ISLAMABAD: Pakistan premier Imran Khan’s government backed down Friday over its controversial decision to appoint a member of a persecuted religious minority as an economic adviser, underscoring the pressure it faces from hardline Islamists.
Atif Mian, an MIT-educated Pakistani-American economics professor at Princeton University, was recently named member of a new economic advisory council.
Mian is an Ahmadi, a religious minority which has long been persecuted in deeply conservative Muslim-majority Pakistan, and the announcement sparked swift backlash from Islamist groups.
Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, but their beliefs are seen as blasphemous in most mainstream Islamic schools of thought. They are designated non-Muslims in Pakistan’s constitution.
Government officials initially defended the decision, but within days caved to mounting pressure from the religious right.
“The government has decided to withdraw the nomination of Atif Mian from the economic advisory committee,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry wrote on his official Twitter account, saying the government wanted to work with all sections of society, including Islamic clerics.
Blasphemy is a hugely inflammatory charge in Pakistan, and can carry the death penalty.
The state has never executed a blasphemy convict, but mere accusations of insulting Islam have sparked mob lynchings, vigilante murders, and mass protests.
Khan caused concern with his full-throated defense of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws during his election campaign earlier this year, with fears he was mainstreaming extremist thought which could deepen sectarian divides, empower radical groups, and even provoke violence.
Analysts have warned that Pakistan’s economy is the most urgent challenge facing Khan’s new government, as a balance-of-payments crisis looms.
The government has said it will decide by the end of this month if it needs to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Imran Khan’s government caves in to pressure over minority economic adviser
Imran Khan’s government caves in to pressure over minority economic adviser
- Atif Mian, an MIT-educated Pakistani-American economics professor at Princeton University, was recently named member of a new economic advisory council
- Mian is an Ahmadi, a religious minority which has long been persecuted in deeply conservative Muslim-majority Pakistan
Modi to visit Kuwait for the first trip by Indian PM in four decades
- Indian nationals make up the largest expatriate community in Kuwait
- Modi’s visit will likely focus on strengthening economic ties, experts say
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kuwait on Saturday, marking the first trip of an Indian premier to the Gulf state in more than four decades.
With more than 1 million Indian nationals living and working in Kuwait, they are the largest expatriate community in the country, making up around 21 percent of its 4.3 million population and 30 percent of its workforce.
Modi will be visiting Kuwait for two days at the invitation of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
“This will be the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Kuwait in 43 years,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“During the visit, the Prime Minister will hold discussions with the leadership of Kuwait. Prime Minister will also interact with the Indian community in Kuwait.”
India is among Kuwait’s top trade partners, with bilateral trade valued at around $10.4 billion in 2023-24.
Experts expect the visit to focus on strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
“Kuwait has a strong Indian expatriate community who have contributed to the economic development of the country,” Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the Center for West Asian Studies in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Arab News.
“In my view, the focus would be on the economy. Politically, it underlines that Kuwait is an important regional country and remains an important partner of India.”
Quamar said that trade and economic ties will likely get a boost from the visit, as well as cooperation in energy, infrastructure, financial technology, education and culture.
Modi’s visit reflects how India’s engagement with Arab states has increasingly focused on the economy, said Kabir Taneja, a deputy director with the Strategic Studies program at the Observer Research Foundation.
“India’s engagement with Arab states is increasingly rooted in a ‘new’ Middle East, that is, it is economy-led,” he told Arab News.
“This visit is a good opportunity for India to expand beyond its good relations with UAE and Saudi Arabia and explore opportunities with the smaller Arab states which includes Kuwait.”
Modi to visit Kuwait for first trip by Indian PM in four decades
- Indian nationals make up the largest expatriate community in Kuwait
- Modi’s visit will likely focus on strengthening economic ties, say experts
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kuwait on Saturday, marking the first trip to the Gulf state by an Indian premier in more than four decades.
With more than 1 million Indian nationals living and working in Kuwait they are the largest expatriate community in the country, making up around 21 percent of its 4.3 million population and 30 percent of its workforce.
Modi’s two-day visit is at the invitation of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
“This will be the first visit of an Indian prime minister to Kuwait in 43 years,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“During the visit, the prime minister will hold discussions with the leadership of Kuwait. (The) prime minister will also interact with the Indian community in Kuwait.”
India is among Kuwait’s top trade partners, with bilateral trade valued at around $10.4 billion in 2023-24.
Experts expect the visit to focus on strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
“Kuwait has a strong Indian expatriate community who have contributed to the economic development of the country,” Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the Center for West Asian Studies in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Arab News.
“In my view, the focus would be on the economy. Politically, it underlines that Kuwait is an important regional country and remains an important partner of India.”
Quamar said that trade and economic ties will likely get a boost from the visit, as well as cooperation in energy, infrastructure, financial technology, education and culture.
Modi’s visit reflects how India’s engagement with Arab states has increasingly focused on the economy, said Kabir Taneja, a deputy director with the Strategic Studies program at the Observer Research Foundation.
“India’s engagement with Arab states is increasingly rooted in a ‘new’ Middle East, that is, it is economy-led,” he told Arab News.
“This visit is a good opportunity for India to expand beyond its good relations with UAE and Saudi Arabia and explore opportunities with the smaller Arab states, which includes Kuwait.”
Putin says fall of Assad not a ‘defeat’ for Russia
- Bashar Assad fled to Moscow earlier this month after a shock militant advance ended half a century of rule by the Assad family
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the fall of ex-Syrian leader Bashar Assad was not a “defeat” for Russia, claiming Moscow had achieved its goals in the country.
Assad fled to Moscow earlier this month after a shock militant advance ended half a century of rule by the Assad family, marked by repression and allegations of vast human rights abuses and civil war.
His departure came more than 13 years after his crackdown on democracy protests precipitated a civil war.
Russia was Assad’s key backer and had swept to his aid in 2015, turning the tide of the conflict.
“You want to present what is happening in Syria as a defeat for Russia,” Putin said at his annual end-of-year press conference.
“I assure you it is not,” he said, responding to a question from an American journalist.
“We came to Syria 10 years ago so that a terrorist enclave would not be created there like in Afghanistan. On the whole, we have achieved our goal,” Putin said.
The Kremlin leader said he had yet to meet with Assad in Moscow, but planned to do so soon.
“I haven’t yet seen president Assad since his arrival in Moscow but I plan to, I will definitely speak with him,” he said.
Putin was addressing the situation in Syria publicly for the first time since Assad’s fall.
Moscow is keen to secure the fate of two military bases in the country.
The Tartus naval base and Hmeimim air base are Russia’s only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union and have been key to the Kremlin’s activities in Africa and the Middle East.
Putin said there was support for Russia keeping hold of the bases.
“We maintain contacts with all those who control the situation there, with all the countries of the region. An overwhelming majority of them say they are interested in our military bases staying there,” Putin said.
He also said Russia had evacuated 4,000 Iranian soldiers from the country at the request from Tehran.
Saudi tourist swims for 5 hours to help his wife stranded in Pattaya waters
- Saudi tourists stranded in the dark for hours before rescuers reached them
- About 188,000 Saudi tourists visited Thailand between January and October this year
BANGKOK: A Saudi tourist swam for more than five hours to reach shore and find help for his wife after their jet ski capsized in Pattaya Bay, Thailand, local authorities said on Thursday.
On Saturday, Abdulrahman Mahdi M. Al-Amri and his wife, Atheer Saeed A. Al-Amri, were reported missing at 6:30 p.m., prompting an immediate search and rescue operation by Pattaya City authorities.
“We received a call at 6:30 p.m. from a jet ski operator that one of their jet skis and the clients were missing. So, we set out on a search operation,” Pattaya City Sea Rescue’s Nattanon Chamnankul, who led the search and rescue mission, told Arab News.
The rescue team had been searching for more than five hours and was navigating the dark seas, strong winds and drizzle to no avail. But as their boat returned to Pattaya’s Jomtien beach, authorities found Abdulrahman swimming toward the shore.
“The husband had swum for five hours to reach the shore and was worried about his wife. He used the lights on the beach as a guide,” Chamnankul said, adding that the 26-year-old man was in a state of extreme fatigue when he was rescued.
The rescue boat then took him on board and continued the search for his wife.
“We found his wife at 2 a.m., six hours after the search began,” Chamnankul said. “At first the sea was dark, but we heard a small voice in the sea and it was her.”
Their jet ski had capsized in the middle of the ocean and its engine was damaged by seawater, according to Nipon, an officer at the Pattaya Tourist Police.
After the jet ski ran out of fuel, Abdulrahman decided to swim to shore to get help.
Although Atheer had a minor injury to her left leg, Nipon said the couple had no serious medical issues and had since returned to their home country after settling a damage cost with the jet ski operator for 50,000 Thai baht ($1,400).
Thailand has become an increasingly popular destination for Saudi travelers since the normalization of ties between the Southeast Asian country and Saudi Arabia in 2022.
The Gulf state is considered a high-potential market by Thai tourism experts, with about 178,000 Saudi tourists visiting in 2023, and another 188,000 between January and October this year, the highest number among visitors from that region.
The latest data shows that the number of Saudi tourists has almost doubled compared with 2022, when the number was about 96,000.
Syria on table as migration hawks hold pre-EU summit talks
- Since Assad’s ouster a string of EU governments have suspended processing asylum requests from Syria
BRUSSELS: A group of EU immigration hawks held talks ahead of a summit of the bloc’s leaders on Thursday — the second consecutive gathering of its kind — upping pressure on Brussels to boost migrant returns.
Denmark hosted the meeting, co-organized with Italy and the Netherlands, which was attended by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Cyprus, Greece, Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden and Hungary.
The upheaval in Syria was one of the issues on the table, as some countries hope the toppling of Bashar Assad will allow for the return home of refugees who fled the country’s civil war.
“If the situation in Syria is such that people can return, we will also work together on that,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told reporters in Brussels.
Since Assad’s ouster a string of EU governments have suspended processing asylum requests from Syria, and Austria said it would look to start sending people back.
The gathering follows a similar get-together held on the sidelines of the previous EU council — the meeting of the bloc’s 27 leaders — in October.
It seems bound to become a stable fixture, with Schoof saying the Netherlands will host the next round of informal talks, and crystallizes the growing influence of the hard right within the bloc.
Migration was top of the agenda in October and will be discussed again on Thursday at the last EU summit of the year.
“It is pretty clear that national leaders are very keen on keeping von der Leyen’s feet to the fire,” said Jacob Kirkegaard, an analyst at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.
Italy said in a note that von der Leyen updated the group on the commission’s work on a new legal framework to increase and speed up returns of irregular migrants — one of the priorities set out two months ago.
The EU chief, who officially started her second term this month, has promised to deliver a proposal early next year.
Photos shared by Rome, which hosted the first pre-summit meeting, showed von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Denmark’s’ Mette Frederiksen and others smiling as they huddled around a small table.
Irregular border crossings detected into the European Union are down 40 percent this year after an almost 10-year peak in 2023 — but migration is high on the political agenda following gains by the far right in elections in several countries.
