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Pakistan

Journey from resistance to reconciliation!

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The effects of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban's occupation of the entire country are being felt throughout the region.

Imran Yaqub Khan Profile Imran Yaqub Khan

The Afghan Taliban will conquer Kabul, a prediction made by the US intelligence a year ago, and the chairman of the US military, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milli, acknowledged it in a US Senate committee. Mark Milli also said he had been adamant for a year that if the United States left Afghanistan unconditionally, no one would be able to stop the Afghan Taliban from occupying the country, with the help of the United States and its allies. The established Afghan army and government will disintegrate.

In view of this change in the region, major capitals have formulated policies and Pakistan is nowhere to be seen in these policies. Whether it is the US trilateral defense alliance-- Oaks --or the four-member informal alliance-- Quad, or the European Union's Indo-Pacific policy, India seems to be important in all pacts.

A few short-sighted people who call themselves intellectuals and analysts are celebrating victory without fully understanding the situation in the region. Terrorism has witnessed an increase in the country since the formation of the Afghan Taliban government, and after the Taliban's victory, there were 35 terrorist attacks in Pakistan in August alone, in which 52 civilians were killed. The figures, published by the American broadcaster Bloomberg with reference to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, are shocking. Economic activity is influenced by Bloomberg reports, and foreign investors and international financial institutions formulate policies based on Bloomberg reports.

It's not difficult to predict what effect the Bloomberg report and the new wave of terrorism will have on the country's already crippled economy, but some unscrupulous friends of the rulers are still chanting "all is well". Same Bloomberg report mentioned that a foreign investor had postponed a deal to buy a Pakistani company, which is just one example.

Ameer Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister in Kabul's interim government, said in a statement yesterday that US drones were flying over Afghanistan, a clear violation of state sovereignty. He named the United States and called on governments around the world to respect Afghanistan's sovereignty. Where did these drones fly from and through which route did they enter Afghanistan? The interim government of Kabul has not given any indication yet but this issue will also arise tomorrow and Pakistan could be traditionally blamed. Prime Minister Imran Khan had long ago raised the slogan of "Absolutely Not", but perhaps the new administration of Kabul also began to doubt Islamabad and this slogan became a sign of diplomatic failure and our rulers were seen muttering this message.

"Even strangers are angry with me, even strangers are unhappy."

If that were the case, efforts would have been made to improve the situation, but the situation is much worse now. A storm is about to lift. The coming of this storm is signaled by a bill to be introduced in the US Senate. The bill aims to impose sanctions on those who helped the Taliban conquer Kabul. Within 180 days of the bill's passage, the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and Director of National Intelligence will submit a report to the congressional committee detailing Taliban supporters.

The first report will look at which state and non-state actors, including the government of Pakistan, helped the Taliban between 2001 and 2020. Who provided the Taliban with safe havens, financial support, intelligence, medical care and supplies? Armed them and helped determine their military, administrative or strategic direction? It will also look at how the Pakistani government, including state and non-state actors, helped overthrow the US-led Afghan government in 2021. The report, called for in the proposed US congressional bill, also called for a review of allegations that the Pakistani government, including state and non-state actors, attacked the Taliban in the September 2021 Panjshir Valley and resisted the Taliban. Helped

The powers that be must have sensed the internal situation of the country and the geopolitical situation in the region and the storm raging in the US Congress. Feeling the atmosphere and maybe that is why the ruling party is also going into electoral mode. Recently, a few political birds that have changed allegiances have been brought under the sway of the PTI. These birds have come at a price, not at the behest of traditional power centers, but at the behest of this government. The leaders of the opposition parties will also get hints and they have sensed the situation on the basis of political experience.

The signs that the opposition making preparations have been circulating for days, but former Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif's virtual address on Tuesday is an important development in this regard. Former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif said, "Your and my slogan is, respect the vote, these are our goals, abide by the constitution, do not break the parliament, do not arrest the prime minister, let the country run, and respect the civil government. 

If we get all this through reconciliation, then Bismillah (With the name of Allah Almighty), if we get it through resistance, then still Bismillah, we are ready for both." This speech of the former prime minister is a sign of political change in the country, the clear proof of which and the first major change is the willingness of the PML-N leader himself for reconciliation.

All further stages in the journey from resistance to reconciliation are in the hands of PML-N President Mian Shehbaz Sharif. It seems that Shehbaz Sharif has persuaded his elder brother without holding his feet. If this is indeed the case, then understand that now an interesting turning point has come in this political game and this is the decisive turning point.

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Sports

WAPDA bags national gymnasium championship title

WAPDA won gold medals in pommel horse, rings, vault, horizontal bar and team categories

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Lahore: WAPDA successfully defended its title by winning 53rd National Gymnastics Championship. WAPDA secured 6 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals in the championship while Pakistan Army remained runners-up with 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals. WAPDA athlete Muhammad Afzal was declared best gymnast of the event.

According to the details, WAPDA won gold medals in pommel horse, rings, vault, horizontal bar and team categories, silver medals in pommel horse, vault, parallel bar and floor categories and bronze medals in parallel bar, floor and horizontal bar categories.

Secretary General, Pakistan Olympic Association, Khalid Mehmood was the chief guest of the concluding ceremony, who gave away trophies to the winning teams.

The two-day Championship was held at Government College University Lahore. As many as eight teams participated in the Championship including Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Pakistan Army, Railways, Police and WAPDA.

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Business

Asian Development Bank reaffirms continued support to Pakistan

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa reposes trust in Pakistan’s reform agenda and appreciates the required tough stabilization measures taken by the Government to bring about macroeconomic stability in the country.

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Islamabad: Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday reaffirmed continued support to Pakistan.

The assurance was given by President Asian Development Bank Masatsugu Asakawa during a meeting with a Pakistani delegation led by Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema in Georgian Capital Tbilisi.

The President ADB reposed trust in Pakistan’s reform agenda and appreciated the required tough stabilization measures taken by the Government to bring about macroeconomic stability in the country. He assured Pakistan of its continued support in the areas of Public Private Partnership, climate and disaster resilience enhancement, Domestic Resource Mobilization, promoting Women Inclusive Finance and Energy Sector reforms.

The Minister urged ADB to deploy the additional resources towards high impact interventions including climate actions in the most vulnerable countries.

Earlier, speaking during the business session of the ADB’s Board of Governors, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Cheema highlighted Government of Pakistan’s firm commitment to wide-ranging program to unlock Pakistan’s economic growth potential. He said the economy is now on the consolidation path with improvements in inflation and some recovery of economic growth.

Ahad Cheema also held meetings with the senior leadership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and European Investment Bank to discuss their ongoing development portfolios in Pakistan and priority areas for future support. He also held meetings with bilateral development partners including the United Kingdom, Germany and USA to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in key priority areas including end to end digitalization of taxation system, energy infrastructure and climate change.

 

 

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Pakistan

OIC Contact Group on Jammu & Kashmir calls for early resolution of J&K dispute

The participating delegations from different member states expressed support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

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Islamabad: OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir on Monday called for an early and peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Its meeting was held in Banjul, The Gambia on the sidelines of the 15th Islamic Summit of the OIC.

The participating delegations from different member states expressed support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, who led the Pakistan delegation briefed the Contact Group on India’s ongoing efforts to transform Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their own land.

He apprised the meeting that India was systematically denying the Kashmiri people their fundamental rights and freedoms.

Ishaq Dar said the Indian authorities have created an environment of fear and intimidation in the IIOJK to crush dissent.

He urged the international community to take cognizance of the Indian leaders’ provocative statements and unwarranted claims about Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which constitute a serious threat to regional peace.

The Deputy Prime Minister also stressed that India must release all the political prisoners, lift curbs on the outlawed political parties, revoke the illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and the subsequent steps aimed at demographic change and political engineering, and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

 

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