ISLAMABAD: Dr. Moeed Yusuf, special assistant to the Pakistani prime minister on national security and strategic policy planning, has said his government had received messages from the administration in New Delhi to open talks between the two states.
Ties between arch-rivals Pakistan and India have been particularly tense since August last year when India revoked the special autonomy of the disputed Kashmir region it governs.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been the site of decades of hostility between nuclear arch-rivals India and Pakistan. Both countries claim it in full but rule it in part.
“In the past year, we have got the messages about a desire for conversation,” Yusuf said in an interview to Indian journalist, Karan Thapar, which was aired on Tuesday. “But you know why there is desire for conversation in my reading? So that there is a dialogue which India can take to the world and say, ‘Oh, everything is settled. Pakistan and India have agreed’ … We want real dialogue and have laid down certain conditions.”
Yusuf outlined pre-conditions necessary for any dialogue with India, including that New Delhi release all political prisoners in Kashmir, lift “military siege” in the area, reverse a contentious domicile bill and stop all human rights violations against Kashmiris.
He also insisted that the people of Kashmir must be a third party in any negotiations between the two South Asian nuclear-armed countries, a condition that is unacceptable to India.
Yusuf said even pro-India Kashmiri politicians had now publicly admitted that no one in Indian-controlled Kashmir was willing to live under Indian rule any longer.
In what is the first interview to the Indian media by any Pakistani official since August 2019, Yusuf also alleged that New Delhi had used one million dollars from funds at its high commission in Islamabad to help the Pakistani Taliban merge with splinter groups in 2019.
In August this year, the Pakistani Taliban announced they had brought a number of splinter groups back into their fold. The group, fighting to overthrow the government and install its own brand of Shariah, is an umbrella of militant groups called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has broken into many divisions.
The TTP, designated a terrorist group by the United States, remained in disarray in recent years, especially after several of its top leaders were killed by US drone strikes on both sides of the border, forcing its members into shelter in Afghanistan, or fleeing to urban Pakistan.
“In 2019, the Indian embassy’s funds were used, amounting to USD one million, to effect the merger of the TTP,” said Pakistan’s de facto national security chief. “The Pakistani Taliban, the TTP, have just merged with four other organizations. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Harkat-ul-Ansar and a couple of others,” he said, naming a few of the splinter groups.
“Congratulations to the R&AW [Indian intelligence agency]; they have succeeded in creating an organization to kill Pakistanis,” Yusuf added.
India has long denied it backs militants who attack Pakistan, and accuses Pakistan of backing militants that infiltrate and foment violence in the part of the disputed Kashmir valley India controls. Pakistan denies the charge.
“Please stop perpetrating terror against Pakistan,” he said during the interview. “It doesn't help anybody. My message is peace.”
Speaking about reports that 1.5 million Muslim Uighurs were being kept in reeducation camps in China, a longtime Pakistan ally, Yusuf said: “We are 100 percent satisfied it is a non-issue. The West can say what it wants; I can say to you as a responsible official that we know everything about Uighurs and it is a non-issue.”
China has faced growing international opprobrium for what it says are vocational training centers in Xinjiang, a vast region bordering central Asia that is home to millions of ethnic minority Muslims. Beijing has said the measures are needed to stem the threat of terrorism.
Pakistan has come under fire in recent years for accusing India of human rights abuses in Kashmir but not speaking up for the rights of Muslims in China.
Yusuf also maintained that Pakistan wanted to pursue economic security and connectivity for the prosperity of Pakistan and the region, but policy makers in New Delhi were moving in the 'opposite direction.'
Pakistan wants 'real dialogue' with conditions, national security advisor tells India
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Pakistan wants 'real dialogue' with conditions, national security advisor tells India
- Dr Moeed Yusuf alleges India used one million dollars to help Pakistani Taliban reunite with splinter groups
- Calls reports about millions of Muslim Uighurs being kept in internment camps in China a 'non-issue'
Pakistan court reserves verdict on plea by Imran Khan’s wife to be moved out of house arrest
- Bushra Bibi has requested court to shift her from Bani Gala home to Adiala Jail where Khan is also imprisoned
- Bushra has been handed two sentences, 14 years in graft case and 7 years for violating Pakistan's marriage law
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by ex-premier Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi seeking her transfer form her Banigala residence, declared a sub-jail, to Adiala Jail, where her husband is incarcerated.
Bushra has been living under house arrest at her husband's sprawling Bani Gala mansion in Islamabad since Jan. 31 when both were sentenced to 14 years in prison in a case that relates to accusations they undervalued gifts from a state repository and gained profits from selling them while Khan was prime minister from 2018-22. Khan is jailed at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail.
In February, Khan and his wife were also sentenced to seven years on charges they violated the country's marriage law when they wed in 2018 - the fourth sentence for Khan and the second for his wife.
During Thursday’s hearing, Bushra’s lawyer Usman Gill said after her sentencing in the state repository case by the trial court, his client went to Adiala Jail as per the trial court order’s which was also forwarded to the jail superintendent. But on the orders of the interior ministry, the chief commissioner issued an “illegal notification for transfer,” the lawyer argued.
“There was no instruction from the authorities concerned regarding the transfer from Adiala Jail to Banigala,” he said.
“Neither the provincial government nor did the Punjab prisons inspector general issue any such directive [for transfer] … The place of imprisonment was to be determined by the trial court and not the chief commissioner.”
The state’s counsel argued that Bushra was moved to Bani Gala because of security threats.
“Were the 141 women who were brought to Adiala after Bushra less privileged?” the judge hearing the case asked, saying they too should be imprisoned at their houses then.
“Sometimes you say that [you] cannot present her [Bushra] in the court as there are threats and at times, you say that the jail is not secure. Are you secure?” the judge quipped. “If I am confined in my home by my own will, I would be very happy but how can a prisoner’s property be turned into a sub-jail against his will?”
The IHC subsequently reserved its verdict on the petition.
In a separate petition to the court filed last month, Bushar, a deeply religious woman widely believed to be Khan’s spiritual guide, alleged she was being poisoned through contaminated food and subjected to “mental and physical torture which is becoming a serious threat to her health and life.” She also alleged that her room and bathroom had been bugged and multiple hidden cameras installed in a “blatant violation of her privacy, dignity and honor.”
The petition said Bushra was only given ten minutes for meetings with family members and lawyers, with five jail staff supervising at all times.
Khan was first jailed after being handed a three-year prison sentence in August 2023 by the Election Commission for not declaring assets earned from selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession and received during his premiership. In January, Khan and Bushra were handed 14-year jail terms following a separate investigation by the country’s top anti-graft body into the same charges involving state gifts.
An anti-graft court in Islamabad also handed Khan a 10-year jail term in January for revealing state secrets, a week before national elections on Feb. 8. The ruling on his marriage to Bushra and a seven-year sentence each for both also came ahead of the polls.
Khan has also been indicted under Pakistan's anti-terrorism law in connection with violence against the military that erupted following his brief arrest related to the Al-Qadir case on May 9. A section of Pakistan's 1997 anti-terrorism act prescribes the death penalty as maximum punishment. Khan has denied the charges under the anti-terrorism law, saying he was in detention when the violence took place.
Khan’s convictions, which mean he is banned from holding public office, ruled the 71-year-old out of general elections held earlier this year. Arguably Pakistan's most popular politician, Khan says all cases against him are motivated to keep him out of politics.
Pakistan PM’s recent Saudi visit ‘most successful in decades’ — information minister
- Shehbaz Sharif was in Saudi Arabia from April 27-30 where he met crown prince, several top Saudi ministers
- “High-powered” delegation of Saudi businessmen due in Pakistan in “few days” to discuss private sector investments
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia was the most successful tour to the Kingdom in decades by a Pakistani leader, with the premier holding at least twelve meetings, including with the crown prince.
Sharif was in Riyadh from Apr. 27-30 to attend a special two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum on global collaboration, growth and energy. On the sidelines of the WEF conference, Sharif met and discussed bilateral investment and economic partnerships with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and various top officials from the Kingdom.
This was Sharif’s second meeting with the crown prince in a month. Before that he also met him when he last traveled to the Kindom on April 6-8.
“Such a successful tour of Saudi Arabia has not been seen in decades,” Tarar told a press briefing on Friday, speaking about Sharif’s recent trip to Riyadh for the WEF special meeting. “With Saudi ministers, the process of meetings went on for two days.”
Among those Sharif met were the Saudi ministers of finance, industries, investment, energy, climate and economy and planning, the adviser of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council and the presidents of the Saudi central bank and Islamic Development Bank.
“PM had twelve meetings in two days which has not happened in history,” Tarar said. “And in the meetings every minister came and told us that it was the order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that they had to do efforts for Pakistan and cooperate with Pakistan and we have come to tell you we will do whatever we can for investments in Pakistan.”
Tarar said a “high-powered” delegation of Saudi business people and heads of major Saudi companies would be in Islamabad in the “next few days.”
“Delegation is coming to islamabad and we have planned a big program for investment in the private sector,” the information minister added.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals in recent weeks, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.
Cash-strapped Pakistan desperately needs to shore up its foreign reserves and signal to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it can continue to meet requirements for foreign financing which has been a key demand in previous bailout packages.
Saudi Arabia has often come to Pakistan’s aid in the past, regularly providing it oil on deferred payments and offering direct financial support to help stabilize its economy and shore up forex reserves.
PIA operations to Dubai, Sharjah ‘severely affected’ due to UAE rains
- Extreme weather in UAE expected to continue until Friday, authorities have issued safety advisories for residents
- Latest rains come two weeks after Dubai was hit by unprecedented storms that paralyzed the emirate for days
KARACHI: Pakistan’s national carrier PIA said on Thursday its operations to Dubai and Sharjah had been “severely affected” by a latest spell of heavy rains in the UAE and would remain suspended until further notice.
UAE residents woke up to heavy rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Thursday morning, as predicted by the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology (NCM) on Wednesday, May 1. The extreme weather is expected to continue until Friday, May 3, and authorities have issued safety adviseries for residents.
The latest rains come two weeks after Dubai was hit by unprecedented storms that paralyzed the emirate for days.
“Air operations to Dubai and Sharjah are severely affected due to heavy rains in UAE,” PIA said in a statement. “Air operations of other airlines including PIA will remain suspended for the time being.”
The airline said passengers of affected flights should contact PIA call center 786 786 111 for their flight information and alternative arrangements.
Last month, Dubai had to endure the towering task of clearing its water clogged roads and drying out flooded homes after a record storm saw a year’s rainfall in a day. Dubai International Airport, a major travel hub, also struggled for days to clear a backlog of flights and many roads were still flooded in the aftermath of the deluge.
The rains were the heaviest experienced by the United Arab Emirates in the 75 years that records have been kept. They brought much of the country to a standstill and caused significant damage, flooding trapped residents in traffic, offices and homes and overrunning malls and roads.
In scenic Abbottabad, an old church tells a tale of religious unity, colonial heritage
- St. Luke’s Church was built in 1864 on land donated by Queen Victoria, empress of India
- Can seat up to 150 worshippers, expanding into outdoor area to host larger crowds
ABBOTTABAD: Located in Abbottabad, a picturesque city set against the mountainous terrain of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the 160-year-old St. Luke’s Church has a tale to tell of religious unity and the region’s colonial history.
Built in 1864 during British rule, the Anglican-Protestant church was established to serve British officials serving in the Indian subcontinent. Construction of St. Luke’s commenced in 1854-55, with initial delays due to slow fund-raising and then a brief interruption due to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It was completed and then consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1864.
Despite disruptions during the partition of British India in 1947 and the birth of Pakistan, the church has continued to host mass and retained many of its original architectural elements.
“During its construction, the church’s exterior was built with stones that were cut and laid by hand,” Rev. Rafiq Javed, a priest at the church appointed by the Diocese of Peshawar, told Arab News this week, explaining the history of St. Luke’s Church.
“The inner part [of the church] is built using mud, lentils, jute, sawdust, and paste made of eggs. The eggs were provided by the local people.”
St. Luke’s Church retains many elements from the time of its construction, such as stained-glass windows and old locks and their gigantic keys. A pipe organ stands in the church foyer.
Javed said the musical instrument had become unusable due to water damage some 50 years ago but its sound was once well known across the Abbottabad valley.
The church walls display plaques dating back to 1865 and serving as a memory of fallen British soldiers. One also comes across a metallic device permanently fixed on one of the stairs at the church’s entrance that was used by British troops to remove mud from their shoes before going to the main hall for worship.
The local Christian community says the church property was donated by Queen Victoria, empress of India, and one of its gates was named after her. The church property comprises the vicar’s home as well as staff quarters for caretakers of the building.
The church seats up to 150 worshippers, expanding into the outdoor area to accommodate larger crowds during special occasions such as Christmas and Easter.
Christianity, the third largest religion in Muslim-majority Pakistan, is followed by 1.27 percent of the population, according to the 2017 Census. The community has roughly equal proportions of Catholics and Protestants, with a small number of Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians as well. There are around 4,000 Christians in Abbottabad, according to local estimates.
Javed the priest said the building of the church was a community effort:
“At the time, the people who lived here included Hindus and our Muslim brothers as well and they also lent a hand in building this church. The eggs [to make paste] were provided by the local Hindu and Muslim communities.”
Google to establish fifty AI-equipped smart schools in Pakistani capital
- Smart schools incorporate technology and innovation in teaching and learning processes to improve quality of education
- Smart schools in Islamabad will be equipped with 30,000 Google for Education IDs with AI features and digital tools
ISLAMABAD: US tech giant Google is all set to establish 50 smart schools in Pakistan’s federal capital offering AI features and a suite of digital tools for “enhanced collaboration and productivity,” Pakistani state media reported this week.
A smart school incorporates technology and innovation in its teaching and learning processes to improve the quality of education. Smart schools use various technologies such as interactive whiteboards, online learning platforms, artificial intelligence and virtual reality to enhance the learning experience of students.
Experts say smart schools lead to improved student engagement and motivation, personalized learning, access to a wider range of resources, and enhanced communication between teachers, students, and parents. Smart schools also promote collaborative learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among students.
A Google for Education team and its local partner Tech Valley met this week with the Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to present its proposals for Pakistan’s education sector, including setting up smart schools.
“50 Smart schools in Islamabad will be equipped with 30,000 Google for Education IDs which includes features, powered by AI, like practice sets and a suite of digital tools for enhanced collaboration and productivity,” the APP wire agency reported.
“Discussions extended to several upcoming initiatives, including teacher workshops on Google for Education tools, the establishment of a public Google Reference School, the training of 2,000 youths in job-ready skills through Google Career Certificates, and the potential collaboration on hosting an Edutech event with the Ministry of Federal Education in Pakistan.”
According to the “Global Education 2020” report issued by UNESCO, there has been a significant increase in the use of technology in education worldwide. The report indicated that 90 percent of the world’s countries have launched initiatives to integrate technology into education, and 80 percent of students in advanced countries use technology in education.
As per a report by “Holistics,” a business intelligence and data analytics platform, Smart School technology has also been adopted by many countries in Asia, including Singapore, China, and South Korea, and has proven to be effective in improving the quality of education and learning outcomes.
The size of the Smart School market is expected to reach $73.8 billion by 2025 compared to a market size of $43.6 billion in 2018, marketing research company “Markets and Markets” said in a recent report.
