On Kashmir day, PM pledges full support

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said on Monday that Pakistan will stand by the people of Kashmir till a peaceful resolution to the dispute is achieved.

In a message issued on the occasion of Kashmir day, Prime Minister Ashraf said: “On behalf of the government, I reaffirm Pakistan’s commitment to a just and peaceful resolution to the Kashmir dispute,”

He said the government will continue to extend its unwavering political, moral and diplomatic support to the cause, which has been on the agenda of the United Nations for the past six decades, however, remains unresolved.

The premier said that the right to self determination of the people of the region will be achieved through a free and impartial plebiscite in line with the UN Charter and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

Ashraf said Pakistan supports dialogue with the Indian government and has introduced confidence building measures (CMB) is this regard.

Eye on transition: New govt in Balochistan ‘within days’, say officials

A new coalition government is likely to take shape in Balochistan within a “few days”, political leaders and government officials said on Monday.

The new set-up will be cobbled together by all coalition partners in the erstwhile Nawab Aslam Raisani administration. Politicians and senior government officials told The Express Tribune that four political parties – Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Awami National Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid – and Balochistan National Party-Awami will form the new government with the help of independent lawmakers.

“A new government will be put in place a few days before the dissolution of the assembles,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity. “Under the Constitution, restoration of the provincial government is essential for the formation of an interim set-up in the province,” the official added.

To be a journalist in Pakistan

It is sometimes a surprise to outsiders — expecting censorship and oppression — that Pakistan has such a free and vibrant media. Speaking in 2010, the political theorist Noam Chomsky remarked that Pakistan’s media was less censored than in neighbouring India, generally described as the world’s largest democracy. “In Pakistan, I listened to and read the media which go to an increasingly large part of the population,” he said. “Apparently, the government is willing to say to the media that you have your fun, we are not going to bother you. So they don’t interfere with it.”

The faults of the current government may be many and various, but it has certainly done a lot to further freedom of expression, a right which is laid down in the Constitution of Pakistan. At times television channels and newspapers have been criticised for behaving unethically, but particularly in the last decade, they have played a significant role in uncovering corruption and acting as a check on power. Embezzlement in the Pakistan Railways, bribery leading to $500m losses at the Pakistan International Airlines, and the rental power projects corruption case were all unveiled by journalists.

Zardari, Karzai commit to peace deal in six months: Statement

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari vowed Monday to achieve a peace settlement for Afghanistan within six months, after talks hosted by Britain.

Following the talks at British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Chequers country retreat near London, the three leaders also said they supported the opening of an office in Qatar for the Taliban to hold talks.

“All sides agreed on the urgency of this work and committed themselves to take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of a peace settlement over the next six months,” they said in a joint statement issued by Cameron’s office.

Tourism, Terrorism and Empire

In the life of many white westerners is a chapter devoted to the finding of oneself. This chapter may not occur at any given point in life, although most attach it to a life crisis; a divorce, a bankruptcy perhaps, the lazy end of youth and the horror of a boring, comfortable adulthood. At this point, the subject is expected to challenge one’s own thoughts and beliefs and gain some deep, inner knowledge of oneself that renders the memory of youth/rejection/illness far enough to be forgotten. All of this must be done through the encounter of something inexorably challenging and physically different: and located as far as possible from the new cars and perfect houses of white middle class life, ideally in a land foreign enough and far enough to merit the respect of others either awaiting or nostalgic about their own journeys of discovery

Enter India; the land of the friendly brown people, exotic enough to be sensual, and yet dirty and smelly enough to be real; two essential ingredients in discovery destinations of the wealthy, white seeker. In the world of cheaply bought jet-travel, no other country has been able to harness through clever marketing and strategic imaging; the market made available by the Western search for fulfillment. Be it the old people in the movie Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, or the wry truth speaking slum observing author Katherine Boo of

Balochistan peace hurdles

IF Baloch nationalist leader Akhtar Mengal does return to take part in the next general election as announced, it’ll be a significant development and may help stabilise Balochistan.

The last election was boycotted by all nationalist forces following the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation just over a year earlier and the disastrous consequences of an alienated Baloch nationalist leadership and electorate are there for all to see.

Not only did the last elections see many credible leaders sitting on the sidelines, it also witnessed the coming to power of a coalition government headed by a largely dysfunctional chief minister whose lifestyle and health issues kept him away from his seat of power for long periods.

All this while the province was being ruled by armed bands striving for separation and not shying away from drawing innocent blood; murderous anti-Shia gangs; pro-government thugs run allegedly by the intelligence agencies and a belligerent paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Why so late, General?

Generals in Pakistan excel at showing their dovish side and subjecting their peers to a measure of scrutiny only once they have retired. The latest example of a military man trying to rehabilitate his image now that he is out of uniform is Lt Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz, who is finally ready to spill the beans about the Kargil operation that took place in 1999. Much of what he says was already suspected. Pervez Musharraf, as chief of army staff, kept just about everyone in the dark about Kargil, including everyone save three other people. Aziz himself, as director general of the analysis wing, did not know about the operation till it had already commenced. Then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the man who should have had the ultimate authority to order the Kargil operation, was also not consulted on the matter.

What’s truly tragic about the Kargil operation is how we never seem to learn from our follies. Our 1965 war with India was also sparked by a similar incursion into Indian Kashmir, the details of which resided

Pakistan accuses India of 12 beheadings since 1998: Report

Pakistan has accused India of decapitating 12 soldiers in cross-border attacks since 1998 and registered a protest with a UN watchdog, a newspaper reported Wednesday, after deadly army clashes earlier this month.

The accusations are contained in a series of classified documents presented to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) which monitors the disputed Kashmir border, according to The Hindu newspaper.

The report reads, “In classified protests to a United Nations watchdog that have never been disclosed till now, Pakistan has accused Indian soldiers of involvement in the torture and decapitation of at least 12 Pakistani soldiers in cross-Line of Control raids since 1998, as well as the massacre of 29 civilians.”

Polio transmission: India may restrict travel from Pakistan

 India may be the first country to impose travel restrictions on Pakistan because of its polio problem which threatens to become an international headache.

India Today reported on January 28 that the Delhi government has written to its transport and railway authorities to allow screening of children coming from Pakistan or going there. It wants the health department to set up a permanent system at the Ambedkar Stadium and Old Delhi railway station where the Samjhauta Express arrives. Such screening is also carried out in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Munabao, in Rajasthan from where a train goes to Karachi.

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.