The UAE’s support came during the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to the Gulf nation…reports Hamza Ameer
The United Arad Emirates (UAE) has decided to help Pakistan with a $2 billion bailout package, committing “every possible support to Pakistan”.
The UAE’s support came during the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to the Gulf nation.
Qureshi thanked UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, stating that UAE’s help “reflected the warm and brotherly ties between the two countries”.
“We greatly appreciate the UAE’s continued support and cooperation,” maintained the Pakistan foreign office.
Qureshi has also raised the issue of visa restrictions for Pakistanis in his meeting with the Emirati Minister for Tolerance and Coexistence, Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Bin Ali Al Sayegh.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
During the visit, Qureshi also highlighted the contributions made by the Pakistani nationals residing in the UAE for both the countries.
“He emphasised the need for nurturing and strengthening people-to-people linkages, as well as removing the impediments that hamper travel between the two countries,” maintained the Pakistan foreign office.
It is pertinent to mention that the UAE had put a ban on work visas for Pakistani nationals, creating a major impact on Pakistan as it relies on remittances from the Emirates.
While the restriction was attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, many believe that the move came after Pakistan started showing inclination towards the formation of a joint consortium with Turkey and Malaysia to represent the Muslim world, which would be a direct opposing and challenging entity to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), led by the Arab world.
Moreover, Pakistan’s role in the Afghan peace process and a cold shoulder support by the Arab world to Pakistan on its stance on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir with India, were also among the reasons why the relations between the two countries hit a bump.
But the recent intervention by the UAE in initiating and facilitating backdoor secret talks and meetings between top level intelligence officials of India and Pakistan resulted in imposition of ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC), delegation level talks on water dispute and signs of opening of trade through the Wagah border.
On the other hand, a massive number of Pakistanis are employed in the UAE, who send remittances back to their home country, playing a pivotal role in supporting the country’s crippling economy.
Pakistan has stressed the need for an early resolution to the visa restrictions for its citizens, apprising the UAE of the difficulties being faced by the Pakistani community in the UAE.
The bombings carried out by extremist groups targeted three churches during Easter Sunday services in 2019. Three luxury hotels were also hit in simultaneous attacks on April 21…reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lanka on Wednesday marked the second anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings with religious ceremonies, as Catholics called for investigations into the attacks to be expedited.
The bombings carried out by extremist groups targeted three churches during Easter Sunday services in 2019. Three luxury hotels were also hit in simultaneous attacks on April 21, DPA reported.
Catholic churches conducted prayer services after two minutes of silence in remembrance of the 271 people killed in the multiple explosions. Other religious groups held similar events.
A multi-religious remembrance service attended by Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim clergy and diplomats was held at the St Anthony’s Catholic shrine in the capital Colombo – one of the targets of the suicide bombings.
Heavy security was placed outside churches in Colombo and surrounding areas where the main services were conducted.
Silent protests were held outside churches in some locations demanding speedy investigations into the attacks.
Sri Lanka observes anniversary of Easter bombings(Wikipedia)
“We are not happy about the investigations,” head of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said, adding that the people need answers about who was responsible and the truth about the motives behind the attacks.
A presidential commission appointed to probe the attacks has concluded its investigation, but Ranjith has claimed that the report fails to fully identify those responsible for the bombings, though it pointed to Islamic extremists groups as the perpetrators.
The commission found former president Maithripala Sirisena responsible for security lapses as he failed to take action on advance warnings about the possible attacks.
The Pakistan authorities decided to place India in its C Category list, following which all passengers from Indian will not be allowed to enter the country…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan has banned travel from India for two weeks in the wake of the unprecented resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic in the neighbouring country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in Islamabad said.
The NCOC on Monday decided to place India in its C Category list, following which all passengers coming from India via land or air routes will not be allowed to enter the country, reports Xinhua news agency.
India’s overall coronavirus tally has increased to 15,321,089 after the country registered more than 2 lakh confirmed cases for six consecutive day amid the second wave of the pandemic.
The death toll currently stood at 180,530.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is also currently facing a serious third wave of the pandemic, and to control its further spread the country is taking multiple measures including closure of schools, banning public gatherings and closing markets twice a week, among others.
Temporarily banning travel from the countries where Covid-19 cases are surging is also a part of the government’s plan to control the disease spread.
HE Gaitri Issar Kumar, High Commissioner of India, paying respect to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 130th birth anniversary at India House in London
Dr. Ambedkar’s vision was of an India where the social system and economy would promote the full development of human potential and ensure a dignified existence for all citizens … reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
High Commission of India in London paid tribute to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 130th birth anniversary at India House. Babasaheb, as he was popularly known, was born on 14th April 1891, He was an academician, a leading figure in the national movement for a free India and a strong voice against untouchability.
HE Gaitri Issar Kumar, High Commissioner of India, paying respect to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 130th birth anniversary at India House in London
Bhimrao was born in the town and military cantonment of Mhow, which is now known as Dr. Ambedkar Nagar. He was the 14th and last child in a family that was considered untouchable at that time.
Growing up with few resources amidst adversity, Bhimrao was an excellent scholar who passed his matriculation exams and proceeded, as the first member of his caste, to attend college at the University of Bombay.
After obtaining a degree in Economics and Political Science, he took up employment in the State of Baroda. Soon the State of Baroda awarded him a three year scholarship for study in the USA, where he passed his MA in June 1915 in Economics, Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology. Ambedkar then presented a thesis on Ancient Indian Commerce. His relentless thirst for knowledge led him to pursue two doctorates in Economics – both from the Columbia University and London School of Economics.
He was the first Indian to pursue a doctorate in economics abroad. Dr. Ambedkar made his early career as an economist, professor and lawyer and was also appointed Principal, Government Law College, Bombay.
Dr. Ambedkar became active in Indian politics and social reform, soon after his return to India. He called upon the socially and economically disadvantaged to educate, agitate and organise. He also led Satyagraha and published periodicals like Mook Nayak, Bahishkrit Bharat and Equality Janta. His book Annihilation of Caste has strongly criticised the caste system then prevalent in India. He has also written scholarly books on economics, society and politics.
In 1936, Dr. Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party and contested elections in Bombay in 1937 for the Central Legislative Assembly. After independence, he was invited to serve as the first Law Minister of India. He was also appointed as the Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, which was constituted to write India’s new constitution. In the drafting of the Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar was responsible for the inclusion of constitutional guarantees and protection of individual liberty, freedom of religion, civil liberties including universal franchise which were ahead of the times; and Dr. Ambedkar argued stridently for the rights of women. The Constitution, when finalised, was adopted on November 26, 1949 by the Constituent Assembly.
Dr. Ambedkar’s vision was of an India where the social system and economy would promote the full development of human potential and ensure a dignified existence for all citizens. For realisation of that, Dr. Ambedkar had played a crucial role in laying down the Directive Principles of State Policy, a unique feature of the Indian Constitution. The Principles mandate that the State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting a just social order. These principles lay the foundation for social democracy envisaged by Dr. Ambedkar as a way of life that recognises the union or trinity of literacy, equality and fraternity.
Dr. Ambedkar established the Finance Commission of India in 1951 and contributed to the forming of important policies in Revenue, Finance and Land Reforms. He considered Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, the Right to Constitutional Remedies, to be the very soul of the Constitution and the heart of it. He believed that the greatest safeguard for purity and fairness in elections was to establish an independent Election Commission.
HE Gaitri Issar Kumar, High Commissioner of India, paying respect to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 130th birth anniversary at India House in London
Similarly, he considered the Auditor General to be a key functionary who should have greater independence than even the judiciary. The Right to Information Act is, in fact, a modern day manifestation of Dr. Ambedkar’s commitment to building open, vibrant democratic institutions and strong constitutional methods.
Dr. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1990. Every year, his birth anniversary is celebrated as a public holiday in India. People celebrate his birthday as Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti. The Maharashtra Government has acquired the modest building in London at 10 King Henry Road, where Dr. Ambedkar lived during his days as a student. It was inaugurated as a museum by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in November 2015.
Dr. Ambedkar’s message from his address to the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949 is worth remembering:
“In addition to our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds, we are going to have many political parties with diverse and opposing political creeds. Will Indians place the country above their creed or will they place creed above country? I do not know. But this much is certain that if the parties place creed above country, our independence will be put in jeopardy a second time and probably be lost forever. This eventuality we must all resolutely guard against. We must be determined to defend our independence with the last drop of our blood.”
President, PM Join
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the need to imbibe his ideals in the conduct of each Indian.
“Tribute to Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, on his birth anniversary. He waged a lifelong struggle to create an equitable society. Today, by taking a lesson from his life and thoughts, we take a resolution to adopt his principles in our conduct,” President tweeted in Hindi.
The Prime Minister said that Babasaheb’s struggle to bring the deprived section into the mainstream will remain an example for generations to come.
Bowing to the great Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on Ambedkar Jayanti, the Prime Minister tweeted, “His struggle to bring the deprived section into the mainstream will remain an example for generations to come”.
HE Gaitri Issar Kumar, High Commissioner of India, paying respect to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 130th birth anniversary at India House in LondonHE Gaitri Issar Kumar, High Commissioner of India, paying respect to Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on his 130th birth anniversary at India House in London
Both Russia and Iran have already partnered with India to establish new trade routes that exclude China. India’s much required Eurasian pivot can take wings with New Delhi’s deeper commitment to the Iranian port of Chabahar, which starts from Mumbai and heads to Afghanistan, en route to the heart of Central Asia…reports Asian Lite News
Tired and broken, the United States has announced its unceremonious exit from Afghanistan. The decision, in many ways, is a throwback to a similar moment in recent history—the pullback of the Soviet forces from the strife torn nation after Moscow’s ill-fated intervention in Afghanistan in 1979. The Soviet Union was then a superpower, although ailing, when it decided to move forces across the Hai ratan bridge now in Uzbekistan, only to face defeat in a country which has been well described as the “graveyard of empires”.
After President Joe Biden’s announcement of pulling out of Afghanistan by September 11, the US forces would be scurrying back to the mainland, without achieving most of their mission objectives as announced after the collapse of the twin towers in 2001. After the 9/11 terror attacks, the US had ousted Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, who were fully backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. During their rule, the Taliban had sheltered the worst of the international terror groups in Afghanistan, headed by Al Qaeda.
But after 20 years of western intervention, and after copious drain of blood and treasure, the Taliban are back, now lying-in wait to make a full-fledged comeback in the badlands of the AfPak. And over the years, the Taliban have not severed their links with Al Qaeda and ISIS and ISKP, AQIS and the Haqqani Network.
With the exit of the western forces, regional powers in Afghanistan’s periphery are set to fill the vacuum left behind by the vanquished western nations.
Acknowledging defeat, US President Joe Biden has personally pleaded for the regional countries to script Afghanistan’s post-withdrawal future. “We’ll ask other countries, other countries in the region, to do more to support Afghanistan, especially Pakistan, as well as Russia, China, India, and Turkey. They all have a significant stake in the stable future for Afghanistan,” Biden said in his major speech announcing the closure of another infamous chapter in Afghanistan.
As regional powers realign ahead of the departure of western forces, what are India’s options that would enable New Delhi to protect its core interests?
Despite the overhang of regional powers over Afghanistan, it is important to note that there are significant fault lines among the local powers that will be in play once the Americans leave.
Among the regional powers, a new power cluster comprising China-Pakistan-Turkey is emerging which is working closely to exercise dominance inside Afghanistan.
As reported earlier by India Narrative, it is in Afghanistan that interests of Turkey, Pakistan, and China strongly converge. For Turkey, an entrenchment in Afghanistan will turn Kabul into a springboard for forays into broader Central Asia — a resource rich region with which Ankara shares deep seated cultural and linguistic ties.
For Pakistan, Turkey’s assistance is badly needed to re-acquire its “strategic depth” to counter India and Iran, and to seal a security threat from across the Durand Line.
For China, tighter control will allow the extension of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), to access Afghanistan’s resources including lithium, the feedstock of Beijing’s electric car revolution. It would also help prevent the seepage of Islamic extremists from Afghanistan into the Wakhan corridor, and help prevent the destabilisation of China’s strategic Xinjiang region.
As regional powers realign ahead of the departure of western forces, what are India’s options that would enable New Delhi to protect its core interests?
For starters, India has to quickly and fundamentally readjust its strategic prism and look afresh at Afghanistan and its neighbourhood. With the US virtually out of the equation, New Delhi has no option but to find a powerful niche within the ambit of divided regional powers. For India, the key would be to re-bond with Russia and Iran, both regional powers and deep civilizational states, wedded to multipolarity.
While both countries have forged strong strategic ties with China, perceptible watchers of the region are fully aware that this was done not out of choice but out of compulsion. The imposition of crippling sanctions, in violation of the Iran nuclear deal of 2015, turned the Iranians away from the Europeans, their natural partners, in the direction of China. But becoming a satellite of China, is simply not in the Persian civilization’s DNA. Consequently, the Iranians are bound to welcome the reforging of a historic relationship with Russia and India to balance their ties with China. Both Russia and Iran have already partnered with India to establish new trade routes that exclude China. India’s much required Eurasian pivot can take wings with New Delhi’s deeper commitment to the Iranian port of Chabahar, which starts from Mumbai and heads to Afghanistan, en route to the heart of Central Asia.
Russia too will welcome a further deepening of a time-tested strategic relationship with India. Despite their close ties with China, the Russians are banking on the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which excludes China as the framework to re-stablish their influence in Central Asia, Caucasia and the Slavic core of Central Europe. India fits into this script perfectly. Keen to stem overwhelming Chinese influence in Central Asia, Russia along with Iran is inviting India to join new pan-Eurasian trade routes outside the framework of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Fully aware of the region’s inner dynamics, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar last month called for the integration of the Chabahar route with the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which passes through Iran, Russia, and then threads through Caucasia towards the Black Sea coast, as a pan-Eurasian undertaking minus China.
In 2001, India, Iran and Russia held extensive consultations in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital to forge a pan-Eurasian response to address the fluidity of the post-9/11 situation in Afghanistan. Building on its “strategic autonomy” doctrine, and with Tehran and Moscow as the constants, it is not impossible for India to regain its centrality among the regional powers that are rushing in to fill the vacuum in Afghanistan ahead of the US withdrawal from Kabul.
(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
“I don’t think a meeting is set out with the Indian Foreign Minister… We want peace in the region and cordial ties with all our neighbours including India,” Qureshi added…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is on a three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has ruled out backchannel talks with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar, who is also in the Gulf country.
“I am here for a bilateral visit and not an India-specific agenda. My agenda is UAE-Pakistan and not India-Pakistan,” The Express Tribune quoted Qureshi as saying to reporters in Dubai on Sunday, a day after reaching the UAE, putting an end to speculations of a possible meeting with Jaishankar.
“I don’t think a meeting is set out with the Indian Foreign Minister… We want peace in the region and cordial ties with all our neighbours including India,” he added.
The Minister welcomed the UAE’s mediation in resolving Pakistan’s issues with India.
“We welcome third-party facilitation but no matter what friends say, the initiative has to be indigenous,” he added.
The Easter terror attack by suicide bombers in April 2019 was one of the worst violent incidents recorded in Sri Lanka’s history….reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lankan police on Monday said security has been beefed up in all churches across the island nation ahead of the the second anniversary of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed over 250 people and injured at least 500 others.
Police spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana said authorities were informed that various religious masses, activities, and events were being planned to commemorate the victims , and as a result additional security personnel have been deployed in all churches islandwide, reports Xinhua news agency.
“The Police Headquarters has issued a special message to the officers-in-charge (OICs) of police stations and senior officers of territorial divisions including Senior DIGs, DIGs, SSPs and SPs to monitor the situation,” Rohana said.
“We have informed all stations to provide maximum security in respect of events,” he added.
The Easter terror attack by suicide bombers in April 2019 was one of the worst violent incidents recorded in Sri Lanka’s history.
Sri Lankan authorities have said probe into the blasts is still continuing and that they have identified and taken into custody masterminds behind the violence.
On April 21, 2019, three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo and the hotels — Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Tropical Inn — in the capital city were targeted in the series of coordinated suicide bombings.
Sri Lankan authorities attributed the attacks to little-known local Islamist extremist groups, National Thowheeth Jama’ath and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim.
However, the Islamic State terror group claimed the attacks.
travellers in the arrivals hall at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, south China
The decision came hours after city officials confirmed a second local Covid-19 case involving a mutated strain of the virus…reports Asian Lite News
The Hong Kong government has announced its decision to ban commercial passenger flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines for 14 days from Tuesday as these countries were “extremely high-risk for Covid-19”.
The announcement on Sunday came hours after city officials confirmed a second local Covid-19 case involving a mutated strain of the virus, reports the South China Morning Post newspaper.
According to the announcement, anyone who has spent more than two hours in those three countries have also been banned from entering Hong Kong.
People already in quarantine in Hong Kong from those three nations will be ordered to take an additional test on the 26th day after arriving in the city.
Health officials had earlier decided to ban Cathay Pacific’s Manila flights, and India’s Vistara services from Mumbai, for two weeks until May 2 after a number of passengers were found to be Covid-19 positive upon their arrival in Hong Kong.
According to the South China Morning Post report, a Vistara flight from Delhi which arrived in Hong Kong on April 4 is now at the centre of a growing coronavirus outbreak with 47 passengers on the 188-seater flight infected.
The route, however, was subsequently banned for two weeks after a number of passengers arrived with Covid-19.
On Sunday, Hong Kong registered 30 new Covid-19 cases, of which 29 of were imported.
The new infections took the the total case tally to 11,683, with 209 deaths.
Ghani also reiterated that the Afghan government is committed to the peace talks with the Taliban and that it is now up to the latter to act on it.
US President Joe Biden on April 14 announced the unconditional withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by September which will end the 20-year old war.
Biden said that it has been 10 years since former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s death, and it is time to end America’s war in the country and to bring US troops home.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that achieving a peace deal after the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan is one of the priorities of the group but added that it will select the military option if the efforts could not get the expected outcome, TOLO News reported.
Prime witness Faridi’s complete U-turn in the London court embarrassed the FBI, which ultimately dropped the charges against Dawood aide., reports Deepak Sharma
In a desperate bid to cover up the nexus between the D-Company and ISI from being exposed to the world, Pakistan’s top sleuths allegedly ‘manipulated’ a key FBI witness, who turned hostile and paved way for Dawood Ibrahim’s financier Jabir Motiwala, to go scot free in a high profile extradition case heard in London. Last week, the US dropped charges and withdrew an extradition case against Jabir, giving a breather to Dawood, India’s most wanted fugitive, declared a global terrorist by several countries.
FBI informer and key witness in the case of Kamran Faridi, a Pakistani-American who trapped Dawood’s financier Motiwala in the drug racket, was reportedly ‘influenced’ by ISI officials to give a favourable statement in British extradition court which made Dawood’s right hand man to walk free from London jail, top sources in Indian agencies revealed to IANS, while explaining how Pakistani establishment managed to save D-company from being put to trial in a US court.
India’s most wanted fugitive and global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim
Earlier on the basis of very strong evidence, the London court had cleared extradition of Dawood’s financier to the US. All the charges relating to drugs and money laundering against Dawood aide were established in the court. However at a very later stage when the case was being finalised by the High Court, Kamran Faridi, the key witness surprised everyone while revealing that he was pressured by his bosses in FBI to trap D-company’s finance head Jabir Motiwala in a fake drug case. Prime witness Faridi’s complete U-turn on the story embarrassed the FBI, which ultimately dropped the charges against Dawood’s aide.
Indian Intelligence officials said that Kamran Faridi, a former agent and informer of FBI, whose financial condition was presently not good, was allegedly approached by ISI sleuths and manipulated. Close to the final hearing in the High Court, a leading Pakistani newspaper, part of ISI’s game plan, published Kamran Faridi’s statement wherein he revealed that Dawood’s aide was “trapped” by him in a false case. Faridi also told the Pakistani newspaper that he was forced by FBI bosses to involve D-company in the trap. But Indian agencies do not buy Faridi’s side of the story.
Mumbai blasts
“D-company and ISI worked in tandem to influence Kamran Faridi. For them Faridi was the only hope as Jabir Motiwala had almost lost the case. The ISI sleuths finally managed Faridi to contradict his own revelations about Jabir. We have come to know that initially Kamran’s relatives in Karachi were approached. A few officials in Pakistani High Commission and a journalist of a prominent Pakistan TV channel based in London, too played a crucial part in highlighting Kamran Faridi’s manipulated statement,” an IPS officer of the Indian agency disclosed.
Boasting about it’s role, a major Pakistani news Channel, Geo TV claimed that “most critical intervention in the case came when the channel and its English newspaper published a story on March 19, 2021 revealing that a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant was stopped from entering the UK by the UK Immigration authorities, as Kamran Faridi wanted to record his testimony before the High Court of Justice. The former FBI agent had wanted to testify under oath before the Court that he was involved in the abuse of process to trap Jabir Motiwala. “How a former FBI agent, and a key witness who remained mum for so many years, turned hostile at such a late stage. Obviously ISI managed this agent, as Motiwala’s extradition would have opened a can of worms in the US court, exposing the underworld, terror nexus between Dawood Ibrahim and his handlers in Pakistan,” a senior officer of Indian agency alleged.
Dawood Ibrahim. (Photo: Interpol)
After years of persuasion, the US withdrew the extradition request against Jabir Motiwala, involved in drug trafficking and handling international financial deals of Dawood Ibrahim. Jabir, who flew from Cyprus to London in 2018, was arrested by Scotland Yard at the request of FBI. During the extradition trial in London, FBI lawyers had disclosed to the court that Jabir Motiwala was managing funds of Dawood Ibrahim in UAE, Britain and other overseas countries. Regarding drug dealing, FBI agents recorded Motiwala on camera, who was seen talking about finance and supply of drugs from Karachi to Atlantic City. Based on such solid evidence the court had earlier cleared extradition of Jabir Motiwala to the US.
