Month: December 2023

LAHORE: Talks between Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP) on the electoral alliance have reached an impasse as the former is not eager to make an alliance on a multitude of its seats, The News reported quoting sources as saying.

The sources said the IPP had called for adjustment on 50 provincial assembly seats and 26 National Assembly seats as the talks between the two political parties continue without making any major breakthrough.

The PML-N was not ready to make an alliance on the seats where its top leaders will contest, said the sources. They said the party was not willing to make an alliance on tons of other seats as well.

The question of alliance with the IPP was also raised in a meeting of the PML-N parliamentary board.

Maryam Nawaz and Aleem Khan will face each other in the election for NA-119 (Lahore-III), sources said. NA-119 is a stronghold of the PML-N as it won the seat back-to-back in 2013 and 2018 elections.

The PML-N can form an electoral alliance on NA-117 (Lahore-I) for Abdul Aleem Khan and NA-127 can be considered for Aun Chaudhry, it was learnt. It can also go for an alliance on the Lodhran seat for Jahangir Tareen.

On the other hand, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is not ready to give the NA-242 Karachi seat to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif. The PML-N president is likely to visit Karachi for talks with the MQM on the matter among other things.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has decided to challenge Sharif brothers in their stronghold of Lahore in the February 8 polls

They said the PPP chief has decided to contest elections from Lahore’s NA-128 constituency in Lahore which has been traditionally the stronghold of the PML-N with the party securing a majority of seats from the provincial capital in the last many elections.

Along with Bilawal, Hafiz Mohiuddin and Misbah-ur-Rehman will file nomination papers for the provincial assembly seats in the same constituency, they added.

The sources said Bilawal is expected to file nomination papers today (Friday) as December 22 is the last date for the submission of nomination papers.

Although several political parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have sought an extension on the deadline, no decision has been taken by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) so far.

PML-N’s Mian Ahmed Subhan will contest elections against the PPP chief in the NA-128 constituency.

Besides Bilawal, several political heavyweights including PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif and others are also expected to contest polls from the Punjab’s capital.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has also announced contesting polls from three constituencies including Lahore.

The much-awaited general elections will take place on February 8, 2024, with the national poll organising authority finally issuing the schedule following the Supreme Court’s order.

Kim’s warning follows a meeting between South Korea and the United States last week in Washington, where they discussed nuclear deterrence in the event of conflict with the North.

The meeting’s agenda included “nuclear and strategic planning”, and the allies reiterated that any nuclear attack by Pyongyang on the United States or South Korea would result in the end of the North Korean regime.

But Kim told his military’s missile bureau “not to hesitate (launching) even a nuclear attack when the enemy provokes it with nukes,” Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo released a statement shortly afterwards, urging the nuclear-armed country to “stop conducting further provocations and accept our call for engaging in substantive dialogue without preconditions”.

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has demanded the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to conduct a thorough investigation to find out how the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) acquired advanced military equipment.

At the UNSC’s United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) briefing on Afghanistan, Ambassador Munir Akram — Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations — said Pakistan faced a major threat from the TTP and its offshoots for their organised cross-border terrorist attacks into the country.

He said the attacks caused considerable loss to Pakistani civilians as well as soldiers and damage to the military and other installations.

“We have lost hundreds of our brave soldiers and civilians in these attacks just this year alone and last week, TTP affiliated group carried out a heinous attack on our security personnel in Dera Ismail Khan, resulting in the loss of more than 23 precious lives.

“These attacks have become more lethal and sophisticated, since the TTP terrorists have acquired and use advanced military equipment. These weapons obviously originate from the considerable stocks left behind by foreign forces. Yet, the question is: how did the TTP – a listed terrorist organisation –secure these weapons.

“Pakistan demands that the United Nations – whether UNAMA or another agency – conduct a thorough investigation to elicit how these weapons got in the hands of the TTP and to identify ways of retrieving them,” he said.

Acknowledging some stability and betterment in Afghanistan’s economy, the Pakistani envoy said any process of engagement with the Afghan interim government must be constituted on the basis of its response to the core concerns of the international community.

He said while the interim authorities had reported some success in the fight against Da’esh, the fact was that a number of terrorist groups were living in Afghanistan, evidently under the protection of the Afghan interim government.

It was clear that the TTP had been given free rein to conduct cross-border attacks against Pakistan’s border outposts and other installations, he said. However, without naming the key nemesis, he said Pakistan also had clear evidence that the TTP received support from its main adversary.

“The Security Council should invigorate the work of the 1988 Committee to secure action by the Afghan Interim Government against all these terrorist groups in Afghanistan and empower the monitoring team to analyse and inform the Committee and this Council about progress made in the context of counter terrorism in Afghanistan.

“Any process of engagement with the Afghan Interim Government should be conducted on the basis of the action that it takes against these terrorist organisations. Else, we will see the recurrence and proliferation of terrorism from Afghanistan as happened prior to 9/11, threatening not only the region but the entire world,” he said.

‘Enormous price’

On Afghan refugees, Munir Akram said Pakistan had indeed paid an enormous price for its 40 years of generosity towards Afghanistan. After 40 years, we continue to host 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees with little or no support from the international community, he said.

Since the Afghan interim government claimed that peace had been restored in Afghanistan, it should work with the High Commission of Refugees to make preparations for the early repatriation of the Afghan refugees, he maintained.

“There were another 2.2 million Afghans who are in Pakistan undocumented and illegally present there. These include 700,000 who crossed into Pakistan after the Taliban takeover,” he said.

Besides the security threat posed by terrorist ‘sleeper cells’, many of the illegals were involved in drug trafficking, operated property mafias and other crimes and the inflow of such large numbers had had a negative impact on Pakistan’s economy and jobs market, he said.

The Pakistani ambassador said the current plan to repatriate illegal foreigners was an unavoidable compulsion on Pakistan arising from a legitimate security, economic and social concerns.

“However, the plan is being implemented in as humane way as possible. There is no forcible return, except for a number of Afghan criminals in our jails. More than 98% of the over 244,000 Afghan who departed through Torkham last month, were voluntary returns. The Chaman crossing has a similar pattern.

“We have made exceptions for those who have proof of registration (PoRs); for those who have the Afghan citizenship card and now also for those who are considered vulnerable. These are besides the 60,000 or more who are waiting for two years to be relocated to 3rd countries and we urge those 3rd countries to accelerate their process in order to receive these people who they have agreed to receive as such and lightened the burden on Pakistan,” he said.

Ambassador Akram said Pakistan hoped that UN Special Coordinator, Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu’s assessment would enable the Security Council and all relevant stakeholders in the international community to adopt a comprehensive, long-term and realistic roadmap for Afghanistan’s normalisation.

He also said Pakistan would participate in the Secretary-General’s revived Doha format and they hoped that consensus would be reached on the recommendations of the report submitted by the special coordinator.

Beginning the speech, he conveyed Pakistan’s appreciation to Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu, for his work on the independent assessment report. “We also commend the leadership role of Ambassador Nusseibeh and the UAE delegation as the co-penholder on Afghanistan this year,” he said.

“Peace in Afghanistan is a strategic imperative for Pakistan. As noted in the Secretary-General’s report, the Afghan interim authorities have further consolidated their control of Afghanistan across all spheres of governance and bought some modicum of stability in the country.

“Yet, Afghanistan presents a complex and enduring challenge. On the positive side, law and order has improved, opium cultivation has reduced by 95%, action against Daesh is being taken, corruption has declined notably and efforts are being made to operate the economy through domestic revenue collection and local budgets. Afghanistan’s trade with its neighbours, including transit trade has also increased significantly,” he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has for the first time responded to allegations of a Sikh leader’s assassination plot on US soil, saying he will look into “any evidence” in this regard.

In an exclusive interview with Financial Times, Indian PM Modi sought to play down the diplomatic impact of a US indictment last month that claimed Indian government official was also involved in the planning.

“If someone gives us any information, we would definitely look into it,” Modi said.

“If a citizen of ours has done anything good or bad, we are ready to look into it. Our commitment is to the rule of law.”

The target of the attempted assassination was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen who is general counsel for the separatist group Sikhs for Justice, according to people familiar with the case.

India in 2020 designated Pannun as a terrorist, which he denies.

On November 29, the US Justice Department unsealed murder-for-hire charges against Nikhil Gupta, 52, “in connection with his participation in a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen” of Indian origin in New York City, it said in a statement.

The Justice Department said the man allegedly targeted in the killing “is a vocal critic of the Indian government and leads a US-based organisation that advocates for the secession of Punjab,” a northern Indian state with a large population of Sikhs.

Gupta, who lives in India, was arrested by authorities in the Czech Republic under US extradition orders.

Modi’s comments come after the White House said it was treating an alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist in the United States with “utmost seriousness,” and had raised the issue with the Indian government.

The Financial Times reported that same day that US authorities had thwarted a conspiracy to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US and Canadian citizen.

Canada and India had a major diplomatic row after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September linked New Delhi to the June killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, also a Sikh separatist.

New Delhi called the Canadian allegations “absurd.”

Modi also told the Financial Times that India was “deeply concerned about the activities of certain extremist groups based overseas”.

He added that “these elements, under the guise of freedom of expression, have engaged in intimidation and incited violence”.