ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday Islamabad would not be the first to strike India despite heightened tensions following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, though it would respond forcefully to any escalatory move by its eastern neighbor.
India has blamed Pakistan for the April 22 assault in the Pahalgam area of the disputed Himalayan region that left 26 tourists dead, an allegation Islamabad has categorically rejected.
In the aftermath, New Delhi suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and expelled Pakistani diplomats. The latter move was reciprocated by the administration in Islamabad, though it also called for a “neutral” international investigation into the Pahalgam incident.
Dar, who also serves as his country’s foreign minister, shared the details of Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach while addressing the Senate earlier today.
“As of now, we’ve spoken to the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, China, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Hungary — except in the case of Qatar, where I spoke directly to the prime minister,” Dar told lawmakers.
“I walked them through what happened — India’s psyche, its history and our concerns about what intentions it may have in light of that history,” he continued.
Dar said Pakistan’s intelligence indicated that India was contemplating some form of escalation.
“We will not be the first one [to strike],” he said. “But if India does it, then this time there will be no tit-for-tat. Our response will be stronger than the Indian action.”
Referring to the 2019 Pulwama attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel and was blamed on a Pakistan-based militant group, the Pakistani deputy prime minister noted that New Delhi had used the incident as a pretext to revoke Article 370 of its constitution, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The region was subsequently absorbed into India’s union territory framework, a move Pakistan has repeatedly condemned.
Dar also claimed that India had been attempting to alter the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, which determines the river water sharing mechanism between both countries, for the past two years, citing changing circumstances.
“I have my doubt, much like other people, that this drama was staged to suspend this treaty,” he said while referring to the Pahalgam attack.
“We obviously don’t have evidence that they have staged this drama,” he continued. “What we do say with full confidence is that Pakistan has nothing to do with this [attack].”
Dar also applauded China and Türkiye for expressing clear support for Pakistan since the crisis began.
Pakistan won’t strike first but will respond forcefully to Indian escalation — deputy PM
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Pakistan won’t strike first but will respond forcefully to Indian escalation — deputy PM
- Ishaq Dar says Pakistan shared its concerns with countries like Saudi Arabia following tensions with India
- The deputy PM says he suspects India may have staged tourist shootings to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty
Pakistan cuts 50 percent export charges at major port to boost trade, economic growth
- The reduction in charges at Port Qasim is part of government reforms to enhance trade facilitation
- Pakistan plans to establish an industrial zone to promote marine, aquaculture sectors, minister says
KARACHI: The Pakistani government has reduced port charges for exporters by 50 percent at the country’s second biggest Port Qasim, the Pakistani maritime affairs ministry said on Monday, amid efforts to boost trade and economic growth.
The development came after a strategic roadmap meeting of the ministry, at which Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry emphasized the government’s commitment to creating opportunities for local businesses and encouraging trade through ports and fisheries.
Pakistan is striving to boost trade and investment amid a gradually healing macroeconomic environment after a prolonged downturn that forced Islamabad to seek external financing from friendly nations and multiple loan programs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The government’s reform agenda in the maritime sector, including the charge reduction at Port Qasim, signals a strong commitment to supporting the business community, enhancing trade facilitation, and promoting economic development across coastal regions,” he was quoted as saying.
Officials briefed the participants that the Marine Fisheries Department had met its export target of $410 million this fiscal year through fisheries and aquaculture exports, according to the maritime ministry. Additionally, the ship recycling industry had generated a revenue of Rs6 billion ($21.1 million), reflecting the growing potential of maritime industries in the country.
Chaudhry said the government is focused on modernizing port infrastructure, streamlining customs operations, and fostering a business-friendly environment to enhance Pakistan’s competitiveness in international trade.
“The Ministry of Maritime Affairs is actively working on reforms to unlock the economic potential of vast coastline and maritime resources,” he said. “These efforts are part of a broader strategy to transform the maritime sector, boost exports, and contribute significantly to the country’s GDP.”
He announced his ministry’s plans to establish an Aquaculture Industrial Zone aimed at promoting business activities in the marine and aquaculture sectors.
“Pakistan’s first-ever Marine and Aquaculture Policy will be introduced soon to provide a comprehensive framework for sustainable development in these areas,” he said.
Share Indus water fairly or Islamabad will secure it ‘from all six rivers,’ Pakistan ex-FM tells India
- The statement comes days after Indian minister said ‘Pakistan will be starved of water’
- Islamabad previously said any blocking of its water would be considered ‘an act of war’
ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday asked India to share the Indus water fairly or Islamabad will secure it “from all six rivers.”
The statement came days after Indian interior minister Amit Shah said New Delhi will “never” reinstate the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) it suspended with Pakistan over an attack in India-administered Kashmir. India accused Pakistan of backing the assault, a charge denied by Islamabad and one which was followed by four-day military standoff between the two countries last month.
The IWT grants Pakistan rights to the Indus basin’s western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement.
A day after the Kashmir attack that killed 26 tourists, New Delhi announced it was putting the 1960 World Bank-mediated treaty, which ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms, in abeyance. Pakistan has previously said the treaty has no provision for one side to unilaterally pull back and that any blocking of river water flowing to Pakistan will be considered “an act of war.”
“India has two options: share water fairly or we will deliver water to us from all six rivers [of the Indus basin],” Bhutto-Zardari said, while addressing the lower house of Pakistan parliament.
“The attack on Sindhu [Indus river] and India’s claim that the IWT has ended and it’s in abeyance, firstly, this is illegal, as the IWT is not in abeyance, it is binding on Pakistan and India but the threat itself of stopping water is illegal according to the UN charter.”
The former foreign minister, who recently led a diplomatic mission to key world capitals to present Pakistan’s stance on the latest crisis with India, said Islamabad had defeated New Delhi on the “battlefield, in diplomacy, and in the war of narratives.”
On Saturday, Indian interior minister Shah said they would take the water that was flowing to Pakistan to the Indian state of Rajasthan by constructing a canal
“Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” he told Times of India newspaper.
The latest comments from Shah, the most powerful cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, have dimmed Islamabad’s hopes for negotiations on the treaty in the near term.
Halting the water agreement was one of a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures taken by both countries in the immediate aftermath of the April 22 attack in Kashmir. Islamabad is also exploring a legal challenge to India’s decision to hold the treaty in abeyance under international law.
New Delhi has not made public any evidence of Islamabad’s alleged involvement in the Kashmir assault. During the four days of fighting which followed in May, more than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire. It was the worst standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors since 1999.
A room of one’s own: Women claim men-only ‘Autaq’ community spaces in Pakistan’s Balochistan
- Autaq is a communal space in Sindh and Balochistan provinces where male guests gather, decisions are made, and dialogue takes place
- In province marked by poverty and patriarchal norms, emergence of women’s Autaqs signals rare and radical shift in reclaiming public space
LASBELA, Pakistan: On a summer afternoon in the village of Ahmadabad Wang village in southwestern Pakistan this month, the sun filtered through the wooden slats of a modest building tucked between fields and dusty open lands.
Inside, the sharp scent of chalk and fabric mixed with the low hum of women’s voices.
Here, on a carpeted floor lined with checkered rugs and cylindrical pillows, women and girls had gathered not to cook or clean or care but to talk: about reproductive health, about puberty. About what they wanted from life and the future.
And they are doing it in an Autaq, a space that for generations has been the exclusive domain of men in the southern Sindh province and in districts of Balochistan that border Sindh, Lasbela being one of them.
“The concept of Autaq is deeply rooted in our culture, both Sindhi and Baloch,” said Hafsa Qadir, 22, a sociology graduate who helped found this women-only version in December last year.
“Here, we talk about a range of challenges — SRHR [sexual and reproductive health and rights], menstruation, hygiene and skill-based education. All those issues that we can’t talk about openly outside, we discuss them freely here.”
Growing up, Qadir had watched her male cousins gather in their Autaq, with cushions piled high and the clink of tea cups punctuating heated discussions. Girls stood at the threshold, never allowed inside.
“Usually, it serves as a community center, but only for men,” she said. “It just represents half of the community.”
That memory stayed with her until she and six women from surrounding villages decided to build something of their own.
The Addi Autaq, laid with humble furnishings and hand-stitched cushions, now welcomes over 50 women and girls each week. Every time the women gather, the room buzzes with energy and purpose, its walls bearing witness to conversations once whispered behind closed doors.
Next to it Addi Autaq is a small stitching center where women thread needles and run fabric through clacking machines. The clothes they make are sold in local markets and for some, it’s the first time they’ve earned their own income.
“There was no place here before where we could sit and speak openly,” said Saima Kareem, a student who pays her university tuition with her earnings.
“I feel very proud that I can bear my own expenses… cover my educational expenses and help out my family as well.”
“BIG ACHIEVEMENT”
Their revolution has come with quiet persistence.
Balochistan, after all, is no easy place to be a woman. It is Pakistan’s largest province by area but also its most underserved. Female literacy stands at around 24 percent, far below the national average. Access to basic health care is limited. Many girls never complete school and few women join the workforce.
Against that landscape, the idea of women not just gathering, but leading, shaping dialogue, earning money, is almost audacious.
“When we started the Autaq, we faced many challenges,” said Tehreem Amin, 23, an environmental sciences graduate.
“We approached the elders in our families, brothers, fathers, those who were educated, and talked to them, explained our purpose, and gradually helped shift their thinking.”
Now, once skeptical male relatives are sending their daughters to the Autaq.
“When we started our own Autaq, it had some impact… Some women [on social media] have even said they want to visit, see how we created this Autaq, how we built a space that is truly safe for women,” said Asma Ali, 24, a teacher and co-founder, as evening fell and women left the carpeted room and moved to a nearby garden.
There, in the open air, they held reading circles and dreamt aloud about education, leadership, financial independence.
“The Autaq we’ve established is a big achievement,” Amin, the environmental sciences graduate, said.
“But I believe when such Autaqs exist in every village, in every corner of Pakistan… only then will it be a real success.”
Pakistan forecasts monsoon rains from June 25, warns of flash floods and landslides
- Met Office says moist currents penetrating upper and central parts of country, likely to intensify in coming days
- Landslides may cause road closures in KP, Murree, Galiyat, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan’s hilly areas, says Met Office
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (Met) on Monday forecast that several parts of the country will receive heavy monsoon rains from June 25 onwards, urging masses to take precautions against the resulting flash floods and landslides in low lying and hilly areas.
The alert comes as Pakistan braces for another season of extreme weather, following deadly heatwaves and catastrophic floods in recent years. Ranked among the ten most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, Pakistan is ramping up preparedness efforts, especially in Punjab, where authorities expect significantly above-average rainfall this monsoon.
In a press release, the Met Office said moist currents are penetrating the upper and central parts of the country and are likely to become “intensified” in the next couple of days.
“A westerly wave is expected to approach upper parts on 25th June and likely to become significant on 26th June,” the Met Office said. It warned that several areas of Azad Kashmir will receive scattered heavy rainfall from June 24 to July 2. Rain, wind and thunderstorms are expected in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamir, Astore, Ghizer, Skardu, Hunza, Gilgit, Ghanche, Shigar areas from June 26-29, it said.
The Met Office said rain with thunderstorms are expected in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Murree, Galiyat, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Wazirabad, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Narowal, and other cities of Punjab from June 25 to July 1.
The weather department said rain with thundershowers are expected in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dir, Chitral, Swat, Kohistan, Malakand, Bajaur, Shangla, Battagram, Buner, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Waziristan, Orakzai, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar, Mardan, Hangu and Kurram from June 25 to July 1 with occasional gaps.
“Rain wind/thundershower is expected in northeastern/southern parts of Balochistan (Sherani, Musakhel, Loralai, Sibbi, Barkhan, Naseerabad, Kalat, Lasbella, Khuzdar, Awaran, Kalat, Jaffarabad, Dera Bugti and Kohlu) from 25th night to 28th June,” it added.
In Sindh, the Met Office said Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Kashmore, Hyderabad, Tharparkar, Mirpur Khas, Sanghar, Jamshoro, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Thatta, Badin and Karachi are expected to receive rain with thundershowers from June 25-28 with occasional gaps.
The PMD warned that heavy to very heavy rains may generate flash floods in local nullahs and streams of Murree, Galiyat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Nowshera, Swabi, Islamabad/Rawalpindi and other areas from June 26 to July 1.
“Landslides may cause roads closure in the vulnerable hilly areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan during the wet spell,” PMD said.
It advised farmers to manage their activities keeping in mind the weather forecast and advised travelers and tourists to remain “extra cautious.”
“All concerned authorities are advised to remain “ALERT” and take necessary measures to avoid any untoward situation,” the press release concluded.
Sri Lanka says seized $76 million smuggled drugs this year, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan
- Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala says drugs being smuggled into island by sea
- Official says there are an estimated 400,000 addicts in the nation of 22 million people
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s anti-narcotics drive has resulted in the seizure of more than three tons (6,600 pounds) of illegal drugs with a street value of $76 million this year, officials said Monday.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said most of the illegal drugs originated in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and were being smuggled into the island by sea.
He said there were an estimated 400,000 addicts in the nation of 22 million people.
“We need to reduce demand while keeping up detections,” Wijepala told reporters in Colombo.
Police chief Priyantha Weerasooriya said the drugs seized had a street value of 23 billion rupees ($76 million). That was close to the 28 billion rupees’ worth of drugs seized in the whole of 2024.
More than 1,000 people were arrested for drug dealing and smuggling, he added. They included a 38-year-old Thai woman, arrested at Colombo airport on May 30 carrying nearly 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of cocaine, the largest detection of the drug at an entry point to the South Asian nation.
Also last month, three others — from Britain, India and Thailand — were arrested trying to smuggle in nearly 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of synthetic cannabis.
All four suspects, including the Thai woman arrested with cocaine, could face life imprisonment if convicted.
Sri Lankan authorities have previously seized large quantities of heroin off the country’s shores, suggesting the island is being used as a transit hub for narcotics destined for other locations.
In October, a Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to heroin smuggling.
Sri Lanka’s largest single seizure of narcotics occurred in December 2016, when Customs found 800 kilos of cocaine in a transshipment container of timber destined for India.
