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Pakistan did not engage with India at SCO due to its actions in Kashmir: Bilawal

Published

11 months ago

May 25, 2023

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Pakistan did not engage with India at SCO due to its actions in Kashmir: Bilawal

Minister for Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday said his office had taken a principled stance not to seek bilateral connect with his Indian counterparts at the SCO meeting due to the latter’s actions in Kashmir in 2019.

Briefing the Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on the SCO meeting he attended in India earlier this year, he said it was a difficult decision to take after India’s actions in Kashmir in 2019, adding that he had, at first, no interest in participating in the SCO meeting for emotional reasons. “But I sat to deliberate and decided to join as it was a multilateral meeting,” he added.

He continued by saying that he also used the forum meeting to meet FMs of other countries, except one, to strike a meaningful dialogue.

He went on to say that the other point his office considered that its founding members were Russia and China – our all-weather friend. “As the PDM took over, it has made the SCO and Central Asian countries its priority,” he added. It was a strong message to show how seriously we took the SCO, he added.

He said the host gave the Pakistani delegation full protocol during the meeting, adding that Indian FM Jaishankar acted professionally. “But I deplore that he used some words behind my back,” he added. It was the abuse of the chair of the SCO, he maintained.

He said he was not in favour of calling off any platform, adding that he also put forward Pakistan’s stance before the West too. “We deemed it necessary to attend the SCO not only because of the SCO but also to present our stance before the world,” he added.

Why would we give them the opportunity to go unchallenged, he asked.

He said he also tried to take input from all PDM members, adding that it turned out to be great opportunity. “India wanted to abuse the SCO platform to put their agenda unchallenged,” he added.

Our host [Indian FM] mentioned some issues in his speech, he said, adding that he [Mr Bhutto] got the opportunity to rebut India’s attempt to paint Muslims and Pakistanis as terrorist. “I told them that Pakistan’s casualty count is more than all of them combined,” he added.

Mr Bhutto said he used the opportunity to break the myths about Muslims, Pakistanis, and Kashmiris, adding that India did not want to take this thing further but Pakistan wanted. “We should engage with the Indian media to counter such impression,” he added.

As for the bilateral relations, he said it was a positive visit overall.

Answering a question about the imminent security threat by Afghanistan, he said he reminded his counterparts that Pakistan would not be the first, but the last victim, adding that if it was not taken seriously, it would be a disaster. “The number of terrorist attacks has jumped from five to fifty after the fall of Kabul,” he added.

He said he had one-point agenda during his bilateral meeting, adding that he made them clear that the issue of terrorist organisation functioning in Pakistan needed to be addressed.

There was this one thing standing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said, adding that if this was resolved, they could face the world together. “Borders could only be managed by support from both sides,” he added.

Pakistan did not have any sympathy for issues if there was a lack of will to counter those [terrorist] groups, he said.

He said he conveyed to his counterparts in clear words that both countries had to work closely to address these issues. “It is a long journey to take,” he added.

Mr Bhutto said he wanted problems between Muslim countries to settle, adding that China played the biggest role in addressing this. “Peace was a yardstick in the past, but now the environment does not reflect a will to make peace, he added.

It was a time of heightened tensions between states, he said, but China not only proved itself a superpower but a peacemaker by meddling peace with Iran and Saudi Arabia. “We saw ripple effects of this relationship,” he added.

It would impact Pakistan in a positive way, he said.

As for the G20 meeting in India, he said it was offensive and obnoxious, adding that it was condemnable. “India’s true face has been revealed by its actions,” he added. No one could dream of becoming a superpower, he said, by breaking international conventions.

He said he had told them at the SCO meeting that the G20 meeting would not see 100pc attendance.

“I could not find one international media record on the event in Kashmir that was confined to tourism and youth affairs,” he said. Every report cited human rights abuses, disputed area, and India’s actions in 2019 in Kashmir, he added.

He said this crisis provided an opportunity, adding that Kashmiris got the opportunity to have their voices heard across the world. “It was impressive to see the unity of all parties, fighting inside Pakistan, standing together in Kashmir,” he added.

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Govt wants more women in police department: Maryam Nawaz

Published

2 days ago

April 25, 2024

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Govt wants more women in police department: Maryam Nawaz

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said government wants to increase number of women in the police department.

Maryam, while addressing the passing-out parade ceremony at Chung Police Training College, said, “I salute you all. I am happy the first Sword of Honour has been awarded to a female police officer. I am proud of you. I was waiting for this event since taking oath as chief minister, she said.

“When I wore the police uniform for the first time, I realised it is a big responsibility,” said the chief minister and added she was happy to see 530 women passing out.

She said she happy to see women police officers performing duties.

“When I wore the uniform for the first time today, I felt it was a big responsibility. I am proud of women serving in police department,” said CM Maryam.

She said there were 7,000 women police personnel serving in Punjab. “I want to increase women participation in Punjab police. Lady cops are superhuman. Women are soft hearted so they forgive.

However, there should be no tenderness in your heart for the oppressor,” said the chief minister and asked the lady police officers to take pity on the oppressed and hold the oppressor accountable for his misdeeds.

“THERE IS NO REVENGE IN MY HEART”

Maryam said there was no feelings of revenge in her heart. “If, being the chief minister, I decide something against someone, I do it with a heavy heart,” she said.

“To be a chief minister is not an easy task. I had to make hectic efforts reach this place,” she said.
She paid glowing tribute to her father Nawaz Sharif and uncle Shehbaz Sharif.

PASSING OUT PARADE

Earlier, a passing out parade was held at Chung Police Training College. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz attended the ceremony as a special guest.

Maryam inspected the parade dressed in police uniform. She also distributed prizes to police officers who exhibited excellent performance.

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pakistan

Supreme Court reinstates Balochistan Assembly speaker, annuls ECP’s decision

Published

2 days ago

April 25, 2024

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Supreme Court reinstates Balochistan Assembly speaker, annuls ECP's decision

The Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the decision of Election Commission (ECP) and reinstated Balochistan Assembly Speaker Abdul Khaliq Achakzai.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, also annulled the ECP’s order of re-polling at 12 polling stations of PB 51 Chaman.

Justice Khan asked the ECP counsel under which regulation the commission ordered re-election at 12 polling stations?

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar remarked that the ECP considered only 12 polling stations but ignored others.

Justice Khan remarked that the ECP had neither conducted an inquiry nor followed any rules. The DG Law submitted that the ECP took into account those 12 polling stations regarding which it had received plea. There was high voter turnout in these 12 polling stations.

Justice Mazhar said that the ECP should have taken into account the entire constituency. Had the ECP performed according to rules, people would not have had to come to court.

The court referred the case back to the ECP after consulting the parties and ordered the commission to decide the issue within 10 days.

It may be remembered that the ECP had ordered re-polling on the application of Khaliq’s opposing candidate Asghar Khan Achakzai and withdrew the notification of his success. PML-N’s candidate Khaliq challenged the ECP decision.

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pakistan

Govt, Opp prepare power-sharing framework for NA committees

Published

2 days ago

April 25, 2024

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Govt, Opp prepare power-sharing framework for NA committees

The government and opposition on Thursday prepared a power-sharing formula for formation of National Assembly committees, after which the negotiations entered the final stage.

The government alliance will get chairmanship of 26 committees of the National Assembly while opposition will have chairmanship of 11 committees.

Similarly, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee will be from the opposition and the chairman of the Kashmir Committee will be appointed from the government side.

The speaker will be the chairman of the National Assembly House Business Advisory Committee.

According to the framework, standing committees will have 13 members and Public Accounts Committee will have 16 members from the government alliance.

Likewise, Kashmir Committee will have 15 members while House Business Advisory will have 18 members from the coalition government.

The number of opposition members in the standing committees of the National Assembly, Public Accounts Committee and Kashmir Committee will be 7-7.

Apart from this, the chairman of 14 committees of the National Assembly will be from the Muslim League-N, while PPP will get chairmanship of eight committees.

MQM will get chairmanships of two committees. Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) will get one chairmanship each.

10 committees will be chaired by independent members supported by PTI while one committee will be chaired by JUI.

Out of the 20 members of the standing committees, 14 members will be appointed from the government side and six from the opposition parties.

Each standing committee will have seven members from PML-N, four from PPP and one member each from PML-Q and MQM.

In the standing committee, five independent members of PTI and one member of JUI will be given membership as committee members.

Of the 23 members of the Public Accounts Committee, 16 MPs will be included from the government and seven from the opposition.
About 22 members of the Privileges Committee, 15 members will be included from the government and seven from the opposition side. Of 16 members in the government assurances committee, 11 will be from the government and five from the opposition.

In the 22-member Kashmir Committee, the government’s quota will be 15 while the opposition will contribute with seven members. Of the 26 members of the House Business Advisory Committee, 18 will be from the government and eight from the opposition.

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