Posts published in “Day: September 21, 2016”

As Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif embarks on a journey to the US for the annual United Nations General Assembly session, Kashmir issue is all set to be the focal point of his speech. On the other hand, India is all set to counter Pakistan’s stance by raising the Balochistan issue. Amid all this, the United States has made it clear that it will not back either side. The State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that…

A DEADLY attack against the Indian army in India-held Kashmir has left at least 17 soldiers dead and, because of the Indian authorities’ immediate accusations against Pakistan, has plunged Pak-India relations into a dangerous and unstable new phase. The pre-dawn raid on an army camp in Uri, Baramulla district, is believed to have been carried out by four attackers, individuals that Indian authorities have suggested came from across the LoC or are aligned with Pakistan-based…

As Pakistan and India prepare for a showdown over Kashmir at the UNGA, heavily armed suspected militants killed 17 Indian soldiers in a pre-dawn raid Sunday on an army base in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK), a regrettable attack that is sure to increase the tension multifold between the two countries. The backlash has already begun, seeing that the Indian side has a knack for behaving as the judge and jury and condemning without the slightest proof…

(The author is a South Asia expert with the Yangon-based Myanmar Egress, a non-profit organization founded by Myanmar scholars and social workers) As Aung San Suu Kyi’s government took its seats in parliament in April this year, the new government announced that the peace process was one of its most important priorities and that it would be led by the state counselor herself. The previous government managed to agree a ceasefire document between the ethnic…

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)’s East China Sea Fleet has drawn attention in recent years over its growing number of modern destroyers. The destroyer flotilla, as part of the frontline group guarding the East China Sea, conducts regular patrol missions and provides strategic support in political and diplomatic disputes in the area. Can they adapt to new developments brought by the strategic shifts facing the Chinese navy? The Global Times reporter visited the flotilla…

China continued to cut its holdings in US Treasury securities in July, which experts mainly attributed to preparations for the yuan’s inclusion in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR), effective October 1. China currently held about $1.22 trillion worth of US Treasury securities as of the end of July, its lowest level since January 2013, down $22 billion from the previous month, according to the US Treasury Department’s monthly Treasury International Capital…

The legislature of Northeast China’s Liaoning Province on Saturday accepted the resignations of over 400 lawmakers for their involvement in electoral fraud, the first case discovered at the provincial level since 1949. The 12th Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress said aside from the removal of 454 lawmakers, including Li Feng, former deputy head of the standing committee of the congress, 452 deputies from the standing committees of 14 cities resigned, leaving only 147 lawmakers, the People’s…

Chinese prosecutors have filed separate lawsuits against three former senior officials — Ling Zhengce, Chen Chuanping and Sun Hongzhi. All are accused of accepting bribes and other graft-related crimes, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said Sunday. Ling, former vice chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is indicted for seeking benefits for others and illegally accepting large amounts of money and other goods by taking advantage of official posts during…