The writer, a retired lieutenant colonel,is pursuing PhD in civil-military relations from the University of Karachi The US Congress has decided “not to subsidise the sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan“. This has been done to ensure that Pakistan does not allow militants to use its territory to carry out attacks inside Afghanistan. As reported by US magazine, Congress Quarterly, Senator Bob Corker “used his authority as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to stop…
Posts published in “Day: May 5, 2016”
As the Obama administration comes close to its end, the Republican-dominated Congress seems adamant in giving it a difficult time. Wary of Pakistan’s reliability as a country committed to fighting against terrorism, the Congress has blocked the US share of funding for the sale of F-16s to Pakistan. According to the earlier agreement, Pakistan was supposed to buy eight F-16s from the US at a total cost of $700 million; however, it was supposed to…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has conveyed to the United States that it does not have the money to buy F-16 jets from its resources and has cautioned that if the stalemate over funding is not resolved it may consider buying some other fighter aircraft to meet its needs. According to a diplomatic source, this was conveyed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to US Ambassador David Hale at a meeting at the Foreign Office. The meeting was held…
LAHORE – Indian and Afghan secret services have planned to undertake attacks at important locations in Pakistan using TTP splinters and sleeper units connected with them, intelligence sources told The Nation yesterday. Indian Research &Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) have planned terrorist attacks on important facilities of Pakistan which include airports, defence forces installations, key educational institutes and five-star hotels, they said. The threat information gathered through disclosures of sleeper…
By George Friedman, Mauldin Economics, Apr. 30, 2016 Xi is already chairman of the Central Military Commission that oversees the army. He is now taking a more direct role as head of the new Joint Operations Command Center, which puts him in operational command of the PLA in times of war. The new title in all likelihood means little in terms of actual command, but it has tremendous political significance. Officially, the Chinese are reforming…
The Journal reported Wednesday that Chinese government officials are warning economists, analysts and business reporters who point out problems such as capital outflows and rising bad loans that they should be more upbeat. That could mean the economy is in worse shape than previously thought. And it shows that the government’s obsession with restoring authoritarian control over all aspects of life is spiralling, well, out of control. The penalty for negativism is not spelled out,…
The most senior Australian fighting with Islamic State, Neil Prakash, has been killed in a US air strike in Iraq. Prakash, who was at the centre of a web of recruitment that inspired terrorism plots in Australia and drove adherents to join the group in the Middle East, was directly targeted in the strike by a US fighter plane on Friday, the Australian government has been told by US officials. Shadi Jabar Khalil Mohammad, the…