Deal in the making: Pakistan Army likely to begin training Afghan forces

Islamabad and Kabul are close to signing a deal that will allow the Pakistan Army to train Afghan national security forces, in the latest sign of improving ties between the neighbouring nations.

The progress was made during talks between visiting Afghan Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday.

Pakistan has long been offering Afghanistan to train its army but, until now, Kabul had shown little interest, largely due to the trust deficit between the two countries.

The talks, led by the Afghan defence minister and the Pakistani army chief, proved to be decisive as the two sides agreed to explore the possibility of  “military training exchanges,” a senior military official disclosed to The Express Tribune.

The official said the Afghan delegation would visit military institutions as part of efforts to assess how the two neighbours could enter into an accord to strengthen military-to-military contacts.

Pakistan-India bus, trade resume as tensions ebb

 A cross-border bus service between India and Pakistan, suspended along with trade after deadly army clashes earlier this month, resumed Monday in a sign of easing tension between the neighbours.

Officials said 64 passengers from Pakistan crossed the de facto border in Kashmir into India while 84 went in the other direction on the bus service from Poonch to Rawalakot.

Cross-border trade, which had been encouraged in recent years as a means to improve strained relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, was also set to resume on Tuesday after being frozen for the last two weeks.

“We are assessing losses the traders suffered because they could not send perishable items across on time,” Shant Manu, secretary for industries and commerce in Indian Kashmir, told AFP.

Pakistan-India ties: ‘Dialogue process has not been derailed’

 Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal insisted on Monday that despite recent clashes on the Line of Control (LoC), the process of dialogue between India and Pakistan has not been affected.

“Peace between India and Pakistan is in favour of both the countries,” he said, while addressing the media on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.

Sabharwal said India wants good relations with Pakistan and vowed that a peaceful, democratic and stable Pakistan was in the interest of his country.

The high commissioner said that the ceasefire on the LoC was a good and welcoming step, and added that things were now heading towards settlement.

Referring to Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s statements, Sabharwal said that the peace process between Islamabad and New Delhi had not been derailed and no irreversible damage had been made to the process.

The new face of folk music

WHAT I don’t understand,” says Chris Wood, “is why, when young people see so much misery, injustice … around them, they don’t see music as an expression of disgruntlement. Where are the young protest singers? Instead, we get this limp, bedroom ukulele music that keeps turning up on mobile phone ads.”

In 2011, fiddler and folk-singer Wood won the best original song category at the Radio 2 Folk awards for ‘Hollow Point’, his affecting account of the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian who was shot dead by London police in 2005. “Awake arise you drowsy sleeper,” the song begins, its title a reference to the type of bullet fired by the police.

For most of the 1980s and ’90s, singer-songwriters barely got house room on the folk scene, as Celtic instrumentalists and traditional singers dominated. But since their inception in 2000, the Folk awards have highlighted changes in the scene — and not just in subject matter. The original song category boasts an especially strong shortlist this year, and all four nominees are women.

Challenge of new provinces

THE debate on creating new provinces in Pakistan is gaining momentum with the proposal approved by the parliamentary commission to create a new province — ‘Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab’.

But the fundamental question which needs to be addressed while considering the demand for new provinces is: should the new provinces be established on an administrative or ethnic basis? The existing four provinces are carved along ethnic lines though the option to redraw provincial boundaries along administrative lines has been presented.

It is not only the rationale behind demanding a change in Pakistan’s federal structure that needs to be addressed; the issue that must also be examined is the potential for violence and conflict if new provinces are created without taking into consideration the interests of ethnic minorities and other stakeholders.

Watch what you eat

The dreaded “C” word is what no ill person ever wants to hear from their doctor – yet there is no family I know of in Pakistan (or abroad) who has been spared from hearing this devastating news. With all the dangerous chemicals and toxins around us (a by-product of the industrial age), it is just a matter of time before they get into the food chain and into our bodies where they bio-accumulate and eventually turn cancerous. While there is still no conclusive evidence on what exactly causes cancer, doctors now say that mounting evidence shows that the foods we eat weigh heavily in the war against cancer.

Doctors say that the easiest and least-expensive way to reduce your risk for cancer is just by eating a healthy diet. When it comes to a diet rich in cancer-fighting substances, most experts agree that it should consist of a predominantly plant-based diet. Living in Pakistan, where various lentils (daals) and freshly cooked vegetables are already a part of our diet, that should not be too difficult. However, we do have to be very careful about what else we eat, given all the adulteration in our food.

A few years ago, I remember interviewing Imran Khan, the politician who as we all know, set up Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital after his mother died from cancer. He told me his typical main meal consisted of a karahi made of desi (free range) chicken, organic wheat chappatis (from flour sent from a friend’s village), fresh vegetable salad from his own kitchen garden and plenty of lassi from the milk of buffaloes kept in his house in Islamabad. He would have freshly made lassi all day, which is high in protein while low in cholesterol.

Army, judiciary in support of democracy, says PM

Pakistan’s military, judiciary and all political forces support a democratic system in the country, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Tuesday, urging all state institutions to continue working within their boundaries.

Speaking at a function of the Gujjar Khan Bar Association in Islamabad, PM Ashraf said that, despite the naysayers and all the challenges faced, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led government had completed its five-year term.

The premier said that the Army and judiciary support a democratic system, and that all political forces are also in agreement that only a democracy could run in the country.

Malik hints seeking spy agencies’ help over Karachi unrest

Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday said that intelligence agencies might be contacted to help ease law and order situation in Karachi
Speaking to media representatives, he said that he would write a letter to spy agencies seeking their help to restore peace in the violence-ridden metropolis.
The minister said that all state institutions were working to curb lawlessness in the country, adding that improving law and order situation requires collective efforts.

Military jets bombard militant hideouts in Orakzai

At least 12 suspected militants were killed Monday when Pakistani military jets bombarded militant hideouts in Orakzai tribal region,

According to Assistant Political Agent Mohammad Rafeeq, security forces struck hideouts in upper Orakzai’s Mamozai area, destroying at least five such hideouts.
Security officials claim that up to 92 per cent of Orakzai agency has been cleared of militants in the ongoing military offensive in the restive tribal region.
Orakzai is one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants are said to have carved out strongholds.
The area was the original base of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud before he moved to South Waziristan to take up the Taliban leadership after the death of his predecessor, Baituallah Mehsud.
Unlike the six other tribal agencies, however, Orakzai does not border Afghanistan. The rugged mountainous territory provides a crucial link for militants operating in other tribal regions, as it borders the regions of

Pakistan seeks sustainable peace, security in Afghanistan: General Kayani

During a meeting with Afghan Defence Minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi on Monday, army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said Pakistan sought sustainable peace and security in Afghanistan, 
On the occasion, the Afghan defence minister said it was important to increase defence cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The meeting that took place at the GHQ in Rawalpindi discussed the situation at the Pak-Afghan border along with other defence cooperation between the two countries.
The Afghan defence minister said Afghanistan would continue to seek guidance from Pakistan in its defence-related matters.

Olson says US favours free, fair elections in Pakistan

US Ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson, on Monday said the United States was in favour of free, fair and transparent elections in Pakistan so that the country’s democratic system may strengthen, 
Pakistan is expected to hold elections by mid-May with the federal parliament due to disband by mid-March. The polls are expected to mark the first democratic transition between two civilian governments in the country’s history.
Speaking to media representatives in Lahore, Olson said the United States was not biased in favour of or against any political leader or party.
The envoy said the US was very hopeful with regard to the general elections in Pakistan and added that his country was a proponent of democracy.
During his first visit to Lahore since assuming charge as the ambassador, Olson said along with other engagements, he would also be meeting leaders and workers of various political parties in Lahore.

The common capital of India and Pakistan

It was not just the land that was partitioned. Hearts, minds, behaviours and emotions had been partitioned long before so the final division could be made ‘smoothly’, and it went as smoothly as expected. The ground was pulled from underneath someone’s feet, while the sky was pulled away from another’s head! Millions of people neither belonged here nor there, only those who were to lead the new states remained. The new leaders had not only been involved in dividing the state but also dreamt of ruling the new countries in the name of religion and nationalism. A single announcement managed to create a border that cannot be seen anywhere except in books, files and maps.
It was as if a wall was erected in the courtyard of a large, lively house. Those who lived and played together would sulk one moment and reconcile with each other the next. Their hearts beat together as one. If they liked a certain tune, they all sang it together. If they got drunk, they danced in harmony with each other. Their souls were fragrant with the scent of the soil; their breaths were perfumed with the same culture. But the formation of the wall of hate and treachery neither divided nor affected their breaths, their heartbeats.
It doesn’t matter whether the leaders belong to this side of the wall or to that side. They have always sowed seeds of hatred within the divided hearts of their nation in order to prevent the demolition of the wall erected within their hearts and minds so that not only their rule would be established but their sustenance is guaranteed, as well as their luxuries.
What does it matter if the people on this side or that of the wall live below the poverty line? Forget having healthcare and education, what does it matter if the people are deprived of basic needs like ‘roti, kapra aur makan’? Instead, not only did they build mountains of weapons but they also filled their own homes with the money they earned from the sale of weapons.
On one hand, both countries are atomic powers. On the other hand, they have no electricity, water, gas or petrol. We line up for CNG and other fuels; there is no electricity neither here nor there. We say it’s ‘loadshedding’ and they call it ‘katoti’. At night, their footpaths are full of sleeping, homeless people. A similar sight can be seen on our roads at night. We have katchi abadis and they have slums. Piles of rubbish litter our streets and theirs. There are armies of beggar children on both sides of the wall. But we still stand amongst the developed nations with our heads held high, saying that we are atomic powers. They stand in dhotis and we in old, torn shalwars.