Terroristan - March 31, 2022

[chetak]

[youtube]dS9-gplhnB8[youtube]

Paki ordinance factories have made a killing (literally as well as figuratively) due to the Ukraine war.

Their exports (mainly artillery shells) have said to have jumped as much as 30x times, as per an internal audit report which was leaked.

Munir will probably retire to UK-stan with much much more moolah than Bajwa and leave the next crore kammandu to face the heat.

Manish ji,

This is what is known as a chain screw, the cheenis screwed the pakis with the dud JF-17s, and the pakis screwed the myanmarese, with the same dud JF-17s and last heard were actively scouting around for latin amriki air forces to scam (and screw)


China itself has not included a single JF-17 in its own inventory to date.

Pakistan-Made JF-17 Multi-Role Jet: Flaws Surface Again As All Jets Supplied To Myanmar Declared 'Unfit' For Combat

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... s?from=mdr


multi role sums it up very nicely.

the myanmarese did not realize that the JF-17's primary role seems to be to sit quietly on the ground for extended periods of time

flight potential and other desirable minor attributes like combat capability will be delivered as upgrades, at a hefty cost, of course.

In the meanwhile, myanmarese pilots can train while being towed around on the ground by their cheeni made tugs

[Manish_P]

Yes Chetai ji.

News of the Bandar spending most of it's time squatting on the myanmaries tarmacs has been reported for well over a year now.

And some months ago there were videos of the Pakraine forces grumbling about being disgusted with Paki rockets and demanding western maal.

Be that as it may, paki jernails are making sure that randy old unkil Sam pays up in advance for the dance it wants them to perform for him.

[partha]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2434080/pa ... f-stopover

Pakistan hopes MBS will make brief stopover
Saudi crown prince will travel to India to attend G20 summit

The other factor due to which Pakistan is pushing for the visit is because it considers Saudi Arabia a key player for its economic revival plan. Pakistan has set up a Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to attract foreign investment, particularly from the Gulf countries.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2434082/pm ... five-years

PM Kakar says Saudi Arabia to invest $25b over next five years

There was no immediate response to a Reuters request to the Saudi Arabian government for comment on Kakar's remarks.

[A Sharma]

Three Pak Navy personnel killed as training helicopter crashes in Balochistan

[Manish_P]

Yawn - Analysis: COAS’ consultations reveal ‘blueprint for revival’ (shouldn't it be a halal Green print?)

The chief of army staff, who is a member of the SIFC’s apex committee, reportedly assured the business community of making all-out efforts to ensure transparency in dollar rates in open and interbank markets, besides bringing money exchanges under the purview of taxation, eliminating smuggling at the borders with Iran and Afghanistan and improving tax collection

“I think these investments would leave a positive impact on our economy. It will bring dollars, strengthen the rupee and resolve our forex-related issues,” said Zubair Moti­wala, the chief executive of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, in a recent TV appearance.

He said the COAS was of the view that the Rs1.3 trillion being spent on the state-owned enterprises should be stopped and they should be privatised. ( meaning given to the fauji corporations)

The business community leaders, during meetings with the army chief, highlighted various issues, including smuggling at the western and northwestern borders.

“When we raised this issue in meeting, the COAS said a task force has been constituted which will control smuggling very forcefully,” said Irfan Iqbal Sheikh of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

So the jihadi fauj will now take over the entire smuggling industry themselves

[g.sarkar]

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/11073 ... ost-attack
Four soldiers martyred in repelled Chitral check post attack
Armed forces inflict heavy casualties on militants as 12 terrorists sent to hell and several critically injured
Web Desk, September 06, 2023
Four soldiers were martyred while fighting gallantly as the armed forces repulsed attacks on two military checkposts established near the Afghanistan border in the general area Kalash, District Chitral, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Wednesday.
"On 6 September 2023, a large group of terrorists equipped with the latest weapons, attacked two Pakistani military posts located closer to Pakistan Afghanistan border in general area Kalash, District Chitral," a statement released by the ISPR stated.
In retaliation, the military inflicted heavy casualties on the terrorists as a group of dozen terrorists were killed.
During the fire exchange, 12 terrorists were sent to hell, while a large number of the militants were critically injured in a major victory for the armed forces.
The military's media wing said that the terrorists’ movement and concentration in the Gawardesh, Pitigal, Barg-e-Matel and Batash areas of Nuristan and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan had been identified and timely shared with the interim Afghan government.
"Owing to heightened threat environment, own posts were already on high alert," it added.
The ISPR stated that sanitisation of the area was being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.
.....
Gautam
There is a theological point here that I am in doubt. Muslims killed in a fight embrace Shahadat. They go to Behest and enjoy the company of the 72 every night. They do not go to Jahannum. This newspaper is moving the goalpost. Now, if Muslims are fighting Muslims, both parties should go to Behest. QED.

[Manish_P]

..
There is a theological point here that I am in doubt. Muslims killed in a fight embrace Shahadat. They go to Behest and enjoy the company of the 72 every night. They do not go to Jahannum. This newspaper is moving the goalpost. Now, if Muslims are fighting Muslims, both parties should go to Behest. QED.

They have solved that conundrum ages ago and even codified it.

The stronger (or deeper) greens simply declare the weaker (or lighter) greens as non-muslims. Thus they are automatically debarred from paradise and hoors.

Simple.

[Manish_P]

Time for Field Marshall Munir to get Bill Gates to come back to bakistan and open his wallet again

Yawn - Poliovirus found in Karachi and Peshawar sewage

As many as four environmental samples, collected from Karachi and Peshawar, have tested positive for the poliovirus.

According to sources at Pakistan’s National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH), the lab has confirmed the detection of Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) in four environmental (sewage) samples from Karachi and Peshawar.

“As many as three samples were collected from Peshawar, and one sample was collected from District Karachi in the Keamari area,” an official said, requesting not to be named.

It is worth mentioning that Karachi, among the most populous cities in the world and home to communities from across Pakistan, is a historic polio reservoir and remains among the areas categorised by the programme at high risk for wild poliovirus transmission.

[SBajwa]

Baluchistan is Bermuda Triangle of nPakistan's helicopters

The crash happened in the province's port city of Gwadar when the helicopter developed a technical problem, killing two Navy officers and a sailor of the Pakistan Navy, The News International newspaper reported.

---

Last year in September, six Pakistan Army officials, including two majors, were killed when their helicopter crashed in Balochistan province.
-----

Same year in August, a Pakistan army aviation helicopter carrying six senior military officers, including a top commander of XII Corps, crashed while on a flood relief operation in Balochistan province after losing contact with the air traffic control.

------

[Neela]

https://twitter.com/VivekSi85847001/sta ... 1682733325

@VivekSi85847001
Pakistan
The Floodlights went off during #PAKvBAN Cricket Match at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore #Pakistan due to non-payment of Electricity bill on time
PAKvBAN #AsiaCup2023 match delayed for 30 minutes due to this.
If Beizatti is Art,Pakistan is Picasso
of it

Fair play to Pakistan. Night cricket should be in the night no? Why floodlights are needed.

[Anujan]

Pakistan army is deploying classic military tactics of Surprise attack, Envelopment, Shock action and pinning with a pincer attack with its main and reserve formations with frontal assault with Armor after softening the target with artillery to win the war against .... "illegal activities hampering economic growth"

Army top brass resolves to assist govt in curbing illegal activities hampering economic growth

The resolve was expressed during the 259th Corps Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, where the military leadership’s “full support” for ongoing efforts for socioeconomic growth under the umbrella of the Special Investment Facilitation Council was also reiterated

inside sources from the financial sector had indicated that authorities have tightened their grip on exchange companies, relentlessly pursuing illegal currency merchants across the country

https://www.dawn.com/news/1774569/army- ... mic-growth

[Aditya_V]

Some poor Abduls will get kidnapped and beaten up, these guys are nothing but a larger group of street thugs.

[Manish_P]

Jazbati Bakis can talk tough with the IMF. Take that you kufr Indians

Yawn - IMF allows leeway on electric bills, raises gas prices by 50%

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has granted Pakistan permission to extend the payment of electricity bills for consumers using up to 200 units over three months. In exchange, Pakistan has to announce an increase in gas prices of up to 50% effective from July and a crackdown against electricity theft.

This understanding between the IMF and Pakistani authorities is pending approval by interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and his cabinet, according to sources in the energy ministry.

The sources revealed to The Express Tribune that the IMF has conditionally approved the gradual payment of August’s electricity bills over three months for consumers not eligible for subsidies and using up to 200 monthly units. Lifeline consumers and those within this consumption bracket who are protected from price increases will not be eligible for this temporary relief.

As a result, only around four million consumers, approximately 10% of the total, will be eligible for this assistance. The government had initially requested permission to stagger bills for consumers using up to 400 monthly units, which would have benefited 32 million consumers or 81% of the total, but this request was not accepted by the IMF.

[partha]

This understanding between the IMF and Pakistani authorities is pending approval by interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and his cabinet, according to sources in the energy ministry.

I am 400% sure Pakistan will reject IMF's proposal since Munir is getting $100 billion from Gulf.

[chetak]

This understanding between the IMF and Pakistani authorities is pending approval by interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and his cabinet, according to sources in the energy ministry.

I am 400% sure Pakistan will reject IMF's proposal since Munir is getting $100 billion from Gulf.

saar,

pliss, not to forget the gadzillion$ of mineral wealth that is somewhere in pukestan, and the momins have not yet found it, but are very sure that it exists

perhaps the jernails and crore kammandus have already found it and are keeping very quiet about it.

It basically depends upon who is telling and selling the story

now we know why tricky dick was so keen on supporting the pakis during their 1971 beedi contretemps, there are plenty of used car salesmen in this land of the pissing pure, selling A grade snake oil, freshly squeezed from snakes grown in their own backyards

[Manish_P]

...
saar,

pliss, not to forget the gadzillion$ of mineral wealth that is somewhere in pukestan, and the momins have not yet found it, but are very sure that it exists

perhaps the jernails and crore kammandus have already found it and are keeping very quiet about it.

...

Do not forget the billions of barrels of oil just off the coast...

Some Paki anal-cysts have confidently stated that the Fauj knows about it but is keeping quiet about it because it doesn't want America to come and bring freedom to bakistan

[partha]

There is also $130 billion that Pakistan will get from US as compensation for loss to economy due to war on terror.

[g.sarkar]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1774636
Chitral incursion
Editorial, September 8, 2023
TWO cross-border infiltration attempts by militants, as well as tensions at the Torkham frontier, point to the disturbing reality that both on the security front and where bilateral ties are concerned, Pak-Afghan relations are going through a highly dysfunctional phase.
Though bilateral ties with Kabul have never been tension-free, some within our ruling structure had great expectations that an Afghan Taliban dispensation across the western border would benefit Pakistan. That has not been the case.
Perhaps the most disturbing of the aforesaid incidents was the militant incursion in Chitral on Wednesday. At least four troops were martyred when a “large group of terrorists”, as per ISPR, crossed over from the Afghan side and attacked two Pakistani positions.
Though the military’s media wing has not mentioned the number of attackers, some foreign outlets have said ‘hundreds’ of terrorists belonging to the banned TTP were involved. Intelligence reports had been circling for some time, indicating that a cross-border attack was imminent.
In the second incident, several militants were killed when they tried to infiltrate North Waziristan and were repulsed by security forces. Meanwhile, the situation remained tense on Thursday at the Torkham border crossing after Pakistani and Afghan security men traded fire a day earlier. The dispute emerged after the Afghan side reportedly started work on building a checkpoint in the vicinity.
Though TTP activity has been observed in several parts of KP and northern Balochistan, Chitral has not been known as a hotbed of militancy. This indicates that terrorists are feeling confident enough to extend their area of activity, which should set off alarm bells.
As for the trouble at Torkham, this is not the first time personnel from both sides have been involved in violent exchanges; sadly, several such encounters have occurred this year alone.
......
Gautam

[Nsmith]

Plus $200 billion of thar coal and $300 billion of copper in Baluchistan (if they're able to weasel out of paying $11 billion in damages to the reko diq developer first, that is).

[chetak]

WA

Annual exports $35 Bn
Annual imports $80 Bn
External debt $127 Bn
Foreign exchange reserves $7 Bn
Dollar at Rs 310
Petrol Rs 305
Diesel Rs 311
One unit electricity Rs 60
Food inflation 30%
No money to give salary / pensions
No fuel to fly airplanes
No fuel for the tanks

This country was formed because "Muslims couldn't live with Hindus". They mocked India, called it 'Hindu Baniya' (trader). They declared themselves as martial race that ruled Hindus for 1000 yrs.

This was after these loudmouths surrendered in each war fought with India. Now they are economically doomed. They could neither become martial, nor Baniya/ trader. Absolute losers.

All they could do was abduct children & women of Hindus and r@pe, convert and enslave.

This is two-nation theory in real. "We are Muslims of Pakistan and we can't live."

but, plenty of money for crore kammandus and jernails, to sustain their lavish lifestyles

amin

[g.sarkar]

Some poor Abduls will get kidnapped and beaten up, these guys are nothing but a larger group of street thugs.

The same poor Abduls that destroy temples and churches and rape, whenever they can.
Gautam

[Aditya_V]

Unfortunately they only hardworking class is the minorities in Pak, they might target them.in name of helping the deconomy.

[partha]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2434818/bi ... ible-in-90

Bilawal calls for polls within 120 days, if not possible in 90

Ex-FM says if people choose PPP in elections, everyone should accept that

New code word for Army just dropped - "everyone"

[Anujan]

If 120 days are not possible, I think they should hold elections in 240 days. If that proves to be difficult, 360 days should be considered. If that is infeasible, it should definitely be held within 480 days, depending on security situation. If security situation is bad 600 days should definitely be considered. If by then economic situation is dire and nation cannot afford an election 720 days should be considered and that is the final ultimatum from Bilawal, at which point he will suggest further suitable dates in the future.

[Anujan]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2434818/bi ... ible-in-90

Bilawal calls for polls within 120 days, if not possible in 90

Ex-FM says if people choose PPP in elections, everyone should accept that

New code word for Army just dropped - "everyone"

India should offer moral, political and diplomatic support for Pakistanis' legitimate right to self determination. The issue of Pakistan should be raised by India in international forum, highlighting the plight of its people and oppression that they suffer under occupation by an illegitimate regime

[g.sarkar]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1774918/bilaw ... al-matters
Bilawal says not bound by Zardari’s advice on constitutional matters
Nadir Guramani, September 9, 2023
The PPP’s top leadership took differing positions on general elections on Saturday, with former president Asif Ali Zardari emphasising that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was bound to conduct fresh delimitation of constituencies and party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asserting that polls should be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly.
Zardari’s statement deviates from the PPP’s stance on the elections’ timeframe. The PPP is the only party from the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led erstwhile ruling coalition that has been assertive in calling for not pushing the elections beyond the constitutionally mandated cutoff date of November 9.
Concerns on the poll timing have arisen from the ECP ruling out elections this year. It reasons its decision to push elections beyond November 9 on the basis of the notification of results of the new digital 2023 census and Section 17(2) of the Elections Act, which states: “The commission shall delimit constituencies after every census is officially published.”
Zardari also stressed the need for delimitation today, saying that the ECP was obligated to conduct the delimitation of constituencies but at the same time called for abiding by the Constitution.
......
Bilawal reiterates 90-day limit
Later, Bilawal was asked about Zardari’s statement, to which he said he was “bound to [former] president Zardari’s directives in family matters” but “as far as political and Constitutional matters and the party policy were concerned”, he was bound to the “party workers’ and the central executive committee’s (CEC’s) decisions”.
Speaking to reporters in Badin, he recalled that during the CEC meeting last month, it had been emphasised that the polls should be held within the 90-day period, in line with the Constitution.
......
Gautam
Billoo Rani is playing Alamgir to Zardari's Shah Jahan. They are the true inheritors of the Mughal Empire, Alhamdulillah.

[Anujan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... mbassador/

Diamonds, girlfriends, illicit lobbying: The fall of a former ambassador

When Richard G. Olson Jr. retired from the State Department in 2016, he was lauded by colleagues for an illustrious, 34-year career that included high-profile postings as the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, as well as risky assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Rick is quite simply one of our most distinguished diplomats,” then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry effused in a statement.


FBI also questioned him about his extramarital affair with a journalist working in Pakistan while he was serving as the U.S. ambassador in Islamabad...While stationed in Pakistan from 2012 to 2015, he dated multiple women even though he was married to another U.S. diplomat, who was serving at the time as the ambassador to Libya...he did not report his liaisons to U.S. diplomatic security officials in accordance with State Department counterintelligence rules.

While Olson’s primary task was to soothe tensions with Pakistan’s powerful military and spy chiefs, he also began seeing Muna Habib, a young television reporter working in the country, court records show....They resumed contact a few months later. Habib was admitted to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2015 but couldn’t afford the $93,000 she needed to attend. Olson agreed to help by introducing her to Imaad Zuberi, a Pakistani American dealmaker with high-level business and political contacts in Pakistan, China and the Middle East, according to court records.

Zuberi had never heard of Habib before, the records show, but within days he offered to pay $25,000 to offset her tuition expenses and arrange a $50,000 loan.

[yensoy]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... mbassador/

Wow so for all these years SD was never evil, it was only corrupt & rotten to the core. What a relief!

Skank journo's eulogy to yet another of SD's finest alumnus

https://dailytimes.com.pk/235716/pakist ... -l-raphel/

[partha]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2434826/pa ... panel-told

Pakistan exploring possibility of joining BRICS, Senate panel told

During the meeting, the senators expressed concerns that India's might veto Pakistan's entry into BRICS. However, the caretaker foreign minister played down these apprehensions, saying that any member resorting to such a veto would risk its own status within the group.

What kind of la la land do these Pakis live in? How does India vetoing Pakistan's entry into BRICS risk its own status within the group? If that was possible what kind of a group would that be? Why would there even be veto in such a group? India has already vetoed Algeria from joining BRICS.

[Kati]

Here she is: https://muckrack.com/muna-habib

[partha]

Better photo. Looks like the bar is low for honey trapping US diplomats.

[Manish_P]

^ is that one who identifies as a 'She/Her'

[chetak]

^ is that one who identifies as a 'She/Her'

Manish ji,

the pakis are in deep shock and disbelief after the success of the G20 in dilli and many are in tears after hearing about mohammed bin salman al saud's state visit to India at the same time

many seem to be in a depression about their bleak futures

this is the right time to kick them in the testimonials

[drnayar]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... mbassador/

Diamonds, girlfriends, illicit lobbying: The fall of a former ambassador

When Richard G. Olson Jr. retired from the State Department in 2016, he was lauded by colleagues for an illustrious, 34-year career that included high-profile postings as the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, as well as risky assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Rick is quite simply one of our most distinguished diplomats,” then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry effused in a statement.


FBI also questioned him about his extramarital affair with a journalist working in Pakistan while he was serving as the U.S. ambassador in Islamabad...While stationed in Pakistan from 2012 to 2015, he dated multiple women even though he was married to another U.S. diplomat, who was serving at the time as the ambassador to Libya...he did not report his liaisons to U.S. diplomatic security officials in accordance with State Department counterintelligence rules.

While Olson’s primary task was to soothe tensions with Pakistan’s powerful military and spy chiefs, he also began seeing Muna Habib, a young television reporter working in the country, court records show....They resumed contact a few months later. Habib was admitted to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2015 but couldn’t afford the $93,000 she needed to attend. Olson agreed to help by introducing her to Imaad Zuberi, a Pakistani American dealmaker with high-level business and political contacts in Pakistan, China and the Middle East, according to court records.

Zuberi had never heard of Habib before, the records show, but within days he offered to pay $25,000 to offset her tuition expenses and arrange a $50,000 loan.

isnt this rather not uncommon in many a country ?!! .. local women and influential diplomats coddling for "friends with benefits " frowned upon nevertheless ..happens a lot more than outsiders know of. And not just males. also somethings about cushy bbc postings back to uk from india ; and also how uk spends "aid money" in India

[Manish_P]

...
the pakis are in deep shock and disbelief after the success of the G20 in dilli and many are in tears after hearing about mohammed bin salman al saud's state visit to India at the same time

many seem to be in a depression about their bleak futures
...

Have seen quite a few videos, Chetak ji.

My observations are that over the past few months the educated literate pakis who have access to internet have received jolt after jolt about Bharatiya progress while at the same time getting kicked in the head, the stomach, the ass etc by their rulers

They are not that much shocked by the G20 hosting ( as they knew it would happen once India got the presidency ) but rather about the Modi MBS Biden announcement of the Trade corridor. And no sign of an imminent state visit by MBS despite a grand declaration by Field Marshall Moonir.

They see their role as the intermediary (lubricant) vanishing. Their 'geostrategic' location no longer important even as a roadside motel.

They are now pining their hopes of saving their H&D via announcement of a trade corridor with the central asian stans.

[Manish_P]

One beggar hoping to make money of another...

Yawn - Sri Lanka slashes Asia Cup ticket prices by up to 95pc to fill empty stadiums

Sri Lanka Cricket slashed ticket prices for the Asia Cup by up to 95 per cent on Sunday after costs were hiked 40-fold and matches were played in near-empty stadiums.

Tickets for One-Day Internationals (ODI) in crisis-hit Sri Lanka have generally cost around 250 rupees ($0.78) previously.

That was hiked to 10,000 rupees for the Asia Cup, which is being organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board despite largely taking place in Sri Lanka, and fans in the cricket-mad island country have stayed away in droves.

Sri Lanka endured months of food, fuel and medicine shortages last year after a foreign exchange crunch, which sparked widespread protests culminating in the ouster of its president.

Pakistan have kept the ticket pricing too high and that has kept fans away from the stadiums,” a local Sri Lankan official told AFP on condition of anonymity. “Ticket costs … are way beyond the reach of a common man,” he added.

“This is bizarre. We tried to reason with the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) but they had their reasons as they have lost out on money, maybe.”

[chetak]

...
the pakis are in deep shock and disbelief after the success of the G20 in dilli and many are in tears after hearing about mohammed bin salman al saud's state visit to India at the same time

many seem to be in a depression about their bleak futures
...

Have seen quite a few videos, Chetak ji.

My observations are that over the past few months the educated literate pakis who have access to internet have received jolt after jolt about Bharatiya progress while at the same time getting kicked in the head, the stomach, the ass etc by their rulers

They are not that much shocked by the G20 hosting ( as they knew it would happen once India got the presidency ) but rather about the Modi MBS Biden announcement of the Trade corridor. And no sign of an imminent state visit by MBS despite a grand declaration by Field Marshall Moonir.

They see their role as the intermediary (lubricant) vanishing. Their 'geostrategic' location no longer important even as a roadside motel.

They are now pining their hopes of saving their H&D via announcement of a trade corridor with the central asian stans.

Manish ji,


Modi hasn't forgotten the pakis and their pals, the hans...

G20: EU and US back trade corridor linking Europe, Middle East and India
Joe Biden describes ambitious rail and sea plan to counter China’s Belt and Road project as a ‘really big deal’

Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi
Sat 9 Sep 2023

The US and the EU have backed an ambitious plan to build an economic corridor linking Europe with the Middle East and India via rail and sea, a project the US president, Joe Biden, described as a “really big deal”.

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the project during a Saturday afternoon session at the G20 leaders’ summit, being held in Delhi this weekend.

Modi said the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor promised to be “a beacon of cooperation, innovation, and shared progress”. Biden said it was “game-changing investment”.

Narendra Modi looks on at the start of the second working session of the G20 leaders' summit in New Delhi
G20 leaders agree joint declaration after deal on Ukraine statement
Read more
Von der Leyen described it as “much more than just a railway or a cable”. “It is a green and digital bridge across continents and civilisations,” she said.

The planned corridor would link India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the EU through shipping ports and rail routes, in an effort to make trade quicker and cheaper and to boost economic cooperation and digital connectivity across the region.

The project, called the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment, could speed up trade between India and Europe by 40% and help normalise relations between Israel and the Gulf states, which the Biden administration has been pushing for.

The initiative would also provide a counterbalance to China’s vast infrastructure corridor, the Belt and Road project, which currently stretches across Asia, Africa and Latin America and has given China sizeable influence over countries that have struggling economies.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -and-india

[yensoy]

Some points about the corridor
1. Saudi has a lot of E-W connections between its seaboards but N-S connection is weak; maybe this corridor will strengthen that, and that is in Saudi's interest.
2. Surprised also that we invited Egypt and now we are coming up with a plan to get around Suez.
3. American enthusiasm would have been for the following reasons (i) alternative to Suez and (ii) making them relevant again in Saudi-UAE relations - which recently China seems to have monopolized.
4. Eventually I would like to see Oman brought into the corridor. I'm surprised Oman was left out given our close ties with them, and them being entirely relevant here. Maybe corridor was explicitly routed through UAE and not any Omani port to keep UAE-Saudis together.
5. More practically, Suez is still king. Two transshipments and a rail transit are going to be a hard sell. Only beneficiaries will be subcontinental workers manning the ports in Saudi/UAE.
6. What is interesting is the realization of complementary strengths, tacit admission of weaknesses and converging interests. We have the people (which today is a key resource), UAE/Saudi has the money but need to invest well for the future, Europe/US has the technology & experience. We need the investment and expertise, UAE/Saudi needs people & technology, Europe/US needs the supply chain & green credentials.

[g.sarkar]

Better photo. Looks like the bar is low for honey trapping US diplomats.

A very disturbing thought: Can our very own Madam Jelebi be used to honeytrap? I mean she is very popular with BRF. I am sure she could be popular in Khanland. Mind boggling.
Gautam

[g.sarkar]

https://www.rediff.com/cricket/report/c ... 230910.htm
Casino visit: Pakistan team officials under the scanner
PTI, September 11, 2023
The head of Pakistan Cricket Board's media division Umar Farooq Kalson and board's GM (International Cricket) Adnan Ali are under scanner after pictures and video footages emerged of the duo visiting a Colombo casino.
Both are in Colombo in official capacity as a part of the Pakistani contingent for the ongoing Asia Cup and visiting a gambling den is sure to attract attention of ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit as it is one of the prohibited places as per code of conduct.
Many Pakistani fans on social media questioned how officials of the PCB could be so "immature" and "careless" as to indulge in gambling.
After some Pakistani news channels ran headlines, the two officials in the Casino later clarified that they had only gone to the Casino to have dinner, a claim ridiculed by all and sundry on social media and also by some former test players.
“Who goes to a Casino to have food. Who goes to a gambling joint to have food. Who are they trying to fool," cricket writer Omair Alavi said.
The source said the two PCB officials shouldn't have gone to the Casino where gambling was taking place.
......
Gautam
Actually, it is common in the US to go to a casino, just for the food. I have done it many times, without gambling a dime.