Tag: Blinken

  • US Secretary Blinken congratulates Anwaar Kakar

    US Secretary Blinken congratulates Anwaar Kakar

    According to Bol News, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has congratulated caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan Anwaar-Ul-Haq Kakar on assuming office.

    “Congratulations to the new Pakistan Interim Prime Minister, @anwaar_kakar. As Pakistan prepares for free and fair elections in accordance with its constitution and the rights to freedom of speech and assembly, we will continue to advance our shared commitment to economic prosperity,” Blinken tweeted.

    In response, Anwaar Kakar said on Thursday that “The caretaker government would assiduously work to facilitate a free and fair election in the country”.

    Anwaar Kakar also thanked the US Secretary for his good wishes and said in his tweet “We place importance on our partnership with the US and deeply value the shared commitment to economic prosperity, democracy, and stability in the region”.

  • US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar submits resolution against India

    US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar submits resolution against India

    United States (US) Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has submitted a resolution in the House of Representatives on Tuesday in which she condemned the human rights abuses in India.

    The resolution said that the House has expressed grave concern about the “worsening treatment” of religious minorities in India and called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate India as a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

    The resolution includes two reports i.e. a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and a Report on International Religious Freedom 2021 by the US State Department which was published on June 2, 2022.

    The resolution highlighted that the USCIRF had called for designating India as a country of particular concern for three consecutive years.

    According to the resolution, the report mentioned cases of the Indian government’s “repression of religious minority leaders and voices for religious pluralism in India, including the Jesuit human rights defender Father Stan Swamy and the Muslim human rights advocate Khurram Parvez”.

    According to the resolution, the report said: “Many of the incidents [on minorties] were violent, unprovoked, and/or encouraged or incited by government officials.”

    The resolution said that in the International Religious Freedom 2021 report by State Department there are numerous examples of violence and threats of violence against religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, in India throughout 2021.

    It added that while presenting the report, Blinken himself said that “In India, the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths, we’ve seen rising attacks on people and places of worship.”

    In April, Omar made a visit to Pakistan’s part of Kashmir. She said the issue should get more attention from the US which prompted an angry response from India. The congresswoman has always highlighted the Kashmir issue on several platforms.

  • US monitoring rising HR abuses in India: Blinken

    US monitoring rising HR abuses in India: Blinken

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was monitoring what he described as a rise in human rights abuses in India by some officials, in a rare direct rebuke by Washington of the Asian nation’s rights record.

    “We regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values (of human rights) and to that end, we are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police and prison officials,” Blinken said on Monday in a joint press briefing with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

    Blinken did not elaborate. Singh and Jaishankar, who spoke after Blinken at the briefing, did not comment on the human rights issue.

    Blinken’s remarks came days after US Representative Ilhan Omar questioned the alleged reluctance of the US government to criticise Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on human rights.

    “What does Modi need to do to India’s Muslim population before we will stop considering them a partner in peace?” Omar, who belongs to President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party, said last week.

    Modi’s critics say his Hindu nationalist ruling party has fostered religious polarisation since coming to power in 2014.

    Since Modi came to power, right-wing Hindu groups have launched attacks on minorities claiming they are trying to prevent religious conversions.

    Several Indian states have passed or are considering anti-conversion laws that challenge the constitutionally protected right to freedom of belief.

    In 2019, the government passed a citizenship law that critics said undermined India’s secular constitution by excluding Muslim migrants from neighbouring countries.

  • US envoy to Afghanistan resigns two months after chaotic withdrawal

    US envoy to Afghanistan resigns two months after chaotic withdrawal

    United States envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad is stepping down, the State Department has announced, less than two months after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country, reported Al Jazeera.

    Zalmay Khalilzad led the US dialogue with the Taliban. The Taliban took control in August after capturing the capital Kabul.

    In a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Zalmay Khalilzad acknowledged that “the political arrangement between the Afghan government and the Taliban did not go forward as envisaged”, reports BBC.

    “The reasons for this are too complex and I will share my thoughts in the coming days and weeks,” he wrote, saying he was stepping aside as the US entered the “new phase of our Afghanistan policy”.

    He added that he was “saddened” for the Afghan people given the current outcome.

    Khalilzad will be replaced by his deputy, Tom West, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Monday, noting that West will work closely with the US embassy, which is now based in Doha, on US interests in Afghanistan.