ISLAMABAD: US’ special representative on Afghan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Islamabad on Sunday, in order to seek cooperation from Pakistan on expediting the peace talks with the Taliban, a statement released by the Foreign Office said.
Khalilzad, along with his team members, held delegation-level talks with additional secretary Aftab Khokhar and other officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Sunday.
“Both sides discussed bilateral relations, peace and security situation in the region, exchange of views on mutual interest including Afghan peace process,” excerpts from the statement read.
Khokhar, for his part, informed the delegation that Pakistan would continue to play its role in the Afghan peace process, as per the initiative taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“Pakistan counselled all parties to move toward the political solution... in Afghanistan,” the statement said, even as Khalilzad reiterated that “Pakistan’s role is crucial for the lasting peace in the region.”
Khalilzad has held several rounds of talks with Taliban representatives since October last year. However, despite positive signs, they haven’t reached a consensus on the matter.
On Friday, PM Khan met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the meeting by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, wherein they discussed solutions for a negotiated settlement to the 17-year-old Afghan war.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan,” the FO said on Saturday, adding that “[PM Khan] also underlined Pakistan’s firm support for an Afghan-led and Afghan owned peace process for political solution in Afghanistan.”
US special envoy arrives in Pakistan to take Afghan peace talks forward
US special envoy arrives in Pakistan to take Afghan peace talks forward
- Islamabad’s role is crucial for everlasting peace in the region, Khalilzad says
- Visit follows a meeting between PM Khan and President Ghani on Friday
India to resume border ceremony with Pakistan
- For years, the ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border has been a popular tourist attraction on both sides
- Visitors from both nations come to cheer on soldiers goose-stepping in a chest-puffing theatrical show of pageantry
AMRITSAR: India said Tuesday it would resume a daily border ceremony with neighboring Pakistan which it briefly halted earlier this month following the most serious conflict between the nuclear armed arch-rivals for decades.
At least 60 people died in fighting triggered by an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing — a charge Pakistan denies.
India’s Border Security force said the sunset ceremony on its side would be open to the media on Tuesday and to the general public on Wednesday at the Attari-Wagah land border in the northern state of Punjab.
Pakistan said it never stopped the ceremony, with its troops marching on its side of the border alone.
The ceremony however is expected to be a low-key affair with diplomatic measures against Pakistan still in place, including the closure of the land border.
For years, the ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border has been a popular tourist attraction.
Visitors from both sides come to cheer on soldiers goose-stepping in a chest-puffing theatrical show of pageantry.
The frontier was a colonial creation at the violent end of British rule in 1947 which sliced the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
The daily border ritual has largely endured over the decades, surviving innumerable diplomatic flare-ups and military skirmishes.
Thousands protest as suspected drone strike kills 4 children in northwest Pakistan
- Militants also have been using quadcopters to target troops
- Still unclear who was responsible for the drone attack in Mir Ali
PESHAWAR: A suspected drone strike killed four children and wounded five others in northwest Pakistan, prompting thousands of residents to stage a protest by placing the children’s bodies on a main road to demand justice, local elders said on Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind Monday’s attack in Mir Ali, which has been a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, and there was no comment from the army.
“We are not blaming anyone, but we want justice, and the government should tell us who killed our children,” local tribal elder Mufti Baitullah said.
He warned that the protest, currently staged at one regional roadblock, could expand if authorities fail to answer.
“We will not bury the bodies until we are told who is responsible for killing our innocent children,” he said, as people chanted “we want justice.”
There have been civilian casualties in military strikes in some parts of the country in recent years. In March, 11 people, including women and children, were killed when a drone attack targeted a house in the northwestern city of Mardan.
A statement by the provincial government at the time had only said that there was “collateral damage” in an operation that was conducted to target militants in a remote village. Residents in March also rallied until the government agreed to compensate the victims’ families.
Abdullah Khan, the managing director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies think tank, said Tuesday that militants also have been using quadcopters to target troops, but it still was unclear who was responsible for the drone attack in Mir Ali.
The latest civilian casualties came amid ongoing military operations against the Pakistani Taliban, which have a strong presence in Mir Ali, a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are a separate insurgent group from the Afghan Taliban, and they often target troops in the region.
Nayak Muhammad Dawar, a provincial minister, condemned the attack in a statement Tuesday. He said that investigations were ongoing.
Mir Ali and nearby districts located near Afghanistan were long a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups. The TTP have stepped up attacks in the region in recent months.
Pakistan’s Punjab orders heatwave precautions at livestock markets ahead of Eid
- Temporary sheds, animal health centers, water sprinklers and mist fans to be installed
- Despite heatwave, people are thronging to livestock markets ahead of Eid Al-Adha
ISLAMABAD: The disaster management authority in Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab on Tuesday ordered that temporary sheds and health centers be set up and water supply ensured at livestock markets as part of precautionary measures during an ongoing heatwave ahead of the Eid Al-Adha festival.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a warning that most plain areas of the country will remain under the influence of a severe heatwave from May 20-24, with maximum daytime temperatures in the Sindh, southern Punjab, and Balochistan provinces expected to remain 4°C to 6°C above normal.
Despite the heatwave, people are thronging to livestock markets to buy sacrificial animals, with Eid Al-Adha less than three weeks away.
Muslims observe Eid Al-Adha, expected to fall in the first week of June this year, by slaughtering animals such as sheep, cows and goats, with the meat shared among family and friends, and a portion donated to the poor.
“Water supply should be ensured for animals in the markets,” the Provincial Disaster Management Authority Punjab said in a statement, highlighting that the heatwave was likely to continue into June.
“Establishment of temporary sheds and veterinary health centers should also be ensured at the markets.”
The government also ordered installing water sprinklers and mist fans, and said mobile medical teams and the Rescue 1122 service would also be deployed to provide medical assistance to traders and staff at markets.
Banners with information about heatwaves and safety tips should be displayed at the entrances and exits of livestock markets while loudspeakers should be used to inform visitors to stay hydrated, use shaded areas and report any emergencies immediately, the government handout said.
Pakistan ranks among the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change and has grappled in recent years with increasingly frequent extreme weather events like deadly heat waves and floods.
In June 2024, almost 700 people died in a heat wave in less than a week, with most deaths recorded in the port city of Karachi, according to the Edhi Foundation charity. A 2015 heatwave claimed over 2,000 lives in Karachi alone while floods in 2022 left more than 1,700 dead and over 33 million displaced nationwide.
Pakistan textiles body says over 900 mills shut due to exports scheme
- Under Export Facilitation Scheme, exporters can import raw materials and inputs at 0 percent sales tax
- However, an 18 percent tax on the same inputs has to be paid if they are produced locally in Pakistan
KARACHI: Pakistan’s textiles body said this week over 900 factories, including ginning and spinning mills, had been shut down due to a government export scheme that had disrupted operations and strained finances.
The Export Facilitation Scheme was launched in 2021, with the aim of simplifying the import of raw materials, machinery and input goods for exporters by offering minimal duties and taxes. Under the scheme, exporters can import raw materials and inputs at 0 percent sales tax. However, an 18 percent tax on the same inputs has to be paid if they are produced locally in Pakistan.
The textile industry is a major player in the country’s economy, contributing significantly to exports and employment. It’s one of the largest manufacturing sectors, employing about 45 percent of the industrial workforce and accounting for a substantial portion of Pakistan’s total exports.
The industry is known for its cotton production, spinning capacity, and exports of various textile products.
“Over 800 ginning factories and 120 spinning mills have shut down and millions of livelihoods lost,” All Pakistan Textile Mills Association Chairman Kamran Arshad said on Monday in a statement, urging the government to amend the Export Facilitation Scheme.
“The crisis has reached the weaving sector, with looms shutting down and workers protesting on the streets.”
He urged the government to remove yarn and fabric from the exports scheme to halt the textile industry’s downfall.
“It’s an irrational, self-destructive policy that punishes domestic production and rewards imports,” the statement said.
Pakistani cotton was taxed at 18 percent while imported cotton enjoyed sales tax exemption through the export scheme, the statement said, adding that sales tax refunds could only be filed after a six to 10 months cycle after the product was manufactured and exported.
“Only partial refunds of 60-70 percent are issued once a month,” it added. “The remaining amount is deferred for manual processing where there is already a backlog of over $392 million and no progress on clearing it over the last four to five years.”
As the eighth largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia, the textile industry contributes 8.5 percent to Pakistan’s gross domestic product.
Chinese weapons get rare battle test in India-Pakistan fighting
- Pakistan accounts for around 63 percent of China’s arms exports, according to SIPRI
- In recent fighting, Pakistan used J10-C Vigorous Dragon, JF-17 Thunder planes, armed with air-to-air missiles
SHANGHAI: Just over a week after a ceasefire with India was struck, Pakistan’s foreign minister is visiting his country’s largest arms supplier, China, with the performance of the weapons they supplied a matter of burning interest for analysts and governments alike.
The most striking claim from four days of fighting earlier this month was Islamabad’s contention its Chinese-supplied jets had shot down six Indian aircraft — including three French-made Rafale fighters — with some observers seeing this as a symbol of Beijing’s rising military might.
Experts who spoke to AFP cautioned that a lack of confirmed information and the limited scope of fighting made it difficult to draw solid conclusions about the Chinese equipment’s prowess.
Still, “this was a rare opportunity for the international community to gauge Chinese military hardware on the battlefield against Western (Indian) hardware,” said Lyle Morris from the Asia Society Policy Institute.
While China pours hundreds of billions of dollars into defense spending each year, it lags far behind the United States as an arms exporter.
China’s drones are used in counter-terrorism operations, and its weapons have been deployed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen and against rebel forces in African countries, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) senior researcher Siemon Wezeman told AFP.
“But this is the first time since the 1980s that a state has used large numbers of Chinese weapons of many types in action against another state,” said Wezeman, referencing the Iran-Iraq war when they were used on both sides.
Pakistan accounts for around 63 percent of China’s arms exports, according to SIPRI.
In the recent fighting, Pakistan used the J10-C Vigorous Dragon and JF-17 Thunder planes, armed with air-to-air missiles.
It was the first time the J10-C has been used in active combat, said the Stimson Center’s Yun Sun.
Islamabad’s air defenses also used Chinese kit — including the HQ-9P long-range surface-to-air missile system — and deployed Chinese radar as well as armed and reconnaissance drones.
“This was the first sustained fight where the bulk of Pakistan’s forces used Chinese weapons and, basically, relied on them as their primary option,” said Bilal Khan, founder of the Toronto-based Quwa Defense News & Analysis Group.
India has not officially confirmed any of its aircraft were lost, although a senior security source told AFP three jets had crashed on home soil without giving the make or cause.
Rafale maker Dassault has also not commented.
The Rafale is considered one of Europe’s most high-tech jets, while the J10-C “is not even China’s most advanced,” said James Char from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
But if Pakistan’s claims are true, “this should not be surprising... considering that the Rafale is a multirole fighter, whereas the J-10C was built for aerial combat and is also equipped with a stronger radar,” Char said.
The Chinese air-defense systems, however, “do not appear to have been as effective as the Pakistan Air Force would have hoped,” said Quwa’s Khan, after India said it had neutralized one near the eastern border city of Lahore.
If true, said SIPRI’s Wezeman, that “would be a bigger success and more than balance the loss of some aircraft in the process.”
In the days after the dogfight reports, J10-C maker Chengdu Aircraft Company’s stock soared over forty percent.
“We most likely will see more orders going to Chinese contractors,” said the Stimson Center’s Sun.
However, “it will take time and significant reorientation by Chinese arms manufacturers for the country to be a big arms exporter,” said Jennifer Kavanagh from the US think tank Defense Priorities.
She noted that China “cannot mass-produce certain key inputs, including aircraft engines.”
Wezeman said he thought the stock markets “overreacted,” as “we still have to see how well all the weapons used worked and if it really means much.”
Even if more data emerges, the conflict still does not reveal much about the Chinese military’s own capabilities, the analysts said.
China’s own systems and weapons are much more advanced than what it exports.
And while having high-tech hardware is important, “much more important is how those weapons are used,” said Kavanagh.
Brian Hart of CSIS said he would caution against “reading too much” into recent developments.
“I don’t think you can make direct comparisons to how these Chinese-made systems would fare in different environments against more advanced adversaries like the United States,” he explained.
“Since the number of data points is small and since we don’t know much about the proficiency and training of the personnel on either side, it is hard to draw definitive conclusions.”
