ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday Pakistan was in “daily contact” with Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, as well as longtime ally China, amid growing fears that the worst confrontation in two decades with India could escalate further.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors have been at fever-pitch since Wednesday when India struck multiple locations in Pakistan in response to a deadly Apr. 22 attack targeting tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26. New Delhi blames the attack on Islamabad.
Pakistan, denying any involvement in the Kashmir violence, said it shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation for the Indian strikes. Violence has escalated since, with both Pakistan and India accusing each other of carrying out waves of drone attacks.
World powers from the US to China have urged the two countries to calm tensions.
“On a daily basis we are in contact with our brothers in the Arab Gulf,” Asif said while addressing the National Assembly. “Similarly our foreign minister, who is also the deputy prime minister, is in daily contact with UAE, Saudi, Qatar and even China.”
He added that Türkiye, China and Azerbaijan had “declared open support” for Pakistan while the rest of the world was staying “neutral” in the conflict.
Asif said the Iranian foreign minister had visited Pakistan this week and “discussed various options” to de-escalate tensions.
US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday also reiterated the call for de-escalation.
“We want this thing to de-escalate as quickly as possible. We can’t control these countries, though,” he said in an interview on Fox News show “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
The Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Friday.
Al-Jubeir was in India on Thursday and met Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who said he “shared India’s perspectives on firmly countering terrorism” with him.
The relationship between India and Pakistan has been fraught with tension since they gained independence from colonial Britain in 1947. The countries have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, and clashed many times since.
The countries, which both claim Kashmir in full and rule over parts of it separately, acquired nuclear weapons in the 1990s.
Pakistan says in ‘daily contact’ with Gulf states, China as hostilities rise with India
https://arab.news/j2xw4
Pakistan says in ‘daily contact’ with Gulf states, China as hostilities rise with India
- Defense minister says top officials speaking regularly with UAE, Saudi, Qatar, China
- Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs to visit Pakistan on Friday after Delhi visit
Medical team inspects ex-PM Imran Khan's eye condition at Rawalpindi prison — official
- Khan has suffered severe vision loss in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion, a court-appointed lawyer said this week
- The ex-premier's party has rejected his medical examination 'behind closed doors, without the presence of personal physicians or family'
ISLAMABAD: A team of doctors on Sunday inspected jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's eye condition at Rawalpindi's Adiala prison, the jail superintendent said, after his lawyer reported a significant loss of sight in his right eye.
The development followed a report submitted to the Supreme Court by a lawyer appointed as amicus curiae who was asked to visit Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail earlier this month. The report said the 73-year-old had suffered severe vision loss in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion, leaving him with only 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
The findings triggered a sit-in by an opposition alliance, including members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, demanding his immediate transfer to Islamabad’s Al-Shifa Hospital. Khan was also allowed to speak to his sons for about 20 minutes, according to his family, despite the former premier’s limited interactions with family and legal team in recent months due to restrictions that the PTI has challenged in court.
In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the Adiala Jail superintendent said a team of expert doctors from various hospitals had arrived at the prison with necessary medical equipment and medicines and was conducting a detailed examination of the ex-premier's eye.
"Detailed eye check-up is underway under the supervision of the Medical Board," the statement read. "Medical examination is being conducted under strict security arrangements. The report of the medical team is likely to be compiled soon."
The development comes a day after Pakistan’s government said on Saturday it has decided to transfer jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to a hospital and form a medical board for his eye treatment.
“Imran Khan has been provided the facility to speak with his sons on the phone and, in view of his health, it has also been decided to transfer him to hospital and constitute a medical board,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on X. “The government gives priority to humanitarian considerations and legal requirements.”
But Khan's PTI party rejected his medical examination "behind closed doors, without the presence of his personal physicians or even a family representative."
"A medical assessment carried out in secrecy does not restore public confidence; it deepens suspicion," Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari, a PTI spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday evening.
"Access to independent medical professionals and family oversight is not a privilege, it is a fundamental right of any detainee. Denying that access undermines due process and fuels legitimate fears about the credibility of the findings."
Meanwhile, the opposition alliance continued its protest sit-in at parliament for a third consecutive day on Sunday to move the ex-premier to the hospital.
The former cricket star-turned-politician has been in prison since 2023 after being convicted in a graft case. He was removed from office in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.
