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 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.
“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.
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.
“Social media has been blocked for a few hours so that troublemakers can not use it during Friday prayers congregations,” said an official…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan on Friday blocked social media platforms amid fears that activists of a radical Islamist group might use the technology to stoke violent protests against last year’s depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in France.
Followers of far-right Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a group that supports the country’s controversial blasphemy laws, have blocked roads and chocked streets at deadly protests that started on Monday, reports dpa news agency.
The protesters are demanding that the government fulfil an earlier promise to expel the French Ambassador by April 20 over the publication of a cartoon depicting the prophet last year.
At least five people including two police officers have been killed in the protests, which have prompted the France Embassy in Islamabad to urge French nationals to leave Pakistan temporarily.
“Social media has been blocked for a few hours so that troublemakers can not use it during Friday prayers congregations,” an official told dpa.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok are inaccessible across the country, including the capital Islamabad.
Political parties, Islamist groups and militant organisations like Pakistani Taliban heavily rely on social media platforms to connect with their followers.
Terrorism as a state policy has never paid dividends anywhere and Pakistan’s Kashmir theatre is no exception. Army Chief Gen Bajwa’s call to bury the past and focus on geo-economics stems from this truism. Imran Khan’s decision not to heed the call of his army masters reflects the inability of Pakistan’s political class not to look beyond the nose … writes Sajid Yousuf Shah. No Moral Right or Diplomatic Immunity for Pakistan’s Kashmir conflict
The International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) has an interesting article on Kashmir in its March (2021) issue. It makes a compelling reading in the context flip-flops by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on facilitating a thaw in the relations with India. His U-turn is food for thought for Pakistan analysts as is his return to the old Pak refrain that Kashmir issue should be solved first for a turnaround in bilateral relations with India.
Clearly neither Imran Khan nor any of his cohorts has read Asima Hassan’s article, which draws attention to what is no more than the flip-side of Pakistan’s Kashmir policy. Dr Hassan is a sociologist by training and a Kashmiri by birth. And the study is on the plight of families of militants, pampered by Pakistan over the past three decades hoping to make India bleed with thousands of cuts, if not part with Kashmir altogether. Terrorism as a state policy has never paid dividends anywhere and Pakistan’s Kashmir theatre is no exception. Army Chief Gen Bajwa’s call to bury the past and focus on geo-economics stems from this truism. Imran Khan’s decision not to heed the call of his army masters reflects the inability of Pakistan’s political class not to look beyond the nose.
The short point is that since Pakistan made Kashmir a protracted conflict, Kashmir has become home to a new group- widows, single parents, and orphaned children. Dr Asima Hassan draws attention to the plight of this section based on field work across the Kashmir valley. There is no evidence in public domain to show Pakistan had factored in the human misery its Kashmir policy is resulting in. In fact, as Asima Hassan also points out that Pakistan government’s decision to offer engineering and medical college seats to slain militants’ children has ended up as a money-spinning proposition for the Kashmiri separatists; they have been selling these seats to the affluent sections and are pocketing the money.
“Due to murky state of turmoil in Kashmir and lack of proper documentation, it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of deaths since the beginning of the militancy in the eighties. Though the government says less than 50,000 people, including militants and security forces personnel, have been killed, human rights and separatist groups put the number at over a lakh”, Hassan writes. And quotes official data to say that from 1988 till March 2019, militants accounted for 23, 386 deaths; while civilian toll was 14,930, the security forces had lost 6,413 personnel. 2358 of the killed militants were foreigners, mostly Pakistanis.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
As stated at the outset, this study is about human suffering, which has escaped the attention of strategists, analysts and above all the media in India. Also, in Pakistan, which, being a fellow Muslim society, should have felt the pain of Kashmiris.
“In most cases, the death of the family head led to the problems with mental health, as well as stunted intellectual development and physical growth of his children and widow”, Dr Hassan laments in the IJRAR article, and remarks:
“…. losing their beloved ones has injured them psychologically forever. …. women and children remain extremely vulnerable”.
According to Hassan survey, at least ten percent of the militants killed in the last 30-years were married and had children. And it is these families, who had to suffer as they were not entitled for any compensation from the government like the families of the slain civilians.
The study made a complete profile of 100 such families – 35 of them from South Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam; this belt saw youth under 20 years joining the insurgents “much against their parents’ pleas only to be killed a few weeks later in the last decade”.
Another 35 families were studied from the North Kashmir districts of Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora – which saw maximum killings during 1990’s and 2000s as all the three districts border the Kashmir under Pakistan, (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, PoK, as India terms the region).
In Central Kashmir, the research was undertaken in Srinagar, Ganderbal and Budgam; these districts saw comparatively lesser number of killings; yet 30 victim families (widows and children) formed the sample for the empirical study after they were repeatedly assured that their identities would not be revealed.
THE FINDINGS
As many as 45% slain militants belonged to the age group of 25-35 at the time of death while another 32% were in the age group of 35-45. 16% deceased belonged to 45-55 age group and 6% were in the 18-25 years bracket. Only 1% was above 55 years of age. While 24% slain militants had income of around $ 42 a month, 12% slain militants belonged to families whose monthly income was less than $ 15 when they joined militancy. Only 9% of the slain militants belonged to well-off families. Even in the 1990s, income below $ 42 was not enough to have basic amenities of life.
Interestingly, most Kashmiri militants had no worthwhile educational background. A majority of them – 45%, to be precise, were illiterate and had not attended school. Another 20% are school drop outs. Only 12% of the slain militants (members of armed groups as the author calls them) had passed 10th standard while 11% discontinued after the 12th standard due to poverty. Just 12% of the surveyed were graduates who were either in a government job or from affluent families. And they were normally given leadership positions by the insurgent groups.
IMPACT ON FAMILY
Author Hassan clearly shows that whopping 94% widows and single parent orphans had experienced a negative impact from the Army action against militants.
“These killings occurred during gunfights with security forces”, the respondents stated. Financial problems and lack of social support devastated them. It was observed that the killing created a sense of insecurity and fear amongst the survived family members “The sympathy of the people in the initial days (after the killing) vanished with time and they were later left to fend for themselves”, the respondents revealed adding that “constant raids by security forces when he (militant) was alive created a sense of fear among them”.
Most widows categorically told the author that they didn’t re-marry after the death of their husbands. “This is a general practice in Kashmir; if the women have a child or children, they seldom go for remarriage. Widows are not typically acceptable brides, as Kashmiri society places a taboo on remarriage unlike Muslim societies in many other parts of the world,” says Hassan in the IJRAR article.
A study carried out by the University of Kashmir several years back showed that 91% of militant – widows had not considered remarriage. The findings of the current research also revealed that a majority – 85% – of women respondents didn’t remarry. And they had to bear a lot of problems – social insecurity, economic hardships, social apathy, discrimination by relatives and neighbours and above all failure of control over children.
Another disturbing nugget Hassan study throws up is that Kashmir today is home to at least 32,000 widows, 52% of them in the 25-35 age group and another 25% in the 18–25-year bracket. While 19% of the widows are in 35-45 age group, just 4% are above 45 years. A 2008 study by the University of Kashmir puts the orphaned children number at a whopping 97,200. Hassan’s study shows that a majority of the killed militants (44%) had more than three children when they joined insurgency.
16% of them had more than five kids when they were killed. 35% had 1 to 2 children while 5% were married but had no kids. All these fathers-less children have had a difficult up-bringing. And fared miserably education-wise. While 19% of them couldn’t attend school, 52% became drop outs; another five percent discontinued studies at the college level. Pakistan’s terrorism centric Kashmir conflict has resulted in child labour and increased women labour force as many families of killed militants have come out to eke a living. This is largely because their stay in ‘others houses was not liked and was not tolerated by the family members’. Result: Sleep disorders have become order of the day with the fear of getting victimized again. As many as 81% of widows experienced multiple health problems. 37% of girls of the marriageable age faced difficulty in finding suitable match.
Hassan article says living conditions of widows and single parent orphans of police and security force personnel are better; the government has taken sufficient care of their needs, especially in the field of education and employment but the families of the slain militants are living in pathetic conditions. “Economically and socially, they have been debased and some of them even face starvation”.
Indian-Army-soldiers-in-Jammu-and-Kashmir
The unmistakable impression from Hassan’s study is that proxy war may have suited Pakistan strategically, and militarily, but the unending violence and consequent misery have devastated thousands of Kashmiri families. Pakistan has neither the moral right nor can claim diplomatic immunity for its pursuits to achieving what four wars and diplomatic blitzkrieg had failed to accomplish since the land of the pure, as Pakistan claims, was carved out of British India in 1947 as a parting gift of the colonial masters.
Pakistani Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa (Photo: Twitter/@iamCOAS)
It is time that Army Chief Bajwa, stepped up his game and smothered the broad spectrum of opportunists who have made feud with India, a money-minting industry, reports Atul Aneja
Pakistans abrupt U-turn on its decision to buy cotton from India has exposed a myriad of contradictions within the Pakistani establishment, anchored by the military, and a broken civilian cabal.
Saner elements within the Pakistani fourth estate have noted with dismay, the dysfunctionality of their country’s “system,” which is unable to distinguish between myopic “gains” and clear-eyed long-term interests.
In a pithy editorial on April 3, the liberal Dawn newspaper called the reversal of the decision, taken first by Prime Minister Imran Khan during a cabinet meeting, which he inexplicably overturned the very next day as “bizarre”.
The daily called the about-turn as “one that falls squarely under the unfortunate category of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing. Not only does it betray a lack of coordination within the government, it also points to poor decision-making on a serious matter that requires a sensible and level-headed approach.”
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks at a press conference. (Xinhua/Asad/IANS)
Consequently, Islamabad today is agog with frenzied speculation. Some media pundits have attributed the back-and-forth by Khan as the reflection of a power struggle with hawkish foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Qureshi, leveraging his mass base acquired through his ancestral influence on a Sufi cult, is fast emerging as a potent rival to Khan. Qureshi is also well-plugged into a section of the Pakistani military, the real power behind the throne.
The controversial foreign minister has argued that any opening of trade with India would give the world an impression that relations were moving towards normalization. That, in turn would hurt the Kashmir �cause’ that Pakistan has been espousing globally.
In an editorial, The Friday Times’ veteran scribe, Najam Sethi, has pointed out that Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, the big picture reader, had understood that cooling military tensions with India was necessary to stop the fragile Pakistani economy going into free fall. He stressed that the General was “trying to ease tensions with India and “normalise” � forget Kashmir for the time being � because the simmering conflict had strained his budgets and stretched his limits. The long war on the Line of Control was unaffordable. Hundreds of artillery shells costing thousands of USD were being lobbed every day, not to forget the cost of maintaining troops at full alert along a long perimeter. Just the fuel cost of keeping squadrons of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets in the air when tensions were periodically running high was prohibitive. In real terms, the defence budget is more or less frozen because the government’s revenue base hasn’t increased in the last two years owing to a slump in the economy.”
Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa meets Prime Minister Imran Khan
Insiders told India Narrative that it would be wrong to assume that the Pakistani military was fully united in backing the revival of the ceasefire agreement along the LOC, which was essentially top-driven. “The relatively junior ranks of colonels and majors, who have been on the frontend of the Kashmir Jihad have opposed the ceasefire deal, exposing contradictions within the Pakistani military hierarchy,” one of them said.
Consequently, it is unlikely that infiltration and terror will end in Kashmir right away. But without a complete and verifiable halt to terror in Kashmir, India will also be forced to step-back from the budding peace process.
Pakistan’s political class is also badly divided on normalising ties with India.
On April 3, the News International reported that the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) opposed the government’s moves to import goods from India.
“Prime Minister should tell the nation whether his government has accepted annexation of Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) with Indian while compromising on settlement of core dispute as per United Nations resolutions,” former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the media. Abbasi pointed out that the prime minister as in-charge of the Ministry of Commerce, on March 26 moved a summary to ECC seeking approval for import of three lacs tonnes of sugar and unlimited quantity of cotton from India till June 30. “It was a totally India specific summary,” he said.
Indian Army soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir
Pakistan’s commercial class, in turn stands opposed to the U-turn that Khan had inelegantly mounted. Unsurprisingly, Pakistan’s sugar and cotton importers have slammed the decision, arguing that both commodities were direly needed and were available in India, possibly at low rates.
As the slugfest in Pakistan gets nasty, the chances are that a beneath the radar, the two commodities from India could well arrive in Pakistan via Dubai. Of course, this import would be vastly more expensive.
Security analyst Muhammad Amir Rana welcomed “the renewed discourse on bilateral trade � despite the subsequent backtracking � reflects Pakistan’s apparently changing and intertwined national security and economic diplomacy outlooks.” Writing in Dawn (April 4, 2010), Rana said Pakistan’s power elites “have never seriously addressed the economic issue. Pakistan has to focus more on transforming its economy, which may require good relations with India, Afghanistan and Iran.”
In the final analysis, Pakistan’s seemingly irreconcilable contradictions may have a far more serious outcome�the complete breakdown of trust with India. It is time that Army Chief Bajwa, stepped up his game and smothered the broad spectrum of opportunists who have made feud with India, a money-minting industry.
The US Treasury Department stated that it has imposed sanctions on Pakistani national Abid Ali Khan and what it labelled the “Abid Ali Khan Transnational Criminal Organization”…reports Hamza Ameer
US President Joe Biden’s administration has imposed sanctions on an alleged Pakistan-based human smuggling organisation, after it was found involved and guilty for smuggling migrants to America.
In a statement, the US Treasury Department confirmed that it has blacklisted Pakistani national Abid Ali Khan and what it labelled the “Abid Ali Khan Transnational Criminal Organization”, for being a “prolific human smuggling organisation”.
The Department also blacklisted three people and one other entity associated with the organisation.
Khan was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia for allegedly leading the whole process of smuggling undocumented people into the US from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden (www.instagram.comwhitehouse)
“Abid Ali Khan allegedly organised and leads a widespread smuggling organisation that facilitates the illegal smuggling of individuals through various countries and to the US,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
The Treasury Department stated that “the organisation has facilitated the smuggling of foreign nationals using various routes through Latin America since at least 2015”.
“Khan and members of the organisation coordinate smuggling of foreign nationals to the US for an average of $20,000 per individual.
“The organisations frequently uses a travel route that begins in Pakistan or Afghanistan and transits through several South and Central American countries before arriving at the southern border of the US, often providing fraudulently obtained passports to clients,” Treasury it added.
The decision by the Treasury department comes in the wake of a sharp increase in apprehensions on the US-Mexico border, posing serious political challenges to the new administration.
As per the sanctions, all assets of Khan and his affiliates would be frozen, while Americans will be barred from dealing with them.
Pakistan is yet to respond to this announcement by Washington.
However, the Biden administration’s decision is tantamount to a different and more rigid and strict stance, Washington is taking when it comes to dealing with Pakistan and taking its relations forward.
Russian foreign minister and Pak counterpart(Twitter)
Lavrov landed in Pakistan on Tuesday for a two-day visit to discuss bilateral and regional matters…reports Asian Lite News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and agreed to strengthen bilateral ties and deepen cooperation.
Lavrov arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday for a two-day visit to discuss bilateral and regional matters, reports Xinhua news agency.
A statement from the Prime Minister Office said that during the meeting on Wednesday, Khan reiterated that “the importance Pakistan attaches to its relations with Russia as a key foreign policy priority” and expressed satisfaction at the steady growth in bilateral ties.
Enhanced bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, industrial modernization, railways and aviation was discussed, the statement said.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Islamabad’s resolve to expeditiously conclude the requisite legal process for the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline project and commence the work as early as possible.
Views were also exchanged on the health and economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, while Khan also congratulated Russia on its development of Sputnik-V vaccine and underscored Pakistan’s procurement plans in this regard, according to the statement.
In the regional context, Khan stressed the importance of a negotiated political settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan and appreciated Russia’s efforts in promoting the Afghan peace process.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov(Twitter)
Earlier in the day speaking at a joint press conference with Qureshi, Lavrov said that his country is ready to further build counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan through supply of military equipment.
“This serves in the interest of all states of the region,” Lavrov said, adding that both countries have agreed on conducting more joint military exercises.
The visiting Foreign Minister said the increase in bilateral trade is satisfactory and expressed readiness to “further strengthen economic relations”.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov(Twitter)
He showed concern over the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
“Russia and Pakistan have agreed to further facilitate the agreement among Afghan parties through inclusive political dialogue,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to build a strong multifaceted relationship with Russia.
“There is a new approach and mindset in Pakistan for a relationship with Russia. We feel that not just we have geographic proximity but Russia is a factor of stability in the region and the world at large,” he added.
Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan continues to shrink despite big claims by the PTP government. It’s trade with Afghanistan fell by 22 percent to reach $1.18 billion during 2019-2020. This is in contrast to the claims of reaching five billion over the next three years …. Writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
Helping Afghanistan prosper economically and supplying essentials to the landlocked Afghanistan was reiterated by Pakistan at the recent Heart of Asia Conference in Dushanbe. However, facts of its trade performance tell a different story of a shrinking trade.
Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan fell by 22 percent to reach $1.18 billion during 2019-2020. This is in contrast to the claims of reaching five billion over the next three years. Official sources in Islamabad as well as Kabul admit that the target is rather ambitious and does not take into account the ground reality, especially, of Pakistan’s own capacity to deliver. Notably, Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan declined 13.6 percent to $629.3 million from $728.3 million. A few years ago, Afghanistan was the second largest export destination after the US.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks at a press conference in Kuwait. (Xinhua/Asad/IANS)
Trade Ministry sources in Islamabad explain that low trade performance has much to do with the unsettled conditions on both sides of the border and the Covid-19 pandemic. But the fact is that Pakistan has for long lost the Afghan market to its rivals – China, India and some of the Central Asian countries. The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) explains that the loss of the Afghan market is because Iran, India and China offer value-added products, relatively attractive transit tariffs, and better consignment handling facilities. China, being the supplier of value-added goods is becoming the leading competitor and taking over the lion’s share in Afghan market. Similarly, Iran offers competitive rates, better consignment handling facilities and cost-effective transportation. In Pakistan, costs for all these facilities have increased substantially over the years.
Chief of Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi
Meanwhile, the data of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) indicates that Pakistan’s trade deficit with the other regional countries narrowed only slightly during the period as imports from these countries also decreased. That, again, points to low capacity and poor performance. A conflict-hit Afghanistan has, actually, performed better. Pakistan’s imports from Afghanistan have surged, especially of essential kitchen items like tomatoes, potatoes, onions and fresh and dried fruits, as per SBP data.
As for land-based trade, Afghan trade transit resumed after Pakistani authorities decided to open up Torkham border on a 24/7 basis. However, every time there is a skirmish along the border due to movement of militant that Pakistan is pursuing, the border post gets closed to trade. As bilateral relations suffer, goods lie stranded and get pilfered. Perishable goods like fruit and vegetables get destroyed.
Afghanistan is compelled to explore other trade routes. Chabahar has come to its aid. Behrouz Aqaei, the Director General of Ports and Maritime Department of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province explained that Chabahar is believed to be the best and economical transit route into Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.
India has stepped in to help Afghanistan by sending goods via Iran’s Chabahar, or Shahid Behesti, port. In mid-April 2020, a 75,000-metric-ton consignment of Indian wheat heading for Afghanistan arrived at Chabahar to be delivered to the destination country through land borders. According to Aqaei, the Indian government sent the mentioned cargo aiming to support its trade partner during the coronavirus pandemic. The consignment consisted of 203 20-metric-feet containers that had been shipped from Kandla Port in eastern India.
Afghanistan is also acknowledging the prospect of long term change in its trade with Pakistan. Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) say that Afghanistan’s economic dependency on Pakistan has decreased following the establishment of new alternative trade and transit routes with a number of countries.
The deputy head of the ACCI, Tawfiq Dawari, aid trade and transit volume between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been decreasing. “While we use Karachi port and have bilateral trade ties with Pakistan, our trade relations have been maintained with other countries as well and the reason is that we use other countries and international markets as well,” said Dawari.
