ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army called on India on Monday to heed its message of peace in order to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue, warning that it was ready to use its capabilities to defend its territory against any form of aggression.
The statement follows months of border tensions between the arch-rival neighbors which peaked in February this year when Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian fighter jets for violating its airspace and arrested Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was released a few days later as a goodwill gesture on part of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Don’t test our resolve. The army with the support of 207 million Pakistanis will respond to any aggression with full force,” Major General Asif Ghafoor, Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – media wing of the armed forces – said in a wide-ranging press conference.
Commenting on the recent threat of use of nuclear weapons as suggested by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said: “Nuclear weapons are not a threat, they are a weapon of deterrence that should not be mentioned lightly.”
Ghafoor also took a jibe at India for its “repeated lies” against Pakistan following the February 14 attack in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir which resulted in the deaths of nearly 40 Indian paramilitary troops.
The Indian Air Force, on February 26, conducted an airstrike inside Pakistani territory, claiming that it had targeted a Jaish-e-Mohammad – a proscribed outfit that claimed responsibility for the Pulwama incident – facility and killed militants in the process.
“Two months have passed since and India has told countless lies on the matter. We have not responded to the lies, not because we can’t, but because we don’t want to retaliate,” he said.
The PAF, on February 27, shot down two Indian fighter jets and “the whole world saw their debris,” the DG ISPR said, “we have not talked much about it because we want to find the appropriate time to honor our pilots whose skills had been used to down the Indian planes.”
Talking about Pakistan’s education system, he regretted the fact that more than 25 million children were out of schools in the country. “These children then go to madrassas, 30,000 of which exist in Pakistan at the moment. Out of these, less than 100 were found to be the kind that were pushing children toward extremism,” he said.
He said that children studying in the Islamic seminaries should have the same job opportunities as those enrolled in mainstream schools. “That’s why we have decided to mainstream all these madrassas where children will be taught contemporary subjects,” he said.
Ghafoor said that both PM Khan and army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa have taken on board the views of clerics from all schools of thoughts and that the process would be completed in three different phases.
“Initially two billion rupees will be required to run this program and then one billion rupees will be required each year for the program’s upkeep,” he said, adding that new teachers will be employed in these madrassas to provide equal opportunities of education and careers to all children.
About the growing protests by Pashtun ethnic protest movement, Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), he warned leaders of the group not to cross the red line. “Their time is up. You have taken the liberty that you wanted,” he said while hinting at initiating legal proceedings against the PTM leaders for their inflammatory speeches against the state and the armed forces.
He also questioned their sources of funding for holding public gatherings in different cities of the country. “Nobody can fight the state. It is not a difficult job to deal with you,” he said, adding that the state has made significant progress on all three demands of the PTM which included clearance of mines from tribal districts, abolition of check posts, and recovery of missing persons.
“The three demands put forward by PTM are not theirs. This is not their pain. The people don’t even live in areas where the war occurred,” he said.
The DG ISPR said that the overall security situation has improved in the country due to 1,237 kinetic operations carried out by the armed forces to flush out militants. “We can say with confidence that no organized structure of any terrorist network, including the Daesh, exists in Pakistan today,” he added.
“Don’t test our resolve” Pakistan army warns India
“Don’t test our resolve” Pakistan army warns India
- Slams New Delhi for nuclear saber-rattling
- Says no organized structure of any terrorist network, including Daesh, exists in Pakistan
US freezes visa processing for 75 countries, media reports Pakistan included
- State Department announces indefinite pause on immigrant visas starting Jan 21
- Move underscores Trump’s hard-line immigration push despite close Pakistan-US ties
ISLAMABAD: The United States will pause immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries starting Jan. 21, the State Department said on Wednesday, with Fox News and other media outlets reporting that Pakistan is among the countries affected by the indefinite suspension.
The move comes as the Trump administration presses ahead with a broad immigration crackdown, with Pakistan included among the affected countries despite strong ongoing diplomatic engagement between Islamabad and Washington on economic cooperation, regional diplomacy and security matters.
Fox News, citing an internal State Department memo, said US embassies had been instructed to refuse immigrant visas under existing law while Washington reassesses screening and vetting procedures. The report said the pause would apply indefinitely and covers countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.
“The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the Department of State said in a post on X.
According to Fox News and Pakistan news outlets like Dawn, the list of affected countries includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, Brazil and Thailand, among others.
“The suspension could delay travel, study, and work plans for thousands of Pakistanis who annually seek US visas. Pakistani consulates in the US are expected to provide guidance to affected applicants in the coming days,” Dawn reported.
A State Department spokesman declined comment when Arab News reached out via email to confirm if Pakistan was on the list.
The Department has not publicly released the full list of countries or clarified which visa categories would be affected, nor has it provided a timeline for when processing could resume.
Trump has made immigration enforcement a central pillar of his agenda since returning to office last year, reviving and expanding the use of the “public charge” provision of US immigration law to restrict entry by migrants deemed likely to rely on public benefits.
During his previous term as president, Trump imposed sweeping travel restrictions on several Muslim-majority countries, a policy widely referred to as a “Muslim ban,” which was challenged in US courts before a revised version was upheld by the Supreme Court. That policy was later rescinded under the President Joe Biden administration.
The latest visa freeze marks a renewed hardening of US immigration policy, raising uncertainty for migrants from affected countries as Washington reassesses its screening and vetting procedures.
The freeze on visas comes amid an intensifying crackdown on immigration enforcement by the Trump administration. In Minneapolis last week, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, a US citizen, during a federal operation, an incident that has drawn nationwide protests and scrutiny of ICE tactics. Family members and local officials have challenged the federal account of the shooting, even as Department of Homeland Security officials defended the agent’s actions. The case has prompted resignations by federal prosecutors and heightened debate over the conduct of immigration enforcement under the current administration.
