Pakistan has been upright and principled in slamming US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. What happens next, however, given history’s amazing somersaults? What if the way ahead becomes less conducive to its best interests or, as they say, the political ground shifts from under its feet? Consider a quick glance at how some seemingly fundamental beliefs have mutated in South Asia and the Middle East. There was a time when the mere announcement of a US arms sale to Saudi Arabia would send Israeli and Indian diplomats heading to the State Department to lodge their protests. Giora Becher, Israel’s first envoy to India in 1992, wondered why the two didn’t share a cab. There was a time when...
December 8, 2017 at 4:22 pm | News Desk
ISLAMABAD (November 16, 2017) The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Interior Ministry to strike PPP leader Dr Asim Hussain's name off the Exit Control List (ECL), allowing him to travel abroad for medical treatment. Justice Masheer Alam and Justice Qazi Faez Isa heard the case regarding the removal of Dr Asim's name from the no-fly list. The PPP leader had travelled abroad for medical treatment earlier this year, but had returned within the time period stipulated by the court, his lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa had said during the last hearing of the case. However, as he appeared healthy, his name was put on the ECL again upon his return to Pakistan. Dr Asim's lawyer earlier told the court that his client's flight had initially b...
November 16, 2017 at 12:12 pm | News Desk
BRUSSELS: The commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, US Army Gen. John Nicholson, said Thursday that Pakistan had not changed its behaviour since President Donald Trump announced his new policy for Afghanistan. When asked whether he had seen any increased cooperation from Pakistan with regards to eliminating Taliban sanctuaries, Nicholson said "No, I haven't seen any change yet in their behavior." He was speaking to the reporters on the margins of a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels this week. "You've heard the public statements from President Trump, from (Defense Secretary James) Mattis, from (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford) from (Secretary of State Rex) Tillerson, so we are engaging at the ve...
November 10, 2017 at 2:27 pm | News Desk
ABU DHABI/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on corruption has spread beyond its borders as regulators in the United Arab Emirates ask UAE banks for information about Saudi citizens detained in the investigation, a possible prelude to freezing their accounts. The UAE central bank has requested commercial banks and finance companies in the UAE to provide details of the accounts of 19 Saudis, commercial bankers told Reuters on Thursday, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. Almost all of the 19, including billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and former National Guard chief Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, are known to be among dozens of senior officials and businessmen detained in the corruption inquiry. ...
November 9, 2017 at 4:49 pm | News Desk
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump will meet Friday in Vietnam, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian news agencies on Thursday. The meeting “will be on November 10,” but the exact time is being decided, Ushakov told the official TASS agency. Both leaders will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Vietnamese city of Danang. The pair last met at the G20 summit in Germany in July. On Sunday Trump said he thinks “it’s expected we’ll meet with Putin” to discuss North Korea. Relations between Moscow and Washington have plummeted as a US probe has accused Trump’s former campaign aides of secretly meeting Kremlin-connected officials. Russia has vehement...
November 9, 2017 at 4:12 pm | News Desk
LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May called Tuesday for an early general election on June 8 in a surprise announcement as Britain prepares for delicate negotiations on leaving the European Union. "We need a general election and we need one now. We have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done... before the detailed talks begin," May said, despite previously denying that she would do so. Speaking outside her Downing Street residence in London, May warned that "division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit". She said parliament would be asked to vote Wednesday to decide on whether or not to hold an election. The dramatic announcement comes after months of tumult in British politics followi...
April 18, 2017 at 4:34 pm | News Desk
The United Nations on Monday rejected a call by the Saudi-led coalition battling rebels in Yemen for the key port of Hodeida to be placed under its supervision. The coalition made the appeal following an attack on a boat carrying Somali refugees off the coast of Yemen that killed 42 people, and as the country faced famine. UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the warring sides in Yemen have a responsibility to protect civilian infrastructure and civilians. “These are not obligations they can shift to others,” Haq said. Hodeida, which is a key transit point for desperately-needed imports, is controlled by Houthi rebels fighting the Saudi-backed government. The coalition said in a statement Sunday that it was not responsible for th...
March 21, 2017 at 12:50 pm | News Desk
Nawaz Sharif will hold talks with Emir of Qatar and the prime minister of Qatar. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will pay a two-day visit to Qatar from tomorrow. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation. During the visit, the Prime Minister will hold talks with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and his counterpart Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani on promotion of bilateral relations in different fields. These include energy cooperation, trade and investment, defence and increase in employment opportunities for the Pakistani workforce in Qatar. The two sides would also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest. A number of Memorandums of Understanding in the ...
February 9, 2016 at 3:35 pm | News Desk
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund said on February 4 it had agreed to release a $497 million tranche for Pakistan after the latest review of a bailout package awarded in 2013, though the disbursement still requires IMF board approval. Once the latest disbursement is made the IMF will still have to release $1.1 billion of the total $6.7 billion loan agreed three years ago. IMF agrees to delay PIA sell-off for six months “After constructive discussions, the mission and the Pakistani authorities have reached stafflevel agreement on the completion of the tenth review under the EFF (Extended Fund Facility) arrangement,” the IMF said in a statement. Pakistan has shelved plans to privatise its power supply companies and wi...
February 4, 2016 at 7:08 pm | News Desk
ISLAMABAD: The defence ministry has expressed concern over the delay in release of the $350 million tranche of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) by the US Congress for want of a certification by the American defence secretary that Pakistani counter-terrorism operations were disrupting the Haqqani Network’s sanctuaries on its soil. “The issues of the decrease in Coalition Support Fund and the economic difficulties in dealing with the crises of North Waziristan’s internally displaced persons also came under discussion,” a defence ministry statement said, after a meeting between defence secretary, retired Lt Gen Muhammad Alam Khattak, and US Ambassador David Hale. Under the US National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the fisc...
February 4, 2016 at 11:36 am | News Desk
WASHINGTON: Seven years into his presidency, Barack Obama will make his first trip to an American mosque on Wednesday, offering a symbolic rebuttal of harsh Republican election rhetoric against Muslims. Obama, whose grandfather converted to Islam, will make the short helicopter ride to the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque, where he will meet community leaders and deliver remarks. He has visited mosques from Malaysia, to Indonesia and Egypt as president, but has yet to visit one of America's 2,000-plus mosques. In 2009, a freshly elected Obama travelled to the Egyptian capital to call for a "new beginning" with the Muslim world. Much of Obama's foreign policy agenda has focused on improving ties with Muslim nations, from makin...
February 3, 2016 at 12:53 pm | News Desk
KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said protesting employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be fired from service and can be sent to jail for a year, media reported. Talking to reporters during his visit to a coal power plant in Sahiwal, the premier went on to say that airline employees working during the strike will be given special rewards for their service. Nawaz accused PIA workers of politicising the privatisation issue by resorting to strikes, adding that such acts were costing PIA Rs100 million per day. In a move to stall the strike, Nawaz had already enforced the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1952 for six months, barring protesting members of the PIA from participating in any union activit...
February 2, 2016 at 7:36 pm | News Desk
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Thursday appreciated Pakistan’s on-going efforts to degrade and ultimately defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates, noting that it had disrupted terror plots against the US homeland as the two sides renewed their resolve to counter all forms of extremism and terrorism in the region. During a bilateral meeting between a high-powered delegation led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Obama at the White House on Thursday, the two discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, particularly terrorism in South Asia. According to a joint statement of the meeting, Obama, while acknowledging the sacrifices rendered by Pakistani security forces in the region, noted how it had degraded the ability ...
October 23, 2015 at 10:06 am | News Desk
Farhan Bokhari High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Pakistan could have the world’s third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons after the US and Russia within a decade if it continues to build up to 20 nuclear warheads annually, a new report warns. The report, written by two respected US analysts and published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, concluded that Pakistan is outpacing India, with its neighbour and rival appearing to produce just five warheads annually. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this articl...
August 29, 2015 at 12:06 pm | News Desk
Hatf IX (Nasr) is a Pakistani ballistic missile which can deliver a sub-kiloton nuclear warhead over a range of 60 km, or 37.3 miles. It is supposed to have entered service in 2013 and is believed to be fully integrated into Pakistan’s C3I (command, control, communications and intelligence). Its purported role is as a low-yield battlefield deterrent against mechanised columns. Should India – and the world – take Nasr seriously? The development and deployment of Nasr by Pakistan was inevitable and the impact of this tactical nuclear weapon (tac nuke) on the emerging India-Pakistan deterrence relationship is inherently destabilising. Defining Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Pakistani Context There are four different yardst...
August 21, 2015 at 6:46 pm | News Desk
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted before the Supreme Court a report containing details of 150 mega corruption cases against prominent parliamentarians, politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, former president Asif Ali Zardari, former prime ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PML-Q chief Shujaat Hussain, former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani, QaumiWatan Party chief AftabSherpao, former ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani are some of the prominent people on the list. The document lists 50 cases each of monetary irregularities, misuse of powers and land scandals. Among the monetary irregul...
August 21, 2015 at 6:14 pm | News Desk
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate