Those who have a common enemy are most likely to get along like a house on fire. More or less, that appears to be the raison d’être of US-India “friendship.” Developments taking place in China are widely considered the determinant of their mutual relationship. China’s rise is a major concern for both the countries. China is the second largest economy of the world, while in terms of purchasing power it is the world’s top most…
Posts published in “Day: August 10, 2016”
There are so many questions surrounding the detention of an American citizen named Matthew Craig Barrett, a man blacklisted from entry to Pakistan, that it is difficult to know where to begin — but perhaps Houston, Texas would be a good place to start. It was the Pakistani consulate in Houston that issued Mr Barrett with his visa for four years with multiple entry. He is married to a Pakistan national and they have two…
WASHINGTON: The US State Department has said it’s aware of reports that the Taliban and fighters of the militant Islamic State (IS) group are forging an alliance in Afghanistan. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Taliban and IS had forged a “patchwork” ceasefire understanding across eastern Afghanistan and were now jointly fighting US-backed efforts to dislodge them. Also on Monday, an Afghan general, Mohammad Zaman Waziri, indicated that the two militant groups might…
ISLAMABAD – Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan yesterday directed Pakistan ambassador to US that rules and regulations should be followed in issuance of visas to foreigners from US. The minister’s direction came in the backdrop of arrest of blacklisted US national Matthew Craig Barrett who was arrested by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday last following his illegal entry into Pakistan. Pakistan’s consulate in Houston issued Mr Barrett a visa ignoring the fact that…
ISLAMABAD: There is no place in Islamabad for Hindu religious gatherings. While there is a temple, Hindus are not allowed to pray inside. On August 11 — National Minorities Day — Hindu citizens of Islamabad plan to revive an abandoned temple at the foot of the Margalla Hills. Indian Hindu temple lifts ban on women devotees The temple in Saidpur Village currently serves as a tourist site, while over 850 Hindus living in the city…
ISLAMABAD: The government has admitted that Pakistan’s exports with its neighbouring countries have been sliding since 2012-13. As the trade liberalisation agenda has been put on the back burner, the gains made through trade liberalisation with India have started to reverse, official statistics show. During first eleven months of FY2015-16, the volume of bilateral trade with India was less than recorded during FY2012-13, according to the information provided by the Ministry of Commerce to the…
When President Xi Jinping of China visited President Obama at the White House last September, he startled many with reassuring words about his intentions for the Spratly Islands, a contested area where the Chinese government has been piling dredged sand and concrete atop reefs for the past few years and building housing and runways on them. “China does not intend to pursue militarization,” Mr. Xi said, referring to the area as the Nansha Islands, a…
A senior Chinese religious administration official urged that religion be “sinicized” to avoid hostile foreign forces’ attempts to alter China’s ideology and political system through the use of religion, and called on believers to fight religious extremism. Some Western countries distort China’s religious situation in the name of “religious human rights,” and foreign hostile forces use religion to infiltrate China, Wang Zuoan, head of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, wrote in the Study Times.…
It may be difficult for China Railway Group (CREC), one of the nation’s largest State-owned enterprises, to make any profits from a railway deal signed with the Bangladeshi government, analysts said on Tuesday. On Monday, CREC signed a contract worth about $3.14 billion with the Bangladesh Railway to build a railway via Bangladesh’s Padma Bridge, according to a filing by CREC to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The CREC will build a 169-kilometer…
Some 12,000 Pakistanis are currently facing uncertainty regarding their future due to bankruptcy of certain Saudi companies owing to decline in oil prices and crisis pertaining to the war in Yemen. 400 Pakistanis are already living in camps after the company they were employed by halted work and blocked the release of salaries. They are currently being provided food and shelter under the supervision of the Pakistani embassy and local authorities, but have faced shortages…
A total of 7,700 Indians and 8,000 Pakistanis have been stranded, according to tallies provided Tuesday by the foreign ministries in New Delhi and Islamabad. Many were employed by construction companies battered by the downturn in oil prices that began two years ago. Reports suggest that they are without food and water or visas and unable to exit the kingdom after a slowing economy forced companies to cut jobs. It is sad to see that…