India’s government detained at least 75 Kashmiri political leaders and activists to forestall political unrest after an alliance of Kashmir’s regional political parties won a local election, leaders and a police official said on Saturday.
The District Council election, concluded early this week, was the first such exercise since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last year revoked the special status of the Muslim-majority, Indian-administered region. New Delhi then cracked down on the opposition and rounded up hundreds of people to preempt protests and violence.
The new detentions, including separatist leaders and members of the banned Jamat-e-Islami group, were for preventive custody, said a senior police official, who asked not to be identified in line with official policy.
India and Pakistan have claimed all of the Kashmir region since the partition of British-ruled India into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu-majority India in 1947. Two of the three wars they have fought have been over the Himalayan region.
The detentions undermine the verdict of the people, said Imran Nabi Dar, spokesman for the National Conference, a regional party and a key member of the alliance.
The alliance’s victory shows that Kashmiris have not accepted Modi’s decision to end Kashmir’s special status, said Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister and head of the National Conference.
After their release from lengthy detention, Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party, announced the alliance in October to seek a peaceful restoration of Kashmir’s autonomy.
India detains 75 in Kashmir after local election
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India detains 75 in Kashmir after local election
- The district council election was first such exercise since New Delhi revoked the special status of the Indian-administered region last year
- New detentions include separatist leaders and members of Jamat-e-Islami group
Pakistani top minister hints at increasing defense budget weeks after military standoff with India
- Budgeted defense expenditure stood at Rs2,122 billion for FY25 while actual expenditure till March 2025 was Rs1,424 billion
- Pakistan’s historically large defense budget is attributed to a complex interplay of factors, including perceived threat from India
KARACHI: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal hinted this week there could be an increase in Pakistan’s defense allocation in the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, due to be announced next month, weeks after a military standoff with India that alarmed the world.
Pakistan and India attacked each other with missiles, drones and artillery earlier this month after tensions surged over an attack in April on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad has denied the charge.
“We want to try and put the least burden on the common man but right now I believe it is our national duty that in this budget we give our armed forces the resources they need to strengthen our defense capabilities so that our defense can be safe even in the future,” Iqbal said in remarks to reporters when asked about reports of an increase in the defense allocation for the new fiscal year.
The conflict with New Delhi escalated on May 7 after India first hit Pakistan and Azad Kashmir with missiles, and Pakistan retaliated, saying it had downed six Indian fighter jets.
Fighting between the two nations continuing for four days, with missile and drone strikes on each other’s military facilities and airfields as well as increased gunfire exchanges on the de facto LoC border. A ceasefire was reached on May 10.
“This has been established that our neighbor is a dangerous enemy, who once again attempted to attack us in the dark of night, but we punished them by fully responding to this offense and it [India] will definitely think a hundred times before committing such an aggression next time,” Iqbal added.
“However, our duty is to stay alert and prepared all the time so that if someone commits such a mistake in future, then it could be responded to more effectively.”
Two days after the ceasefire, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan New Delhi would target “terrorist hideouts” across the border again if there were new attacks on India and would not be deterred by what he called Islamabad’s “nuclear blackmail.”
“In the coming days, we will measure every step of Pakistan... what kind of attitude Pakistan will adopt,” Modi said, adding that India had only “paused” strikes.
In a report published on Saturday, Tola Associates, a major tax advisory and consultancy firm, proposed raising the defense budget to Rs2.8 trillion, a 32 percent increase compared to the last fiscal year, owing to a “war-like situation” with India.
“The budgeted defense expenditure stood at Rs2,122 billion for FY25 while the actual expenditure till March 2025 was Rs1,424 billion. [However], due to the ongoing war situation with the neighboring country, defense spending may increase by up to 50 percent in the Q4FY25,” the report said.
“Given the current regional tensions and the need to ensure Pakistan’s defense preparedness, we estimate total defense spending to reach Rs2.4 trillion by June 2025.”
Pakistan’s historically large defense budget is attributed to a complex interplay of factors, primarily driven by regional security concerns and internal challenges. These include the perceived security threat from India as well as internal instability and security threats like terrorism. Additionally, debt servicing and the allocation of resources toward military interests have also played a role in shaping the budget.
Moroccan, Egyptian stalls shine at Islamabad food fundraiser featuring 80 diplomatic missions
- Islamabad Foreign Women’s Association in collaboration with Serana Hotels holds international food festival for third consecutive year
- IFWA is a non-political, non-profit organization established in 1995 by the wives of ambassadors posted in the Pakistani federal capital
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Foreign Women’s Association (IFWA) organized a food festival in the Pakistani capital on Sunday featuring cuisines from at least 28 countries and raising over Rs.2.5 million ($8,929) to support education and health care initiatives for poor Pakistani women and children.
The festival, organized for the third consecutive year, was a joint project of IFWA and Serena Hotels, with 80 diplomatic missions participating. IFWA is a non-political, non-profit organization established in 1995 by the wives of ambassadors posted in Islamabad, with the aim of supporting underprivileged and disadvantaged Pakistani women and children.
Dianne Hawkins, IFWA president and the wife of the Australian High Commissioner, told Arab News around Rs2.5 million had been raised at Sunday’s event.
“It is our major fundraising event of the year to support the charities that IFWA supports here [in Pakistan], which are mostly focused on benefiting vulnerable communities of Pakistani society, especially women and children,” Hawkins said, adding that most of the charities IFWA supported were in the education and health sectors.
Aziz Bolani, the CEO Serena Hotels, said that along with supporting underprivileged communities, the event also helped promote international cuisines and cultures through food stalls that represented countries from all around the world.
“There are real needs in Pakistan, and this is a form of diplomacy, a soft approach that brings people together,” he told Arab News.
Among the most popular stalls were those set up by the embassies of Morocco and Egypt.
“Today, we are serving Moroccan chicken, Moroccan salads, and one of the main traditional dishes of Morocco, that is typically served every Friday, couscous with vegetables,” Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Karmoune told Arab News.
Homemade Moroccan breads and sweets as well as traditional tea was also available.
Georg Steiner, the ambassador of Switzerland to Pakistan, said he hoped the festival would introduce more Pakistanis to Swiss food.
“We brought along some Swiss food like Rösti [potato dish], Zürich style veal, and also some excellent cakes,” he told Arab News.
He said he had tasted food at many stalls and his favorites were those serving Vietnamese, Czech, and Pakistani dishes.
“I think Pakistani food is always wonderful, be it biryani or something else,” the Swiss envoy added.
Pakistani PM to meet Erdogan today in first leg of regional diplomacy tour
- Sharif will visit Iran, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkiye on five-day visit
- All four nations supported Pakistan in recent military standoff with India
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday started a five-day regional diplomacy tour with a trip to Turkiye where he will hold talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Erdogan’s office said.
Sharif will go onwards from Turkiye to Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, four nations that openly supported Pakistan in a military standoff with India earlier this month when the two nuclear-armed neighbors traded missile, drone and artillery strikes for days, killing around 70 people on both sides. A ceasefire was reached on May 10.
The conflict, the worst between the neighbors in decades, was triggered by a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denies involvement.
“During the meeting, bilateral relations, regional and international issues, including the fight against terrorism, will be discussed,” Erdogan’s head of communications, Fahrettin Altun, said on X.
The PM’s office in Islamabad released footage of Sharif departing on the tour and said he would hold wide-ranging discussions with the leaders of Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan on “an entire range of issues covering bilateral relations and matters of regional and international importance.”
“He will thank friendly countries for the support they have given to Pakistan during the recent crisis with India,” the PMO statement added.
Erdogan spoke by phone with Sharif on May 7 to convey his solidarity after India first hit Pakistan and Azad Kashmir with missiles. Leaders from the two nations had several contacts subsequently and Turkiye publicly took Islamabad’s side. It is widely believed that Turkiye played an important role, besides the US, UAE and Saudi Arabia, in convincing India and Pakistan to back off and agree to a ceasefire. The two nations have historically strong ties.
Bitter rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety but rule it in part. They both acquired nuclear weapons in 1998.
At least 14 killed in Pakistan storms after heatwave
- A clip filmed inside a plane about to land in Lahore showed passengers screaming as the aircraft was tossed about by turbulence
- Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, is grappling with increasingly frequent extreme weather events
LAHORE: “Destructive” windstorms that raged across central and northern Pakistan after an intense heatwave have killed at least 14 people and injured over 100 more, officials said Sunday.
Fierce winds, thunder and lightning swept across eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces as well as the capital Islamabad on Saturday afternoon and evening, uprooting trees and downing electric poles.
While the majority of the deaths were caused by collapsing walls and roofs, at least two people died after being hit by solar panels dislodged by the whipping gusts.
One man was killed and three others were injured by lightning strikes.
Mazhar Hussain, a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial disaster management authority, told AFP that such windstorms develop because of excessive heat, which reached above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days.
“There were three to four days in the recent heatwave where temperatures went up quite a lot,” he said, announcing 14 deaths in Punjab and 100 injured.
“This windstorm was particularly destructive. The wind speed was very high. There was so much dust in it that visibility was greatly reduced.”
The Pakistan Meteorological Department predicted more storms on Sunday.
Social media was replete on Saturday evening with videos of the damage the windstorms had unleashed.
A clip filmed inside a plane about to land in Punjab’s city of Lahore showed passengers screaming in terror as the aircraft was tossed about by turbulence.
The plane was later diverted to Karachi.
Other videos show cars crushed by falling trees and roads blocked by debris.
Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, is grappling with increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
Islamabad experienced several usually rare hail storms throughout April and May that damaged vehicles, smashed window panes and shattered solar panels.
Soaring temperatures in April and May are becoming more common in Pakistan, which usually sees summer begin in early June.
Temperatures reached near-record levels in April, as high as 46.5C (115.7F) in parts of Punjab.
Schools in Punjab and Balochistan have announced early summer vacations because of the heat.
First batch of Bangladeshi players arrives in Pakistan to play three-match T20 series
- The series will be held in Lahore, with the first T20 scheduled for May 28
- Both squads will train at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Monday, the PCB says
ISLAMABAD: A group of Bangladeshi players arrived in Pakistan on Sunday to play three Twenty20 internationals (T20Is) against the ‘Men in Green,’ the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.
The three-match T20I series between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be held in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, with the first match scheduled for May 28.
The first group of Bangladesh contingent arrived in Pakistan in wee hours of Sunday and two more groups will arrive on Monday, according to the PCB.
Members of Pakistan’s squad will assemble in Lahore on Sunday, while players participating in Sunday’s final of the Pakistan Super League will join on Monday.
“Both teams will train at 7:30pm at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore,” the PCB said in a statement.
Bangladesh were initially scheduled to play five T20Is, but the tour was put in jeopardy following a cross-border conflict between Pakistan and India this month.
Both neighbors clashed for four days before agreeing to a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement on May 10.
Pakistan was also forced to reschedule its Twenty20 league — the Pakistan Super League (PSL) — after a ten-day break.
The Indian Premier League — the world’s richest cricket tournament — was also interrupted.
