Page 56 - Pakistan

Lessons from Kargil: 25 years on

The war demonstrated India's ability to effectively conduct tri-service operations, even in the absence of a formal tri-service doctrine

Pak PM raises terrorism concern, urges global engagement with Taliban

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday raised the issue of terrorism as a major concern for member states at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and called for meaningful engagement with the Afghan Taliban government. Shahbaz, who arrived in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, represented Pakistan at the SCO meeting where leaders and diplomats from countries including China, India, Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan have gathered to discuss economic and security cooperation. The prime minister, during his address, emphasised the importance of maintaining peace in the region as a precondition for economic development, Dawn News reported. Achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan is a lynchpin to this common objective, he said, adding that the international community "meaningfully engage with the Afghan government to meet their genuine economic and development needs. Sharif also said the Afghan Taliban must also take concrete measures to

BSF troops shoot dead Pakistani intruder near border outpost in Abohar

BSF troops shot dead a Pakistani intruder near border outpost Sadqi in Abohar sector, officials said on Tuesday. On observing suspicious movement during the intervening night on July 1-2, the BSF guard on duty warned the intruder. However, the intruder continued to move forward towards the border fencing after which the troops fired three rounds, they said. Later during a search operation, the body of the deceased intruder was found by BSF troops. The identity of the deceased youth, stated to be around 25 years old, could not be ascertained immediately. BSF troops recovered a pouch from his pocket in which few cigarettes, lighter and an earphone was found. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Fazilka, Subegh Singh Tuesday said police has taken the custody of the body which will be sent for postmortem.

Pakistan hands over list of missing defence officials from 1965, 1971 wars

Pakistan on Monday handed over to India a list of defence personnel who went missing in the wars of 1965 and 1971 while exchanging the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other's custody, the Foreign Office said. India and Pakistan exchanged the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other's custody through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, it said. A list of 38 missing Pakistani defence personnel, believed to be in India's custody since the wars of 1965 and 1971, was also handed over by Pakistan, the Foreign Office said in a statement. Pakistan has handed over a list of 254 Indians or believed-to-be-Indian civilian prisoners and fishermen in Pakistani jails, while India shared a list of 452 Pakistani or believed-to-be-Pakistani civilian prisoners and fishermen in Indian jails, it said. Under the provisions of the bilateral Agreement on Consular Access 2008, such lists are exchanged every year on January 1 and July 1. The Forei

India, Pakistan exchange lists of civilian prisoners, fishermen: MEA

India and Pakistan on Monday exchanged the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other's custody, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said and added that 2,639 Indian fishermen and 71 civilian prisoners have been repatriated from Pakistan since 2014 as a result of New Delhi's sustained efforts. Under the provisions of the bilateral Agreement on Consular Access 2008, such lists are exchanged every year on January 1 and July 1, the MEA said in a statement. "India and Pakistan today exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other's custody," it said. India has shared the names of 366 civilian prisoners and 86 fishermen in its custody who are Pakistani or are believed-to-be-Pakistani. Similarly, Pakistan has shared the names of 43 civilian prisoners and 211 fishermen in its custody who are Indian or are believed-to-be-Indian, the MEA added. The government of India has called fo

Pak's defence minister slams Afghanistan for not taking action on militants

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has slammed the Afghan Taliban-led government in Kabul for not taking action against militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, despite repeated requests made by Islamabad. Asif made the comments in an interview with BBC Urdu on Saturday in which he also said that Pakistan even offered to grant Rs10 billion to shift the militants towards the western border. "Pakistan hoped for cooperation from the Afghan government, however, the latter was not ready to take action against the militants, Asif was quoted as saying by the Geo News. Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan interim government to prevent its soil from being used against it by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups a claim denied by Kabul. Asif said that the government even offered to give Rs10 billion to transfer the militants to the western border areas, but it feared the militants could return to the Pakistan border from there as well. In an

Exchange of fire reported along LoC in Kashmir's Poonch; no casualty

A brief exchange of fire was reported along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, official sources said on Saturday. The firing from across the border was reported on a forward Indian post in Krishna Ghati sector late Friday night, prompting retaliation by the army troops guarding the LoC, the sources said. They said there was no casualty in the firing, which lasted for a brief period. The vigil was intensified to ensure that there is no infiltration by terrorists into this side, the sources said, adding a search of the area is underway.

Heatwave crisis in Pakistan: Over 450 lives lost as Karachi swelters

Pakistan is reeling from a deadly heatwave in Karachi and neighbouring regions, where over 450 deaths have strained healthcare and public infrastructure

'Illegal marriage': Appeals by Imran Khan & wife to suspend sentence junked

A Pakistan district court on Thursday rejected appeals by former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi to suspend their sentences in the illegal marriage case. The former couple was sentenced to seven years in jail with a fine of Rs 5,00,000 each on February 3 by a district and sessions court in the case, popularly known as Iddat case, for contracting marriage during the period when a Muslim woman should wait after divorce or death of her husband before second marriage. Additional district and sessions judge ADSJ Afzal Majoka, after conducting the hearing, had reserved the verdict on the conclusion of the process on Tuesday. On Thursday, as he announced the verdict to a packed courtroom, and rejected the pleas filed by the couple, it dashed hopes of their release from the Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi where they have been imprisoned. While 71-year-old Khan is slapped with several cases, his wife Bushra, 49, is facing a couple of cases. The case was filed by Bibi's ...

J-K police attach properties belonging to 5 Pakistan-based terror handlers

Police in Baramulla after obtaining the attachment order passed by Baramulla Court attached properties which included nine Kanals of land

Pakistan doesn't believe in perpetual hostility to India: Dy PM Dar

Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar sending a positive message to India on Tuesday said his country does not believe in perpetual hostility and urged the new government in New Delhi to do a sober reflection on its future ties with Islamabad. Addressing a seminar at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), the 74-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said Pakistan always sought good neighbourly relations. To our east, the relationship with India has historically remained troubled. Pakistan does not believe in perpetual hostility. We seek good neighbourly relations with India on the basis of mutual respect, sovereign equality, and a just and peaceful resolution of the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Dar said. The foreign minister said while Pakistan had always been receptive to constructive engagement through dialogue that includes all outstanding issues, Pakistan would never agree to unilateral approaches or attempts to

Why an angry China is behind Pakistan's revamped counter-terror campaign

Pakistan's government recently approved a 'reinvigorated and re-energised' national counter-terrorism campaign, called 'Operation Azm-i-Istehkam'

Post new chief appointment, Army to see major changes in senior positions

Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani will take over as the next Vice Chief of Army Staff on June 30 succeeding Lt Gen Dwivedi, defence

Pakistan's new red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie to arrive next month

Pakistan's new red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie is set to land in the country next month to supervise a training camp for the home series against Bangladesh in August. According to a reliable source in the Pakistan Cricket Board, the camp will be set up in Karachi from July 24 for the probables for the national team as well as the Pakistan Shaheen side (A Team). "Gillespie will be supervising the camp with the support staff and Shan Masood (Pakistan's Test captain) will also return early from England to prepare for the Bangladesh series in which two tests are to be played," he said. He said some senior players are likely to be given rest from the series as Gillespie also wants to look at the back-up talent in the country. The source said that Masood has already indicated to the PCB that he wants Babar Azam in the Test team for the coming series but other senior players will be given a break. Mohsin Naqvi is expected to hold a press conference next week to outline the major ...

Pak players draw flak for taking families to US for ICC T20 World Cup

Pakistan's disastrous T20 World Cup campaign in the USA has expectedly triggered a backlash against the players, who are being criticised for taking their families along, even as their beleaguered cricket board mulled invoking a new defamation law to tackle "unsubstantiated claims and reports". According to a local media report, apart from the nearly 34 players, support staff and officials who were part of the national squad in the USA, the team hotel was teeming with around 26 to 28 family members of the players. These included their wives, children, parents and even siblings in some cases. Pakistan were eliminated after losing to India and debutants USA in their group league stage matches held in New York. The report said players like Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, and Muhammad Amir were among those who had family members travelling with them. Babar, who is not married, had his father, mother and brothers staying in the team hotel. "The extra expenses incurre

Pak PM assures Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP of addressing its Budget concerns

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assured Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari that the government would take steps to address the key ally's reservations on multiple issues by forming a committee after tensions rose among ruling coalition partners over the budget. A delegation of the PPP headed by Bilawal on Thursday met Prime Minister Sharif to sort out differences over the budget which was presented in Parliament last week. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the federal budget on June 12 but the PPP, which is the major ally of the government, was not happy as it was not consulted when the budget was being prepared. As the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government lacks a majority, there is a genuine concern that the government may not be able to get the budget passed in Parliament if not supported by the PPP. Geo News reported that Sharif assured Bilawal Bhutto of taking steps to address the key concerns. The Dawn newspaper quoting sourc

Support direct discussion between India, Pakistan on matters of concern: US

The United States has said it supports direct discussions between India and Pakistan but the pace, scope and character of talks should be determined by the two neighbouring countries. Responding to a question at his daily news conference on Thursday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US values its important relationships with both India and Pakistan. "As we have said, we support direct discussions between India and Pakistan, but the pace, scope and character should be determined by those two countries, not by us," he said. Responding to another question, Miller said the US and Pakistan have a shared interest in combating threats to regional security. "We partner with Pakistan on security through our high-level counterterrorism dialogue, including several counterterrorism capacity building programmes, and we support a series of US-Pakistan military-to-military engagements," he said. "We are in regular communication with Pakistani leaders as a part of our partner

Google launches Gemini Chatbot service in India, other South Asian nations

This announcement marks a significant step in Google's efforts to broaden the reach of its chatbot technology beyond select markets, as per reports by GSM Arena

Lawrence Bishnoi's video call from Gujarat jail to Pak gangster goes viral

The clip, showing Shahzad informing Bishnoi about Eid timings across various countries, sparked major security concerns, leading Gujarat authorities to launch a probe

Pak highlights critical risks to Budget 2024-25 in statement to Parliament

Pakistan's cash-strapped government has highlighted almost a dozen critical risks to next year's budget and medium-term outlook, including lower than estimated economic growth, unexpected climatic or natural disasters as well as continuing poor performance of state-owned entities. In a written statement on the fiscal risks submitted to Parliament, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Secretary Imdadullah Bosal said a combination of three risks higher than the estimated interest rate, lower than non-tax revenue collection and higher subsidies had the most significant impact on fiscal variables across the board. "The combination of reduced revenues, increased expenditure on subsidies, and potential financing needs due to higher interest rates lead to substantial fiscal deficit and higher debt stock, the Dawn newspaper quoted the statement as saying on Monday. It underscored the interconnectedness of fiscal policy and the need for comprehensive approaches to address fiscal ...