"The powers of the parliament, the judiciary and the civilian establishment were being shifted from Islamabad to Rawalpindi," Babar claimed, adding that in some instances "the powers had already been handed over to Rawalpindi".
"Powers have been transferred to the people who consider themselves above the law, which is a matter of grave concern," Babar remarked.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1367909/senat ... s-politicsThe situation has further deteriorated during the past two days
The claims of ownership are already in place. "Our Dina..."Falijee wrote:Quaid-e-Azam’s only daughter Dina Wadia dies at 98
PTI chief Imran Khan was among the first to express his grief.
Imran Khan ✔@ImranKhanPTI
Saddened to learn of the death of our Quaid's daughter Dina Wadia. May her soul rest in peace.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi also issued a condolence statement.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi @SMQureshiPTI
Rest in Peace Mrs. Dina Wadia. The last survivor of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
PPP leader Naz Baloch shared an iconic picture of Dina with her father Mohammad Ali Jinnah and aunt Fatima Jinnah.
Naz Baloch ✔@NazBaloch_
Dina Wadia the only daughter of the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, passed away at the age of 98. RIP
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif claimed that Dina's death was the "end of the unique bond that existed cause of her illustrated father".
Shehbaz Sharif ✔@CMShehbaz
Dina Wadia's passing away marked passing away of an era, end of unique bond that existed cause of her illustratedfather-our founding father
https://www.dawn.com/news/1367910/condo ... ias-demiseFormer fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar said that he was "saddened to hear about the demise of Quaid-e-Azam's only daughter".
Shoaib Akhtar ✔@shoaib100mph
Saddened to hear about the demise of Quaid-e-azam's only daughter #DinaWadia.
They should get in touch with all the Mullahs and offer discounted rates for transmitting Fart-was from every corner of Al-Bakistan to every other corner of Al-BakistanFalijee wrote:Another Paki State Enterprise Suffers Massive Loss
Pakistan Post Suffers Rs.16.8 Billion in Losses in Last Two Years
Showbaaz Sharif called her Illustratedanupmisra wrote:The claims of ownership are already in place. "Our Dina..."Falijee wrote:Quaid-e-Azam’s only daughter Dina Wadia dies at 98
Shehbaz Sharif ✔@CMShehbaz
Dina Wadia's passing away marked passing away of an era, end of unique bond that existed cause of her illustrated
The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) told the Senate Forum for Policy Research on Thursday that Pakistan dumps water worth approximately $21 billion into the sea each year due to a lack of water conservation systems.
In a meeting of the forum, chaired by Nayyar Husain Bukhari, members of Irsa and the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) made shocking revelations while briefing attendees about Pakistan's lack of water conservation systems and water distribution to provinces."The country needs three Mangla-sized dams to conserve the amount of water that goes to sea each year," Irsa members told the meeting while informing them that Pakistan faces a 36 per cent shortage in its water requirements at the moment. Did Bukhari "take into confidence" Hafiz Suar, before this shocking revelation ? Hafiz has accused India of "stealing Pakistani water"
If no water reservoirs are made, the country faces an extreme water shortage in the coming years, Irsa members said as they endorsed the long-overdue creation of the Kalabagh Dam. Right now, the shortage percentage is "only 36%" . Wait till Afghanistan ( with the "assistance" of "enemy India" ) harnesses the waters of the Kabul River , before it enters Pakiland , ( for its own use !) , then the Pakis will be screaming when the percentage shortage jumps drastically !
India is the "gold standard" for Paki comparisonPakistan can only store up to 30 days' worth of water, while India can store up to 320 days' worth, Irsa members informed the meeting while stressing upon the need for more reservoirs in the country.
India can "always" be blamed"Kalabagh dam can be completed in five years," a PCRWR member said, but told officials that the Akhoori Dam can also be developed as an alternative to Kalabagh."Do not talk about the Kalabagh Dam after three provinces have voted against it; discuss alternative plans with us," said Jahanzeb Jamaldini.The inflow of rivers Indus, Chenab, Kabul and Jehlum has dropped and as a result, this year's crop may be severely affected, Irsa members informed the meeting.
To top it all off, the country's population is on the rise at an alarming rate which is also adding to its water woes, PCRWR told the meeting."Shortage is a common problem; the question is what are we doing to deal with it," the meeting's chair responded. When is the desertification of Pakistan going to begin ? Can CPEC be "used" to solve this water problem ?
Pakistan is almost "begging" for normal relations with Bangladesh. On the other hand, their "Agents" have no hesitation in fomenting trouble in BDThe Foreign Office on Thursday summoned the High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Islamabad to protest the use of undiplomatic language in a Note Verbale, on an incident of obscure origin. According to spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, the high commissioner was conveyed that sharing of a video by a third party cannot be attributed to the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka.sounds like Paki mischief !He said that Pakistan has been pursuing a policy of maintaining friendly and cordial ties with Bangladesh. “Pakistan desires to move forward in accordance with the Tripartite Agreement of 1974 wherein the Prime Minister of Bangladesh desired that the people of Bangladesh should 'forget the past and make a fresh start.'"
ISLAMABAD (AP) — It’s dusk. The shadows of three men brandishing assault rifles welcome the reader to the Facebook page of Lashkar-e-Islam, one of 65 organizations that are banned in Pakistan, either because of terrorist links or as purveyors of sectarian hate. Example :The younger brother of Hafiz Suar - educated in US- is in charge of on-line operations of the banned LET !
Still more than 40 of these groups operate and flourish on social media sites, communicating on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Telegram, according to a senior official with Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, or FIA, who is tasked with shutting down the sites. They use them to recruit, raise money and demand a rigid Islamic system. It is also where they incite the Sunni faithful against the country’s minority Shiites and extoll jihad, or holy war, in India-ruled Kashmir and in Afghanistan. So the trumpeted so-called ban is a farce
“It’s like a party of the banned groups online. They are all on social media,” the FIA official told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition his name not be used because agency officials are not allowed to be quoted by name.Meanwhile, Pakistan is waging a cyber crackdown on activists and journalists who use social media to criticize the government, the military or the intelligence agencies. The Interior Ministry even ordered the FIA, Pakistan’s equivalent of the American FBI, to move against “those ridiculing the Pakistan Army on social media.” Double standards - like the "good" terrorists ( LET, Jaish,) and the "bad terrorists" ( TTP, BLA ) !
The FIA official said the agency has interrogated more than 70 activists for postings considered critical. All but two have been released and a third is still under investigation, he said.
Facebook and Twitter have said that they ban “terrorist content.” In the second half of last year, Twitter said on its site it had suspended 376,890 accounts because they were thought to promote terrorism, although they say less than 2 percent of the removals were the result of requests from governments. Facebook, meanwhile, said in a blog last month it uses artificial intelligence and human reviewers to find and remove “terrorist content.”
Shahzad Ahmed, of the Islamabad-based social media rights group BytesForAll, said Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence agencies are waging a “communication war” against progressive, moderate voices and those who criticize the government and more particularly the military and its agencies. They use radical religious groups to promote their narrative, he said.
Ahmed Waqass Goraya is a blogger who was picked up and tortured by men he believes belonged to the country’s powerful intelligence agency, known by its acronym ISI. He said Pakistan’s social media space is dominated by armies of trolls unleashed by the military, intelligence agencies and allied radical religious groups to push their narrative. That narrative includes promoting anti-India sentiment — India is Pakistan’s longtime enemy against whom it has fought ( and lost !) three wars.
Earlier this month, Taimoor Raza, a minority Shiite, became the first person sentenced to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy law for a social media posting.
Taha Siddiqui, a Pakistan-based journalist with France 24 and an active social media user who often criticizes heavy handed actions of the military or its agencies, has taken the FIA to court to demand to know why he is under investigation after being ordered to come in for questioning. His resistance is taking its toll with family, friends and colleagues, who plead for him to be silent, he said. “They worry someday I will just disappear.”At FIA headquarters in the capital, Islamabad, the official told the AP that banned groups use proxy servers that reveal IP addresses buried somewhere in other countries, making it impossible to track. Technical help from Chini blothers under the all pervading umbrella of CPEC must be sought ASAP
Kathy Gannon, married to an influential Pakistani, must be "careful" in her reports, lest "something" be done to her !That explanation was called “lame” by Haroon Baloch, a social media rights activist who has studied the free-wheeling use of social media by banned groups and purveyors of sectarian hate. He said sites can be blocked, users located and the persons running the pages stopped.
Bloggers like Goraya had elaborate safeguards but still were tracked down by authorities, said Baloch. Unlike the banned groups, Baloch said bloggers, social media activists and journalists are found and stopped because Pakistan’s civilian and military intelligence agencies are on the offensive against them. “Agencies have established a new wing to monitor 24/7, to counter liberal and progressive debate and particularly anything that criticizes their policies,” he said.
ISLAMABAD – Disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday appeared in the accountability court to attend the hearing of three corruption references filed by the NAB against him.
In an informal discussion with reporters before the start of the hearing, he spoke out against his political rival, Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for assailing him. He said Zardari was abusing him to “please someone”. These two " badmash bad boys" of Paki politics are fighting a "side battle" of their own, Dus Percenti being the more vociferous of the two, Ganja a bit dignified
The former premier called on all political parties to show unity for the betterment of the country. So, the "family business" can remain intact !
Sharif said he was being punished for putting the country on the road of development, eliminating terrorism and loadshedding. plus making some money on the side !
His daughter, Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law, Captain (retd) Safdar also reached the court to attend the hearing on Avenfield apartments in London.
The court has adjourned the hearing till November 7 as it did not receive the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to club the references against Sharif family. Will he fly to London for the weekend, or will he decide to spend the few days at Jatti Umra, the palatial abode of the Shariffs
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday indirectly conceded that his ministry was not in authoritative control of the country’s foreign policy. Winding up discussion on the recent visit of the US secretary of state to South Asia and the new American strategy on Afghanistan, he said the foreign policy was being shaped by different institutions and no single institution was in charge of the foreign affairs.
However, he said the policy was framed in the light of recommendations of the National Security Committee and parliament.The foreign minister, while referring to the remarks made a day earlier by Senator Farhatullah Babar who criticised him for advising the Americans to have an Afghan policy free from the influence of generals and asked him to apply the same in Pakistan, said: “I agree that it should be so.” Then why he does not do it
Mr Asif said he had urged the US State Department and other policy-making institutions of the country to have greater control of the American policy “instead of relying on President Trump’s rejected approach to this problem”.
He wants the SD to "bat for Pakistan" !“If America frames its policy free from the influence [of these generals], it will be much more successful and effective. When they make Pakistan scapegoat, they are in fact covering up their own failures [in Afghanistan],” he repeated. “I am saying this very ‘wittingly’.”
Earlier, speaking on a calling-attention notice regarding disappearance of the wife and children of a Baloch nationalist leader, Senator Babar of the Pakistan Peoples Party warned that a Pakistan delegation to the UN review conference next week would have a hard time explaining mysterious disappearances of citizens with alarming impunity.
He said the activists dissenting from the state narrative faced three threats — they disappear mysteriously, are charged under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) for endangering integrity of the federation and beaten black and blue in broad daylight by invisible people.
QUETTA – Fazila Baloch, the wife of Baloch separatist leader Allah Nazar along with her daughter was released by Pakistani authorities on Friday while upholding the traditions of Baloch culture
Though the Pakistani authorities allege Allah Nazar of wrecking havoc in Balochistan through armed violence, even then, his wife was treated with kind gesture, a vindication of which was safe and early release.
Let it be known that the wife of Baloch separatist was taken into custody as she was crossing into Afghanistan.Minister Home affairs Sarfraz Bugti while rubbishing the claims of abduction had earlier tweeted that Fazela Baloch would be freed provided no charges are proved against her. IMO, even the "Sarkari Baloch" were astonished by the brazen kidnapping of the Balochi female, hence the "early" release !
He also claimed that the lady was being treated as per Baloch traditions.
The kidnapping was done to pressure the wife ! Obviously it failed. Hence the "damage control" exercise as aboveAllah Nazar Baloch, a former physician, believed to be in his 40s, spearheads Baluch Liberation Front, a militant group claiming to be fighting for Balochistan’s secession from Pakistan. Soon after his wife was arrested, multiple social media accounts started a propaganda alleging authorities of abducting Fazela.
Sad and tragic. Maybe he was homeless, jobless, hungry, without family, friends and /or social support . Contrast this with the elites of Pakiland who fly to Dubai for the weekend. Or for that matter the Ex PM, who commutes, back and forth, on an almost "weekly" basis from Londonsitan to "face the Paki courts", or the PM - in -waiting Imran Khan, who dashes to London, on a regular basis, to see his ex wife and his "English" sons !A ruthless father killed his six-year-old daughter in Lahore on a minor family dispute.Police said that the minor girl was killed with a sharp tool on a family dispute in city’s Raiwand area on Wednesday.According to police, the accused Manzoor dumped the body in a room and fled from the scene. “We have shifted the body to mortuary for autopsy”, the police said.Police have lodged an FIR against the accused under 302 and launched an investigation into the matter.A post-mortem report of the deceased would help unfold the mystery surrounding the death.
ISLAMABAD: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT)’s so-called investigation in the Panama Papers got badly exposed in the accountability court on Thursday when Senator Ishaq Dar’s counsels tore apart the details of assets attributed to the finance minister as most of the assets were either disposed of or were dormant yet the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) wanted their seizure. The NAB wants to freeze those assets which even do not exist now. The NAB Investigators are no match for the London Qualified Chartered Accountant - Ishaq Dar- who has been dubbed ( rightly, IMO ) by Imran Khan as the Chief Money Launderer for Nawaz ( Ganja) Sharif.
The NAB’s prosecutors were at sixes and sevens in the accountability court when Advocate Ayesha Hamid and Qosain Mufti representing Ishaq Dar exposed the fakeness and irrelevance of list of assets of the minister based on the JIT findings which have been compiled by the Bureau. The NAB wanted freezing of the assets of Ishaq Dar but in fact could not gather time to investigate what belongs to him and what does not. London training coming in useful - for the wrong reasons of course
Send them on a wild goose chaseDetails reveal that two bank accounts of Al-Baraka Bank and one of Bank Al-Falah have been attributed to Dar and family but in fact are in the name of Hajveri Holding (Pvt) Ltd which is a dormant company and is not doing any business and these accounts have nominal or zero balance. Dar’s counsels pleaded that there won’t be any issue in freezing those accounts.
One bank account of Allied Bank is his salary account and one in Habib Bank Limited is used for reimbursements of allowances and Dar has no issue in getting them frozen provided that credit transactions are allowed. Only one bank account in Bank al-Falah is in his personal use which had an account balance of Rs20 million and Dar’s counsels pleaded that it requires six hundred thousand rupees per month for Dar to meet his expenses and if this account is frozen, the court should allow withdrawal of Rs600,000 per month. The lawyers are well prepared and ready to defend their fraudster client
Regarding assets in Pakistan, a house in Gulberg Lahore belongs to Dar which was purchased in 1988, much before the allegations of gathering assets beyond means and he has no plans of selling it. The list of the assets includes two kanal 19 marla plot in Lahore and the court has been told that it has been disposed of by the family. It is now in the name of a charity. He ( Dar ) knew what was coming and did the needful to "protect his ill gotten wealth". Cannot blame him one bit !
Regarding three plots in Alfalah Housing Society Lahore, the accountability court has been told that a sum of Rs1.7 million was submitted with the Society for booking of plots but the same was refunded via two cheques of Rs850,000 each and the transaction has been reflected in the bank statements submitted in the court by the NAB. NAB investigators failed to do the proper homework
Regarding 3.453 million shares in Hajveri Holding (pvt) Ltd, the court has been told that the company is no longer doing any business thus freezing its shares won’t do any harm to the minister. Regarding 2,700 shares in SNGPL, Dar has no issues getting them frozen. The money was probably taken out of the company and "dry cleaned" a couple of times, before it made its way to a tax haven island in the Caribbean somewhere to be "enjoyed" later on !
Then finally the list includes shares/investment in Barak Holding (pvt) Ltd and Dar Al Nahayan (pvt) Ltd. These are the most important entries in the list because these are not investments but were in fact credit balance entries for the services Ishaq Dar provided being in UAE. This was the money which has been brought to Pakistan upon which it has been alleged that the assets have multiplied 90 times but actually it was his earning through service provision and he did not had any investment. He did own 1,250 shares of each of the companies which were returned to the company upon return from UAE in 2008. Now the NAB wants to seize these assets which do not exist at present The NAB neophytes are probably no match for this experienced fraudster
Dina Wadia died on Thursday at the impressive age of 98. She was the only child of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan – though there was a breach between the two when she did as her father did and married a non-Muslim. She strenuously avoided public attention. But after five years of striving, I managed to meet her in her apartment off Madison Avenue in New York in September 2002.
I was in the US to cover the first anniversary of 9/11, and Dina said I could come over. She lived in the sort of exclusive apartment building where you didn’t get into the lobby, never mind beyond it, unless you were expected. She wouldn’t allow me to record an interview – she insisted nothing should be on-the-record – she wouldn’t permit herself to be photographed … though she relented as I was leaving, and let me take a photo of a life size, full length portrait of her painted in London in 1943 when she was expecting her son, the businessman Nusli Wadia. (Alas, the photo didn’t come out too well.). With her death I am released from the bonds of confidentiality – and while there’s nothing particularly surprising about what she said, I can at least set it down.
I was struck as soon as she opened the door by her appearance. She was spry and petite, wearing bright red lipstick – and with her high cheekbones and aquiline nose, and somewhat imperious expression, she looked strikingly like her father. Indeed, I remember the shock of that first glance upon her – her father’s daughter. Dina was charming and friendly. She showed me a photo of her beautiful mother, Rattanbai ‘Ruttie’ Petit, a Parsi, who died when her daughter was nine. She was brought up largely by her maternal grandmother.
On her desk was a photo of her father. She spoke of her pride in Jinnah. Yes, they had quarelled over her marriage to Neville Wadia – who was born a Parsi but converted to Christianity – but they made it up, and often spoke and wrote to each other.
She has been proven right on that score !Dina never made her home in Pakistan. She told me that Bombay was her city – though she has spent long periods in London as well as New York. She went to Pakistan for her father’s funeral in 1948, and twice more to visit her aunt Fatima, Jinnah’s sister, but when we met she hadn’t set foot in Pakistan since Fatima’s death in 1967.She said she had been invited many times, by Benazir Bhutto and others, but had persistently refused – she didn’t want to be used as a mascot. She complained of leaders who had ‘robbed’ the country and warned that democracy hadn’t flourished in any Muslim country.
(Two years after we met, she did return to Karachi and visited her father’s mausoleum as well as taking part in a touch of cricket diplomacy.) The Pakistani columnist and social activist, Ardeshir Cowasjee, himself a Parsi , was instrumental in arranging this visit !
As for Jinnah’s reputation, and the manner in which he is commemorated across Pakistan, she told me she didn’t like the way her father was ‘worshipped’. This comment may not go well in Pakiland, where DJinnah is worshiped like a cult figure !
I am sad to hear of her death. There was something remarkable about her – and with her passing, just about the last remaining link with South Asia’s independence era leaders has been broken.
Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has ruled out any possibility of martial law in the country, saying the military leadership believes in law and constitution.
http://thenews.com.pk/latest/241735-Int ... n-Pakistan“Imposing martial law in the country is tantamount to break Pakistan into pieces.”
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has been admitted to a West London hospital and will be undergoing a heart procedure on Friday.
Dar checked in to the hospital for treatment on Wednesday and underwent angiography on Thursday
A hospital source said it is possible Dar will undergo an “angioplasty” to deal with his heart condition.
Dar has been to the clinic three times for “detailed checkups” in the last one week after arriving in London from Pakistan
Retired Gen Pervez Musharraf is now a history and has no political future. He ruled this country for nine years as dictators have no tenure.
Let the history judge Musharraf, his rule and his two coups – Oct 12, 1999 and Nov 3, 2007
Musharraf like any other military dictator may have done a few good things in his long tenure, but the main difference between dictators and democrats is the legitimacy to rule.
Musharraf will not be tried.
The former president is rightly thankful to the former army chief, retired Gen Raheel Sharif, for playing a role in his safe exit – not only in leaving the country but practically rescuing him.
So, let the history judge his action and rule.
The usual rants.Pakistan’s political system is quite unpredictable and strange things can happen anytime, but as the situation stands today, there is no possibility of any changes in the system or even something closer another emergency plus. November 3, 2007 is a past and so is the then president.
BEIJING – Pakistan’s economy is at a critical stage of its development and China sincerely hope for Pakistan to seize the chance provided by the CPEC to bring about much-needed progress and prosperity in its economy. It makes no difference to China as to which party is holding the reins of government and at present Chinese Government is not worried about the ongoing pace of CPEC projects. However, as a sincere friend, China does not want any hindrance to slow down the pace of development and obviously, it keeps a close eye on political developments in Pakistan. Some sort of an indirect hint to the Paki Establishment to "clean up their act" !
These views were expressed by Mr Liu Pengfei, a senior diplomat at the Chinese Foreign Ministry while speaking to a group of senior Pakistani journalists.
Mr Liu further said that China is fully committed to the CPEC project and development of Gwadar Port is an integral part of this scheme. He expressed hope that development of Gwadar Airport and Gwadar Expressway along with other important projects will also start by the end of this year. Otherwise, the meter will start ticking and "punitive financial penalties" will be considered
“The delay in commencement of these projects was caused due to the change in financing model. Previously these were commercial projects but now Chinese Government is providing soft loans and grants,” he added. Pakis do not have choice. Beggars cannot be choosers
Mr Liu expressed his satisfaction on the development pace of CPEC and said that out of 50, 19 projects are already in different phases of development with an investment outlay of over $18 billion. He cited the example of Sahiwal Coal Project and said the development pace of this project even surpassed the expectations of Chinese Government.
Mr Liu also emphasized the need for enhancing people to people contact between Pakistan and China. “We are neighbours and close friends and should strive to know each other better by exploring each other’s cultures. This will develop true understanding between the people of both the countries”. Not sure if the Mullah Brigade is going to warm up to this "exploring each other's culture thing
Mr Mohammad Mehdi, senior columnist and head of Pakistani delegation expressed his profound regards to the Chinese government...
He expressed hope that successful execution of CPEC will bring tremendous benefits to the people of both countries. If the loans are paid on time, no problem. ! If the loans are not paid on time, Paki zameen, becomes Chini- Land
Thick blanket of smog covered the roads and streets of Multan and other south Punjab cities on Friday disrupting the routine life and causing to slow down road traffic, delaying schools transport to reach at desired destinations.
We are experiencing a painful situation from Thursday-Friday midnight after power shutdown started.
Metrological officials said that smog has blanketed various cities including Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnagar, Layyah, Muzzafargarh, Khanewal, Vehari, Lodhran, Rahim Yar Khan and other parts.
The Yindoo farmers are conspiring with Raa to slowly kill the bakjabi populace.Various studies have linked it to the burning of rice stubbles in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
Anupji, Missed your response. The chinese will find it tough to pull a pakistan on Afghanisthan, mostly because the afghans will not rent out their country for a few bucks like the Pakis. The Chinese made a grand investment on paper in Mes Aynak on 2007 but AFAICT all of this has stagnated because the Afghan govt. has pushed back on the false promises the chinese made to get their foot in the door. African countries that allowed the Chinese in at first have, in the past decade, become hostile to chinese presence in their countries which took away jobs from their own citizens. But you are right that the Chinese are predators and will do all they can to exploit these places -- the pakis, being the terrorist scum they are, will continue destabilizing Afghanisthan, and any such mining activity cannot happen without some semblance of political stability...pakis will screw that in the short term, at least until they disappear as a nation.anupmisra wrote:This is getting out of topic but ...not if the Chinese get to those mineral rights first and start to economically and politically manipulate the global prices (and by extension, the stock markets. Can't allow that to happen. We do not want the same Africa effect to take place in Afghanistan, especially when it is right next to China and Chini grandiose plans to connect with European markets
US has openly stated that it has no intention of removing boots on the ground from Afghanisthan or from Iraq -- they need a physical presence there to be relevant as a power, especially since they do not have servant-rentier states in the region that will assist them in the empire building these days.That may have been with Iraq but the US has never fully backed out of Afghanistan. About AQ and Syria, that's another subject for another thread
205th Corps Commanders' Conference presided by Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa held in Rawalpindi at GHQ reviewed geo-strategic security environment with special focus on recent interactions with Afghanistan and the US authorities. According to ISPR , internal security situation, progress of ongoing counter-terrorism operations and its projection to achieve enduring peace and stability was discussed.
The forum concluded that security apparatus shall continue to perform its role in line with national interest. Code words for Paki Fauj interfering in non-military affairs !
ISLAMABAD: The Federal and Balochistan governments have agreed to conduct immediate feasibilities within one month
The meeting was informed that Federal Government is ready to invest in the solar tube wells and will extend all-out support in this regard. This step is bound to encourage off-grid solution for the far-flung areas of the Balochistan in the near future, the meeting was informed.
NEW DELHI: Bangladesh on Wednesday summoned the Pakistani High Commissioner in Dhaka over a video posted on the embassy website which reportedly distorted historical facts.
According to a report in BBC, a video on the Pakistani emabassy website stated that Bangladesh's first President – Sheikh Mujibur Rehman – wanted self-rule for the region and not an independent country. "This is deliberate misuse of social media by the High Commission," read a statement issued by Bangladesh's foreign ministry. "This is a violation of diplomatic norms. This kind of propaganda will cause harm to mutual cooperation. Paki mischief making nipped in the bud, by "brother" Bangladesh
Taking strong exception to this, Bangladesh has reportedly asked Pakistan High Commissioner Rafiuzzaman Siddiqui to apologise for the video. It has been learnt that later in the day Siddiqui did apologise[*] and that the video was taken down from the website.
At the time of filing this report, the official website of Pakistani embassy in Bangladesh could not be reached. "Closed" for the day
[/color] 
SLAMABAD – Pakistan has rejected anti-Pakistan propaganda displayed on London cabs that directly attack Pakistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. No one is asking it to "accept" it !
Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua called in the British High Commissioner Thomas Drew in the Foreign Office on Friday and conveyed serious concerns of Pakistan on the issue. Summoning ambassadors to the Paki FO, to lodge a protest , has now become a 24/7 enterprise
According to a statement issued from Foreign Office, the High Commissioner was informed that Pakistan, in line with the UN Charter, rejects actions and advertisements with malicious content that impinge on our sovereignty and territorial integrity. "Deep State", through their "assets" in Londonistan should be able to do something about it !
The development came after Pakistani social media users spotted the cabs in London and shared their pictures, condemning the anti-Pakistan propaganda.
The issue was also being raised with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by Pakistani High Commissioner in London. The statement read Pakistan is aware of the intentions of such sinister and malicious campaigns, which should not be allowed on the soil of a friendly country. Pakistan's political headaches are starting to give Bartania a migrane
Meanwhile, in a statement, Foreign Office said Pakistan is observing the situation in Spain after the declaration of independence by Catalonya and invoking of exceptional constitutional measures by the Spanish government. The statement said it is our earnest hope that the issue will be amicably settled in compliance with the Spanish constitution and law through dialogue and negotiations. Ominous times ahead for what now remains as Pakistan
In September this year, Pakistan had summoned the Swiss ambassador over the public display of anti-Pakistan posters by a group in Switzerland.
A strong protest was lodged with the ambassador over Swiss authorities permitting the use of its territory for propaganda by elements linked with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a “terrorist organisation which is perpetrating terrorism and violence in Pakistan.” I suspect Massaland is the next country to follow Bartania and Switzerland . Can India be far behind ? India should seriously think of "offering" asylum to one of the exiled Baloch leaders. Ajit Doval should take note
Even as it faced a Chinese veto on designating Masood Azhar a terrorist at the United Nations Security Council, India scored a major victory at the Financial Action Task Force that looks into terror financing that held its plenary in Buenos Aires this week.
Pakistan has failed to penalise or curb the activities of any of the terror groups [designated by the UNSC]. India raised the issue at the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) in Argentina. Other countries supported India and now Pakistan has to submit a compliance report during the next session in February 2018, Home Ministry and External Affairs Ministry officials confirmed to The Hindu .
The win for Indian negotiators was significant, said an MEA official, as it came even as China vetoed the latest bid to have Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar designated at the UNSC.
“China tried hard to defend Pakistan during the FATF proceedings,” the official said, “But unlike at the UN, two speaking countries are needed to block consensus, and China was isolated there.”
February deadline
According to the directive of the FATFs’ International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG), Pakistan has been asked to report again in February on action taken against designated terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and its off-shoots Jamaat-ud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniyat.
Also for the first time, Pakistan’s Central Bank, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), has been asked specifically to report on its work in shutting off the finances to the groups. A report on “SBP’s enforcement activity as it relates to ensuring compliance of the statutory regulatory orders [on terror financing] and penalising non compliance” has been demanded, according to the ICRG report.
During previous FATF sessions, India had raised the funding of the groups and leaders like 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who openly addressed rallies and raised funds in Pakistan as well as LeT commander Zaki-Ur Rahman Lakhvi, who received bail in the Pakistani trial court hearing the Mumbai attacks case.
In addition, volunteers of the Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), also run by Hafiz Saeed, have travelled to Syria and other countries on alleged “charity missions”, all of which is proscribed by the UN Security Council 1267/1373 rules.
While officials concede the 37-member FATF is a voluntary group, without much power to enforce its ruling, it works through “peer pressure” and “naming and shaming” countries into compliance on terror finance by putting them on “grey lists and black lists”.
“Pakistan is obviously not immune to their orders, and is also facing growing pressure from the US to cooperate,” an MEA official privy to the process told The Hindu .
Saeed detention
In January this year, Pakistani authorities detained Hafiz Saeed in Lahore — an action understood to have been taken to avoid any negative reference at the FATF in February. During that session India raised the issue of another front of the JuD, the Tehreek-e-Azaadi Jammu and Kashmir (TAJK). Pakistan banned the TAJK barely days before the FATF’s next plenary in Spain in June 2017.
Officials in New Delhi and Washington said they hope the FATF move will ensure that Pakistan curtails activities of all groups under the scanner, and keep Hafiz Saeed in detention for the foreseeable future.
LONDON – Authorities in London has ordered the immediate removal of anti-Pakistan advertisement from cabs and launched a probe into the matter.
The move follows a complaint lodged by Pakistani authorities with UK officials after the Pakistani social media users shared some pictures spotting the cabs in London emblazoning with ‘Free Balochistan’ slogans. This move by itself will not make the problem "go away". The Baloch are determined to bring their oppression to the attention of the world !
It seems that Pakistan has "forgotten" its lessons from the fall of its Eastern wing , earlier known as East Pakistan , now known as BangladeshAccording to local media, a group named World Baloch Organisation (WBO) is behind the malicious
