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Tag: Pakistan

  • Don’t Expect Energy Sanctions To Stop Iran’s Crackdown

    Don’t Expect Energy Sanctions To Stop Iran’s Crackdown

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    The Iranian government’s violent crackdown on protests stemming from the murder of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s Morality Police is driving the West to levy further sanctions against Iran. The US Treasury Department has already placed extensive financial sanctions on the members of Iran’s Morality Police with the US State Department promising more to follow. With the protests continuing to gain steam as Iran’s oil workers simultaneously go on strike – a vital part of the Shah’s 1979 downfall – there is widespread hope that Iran’s protestors can topple the Mullahs and bring the country back into the community of nations.

    Unfortunately, there is reason to be pessimistic. Iran’s history of repressed protests attests to how extremely difficult it is to topple an entrenched theocratic dictatorship. Iran has also been sanction-proofing its energy sector to withstand the escalating sanctions that come with each new episode of repression. Iran has plenty of experience in sanctions avoidance, building energy-exporting infrastructure, finding new export partners, and increasing domestic technical expertise. Even as domestic support erodes, Tehran is counting on foreign oil and now arms sales revenue to sustain the regime.

    Iran preemptively made moves to weaken western sanctions before these latest protests even began. Last month, Iran’s oil minister Javad Owji announced that Iran was looking to the East and courting investment from Japan, Korea, and China while deepening its political and energy cooperation with friendly countries, especially China and Russia. This followed a 40-billion-dollar gas swap deal between Russia and Iran that has supported both regimes as they face domestic and foreign adversaries.

    To Iran’s immediate east, it has made moves to deepen its relationship with Pakistan as a vital first step. Connecting with perennially energy-hungry Pakistan, especially in the wake of Pakistan’s floods and self-inflicted energy policy failures, would give Iran a massive adjacent market. A direct connection between the two via the proposed “peace pipeline” would be the biggest sanction-proofing action Iran could undertake, but Iran would need help. Russia’s Gazprom has already volunteered itself. This pipeline, planned since the 1990s and repeatedly canceled or delayed, still has far to go before completion. Should it get up and running, it would create an insulated income stream allowing Iran a land route to its most significant foreign benefactor, China.

    China is the center of gravity that is animating much of Iran’s foreign and energy policy. Iran recently announced it would join the Chinese-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), working out a memorandum of understanding with its members. It is China, not Pakistan, will be the actor that constructs the “peace pipeline” inside Pakistan so Pakistan can legally dodge any sanctions levied against the pipeline.

    The SCO, despite the numerous disputes and contradictions between its members, is constructing itself as an authoritarian alternative to the West and NATO. The SCO is all too happy to help Iran in its sanction-proofing initiatives and ensure the Mullahs in Tehran remain unthreatened by their own people while Beijing gains access to cheap oil.

    Iran’s energy policy moves are not restricted to its hydrocarbon efforts. Iran is expected to include nuclear power in its dealings with the SCO. Ever since the US walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Moscow and Beijing’s energy and wider geopolitical cooperation with Tehran have increased manifold. This nuclear integration and the potential for a totally unhindered uranium supply from Russia could spell disaster for the West. This cooperation would not only aid the mullahs’ quest for nuclear weapons, but the diversification of Iran’s energy sector will free up more oil for exports and further insulate the regime.

    Closer bilateral relations between Moscow and Tehran have already resulted in Iran supplying Russia with drones for use in Ukraine, joint naval drills, and wider economic cooperation. With the domestic turmoil in Iran forcing Tehran’s hands, these trends all look to accelerate rapidly and consciously. Unfortunately, it appears that Iran’s strategy is working, and energy-dependent foreign revenue streams will keep growing unless the U.S. puts its foot down.

    In the same way that sanctions against Russia were comprehensively crafted to undermine its war machine without prompting total integration with China, sanctions against Iran must be crafted so as not to encourage further integration with the SCO. This is easier said than done but can be done via Western support and engagement with Pakistan and India by encouraging both parties to become more involved in the Arabian Peninsula while simultaneously investing in their domestic energy production. It can also be done by strengthening relations with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan and encouraging energy exports to Pakistan via the Middle Corridor.

    The West must also summon the political courage to invest in its own energy sources outside the control of OPEC+. The formula isn’t innovative, but it is effective: LNG as a bridge fuel and investment in nuclear power until more renewables are online.

    If the West is sincere about using sanctions to amplify the protestors’ chances of success as well as hinder the rise of the SCO as an authoritarian counterweight, it must construct a more sophisticated and energy-conscious set of sanctions. While it is important to commit to the sanctions already in place, and every bit of support should be given to the protestors, the West must also consider targeting the Iranian energy exports sector, especially technology, finance, shipping, and insurance. The sanctions levied against members of Iran’s Morality Police and Revolutionary Guard Corps are a good start, but not enough. If we cannot rise to these challenges, expect more turbulence emanating from Iranian rather than just protests.

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    Ariel Cohen, Contributor

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  • Pakistan election commission disqualifies former PM Imran Khan

    Pakistan election commission disqualifies former PM Imran Khan

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    Former prime minister disqualified from being a member of parliament over ‘corrupt practices’.

    Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s election commission, in a unanimous decision, has found former Prime Minister Imran Khan guilty of “corrupt practices” and disqualified him from being a member of parliament.

    Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party immediately rejected Friday verdict. It said it would file an appeal to the Islamabad High Court to challenge the verdict and called on supporters to take to the streets.

    The case against Khan was filed in August by a member of the Pakistan Muslim Nawaz, contending that the former prime minister had bought gifts given from foreign dignitaries from the state gift depository (also called Toshakhana) but did not disclose the assets in the declarations submitted to the commission.

    More to follow…

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  • India will not travel to Pakistan for next year’s Asia Cup

    India will not travel to Pakistan for next year’s Asia Cup

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    Indian cricket board’s secretary says tournament, scheduled to be held in Pakistan, will take place at neutral venue.

    The Indian cricket team will not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup next year, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president has said.

    Jay Shah, who is also secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said on Tuesday that the tournament will be held at a neutral venue.

    “The Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue,” Shah told the media after a BCCI annual general meeting. “It’s the government which decides over the permission of our team visiting Pakistan so we won’t comment on that but for the 2023 Asia Cup, it is decided that the tournament will be held at a neutral venue.

    “I am saying this as ACC President. We [India] can’t go there [to Pakistan], they can’t come here. In the past also, Asia Cup has been played at a neutral venue.”

    There has been no official announcement from the ACC.

    Pakistan and India have not played a bilateral series since 2012. Pakistan last visited India in 2016 for the T20 World Cup while India’s last tour of Pakistan was for the Asia Cup in 2008.

    The last time they faced off in a Test series was 2007.

    Pakistan and India last played each other in this year’s Asia Cup that took place in the United Arab Emirates.

    The teams are also set to play their T20 World Cup opener in Melbourne on October 23.

    Matches between the two ignite great fervour but have also defused military tensions between the two nations, which have fought four wars since independence from British rule in 1947.

    The Pakistan Cricket Board has not yet responded to Shah’s comments.

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  • Report: Taliban killed captives in restive Afghan province

    Report: Taliban killed captives in restive Afghan province

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    ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Taliban captured, bound and shot to death 27 men in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley last month during an offensive against resistance fighters in the area, according to a report published Tuesday, refuting the group’s earlier claims that the men were killed in battle.

    One video of the killings verified by the report shows five men, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. Then, Taliban fighters spray them with gunfire for 20 seconds and cry out in celebration.

    The investigation by Afghan Witness, an open-source project run by the U.K.-based non-profit Center for Information Resilience, is a rare verification of allegations that the Taliban have used brutal methods against opposition forces and their supporters, its researchers said. Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a tighter and harsher rule, even as they press for international recognition of their government.

    David Osborn, the team leader of Afghan Witness, said the report gives the ”most clear-cut example” of the Taliban carrying out an “orchestrated purge” of resistance fighters.

    Afghan Witness said it analyzed dozens of visual sources from social media — mostly videos and photographs — to conclusively link one group of Taliban fighters to the killings of 10 men in the Dara District of Panjshir, including the five seen being mowed down in the video.

    It said it also confirmed 17 other extrajudicial killings from further images on social media, all showing dead men with their hands tied behind their backs. Videos and photos of Taliban fighters with the bodies aided geolocation and chrono-location, also providing close-ups of the fighters at the scene. These were cross-referenced with other videos suspected to feature the group.

    “Using open-source techniques we have established the facts around the summary and systematic execution of a group of men in the Panjshir Valley in mid-September,” Osborn said. “At the time of their execution, the detained were bound, posing no threat to their Taliban captors.”

    Enayatullah Khawarazmi, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the defense minister, said a delegation is investigating the videos released on social media. He said he was unable to give further details as the investigation is ongoing.

    Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban-run government, was not immediately available for comment.

    Last month, Mujahid was reported as saying the Taliban had killed 40 resistance fighters and captured more than 100 in Panjshir. He gave no details on how the 40 men died.

    The force fighting in the mountainous Panjshir Valley north of Kabul — a remote region that has defied conquerors before — rose out of the last remnants of Afghanistan’s shattered security forces. It has vowed to resist the Taliban after they overran the country and seized power in August 2021.

    Ali Maisam Nazary, head of foreign relations at the National Resistance Front for Afghanistan, said: “The Taliban committed war crimes by killing POWs that surrendered to them point blank and the videos are evidence of this.”

    Afghan Witness said it has credible evidence of a further 30 deaths due to last month’s Taliban offensive against alleged resistance fighters in Panjshir.

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  • Gates Foundation Pledges $1.2 Billion To Polio Eradication

    Gates Foundation Pledges $1.2 Billion To Polio Eradication

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    Topline

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Sunday it will donate $1.2 billion to help eradicate wild polio in the two remaining countries—Pakistan and Afghanistan—where the virus is endemic and prevent new strains of the virus from emerging, months after New York reported its first vaccine-derived polio case in nearly a decade.

    Key Facts

    The money will go toward the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a partnership including the Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that focuses on eradicating the spread of polio.

    The organization is seeking to raise $4.8 billion in total for its 2022-2026 program, and will raise more funds at a summit on October 18, according to the Gates Foundation.

    Although significant progress has been achieved in the fight against polio, the disease “remains a threat,” billionaire co-founder Bill Gates said in a statement.

    Melinda French Gates, the nonprofit’s co-founder and Bill Gates’ ex-wife, added that polio vaccination campaigns have “played a key role in strengthening health systems” in addition to stopping the spread of the disease.

    Big Number

    370 million. That’s how many children GPEI hopes to vaccinate against polio every year from 2022 to 2026, the Gates Foundation said Sunday.

    News Peg

    The ten-figure donation comes after samples of poliovirus were found in both the state of New York and London, leading officials to monitor for cases and ramp up calls for vaccination. The cases are believed to be from vaccine-derived polio: People who are vaccinated with live poliovirus can shed it in their stool, where it can spread through wastewater, mutate and then infect others who come into contact. New York declared an emergency last month after the virus was found in a fourth county in addition to New York City, and the state began monitoring wastewater after a vaccine-derived case of polio caused paralysis in a 20-year-old unvaccinated man in Rockland County. Many of the New York counties where the virus has been found have polio vaccination rates well below the national average. In London, health officials announced a new vaccination campaign in August to help boost coverage in children under 10, after vaccine-derived poliovirus was detected in wastewater from North and East London for the first time in decades.

    Key Background

    Polio is a contagious disease transmitted mostly through contact with fecal samples and occasionally coughing and sneezing. Before the polio vaccine was developed in 1955, around 15,000 people in the U.S. developed paralysis from the illness every year, according to the CDC. Poliovirus has been eliminated in many countries worldwide as a result of mass vaccination campaigns, including GPEI, which was launched in 1988 and is one of the largest worldwide public health initiatives in history. However, the virus still circulates in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where political instability and prolonged conflict have impeded vaccination campaigns. As of 2021, about 75% of Afghan children ages 12 to 23 months had been fully vaccinated against polio, while 83% had been vaccinated in Pakistan, according to UNICEF. The Gates Foundation has donated nearly $5 billion to the GPEI initiative in the past, while governments in high-income countries and other nonprofits have also contributed.

    Tangent

    Bill Gates told Forbes last month he plans to wrap up the foundation he co-chairs with Melinda in 25 years, explaining that “spending all the money in that timeframe makes sense.” During that time, he said he hopes to “try and bring infectious disease, or all of the diseases that make the world inequitable,” to an end, either through “eradication or getting them down to very low levels.” The news came after Gates announced in July he had made a $20 billion donation to the foundation. He said he plans to keep giving until he is no longer a billionaire.

    Forbes Valuation

    Gates—who made his fortune by co-founding Microsoft—is worth $99.8 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time estimates, making him the fifth richest person in the world. His ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, is worth $6.1 billion.

    Further Reading

    Gates Pledges $1.2 Billion to Speed End of Crippling Poliovirus (Bloomberg)

    Exclusive: Bill Gates Reveals The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Aims To Run For Just 25 More Years (Forbes)

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    Madeline Halpert, Forbes Staff

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  • Pakistan summons US ambassador after Biden calls country ‘dangerous’ for having nuclear weapons | CNN Politics

    Pakistan summons US ambassador after Biden calls country ‘dangerous’ for having nuclear weapons | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Pakistani officials said Saturday they had summoned the US ambassador to the country following recent comments made by President Joe Biden that doubted the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

    Speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Los Angeles on Thursday, Biden said Pakistan was “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” because it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” according to a transcript of the speech released by the White House.

    Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shot back Saturday at Biden’s comments. “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and we are proud that our nuclear assets have the best safeguards as per IAEA requirements,” Sharif tweeted, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency. “We take these safety measures with the utmost seriousness. Let no one have any doubts.”

    Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, said that he was surprised by Biden’s remarks and that, after speaking with Sharif, they summoned Ambassador Donald Blome to the Foreign Office of Pakistan.

    A US official confirmed to CNN that Blome was summoned by Pakistan’s foreign ministry following Biden’s remarks. Those remarks frustrated US diplomats in the region, the US official said.

    Speaking to reporters Saturday at a news conference in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, Bhutto-Zardari echoed Sharif on his country’s atomic safety record. “We meet all, each and every international standard in accordance with the IAEA,” Bhutto-Zardari said.

    Bhutto-Zardari blamed Biden’s comments on a misunderstanding: “I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement and luckily, we have embarked on a journey of engagement,” he said.

    CNN has reached out to the US State Department for comment.

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  • Pakistan summons US envoy over Biden’s nuclear remarks

    Pakistan summons US envoy over Biden’s nuclear remarks

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    US president said Pakistan is one of the ‘most dangerous’ nations which has ‘nuclear weapons without any cohesion’.

    Pakistan’s foreign minister says that the US ambassador to the country has been summoned after President Joe Biden in a speech said Pakistan “may be one of the most dangerous” countries in the world which had “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.

    The 79-year-old Biden made the comments during a reception of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday in which he also touched upon the war in Ukraine, China and local domestic issues.

    Speaking in the context of China and his relationship with President Xi Jinping, Biden said, “This is a guy [Xi Jinping] who understands what he wants but has an enormous, enormous array of problems. How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”

    Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Saturday during a news conference in the southern port city of Karachi he was “surprised” by Biden’s statement. “I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement,” he added.

    US President Joe Biden made the comments on Thursday during a reception for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee [File: Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

    “If there is any question as to nuclear safety, then they should be directed to our neighbour India, who very recently accidentally fired a missile into Pakistani territory,” Bhutto-Zardari said, citing the firing of a supersonic missile into Pakistan on March 9.

    The 34-year-old asserted that he did not think the decision to summon Ambassador Donald Blome will negatively affect Islamabad’s relations with the Americans.

    “We will continue on the positive trajectory of engagements we are having so far,” he said.

    The controversy came just more than a week after Pakistan’s military chief, General Qamar Bajwa, made a trip to the US and held high-level meetings with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

    Moreover, last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Biden for highlighting and urging the international community to help the South Asian nation recover from devastating floods that have affected some 30 million people.

    ‘Unwarranted’

    Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday condemned Biden’s remarks, saying the US president had reached an “unwarranted conclusion”.

    “[H]aving been prime minister, I know we have one of the most secure nuclear command and control systems,” he tweeted.

    “Unlike the US which has been involved in wars, across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression, especially post-nuclearisation?”

    Khan said Biden’s statement showed that the current Pakistani government – led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif – was a “total failure” on foreign policy and “its claims of ‘reset of relations with US’”.

    Sharif’s brother and former prime minister also criticised the US president’s remarks, saying that Pakistan was a “responsible nuclear state”.

    “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state that is perfectly capable of safeguarding its national interest whilst respecting international law and practices,” he said on Twitter.

    During the previous decade, Pakistan has steadily moved towards its regional ally China for its economic and defence needs, resulting in a gradual cooling-off in its relationship with Washington.

    The relationship between the two nuclear-armed nations worsened as Washington accused Islamabad of providing safe havens to Taliban leaders. Pakistan has repeatedly denied the allegations.

    Khan was removed from power in April after an opposition alliance brought a no-confidence motion against his government. The former cricketer-turned-politician has accused the US of conspiring with the opposition.

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  • Assailants fatally shoot Hindu man in Kashmir

    Assailants fatally shoot Hindu man in Kashmir

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    SRINAGAR, India — Assailants on Saturday fatally shot a Kashmiri Hindu man in violence police blamed on militants fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region.

    Police said militants fired at Puran Krishan Bhat, who is from the minority community of Kashmiri Hindus, at his home in southern Shopian district. He was taken to a hospital where he died, police said in a statement.

    Police and soldiers cordoned off the area and launched a search for the attackers.

    In August, a local Hindu man was killed and his brother injured in Shopian in a shooting that police also blamed on insurgents.

    Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.

    Rebels in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

    India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

    Kashmir has witnessed a spate of targeted killings since October last year. Several Hindus, including immigrant workers from Indian states, have been killed. Police say the killings — including that of Muslim village councilors, police officers and civilians — have been carried out by anti-India rebels.

    The spate of killings come as Indian troops have continued their counterinsurgency operations across the region amid a clampdown on dissent and press freedom, which critics have likened to a militaristic policy.

    Kashmir’s minority Hindus, who are locally known as Pandits, have long fretted over their place in the region. Most of an estimated 200,000 of them fled Kashmir in the 1990s, when an armed rebellion against Indian rule began. Some 4,000 returned after 2010 as part of a government resettlement plan that provided them with jobs and housing.

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  • Thousands protest increased violence in Pakistan’s Swat Valley

    Thousands protest increased violence in Pakistan’s Swat Valley

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    Residents take to the streets after a school bus driver was shot dead in the latest of a growing number of violent incidents.

    Islamabad, Pakistan – Thousands of people have rallied in Pakistan’s Swat Valley to protest against growing insecurity following the killing of a local school bus driver who was shot by an unknown assailant on Monday.

    Chanting slogans against the increasing number of killings in the area, protesters took to the streets on Tuesday afternoon in Nishat Chowk, demanding that the government do more to ensure the safety of residents there.

    Ahmed Shah, spokesperson for Swat Qaumi Jirga, a representative body of local residents, said more than 15,000 people had attended the protest – the sixth in the past two months.

    “We held one protest last week but the one today is among the largest demonstrations ever in Swat,” he told Al Jazeera.

    Fawad Khan, an activist with Swat Olasi Pasoon (Swat People’s Movement), who was at Tuesday’s protest, told Al Jazeera that there had been a clear increase in violent incidents in the region.

    “We are demanding the government control the terrorist elements who are back and spreading terror here,” he said. “We must be given protection, which is our constitutional right.”

    According to police officials, the latest incident of violence took place in Mingora on Monday morning when the school bus driver was shot dead by a man riding a motorcycle.

    Hussain Ahmed, 33, was driving two young students, one of whom was wounded and taken to hospital before being discharged.

    Police officials told Al Jazeera they have ruled out “terrorism” since this was a targeted attack on an individual, but they are continuing to investigate. They added that there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack so far.

    Monday’s attack came a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai by the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP or Pakistan Taliban) when she was a schoolgirl.

    Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, condemned the latest attack and said this should be a wake-up call for the state.

    Speaking to Al Jazeera, Dawar said that he has voiced concerns about the increased presence of “militants” in the area since he joined parliament, but nothing has been done.

    “Mainstream Pakistan perhaps does not realise the severity of the situation because they are not feeling the heat yet,” he said. “If Pakistan’s political and military leadership does not sit together to resolve this menace, I fear that in coming days the situation will be out of control.”

    TTP stronghold

    The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a civil rights group, also issued a statement on Monday saying that residents of Swat are justified in holding security forces responsible.

    “It was callous and short-sighted to have downplayed the threat from militants given residents’ growing protests and calls for security,” the statement read.

    Last month, five people – including an influential anti-Taliban tribal leader – were killed in a bomb blast in Swat’s Kot Katai village.

    Swat, which is roughly 240km (150 miles) from the capital, Islamabad, was a major TTP stronghold until 2009, when the Pakistani military drove the armed group’s fighters out.

    The recent surge in violence comes as peace talks between Pakistan’s security forces and the TTP have failed to yield any progress.

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  • Roof collapse kills 9 members of family in northern Pakistan

    Roof collapse kills 9 members of family in northern Pakistan

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    Police say the roof of a home made of mud and wood in northern Pakistan caved in, killing nine family members, including eight siblings

    PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The roof of a home made of mud and wood in northern Pakistan caved in early Sunday killing nine family members, including eight siblings, police said.

    Police officer Imtiaz Khan said the incident in the town of Chilas in the Gilgit Baltistan region claimed the lives of four daughters and four sons of a restaurant waiter and his wife. Khan said the father was at work when it happened.

    Neighbors who heard the crashing sound of the house coming down rushed to the home but efforts to rescue the family were unsuccessful. Police said the siblings killed were ages 2 to 12.

    Such incidents are not uncommon in Pakistan, where implementation of safety standards is lacking and many people live in poorly constructed structures for lack of financial resources.

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  • Top Pakistan diplomat urges flood aid, patience with Taliban

    Top Pakistan diplomat urges flood aid, patience with Taliban

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Pakistan’s foreign minister says the international community should work with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, not against them, when it comes to combatting foreign extremist groups and the economic and humanitarian crises in that country — even as many U.S. officials say the Taliban have proved themselves unworthy of such cooperation.

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan’s top diplomat, spoke to The Associated Press in the final days of a trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York and to Washington that has focused on trying to draw more world attention to unprecedented flooding that has one-third of his country underwater.

    Unrelenting monsoon rains that scientists say are worsened by climate change have killed more than 1,000 people in Pakistan, caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and destroyed much of the country’s staple food and commercial crops.

    Pakistan is among many countries hardest-hit by climate change that have become increasingly outspoken in seeking more financial assistance from richer nations. Past and current economic and industrial booms of China, the United States and other leading economies are the biggest contributors to climate change, which is primarily caused by burning fossil fuels.

    The roughly 30 million people in Pakistan reported to be displaced by the floods are “truly paying in the forms of their lives and their livelihoods for the industrialization of other countries,” said Zardari.

    “And justice would be that we work together” globally, “that we’re not left alone, to deal with the consequences of this tragedy,” he said.

    Zardari is the son of a past Pakistani prime minister and a past president. He became foreign minister in April.

    He met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday. The Biden administration on the same day announced another $10 million in food aid for Pakistan, on top of more than $56 million in flood relief and humanitarian assistance this year.

    More broadly, however, the Biden administration and other governments of leading economic nations have delivered only a small part of the $100 billion in annual aid they have pledged to help less-wealthy nations survive the droughts, rising seas and other disasters of climate change and switch to cleaner energy themselves.

    “We expect the United States to be one of the leading players” in that, said Zardari, who also spoke approvingly of a nascent proposal out of the U.N. in which developed nations could cancel out existing debt as a form of climate aid.

    “We’ve not yet seen — and that doesn’t mean we won’t see — the translation of this vision to practicalities on the ground” in terms of the overall climate aid, he said.

    Zardari, who spoke to the AP on Tuesday at Pakistan’s embassy, also gave contentious recommendations that the U.S. work more directly with Afghanistan’s Taliban. Pakistan and the United States have shared widely varying amounts of cooperation against violent armed groups sheltering in Afghanistan over the decades. The U.S. long has been at odds with many Pakistani officials over sympathetic handling and support for the Taliban.

    No country recognizes the Taliban, a group sanctioned as a terrorist organization that retook power by military force in August 2021, as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. The United States and the international community at large have sought to deal with billions of dollars in frozen Afghan Central Bank funds, to institute financial reforms, and to deliver badly needed aid to ordinary Afghans with minimal involvement by the Taliban.

    “At the risk of hurting anyone’s feelings, I think it’s important to mention that these funds, it’s not the Taliban’s funds, it’s not the Americans’ funds. These are funds that belong to the people of Afghanistan,” Zardari said.

    Economic isolation and privation such as Afghanistan has experienced since the Taliban takeover only feed authoritarianism and extremism, he said. The best financial outcomes would work through existing institutions, now in Taliban hands, not through “some sort of parallel government.”

    Asked if he meant the U.S. needed to hold its nose and deal with Afghanistan’s ruling power, Zardari said, “Pretty much.”

    Meanwhile, the U.S. discovery that the global leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had taken up refuge in the heart of Afghanistan’s capital since the Taliban had returned to power has left U.S. leaders condemning Taliban officials for alleged complicity. The U.S. killed Zawahiri in a drone strike in July.

    The Taliban had yet to have the time and ability to grapple with extremist groups as a government should, Zardari said. “For them to demonstrate their will to take on terrorist organizations, we need to help them build their capacity to also do so” before judging them, he said.

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  • Afghans flee to Pakistan border after U.S. withdrawal

    Afghans flee to Pakistan border after U.S. withdrawal

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    Afghans flee to Pakistan border after U.S. withdrawal – CBS News


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    Less than a month after 9/11, the United States invaded Afghanistan, where Al-Qaeda planned the attacks. The war lasted nearly 20 years and became America’s longest war and cost the lives of more than 2,200 American service members. The U.S. withdrew its final forces in August, leading to chaos. Charlie D’Agata reports from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where people are desperate to flee.

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  • The 14th Annual South Asian International Film Festival Announces Its Glittering 2017 Film Line-Up

    The 14th Annual South Asian International Film Festival Announces Its Glittering 2017 Film Line-Up

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    The World Premiere of ‘LONG LIVE BRIJ MOHAN’ Officially Kicks Off the Festival on Wednesday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 pm. at Sunshine Cinema, NYC


    NEW YORK, December 7, 2017 (Newswire.com)
    –
     The South Asian International Film Festival, presented by HBO, is celebrating its 14th year by showcasing the very best in South Asian independent cinema to the New York City cinephile community with all screenings taking place at Landmark Sunshine Theater at 143 East Houston Street in the East Village, New York City. With over 50 percent world premieres this year and over 25 percent North American premieres, along with three New York premieres and one international premiere, SAIFF ’17 takes on epic proportions with critically acclaimed filmmakers, international actors and celebrated film personalities in attendance. Additionally, there will be an inaugural Opening Night Presentation hosted by the New York film industry. With star-studded premieres, thought-provoking interactive sessions, networking opportunities for industry professionals and Tinseltown members from both corners of the world, SAIFF ’17 promises to be a cultural force to reckon with.

    The festival throws open its doors with the opening night world premiere of Long Live Brij Mohan, before going on to showcase its centerpiece film Na Maloom Afraad 2 and celebrates a successful close to its 14th year with the New York premiere of Ribbon on the closing night with cast and crew in attendance.

    OPENING NIGHT FILM: Long Live Brij Mohan
    Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat / 2017 / India / In Hindi (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 105 mins.
    Wednesday, Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.
    Brij Mohan, a hosiery shop owner in a busy middle-class market in Delhi, is fed up with his ball-crusher wife and mounting debts. In a desperate attempt to escape his wretched life, he changes his appearance and adopts a new identity as Amar Sethi … but in the process, ends up committing a botched-up murder. He then runs off with his younger girlfriend, hopeful of making a new beginning. But instead, as luck would have it, he finds himself trapped in a web of his own karma.

    CENTERPIECE FILM: Na Maloom Afraad 2
    Directed by Nabeel Qureshi / 2017 / Pakistan / In Urdu (with English subtitles).
    Narrative Feature / North American Premiere / 118 mins.
    Saturday, Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.
    Na Maloom Afraad 2 is an upcoming sequel to the 2014 Pakistani hit thriller film Na Maloom Afraad. The leading cast returning includes Fahad Mustafa, Javed Sheikh, Mohsin Abbas Haider and Urwa Hocane, along with Hania Amir in the lead and Marina Khan in her debut performance. The film is a hysterical comedy of errors when an extravagant Sheikh arrives in Cape Town with his precious and infamous “Gold Pot” – a toilet bowl made of gold! The Pot mistakenly finds its way to the three misfits – who call themselves Na Maloom Afraad – and are clueless about what to do with it. The movie unfolds as the South African police, smugglers and the Sheikh’s entourage start looking for the Gold Pot as the three misfits do their best to escape unscathed.

    CLOSING NIGHT FILM: Ribbon
    Directed by Rakhee Sandilya / 2017 / India / In Hindi (with English subtitles).
    Narrative Feature / New York Premiere / 105 mins.
    Sunday, Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.
    After a sudden pregnancy, a young urban couple is overwhelmed by their baby girl and discover that parenthood comes with its own challenges. And it takes more than just love to stick through all of life’s curveballs.

    SAIFF 2017’s Feature Competition line-up includes the following highly anticipated titles:

    Mona Darling   
    Directed by Shashi Sudigala / India / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / International Premiere / 111 mins.

    In English We Say
    Directed by Harish Vyas / India / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 104 mins.

    Half Widow
    Directed by Danish Renzu / India / 2017 / In Urdu (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 91 mins.

    Maacher Jhol 
    Directed by Pratim D. Gupta / India / 2017 / In Bengali and French (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / New York Premiere / 108 mins.

    Code Name Abdul 
    Directed by Eshwar Gunturu / India / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / North American Premiere / 114 mins.

    SAIFF 2017’s Feature Spectrum line-up includes the following highly anticipated titles:

    Azad
    ​    Directed by Rehan Sheikh / Pakistan / 2017 / In Urdu (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / World Premiere / 121 mins.

    Coma Café
    ​    Directed by Avi Vasu / India / 2017 / In English and Hindi (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Feature / North America Premiere / 104 mins.

    SAIFF 2017’s Short Film & HBO Competitors line-up includes the following highly anticipated titles:

    Please Don’t Call The Cops
    Directed by Kartikye Gupta / United States / 2017 / In Hindi (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Short / World Premiere / 15 mins.

    Safeword (HBO Competitor)
    Directed by Mukesh Vidyasagar / United States / 2017 / English
    Narrative Short / World Premiere / 3 mins.

    Cobbler’s Dream (HBO Competitor)
    Directed by Sydney Chandrasekara / Sri Lanka / 2017 / In Sinhalese (with English subtitles)
    Narrative Short / World Premiere / 15 mins.

    Diwal’oween (HBO Competitor)
    Directed by Shilpa Mankikar / United States / 2017 / English
    Narrative Short / World Premiere / 33 mins.

    The Pits (HBO Competitor)
    Directed by Shetu Modi / Canada / 2017 / English
    Narrative Short / New York Premiere / 6 mins.

    The Language of the Ball (HBO Competitor)
    Directed by Ramón Rodríguez / United States / 2017 / English
    Narrative Short / New York Premiere / 9 mins.

    The Fourteenth (14th) Annual South Asian International Film Festival runs from Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, to Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017, in New York City. For additional information on SAIFF 2017, including screening dates, locations, featured guests and ticketing information, please visit www.saiff.org.

    2017 Festival Sponsors & Patrons: HBO, SANA, ZEE CINEMA, Air India, Microsoft, The New York Times and 20+ South Asian community organizations and associations.

    About SAIFF: 
    The South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting South Asian/Indian filmmakers in the U.S. seeking maximum visibility and absolute distribution. SAIFF was founded in New York City due to the lack of support for emerging filmmakers and the overall underrepresentation of Indian cinema in a capital that is recognized by the world as the birthplace of independent filmmaking. The festival is committed to exhibiting films from South Asia (i.e. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal) and within the Indian diaspora. For more information, visit www.saiff.org.

    About HBO:
    Home Box Office Inc. is the premium television-programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour pay television services – HBO and Cinemax – to over 40 million U.S. subscribers. The services offer the most popular subscription video-on-demand products, HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand, as well as HBO on Broadband, HD feeds and multiplex channels. Internationally, HBO’s branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on-demand products are highly sought after for its exclusive content. HBO programming is sold in over 150 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.hbo.com.

    Press and Media Contact:
    Shalinee Khemraj
    Phone: 646-330-4172
    Email: press@saiff.org

    Source: South Asian International Film Festival

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