Islamabad [Pakistan], September 7,2020: Amid the drastic change in US-Pakistan’s relationship, China is the only hope for Pakistan for economic assistance, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, said Ayesha Siddiqa, a defence analyst and South Asian politics scholar.
Speaking during an interview with The News International, Siddiqa said amid the fast-changing world dynamics wherein the coalition among the United States, India and Saudi Arabia gains strength, “Pakistan is drifting away from the US towards a potential alliance between China, Russia and perhaps Iran.”
“The nature of US-Pakistan relations is changing drastically. Even though it has played a vital role in the US-Taliban negotiations, no one expects the continuation of American financial assistance to Pakistan. Islamabad joined the American alliance against the Taliban after 9/11,” Siddiqa said.
“While the dominant narrative popularised by Islamabad was that it was forced into alignment, governments stuck to the narrow prism of extracting financial resources from the US, which also meant delivering reluctantly. The foreign policy debate in Pakistan is silent about our own responsibility in supporting the Taliban or keeping Osama bin Laden. Ultimately, the relationship collapsed at a point of overselling of our capabilities with limited capacity to deliver,” she added.
The US-Pakistan relation has continued to be on a downhill as the latter has failed to take strong action against the terrorist groups emanating from its soil.
Due to the deteriorating ties, Siddiqa said, “China appears to be the only option. It may be Pakistan’s only hope for economic assistance, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic… In the wake of the fast-changing world dynamics, as the coalition among the United States, India and Saudi Arabia gains strength, Pakistan is drifting away from the US towards a potential alliance between China, Russia and perhaps Iran.”
She, however, noted that there are a lot of issues that still need to be worked out between these countries and Pakistan can benefit only “if it can do its homework and go beyond the idea of extracting limited benefits.”
“There is an expectation that Pakistan and Iran will come close as a result of both being part of BRI, especially if Beijing and Tehran sign an agreement that is being talked about. Right now, we don’t know if the agreement will get signed, but even if it does, I am not sure that we are domestically talking about the competition between Iran and Pakistan that will happen naturally. It was there even when both neighbours were once part of an American alignment,” she said.
She further stated that Pakistan needs to improve its relations with its neighbours including India, Iran and Afghanistan.
While commenting on Pakistan’s defence and foreign policy, Siddiqa said, “Pakistan’s defence and foreign policy community lacks independent thinking and diversity of viewpoints. Over the years, alternative voices have been silenced. I was talking to a diplomat, who said that during her two postings to the country between 2016 and now, many people that she would talk to are no longer in the country. The security community that we have now comprising faculty at the known public sector universities and think tanks only preach to the choir by communicating dominant narratives of the establishment back to them through their reports. It is interesting to note that most of the think tanks are located on the Grand Trunk Road with little input from other parts of the country.”
New Delhi, September 6 (ANI): Close to 200 families belonging to the Sikh Community who have arrived here from Afghanistan have been put up at Gurudwaras that are run by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
“Close to 200 families have come here and are staying in Gurudwaras. We are making the arrangements for their accommodation and ticket as well till the time they do not get permanent citizenship. We are also providing them assistance in employment as well,” Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa told ANI.
He added that all the cost would be borne by the management committee. He also thanked the Central government, particularly Home Minister Amit Shah for facilitating visas for these families.
“Home Minister Amit Shah Ji from Day 1 gave the assurance that they can stay here for as long as they want and if they want to be permanent citizens of India, we would make them permanent citizens as well,” he added.
“There are 138 persons in 31 rooms living over here. We are providing them with all the basic amenities to live. We will also try to have the children enrolled in Guru Harkishan Public Schools and will teach them free of cost if the need arises,” Harjit S Bedi, Chief VC, Gurudwara, Motibagh said while speaking to ANI.
Bedi further said that the persons could stay in the gurudwara for as long as they need to. “In the case of earning bread and butter, they need to be emotionally secure. In the case of residential, they are secure over here,” he added.
63-year-old Balbir Singh, a resident in Afghanistan, one of the Sikhs who along with his family were brought here by the Government of India, from Afghanistan over the attacks faced by minorities in the country, said that he was grateful to the gurudwara for looking after him and his family.
“We are very thankful to them. They provided us with everything and ensured that we did not face any shortage of anything,” he said while speaking to ANI.
“We left everything including our houses–I had a clothes store. Our lives were in danger but now, we feel safe here,” he added.
Ministry of External Affairs recently announced that India has decided to facilitate the return of Afghan Hindu and Sikh community members facing security threats in Afghanistan to India.
The decision comes after a terror attack at a gurdwara in Kabul’s Shor Bazaar in March killed at least 25 members of the community.
India has condemned the “targeting and persecution” of minority community members by terrorists in Afghanistan at the behest of their external supporters remains a matter of grave concern.
Leaders of the Afghan Sikh community have appealed to the Indian government to accommodate the Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan and grant them legal entry with long term residency multiple entry visas.
Once a community of nearly 250,000 people, the Sikh and Hindu community in Afghanistan has endured years of discrimination and violence from extremists, and the community is now estimated to comprise fewer than 100 families across the country.
Washington, Aug 31,2020: US President Donald Trump has hailed Shinzo Abe as the “greatest” prime minister in Japan’s history during a telephonic conversation between the two leaders.
Abe, 65, on Friday announced that he intends to step down because of poor health, his long-running battle with ulcerative colitis, ending a tenure as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.
President Trump on Sunday night telephoned Abe during which the two leaders spoke at length and reflected on the last four years.
“The two leaders remarked that their relationship is extraordinary; the President called Prime Minister Abe the greatest prime minister in Japan’s history, the White House said in a readout of the call.
This was the first phone call between the two leaders after Abe’s announcement to resign.
“The President said that Prime Minister Abe has done a fantastic job and that the relationship between the United States and Japan is better today than it has ever been,” the White House said.
“Although Prime Minister Abe will be leaving his position soon, the President noted that he will undoubtedly keep playing a big role in the future of Japan,” it said, adding that the leaders said they look forward to continuing their wonderful friendship for years to come.
Abe, whose term ends in September 2021, is expected to stay on until a new party leader is elected and formally approved by Parliament.
New Delhi , August 30,Aug2020: Acting swiftly after the Galwan valley clash on June 15 in Eastern Ladakh, the Indian Navy sailed out its frontline warship for deployment in the South China Sea much to the displeasure of the Chinese who raised objections over the move during the talks between the two sides.
The Chinese have been objecting to the presence of Indian Navy ships in the region where it has significantly expanded its presence since 2009 through artificial islands and military presence.
“Soon after the Galwan clash broke out in which 20 of our soldiers were killed, the Indian Navy deployed one of its frontline warship to the South China Sea where the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy objects to the presence of any other force claiming the majority of the waters as part of its territory,” government sources told ANI.
The immediate deployment of the Indian Navy warship in the South China Sea had a desired effect on the Chinese Navy and security establishment as they complained to the Indian side about the Indian warship’s presence there during the diplomatic level talks with the Indian side, the sources said.
During the deployment in the South China Sea where the American Navy had also deployed its destroyers and frigates, the Indian warship was continuously maintaining contact with their American counterparts over secure communication systems, the sources informed.
New Delhi: Aug28,2020:Disagreeing with its 2004 Constitution Bench verdict, the Supreme Court Thursday referred the issue of giving preferential treatment to certain sub-castes within the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), to a larger bench.
In doing so, a bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M.R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose asserted that “there are unequals within the list of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and socially and educationally backward classes”.
“In case benefit which is meant for the emancipation of all the castes, included in the list of Scheduled Castes, is permitted to be usurped by few castes those who are adequately represented, have advanced and belonged to the creamy layer, then it would tantamount to creating inequality whereas in case of hunger every person is required to be fed and provided bread,” the bench observed.
“The entire basket of fruits cannot be given to mighty at the cost of others under the guise of forming a homogeneous class,” it added.
The court said reservations can be made for the sub-castes within the SCs. This is the opposite of what another five-judge bench had held in EV Chinnaiah v State of Andhra Pradesh in 2004.
The court requested Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde to place the matter before a bench comprising seven judges or more to decide the issue. This larger bench will look into several issues, including the state government’s powers to provide for such a sub-classification and the concept of creamy layer.