India building secret nuclear city: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Thursday said India was developing a secret nuclear city in its southern parts and working on intercontinental missiles as part of its arms spree, directly threatening Pakistan.

Addressing a weekly news briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said the India’s secret nuclear city, according to a Foreign Policy investigative report, was designed to produce thermonuclear weapons.

“Indian defence build-up, both nuclear and conventional, is a direct threat to Pakistan and the region, at large. India completed its plan of nuclear triad recently with the commissioning of a nuclear capable submarine,” he said.

Zakaria said India had been building inter-continental ballistic missiles and anti-ballistic missile system. “It has a stockpile of fissile material for producing nuclear weapons outside the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards,” he said.

The spokesperson said that the conventional weapons balance was already disturbed in South Asia and India’s nuclear weapons build-up had dangerous proportions to tip the strategic balance and endangered the peace of the region and beyond.

“The perils of such an uncalled for defence build-up should be seen in the backdrop of Indian defence minister’s statement on reviewing the ‘nuclear no-first-use’ and admission by the Indian army chief about their ‘cold start doctrine’, which confirmed Pakistan’s claims and justified our credible minimum nuclear deterrence,” he said.

Zakaria said that the international community should take note and check Indian rapid expansion in conventional and nuclear weapons.

Answering a question on Samjhauta Express terrorist attack, he said that despite India’s commitment at the highest political level, they had not shared any evidence to date with Pakistan.

“Instead, with the passage of time, they have even exonerated Swami Aseemanand, the RSS leader, who had made a public confession that he was the mastermind of that terrorist act and Col Purohit, then an active service Indian army officer, who headed another terrorist organisation Abhinav Bharat, was also involved. They worked in tandem with IB, RAW and other agencies of India,” he said.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan has and will continue to raise the issue of Samjhauta Express terrorist attack not only with India but also with the international community. “Pakistan had earlier noted with deep concern India’s attempts to exonerate those who have publically confessed to their involvement in the terrorist attack,” he said.

Answering a question about Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s notion that a referendum should be held in Pakistan whether they want to merge with India, he said: “Such remarks clearly violate the UN charter and respect for the sovereignty of a member state. Unfortunately, domestic politics in India had been used to further anti-Pakistan agenda by the Indian government.”

He said that Kashmiris have ridiculed the statement saying that India was aware of the possible results of the referendum in Kashmir and that was the reason they were resorting to such meaningless statements. “They have also rejected the home minister’s assertion that Kashmir belongs to India. The remarks by the Indian home minister do not merit further comments,” he said.

Zakaria said that India has committed more than 400 violations along the Line of Control in a few months as it was heating up the tension.

“We have raised this issue repeatedly with the international community and at various forums, and how this Indian belligerence is dangerously impacting peace and security in the region,” he said.

He rejected the alleged surgical strikes that India claimed to have conducted against Pakistan a couple of months ago, in the wake of the Uri attacks, terming it a drama.

Zakaria talked about the briefing given by the Foreign Office with reference to Kashmir Solidarity Day, “We also reiterated during the briefing, the perils of escalating tensions resulting from India’s continuous violation of the understanding of ceasefire in 2003. More importantly, the loss of innocent civilian lives is a matter of major concern.”

It is now evident that the main reason India tries to heighten tension on the LoC is to divert world’s attention from the grave human rights violations it is carrying out against defenceless Kashmiris in held Kashmir.

He said: “India lies about infiltration from across the LoC, which after the discovery of 2009 mass graves in Kashmir has proved to be a white lie. The International People’s Tribunal’s report in its findings stated that those found in the mass graves were indigenous Kashmiris and linked them to those thousands who had disappeared and were killed by Indian occupation forces in fake encounters.” He also condemned the victimisation of the Kashmiri leaders by India.

While talking about the multi-nation naval exercise in Pakistan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims of isolating Pakistan, the spokesperson said: “These exercises are regularly held and a number of countries including Russia are participating in it. With reference to the statement of the Indian prime minister, you can judge that they have miserably failed to isolate Pakistan. In the process, India itself stood exposed and may be feeling isolated.”

He said India was involved in supporting terrorism in Pakistan. “The dossier on Kulbhushan Yadav and other details of Indian involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan have already been submitted to the UN Secretary-General last month,” he said.

The spokesperson said that the United States had assured Pakistan that it was not among the list of banned countries. “We are in touch with the new administration in Washington and have been assured that no proposal to include Pakistan on the list of banned countries is under consideration. The US embassy in Islamabad has also issued a statement in this regard,” he said.

Regarding Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz’s visit to the US in the coming weeks, he said: “Pakistan and the US do have regular high-level exchanges and we look forward to maintaining the momentum in our exchanges.”

He said defence cooperation between Pakistan and Russia was an important component in “our multifarious bilateral relations” which is progressing well. “Both sides are interested in enhancing cooperation in various areas of mutual interest,” he added.

The spokesperson said that the Russian energy minister was already in town, and his visit aimed at discussing the technical aspects and other related details of a gas pipeline project.

He said that Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan and had been invited to the meeting called by Russia. “The evolving situation in Afghanistan and its bearing on the regional peace and stability is expected to be reviewed. Pakistan is committed to peace in Afghanistan and extends sincere support to the initiatives to that end. It is a new initiative,” he said.

Asked if India’s participation in the meeting in Russia would be problematic, he said: “World had seen the attitude of one country, which actually exposed that country. Pakistan’s participation in the Heart of Asia Conference was a manifestation that Pakistan is fully committed to efforts aimed at bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan. Understandably, the meeting in Moscow is about the situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan is deeply committed to seeing a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and extend sincere cooperation in all such initiatives that are aimed at bringing peace in Afghanistan.”

He said the Economic Cooperation Organisation summit will be held on schedule next month and most of the countries had already confirmed their participation at the leadership level.

On the US sanctions on Iran, he said that Pakistan had longstanding relations with the United States and “we would like them to further strengthen them. Both sides constantly interact with each other to that end.”

He said Iran was Pakistan’s neighbour and a Muslim country with which “we cooperate on various forums besides bilaterally. Our relations are longstanding, cordial and diverse.”

To a question about the Pakistan International Airlines flight which was not allowed to land at the Heathrow airport, he said: “We have taken up this issue with the British authorities.”

On deportation of Pakistanis from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, Zakaria said that deportation of nationals of various countries from the Gulf and Western countries was not specific to Pakistan.

Source: The Nation

Think tank explains why India loathes CPEC

ISLAMABAD: India’s opposition to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) stems from its fear of internationalisation of the Kashmir dispute and the growing influence of China in the Indian Ocean, says a new report by one of the most influential global think tanks.

“There is considerable concern within India that China, which has been neutral on Kashmir since 1963, can no longer be so now that its economic and security interests in these territories are growing in stake,” says a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) — a Sweden-based think tank.

The report — titled “Silk Road Economic Belt – considering security implications and the EU-China cooperation prospects” — argues that India does not want a mediating role for China in these disputes.

It is the first report by any global think tank that has discussed in detail the Indian concerns on CPEC. The report has also shed light on implications of the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative on security dynamics and its compatibility with the EU interests.

The Sipri report says CPEC has raised political temperatures between India and Pakistan. “India strictly opposes CPEC, and while the Economic Belt is not a harbinger of a new conflict, it has so far intensified historic competition over influence in South Asia,” note authors of the report.

The report argues that there is a factual and conceptual objection to CPEC in India. The factual objection is that India does not want to internationalise the Kashmir dispute it has with Pakistan. Chinese activity in the disputed areas automatically makes it a stakeholder in these disputes.

At the conceptual level, CPEC allows China to gain a toehold in the Indian Ocean through direct access to the Arabian Sea. There remain concerns that this might develop a military dimension at some stage, according to the report.

Since territorial compromise from either India or Pakistan is a political suicide for any of the ruling parties, it remains to be seen whether CPEC will contribute to a resolution of this dispute or further fan the flames. There is also a concern in India that China will use Gwadar port to observe Indian naval activity and possibly even exploit it for an expansion of China’s own naval presence.

There is also concern in India that while CPEC in the short and medium term could be an opportunity to generate jobs and growth in Pakistan, over the longer term its strategic consequences could reshape the regional balance of power in favour of China and limit India’s geopolitical reach.

The assertiveness and swiftness of Chinese actions in the South China Sea have implanted a preoccupation among China’s critics in India that if China gains a foothold in the Arabian Sea and, as an extension, in the Indian Ocean through Gwadar, it might make national interest claims in India’s maritime sphere too. “After all, if Gwadar grows to be the immense port China envisions it to become, China will need to take on a bigger direct or indirect security role,” it says.

The Sipri report noted that unlike in India, CPEC has not raised concerns in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is open to all regional initiatives that could reactivate its ailing formal economy, whether that is by way of CPEC or India-led efforts to connect with the Afghan economy through the Chabahar Port in Iran. Iran has not opposed CPEC and has expressed strong interest in the Belt and Road Initiative.

However, the report argues that Afghanistan is unlikely to benefit from CPEC unless Kabul-Islamabad relations improve. For this to happen, Pakistan’s security concerns with regard to Afghanistan need to be assuaged. The authors note that CPEC has the potential to exacerbate three fault lines in South Asian security.

The first is between China and India themselves. The second is between China-Pakistan on the one side and India on the other. The third is between China and India and its partners – the US, Japan and, to a lesser degree, Vietnam. The region of Balochistan is being geopolitically instrumentalised by these various players, they added.

It says that this is an evidence that CPEC has contributed to political and security bloc formation, but the bloc rivalry between the US-India and China-Pakistan exists regardless of CPEC. CPEC has merely strengthened the strategic Chinese-Pakistani alliance.

China’s reliance on CPEC means that it needs a stable and amicable Pakistan, underlines the report. “The Silk Road Economic Belt initiative may become one of the cornerstones of Asian economic growth and integration, and eventually of closer political and security cooperation among states, but the pathway to this scenario is long and fraught with obstacles,” it says.

Source: The Express Tribune

Om Puri Tribute by Moonis Elahi, Meesha Shafi, Fahad Mustafa and Others

Om Puri, a veteran Bollywood actor passed away on 6th January 2017 after a massive heart attack which proved to be fatal for the 66 years old. His close friend and film maker Ashoke Pandit was the first to announce the sad news on Twitter.
The new year 2017 proved to be a woeful start for the family and actors from both sides of the border mourned the great loss. The social media site Twitter was flooded with his admirers both Indians and Pakistani expressing grief over the news of the demise of the legendary actor. He was a versatile actor who had played many roles during his career and became liked by everyone who watched his movies.
According to Times of India, Om Puri has returned yesterday from a film shooting and in the morning, when he didn't answer the door bell, the driver became curious and raised the alarm. Puri's body was taken to Cooper Hospital where he was announced dead and a postmortem revealed the cause of his untimely death. According to his friends, his funeral will be held at 6 PM.
His versatility knew no boundaries and he had worked with many Pakistani actors and actresses. The Actor In Law co-star Fahad Mustafa said — remembered him for his work and "humble and loving nature", it was a Pakistani film and OM Puri was a catalyst for its success. Others within the industry also poured in their love for the veteran saying he was a role model for spreading love and peace between the two countries.
 Aside from his Bollywood activities, he is also known to have raised his voice against the ongoing brutalities in Kashmir at the hands of Indian Army. His statement in the favor of innocent Kashmiris and contradicting state policies left him in hot waters. It wasn't taken lightly and people from all walks of life started condemning him saying he had spoken ill against the Indian army. His brave move to speak up the truth landed him in a miserable condition.
Moonis Elahi had appreciated his remarks and had said he had spoken for the unheard voices. He said the actor gave their media a frenzy and the Hindu extremists had a hay day over it. Nevertheless, a single person cannot fight against his nation and he had to apologize for it. The demise of the actor has caused grief on both sides of the border and people are paying tribute to the legend who not only did well in the movies, but also tried to be helpful to the helpless Kashmiris.

Pakistan NAVY Displays Its Vigil Thwarts Indian Submarine Attempt To Cross Boundary

Pakistan's army is recognized for its bravery and quick response at the time of distress and presently the Pakistan NAVY also displayed its exceptional skills by thwarting Indian NAVY submarine's attempt to cross the boundary. 

Moonis Elahi praised the NAVY for its exceptional display of quick response when the enemy though it was cunning enough to carry out its mission without anyone knowing it. The befitting response has clearly shown what Pakistan's protectors are capable of be it a matter of protecting the country's land, air space or seas. The nation has once again felt proud of its army and we know that whenever the enemy comes marching again it will be sent back in coffins.

It was a moment of joy and seemingly the victories of previous wars had become fresh. The nation rejoiced over the news and the Moonis Elahi official social media accounts were also the center of attention as people expressed their views and solidarity with the Pakistan NAVY. Such incidents prove that the Two Nation Theory was never wrong and people from both sides of the border still want to prove their nation is better than the other's. 

While Pakistan has always extended a hand of friendship towards India, but the latter has always come forth with bared teeth. It is evident that the neighbor has been sent a clear message that if it tries to mess with our security it will be pushed and it will be pushed hard.

Moonis Elahi Calls For Efforts To Build Kalabagh Dam

As India speeds up its drive to create problems for Pakistan, it has declared to revoke the Indus water treaty. This act would cause shortage of water within Pakistan hence forcing it to the brink of drought. Pakistan has taken up the case to World Bank to stop India from constructing illegal dams on the Neelum and Chenab rivers.

Kalabagh Dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam to be built on the river Indus at Kalabagh in the Mianwali district of Punjab province. it is debated that if the dam would be constructed it can produce 3600 megawatts of electricity approximately. as time passes on the water shortfall threat from India increases and Moonis Elahi urges Pakistani Politicians to get serious on the matter of KBD and start its construction for the larger interest of Pakistan.

Moonis Elahi Condemns Shameful Act by Indian Parliamentarians

Modi's government had never expected their lies would become a tightening rope against their necks. India had boastfully circulated the fake news through their media and social media about conducting 'Surgical Strikes' across the LOC into Pakistan's territory. Pak Army brought their lies to a halt by exposing the actual situation to the international and local media by giving them an actual tour of the areas claimed to have been attacked by India.

This act actually burst their bubble of pride and instead Indian media was being criticized not only internationally but their CM Delhi Arvind Kejriwal asked for real proof of the claims by Indian Army. Upon this he was badly shamed and labeled as traitor and ink was thrown at him during the parliament's proceedings. Be it your enemy but Moonis Elahi condemns any act of barbarianism  against a human being who seeks truth.

Moonis Elahi Condemns Unprovoked Indian Firing along Working Boundary

Unprovoked Indian firing in Harpal and Chuprar sectors along the Working Boundary (WB) late on Tuesday night has injured 5 Pakistani civilians. Moonis Elahi denounced the cowardly act by India saying This is not the first time Indian security forces have violated ceasefire. In less than a week unprovoked Indian firing as many as four civilians have been killed while 21 have been injured.

Moonis Elahi hailed the befitting response by Pakistani Rangers. It is our right to respond to atrocities by the enemy. While Pakistan strives to be a responsible neighbor, India 's enmity keeps tensions growing between the two countries. Without complete ceasefire at the LOC there is no way we can be assured that both countries have learnt to respect each other's existence. For a stable and prosperous future of the subcontinent it is important that India respects Pakistan and learns to co-exist.