Qureshi described the progress in intra-Afghan negotiations currently underway in Qatar to decide a future political roadmap as “good omen”, according to the statement….reports Asian Lite News
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday held talks with leader of Afghanistan’s Hezb-e-Wahdat-e Islami party Karim Khalili in Islamabad on the war-torn country’s peace process.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad said that Khalili, a former Vice President, arrived in Pakistan on a three-day visit on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.
Qureshi described the progress in intra-Afghan negotiations currently underway in Qatar to decide a future political roadmap as “good omen”, according to the statement.
“It has been Pakistan’s long standing stance that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict. A comprehensive negotiated political settlement is the only solution acceptable to the Afghan leadership,” the statement quoted Qureshi as saying.
He said Pakistan will welcome decisions at the negotiations among Afghans and said intra-Afghan dialogue is a unique opportunity for the Kabul leadership to bring peace to the country.
“We believe that peace in Afghanistan is linked to peace and stability in the region,” he said.
Qureshi told Khalili that Pakistan is taking measures to promote bilateral trade and has also introduced a liberal visa policy for Afghan nationals.
Khalili appreciated Pakistan’s role in the Afghan peace process, according to the statement.
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti addresses a press conference in Srinagar on Aug 4, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
Former Chief Minister and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said the purpose of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is to restore J&K’s special status.
In a series of tweets she stated that baseless theories are making rounds to discredit PAGD since people voted overwhelmingly for the alliance in the recent District Development Council (DDC) elections.
“Amidst all the unnecessary speculation about PAGD, I’d like make a few things absolutely clear. The purpose of this grand alliance is not for petty electoral gains. It exists for a much larger cause and purpose i.e to restore J&Ks special status.” Mehbooba tweeted.
Amidst all the unnecessary speculation about PAGD, Id like make a few things absolutely clear. The purpose of this grand alliance is not for petty electoral gains. It exists for a much larger cause & purpose i.e to restore J&Ks special status.
“A lot of baseless theories are being deliberately floated to discredit PAGD amongst masses since they overwhelmingly voted for us in the DDC elections. Regardless of who fought how many seats, our purpose to deny BJP & its proxies democratic space has been achieved.”
She further added that many PAGD leaders have been arrested but it will not break the resolve of the alliance to stand united.
Delhi is deeply rattled by PAGD so I expect this false campaign to intensify in the coming days. Many PDP leaders are already arrested & I expect the situation to worsen. But this will not break our resolve to stand united & fight for whats rightfully ours.
“Delhi is deeply rattled by PAGD so I expect this false campaign to intensify in the coming days. Many PDP leaders are already arrested and I expect the situation to worsen. But this will not break our resolve to stand united & fight for what’s rightfully ours.” Mehbooba tweeted.
The blackout began at about 11.50 p.m. on Saturday when power failures were reported in all major cities, including Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and Rawalpindi…reports Asian Lite News
A day after hundreds of millions of Pakistanis were left without power due to a technical fault in the country’s power distribution system, seven staff, including a manager and six junior employees, at one of country’s biggest power plants have been suspended.
The blackout began at about 11.50 p.m. on Saturday when power failures were reported in all major cities, including Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and Rawalpindi, lasting around 18 hours in most areas.
According to a report from the NDTV, the employees at Guddu thermal power plant in Sindh province were suspended “on account of the negligence of duty”, according to the Central Power Generation Company, which operates the facility.
Guddu plant, built in the 1980s, is one of the country’s largest and generates power from furnace oil and natural gas.
The blackout, which started shortly before midnight on Saturday, was caused by an engineering fault which tripped the system and caused power plants across the country to shut down, according to National Transmission and Despatch Company.
The blackout was caused after the frequency in the national power distribution system suddenly fell from 50 to zero, Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan said in a tweet, adding that “we are trying to ascertain what caused the drop in frequency”.
The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) discovered a car heavily packed with explosives in Wardak province and defused 32 IEDs in Kandahar province in the past 24 hours…reports Asian Lite News
The Afghan Ministry of Defence said on Monday that the military have discovered a car bomb and defused 32 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in two provinces.
The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) discovered a car heavily packed with explosives in Wardak province and defused 32 IEDs in Kandahar province in the past 24 hours, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.
The IEDs were found in Kandahar’s Panjwaye, Arghandab and Zharay districts, while the forces detected the car bomb allegedly prepared by Taliban militants to target security forces, the statement said.
The ANDSF remains in control of most of Afghanistan’s population centres and all of 34 provincial capitals, but Taliban insurgents control large portions of rural areas, staging coordinated large-scale attacks from time to time.
Two days ago, three people were killed and another person was injured in a blast in Kabul.
The blast on Sunday, according to the official, took place at 8.30 a.m. in Police District 8, Xinhua news agency reported.
Arian said that the victims included Zia Wadan, spokesman for the Public Protection Force.
Without providing details, the official blamed the Taliban outfit for the attack.
The militant group has not responded to the allegation.
Since last month, at least 23 people have been killed and 70 others injured in security incidents in Kabul.
Kabul witnessed 15 security incidents late December 2020, including suicide attacks, car bomb attacks, magnetic IED blasts and targeted killings.
Four blasts occurred in Kabul on December 26.
Most of the magnetic IED blasts targeted security vehicles and were near police headquarters buildings in various areas of the city.
He said the military was subordinate to the government….reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan’s Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar said the Army has no backdoor contact with the leaders of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as was being speculated in the media, according to media reports.
He said the military was subordinate to the government.
Maj Gen Babar, while addressing a press conference said neither the military needed to indulge in politics nor should any attempt be made to drag it into politics.
According to report from Dawn, Maj Gen Babar said that the PDM leaders “will be offered tea and snacks and looked after if they decide to stage a long march towards Rawalpindi.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the the 11-party PDM opposition alliance poses no threat to his government.
Pakistan Democratic Party (PDM) rally
Addressing the meeting of his spokespersons on Monday, Khan said: “The PDM has almost lost and died its own death, so it is no more a threat to the government.”
The Prime Minister also directed his spokespersons to give a “tough time” to the opposition in the media, Dawn news reported.
Khan said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) main agenda was to seek National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)-like concessions for its leaders.
“PDM’s entire movement is aimed at getting an NRO, but I will not give them any relief,” he added.
Talking about the opposition alliance holding rallies despite warnings amid the coronavirus pandemic, the premier said that the PDM tried to play with the lives of the people, The Express Tribune reported.
“These designations will provide additional tools to confront terrorist activity and terrorism” carried out by the group, Pompeo said…reports Asian Lite News
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that he would notify Congress of his intent to declare Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity”.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Pompeo also said that he intended to designate three leaders of the militia, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, as SDGTs.
“These designations will provide additional tools to confront terrorist activity and terrorism” carried out by the group, he said.
“The designations are also intended to advance efforts to achieve a peaceful, sovereign, and united Yemen that is both free from Iranian interference and at peace with its neighbours.
“Progress in addressing Yemen’s instability can only be made when those responsible for obstructing peace are held accountable for their actions,” the Secretary of State was quoted as further saying in the statement.
Terrorist designations of Ansarallah in Yemen confront its terrorist activity and seeks to deter further malign activity by the Iranian regime in the region.
The Houthi militia has intensified attacks on the Yemeni government-held cities in the past year that killed and injured hundreds of people, according to the government of the war-torn country.
Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels seized control of northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in 2015 to support Hadi’s government.
A total of 2,899 people have tested positive of Covid-19 in Pakistan over the last 24 hours, taking the overall infection tally to 502,416, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Sunday.
Sindh province has been the worst-hit with 225,509 cases followed by Punjab province where 144,909 people have been tested positive, the NCOC said in a statement.
Forty-six people died in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 10,644, the official statement said, adding that 2,804 patients are being treated in hospitals across Pakistan, Xinhua news agency reported.
The statement said 456,969 people have recovered so far.
A total of 7,088,014 tests have been conducted at various state-owned and private laboratories across the country, and 623 hospitals are working with Covid-19 facilities.
Several cases of a new variant of the coronavirus initially found in Britain have been reported in the country, and the relevant authorities are tracing their contacts, after quarantining them.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
Speaking to the families, the premier said that he had visited the community in the past and was well aware of the issues being faced by them….reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Quetta where he met the families of the 11 coal miners who were killed by armed men in Balochistan’s Machh area on January 3, the media reported on Sunday.
In a video released by Khan’s office on Saturday, the Prime Minister can be seen interacting with the families, as well as other members of the Hazara minority community , Dawn news reported.
Speaking to the families, the premier said that he had visited the community in the past and was well aware of the issues being faced by them.
“I know that people were afraid of going to your imambargahs when the ‘war on terror’ was at its peak in Pakistan. I came to meet you then as well.”
Khan said that when he was first informed of the killings, he sent Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid to meet with the bereaved to assure them of backing by the federal government.
“We have a whole programme prepared and a security forces cell is being made which will look at providing you (Hazaras) with protection and pursuing those responsible (for the attack),” Dawn news quoted the Prime Minister as further saying.
The premier’s visit came hours after the miners were buried at the city’s Hazara Town cemetery following the end of a week-long protest by the Hazara community against the killings.
On January 11, the 11 coal miners were kidnapped and killed by unidentified armed men in Machh, an area under serious security threat.
According to the police, the attackers abducted the miners and took them to the nearby hills where they were fired at and seriously injured.
The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State terror group.
Last week, Members of the Hazara minority community have refused to end their sit-in in Quetta against the killing of 11 coal miners in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, while demanding justice over the carnage.
The sit-in started on Monday at the provincial capital’s Western Bypass and continued after talks between the protesters and Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid failed, reports The Express Tribune.
On Monday night, Rashid met a delegation of the Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) political organisation, who are leading the sit-in.
But the protesters refused to end their sit-in until Prime Minister Imran Khan visited them.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Rashid said that he had asked the MWM to form a five-to-seven-member committee to meet the Prime Minister in Islamabad. The Minister also announced a 2.5 million PKR compensation to the victims’ families.
Ahead of crucial Nepal-India Foreign Minister level talks that are likely to focus on seeking long-term solution of the boundary dispute, Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said they will retrieve the Nepali territories of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh which have long been “occupied” by India.
Addressing the National Assembly, he said that one of the prime items on the agenda of Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali on his India visit is the boundary dispute.
Gyawali is visiting India on January 14 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar to participate in the sixth Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting at the Foreign Minister level.
S Jaishankar
As per the Sugauli Treaty, Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh are located east of the Mahakali River and belong to Nepal, Oli said. “We will hold diplomatic talks with India and our Foreign Minister is also going to India,” he said.
“Today, we are facing difficulties to get back our land because Nepali rulers never made efforts to reclaim Nepali territories after Indian military forces started to station there following the India-China war in 1962. After the India-China war, an Indian army battalion is stationed in Kalapani that Nepal has been claiming as its territory,” he said.
According to Oli, a notable initiative was made to solve problems in the relations with India by holding comprehensive dialogue.
“Some had said the relations with India would be strained when a new map was issued by incorporating Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani as Nepali land but it did not happen.
“Now, the discussion with India is held on the basis of friendship. Nepali land will be retrieved at any cost,” he stressed while addressing the seventh session of the parliament.
He also said that ties with China are developing in a positive way. Oli said that road connection with China is improving, a new tunnel to connect Nepal and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China is underway and “we are fairly doing well to improve ties with both neighbours, India and China”.
Oli, who rose on a nationalist plank in 2016 after India imposed a blockade, got over 63 per cent vote in the 2017 elections.
After not getting enough support from his Nepal Communist Party, he dissolved the House of Representatives on December 20 and recommended snap polls be held on April 30 and May 10. But his decision to dissolve the house and hold fresh polls has been challenged in the Supreme Court and the hearing is going on.
Oli’s decision to dissolve the house has sharply divided opinions inside Nepal and his own party, Nepal Communist Party is on the verge of split. A case is pending at the Elections Commission.
Rival factions, led by former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal, have challenged Oli’s decision to dissolve the house and have been exercising as a separate political party since December 21 by forming their own central committee and party standing committee.
The dispute over Kalapani, which lies on the easternmost corner of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, between Nepal and India was revived in November 2019 when India published a revised political map showing the newly created Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Both India and Nepal lay claim to Kalapani. The map showed Kalapani as part of Pithoragarh district. Nepal protested immediately and drew attention to the lingering issue.
On May 8, India inaugurated the Darchula-Lipulekh pass link road, cutting across the disputed Kalapani area which is used by Indian pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar. Nepal hit back by summoning the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, to convey a formal protest.
