Pakistani-American billionaire businessman Shahid Khan has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is “the best thing to happen to Pakistan”.
“I think he is greater than life and the best thing that has happened to Pakistan in at least my lifetime,” he said in a video doing rounds over the internet.
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Pakistani-American Businessman , Shahid Khan is all praises for Prime Minister Imran Khan!
Earlier, Khan called on PM Imran at Pakistan House in Washington.
According to reports, expressing pleasure to have met the premier, he said that the future of the country seemed bright and in safe hands under PM Imran’s leadership.
Owner of Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and Fulham FC, Khan, as of May 2019, has a net worth of $6.8 billion. He is ranked 65th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, and is overall the 224th wealthiest person in the world.
He is also the richest person of Pakistani origin.
Melania Trump’s official account as First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is pretty interesting. This account has 3.2 million followers but only follows one account — that of her husband President Donald Trump.
The account has 453 posts in total. The latest post says “Delighted to host PM and Mrs. Morrison of Australia for a State Visit at the White House”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0PAoZ_A2KD/
Yesterday, she posted three pictures with Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House.
“Great to have Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan at the White House today!”
The post has 65,700 likes so far and 1,369 comments.
In June 2017, she had posted a picture with Prime Minister Modi. It said: “Welcome to the White House Prime Minister Modi!”
Flotus’ post with Modi has 43,281 likes and 639 comments.
Three pictures with PM Khan vs one with PM Modi? PM Khan’s pictures got more likes and comments too! We think the Trumps (and the people) like PM Khan more. What do you think?
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency provided information to the CIA which helped the United States (US) track down and kill Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden, founder and first leader of militant group Al-Qaeda, was killed in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, by US Navy SEALs. Islamabad had so far denied having any knowledge of the terror chief’s hideout until he was shot dead.
However, in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier following his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday, the premier said it was the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that gave the initial information on bin Laden.
“It was ISI that gave the information which led to the location of Osama bin Laden. If you ask CIA, it was ISI which gave the initial location through the phone connection,” he said.
“We in Pakistan always felt that we were an ally of the US and if we had been given the information about Osama, we should have taken him out,” he said, adding that Pakistan was fighting the war against terrorism for the US.
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“Here we were an ally of the US and the US did not trust us. And they actually came and bombed and killed a man in our territory,” he said.
Even though Pakistan officially denied knowing that bin Laden was living within its territory, ex-ISI chief Asad Durrani told Al Jazeera in 2015 that the agency probably knew where he was hiding.
The 9/11 mastermind was tracked down after a 10-year manhunt to Abbottabad, a garrison town north of Islamabad where Pakistan’s military academy is headquartered, sparking allegations authorities were colluding with the terror group.
Two former senior Pakistani military officials told AFP in 2015 that a defector from Pakistani intelligence assisted the US in its hunt for bin Laden, but denied that Islamabad and Washington had officially worked together.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has hinted at a possible prisoner swap of Dr Shakil Afridi and Dr Aafia Siddiqui with the United States (US).
Afridi, a Pakistani physician, is in authority’s custody for helping the US in running a fake hepatitis vaccine programme in Abbottabad to confirm Osama bin Laden’s presence by obtaining DNA samples.
Aafia, on the other hand, is a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted of multiple felonies and is locked up in a US prison.
When asked about jailed Afridi during an interview with Fox News on Monday, the premier said that in Pakistan, he is considered a spy and it is a very emotive issue. “The way it [Osama bin Laden operation] was conducted, it really embarrassed Pakistan at a time when we were an ally of the US in its war on terror.”
Osama bin Laden, founder and first leader of Al-Qaeda, was killed in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, by US Navy SEALs in an operation Pakistani authorities “were unaware of”.
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“You are the prime minister, you can make a decision can’t you,” Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked.
“There are some decisions in a democracy that even a premier finds difficult to make, because we do have an opposition,” PM Imran said, adding that it, however, was something that could be negotiated.
“We also have someone in a US prison, a frail woman called Aafia Siddiqui and we could negotiate a swap.” “The talks have not started yet, but we know that US wants Afridi and we can negotiate,” he added.
United States (US) President Donald Trump has described Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as “one of the greatest athlete and a very popular PM”, and jokingly said that he would help him get re-elected.
“It’s my great honour to have the very popular and, by the way, great athlete — one of the greatest — but very popular prime minister of Pakistan,” Trump said while welcoming PM Imran to the Oval Office for the two leaders’ maiden meeting.
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PM Imran is currently on a three-day official visit to the
US on Trump’s invitation. This is his first visit to the country since coming
to power last year.
During the more than 40 minutes meeting, the two leaders
spent time with the media — responding to a volley of questions. The mood and
atmosphere in the Oval Office was quite comfortable.
PM Imran appeared to be at ease and confidently answering questions. During the unusually lengthy question and answer session with the media, wherein they gave almost all the Pakistani journalists present an opportunity to ask questions — the two leaders appeared to have forged good chemistry instantly, laughing and joking several times.
“We should be doing tremendous business together. So, I look
forward to it,” Trump said as he concluded his welcome remarks for PM Imran. “InshaAllah,”
Khan said, adding that he has been looking forward to this meeting since he
assumed office of the country’s chief executive.
Trump described it as a “very important meeting”. “I think
the potential with Pakistan and likewise, the opposite way, I think we have not
even come close to meeting it. There is tremendous potential between our country
and Pakistan.”
In fact, in response to a question, Trump said that he would
love to visit Pakistan, but he has not received an invitation yet. “Well, I
can’t say that yet because, so far, he has not extended me an invitation,” he
said.
In response to another question, Trump said he would help PM Imran in his re-election. “I’m going to campaign for you. I’m going to help him win his campaign,” said the US president.
The historic meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump is scheduled to take place Monday and PM Imran has a special gift for him.
According to reports, PM Khan has taken a camel skin vase which has a unique portrait of the US president on it.
The artist behind the vase Hanifullah Khan says that the art of creating such vases is one of the oldest crafts in Multan. He shared that creating such vases are difficult because making the surface of the vase smooth enough to paint requires technique and expertise. Though making a vase for Trump was a proud moment for him, Khan remarked that it was a feat because he wanted the finished product to be perfect.
Hanifullah has previously also made portraits of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on vases.
PM Imran landed in Washington DC on Sunday for his first official visit to the US, which he is undertaking on the invitation of President Trump.
Claiming that former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif eats homemade food in his air-conditioned jail cell with television, PM Imran Khan has said that he will ensure the “criminal” does not receive such treatment.
The premier, who is currently in the United States (US) on a three-day official trip, said this while addressing around 30,000 Pakistani-Americans at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena.
The gathering was termed as the “largest” in the community’s history by those present at the jampacked venue with 20,000 official seating capacity.
“Nawaz Sharif wants food from home in jail, he wants air conditioning in jail. But in a country where half the population has no air conditioning or TV, what kind of punishment would this be?”, the premier questioned.
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Dear sir @ImranKhanPTIwhen will you stop being so petty? Even the economy class of PIA is better than you pic.twitter.com/CpiM3mb00M
“When I return, I’ll make sure there is no air conditioning or TV for Nawaz Sharif who is a criminal. I know Maryam [Nawaz] Bibi will make some noise, but I say to her, return the money. It’s as simple as that,” he added.
Continuing his tirade against Nawaz, PM Imran alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo was “propped up” by a military dictator.
“Nawaz was propped up by military dictator. Shehbaz Sharif was propped up because he was his brother. Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal became leaders on the basis of some piece of paper that left the party behind to them. Similar stories with other parties,” he said.
Targeting his political rivals, the premier reiterated that the government had started seizing their undeclared properties because they had “looted the country when they were in power”.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s reading habits recently made headlines when The Current cited sources as saying that he is an avid reader who prefers books over television.
Since the premier is a fan of non-fiction and is currently reading “The Silk Roads: A New History of the World” by Peter Frankopan, here are five books that we think he should give a read.
1. Grade VI Geography:
No, we’re not kidding. The world broke into laughter when PM Imran said, “…on the border region of Germany and Japan” while addressing a gathering in Tehran.
While a lot of people argued that the idea of Germany and Japan sharing a border was just a slip of tongue, we don’t think taking a look back at those geography lessons from grade VI is a big deal.
2. ‘Gandhi and Civil Disobedience: The Mahatma in Indian Politics’
The Salt March of 1930 was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi.
Since the PM, before coming to power, was somewhat a civil disobedience fan, we think he might enjoy this one by Judith M Brown.
3. Grade VIII Physics:
It is hard to forget how the premier once said that the Chinese are working on a train that travels not at light ki speed, but “speed ki light”. We’re sure it was yet another slip of tongue, but…
Maybe PM Imran can give grade VIII’s physics book a quick look before making such a claim again.
4. ‘How Democracies Die‘
This one is not that important since we might not be there yet. But every political leader should read “How Democracies Die” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.
In the book, the Harvard University political scientists explain how elected leaders can gradually subvert the democratic process to increase their power.
5. Trump: The Art of The Deal
PM Imran will soon be leaving for the United States (US) on his maiden visit to the country since being handed the reins of the country.
Since the premier will be meeting President Donald Trump, giving this book a read to know him better appears to be a good idea.
The book, credited to Trump, talks about the US president’s childhood. It also describes his early work, building The Trump Organization as well as his actions and thoughts.
This will be the first time that PM Imran travels on a commercial plane for an official visit as previously he used a charter jet for state visits to countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia.
Earlier it was also reported that the premier is planning to not stay at some lavish hotel to save money as part of his government’s austerity drive that continues ever since the PTI rose to power.
The premier, since assuming office last year, has been pushing for austerity measures to save taxpayers’ money and reduce the burden on the national exchequer.
Despite the steps taken by PM Imran in this regard, the austerity drive has faced multiple setbacks over the past 10 months owing to the apparent reluctance of the lawmakers in cutting down expenses.
VISIT TO US:
In his maiden visit to the US, the premier will travel from July 21-23 on the invitation of President Donald Trump in a bid to mend the strained ties between the two countries.
Both the leaders will discuss a range of issues, including counterterrorism, defence, energy and trade, with the goal of creating the conditions for a peaceful South Asia and an enduring partnership between the two countries.
“The visit will focus on strengthening cooperation to bring peace, stability and economic prosperity to a region that has seen far too much conflict,” the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.
PM Imran will also be meeting prominent members of the US Congress, corporate leaders and opinion makers as well as overseas Pakistani.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA and former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah has challenged Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to a “drug test”.
“Sentence me without a trial if even nicotine traces are found in my blood,” the PML-N leader, who was arrested for possession of drugs earlier this month, said while appearing before an anti-narcotics court.
“But also test this incompetent PM and sentence me without trial if you do not find [traces of] cocaine, ice (crystal meth), hashish and heroin,” Sanaullah added.
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He went on to say that the “victimisation of political opponents” by the ruling party would not continue for long.
Sanaullah is in judicial custody till July 29 in a drug possession case. The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) claims to have seized 15 kilogrammes of heroin from his car upon arrest over two weeks ago.
The PML-N leader, on the other hand, denies the charge while his wife suggests the drugs “were planted in the vehicle”.
