Islamabad not waiting for Biden to call PM Khan, Pakistani NSA says
Islamabad not waiting for Biden to call PM Khan, Pakistani NSA says /node/1883196/pakistan
Islamabad not waiting for Biden to call PM Khan, Pakistani NSA says
Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf addressing a conference Center for Global and Strategic Studies in Islamabad on December 19, 2019. (Photo courtesy: Moeed Yusuf twitter)
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani national security adviser Moeed Yusuf said on Thursday the Pakistani prime minister was not waiting for a call from US President Joe Biden, saying he wished the US “good luck” if it felt it did not need to engage with Islamabad at a crucial juncture such as the US withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan.
Yusuf was speaking during an interview to Pakistani news channel Geo News.
In an interview to Axios anchor Jonathan Swan last week, Khan said Biden could speak to him “whenever he has time ... at the moment, clearly, he has other priorities.”
“If they don’t want to [call], then good luck, simple as that,” Yusuf said when asked why Biden had not made contact with PM Imran Khan since the US president took over office in January. “No one is sitting here waiting for someone to talk or not talk. If they don’t want to, fine.”
“What they should be talking about is not just Afghanistan but also the bilateral dialogue … commerce, trade. Talk about that,” Yusuf said.
“If they [US] want to have a serious conversation on how to find a solution [in Afghanistan], Pakistan is available. If they just want to talk to us about getting [military] bases, then that answer they have already gotten,” the national security adviser said, referring to Khan’s recent remarks that Pakistan would “absolutely not” give military bases to the US to carry out counter-terror operations in post-withdrawal Afghanistan.
ISLAMABAD: The government has increased the price of petrol and high-speed diesel by Rs0.56 and Rs2.96 per liter, respectively, according to the finance ministry on Tuesday.
Fuel prices are fixed on a fortnightly basis by in Pakistan, which adjusts them after evaluating changes in the global energy market and considering rupee-dollar parity. This allows the government to pass on the net effect to consumers to finance the country’s fuel imports.
“The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has worked out the consumer prices of petroleum products in view of the fluctuations in the international market in the last fortnight,” the finance ministry said in a notification.
“It has accordingly revised the prices of the petroleum products for the next fortnight starting from Jan. 1, 2025,” it added.
After the latest revision, a liter of petrol will cost Rs252.66, while high-speed diesel will sell for Rs258.34 per liter.
Petrol is mostly used in Pakistan for private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers. At the same time, any increase in the price of diesel is considered highly inflationary, as it is mostly used to power heavy transport vehicles and particularly increases the prices of vegetables and other eatables.
On Dec. 15, Pakistan reduced the price of high-speed diesel by Rs3 per liter but kept the price of petrol unchanged.
Earlier, on Dec. 1, the price of petrol was increased by Rs3.72 per liter due to varying petroleum product prices in the international market.
Fuel prices in energy-starved Pakistan are instrumental in contributing to inflation. The South Asian country saw inflation hit a record high of 38 percent in May 2023.
Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation slowed to 4.9 percent in November, cooling from 7.2 percent in October.
Pakistani village, birthplace of late Indian PM Manmohan Singh, mourns his death
Singh, who passed away on December 26, was born in the village of Gah in 1932
Villagers invite Singh’s family to visit, saying they will find ‘a home away for home’
Updated 2 min 48 sec ago
Reuters
ISLAMABAD: A village in Pakistan’s populous Punjab province, the birthplace of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, mourned his passing during a vigil held on Tuesday, according to Reuters, following his death last week.
Gah village, located about 100 kilometers southwest of Islamabad in Pakistan’s Chakwal district, was Singh’s hometown, where he was born on Sept. 26, 1932.
Singh, an economist and the first Sikh to serve as India’s prime minister, passed away on Dec. 26 at the age of 92. His family migrated to India after the partition in 1947. The late Indian prime minister’s father, Gurmukh Singh, was a cloth merchant, and his mother, Amrat Kaur, a homemaker.
Despite his humble beginnings, Singh studied at Oxford and Cambridge, earning recognition as a scholar before spearheading economic reforms that lifted India out of a financial crisis in the early 1990s.
“When he [Manmohan Singh] became [India's] prime minister, the whole village erupted with joy and celebrated,” said Malik Haq Nawaz Awan, a resident of Gah, speaking in Punjabi. “In the same way, there was an environment of sorrow [over his passing]. Everyone was sad.”
Villagers sit outside a house in Gah village, about 100 kilometers southwest of Islamabad in Pakistan’s Chakwal district, birthplace of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. (REUTERS)
The local school, where Singh received his early education, holds a special place in the village. The late Indian premier’s roll number was 187, and his admission date, April 17, 1937, is still recorded in the school register.
Villagers credit the school’s renovation and the development of their settlement to Singh’s success. His rise to prominence in the neighboring country made the people of Gah proud, and his death has left a profound void.
“I belong to this village as well, and the proudest thing for me is that Singh was my father’s classmate,” said Altaf Hussain, head of the Government Primary School in Gah. “When I went to school, I’d see his name in the records. Every time I saw ‘Manmohan Singh’ in our school records, I felt happy and proud knowing that a child from our small village, who studied on the ground, became India’s prime minister and managed its economy.”
Altaf Hussain, head of the Government Primary School, shows a school record showing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's name and roll number at Government Primary School in Gah, Pakistan, on December 31, 2024. (REUTERS)
Another villager, 65-year-old Raja Abdul Khaliq, recalled inviting Singh to visit the village, though the Indian premier could not make the trip.
“His family remains, and we invite them to visit us,” he said. “Whenever they come, they’ll find in this village a home away from home. We’ll welcome them with open arms, and our hospitality will be etched in history all thanks to him because of the debt of gratitude our village owes him.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has faced criticism in Indian media for not condoling Singh’s death. However, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar expressed grief over Singh’s passing, praising his leadership for prioritizing dialogue and mutual understanding to address regional issues, which improved ties between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
In 2019, Pakistan’s former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi invited Singh to attend the opening ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor, but he was unable to join. In 2012, President Asif Ali Zardari and Singh met in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, describing their meeting as friendly and constructive.
Relations between the two countries have been fraught for years, with visits by senior officials to each other’s nations remaining rare. The two neighbors have fought three wars, two of them over the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday described the ongoing war in Palestine as a “crisis of credibility” for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), highlighting foreign occupations depriving people of the right to self-determination, as the country begins its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the council.
Elected in June 2024 with overwhelming support, Pakistan secured 182 votes in the 193-member General Assembly, marking its eighth term on the UNSC.
The council is the most powerful chamber of the global body, comprising five permanent members with veto power and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. While non-permanent members cannot veto resolution, they play a crucial role in decision-making and contribute significantly to the council’s functioning.
Addressing a group of envoys in Islamabad, Dar expressed gratitude for the international community’s confidence in Pakistan’s role on the council, pledging to collaborate with other states to uphold the UN Charter and bridge international divides amid pressing global challenges.
“Pakistan is beginning to pursue its role in the UN Security Council at a time when we are confronted with many unprecedented challenges,” he said. “Situations of conflict and continued foreign occupation defy the promise of the United Nations to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and guarantee self-determination.”
“Longstanding unresolved disputes from Jammu and Kashmir to Palestine continue to simmer,” he added. “The ongoing situation in Gaza, including the blatant war crimes and acts of genocide being committed against the innocent Palestinians, represents a crisis of credibility for the United Nations Security Council.”
The deputy premier also highlighted the breakdown of arms control regimes, escalating arms races and the rise of intolerance and extremist ideologies as critical global concerns.
“Today, as we stand at a critical juncture, we remain ready to contribute meaningfully to the council’s work, drawing on our rich legacy and faith in multilateral diplomacy,” he said. “We look forward to playing a constructive role in bridging existing divides, fostering consensus and upholding the council’s mandate in accordance with the UN Charter.”
Outlining Pakistan’s priorities for its UNSC term, he reiterated a firm commitment to the world body’s charter.
“We will remain committed to pursuing just and peaceful resolution of outstanding and ongoing disputes, opposing the resort to unilateral and illegal use or threat of use of force, combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, supporting effective UN peacekeeping, peace enforcement and peacebuilding efforts, and contributing effectively toward the resolution of regional and global crises.”
ISLAMABAD: A leading Pakistani non-profit on Tuesday said the 2024 general elections led to a “fracture of popular mandate” and intensified political instability in the country, though it also expressed optimism over the newly initiated negotiations between the government and opposition.
The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), which focuses on democratic governance, released its end-of-year Quality of Democracy in Pakistan 2024 report a day earlier. The report provides an overview of the state of politics in Pakistan over the past year, marked by increasing polarization and systemic issues.
“The 12th General Election held in February 2024 after a considerable delay was a largely flawed exercise that served to fracture popular mandate and to provide citizens only with a modicum of political and electoral choice,” it said.
Pakistan’s national polls were marred by accusations of irregularities, including delayed results, amid claims by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party that its candidates faced significant obstacles in running their campaigns.
PTI candidates were also forced to contest as independents after the Supreme Court ruled its intra-party elections flawed, stripping it of its election symbol. Party leaders alleged the system was heavily rigged against them.
The subsequent election results did not leave any party positioned to form a government independently, leading to political negotiations that helped the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif build a coalition with a razor-thin majority.
“Pakistan’s leading political parties have continued to display a sad and familiar proclivity to assist the establishment against a political opponent of the time in return for short-term selfish political gains,” the report noted, using a popular euphemism for the country’s powerful military and adding that the current political set-up “is no different.”
It also highlighted controversial developments, including amendments restructuring the judiciary and extending the tenures of defense chiefs, which it described as evidence of growing centralization of decision-making influenced by the establishment.
The PILDAT report also addressed persistent social media blackouts in the country, describing them as a means of suppressing critical political voices.
“To manage and silence political dissent, the current set-up has stepped up efforts to manage the use of Internet and social media platforms by blocking certain applications and controlling the flow of communication through others,” it said.
However, the report welcomed the dialogue between the government and PTI, which formally began last month, calling it a potential path to political and economic stability.
“Against this bleak horizon, the improving economic stability and the stated willingness and initiation for political dialogue between the PTI and the government offer the only silver lining,” PILDAT noted.
“Despite grandstanding by the government and its backers and tough bargaining and threats of civil disobedience by the PTI, it is our belief that a comprehensive dialogue must be sustained to find politically negotiated solutions,” it added.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday described 2024 as a year of economic recovery and expressed hope for self-reliance in the new year, while acknowledging persistent security challenges caused by a surge in militant violence.
Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign debt default in 2023 after securing short-term external financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a $3 billion bailout program.
The agreement required Islamabad to implement stringent economic reforms, including subsidy cuts and utility price hikes, to stabilize its fragile economy. While macroeconomic indicators have since improved, many Pakistanis continue to grapple with the lingering effects of years of financial turmoil and the burden of reforms.
The government also managed to secure another IMF loan of $7 billion last year in September, saying it was important to get the money to consolidate the economic gains.
“2024 was a remarkable year for Pakistan, as we marched from default to development, overcoming economic challenges with resilience and determination,” Sharif wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We made difficult but necessary decisions that rescued our economy from collapse, restored macroeconomic stability, controlled fiscal deficits, and strengthened our reserves. As a result, inflation has come down to single digits, and the prospects for economic growth have been revived.”
“We step into 2025 with renewed determination to achieve economic self-reliance and chart a brighter, more prosperous future for our nation,” he added.
Sharif’s remarks also addressed the security situation, highlighting Pakistan’s armed forces’ efforts to counter a renewed wave of militant violence.
“Amidst other challenges, Pakistan also faced a renewed surge in terrorism this year,” he said, reaffirming the military’s commitment to ensuring peace.
He credited the nation’s unwavering support for its forces in their fight against militants who, he maintained, “stand in stark opposition to the very idea of Pakistan.”
The prime minister also highlighted the launch of “Uraan Pakistan,” or “Fly Pakistan,” which is a homegrown five-year, export-oriented economic transformation plan unveiled by his administration a day earlier, which he described as a result of his government’s vision to build on recent stability and achieve sustained growth.
