The writer is Resident Editor, The Nation in Islamabad ISLAMABAD – Sartaj Aziz, the advisor to the prime minister on foreign affairs, had an improbable task at hand when he met a select group of editors and talk show hosts at the ministry of foreign affairs Monday afternoon. The criticism about the alleged failures and dysfunction in the country’s foreign policy and subsequent diplomatic isolation had reached a crescendo in recent weeks. The absence of…
Posts published in June 2016
ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Monday said that the government used to consult the security establishment on foreign policy. He made it clear in unequivocal terms that Pakistan would accept no dictation from India on Kashmir.He categorically dispelled an impression of Pakistan’s international isolation, saying it was pursuing an active foreign policy for promoting and protecting its national interests in the changing geo-strategic situation in the region. Flanked…
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz is not very hopeful about normalisation of ties with India and progress in the Afghan reconciliation process — the two issues that have a strong bearing on the country’s overall external relations. “Prospects of the [Afghan] peace process are not good. It would all now depend on the ground situation in Afghanistan,” Mr Aziz said at a foreign policy briefing session held for journalists on Monday. He believed that…
KARACHI: A Hindu reporter was forced to drink water from a separate glass at his workplace since his colleagues found out that he belongs to the scheduled caste. Sahib Khan Oad works as a senior reporter with government news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), where he has been barred from drinking water in the same glass and sharing utensils with other Muslim staff. Oad hails from Dadu district and has completed his Master’s from…
PESHAWAR: As the prices of local medicines increase in the provincial capital, people are left with the only option of purchasing smuggled Indian unregistered medicines. These medicines are banned in the country and people travel all the way to tribal areas to purchase them since that is where the smuggled drugs arrive. The medicines that come in from India are not only cost-friendly but are also considered to be more effective than the ones produced…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has turned into a favorite destination for Chinese people for doing their business and making investment in the projects, being executed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) or ‘One belt one road’. Eventually, it enhanced ‘People-to-people’ contacts between the two countries, said here a senior official. There has been considerable increase in number of Chinese people traveled to Pakistan in the recent year. Mainly, they are engaged in the CPEC-related projects. According to a…
The author is deputy dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University. During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s just concluded state visit to China, a series of massive deals were sealed between the two sides and Sino-Russian strategic mutual trust has been hailed and consolidated. Apart from that, in the joint statement signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin, both countries voiced their concern over an increasing number of “negative factors” affecting global…
BEIJING — An activist who has spent the last several years documenting labor protests across China has been detained by the authorities since mid-June, friends of his said on Monday. The activist, Lu Yuyu, was taken into custody by the police on June 16 in the southwestern town of Dali, where he lives, a writer who has had regular online contact with him, Xu Hui, said by telephone. Dali, a popular and mountainous tourist area…
“The militant network can be dismantled only after their arrests,” a high official of Detective Branch (DB) police requesting anonymity told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. The official also said a number of banned homegrown militant outfit are indoctrinating people outside of Dhaka to get involved in killings in the capital. The official who is working to hunt down militant network also said they had so far been able to identify two locations – one in…
The writer is a former foreign secretary. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Marco Polo diplomacy and Washington’s full-throttle support all around, India’s application for membership in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has hit a dead end at the NSG’s latest annual plenary meeting in Seoul. While not on the group’s agenda, some of India’s overenthusiastic proxies opted to raise the questionable question for a ‘decision’ at this meeting. The decision has come indeed –…
The 26th plenary of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) ended in Seoul last week. Prior to the meeting, India’s membership bid had already generated debates. Was China blocking India’s inclusion, as most Indian experts believed? What is the standard for the NSG to include new members? Wang Qun (Wang), Director-General of the Arms Control Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, talked with the media about these issues. It has been reported that at the…