In pre-election interview to Arab News, incoming Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke of boosting ties with Saudi Arabia

Cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan during the interview with Arab News. (AN photo)
Updated 27 July 2018
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In pre-election interview to Arab News, incoming Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke of boosting ties with Saudi Arabia

  • Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari are the symbols of corruption, says Khan
  • PTI chairman says he wants a mutually beneficial relationship with Washington

ISLAMABAD, July 15: A leading contender to be Pakistan’s next prime minister has pledged to boost ties with Saudi Arabia if his party wins this month’s general election.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said his country enjoyed a “very special relationship with Saudi Arabia” and he planned to nurture it further.
He said it was important for Pakistan to have good relations with other countries, and its ties with Saudi Arabia were unique since the Kingdom had “always been a friend to Pakistan in its difficult times.”
Discussing the ongoing political turmoil in the Middle East, Khan said: “Pakistan should play the role of a healer and bring people together. What it should not do, however, is be partisan because we have already suffered by joining a conflict that was led by the United States … So we need peace and the best thing for us would be to play a role of conciliation among Muslim countries.”
Khan said he believed the military was the only state institution that is properly functioning in Pakistan.

Exclusive interview with Imran Khan

EXCLUSIVE: Pakistan has very special relationship with Saudi Arabia. It has always been very special, because of the sacred sites Makkah and Madinah, but also Saudi has been friend to Pakistan in our difficult times – Imran Khan (official)

Read the full interview here: https://goo.gl/pxbqgi

Posted by Arab News Pakistan on Sunday, 15 July 2018

“All the other state institutions have been devastated by corruption, cronyism and destruction of merit,” he said. “That explains why other institutions are lagging behind. What we need is to raise all institutions up and then make them work together.”
Khan was about to sit in his helicopter to visit Mardan and Swabi when Arab News caught up with him for an interview. The PTI leader exuded confidence as he prepared to meet the public — although according to Pakistan’s top counterterrorism authority, his name features high on a hit list prepared by various militant factions operating in this volatile region.
The PTI leader said he was more confident than ever that his party was in a position to win the election on July 25. “This is the best campaign we have run,” he said. “I think we are the party that is prepared for it and I feel this is our time.”
Khan has woven his election narrative around the twin problems of corruption and selective implementation of the law. After struggling for 22 years, his moment arrived last July when the Supreme Court of Pakistan first barred the three-time prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, from holding public office, before an anti-graft tribunal recently convicted him of owning assets beyond his stated means of income.
Sharif was in London to meet his wife, who suffered a heart attack last month, when the accountability court announced the verdict against him. There was some speculation that he might not return to the country. However, he flew back to Pakistan last Friday with his co-convicted daughter, Maryam, to face the justice system and was immediately thrown behind bars.
“This is the first time a powerful crook has been brought through a court of law and put into prison,” Khan said. “It is a big achievement for Pakistan.”
However, it was still not enough, he said. “Sharif is not the only one. Asif Zardari [of the Pakistan Peoples Party] is the other leader in this country who has accumulated billions of dollars of wealth outside Pakistan … These are the two symbols of corruption.”
Khan said the two politicians had not only “damaged the country by siphoning off money which should go to the people” but also “put pressure on the rupee” by keeping their wealth abroad. “The rupee falls, the dollar rises because of money-laundering, and it is a double blow to the country.”
The PTI leader said that Pakistan was awaiting across-the-board accountability. “Justice is blind,” he said. “It does not care whether someone belongs to PTI, Peoples Party or PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz). Anyone who steals should be put behind bars.
“The problem with Pakistan is that we have not followed this principle. We have one law for the powerful and one for the weak … Only the weak go to jail, the powerful go to the assemblies … That is why this country is suffering.”

Exclusive interview with Imran Khan

EXCLUSIVE: This is the first time a powerful crook has been brought through a court of law. It’s a big achievement for Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif is not the only one, Asif Zardari is the other leader. These are the two symbols of corruption – Imran Khan (official)

Read the full interview here: https://goo.gl/pxbqgi

Posted by Arab News Pakistan on Sunday, 15 July 2018

Khan did not deny that he might have disbursed party tickets among some individuals who reek of corruption. “We do not have any intelligence agency to test if someone is corrupt or not,” he said. “If the law allows, we give them tickets to contest elections. But what we will do when we acquire power is to initiate a robust accountability process. No one will be spared.”
Asked about his top priorities if he managed to form the next government, he said that he would strengthen the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and fix the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The former, he noted, would clamp down on corruption, while the latter, mandated to collect taxes, would make it easier “to pay for our expenditures and have enough money to spend on our human beings.”
Khan once ran a potent campaign against US drone strikes in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern territories and even instructed his party workers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to block NATO supply lines to Afghanistan. However, he said his administration would like to have “mutually beneficial” relations with Washington, though he also expressed his discontent with American governments for using Pakistan “liked a hired gun.”
“Fighting their wars has proved very costly for Pakistan. What we would like to have is a mutually beneficial relationship with the US and with all the neighbors,” he said.


Erdogan ally floats Turkiye constitutional amendment to let him extend his tenure

Updated 8 sec ago
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Erdogan ally floats Turkiye constitutional amendment to let him extend his tenure

ANKARA: The main political ally of longstanding Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that a constitutional amendment should be considered to allow the president to run again in elections set for 2028.
After his re-election last year, Erdogan is serving his last term as president unless parliament calls an early election, according to the constitution. He has ruled Turkiye for more than 21 years, first as prime minister and then as president.
“Wouldn’t it be a natural and right choice to have our president elected once again if terror is eradicated, and if a heavy blow is dealt to inflation and Turkiye secures political and economic stability,” said Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with Erdogan’s ruling AK Party (AKP).
A constitutional amendment to secure Erdogan’s ability to re-run in the presidential elections should be considered, he said in a parliamentary speech to MHP lawmakers.
Bahceli, a staunch nationalist, rattled Turkish politics last month by suggesting that the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) could be allowed to speak in parliament if he announces an end to the group’s insurgency.
Some analysts said the shock suggestion might be motivated by an AKP-MHP desire to win the support of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, parliament’s third-biggest, for a constitutional change that could boost Erdogan’s prospects in 2028 elections.
A constitutional change can be put to a referendum if 360 lawmakers in the 600-seat parliament back it. An early election also needs the support of 360 MPs.
AKP and its allies have 321 seats while DEM has 57.


A tiny village in India where Kamala Harris has ancestral roots is praying for her victory

Updated 05 November 2024
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A tiny village in India where Kamala Harris has ancestral roots is praying for her victory

THULASENDRAPURAM: The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest held a flame before the god. As this tiny South Indian village gathered to pray for Kamala Harris, a gaggle of reporters jostled for space and camera angles.
There's little to distinguish the village of Thulasendrapuram from any other rural community in Tamil Nadu, except its connection to a woman who could become America's first leader with South Asian roots.
As millions of Americans vote, Harris has people rooting for her from thousands of miles away in a village surrounded by rice paddies and coconut trees, where her mother's family has ancestral ties. They talk about her at the local tea shop. Banners and billboards bearing her face are seen throughout the community.
“Our deity is a very powerful God. If we pray well to him, he will make her victorious,” said M. Natarajan, the temple priest that led the prayers in front of the image of Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva.
Harris’ maternal grandfather was born in the village, about 350 kilometers (215 miles) from the southern coastal city of Chennai, more than 100 years ago. As an adult, he moved to Chennai, where he worked as a high-ranking government official until his retirement.
Harris has never visited Thulasendrapuram and she has no living relatives in the village, but people here still venerate the family that made it big in the U.S.
“Our village ancestors' granddaughter is running as a U.S. presidential candidate. Her victory will be happy news for every one of us,” Natarajan said.
The village's sudden fame has helped bring money into the village. Recently, construction began on a water storage tank with funds donated by a local bank. Village residents say it will carry a plaque with Harris’ name.
Harris’ late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in India. After moving to the U.S. to study, she married a Jamaican man, and they named their daughter Kamala, a Sanskrit word for “lotus flower.”
Other than trips during her childhood, Harris hasn’t visited India much — particularly not since becoming vice president — but she has often spoken emotionally about her ties to her late mother’s country of birth. On Tuesday, she released a campaign video highlighting her mother, who arrived in the U.S. at age 19 and became a cancer researcher.
Titled “Mother,” the video ends with a narrator saying: “This daughter of Shyamala, this daughter of the American story, is ready to lead us forward.”
Harris has often talked about how she was guided by the values of her Indian-born grandfather and mother. She has also spoken of her love of south Indian food, especially a type of steamed rice cake called idli.
Harris’ name is engraved in a list of donors — her aunt Sarala Gopalan gave money to the temple in her name — along with that of her grandfather. Outside, a large banner wishes “the daughter of the land” success in the election.
On Tuesday, the village temple also received rare international visitors: two American tourists and one from the U.K., all wearing black t-shirts that said “Kamala Freakin Harris.”
Manikandan Ganesan, a villager who runs a small store near the temple, said Harris’ bid for the presidency has made the village famous. He hopes Harris will eventually visit them.
“Even if she mentioned that she would visit our village, it would make us very happy,” Ganesan said. “Her victory itself will be a big source of happiness for us.”
Village residents also prayed for Harris’ victory in 2020, and set off firecrackers when she became the U.S. Vice President.
For women of the village, the candidate's journey is a source of inspiration.
Local politician Arulmozhi Sudhakar said Harris embodies a significant step toward female empowerment in places like Thulasendrapuram, where a majority of women continue to face discrimination and gender inequality.
“From the time when women were not even allowed to step out of their house, to now a woman from our village contesting in the U.S. presidential election — this brings happiness for us,” Sudhakar said. “The coming generations will see her as a role model to succeed in life.”

Ukraine’s military says it shot down 48 drones and two missiles overnight

Updated 05 November 2024
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Ukraine’s military says it shot down 48 drones and two missiles overnight

KYIV: The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday it shot down 48 out of 79 drones and two missiles launched by Russia overnight.
The air force said the location of 30 other drones had been lost, while another had returned to Russia.


India foreign minister says vandalism of Hindu temples deeply concerning

Updated 05 November 2024
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India foreign minister says vandalism of Hindu temples deeply concerning

  • Vandalism incident happened weeks after Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats, linking them to killing of Sikh separatist leader in 2023 
  • Canada has accused India of conducting a broad campaign against South Asian dissidents in Canada, which New Delhi denies 

SYDNEY: India foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday the vandalism of a Hindu temple in Canada on Monday was deeply concerning.
“What happened yesterday at the Hindu temple in Canada was obviously deeply concerning,” he told reporters in the Australian capital Canberra while on an official visit.
The incident happened weeks after Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats, linking them to the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in 2023 in Canada. Canada has accused the Indian government of conducting a broad campaign against South Asian dissidents in Canada, which New Delhi denies.
The incident has increased tensions between Canada and India, and between Sikh separatists and Indian diplomats.
Two Hindu temples were also vandalized in Canberra last month, which Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said was upsetting for members of the Indian community.
“People across Australia have a right to be safe and respected, people also have a right to peaceful protest, people have a right to express their views peacefully,” she told reporters.
“We draw a line between that and violence, incitement of hatred or vandalism,” she added.
Wong said Australia had expressed its views to India about Canada’s allegations over the targeting of Sikh separatists, and Canberra respected Canada’s judicial process. Jaishankar said it was unacceptable that Indian diplomats had been placed under surveillance by Canada.
“Canada has developed a pattern of making allegations without providing specifics,” he said.


India foreign minister says vandalism of Hindu temples deeply concerning

Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

India foreign minister says vandalism of Hindu temples deeply concerning

  • Canada has accused the Indian government of conducting a broad campaign against South Asian dissidents in Canada, which New Delhi denies

SYDNEY: India foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday the vandalism of a Hindu temple in Canada on Monday was deeply concerning.
“What happened yesterday at the Hindu temple in Canada was obviously deeply concerning,” he told reporters in the Australian capital Canberra while on an official visit.
The incident happened weeks after Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats, linking them to the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in 2023 in Canada. Canada has accused the Indian government of conducting a broad campaign against South Asian dissidents in Canada, which New Delhi denies.
The incident has increased tensions between Canada and India, and between Sikh separatists and Indian diplomats.
Two Hindu temples were also vandalized in Canberra last month, which Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said was upsetting for members of the Indian community.
“People across Australia have a right to be safe and respected, people also have a right to peaceful protest, people have a right to express their views peacefully,” she told reporters.
“We draw a line between that and violence, incitement of hatred or vandalism,” she added.
Wong said Australia had expressed its views to India about Canada’s allegations over the targeting of Sikh separatists, and Canberra respected Canada’s judicial process. Jaishankar said it was unacceptable that Indian diplomats had been placed under surveillance by Canada.
“Canada has developed a pattern of making allegations without providing specifics,” he said.