Posts published in “Day: August 22, 2016”

Non-signatory armed groups in Myanmar have raised an eight-point proposal to the government for finding ways to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) and join the 21st Century Panglong Ethnic Conference planned for the end of this month. The non-signatory armed groups were represented by the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC )’s Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN). Discussions on the undisclosed proposal were underway between the government’s Preparatory Committee for Holding the 21st Century Panglong…

The writer is a member of staff. THE biggest lie is that it’s not sustainable. India-Pakistan. The bickering, the squabbling — and, occasionally, the fighting. At some point, if we don’t mend our collective ways, the whole exercise will collapse in on itself, with uncertain but devastating consequences for all of us. Or so goes conventional wisdom. But we live in the realm of the unconventional. Zoom out from the latest India-Pakistan kerfuffle and little…

the writer, based in Washington DC, is the President and CEO of the Balochistan Institute, a Baloch think-tank. For those who believed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in which he asked Pakistan to “answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against people in Balochistan” was a mere slip of tongue, the time to make assumptions ended soon after he mentioned Balochistan again during his Independence Day speech. This surely was…

Karachi: With the entire Punjab province in frenzy over 767 reported abductions of children so far this year, a panic of sorts was now starting to grip residents of the metropolis after incidents of both successful and failed kidnappings were reported from several of its neighbourhoods. Two weeks ago, residents of Mansehra Colony – a low-income area – were fraught with terror after five cases of attempted kidnapping surfaced in the locality. The area lay…

ISLAMABAD:  Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said Pakistan believes that a politically negotiated settlement through an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process is the most viable option for achieving durable peace in the war-torn country. “Pakistan desires durable peace in Afghanistan and seeking close cooperative relations with Afghanistan have always been a cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy,” Aziz said on Friday, while addressing a reception hosted by the Afghan ambassador…

QUETTA: Authorities shut down the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Chaman on Friday after a large number of Afghans flung stones at the Friendship Gate, smashing windowpanes of several government departments and desecrating the Pakistani flag. Reports suggested that the Afghans were incensed by demonstrations in Balochistan sparked by Indian premier Narendra Modi’s speech on August 15, India’s Independence Day and they showed their support to India by desecrating the Pakistani flag and throwing stones at the…

A court in Central China’s Hunan Province on Friday sentenced a former official of the province to 12 years in prison for corruption and abuse of power. The Chenzhou City Intermediate People’s Court also deprived Ma Yong, former deputy Secretary General of the Hunan provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), of his personal assets of one million yuan (150,000 US dollars) after he was convicted of accepting bribes of up to 3.68…

Two Chinese navy fleets began a confrontation drill in the Sea of Japan Thursday, a military source said Friday. One fleet includes the missile destroyer Xi’an, supply ship Gaoyouhu and missile frigate Hengshui. All three have just wrapped the Rim of the Pacific 2016 (RIMPAC 2016) multinational naval exercise. The rival fleet consists of several warships from the navy’s Donghai Fleet. The drill, arranged according to the navy’s annual training plan and common practice seen…