Tag: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

  • Banned TTP is Pakistan’s absolute redline, Bilawal warns Afghan Taliban

    Banned TTP is Pakistan’s absolute redline, Bilawal warns Afghan Taliban

    Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Thursday that the Afghan Taliban have been told that the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is Pakistan’s redline.

    “We will not ignore it if we find out that the Taliban are not stopping TTP,” warned Bilawal Bhutto while talking at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC on Tuesday evening.

    “As far as the TTP is concerned, it’s absolutely our red line. It is something that we will not tolerate,” reiterated the foreign minister.

    Emphasizing that Pakistan will be willing to consider each and every option to ensure the safety and security of it’s people, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed concern over a recent spate of attacks by the TTP. The Foreign Minister said that if the Taliban carry out operations against the extremists, Pakistan will provide help if needed.

    He said that there was no new agreement on cooperation with the United States for anti-terrorism.

    “We urge that frozen funds be released for the Afghan people not for the Taliban. They [Taliban] promised US and the world to take action against extremist groups,” said Bilawal.

    He acknowledged that there’s room for improvement in Pakistan’s Afghan policy — as there is in America’s — and stated, “We need to be serious about what we can do going forward”.

    “Are we going learn from our mistakes to ensure that we do not repeat them,” he asked. “The answer to that question is going to define the safety and stability of Afghanistan, the safety and stability of Pakistan and the safety and stability of our region.”

  • US offers ‘resolute’ support to Pakistan to counter terrorism

    US offers ‘resolute’ support to Pakistan to counter terrorism

    The United States (US) has offered its “resolute” support to Pakistan to counter terrorism while Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari spoke to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

    Antony Blinken tweeted, “I hope for a productive climate conference next month and give my condolences for the lives lost in recent terrorist attacks.”

    Bilawal Bhutto also tweeted about the conversation, writing, “Spoke with @SecBlinken & conveyed gratitude of GoP for USG’s flood assist. of $97 m. Will continue coop. for rebuilding resilient infrastructure in & to further enhance & diversify bilateral relations & to work together for regional peace & stability.”

    Earlier, the US offered to help Pakistan in dealing with threats posed by militant outfits.

    “Well, first, we are aware of the ongoing situation in Pakistan. We’ve been closely following reports that militants have seized control of the counterterrorism centre in Bannu. We offer our deepest sympathies to those injured,” said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.

  • You won’t be able to guess which Pakistani politicians are on TikTok

    You won’t be able to guess which Pakistani politicians are on TikTok

    TikTok isn’t only popular among the general public but also among Pakistani politicians too. Many leaders from across the political spectrum are now officially present on the video-sharing app.

    Despite being banned several times in the country, TikTok remains one of the most popular social media apps among internet users. It’s no surprise then that our politicians are making their way to the wildly popular app. Any guess, who do we have on the first spot?

    1- President Dr Arif Alvi

    President Dr Arif Alvi has a verified account on TikTok with 10,000 plus followers. The president’s account handle is @dr.arifalvi.

    2- Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has recently joined TikTok and managed to gain 2500 plus followers so far. His account handle is @bbzppp.

    3- Zulfi Bukhari

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Zulfi Bukhari, with a verified account, has 7000 plus followers. He goes by the handle of @sayedzbukhari

    4- Hina Parvez Butt

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) Hina Parvez Butt has a following of 120,000 plus people. Her account handle is @hinaparvezbutt.

    5- Fayaz ul Hassan Chohan

    PTI’s Fayaz ul Hassan Chohan has more than 130,000 followers on Tiktok. His account handle is @fayazulhassanchohan.

    6- Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal

    PTI’s Mian Aslam Iqbal has the most followers among politicians with 180,000 plus TikTokers following him. He uses the handle @mmaslamiqbal on TikTok.

    So, when are you making your account on TikTok?

  • ‘Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives, and he is the PM of India’: Bilawal Bhutto tells Indian Minister

    ‘Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives, and he is the PM of India’: Bilawal Bhutto tells Indian Minister

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari slammed Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in response to his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s accusations about Pakistan perpetuating terrorism and sheltering Osama bin Laden.

    “I would like to remind Mr Jaishankar that Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives, and he is the prime minister (of India),” said Bilawal at a press conference in New York on Thursday.

    “He (Narendra Modi) was banned from entering this country (the United States). These are the prime minister and foreign minister of RSS, which draws inspiration from Hitler’s SS,” he added.

    “In India, who perpetuates terrorism? Is it Pakistan? Ask the people of Gujrat; they will say it is their prime minister. Ask the people of Kashmir; they will say the butcher of Gujrat is now the butcher of Kashmir. I am not talking about some imaginary past; I am talking about today. They are not even attempting to wash the blood of the people of Gujrat from their hands for their own election campaign. Prime Minister Modi and his government have used their power to pardon the men who raped Muslims in Gujrat. The prime minister of India freed those rapists and terrorists.”

    “The Indian government does not believe in Gandhi’s ideology, but rather in the doctrines of his assassin,” said Bilawal.

    https://twitter.com/IbrarAMir3/status/1603491220566728727?s=20&t=RDyV6PKM20nB5RI-D5977w

    Jaishankar remarks on Pakistan came after State Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that India is a “rogue state” that projects itself as greatest victim of terrorism but is the perpetrator of it. Jaishankr said that Khar’s remarks reminded him of the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Islamabad more than a decade ago when she reminded Pakistan that “if you have snakes in your backyard, you cannot expect them to bite only your neighbours”.

    He claimed that Pakistan was “not great at listening to good advice … and now look what’s happening there. Today, it’s the epicentre of terrorism … and has its fingerprints over a lot of activities in the region and beyond”.

    Urging Pakistan not to blame others, the Indian minister asked: “How long Pakistan intends to practice [terrorism] and hide it by taking that debate elsewhere? Please clean up your act. Please try to be a good neighbour.”

    “We have lost far more lives to terrorism than India did,” said Bhutto-Zardari while pointing out that “India has been playing in the space” that has made it “very easy” to bracket Muslims with terrorism. “India has very skilfully blurred this line, making like us all are terrorists who are actually victims.”

    The Pakistani foreign minister noted that India has continuously perpetuated this philosophy, not just for Pakistan but Muslims in India too.

    The foreign minister said that Pakistan is proud of its achievements in the war against terrorism, as the country has taken concrete steps in connection with the National Action Plan for counterterrorism.

    He said that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) endorsed Pakistan’s measures taken to stem terror financing. Bilawal also said that it is wrong to blame the Muslim world for terrorism as terrorism doesn’t belong to any religion or region.

    He pointed out that terrorism has mainly targeted Muslims since 2001. Also, there were incidents where Chinese citizens were targeted in Karachi, he said.

    Highlighting the post-flood situation in Pakistan, the foreign minister said some areas of Balochistan and Sindh are still waterlogged. The massive flooding adversely impacted health, education and basic infrastructure.

    Assistance from the international community is crucial for Pakistan in coping with the challenge of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the victims, he asserted.

  • Pakistan is not ‘pursuing or receiving’ any discounted energy from Russia: FM Bilawal Bhutto

    Pakistan is not ‘pursuing or receiving’ any discounted energy from Russia: FM Bilawal Bhutto

    Pakistan is not “pursuing or receiving” any discounted energy from Russia, according to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is in the US for a seven-day visit.

    Earlier, State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik had announced that Russia had decided to provide crude oil, petrol, and diesel to Pakistan at lesser rates.

    He had stated that specific terms and conditions of the discounted oil commodities will be decided upon during the upcoming visit of the Russian energy minister to Islamabad by mid-January, but that prices would be on par with or even lower than those being offered to other nations, according to Geo.

    Before that meeting, Malik had stated, the two parties would refine their ideas to the point at which an executive summary or an agreement could be signed and supplies would begin to flow.

    As winter approaches, Pakistan struggles to meet domestic gas supply needs while also trying to control a current account deficit that has been swollen by energy purchases, largely for oil.

    Because spot prices are still out of reach for the nation and shipments under long-term contracts are still insufficient to meet the expanding demand, the nation has been unable to purchase liquefied natural gas from the international market.

    In an interview, the PPP chairman said: “As far as Russia is concerned, we aren’t pursuing or receiving any discounted energy, but we are facing an extremely difficult economic situation, inflation, pump prices.”

    However, he acknowledged Pakistan’s energy insecurity. “We are exploring various avenues to expand our areas where we can get our energy from,” FM Bilawal said, adding that “any energy from Russia will take a long time for us to develop.”

  • Bilawal Bhutto calls Imran Khan a ‘ghari chor’

    Bilawal Bhutto calls Imran Khan a ‘ghari chor’

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took a jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan after the PTI chief did a press conference about the Toshakhana watch scandal.

    Taking to Twitter, the minister called Khan a “ghari chor”. He asked whether Khan had dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies. “Of course not”, he said.

    He said that Khan’s efforts to turn “institutions into his tiger force to do his unconstitutional bidding failed before and will fail again.”

    On Sunday, Khan accused the media of looking the other way on important matters and instead focusing on what he implied were trivial issues, such as the Toshakhana watch scandal.

    “The channels that used to bash the PTI government for inflation, those channels are quiet now and are instead focused on a watch,” he said in a press conference in Lahore.

    “It’s my watch. I can sell it, or do whatever I want. No one is talking about the economic murder being committed right now.”

    Last month, Bilawal predicted that Khan’s party would not resign from assemblies despite his announcement to do so. He, further claimed that Khan is “lying” as he will not resign from Punjab and KP assemblies.

  • ‘Yeh bhi jhoot hai, yeh bhi dhokha hai’: Bilawal adamant that Khan will not resign from assemblies

    ‘Yeh bhi jhoot hai, yeh bhi dhokha hai’: Bilawal adamant that Khan will not resign from assemblies

    Foreign Minister (FM) and Chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has predicted that the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, will not resign from assemblies despite his announcement to do so.

    Addressing a ceremony held to mark PPP’s 55th foundation day, Bilawal said “Yeh bhi jhoot hai, yeh bhi dhokha hai” (This is also a lie, a betrayal). He claimed that Khan is “lying” as he will not resign from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies.

    “Don’t you remember”, he asked the crowd, “that after PTI resigned from the National Assembly and the by-polls were set to take place, they moved the courts and pleaded that their resignations were just a political stunt”.

    During the address, he noted that the army stepped back from politics, “but now, they [puppet politicians] are worried that if the institution has become neutral, then what will become of their politics.”

    Bilawal told Khan that if he decides to resign from the assemblies, then the PPP and its “jiyalas” are ready to face his party.

    At the start of the address, Bilawal paid tributes to his mother, former PM Benazir Bhutto and his maternal grandfather, former PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

  • UK removes Pakistan from list of ‘high risk’ countries

    UK removes Pakistan from list of ‘high risk’ countries

    The United Kingdom on Monday removed Pakistan from its list of “high risk” countries, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari tweeted.
    “Some good news. The United Kingdom has officially removed Pakistan from its list of ‘High Risk Third Countries’ following our early completion of FATF action plans,” the minister wrote in a tweet.

    “His Majesty’s Treasury issued an amendment to the UK’s High-Risk Third Countries’ list ON November 14, 2022, through a Statuary Instrument. The amendment removes Pakistan from the list in accordance with the decision taken by the FATF on October 21, 2022,” the official document read.

    “The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recognizes the progress Pakistan has made to improve money laundering and terrorist financing controls,” it further added.

    The UK government included Pakistan to its list of 21 high-risk nations with inadequate measures in place to combat money laundering and terrorism funding in April 2021.

  • PM Shehbaz left for Egypt to attend Climate Change Conference

    PM Shehbaz left for Egypt to attend Climate Change Conference

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has left for Egypt to attend the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP27).

    The premier is accompanied by Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, other cabinet members and senior officials.

    Before his departure, PM Shehbaz took to Twitter to say that he will raise the matter of the devasting effects of climate change in Pakistan.

    “I will urge the world to deliver on its commitment on climate finance & loss and damage fund. Without financial support, the developing countries will continue to remain exposed to the multifarious threats of climate change. We are asking for climate justice”, he tweeted.

    The premier highlighted that Pakistan’s post-disaster needs assessment has shown that its journey to recovery and rehabilitation can be held back by public debt, rising international energy and food prices and lack of access to adaption funds.

    “The world should treat Pakistan as a case study,” he concluded in a series of tweets.

    Last month, it was announced that PM Shehbaz would be the vice-chairperson for COP27.

    The conference is taking place at a time when millions of people in Pakistan, and millions more in other parts of the world, are facing severe adverse impacts of climate change.

  • ‘Institutional desire to transition must be encouraged’: Bilawal on DG ISI’s conference

    ‘Institutional desire to transition must be encouraged’: Bilawal on DG ISI’s conference

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari commented on the explosive first-ever press conference of Director General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant (Lt) Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum.

    On his official Twitter handle, the foreign minister said that the press conference is “unprecedented and historic”, saying that his party has struggled for this for three generations.

    “Transition of establishment from controversial to the constitutional role is vital for Pakistan’s progress and prosperity. PPP has struggled for this for three generations. Press conference by DGISI and ISPR is unprecedented and historic. Institutional desire to transition must be encouraged,” Bilawal said.

    Similarly, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also commented on the rare appearance of Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, saying that this clearly conveyed to the nation that the institution intended to work within its constitutional limits.

    “The nation is witness to the institution’s decision to keep in its jurisdiction,” the interior minister added.

    Earlier in the day, a joint press conference by Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum and DG of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar was held in Islamabad to talk about journalist Arshad Sharif’s killing and former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s confrontational narrative against the military.

    The ISI chief said, “The military has been under a lot of pressure since March but they decided to limit themselves to its constitutional role.”

    Lt Gen Anjum also made the revelation that in March, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa was given a “lucrative offer” for an extension in his tenure by Imran Khan. “The offer was made in front of me. He rejected it because he wanted the institution to move forward from a controversial role to a constitutional role.”

    He said that he would have addressed the media earlier if it was for personal reasons. “Those sacrificing their lives should not have to face these lies. Hence, remaining silent was morally unacceptable to me,” he firmly stated.