ISLAMABAD: Responding to Canadian accusations that India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver, Pakistan said on Wednesday the charges called into question New Delhi’s reliability as a credible international partner and showed that its “network of extra-territorial killings” had gone global.
On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh leader who was killed by masked gunmen in June in Surrey, outside Vancouver. For years, India has said Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, has links to terrorism, an allegation Nijjar denied.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has rejected outright Canada’s suspicions that New Delhi’s agents had links to the murder.
“India’s assassination of a Canadian national on Canadian soil is a clear violation of international law and the UN principle of state sovereignty,” the foreign ministry for Pakistan, India’s arch-rival and neighbor, said. “It is also a reckless and irresponsible act that calls into question India’s reliability as a credible international partner and its claims for enhanced global responsibilities.”
The foreign office said the news of Indian involvement in Nijjar’s killing showed that “India’s network of extra-territorial killings has now gone global.”
“For decades, Indian intelligence agency RAW has been actively involved in abductions and assassinations in South Asia,” the foreign office said, saying Pakistan had itself been a target of espionage and target killings by RAW.
In December 2022, Pakistan released a dossier accusing Indian intelligence of being behind an attack in Lahore in June 2021. In 2016, Pakistan arrested former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav and convicted him of planning espionage and sabotage and sentenced him to death. Jadhav is still in a Pakistani prison and India says he is innocent.
Speaking to journalists in New York on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Pakistani Foreign Secretary said Islamabad was “not surprised” by Canada’s allegations against the Indian government.
“We have captured one of [India’s] serving naval intelligence officers [Jadhav] on our soil, who is in our custody at the moment, and he has admitted that he had arrived here to create instability and all types of mischief,” Qazi said.
“The situation is developing, so let’s see, but according to our experience, we are not surprised.”
‘Reckless and irresponsible’: Pakistan hits out at India over link to killing of Sikh separatist leader
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‘Reckless and irresponsible’: Pakistan hits out at India over link to killing of Sikh separatist leader
- Canadian PM Trudeau has said there was “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
- Pakistani foreign office says Pakistan had for years been a target of espionage and target killings by Indian intelligence
Pakistan PM approves framework for National Energy Plan aimed at cutting power costs
- Electricity costs in Pakistan have been a major concern for both industries and domestic consumers
- PM Shehbaz Sharif instructs authorities to expedite privatization of power distribution companies
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday approved the framework for a National Energy Plan aimed at ensuring low electricity costs for industries and facilitating domestic consumers, Pakistani state broadcaster reported.
The development took place during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy in Islamabad presided over by Sharif. The Pakistani prime minister directed all ministries and provincial governments to present a “workable and coordinated” strategy under the proposed plan.
Electricity costs in Pakistan have been a major concern for both industries and domestic consumers. Industrial users often face high tariffs that increase production cost while residential consumers struggle with rising bills that impact household budgets.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given in-principle approval for the formulation of a comprehensive National Energy Plan in consultation with relevant ministries and provincial governments,” Radio Pakistan said in a report.
“He emphasized that the government’s top priorities include ensuring electricity supply to industries at the lowest possible cost and providing facilitation for domestic consumers.”
Sharif also approved the establishment of a dedicated secretariat for the National Energy Plan and gave approval to the framework guidelines for auctioning wheeling charges, it added.
Wheeling charges are fees paid for using another company’s power grid to transmit electricity from a generator to a consumer, covering the cost of transporting electricity over someone else’s network.
The report said Sharif instructed authorities to include the recommendations of the climate change, finance, industries and petroleum ministries into the plan.
Sharif also gave instructions to expedite the privatization of power distribution companies (DISCOs) and urged competitive tariffs for industries to boost production capacity.
Fluctuations in fuel prices, inefficiencies in the power sector, and reliance on imported energy have contributed to high electricity costs in Pakistan in recent years, making energy affordability and stability a key focus for government policies and reforms.
Pakistan has pushed energy sector reforms to tackle long-standing issues like circular debt, power theft, and transmission losses, which have caused blackouts and high electricity costs.
In February, Pakistan developed a new energy policy that it says will help the country attract $5 billion in investment through public-private partnerships.
