WASHINGTON: Islamabad and Washington may not enjoy the same close relations they once had in the past, said Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan.
Talking to a provate television network, Asad Majeed said, “At the moment, the Biden administration is facing a lot of criticism in the US. Even the American media is criticising Washington’s Afghan evacuation policy.”
He said that Pakistan had a key role to play in Afghanistan [after the Taliban takover], the ambassador said that Pakistan may not enjoy as close, cordial relations with the US as it once did.
“To expect relations between Pakistan and the US to once again return to what they used to be in the past will not be a realistic approach,” he said.
Majeed said Pakistan’s ties with China were strong and brotherly. He said the US is an important partner of Pakistan, adding that Islamabad will do its best to maintain a balanced approach between the two countries.
To a question, Ambassador Majeed said news reports and analyses did not reflect the policies.
“Countries take independent decisions to protect their interests,” he noted. “We are protecting our interests and will continue to do so. The US does the same,” he added.
He said wherever Pakistan and America’s interests aligned, people will observe both countries moving forward in their relations.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry announced that consultation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa regarding the appointment of Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) had been completed.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, the federal minister wrote: “Consultations between the prime minister and the army chief on the appointment of a new DG ISI have been completed and the process for the new appointment has begun.”
He further said the civil and military leadership has yet again proved that all institutions are united for the country’s stability, integrity and development.
It is worthy to be mentiond here that on Tuesday, during a post-cabinet press conference in Islamabad, the federal minister had said that during the cabinet meeting — chaired by Imran Khan — the issue of DG ISI was also discussed.
“A long meeting took place between PM Imran Khan and the army chief last night,” Chaudhry had said, adding that the government shares “an ideal relationship with the military.”
“The prime minister shares a very close relationship with the army chief,” he had said. “The Prime Minister’s Office will never take a step that would hurt the reputation of the army.”
The minister had said that the government will adopt a legal procedure to appoint the DG ISI and will ensure all constitutional requirements are fulfilled in this regard.
“It is the prerogative of the prime minister to appoint the DG ISI,” he said.
A day prior, PTI’s Chief Whip in the National Assembly Amir Dogar had said that PM Imran Khan wanted Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to continue as the director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) amid the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
“The prime minister wanted Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to serve for a few more months,” Dogar, who is also the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs had said during an interview with a private TV channel.
The chief whip had said the premier, during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, had mentioned that respect for the army and for the prime minister go hand in hand, adding the government wants to be on the same page with all the institutions.
The prime minister, according to Dogar, had noted that Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum was also a good professional soldier.
Dogar had said three to five names will be put forward before the prime minister and he will pick the new DG ISI from them. “The prime minister said he has no egoistical concerns (when it comes to the appointment).”
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister and senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday said that country’s economy is collapsing but Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet members do not care.
Talking to media persons in Islamabad, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) retired four days ago but government has still not initiated consultation for the new head of the anti-graft watchdog because the government wants to keep the incumbent chairman as he is tasked to target opposition.
The PML-N leader added that NAB Amendment Ordinance will be challenged in courts as well as Senate because the ordinance is being used to hide government’s thefts and corruption.
Talking about relations with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the former prime minister said that the party is consulted on issues related to opposition but it is not part of the anti-government alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
ISLAMABAD: Some senior officers of the Commissionerate Afghan Refugees, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have filed a joint application in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the alleged corruption, corrupt practices, maladministration, nepotism, maltreatment, and blackmailing of their top bosses, seeking their strict accountability under the law.
The application filed by three deputy directors, including two females, and two assistant directors, has named the commissioner, chief finance officer (CFO) and a project director of the Commissionerate Afghan Refugees KP, Peshawar as respondents (accused).
According to the application, the respondents have committed mega financial corruption involving billion of rupees in the funds meant for the welfare of Afghan refugees, who have been taking refuge in KP for over three decades.
The applicants have requested the NAB to investigate the utilization of budget granted by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to the KP commissioner office during the last 20-yaers.
They said huge embezzlements in the budget, illegal allotment of government’s residences, vehicles to the officers of choice, many steps promotions of junior officers to senior grades and appointments without proper advertisement and test/ interview during last some years may also be inquired.
Regarding the illegal appointments made purely on the basis of nepotism, the application states that chief secretary (r) KP Saeed Jan Khan’s son Saif Ali Khan, who is the relative of Saleem Khan, chief commissioner Afghan Refugees has illegally been appointed.
It states that, besides hundreds of others, Arbab Nazir Khan, Arbab Imaduddin, Hamayoun Khan and Muhammad Ajmal Afridi have illegally been appointed by chief secretary (r) and incumbent Advisor to Establishment Division Arbab Shehzad Khan.
Muhammad Imran, nephew of Chief Secretary (r) Saleem Khan Mohmand, who has also been a Liaison officer for Afghan Refugees KP, has also been appointed illegally.
The application maintains that Dr Imran Zeb Khan of Mansehra, former joint secretary State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) and incumbent secretary Housing illegally appointed dozens of people including his three brothers and a son-in-law of the spouse of his brother, which include Saboor Khan son of Tahirul Mulk Khan (Sufaid House Mansehra), Shehroz Khan son of Tahirul Mulk (Sufaid House Mansehra), Muhammad Ali son of Muhammad Taoufeeq (Sufaid House Mansehra) and Akbar Haroon son of Shehzada Gustasip Khan of Abbottabad.
Regarding immovable assets of Commissioner for Afghan Refugees Peshawar Muhammad Abbas Khan, which he allegedly made through illegal means and corrupt practices, the application claims that Abbas Khan owns a 21-Marla commercial plot in sector E-11 of the federal capital, having worth Rs 800-million. A plaza is being constructed on this plot and over Rs220-million have so far been spent on its construction.
He also owns a commercial plot measuring 80-Marla (4 Kanal) on Nowshera Road, whose worth is over Rs700-million. Besides, he has spent Rs120-million on an incomplete building structure. Moreover, he owns a Bungalow having million of rupees worth in Sheikh Maltoon Town, Mardan.
He also has domestic, commercial and agricultural lands on Charsadda Road Mardan and Akhwan Baba area of Mardan.
Abbas Khan owns many other properties, which he purchased in the names of farmers. The application claims that Mr Abbas also owns billion of rupees assets in Dubai and United Kingdom.
It contends that he made all these assets from the ill-gotten money he made through embezzlements in the funds meant for the welfare of Afghan refugees, living in Peshawar.
“Thousands of health/hygiene kits sent by UNHCR to the office of Afghan Refugees Peshawar have been distributed by some senior officials among each others.
The application has requested NAB to conduct thorough probe against the accused, who are also giving bad name to the country.
The application maintains that some senior officers of the Commissionerate submitted applications last year as well as in the start of this year to the NAB, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), provincial ombudsperson and Citizen Portal, however the respondents allegedly managed to influence, thus the investigation could not even processed.
Talking to media persons after filing the complaint, the applicant officers deputy directors Hajira Sarwar, Shahnaz Begum, Sifatullah Khan and assistant directors Khalid Rehman and Muhammad Hammad regretted that they had moved the same complaint to the provincial office of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and NAB as well as Citizen’s Portal, however the respondents allegedly managed to influence, thus the investigation could not even start.
They said NAB Peshawar teams visited their office several times for investigation, but returned back without conducting any investigation, apparently succumbing to the influence of the respondents.
They said they were raising their voice against the accused by endangering their lives as the accused were highly influential and notorious. They, however, vowed to take the matter to its logical end.
“Since, we started raising our voice against the corruption, nepotism, intimidation and moral turpitude of the respondents, they have made us rolling stone. We are facing suspensions, stoppage of our routine TA/DA, fuel bills, closure and locking of our offices on verbal orders, retrenchments and blackmailing etc through different means”.
The female deputy directors stated that a case pertaining to their harassment at workplace by the respondents was under adjudication in the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment.
They said some cases regarding their transfers, suspensions, and removal from service on the name of financial constraint and retrenchment were under adjudication in the Peshawar High Court.
They regretted that their lives have been made miserable by the influential respondents. They, however, expressed confidence over NAB, saying, “We are confident the anti-corruption watchdog will take action against the accused and the accused would not be able to influence it, being a well reputed federal institution”, the applicants maintained.
They said several female staffers have resigned from their service due to the harassment and blackmailing by the chief finance officer (CFO) Attaullah Khan and project director Waheed Khattak.
To a question, they said the commissioner Muhammad Abbas Khan was indirectly involved in the females’ harassment matters. They said, in fact, Attaullah Khan and Waheed Khattak are the front-mans of the commissioner.
ISLAMABAD: Coronavirus epidemic has shown downward trends as during last 24 hours Pakistan reported 18 deaths by novel coronavirus besides 689 people were tested positive for virus.
According to the latest figures displayed on National Coronavirus Dashboard of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 689 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, besides 18 new deaths were reported.
With 689 new cases of COVID-19 were reported across the country the number of positive cases has surged to 1,259,648.
With 18 new deaths reported across Pakistan, the nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 28,152 on Tuesday morning.
As per the province-wise figures given by NCOC, Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The overall toll of COVID-19 deaths jumped to 28,152, out of which 12,792 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 7,502 in Sindh 5,650 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 933 in Islamabad, 739 in Azad Kashmir, 350 in Balochistan, and 186 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
The overall tally of positive cases eported so far across the country surged to 1,259,648, out os which 463,167 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 436,442 in Punjab 176,048 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 106,201 in Islamabad, 34,354 in Azad Kashmir, 33,083 in Balochistan and 10,353 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pakistan has so far conducted 19,953,497 coronavirus tests and 42,476 in the last 24 hours. 1,189,742 patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,280 patients are in critical condition.
The COVID-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 1.62 percent.
So far, 63,046,740 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 493,575 in last 24 hours. 32,723,061 citizens have been fully vaccinated while 604,451 received their second dose in last 24 hours.
The number of total administered doses has reached to 89,719,686 with 1,052,572 in the last 24 hours.
ISLAMABAD: The architect of Pakistan’s nuclear program and renowned nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was laid to rest at H-8 graveyard, Islamabad on Sunday evening.
Earlier funeral prayers of the nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was offered at Faisal Mosque, led by Prof Dr Ahmed Al Ghazali, were held at the Faisal Mosque at 3:30pm.
A large number of people were in attendance during the funeral prayers, despite rain which began to pour shortly after 3pm.
Among those who attended the funeral were cabinet members, parliamentarians and the military leadership.
Two separate enclosures were arranged within the mosque premises, of which one expressly catered to the general public.
Khan, 85, passed away early Sunday morning after his health deteriorated.
His health started deteriorating Saturday night, after which he was brought to the KRL hospital Sunday morning in an ambulance, at 6am.
Sources said the nuclear scientist experienced discomfort in breathing after which he was brought to the hospital. However, his health took a turn for the worse when his lungs started bleeding.
Doctors tried their best to save the renowned scientist’s life but were unable to do so, resulting in his death at 7:04am. Doctors have said he passed away after his lungs collapsed.
In recognition of his outstanding services for the country and the nation, the government announced a state funeral for Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior, the national flag of Pakistan shall fly at half-mast on Sunday.
Dr Khan is considered the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program and is revered at home as a hero for building the Muslim world’s first atomic bomb.
Dr Khan became a national hero overnight, not only in Pakistan but in the Islamic world as well, when in May 1998 Pakistan gave a befitting response to India by conducting its nuclear tests.
Following the tests, Pakistan became the sole nuclear power in the Muslim world and the seventh country to possess nuclear weapons. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons have kept Indian aggression in check.
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, born on April 1, 1936, in Bhopal, India, was a renowned Pakistani metallurgist and nuclear scientist. He was among those who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 with their families.
Dr Khan is widely regarded as the “Father of Islamic Nuclear Bomb” or founder of gas-centrifuge enrichment technology for Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent program as he developed the Muslim world’s first atomic bomb.
He acquired his engineering degree from a university in the Netherlands in 1967 and later went on to secure a doctorate in metallurgical engineering from Belgium.
Dr Khan was the first Pakistani was awarded three presidential awards. He has been awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Order of Excellence) twice and the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) once.
Besides his research work, Dr Khan used to take an interest in welfare activities, he added. He proved that despite difficult circumstances, one can reach the destination one sets out for oneself.
He was heavily influenced by the events of 1971, the loss of East Pakistan, and the subsequent test of nuclear explosives by India in 1974, which led him to write to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto expressing his desire to work for Pakistan’s nuclear program.
He joined Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in 1976. Pakistan had already acquired its weapons by the 1980s but detonated in the late 1990s after India conducted its tests.
He founded the Engineering Research Laboratory, or ERL, to develop a uranium-enrichment capability. In 1981 ERL was renamed the Khan Research Laboratory or KRL.
Dr AQ Khan was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz and the Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1989 and 1999 for his outstanding performance in the world of science and technology. But he found himself in the international crosshairs when he was accused of illegally sharing nuclear technology with Iran, Libya, and North Korea.
The scientist was placed under effective house arrest in the capital Islamabad in 2004 after he admitted running a proliferation network to the three countries.
A court ended his house arrest in February 2009, but his movements were strictly guarded, and he was accompanied by authorities every time he left his home in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan praised Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan by saying that he was, for the people of Pakistan, “a national icon”.
“Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr A Q Khan. He was loved by our nation because of his critical contribution in making us a nuclear weapon state. This has provided us security against an aggressive much larger nuclear neighbour. For the people of Pakistan he was a national icon,” he tweeted.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif praised Dr AQ Khan, saying that the country has lost a true benefactor today.
In his condolence message, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said,” The nation has lost a great Muslim scientist and a national hero today.”
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan made the country’s defence invincible by his skills, said Fazlur Rehman.
Funeral prayers in absentia for the renowned scientist were held in various cities across Pakistan, including Bahawalpur, Mardan, Gujrat, Peshawar, Jhang and Hyderabad.
In Bahawalpur Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Sirajul Haq led the prayers.
In Hyderabad, MQM Pakistan held prayers in absentia. A rally scheduled to be held in the city was postponed.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan was speaking to various groups of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from a position of strength.
In an interview with Middle East Eye, the premier said Islamabad is trying to speak to elements within the TTP who can be reconciled “because it’s from a position of strength”.
“I always believed all insurgencies eventually end up on the dialogue table, like the IRA [Irish Republican Army] for instance,” he explained.
“We now have to talk to those we can reconcile with [and persuade] to give up their arms and live as normal citizens,” he added.
He spoke about the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the War on Terror, saying that Pakistan had lost 80,000 citizens and its economy had been left devastated.
The prime minister said the Taliban had assured Islamabad that the TTP would not launch attacks into Pakistan. He accused India of instigating terrorism in Pakistan via Afghanistan, during the Ashraf Ghani-led government.
PM urges world to engage with Afghanistan
“Events in Afghanistan are still evolving, people like us still don’t know where it will go,” he said. “The US vacating the region will create a vacuum,” he acknowledged.
The prime minister said Afghanistan is a trade corridor that connects Pakistan to the Central Asian countries. “And so, it is a very important country that way,” he said.
“It should not be a ‘US vs China’ camp. Now, it should be about economic ties, economic connectivity. That’s what we are looking for,” he added.
PM Imran Khan said the Taliban had people among its leadership who had given a lot of sacrifices in blood. These people, he said, would now want to be a part of the government.
“And yet the government [in Afghanistan] is looking for international acceptability,” he explained. “So it wants an inclusive government. It talks about human rights and not wanting its soil to be used for terrorism.”
PM Imran Khan said it is a “critical point in Afghanistan” and called on the world to engage with the country.
PM Imran Khan says he hasn’t spoken to Biden yet
The prime minister spoke about US President Joe Biden, saying that he is yet to speak to arguably the most powerful person in the world.
“Well, you know, it’s up to him. It’s [US] a superpower,” he said.
When the interviewer told him he found that “absolutely astonishing” that the two heads of states had not yet spoken, PM Khan said:
“Well, our security chiefs have spoken. Our foreign minister has been in touch with the US foreign secretary. But no, we haven’t spoken, but we are in touch,” he added.
The premier spoke about his visit to the US back in 2008, adding that he had spoken to Biden, John Kerry and Harry Reid – then all senators – warning them that they were creating a problem for themselves in war-torn Afghanistan.
Khan said he had warned the three that there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, however, he added that they did not listen to him.
He said a couple of years later, then Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, delivered the same message to US President Barack Obama.
“But unfortunately, they were led by their generals. And do you know what generals always say: give us more troops and more time,” he added.
When asked about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the cricketer-turned-politician said Islamabad was “relieved” as it expected a bloodbath when the Taliban were about to take over the capital a couple of months ago.
“We have been so relieved because we expected a bloodbath but what happened was a peaceful transfer of power. But we also felt we were blamed for this,” he noted.
The prime minister said the Afghanistan Army, numbering around 300,000 troops, had surrendered without a fight to the Taliban. “So clearly we did not tell them to surrender.”
When asked whether the Taliban had formed an inclusive government in the country, Khan admitted it was not one. However, he said the current Afghan government, as per the Taliban itself, was a transitional one.
He said Pakistan was working with regional countries, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, who had more sizable ethnic populations, to ensure the Taliban agreed to a more diverse representation in its government.
A longtime critic of America’s drone strikes in Pakistan and other countries, PM Imran Khan lashed out at Washington’s strategy to counter terrorism through drone attacks.
“It is the most insane way of fighting terrorism. Doing a drone attack on a village mud hut and expecting there will not be casualties. And a lot of time the drones targeted the wrong people,” he stressed.
When asked whether Pakistan will allow the US to launch strikes into Afghanistan, targeting Daesh, the prime minister said: “They don’t need a base here because we do not need to be part of a conflict again.”
When the prime minister was asked to speak his mind on the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to pull out of the Pakistan tour against the British High Commission’s advice, PM Imran Khan said “I think England let itself down”.
The prime minister said that he had seen the evolution of Pakistan-England cricket ties over the years.
“I think that there is still this feeling in England that they do a great favour to play countries like Pakistan,” he added. “One of the reasons is that, obviously, the money.”
The prime minister said that the BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world, adding that no other country would dare to do to India what England had done to Pakistan.
“Money is a big player now,” he said. “For the players, as well as for the cricket boards. The money lies in India, so basically India controls world cricket now. I mean, they do, whatever they say goes. No one would dare do that to India because they know that the sums involved, India can sort of produce much more money,” he added.
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday granted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) access to accounts of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib had requested the election commission to give it access to the accounts of the both parties in connection with the scrutiny of alleged foreign funding.
Talking to media persons outside ECP, the minister said that PML-N and PPP faced a defeat at the election commission. As per State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) PPP and PML-N own seven and twelve accounts respectively but both parties showed nothing, he claimed.
Farrukh Habib further said that PTI submitted details of the party funds in the election commission but on the other hand, party accounts of PML-N and PPP were used for money laundering.
ISLAMABAD: Coronavirus pandemic has shown a little decline as during last 24 hours Pakistan has reported 28 deaths besides 1,004 people have been tested positive to virus.
According to latest figures displayed on National Coronavirus Dashboard of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), country witnessed a minor decline in COVID-19 as 1,004 new cases of the virus were reported that took the number of positive cases has surged to 1,258,959. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 28,134 on Monday, after 28 new deaths were reported during last 24 hours.
Punjab is still worst-hit province of the country in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Overall death tally surged to 28,134 mark across the country out of which 12,785 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 7,497 in Sindh 5,645 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 932 in Islamabad, 739 in Azad Kashmir, 350 in Balochistan, and 186 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
The countrywode tally of positive cases were reported 1,258,959, out of which 462,859 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 436,197 in Punjab 175,974 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 106,153 in Islamabad, 34,350 in Azad Kashmir, 33,076 in Balochistan and 10,350 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pakistan has so far conducted 19,911,021 coronavirus tests and 43,389 in the last 24 hours. 1,188,562 patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,473 patients are in critical condition.
The COVID-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 2.31 per cent.
So far, 63,046,740 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 493,575 in last 24 hours. 32,723,061 citizens have been fully vaccinated while 604,451 received their second dose in last 24 hours.
The number of total administered doses has reached to 89,719,686 with 1,052,572 in the last 24 hours.
