltistan to directly connect with indian supply lines .
ramana wrote:So Falijee,
What are the components of the $5-8B Pakistan trade with Afghanistan? And how much of it can be replaced by India via Chahbahar?
Whats the timeline for Chahbahar completion?
RAMANA-JI:
Will be doing some internet research re: the above queries, and will be posting something ; the 5-8 billion dollar figure on first glance looks exaggerated - coming from Paki source !
Jhujar wrote:I have said this before, If India do not change the border with Pakistan then Afghanistan will change the border for India. Durand is just distraction , it provides legitimate cause for Afghan army to occupy Gilgit Baltistan to directly connect with indian supply lines .
Someone else thinking like you and trying for it:
Dera Bugti @DeraBugti Jun 14
#Balochistan #Afghanistan started this already.
We are waiting for #India to strike
Afghanistan is not geared for mountain warfare. Gilgit Balistan got away, perhaps because in 47, IA was unable to even take it. The territory lay simply too far away.
The pakis were even more poorly equipped up there. They attacked kargil via the deosai plains and via skardu, and the kargil area switched back and forth a few times. It was the IA sending tanks across the zoji-la that sent them scurrying for cover. But Nehru's cease fire came in the way of the IA taking over Skardu and beyond.
(Paki have already lost the battle in their mind . Highest aspiration now is to be Munna to be used as Yatmaithuna)
.There is a general perception that the US pivot to Asia strategy is nothing but another important tool of its so-called China containment policy in this region.It only aims at minimising, or rather undermining, the rising economic and political influence of China in the world.As a matter of fact, besides the East Asia, the South Asian region has also become the primary hub of US extensive strategic manoeuvring in Asia over a period of time.Therefore, notwithstanding its typical ‘pivot to Asia’ strategy, South Asia is now playing a pivotal role in articulating and realising US strategic goals in the region.Bordering China, Iran, and Central Asian Republics.Besides Afghanistan, India is another important tool employed by the US to articulate and materialise its strategic goals in the South Asia.Certainly, both the US and India are ‘natural allies’ when it comes to contain or marginalise the role of China in this region.The US has fostered close economic, military and strategic relations with India during the last couple of years.The US is extending full nuclear cooperation to India as both countries have formally inked a Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2008.Presently, it is also proactively endeavouring to secure India’s membership for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).Reportedly, the US is now also seriously considering granting India a full strategic partner status.Last week, Indian PM Modi addressed a joint session of US Congress in Washington DC.Indeed, it is an honour which is traditionally reserved for America’s closest allies.The US has greatly helped India consolidate its position in Afghanistan.Now India is ambitiously desirous of replacing the US in Afghanistan as its ‘successor in interest’ in the region since the US is gradually withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.India is also trying to diligently reciprocate America’s current goodwill posture.India firmly supports US’ current stance of freedom of Navigation Operations in South China Sea. Somehow modifying its previous ‘Look East policy’ a bit, India has recently devised the ‘Act East Policy’, essentially making it more compatible with the US ‘pivot to Asia’ strategy.
In line with this policy, now India, along with Japan and US, has just begun a trilateral marine war game, the Malabar Naval Exercise, close to the South China Sea.Now the US and India are all set to proactively pursue their broader strategic goals in South Asia.Recently, India, Afghanistan and Iran signed a tripartite agreement to develop Iranian Chabahar port and a linked trade corridor.
There is a perception that this project primarily aims at undermining the strategic importance and relevance of Pakistan’s Gwadar port.The US recent drone attack in Pakistan, killing the Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, has put a decisive nail in the coffin of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) initiatives, diminishing the already-dim prospects of peace in Afghanistan.
Earlier, aimed at bringing antagonist Afghan factions and government on negotiating table, the so-called Murree peace process has met a similar fate owing to the uncompromising and unaccommodating attitude of the Afghan government and the US.Therefore, now the US alone will determine the timing and the terms of peace in the region.
Pakistan, being the time-tested and closest friend of China, obviously won’t facilitate the US in the accomplishment of its strategic ambitions vis-à-vis China in the South Asia.At the moment, Pakistan’s strategic, security and economic interests observably converge with that of China in this region.
Analysing the current geo-strategic perspective and ground realities in the region, the troubled Pak-US relations are likely to further deteriorate in future.The very signal given by the US through recent drone attack should not be ignored.It has already declined to subsidise the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.Keeping in view the ever-changing geopolitical and geostrategic realities, Pakistan has to re-evaluate and reformulate its foreign policy as well as security policy in the region.Obviously, it can no longer afford to stay isolated in the region.Pakistan will have to face tougher challenges if the US and India choose to actively pursue their cunningly-planned strategic objectives in the South Asia.Presently, Pakistan is the most vulnerable player in the ongoing zero-sum game between world’s two economic giants – a treacherous game which is being zealously played in the South Asian playground.
sivab, Those pictures are from some Iranian military exercises.
The journo who posted them wanted to rile up anti Indian sentiment in TSP.
His id is @BilalFqi Sort of reflects his state of mind. Messed up.
The Pakis always want to find an Indian link to their problems.
Masters of Self Delusion.(MSD) Copy right Bheeshma!!!
The top export destinations of Afghanistan are Pakistan ($373M), India ($242M), China ($21.3M), Iran ($18.1M) and Turkey ($16.4M). Origins.
The top import origins of Afghanistan are Pakistan ($2.2B), China ($709M), Iran ($450M), India ($438M) and Russia ($407M).
As usual, when the Pakis quote (Sialkot !) statistics, they are exaggerating ! The total (Export/Import) trade with Afghanistan is less than $3 Billion and not $ 5 Billion- $ 8 Billion stated in their local press.
With the Chabahar Port, for which India has pledged $ 500 Million, (including two Berths exclusively reserved for India-Afghan trade costing $ 85 Million, which will be complete within 2 years,), India-Afghanistan trade will likely get much boost, bypassing Pakistan (and their blackmail); there is also talk of India building an Aluminum Smelting Plant in the Chahbahar Free Zone, and the linking of this port by rail to Zahedan. Pakistan is of course worried by all this development, and according to recent reports wants to "join in the action", by connecting "their" Gwadar with Chahbahar
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan said on Tuesday that Pakistan border management was making sincere efforts to prevent infiltration from both sides of the border with Afghanistan but the very efforts had been sabotaged lately.
He said it was evident that Afghanistan was playing into the hands of some other country.In a statement, the interior minister said that Major Jawad and other personnel had been martyred due to unprovoked firing from the Afghan side, which was intolerable and unjustified.
The minister also said that now Afghanistan had to decide whether it would recognise Pakistan’s efforts for regional stability or play into someone’s hands. He said that Kabul was mocking the sincere efforts of Pakistan for border management.
This Interior Minister always speak on "behalf" of the Deep State, should now guard that his "posterior" is not hijacked by the angry Pashtuns, as they have never recognized "Paki border management" actions - an euphemism to control the movement of people between the artificial Durand Line
PS: Said interior minister (satired as "Mr Bean" in the Paki Press!) had to "eat his words" when the Paki Govt was quietly compelled to issue a "Green passport", to one of its illegals, living in France for more than 5 yrs (!) and was caught in the immigration net and is under process of being deported from France. In an earlier show of dramabaazi, (for the Aam Abduls), he refused to acknowledge that the deportee was a Paki Citizen
With the durand line issue again heating up, Pakistan will retaliate using its non-state assets against Afghanistan and India.
There will probably hit the city of Kabul, and India - J&K and other parts of India.
Gagan wrote:With the durand line issue again heating up, Pakistan will retaliate using its non-state assets against Afghanistan and India.
There will probably hit the city of Kabul, and India - J&K and other parts of India.
Kukkar Mucchar Sharif has threatened retaliation within 40 days .
ALALABAD (Pajhwok): Border police in the eastern zone say they will not allow Pakistani forces to construct a new gate at the Torkham border crossing as tension continued for a fourth day on Wednesday.
Afghan and Pakistani forces started exchanges of fire four days ago after Afghan border guards prevented the Pakistanis from constructing a gate at the border crossing allegedly at a disputed territory. Pakistan insists the gate is being constructed on their side of the border to check cross border movement of terrorists and drug smugglers to either side.
That is just an excuse to hinder movement of people in the "name of fighting terrorism" !
"Border management is aimed at addressing the common concern of infiltration and hence to enhance mutual security of both the countries and their peoples", advisor to Pakistani prime minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz said in a statement, adding the two sides should resolve issues through dialogue.
But Afghan officials say the gate’s construction is against international laws. Afghan 301 border zone official Col. Mohammad Ayub Hussainkhel on Wednesday said Pakistani forces once again fired at the Afghan forces last night and the clash continued for several hours.
To a question, Hussainkhel said: “We will not allow the Pakistanis to construct the gate at any cost because their action is against international laws and we will prevent them.”
The border security official said the morale of their forces was high and were ready for any possible provocation from the Pakistani side.
Meanwhile, 301 border police quick reaction unit commander Balkh Jamal said they would not allow the Pakistani paramilitary forces to construct the gate.
An injured border police official, Mirwais, told Pajhwok Afghan News he wanted to fight until his last breath in the defence of the country.
The situation along the border remained tense for a fourth day on Wednesday and the border crossing remained closed for as many days, bringing to a halt all kind of businesses.
In line with a decision of the National Security Council, Afghan ambassador and President Ghani’s special representative for Pakistan Dr. Omar Zakhilwal was expected to hold talks with Pakistani officials on the border issue today.
Afghanistan has never recognized the artificiality of the Durand Line !!!!
The liberation of Pashtoonistan, or the merger of KP with afghanistan may have formally started. This might be the trigger, if Bak Fauj decides to escalate.
Even the taliban are sympathetic to the Afghan Border guards on this one.
She further said that there was no calculated pre-emptive messaging, no signaling of stabilising intent, only what she referred to as “reactive patch-up diplomacy”.
This is more in the way of criticizing Ganja Sharif's "reactive diplomatic policy" and how the PPP, when in Govt had a better policy blah, blah, blah
“After the martyrdom of Pakistan's Major Ali Jawad Changezi in border shelling from Afghanistan, I hope the government has finally woken up from its policy slumber...
“In Washington, the government has still not appointed a local lobbyist after three years of an alarming slide in relations with the United States, always mistaking a cordial meeting for an uptick in ties, while other countries like India have four such companies formally in place, taking New Delhi's message relentlessly to Congress.”
She revealed that the PPP government not only had a full time lobbyist, but that after 2012 “sent a daily reminder to Congress of the price we pay on terrorism on our own...blah blah blah
Again in the mode of "Our PPP Govt, Foreign Policy was better than yours", because you don't have a full time FM...blah blah blah
[*] Depends on the definition of "terrorist" (Haqqani, Hafez, and Masood have been designated terrorists!)
ISLAMABAD: Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), made it clear on Wednesday that Pakistan would not stop construction of a check-post at the Torkham border crossing, as it was 37 metres inside the Pakistani territory.
Obviously, he deliberately ignores his history lesson re: Durand Line
He said that Afghanistan could not take a stand on Torkham because it was in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan would never give up construction of the check-post at Torkham because it was its right.
To a question about handing over Angoor Adda check-post to Afghanistan, he said it was a Pakistani post inside Afghanistan territory and it was handed over to Afghanistan keeping in view the facts about it. The post was handed over to Afghanistan after consultations with the government and all other stakeholders.
Bajwa said that terrorists fled to Afghanistan before the operation and then they returned to Khyber Agency, as ISAF and the Afghan government did not take any action against them. As a result, he said, the Pakistan Army had to launch Operation Khyber-1 and Operation Khyber-2 against terrorists. He said the security forces cleared another 2,400-square kilometre area during these operations. He said that 900 terrorists were killed in the Khyber operation, while 108 officers and soldiers of the Pakistan Army were martyred and 385 injured.
The Paki Fauj is facing a "civil war" like scenario in KP and FATA, waging war against its own people in the name of "fighting terrorism" ; no less than Immy Khan of PTI has cautioned the government that it is alienating the people living there !
She further said that there was no calculated pre-emptive messaging, no signaling of stabilising intent, only what she referred to as “reactive patch-up diplomacy”.
\
She should know a thing or two about international relations and strategy. She wrote a coffee table book on Kashmiri Shawls
Pakistan artillery fires at Afghan forces on Khyber Pass border
Pakistani troops fired heavy artillery at Afghan forces at their main Khyber Pass border crossing on Wednesday, the Pakistani military said, an escalation after days of clashes that have killed four people and stranded thousands on both sides.
"When our people began construction work on the gate on Wednesday, Afghan forces again opened fire at our troops and construction workers," said a Pakistani security official who declined to be identified.
He said Pakistan had retaliated with long-range artillery and mortars
ramana wrote:So Falijee,
What are the components of the $5-8B Pakistan trade with Afghanistan? And how much of it can be replaced by India via Chahbahar?
The top export destinations of Afghanistan are Pakistan ($373M), India ($242M), China ($21.3M), Iran ($18.1M) and Turkey ($16.4M). Origins.
The top import origins of Afghanistan are Pakistan ($2.2B), China ($709M), Iran ($450M), India ($438M) and Russia ($407M).
Afghanistan and Pakistan Exchange Heavy Gunfire Along Border
By ISMAIL KHAN and ROD NORDLAND JUNE 13, 2016
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged heavy gunfire on Sunday and Monday in an unusually serious escalation of tensions at the border, leaving at least 13 people wounded on the Pakistani side and killing at least one Afghan police officer, according to the police and military officials in both countries.
The fighting, which began on Sunday night and resumed Monday, forced the closing of the Torkham border crossing, the busiest between the two countries.
The escalation followed the closing of the Torkham crossing last month after Afghan border security guards objected to the construction of a gate on the Pakistani side. That objection also apparently contributed to the conflict on Sunday, according to official accounts from both sides. …………{Snipped}………….
The former Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef who served as the Afghan Taliban’s ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan slams the Islamic Republic for the ongoing fracas at Torkham.
Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef in the past had made an interesting comment on the duplicitous nature of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan thus:
“Pakistan, which plays a key role in Asia, is so famous for treachery that it is said they can get milk from a bull. They have two tongues in one mouth, and two faces on one head so they can speak everybody’s language; they use everybody, deceive everybody. They deceive the Arabs under the guise of Islamic nuclear power, saying that they are defending Islam and Islamic countries. They milk America and Europe in the alliance against terrorism, and they have been deceiving Pakistani and other Muslims around the world in the name of the Kashmiri jihad. But behind the curtain, they have been betraying everyone.
Their Islam and their jihad were to destroy their neighbouring Islamic country together with the infidels. They handed over their airports to the Americans so they could kill Muslims and destroy an Islamic country. Their loyalty to the Arabs is so great that they sold diplomats, journalists and mujahedeen for dollars. Like animals. God knows whether they will ever use their nuclear bomb to defend Muslims and Islam. They might use their weapons — as they have used everything else — against Muslims.”
This is very very interesting & breathtaking especially the comment by Dan Rosenthal - Former Foreign Service Officer, Iraq veteran, lawyer, diplomat etc. :
Basically with Chahbahar in place and the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, Afghanistan can source all its needs through the port and does not need Pakistan. It also means, Afghanistan can simply shut out Pakistan from Central Asian access.
So if Pakistan itself doesn't have Central Asian access, how can they provide India with any and what becomes of their geostrategic location? Poor Baki!
^ We are also building a railway line from Chahbahar to Zahedan (and connecting with existing network to Turkmenistan). Zahedan is closer to Afghanistan. There is also a proposal to have a railway line to Hajigak iron ore mines which has been awarded to an Indian consortium. But, the mine project is hanging in balance.
That's it. End of the story and end of all investigations. The ball is now in India's court to prove that the handler is still in Pakistan ! If India gives solid proof that can stand in a court of law, then Pakistan would pursue.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed leader who gave directions over phone to the terrorists during the attack on the Pathankot airbase has reportedly managed to flee to Afghanistan from Pakistan, an official said.
"The alleged JeM handler who communicated by telephone more than two-dozen times with the terrorists in Pathankot before they carried out the attack on the airbase on January 2 has managed to cross into Afghan border," a member of the joint investigation team probing the attack said on Thursday.
He said the JeM handler, who is in late 20s, was in the tribal area of Pakistan when he communicated about 18 times with the terrorists.
"The law enforcement agencies tried to trace him (in the tribal belt) but there are reports that he managed to escape to Afghanistan," he said, without disclosing the JeM leader's identity.
Interestingly, during interrogation JeM chief Masood Azhar claimed that the handler of the Pathanokot operation had quit the organisation sometimes ago.
"Azhar disowns the JeM handler (to prove his innocence)," another source privy to the development told PTI.
He said the investigation agencies have been under "immense pressure" from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to thoroughly probe the matter and come up with "true facts" of the Pathankot incident.
Although the counter-terrorism department (CTD) of the Punjab police had registered an FIR against the alleged attackers of the Pathankot airbase and their abettors, not a single person has been charged in this regard.
The FIR was registered in the CTD police station Gujranwala under sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and sections 7 and 21-I of the
