ISLAMABAD, Jul 10: For the first time, political activity and elections campaign is in full swing in the districts of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) merged with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as the date for vote approaches near.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) says it has completed all necessary arrangements for “free, transparent and peaceful” holding of elections in the tribal districts for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly scheduled for July 20, 2019.
Candidates from all political parties are busy in electioneering with their campaign trail pledges, visiting different areas in their constituencies to ensure maximum voter turnout.
Talking to APP, Lecturer of School of Politics and International Relations at Quaid-e-Azam University Salman Ali Khan Bettani said that Elections in erstwhile FATA have inculcated a new life in the dream of progress, change and prosperity for the region.
People of erstwhile FATA eagerly await first ever polls
People of erstwhile FATA eagerly await first ever polls
- The seven tribal districts will go to vote on July 20
- Electioneering is in full swing to ensure maximum voter turnout
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia discuss regional tensions after Indian strikes, Islamabad’s response
- The ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India has alarmed world powers and friendly nations
- There have been fears that the hostilities may turn into a full-blown war, if not intervened timely
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, has spoken with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and discussed with him escalating regional tensions, the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Saturday, following Pakistan’s retaliation to Indian military strikes on three of its air bases.
Pakistan said India conducted drone strikes on its Nur Khan, Murid and Shorkot air bases early Saturday, adding that most of them were intercepted by the country’s air defense systems.
India said Pakistan had overnight launched several high-speed missiles targeting multiple air bases and civilian infrastructure in the northern Indian state of Punjab and Indian-administered Kashmir.
The situation has alarmed world powers and friendly countries that the hostilities, sparked by a massacre in Indian-administered Kashmir, may lead to a full-blown war, if not intervened.
“Dar today spoke with the Foreign Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HH Faisal bin Farhan. The DPM/FM apprised him on the current situation in the region following last night’s Indian attacks and Pakistan’s subsequent response,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
“Both leaders agreed to maintain close contact.”
Tensions between the two neighbors escalated after India on Wednesday conducted missile strikes deep inside Pakistan, which officials said killed 31 civilians in multiple cities.
Drone and missile incursions and munition fire between the two sides have since killed around 20 more people, mostly on the Indian side, sparking diplomatic calls for restraint.
“Saudi FM expressed condolences over the loss of innocent lives and appreciated Pakistan’s measured and restrained response,” Islamabad’s foreign ministry said.
The statement came a day after Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir’s daylong visit to Pakistan, which followed his surprise stop in New Delhi for talks with Indian officials.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan share close diplomatic and strategic relations. The Kingdom has extended significant support to Pakistan during prolonged economic challenges faced by Islamabad in recent years, including external financing and assistance with International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programs.
Saudi Arabia has also contributed to global peacemaking efforts by hosting talks and mediating prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.
New Delhi has accused Pakistan of backing the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. Islamabad denies it and has offered to participate in a credible, international probe.
Pakistan and India have fought multiple wars, including two of them over the disputed region of Kashmir, since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both rule the region in part but claim it in full.
New Delhi routinely accuses Pakistan of supporting armed separatist militants in Kashmir. Islamabad denies the allegations and says it supports the Kashmiri people diplomatically and politically.
A look at troubled legacy of 1947 Partition creating India, Pakistan
- In August 1947, Britain divided Indian Subcontinent into two countries, Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, but left the fate of then princely state Kashmir undecided
- Excitement over independence was quickly overshadowed by some of the worst bloodletting that left up to 1 million people dead as gangs of Hindus and Muslims slaughtered each other
NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan’s latest military conflict has expanded, days after India carried out airstrikes in Pakistan that followed an attack by gunmen on tourists in India-controlled Kashmir last month.
The two nuclear-armed rivals have exchanged artillery shells, gunfire, missiles and drones, killing civilians on both sides and raising concerns of a wider war.
The fresh round of confrontation is yet another escalation of a decades-long conflict over the disputed Kashmir region that began after a bloody partition of India in 1947.
Here’s a look at the troubled legacy of Partition that has dictated the future course of India-Pakistan relations:
PARTITION CREATED TWO NEW NATIONS
In August 1947, Britain divided the Indian Sub-continent, its former colony, into two countries — Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. The fate of Kashmir — then a princely state — was left undecided.
Excitement over independence was quickly overshadowed by some of the worst bloodletting that left up to 1 million people dead as gangs of Hindus and Muslims slaughtered each other.
IT DIVIDED MILLIONS OF FAMILIES
Creating two independent nations also tore apart millions of Hindu and Muslim families in one of the world’s largest peacetime migrations.
Many fled their homes and lost their property, never imagining that they would not be able to return.
At least 15 million people were displaced.
BOTH NATIONS LAY CLAIM OVER KASHMIR
Within months, both India and Pakistan laid claim over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region.
Kashmir’s Hindu ruler wanted to stay independent, but local armed uprisings flared in various parts of Kashmir, along with a raid by tribesmen from Pakistan. It forced the monarch to seek help from India, which offered military assistance on condition that the kingdom link itself to India.
The Indian military entered the region soon after, with the tribal raid spiraling into the first of two wars between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. That war ended in 1948 with a UN-brokered ceasefire. Kashmir was divided between the two young nations by the heavily militarized Ceasefire Line that was later named Line of Control.
A UN-sponsored vote that was promised to Kashmiris would have enabled the region’s people to decide whether to be part Pakistan or India. That vote has never been held.
India and Pakistan fought another war, in 1965, and a limited conflict, in 1999, over Indian-controlled Kashmir.
INSURGENCY IN KASHMIR
Kashmiri discontent with Indian rule took root as successive governments reneged on a promise to allow a referendum while largely peaceful movements against Indian control were suppressed harshly.
By 1989, Indian-controlled Kashmir was in the throes of a full-blown rebellion.
India decries the rebellion as Islamabad’s proxy war and state-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies that.
Many Muslim Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle and support the rebel goal that the territory be united, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
US asks India, Pakistan to ‘avoid miscalculation,’ China urges restraint amid spiraling standoff
- The development comes amid days of clashes between the neighbors, which began after Wednesday’s missile strikes by India deep inside Pakistan
- Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against India in wee hours of Saturday after Islamabad said Indian attacks had targeted three Pakistani air bases
ISLAMABAD: The Unites States (US) has asked Pakistan and China to “avoid miscalculation,” while China urged both its neighbors to exercise restrain, amid a rise in cross-border incursions by Pakistani and Indian militaries.
Rubio held separate telephonic conversations with Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers for the first known time since the conflict erupted, in a bid to lower tensions between the two nuclear-armed archfoes.
The development came amid reports that Pakistan’s prime minister had summoned on Saturday a meeting of the country’s top nuclear body, but Defense Minister Khawaja Asif denied any such move by Islamabad.
“Secretary Rubio emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,” the US State Department said on Saturday.
“He further proposed US support in facilitating productive discussions to avert future disputes.”
Rubio’s call with the two FMs followed Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes against India early Saturday that targeted multiple military sites, including a missile storage facility, after Indian attacks on its air bases.
India said it targeted Pakistani military bases after Islamabad fired several “high-speed missiles” at multiple Indian bases in the country’s Punjab state. The claims could not be independently verified.
The latest escalation between Pakistan and India was triggered by an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the assault, Islamabad denies the charge and has called for a credible, international investigation.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled only in part by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic republic of Pakistan. It has been the site of wars, insurgency and diplomatic standoffs over the decades.
Days of clashes between the two neighbors, which began after Wednesday’s missile strikes by New Delhi deep inside Pakistan, have killed nearly 50 people on both sides and brought the nuclear-armed arch-foes to the brink of a full-blown war.
Rubio separately held a telephonic conversation with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir in a bid to lower tensions between the two sides.
“He continued to urge both parties to find ways to deescalate and offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts,” the State Department said.
Pakistan said that, before its retaliatory attacks, India had fired missiles at three air bases, including one close to the capital, Islamabad, but Pakistani air defenses intercepted most of them. Five civilians were killed in the latest strikes in the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir, the regional police said.
Analysts and diplomats have long feared that a conflict between the arch-rivals could escalate into the use of nuclear weapons, in one of the world’s most dangerous and most populated nuclear flashpoint regions.
China, which borders both Pakistan and India, has urged the arch-foes to exercise restraint.
“We strongly call on both India and Pakistan to give priority to peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means and avoid taking actions that further escalate tensions,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.
The Group of Seven (G7) major countries on Friday urged India and Pakistan to engage in direct dialogue.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue toward a peaceful outcome,” the G7 statement said.
The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, Britain and the European Union said in a statement they “strongly condemn” an April 22 attack, which killed 26 people in India-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan, which denied the accusations and called for a neutral probe into the attack that has sparked the latest fighting between the two neighbors.
In recent years, India has been seen as an important partner by Western powers as a counter-balance to China’s rising influence. Pakistan is a US ally although its importance has diminished since Washington’s 2021 withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan says targeted Indian military sites, S-400 missile defense system in retaliation to attacks
Pakistan says targeted Indian military sites, S-400 missile defense system in retaliation to attacks
- The two countries have been engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched missile strikes inside Pakistan
- The latest conflict has alarmed world powers and Secretary Rubio has offered Pakistan army chief assistance in defusing crisis
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has targeted several Indian military sites and destroyed an S-400 missile defense system as part of ‘Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos,’ Pakistani military sources said on Saturday, after India reportedly fired missiles on three of its air bases.
Pakistani military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said India targeted Nur Khan, Shorkot and Murid air bases, adding that Pakistani air defense system had intercepted a majority of missiles and the few, which had sneaked in, did not cause any damage to Pakistan Air Force assets.
The two countries have been engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched missile strikes inside Pakistan on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” over an attack in the disputed Kashmir region. It was difficult to independently verify the claims made by both sides.
“Brahmos storage site has been taken out in general area Bias. Attacks on various other places [in India] in progress. Pathan Kot Airfield, Udhampur Airforce Station hit,” a Pakistani military source said early Saturday.
“All those air bases wherefrom Pakistan was attacked are being attacked simultaneously.”
The Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, where the military has its headquarters, is around 10 kilometers from the capital, Islamabad.
“Now you just wait for our response,” Chaudhry, the Pakistani military spokesman, said in televised remarks prior to Pakistan’s retaliatory attacks.
The Indian army said “multiple enemy drones were spotted flying over” a military cantonment in Amritsar in Punjab, a state adjoining India-administered Kashmir, and were “instantly engaged and destroyed by our air defense units.”
“Pakistan’s blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions continues along our western border,” it said on X.
Another Pakistani military source said “70 percent electricity grid of India has been made dysfunctional” through a cyberattack, a day after Pakistan’s economic affairs ministry’s X account was hacked and a post was published on it appealing to international partners for more loans.
The attack targeted websites, including those of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, Crime Research Investigation Agency, Mahanagar Telecommunication Company Limited, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, and the All India Naval Technical Supervisory Staff Association. There was no immediate comment from New Delhi in this regard.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors escalated this week as they both accused each other of violating airspaces by sending drones and other munitions, killing at least 48 people on both sides. The latest conflict was sparked by an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort town that killed 26 tourists on April 22.
New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, Islamabad denies it and calls for a credible, international probe into the assault.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Command Authority on Saturday, Pakistani state media reported. The top body of civilian and military officials takes security decisions, including those related to the country’s nuclear arsenal.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations. They have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a region split between them, since gaining independence from the former British colonial rule in 1947.
The ongoing conflict alarmed the world powers, including China, US and the United Kingdom who all have urged restraint.
United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir and urged both parties to find ways to deescalate and “offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts,” the State Department said.
The Group of Seven countries on Friday urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan and called on them to engage in direct dialogue. The United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Jane Marriott, said on X they were monitoring the developments closely.
Pakistan ports face export backlog as India’s transit ban forces shipping lines to reroute
- Shipping companies launch special feeder services via Colombo to handle cargo from Pakistan
- Some international shipper are imposing up to $800 surcharge per container amid the situation
KARACHI: Pakistan is facing a “big backlog” of export containers at its ports after international shipping lines began bypassing the country, following India’s decision to block vessels carrying Pakistani cargo, officials and shipping documents confirmed to Arab News on Friday.
The disruption has led several global shipping companies to impose emergency operational surcharges on Pakistani cargo, citing the “significant impact” of regional geopolitical tensions on their operations.
The move is expected to raise shipping costs and, ultimately, consumer prices in Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people already grappling with economic challenges.
“The European shipping services are bypassing Pakistan ports after India’s ban on the transit of ships loaded with cargoes from Pakistan,” said Syed Tahir Hussain, Secretary General of the Pakistan Ship Agents Association (PSAA).
He accused New Delhi of attempting to undermine Pakistan’s recovering economy, which has shown signs of stabilization under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $7 billion loan program.
PSAA Chairman Mohammed A. Rajpar called India’s move “unwarranted” and against international conventions, saying it was designed to discourage shipping lines from calling at Pakistani ports.
The situation comes as Islamabad is attempting to break free from its boom-and-bust economic cycles by boosting exports, which rose 6 percent to $27 billion through April, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Until recently, many international shipping services transited Pakistani cargo through India’s largest ports — Mundra and Nhava Sheva — by loading what is termed Remaining On Board (ROB) freight.
However, India embargoed this practice last week, prompting several carriers to remove Pakistani ports from their routes and instead launch dedicated feeder services to handle trade valued at approximately $87 billion last year.
Most of Pakistan’s containerized cargo is handled through the South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT) operated by CH Hutchison Holdings, Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) run by DP World and the Karachi Gateway Terminal managed by Abu Dhabi Ports Group.
“Some vessels carrying Pakistan’s exports sailed from QICT were not allowed berthing in India,” said Hussain, whose association represents over 50 international shipping lines.
“They had to divert to Dubai and other nearby ports,” he added, without specifying when the incident occurred.
Shipping documents seen by Arab News show that at least four vessels were denied entry by Indian authorities earlier this week due to “Karachi onboard cargo.” These ships were rerouted to Colombo in Sri Lanka and Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.
Swiss carrier MSC Mediterranean Shipping redirected all destination cargo via Colombo aboard its vessel MSC Positano V-JP526R, which had been scheduled to call at QICT on May 6.
This change, MSC said in a customer notice, was “due to the current geopolitical situation and restrictions on imports and exports via/from India.”
French shipping giant CMA CGM has removed Karachi from at least four of its service routes, citing the need to adjust operations to and from Pakistan.
“BIG BACKLOG” AT PORTS
Export congestion is building at Pakistani ports as hundreds of containers await shipment.
“There is big backlog,” said Khurram Mukhtar, Patron-in-Chief of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA).
Textiles remain Pakistan’s largest export sector, contributing $17 billion last year.
Mukhtar noted that most shipping lines were now planning to route exports through Colombo, with system updates expected by Monday.
MSC has launched a “Pakistan-Colombo Shuttle Service,” a weekly feeder vessel that will transport export containers to Sri Lanka for onward connections to global destinations.
Amid the ongoing crisis, international shipping lines have begun imposing surcharges on Pakistani exporters and importers.
CMA CGM has introduced an Emergency Operational Recovery Surcharge (EORS) of up to $800 per container for shipments to the US, Latin America and Australia, effective from May 15 through June 6.
The French firm said the surcharge was necessary to maintain service reliability and safety during this period. CMA CGM operates more than 250 routes globally with a fleet of 650 vessels.
“Pakistan’s exports are suffering,” said a senior official at one of Pakistan’s major container terminals, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“This will lead to the buildup of a huge container backlog at Pakistani ports,” the official said. “There will be issues like port demurrages. The shipping lines will be charging the consignees with detentions.”
