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Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Prime minister vows safe environment for Chinese
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that the government was building a safe and business-friendly environment for the Chinese community in Pakistan. "The confidence of Chinese companies in the Pakistani economy is extremely important for our economic future," the prime minister said while chairing a meeting regarding security arrangements for Chinese citizens in Pakistan. "China is our friendly country," said the prime minister stressing that the protection of Chinese brothers was the top priority of the government. During the meeting, the prime minister was briefed on the progress of special security arrangements for Chinese nationals throughout the country. The interior minister informed the prime minister about the security arrangements being implemented nationwide. In the briefing, it was stated that in light of potential terrorist threats, special security arrangements for Chinese nationals had been enforced. The federal government and all provinces are working in full cooperation on this matter, the briefing highlighted adding that safe city projects were under construction across the country. Police Academy Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday visited the National Police Academy (NPA) and addressed the 52nd Commons Batch of Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs), announcing a comprehensive overhaul of the institution, aligning it with the standards of the Pakistan Military Academy.
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First Post
13-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
'Asim Munir has no such plans': Shehbaz Sharif denies military coup build-up in Pakistan
PM Shehbaz Sharif claimed Field Marshal Asim Munir has never expressed any desire to become the president, dismissing rumours of a potential change in the country's leadership read more Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, along with Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan Asim Munir, reviews the parade at the passing out ceremony of 151st Long Course at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul, Abbottabad, Pakistan, April 26, 2025. Press Information Department of Pakistan via Reuters Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has responded to rumours about a possible change in leadership, rejecting claims that President Asif Ali Zardari might step down or that Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir is aiming to take over the presidency. He spoke about this on Saturday (July 12) while discussing the recent four-day clash between India and Pakistan, during which he said 55 Pakistani citizens lost their lives. 'Field Marshal Asim Munir has never expressed any desire to become the president, nor is there any such plan in the offing," he said in an interview with The News. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also criticised what he called a 'malicious campaign' targeting Pakistan's civilian and military leaders. In a post on X, Naqvi suggested that foreign groups were behind the dissemination of these rumours and said the government knows who is responsible for pushing this narrative. Asim Munir, who became army chief in 2022, had his original three-year term extended by two years. However, he later promoted himself to the rank of field marshal after the conflict with Pakistan, signalling his intent to strengthen his grip on power. On a potential nuclear exchange with India Sharif also rejected suggestions that the recent conflict with India could lead to a nuclear exchange. He said Pakistan's nuclear weapons are meant only for peaceful purposes and self-defence, ' not for aggression'. When asked about the use of nuclear weapons, Sharif stressed, 'Pakistan's nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes and national defence, not for aggression.' The conflict began after a terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which killed 26 civilians. In response, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. On May 7, Indian forces carried out strikes on nine terror sites, including Bahawalpur, known as a stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group. These strikes were part of the retaliation for the Pahalgam attack.
India.com
03-06-2025
- Business
- India.com
Pakistan General Ridiculed For Claiming Islamabad Used Own Resources During Conflict With India
ISLAMABAD: Even as leading warfare experts across the world have exposed Pakistan's massive strategic failures, at the same time also giving a detailed account of failure of Chinese systems during India's decisive Operation Sindoor last month, a Pakistani four-star General has claimed that the country fought the recent 96-hour conflict with India using only its own resources. "Pakistan has purchased some military equipment from other countries, but apart from that, in real time, the country relied solely on its internal capabilities and did not receive any help from any other state," General Sahir Burkabal Shamshad Mirza, currently serving as the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), told a foreign broadcaster in a recent interview, details of which appeared in the Pakistani media on Tuesday. He also mentioned that the weapons used by Pakistan in the recent conflict were "certainly similar" to those available to India. Mirza was ridiculed over his comments with analysts reiterating that Pakistan has an old habit of spreading lies and even present doctored clips to prove a point. "Pakistan lies to another State, as well as to its own people with deleterious consequences. The whole world knows now how Osama-bin-Laden was kept in a secured house in the Abbottabad Military Cantonment just 1.3 kms from Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul," said one expert. Last week, in his extensive analysis titled 'India's Operation Sindoor: A Battlefield Verdict on Chinese Weapons — And India's Victory', top urban warfare expert John Spencer reckoned that Operation Sindoor wasn't just a military campaign but a technology demonstration, a market signal, and a strategic blueprint. "Operation Sindoor pitted India's indigenously developed weapons systems against Chinese-supplied platforms fielded by Pakistan. And, India didn't just win on the battlefield — it won the technology referendum. What unfolded was not just retaliation, but the strategic debut of a sovereign arsenal built under the twin doctrines of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat," Spencer mentioned. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Pakistan gets 81 per cent of its weapons from China. Pakistan operates Chinese origin HQ-9 long range and the HQ-16 medium range Air Defence Systems (ADS). During Operation Sindoor, Spencer wrote, the JF-17 Thunder aircraft - produced in Pakistan but designed and built by China's AVIC - failed to gain air superiority or contest Indian strikes. Similarly, the LY-80 and FM-90 air defence systems, also Chinese-made, were unable to detect or stop India's low-flying drones and precision munitions. Several reports indicated that China was providing real-time reconssaiance data to Pakistan during the conflict, thereby putting Chinese arms in a live combat setting. In recent years, Turkey has emerged as a reliable supplier of defence equipment to Pakistan, sending the MILGEM-class corvettes, T129 ATAK helicopters, Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci drones. Pakistan also imports weapons from countries like South Africa, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. "Reports emerged that Turkish drone operators had to be brought in to manage UAVs — revealing both equipment and personnel dependency... Pakistan's key airborne early warning platform, Swedish Saab 2000 AEW&C, was destroyed — likely by an S-400 system — crippling Pakistan's airspace awareness and blinding command and control functions," said Spencer.
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First Post
27-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Operation Sindoor 2.0: Expect more concrete action in near future
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has indicated that 'Operation Sindoor' was only a 'trailer', and more actions are in the pipeline read more It seems the dust has settled somewhat on the India-Pakistan conflict, but only for now. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh indicated that 'Operation Sindoor' was only a 'trailer', and more actions are in the pipeline. Other statements also outline India's objectives. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India would pursue terrorists and their backers to 'the ends of the earth', that India reserved the right to give a 'fitting' reply to any further terrorist attack, not differentiating between terrorists and their sponsors, and that the Indus Water Treaty would remain 'in abeyance' till terror stopped. In sum, the main thrust is to get a full stop on terrorism. Delhi has had enough. And so have the people. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Know Your Enemy However, a strategy is based on knowing the enemy and why he attacked at all. After all, the Balakote strike demonstrated clearly that India was prepared to hit conventionally despite a nuclear overhang. For five years, there was relative peace, though matters began to spiral again with small attacks in late 2024. Then on April 16th Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, rather than a civilian leader, chose to address a group of overseas Pakistanis, proclaiming Pakistan's prowess, that Hindus and Muslims were ever different, and Kashmir as a 'jugular vein'. The Pahalgam attack occurred five days later. That attack not just identified and hit Hindus but also had terrorists tell hapless widows to 'go and tell Modi'. On April 26, Munir chose to reiterate the whole diatribe, this time to cadets of the Pakistan Military Academy. Clearly, Pakistan's army wanted war and was prepared to take the risk of escalation. That's point one. This assessment is backed by an influential Pakistani media report which observed, 'Pakistan's historic military victory over India is expected to yield multiple dividends, with the most immediate being the all-time high public respect for the armed forces and a surge in the popularity of the country's political and military leadership, especially… General Asim Munir.' Munir is now a field marshal. That's all rather a contrast from the time when the army was facing the worst protests of its history after the arrest of Imran Khan, which led to 'shoot at sight' orders even in late 2024, and arrests of spy chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and other senior officers, leading to cries of 'yeh jo dehshatgardi hai, iss ke peeche vardi hai' resounding across the country. Add to this massive protests in April just before the Pahalgam against a massive canal project that would have denied water to Sindh. All that is forgotten as the army's position surges on perceptions of a 'victory'. The trouble is it won't last long, and the terrorists will be back when the army feels necessary. In sum, as long as the army is in power, nothing is going to change. That's point two. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The US Roped In Second, the army had another objective. Pakistanis' resentment was more than apparent at Track 2 dialogues attended by this author at their complete sidelining, even by Delhi which was preoccupied with other matters. Weeks before Pahalgam, US officials were in Pakistan discussing a deal – with the Army Chief present – which would centre on Balochistan's and Khyber Pakhtunkwa's considerable mineral wealth. That might or might not go through, given the extreme instability already. But Pahalgam did the trick and ensured a US tilt towards Pakistan's favour. That's nothing new. The US has always stepped in to stop a possible nuclear escalation, but Pakistan calculated that Trump would once again offer mediation – he had done this twice in his previous term – and he did. That was not all. Worse was Secretary Rubio's condoling 'loss of civilian lives' in Pakistan. Islamabad therefore has welcomed the US role and its equating of the two countries – something it has long manoeuvred for, even as Delhi rejected it, reiterating its position on this as a bilateral issue. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In short, Islamabad has gained points, even as it was given the much awaited loan from the International Monetary Fund. True, it has imposed 11 new conditionalities, making a total of 50, the highest ever. But it got the money. Notice also that Pakistan has also managed to completely erase any mention of Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed from United Nations reports on counterterrorism. The narrative of 'Pakistan as a terrorist state' has frayed in the US and allied countries as their attention is taken up with bloody wars in Ukraine and Gaza. True, US intel folks know their Pakistan. Recently, Islamabad traded in an ostensible planner of the Abbey Gate attacks in a nicely calculated move during Trump's inauguration in a 'joint' operation. That's intel dependency. Any chasing after terrorist backers may be difficult, though perhaps not the terrorists themselves. That's point three. Taking all these together, it is apparent that India's strategy has to adjust to new geopolitical realities. The first move is to trace and punish terrorists; it can be undertaken together with diverse intelligence agencies who have a stake in terms of their own national security. Many who will cooperate, regardless of political statements. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Second, diplomacy needs to push towards tying every penny of grants and aid given by European and Japanese governments – among others – with progress in democracy. If the US can be persuaded to join this drive for its own interests in stability for mineral exploitation – then all the better. Third, in a move that might seem almost blasphemous, it's in our interest to start empowering the politicians, industrialists and plain business folks in Pakistan with the promise of cross-continent trade in the future so that a powerful group forms that has strong stakes in peace. It's possible. After all, the idea is already out there, given that former COAS Gen Qamar Bajwa had called for just that. Fourth, mainstreaming the dangers of terrorism will require trade as leverage for a 'transactional' president. Pakistan is already on that game, engaging with the Trump family-backed World Liberty Council through the newly formed Pakistan Crypto Council, roping in Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. With the army in power, matters are moving fast. We need to get our snail's pace bureaucracy to go places. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Finally, the threat to stop water has to be calibrated carefully using all media sources to convey the message that a shortage of water is due to Pakistan army adventurism. All these are intermeshing activities with a clear common objective. Get the Pakistani people to send the military back to the barracks with the backing of an 'international community' that is at present distracted by wars on their doorstep. It's a challenge of giant proportions. Ironically, however, such an outcome would probably be the best possible result for Pakistan itself. For India, the whole exercise will be aimed at denying the equating of the world's largest democracy with what is, after all, a terrorist state. It's good that our delegations are talking terrorism again. But Operation Sindoor's next phase needs more action. The author is Director (R&A) at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies. She tweets @kartha_tara. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Mint
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Pakistan's diplomatic victory conceals its weakness
Nothing boosts a Pakistani general's flagging domestic popularity like being able to claim he won a confrontation with his country's archenemy, India. Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief, has been on a victory lap since President Trump announced an abrupt end to a four-day subcontinental conflict May 10. On Tuesday the Pakistani government promoted Mr. Munir to field marshal, a self-promotion for the country's most powerful man. Mr. Munir has emerged stronger from his confrontation with India, but the same can't be said of his country. Though Pakistan may have scored diplomatic points, beneath its breathless claim of victory lie inconvenient facts. By striking terrorist infrastructure and air bases deep in Pakistan's heartland, and by suspending a 65-year-old bilateral river water-sharing treaty, India has weakened Pakistan's strategic position. For the U.S., the simmering conflict presents challenges and opportunities. A successful U.S. strategy in the region would achieve two interconnected goals: curbing the Pakistani army's support for transnational jihadist groups and ensuring that any subcontinental conflict doesn't go nuclear. America must also recognize that China's military and diplomatic support for Pakistan has made the subcontinent a site of U.S.-China competition. Nearly three years ago, when Mr. Munir became army chief—the most powerful position in a country where generals call the shots—he was widely seen as an outsider with a shaky grip on power. Unlike many of his predecessors, Mr. Munir entered the army through the Officers Training School rather than the more prestigious Pakistan Military Academy. The son of a schoolteacher who doubled as an imam, Mr. Munir advertises his piety. He uses the honorific hafiz, given to those who have memorized the Quran. Unlike many predecessors, Mr. Munir wasn't trained in the U.S. or U.K. His foreign exposure was mostly limited to serving in Saudi Arabia when that country was still synonymous with hard-line Islam. Mr. Munir became chief after a feud between the army and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, a 72-year-old charismatic populist who became prime minister with the army's help in 2018 but later fell out with Mr. Munir's predecessor, Qamar Javed Bajwa. Mr. Bajwa reportedly helped oust Mr. Khan in 2022. Mr. Bajwa and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saw Mr. Munir as a safe pick because Mr. Khan and Mr. Munir had clashed during the latter's brief tenure as head of the country's military spy agency in 2018-19. Mr. Munir had reportedly angered the prime minister by investigating alleged corruption by his wife. Despite Mr. Khan's popularity, the army outmaneuvered him. Since August 2023, Mr. Khan has been imprisoned on a raft of charges, most of them widely seen by independent observers as politically motivated. In an interview last week, Mr. Khan's sons, who live in England, alleged that their father has been kept in solitary confinement and denied basic rights such as medical care and regular phone calls with family. The persecution of Mr. Khan made Mr. Munir arguably the most unpopular Pakistani army chief in living memory—that is, until India bombed nine 'terrorist infrastructure" sites on May 7 in retaliation for a terrorist attack on Indian tourists in Kashmir. The conflict has allowed Mr. Munir to reinvent himself as a hero. The version of events publicized in Pakistan goes like this: First, India lost at least five fighter jets in its initial attack on May 7, including three French-made Rafales, the most advanced jet in India's air force. Second, Mr. Trump's Truth Social post announcing the cease-fire and his subsequent remarks about the conflict handed Pakistan a clear diplomatic victory. This account contains some truth. India has admitted to losing fighter jets, though it hasn't said how many. Reporting by the Washington Post suggests India likely lost at least two jets. And Mr. Trump has indeed set back Indian diplomacy by casting India and Pakistan as peers and offering to mediate their dispute over Kashmir. But if you look past Indian embarrassment, the balance clearly tilts in New Delhi's favor. India has shown that it can hit targets across Pakistan at will, raising questions about the effectiveness of Pakistan's Chinese-made air defenses. Indian air defenses largely neutralized hundreds of Pakistani drones and missiles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 announced a new doctrine according to which India 'will not differentiate between the government sponsoring terrorism and the masterminds of terrorism." India says the current lull in fighting isn't a permanent cease-fire but a temporary 'suspension of military operations." In the coming months and years, India will almost certainly seek to increase its capacity to pressure Pakistan by building dams on shared rivers. For now, the Pakistani army's skilled public-relations machinery may have turned the once-unpopular army chief into a hero at home. But looked at dispassionately, it's hard to see how Field Marshal Asim Munir has made Pakistan any safer.
