The writer works for the Jinnah Institute in Islamabad At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the chances of escalation to war were assessed to be ‘between 1 in 3 and even’. A decade and a half since India and Pakistan resorted to full-blown military mobilisation, the firestorm at the heart of South Asia’s latest standoff has done little to lengthen those odds for the region’s two nuclear-armed neighbours. Two facts have become apparent…
Posts published in “Day: October 7, 2016”
In a move said to have been prompted by a similar decision in India, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) announced on October 4 that Pakistani TV channels are no longer to make Indian content a part of their transmissions. Previously, Pakistani channels were allowed to give 6% airtime to Indian content in a 24-hour transmission cycle. Given the popularity of Indian films, music and television shows, Pakistani channels utilised this permitted airtime to…
The PM House became the site of a full day of action on Tuesday as the top civilian and military brass huddled together to discuss both the threat of terrorism and the escalation of tensions with India. Three separate meetings were held; one of the National Security Council, one on the National Action Plan and one between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Raheel Sharif. The meetings sent a clear message that the civilian…
The closure of an online petition seeking declaration of Pakistan as a terrorist state is a great set back to the Indian government and certain elements that do not want the promotion of peace in the region. Reportedly, the White House has shut down an online petition asking for Pakistan to be declared a state sponsor of terrorism after suspecting fraud. “This petition has been archived because it did not meet the signature requirements. It…
The Pathankot incident remains the biggest thorn in the hopes of any discussions between India and Pakistan. Yet the government remains clueless as to how it can address India’s allegations and aid in the investigation as promised.On Tuesday, the Senate was informed that it was still in the dark about the alleged involvement of Pakistanis in the attack on the Pathankot airbase, as the intelligence agencies have not updated the government of any headway made,…
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee of the Whole House, which had been constituted to formulate policy guidelines for the government on Pakistan-India relations with particular reference to the Kashmir issue, finalised 22 recommendations on Wednesday, including restoration of backchannel talks between the two countries. “Keeping in view the need, efficacy and usefulness of backchannel talks between India and Pakistan, the talks should be restored. The bilateral and Kashmir-related confidence-building measures need to be restored and expanded,”…
ISLAMABAD: An in-camera meeting of the Senate Committee of the Whole House held in Islamabad on Wednesday recommended the government to adopt an aggressive policy on India. The in-camera meeting was held here at the Parliament House with Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani in the chair.Members urged the government to appoint a full-fledged foreign minister to highlight the Kashmir issue properly. It was also recommended in the policy guidelines to establish Kashmir desks at foreign missions…
ISLAMABAD – Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt-Gen Rizwan Akhtar yesterday skipped a scheduled meeting of the Senate’s Committee of Whole House where he was to appear for an in-camera briefing to the lawmakers on the recent Pak-India tensions. The senators from the opposition and treasury benches were demanding a briefing from the ISI DG on the situation arsing out of the Uri attack, atrocities committed by Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir and the latest developments…
ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif on Wednesday visited the headquarters of X Corps, based in Rawalpindi, to review the operational preparedness of the units and formations directly responsible for protecting the Line of Control. The army chief was given a comprehensive briefing on the LoC situation. Corps Commander Lieutenant General Malik Zafar Iqbal was also present. Expressing his complete satisfaction over the operational preparedness of the X Corps, the army chief…
The audit report for the year 2015-16 has been presented in the National Assembly. Later, the speaker sent the report to the Public Accounts Committee. The report consists of 13 cases of Rs 480.358 million of theft, fraud and embezzlement; non-production of record in two cases of Rs 9.262 billion; violation of public procurement rules in 43 cases worth Rs 5.42 billion; over payments, recovery and dues pointed out in 45 cases of Rs 153.6…
ISLAMABAD: Prospects of Pakistan’s economy growing at a decent pace of 5% a year are at risk due to delays in the implementation of the $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, warns a new World Bank report released Tuesday. “A delay in the completion of CPEC projects, as evident from the first year’s performance, and an inability of the government to mobilise revenues and rationalise expenditures can affect investment and hurt economic growth,” noted the…