Tag: India

  • Pakistan likely to resume trade with India

    The ban on trade with India is likely to be lifted soon after the recent correspondence between Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

    PM Modi conveyed well wishes in a message to PM Imran after he tested positive for COVID-19. Later on Pakistan Resolution Day too Modi wrote a letter saying that India desired cordial relations with the people of Pakistan.

    Pakistan suspended trade with India in 2019 but recently imported life-saving drugs.

    The advisor to PM on commerce and investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, while speaking to media said, “Since the recent thawing began, the prime minister is in isolation being COVID positive. I haven’t talked to him as I don’t want to disturb him. I sincerely hope that trade with India will start again. Trade should be separated from politics.”

    Last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, while speaking at Islamabad Security Dialogue, also said, “It is time to bury the past and move forward.”

    On August 10, 2019, Pakistan imposed a trade ban on India after the escalation of violations on the Line of Control (LOC). In response, New Delhi withdrew the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status from Pakistan, also after the Pulwama incident.

    However, even before the suspension, the bilateral trade between Pakistan and India had been below $2 billion.

    Now, with improvement on the horizon between the two nuclear neighbours, Dawood also said that a decision on the import of cotton from India through land route is expected soon.

  • Pakistan replaced by India, Iran as top trade partners of Afghanistan

    Pakistan replaced by India, Iran as top trade partners of Afghanistan

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are no longer leading trade partners. Strong Border restrictions on both sides and declining bilateral relations are the main reasons.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan used to have $2.5 billion worth of trade that has now declined to $1 billion, replacing Islamabad with New Delhi and Tehran as the biggest trade partners.

    In this regard, Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber (PAJC) former senior vice president Ziaul Haq Sarhadi said that the Torkham border crossing was open for 24 hours a day since 2019 to promote Pak-Afghanistan bilateral trade, but no significant progress was made.

    More than 832,000 containers of Afghan transit trade worth $33 billion used to pass through the Torkham border. However, a 30 per cent reduction in transit trade had been observed as it shifted to Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

    For years, Afghan traders are demanding that the process of clearing the Karachi port should be expedited. “The volume of trade annual shipments from Karachi to Afghanistan can be increased to 75,000 containers while the volume of bilateral trade can rise to Rs5 billion if their request is accepted,” Sarhadi said.

    Afghanistan also wants to access India through the Wagah border, but Pakistan cannot facilitate Afghanistan due to its official policy stance and strained relations between Islamabad and New Delhi.

    On the other hand, Pakistan wants free trade with the Central Asian Republics (CARs) through Afghanistan, but no agreement has been reached so far.

  • Historic first: India could participate in military exercises in Pakistan this year

    Historic first: India could participate in military exercises in Pakistan this year

    In yet another signal that the ties between Islamabad and New Delhi are improving every day, India could take part in a multi-nation exercise to be hosted by Pakistan later this year at its premier anti-terrorism centre in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

    The exercise will be held under the aegis of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

    According to Indian media reports, if the plan goes through, it would be a historic event, given that it would be the first time that Indian forces will travel to Pakistan for any military exercise.

    The decision to hold the joint exercise “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” was announced during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on March 18.

    The development comes at a time when Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa last week stressed on the need for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”. Just weeks ago, the two countries had agreed to observe ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC).

    Meanwhile, a report by Bloomberg has claimed that United Arab Emirates (UAE) Royals are brokering Pakistan-India peace.

  • VIDEO: Six passengers arrested for smuggling 5.5kg gold in their wigs

    Six passengers have been arrested at Chennai airport in India for smuggling gold and foreign currency in their wigs. Customs officials found gold paste and cash packed into parcels and hidden in the wigs of the passengers.

    According to details, the gold was valued at around $344,000 (Rs 53,616,734) and $33,000  (Rs 5,143,465) was recovered in cash. The passengers had arrived from an unrevealed location in the Gulf.

    The gold and cash were concealed in wigs, socks, underwear and inside the passengers’ bodies.

    Airport officials found the passengers with suspicious looking hairstyles and took them into custody for an inquiry.

    Chennai customs department also posted a video on social media that shows how the men had glued the packages under their fake hair.

  • UAE Royals brokering Pak-India peace: Bloomberg

    About 24 hours after military chiefs from Pakistan and India surprised the world last month with a rare joint commitment to respect a 2003 cease-fire agreement, the top diplomat of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) popped over to New Delhi for a quick one-day visit.

    The official UAE readout of the Feb 26 meeting gave few clues of what Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed spoke about with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, noting they “discussed all regional and international issues of common interest and exchanged views on them.”

    Yet behind closed doors, the Pakistan-India ceasefire marked a milestone in secret talks brokered by the UAE that began months earlier, according to officials aware of the situation who asked not to be identified. The cease-fire, one said, is only the beginning of a larger roadmap to forge a lasting peace between the neighbors, both of which have nuclear weapons and spar regularly over a decades-old territory dispute.

    The next step in the process, the official said, involves both sides reinstating envoys in Islamabad and New Delhi, who were pulled in 2019 after Pakistan protested India’s move to revoke seven decades of autonomy for the disputed Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.

    The article originally appeared on Bloomberg 

  • Army chief cites unresolved disputes as reasons behind regional debt, poverty

    Army chief cites unresolved disputes as reasons behind regional debt, poverty

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday said unresolved disputes in South Asia were dragging the entire region into debt and poverty, in a veiled reference to the Kashmir issue.

    Addressing a gathering on the final day of the Islamabad Security Dialogue, COAS Bajwa said the national security encompassed more than just matters and affairs related to strengthening the country’s security forces.

    “It included development and human security as well,” he said.

    “We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the onus for meaningful dialogue rested with India.

    “Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in occupied Kashmir.”

    “The world has seen the ravages of the world wars and the Cold War, wherein polarisation and neglect of virtues blighted the future and brought catastrophic consequences for humanity,” he said.

    “Today the leading drivers of change in the world are demography, economy and technology. However, one issue that remains central to this concept is economic security and cooperation. Frayed relations between various powers centres of the globe and boomeranging of competing alliances can bring nothing but another stint of Cold War.”

    Congratulating the National Security Division on organising the dialogue, Gen Bajwa stated that the contemporary concept of national security was not just about protecting countries from an external and internal threat.

    It is also about providing a conducive environment for ensuring human security, national progress and development, he said.

    The army chief’s comments come a a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan said that India would have to make the first move to normalise ties with Pakistan.

    “We are trying, but India would have to take the first step and unless it does that we cannot move ahead,” the prime minister had said while inaugurating the Islamabad Security Dialogue.

  • ‘India has to take the first step’: PM Imran at Islamabad Security Dialogue

    ‘India has to take the first step’: PM Imran at Islamabad Security Dialogue

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday launched the first Policy Advisory Portal at the inaugural session of the Islamabad Security Dialogue. The portal has been developed by the National Security Division (NSD) to engage over hundred think tanks and academia in policy making, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

    PM Khan said that when his government came to power, he tried to resolve issues with India.

    “We just have one issue, which is Kashmir,” said the premier, adding that August 5 happened, which “led to a total breakdown between both countries.”

    PM Khan said he hopes that the right of self-determination given to the Kashmiris as per UN Security Council resolution would be given to the Kashmiris.

    “It would benefit India if there is a resolution on the Kashmir issue. If we achieve peace through dialogue, it will change the entire landscape of the region. There is a lot of poverty in India. Our trading and economic ties should be strong, which will increase regional connectivity. It will help India that it can have regional connectivity up to Central Asia. India has to take the first step after August 5, otherwise, we cannot move forward.”

    While inaugurating the Advisory Portal, Prime Imran Khan appreciated the initiative and said that Pakistan has immense young talent in this country.  “This is a step in the right direction”, he said.

    The advisory portal will be a dedicated and integrated platform through which major think tanks and universities working on the subject of comprehensive national security will be able to share policy recommendations directly with the national leadership.

    “The aim of the portal is to bridge the gap between intellectuals and policymakers,” said SAPM on National Security Division and Strategic Policy Planning Dr Moeed Yusuf who conceived the portal. 

    Islamabad Security Dialogue is a two-day international conference. Two sessions of the Islamabad Security Dialogue were held on Wednesday, while three sessions will take place on Thursday. Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa will inaugurate the second day. 

    Being held mostly in a virtual format, the Dialogue is being attended by officials, global and regional experts and media. The main theme of the Islamabad Security Dialogue is Comprehensive Security Framework that will enable the country to unfold its untapped potential in becoming a hub of global and regional development.

    The NSD plans to make the Islamabad Security Dialogue an annual event to parallel the world’s leading security dialogues.

  • Hindu temple’s caretaker beats Muslim boy for drinking water from temple

    Hindu temple’s caretaker beats Muslim boy for drinking water from temple

    A 14-year-old Muslim boy in India was beaten up for drinking water from a temple.

    The incident of the temple caretaker beating a child in India’s Ghaziabad gained public attention after a video of the incident surfaced online.

    As per reports, the 23-year-old temple caretaker, Shringi Nandan Yadav, beat the boy who went in to drink water.

    The video showed the caretaker kicking and punching the boy after he asked the boy’s and his father’s name. On revealing his name and his father’s name, Yadav started beating the boy. The identity of the boy’s father is being withheld as per law to protect the child. The child’s father is daily wage labour.

    “My son stopped to drink water from a tap located inside the temple as he was thirsty. He was beaten up after they asked about his identity. He suffered a head injury. He generally doesn’t venture inside the temple but this time he told me he was just very thirsty. I have asked him not to go there in the future.”

    The temple authorities say they had banned the entry of non-Hindus inside the temple. Another caretaker of the temple, Yati Narsimhanand Saraswati accused that the boy was beaten for spitting inside the temple, implying that the abuse was justified.

    “There are several taps outside the temple from where people drink water. Our caretakers caught the boy spitting inside the temple. They have been arrested and we will seek to legal recourse to get them bail.”

    Ghaziabad police arrested Shringi Nandan Yadav and another caretaker, Shivanand Saraswati, who recorded the incident.

  • 60-year-old man climbs electric pole after children object to second marriage

    60-year-old man climbs electric pole after children object to second marriage

    A 60-year-old man in India climbed up an electric pole to protest against his children who opposed his second marriage.

    As per reports, Sobran Singh, who hails from Rajasthan, India climbed a pole of high-tension wires to convince his children for second marriage. Singh, who has five children and several grandchildren wanted to get married for the second time but his family was against it.

    Villagers gathered near the electric pole and tried to convince Singh to come down but he did not listen to anybody.

    Singh even grabbed a high-tension wire and threatened to commit suicide. Luckily, there was no electricity running in the high tension line at that time.

    Singh’s family called the local sub-station about the incident after which the electricity department cut the power in the area.

    After about an hour, a local youth climbed the pole and convinced the elderly man to come down.

    When he was asked whom he wants to marry, he said, “Get me married to anyone. I just want a companion.”

    Singh’s wife died four years ago and he currently lives with his three sons.

  • After pigeons, India arrests Pakistani balloon

    Indian police in occupied Kashmir have taken into custody a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane-shaped balloon. According to Indian news agency ANI, the balloon landed in Sotra Chak village of Hiranagar on March 9.

    While the detention of balloon with the logo of Pakistan’s national carrier seems silly, the incident was not the first of its kind. Indian security personnel have taken several pigeons and balloons into custody for their alleged links with Pakistan. A Pakistani villager had last year appealed to India to release his pigeon which was being held for spying after it crossed the border between the nuclear rivals.

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