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In rare public appearance, head of Pakistan’s ISI slams ex-PM Khan for anti-army campaign

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Updated 28 October 2022
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In rare public appearance, head of Pakistan’s ISI slams ex-PM Khan for anti-army campaign

  • If the army chief is a traitor, why do you still meet him behind closed doors, Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum asks Imran Khan
  • Army spokesperson says slain journalist Arshad Sharif left Pakistan on instructions of CEO of TV channel he worked for
Updated 28 October 2022
Muhammad Ishtiaq

ISLAMABAD: The head of Pakistan’s powerful spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), on Thursday slammed former Prime Minister Imran Khan over his criticism of the military, appearing in a rare press conference to question the ex-premier’s motives behind anti-army remarks and portraying Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa as a “traitor” among his followers.

This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that the head of the ISI has addressed a media briefing. Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum was approved as ISI chief in October last year and has since never made any public appearances or comments.

The DG ISI is one of the most important and powerful posts in Pakistan, at the intersection of domestic politics, the war on militancy and Pakistan’s foreign relations.

In remarks to journalists, Anjum, who was dressed in civilian clothing, said he was aware that the media was “surprised by my presence,” but he could not remain silent while the military was being “targeted for no reason.”

The general was referring to criticism by Khan, his party and its supporters of the military’s role in politics.

Khan was ousted from the office of prime minister in April in a vote of no-confidence. Him and his supporters have since variously expressed disappointment that the military and its army chief did not support him against the ouster and instead helped bring the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to power.

The Pakistani military, which has a long history of intervening in national politics, had said before Khan’s removal, and since, that it would remain apolitical. The ex-PM and his followers have widely criticized this policy and on social media, where Khan has a massive following, hashtags calling the army chief a traitor and asking him to resign are a daily occurrence.

“If you [Khan] are convinced that the head of your army is a traitor, then why did you praise him so much just in the recent past?” Anjum said at the presser. “If he was really a traitor in your point of view, then why do you still meet him behind closed doors?”

“Don’t do this, that you meet us in the dark of night behind closed doors to express your constitutional and unconstitutional wishes and then in the light of day call the same person a traitor.”

The DG ISI said the army chief had received an offer in March for an “indefinite extension” in service. Khan was still in government then.

“Let me also inform you that in the month of March [2022], the army chief was offered an indefinite extension in his tenure, the offer was made in my presence,” he told reporters. “It was a very attractive offer but he [army chief] turned it down because he had made the decision to bring the institution out of its controversial era and into a constitutional role.”

“The offer was made because the no-confidence motion was at its peak,” the general added.

Talking about the decision to address the press conference, Anjum said he was there to “defend” the country’s institutions:

“I would often see that lies were being spread and the youth was accepting them ... Those sacrificing their lives [soldiers] should not have to face these lies. Hence, remaining silent was morally unacceptable for me now.”

The DG ISI said his agency had informed him about organized campaigns launched against him on social media in March.

“I told them to get in touch when the retweets exceed eight thousand million. Before that, I don’t care about myself.”

“ARSHAD SHARIF KILLING”

During the presser, military spokesperson, Lt General Babar Iftikhar, also addressed the issue of the killing of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya last Sunday, saying the anchorman left Pakistan on the instructions of the CEO of the TV channel he worked for and after a threat alert was issued by the provincial administration of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is in power.

Arshad Sharif was killed Sunday night when the car he was in sped up and drove through a checkpoint outside the Kenyan capital and police opened fire. Nairobi police expressed regret over the incident, saying it was a case of “mistaken identity” during a search for a car involved in a child abduction case.

A hugely popular talk show host, Sharif was of late a harsh critic of the current ruling coalition and the army, and fled the country in August, citing threats to his life. He was also widely considered a staunch supporter of ex-PM Khan and his PTI party. At the time he left Pakistan, he was facing a slew of court cases related to charges of sedition and others. He left Pakistan for the United Arab Emirates and had recently traveled to Kenya from the Emirates.

Sharif’s death has unleashed outrage among the public and media and widespread calls for a transparent investigation.

“On August 5, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] government issued a threat alert regarding the ARY anchor Arshad Sharif,” Iftikhar told journalists. “According to our information, the alert was issued on the special instructions of the KP chief minister and said an Afghanistan-based TTP [Pakistan Taliban] group had held a meeting in Spin Boldak and decided to target Arshad Sharif in Rawalpindi or its adjoining areas.”

The PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not share the information with the federal government or any security agencies or specify how it obtained the information that Sharif was going to be targeted, the army spokesperson said:

“The threat alert was issued with specific planning to convince Arshad Sharif to leave the country.”

Showing screenshots of conversations between ARY director news Ammad Yousaf and the channel’s CEO Salman Iqbal, the military spokesman said Sharif’s ticket to Dubai was officially booked by ARY and he left Pakistan from Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with the facilitation of government officials there. The ticket was booked by an ARY official on August 9 from a travel agency in Karachi and the return date on the ticket was September 9. Sharif left for Dubai from Peshawar on August 10 via an Emirates flight, Iftikhar said.

“No state institution tried in any way to stop Arshad Sharif from leaving, if the government wanted to do so, it could have done it,” he said, adding that the journalist traveled onwards to Kenya after his UAE visa expired.

“No one at the state level forced Arshad Sharif to leave Dubai. So who were the people who forced him to leave from there? … Who told him not to return to Pakistan and that his life was safer in a country like Kenya?”

“The name of the CEO of ARY, Salman Iqbal, is coming up again and again,” the military spokesperson said. “He should be brought back to Pakistan and made part of the investigation.”

Iqbal has been based in the UAE and US since at least July this year when his channel got embroiled in a scandal related to sedition charges over remarks aired on ARY that the media regulator said were tantamount to inciting mutiny within the army.

“Kenyan police accepted their mistake and it has to be examined whether this [Sharif’s killing] is a case of mistaken identity or one of targeted killing. There are several questions that have to be answered,” the military spokesman said, calling for a “transparent and fair probe” and requesting the government to form a high-level inquiry commission.

Topics: Pakistan Army dg ispr Arshad Sharif Imran Khan

Bears dominate Pakistan stocks as risk-averse investors wary of India standoff fallout

Updated 9 sec ago
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Bears dominate Pakistan stocks as risk-averse investors wary of India standoff fallout

  • Benchmark index surged to intraday high of 990 point but later succumbed to selling pressure, hitting an intraday low of 683 points
  • Moody’s on Monday warned that India-Pakistan standoff could set back Islamabad’s economic reforms as world powers called for calm
Updated 9 sec ago
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: Pakistan’s stocks lost more than 500 points on Tuesday after early morning gains as risk-averse investors remained wary of the country’s ongoing tensions with nuclear-armed neighbor India, analysts said. 

The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose as much as one percent or 900 points after trading kicked off at the bourse in the morning, following a surprise move by the central bank on Monday to slash the key policy rate by 100 basis points 11 percent to spur growth amid challenges posed by US trade tariffs and geopolitical tensions with archrival India.

However, as the day progressed, profit-taking emerged across key sectors, gradually eroding the morning gains. The index ultimately succumbed to selling pressure, hitting an intraday low of 683 points and closing the session at 113,568 level, down by 533 points or 0.47 percent.

“Index remained bullish in intraday trade following the State Bank of Pakistan’s 100 basis points policy rate cut [on Monday],” Najeeb Ahmed Khan Warsi, head of international trading at Foundation Securities Ltd., told Arab News in Karachi, adding that the rate cut had lifted investor sentiment and triggered buying across key sectors such as oil, cement, and energy. 

Market participants were optimistic about lower financing costs and improved earnings potential under a more accommodative monetary policy stance, Warsi added.

At 11 percent, the interest rate is at its lowest since December 2021, creating further room for the economy to expand amid easing inflation.

Shankar Talreja, director of research at brokerage firm Topline Securities Ltd., said the market was positive in the morning primarily on the back of reports that banks would release payments to settle energy sector debt, also called circular debt.

Energy scrips like Pakistan State Oil, Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd. and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. rallied more than two percent in daily trade “on the hope of payment disbursement from the banking sector to settle the Rs1.2 trillion circular debt,” said Muhammad Rizwan, director brokerage at Chase Securities Pakistan, in a note to clients.

Talreja said there was a solid ground for the central bank to cut borrowing costs. 

“However, the market was uncertain earlier on the timings just due to geopolitical tensions,” he said in a text message to Arab News.

But Tuesday’s early morning rally proved short-lived as investors started selling their shareholdings to book profits, dragging the benchmark index 0.5 percent to close at 113,568 points.

Cement stocks bore the brunt of profit-taking and dropped as much as three percent.

“Indo-Pak issues (are) clouding the gains actually,” Talreja said. 

“Despite an unexpected cut in the monetary policy statement, investors preferred to book gains in PSX as border tensions are still at a high level,” said Rizwan of Chase Securities.

Warsi said profit-taking, regional uncertainty with India and caution ahead of the new federal budget for FY26 were weighing on investor sentiment despite a supportive monetary stance.

Pakistan is expected to announce its budget for 2025-26 next month. 

On Monday, Moody’s said the standoff with India could hurt Pakistan’s $350 billion economy, which is on a path to recovery after securing a $7 billion bailout program from the International Monetary Fund last year and staving off a default threat.

“Sustained escalation in tensions with India would likely weigh on Pakistan’s growth and hamper the government’s ongoing fiscal consolidation, setting back Pakistan’s progress in achieving macroeconomic stability,” Moody’s said.

“A persistent increase in tensions could also impair Pakistan’s access to external financing and pressure its foreign-exchange reserves,” it added.

The report comes two days after Reuters reported that India has asked the IMF to review its loans to Pakistan.

India’s economy is not expected to see major disruptions since it has “minimal economic relations” with Pakistan — although higher defense spending could weigh on New Delhi’s fiscal strength and slow fiscal consolidation, Moody’s added.

Pakistan on Tuesday also accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan’s control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. 

The stoppage of water is likely to negatively impact Pakistan’s agriculture, which contributes more than 20 percent to gross domestic product.

Topics: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Pakistan Stock Market Pakistan India Ties

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to deepen anti-narcotics cooperation amid growing drug seizures

Updated 11 min 39 sec ago
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Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to deepen anti-narcotics cooperation amid growing drug seizures

  • Pakistan’s state minister for interior meets Saudi director general of narcotics control in the federal capital
  • He says Pakistan has a ‘zero-tolerance policy’ on narcotics while calling drug trafficking an international issue
Updated 11 min 39 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase bilateral cooperation on anti-narcotics efforts, according to an official statement on Tuesday, as Islamabad described the drug trade as a global problem requiring collaboration among friendly nations.
The issue came up for discussion during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Saudi Arabia’s Director General of Narcotics Control, Major General Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Qarni, who was accompanied by a high-level delegation.
Pakistan has faced a significantly intense drug problem, with Chaudhry saying the government seized narcotics worth $21 billion last year.
“Pakistan has a zero-tolerance policy on narcotics,” the interior ministry statement quoted him as saying during the meeting. “Drug trafficking is an international issue, and only through mutual cooperation between friendly countries can this menace be effectively addressed.”
The meeting was also attended by Saudi envoy to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki and senior Saudi military and narcotics officials.
The Pakistani minister pointed out that over 40 percent of the world’s drug production originates from neighboring Afghanistan.
He also praised his country’s Anti-Narcotics Force for effectively dealing with the challenge despite its limited resources.
Chaudhry linked recent crackdowns on undocumented migrants to broader concerns about drug trafficking and militancy.
Major General Al-Qarni described the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as exemplary and called for joint work to address the “scourge” of narcotics, according to the statement.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Chaudhry presented honorary shields to the Saudi delegation and conveyed his best wishes.

Topics: Pakistan Saudi Arabia ties

Pakistan envoy stresses continued engagement with Afghanistan to secure border with India

Updated 25 min 7 sec ago
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Pakistan envoy stresses continued engagement with Afghanistan to secure border with India

  • Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies in its western regions that border Afghanistan, while Islamabad’s tensions with Indian have also flared up recently
  • Analysts’ term simultaneous pressure on both eastern and western borders a ‘serious challenge’ for Pakistan, warning it could dilute Islamabad’s focus on militancy
Updated 25 min 7 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, said on Tuesday it was important for Islamabad to continue engagement with Afghanistan to better manage the country’s western border with India, amid friction between the neighbors over a surge in militancy in Pakistan.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence since the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), called off their months-long ceasefire with the government in late 2022. Islamabad has frequently accused that militant groups use Afghan soil to launch cross-border attacks in Pakistan, an allegation the Afghan Taliban deny, maintaining there are no militant groups operating in their territory.
Late last month, Pakistan’s army said it had killed over 70 militants who were attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan. The development came amid Pakistan’s tensions with another neighbor to the east, India, following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists on April 22. Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tatar has said that New Delhi blamed the attack on Islamabad to divert Pakistan’s security focus from its western border.
“The important thing [for Pakistan] to do, particularly with Afghanistan, is to continuously remain engaged with them, to act when it’s required and act in a required way,” Sadiq said, addressing a regional conference in Islamabad on ‘Pathways to Peace and Prosperity in Turbulent Times.’
“The sooner we act on something, the sooner we engage with Afghanistan and the government and people of Afghanistan, the sooner we will get results and whenever we delay, we actually get into trouble, more and more trouble.”
Pakistan’s focus should be prevention of smuggling and promotion of trade with Afghanistan, according to the envoy. The “one-document regime” should regulate travel between the two countries and not “hinder people-to-people contact.”
“Anybody who’s going to Afghanistan or coming from Afghanistan should take a passport and get a visa, so that we can have a proper record of entry and exits,” he added.
Pakistan implemented the one-document regime with Afghanistan on January 1, 2023, which requires Afghan nationals to present a valid passport and visa for entry into Pakistan, ending the previous practice of cross-border movement showing local identity documents. The regime aims to regulate travel, enhance border security, and maintain a proper record of entry and exit.
Speaking at the event, Faisal Karim Kundi, governor of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan, said Islamabad seeks peace not for political gains, but to unlock the true potential of the region.
“Pakistan always believes in dialogues, but dialogues are not our weakness as we are ready for any adventure from India,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s defense was in “safe hands” which was portrayed in the past as well.
Defense analysts and security expert term simultaneous pressure on both eastern and western borders a “serious strategic challenge” for Pakistan, warning it could dilute the country’s focus in its fight against militancy.
Besides a surge in militancy in the northwest, Pakistan is also facing an intensifying separatist insurgency in the southwestern Balochistan province, where separatist militants have mounted their attacks on security forces, police and foreign nationals in recent months.
Dr. Qamar Cheema, a defense analyst, said if India engaged Pakistan through “kinetic means,” it could undermine Pakistan’s ability to effectively combat militancy.
“Any direct attack on Pakistan at the eastern border will definitely challenge [Pakistan’s] capabilities because it will stretch the armed forces,” he told Arab News on the sidelines of the conference.
Muhammad Ali, a security expert, agreed with Cheema.
“It seems that India seeks to divert Pakistan’s attention, resources and force posture to provide relief to TTP and BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) in KP and Balochistan,” he said, adding that Islamabad was “well aware of the challenges” in simultaneously facing rising militancy and an escalation on the Pakistan-India border.
Cheema said Pakistan did not want to be stretched further, which was why it was telling the international community that the transnational militant threat was more important.
“I think this is where the West needs to jump in so that Pakistan’s efforts against the war against terrorism and militant organizations do not get compromised,” he added.

Topics: Pakistan Afghanistan Ties

Seven soldiers killed as separatists attack security vehicle in southwest Pakistan

Updated 42 min 39 sec ago
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Seven soldiers killed as separatists attack security vehicle in southwest Pakistan

  • Pakistan army says IED attack launched in Kachhi District by BLA separatist group, accuses it of being an Indian “proxy”
  • BLA carried out train hijacking in March in which 23 soldiers, three railway employees, five passengers were killed
Updated 42 min 39 sec ago
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: The Pakistan army said on Tuesday seven soldiers were killed after militants attacked a security vehicle in the southwestern Balochistan province, where the military is fighting an intensifying separatist insurgency. 

The army said the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has targeted the vehicle with an improvised explosive device in Mach in Kachhi District.

“Resultantly, seven brave sons of soil embraced shahadat [martyrdom],” a statement from the army said.

The military accused the BLA, the strongest of a number of insurgent groups long operating in Balochistan, of being a proxy of India. 

“Nefarious designs of India and its proxies operating on Pakistani soil will be defeated by the valiant security forces, law enforcement agencies and the brave nation of Pakistan,” the military statement said. 

The latest attack is the worst since March when the BLA carried out a train hijacking that resulted in the deaths of 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers. At least 33 insurgents were also killed.

In what was previously a low-level insurgency, the militants have in recent months stepped up their activities using new tactics to inflict high death and injury tolls and target Pakistan’s military. It has also targeted Chinese interests.

The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, a province located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering Afghanistan to the north and Iran to the west.

It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the federal government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources. Balochistan’s mountainous border region serves as a safe haven and training ground for the Baloch and other insurgents.

The BLA often targets infrastructure and security forces in Balochistan, but has also truck in other areas — most notably the southern port city of Karachi. 

The insurgents target Pakistan’s army and Chinese interests, in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad to exploit the province.

Militants have killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.

Balochistan is an important part of China’s $65 billion investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a wing of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative. It is home to key mining projects, including Reko Diq, run by mining giant Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), and believed to be one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. China also operates a gold and copper mine in the province.

The decades-old insurgency has continued to keep the province of some 15 million people unstable and created security concerns around Pakistan’s plans to access untapped resources.

It is Pakistan’s largest province by area, but smallest by population. Balochistan also has a long Arabian Sea coastline, not far from the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane.

Islamabad accuses India and Afghanistan of backing the militants to damage Pakistan’s relations with China, a charge both countries deny.
With inputs from Reuters

Topics: militancy in Pakistan Balochistan Attacks Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA)

Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow as tensions rise

Updated 06 May 2025
AFP
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Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow as tensions rise

  • Punjab irrigation minister says Pakistan has ‘witnessed changes in the river which are not natural’
  • India recently lowered the sluice gates of the Baglihar dam to restrict water as a ‘punitive action’
Updated 06 May 2025
AFP

LAHORE: Pakistan on Tuesday accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan’s control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty.
This major river originates in India but was allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, signed by the two nuclear powers.
India suspended the treaty following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people.
Islamabad warned that tampering with its rivers would be considered “an act of war.”
“We have witnessed changes in the river (Chenab) which are not natural at all,” Kazim Pirzada, irrigation minister for Punjab province, told AFP.
Punjab, bordering India and home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 240 million citizens, is the country’s agricultural heartland, and “the majority impact will be felt in areas which have fewer alternate water routes,” Pirzada warned.
“One day the river had normal inflow and the next day it was greatly reduced,” Pirzada added.
In Azad Kashmir, large quantities of water from India were reportedly released on April 26, according to the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former Pakistani climate change minister.
“This is being done so that we don’t get to utilize the water,” Pirzada added.
The gates of the sluice spillways on the Baglihar dam in Indian-administered Kashmir which lies upstream of Pakistani Punjab “have been lowered to restrict water flow ... as a short-term punitive action,” a senior Indian official has told The Indian Express.
The Indus Waters Treaty permits India to use shared rivers for dams or irrigation but prohibits diverting watercourses or altering downstream volumes.
Indian authorities have not commented yet but Kushvinder Vohra, former head of India’s Central Water Commission, told The Times of India: “Since the treaty is on pause ... we may do flushing on any project without any obligation.”
Experts said the water cannot be stopped in the longer term, and that India can only regulate timings of when it releases flows.
However, the Jinnah Institute warned: “Even small changes in the timing of water releases can disrupt sowing calendars (and) reduce crop yields.”

Topics: Chenab India Pakistan Ties

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