Islamic Republic of Pakistan : News, Discussions & Updates
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Turkey Is Turning Into the Next Pakistan
There isn't much that Turkey's president can do these days to further debase his reputation in the West. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has crushed peaceful protests at home and abroad, closed newspapers, threatened American soldiers, and collectively scapegoated Kurds. But over the weekend, Erdogan managed to go even lower.
At a rally at Kahramanmaras, the Turkish leader brought a trembling 6-year-old girl on stage dressed in military garb and told her she would be honored if she died as a martyr. He sounded like a terrorist. We expect this kind of child abuse from the fanatics in Hamas or Hezbollah. Erdogan though is the leader of an important NATO ally.
Turkey is beginning to resemble Pakistan, a perpetually failing state whose military leadership has tolerated and advanced a vision of political Islam deeply hostile to U.S. and Western interests.
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Tarbela reaches dead level
ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Friday said that the Tarbela dam had attained its ‘dead level’ of 1386 feet, and Punjab and Sindh might face shortfall of approximately 70 to 80 per cent in their canal systems in the coming five to ten days.
However, the shortages might be reduced in the wake of impending rainfall and with the increase of temperature being foreseen in catchment areas, says an Irsa press release.
“Today, Tarbela has attained its dead level of 1386 feet; therefore in the next 48 hours, river supplies will be adjusted as under: Punjab will get a share of 4,000 cusecs from River Indus and 14,000 cusecs from Jhelum-Chenab zone; Sindh will gain 14,100 cusecs; Balochistan (4,000 cusecs) and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (2,400 cusecs) so a total 38,400 cusecs will be released.
Seasonal shortages for both Punjab and Sindh would remain at 36 per cent as announced by Irsa at the start of the Rabi 2017-18 season.
This season, the provinces of Punjab and Sindh received excessive water with respect to allocations made by Irsa while Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa received less water despite the fact that both the provinces, being smaller, are exempted from sharing of shortages.
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Deep State kills yet another Journalist
A subeditor working for a local daily in Islamabad was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the late hours of Thursday in a high-security zone of Rawalpindi, police said.
Anjum Muneer Raja, 40, was returning home after work at Urdu newspaper Qaumi Pukaar when unknown attackers riding a motorcycle opened fire on him at Bank Road in the jurisdiction of Civil Lines police station, before midnight. The site of the incident is minutes away from GHQ, the Pakistani military's national headquarters.
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'India-backed' terrorist group busted in Hyderabad, police claim
Hyderabad police on Friday claimed to have busted a gang which was reportedly getting funding from India to sabotage China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and target security personnel in Sindh.
Hyderabad DIG Javed Alam Odho and SSP Pir Mohammad Shah held a joint press conference to share the details of the suspected terrorist group with the media.
The official said that the five-member group was led by the self-proclaimed chief of Sindhudesh Revolution Army (SRA), and it was targeting security personnel and Chinese nationals.
“The suspects were running a sub-nationalist group to launch a separatist movement in the province and, according to their own confession, they were trained and sponsored by India," DIG Javed Odho said, adding that the "suspects used to frequently visit India by crossing the border near Badin district".
Odho mentioned that suspect Muzaffar Hussain Nanjrajt, who travelled to India under codename Pankhaj, had confessed to his involvement in Rohri bypass explosion on Dec 2016, Mehrabpur explosion in March 2017, January 2018 blast in Qasimabad in which one ragpicker had died, as well as planting of a bomb outside Mehran University in Jamshoro in November 2017.
There isn't much that Turkey's president can do these days to further debase his reputation in the West. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has crushed peaceful protests at home and abroad, closed newspapers, threatened American soldiers, and collectively scapegoated Kurds. But over the weekend, Erdogan managed to go even lower.
At a rally at Kahramanmaras, the Turkish leader brought a trembling 6-year-old girl on stage dressed in military garb and told her she would be honored if she died as a martyr. He sounded like a terrorist. We expect this kind of child abuse from the fanatics in Hamas or Hezbollah. Erdogan though is the leader of an important NATO ally.
Turkey is beginning to resemble Pakistan, a perpetually failing state whose military leadership has tolerated and advanced a vision of political Islam deeply hostile to U.S. and Western interests.
==============================================
Tarbela reaches dead level
ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Friday said that the Tarbela dam had attained its ‘dead level’ of 1386 feet, and Punjab and Sindh might face shortfall of approximately 70 to 80 per cent in their canal systems in the coming five to ten days.
However, the shortages might be reduced in the wake of impending rainfall and with the increase of temperature being foreseen in catchment areas, says an Irsa press release.
“Today, Tarbela has attained its dead level of 1386 feet; therefore in the next 48 hours, river supplies will be adjusted as under: Punjab will get a share of 4,000 cusecs from River Indus and 14,000 cusecs from Jhelum-Chenab zone; Sindh will gain 14,100 cusecs; Balochistan (4,000 cusecs) and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (2,400 cusecs) so a total 38,400 cusecs will be released.
Seasonal shortages for both Punjab and Sindh would remain at 36 per cent as announced by Irsa at the start of the Rabi 2017-18 season.
This season, the provinces of Punjab and Sindh received excessive water with respect to allocations made by Irsa while Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa received less water despite the fact that both the provinces, being smaller, are exempted from sharing of shortages.
========================================================================
Deep State kills yet another Journalist
A subeditor working for a local daily in Islamabad was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the late hours of Thursday in a high-security zone of Rawalpindi, police said.
Anjum Muneer Raja, 40, was returning home after work at Urdu newspaper Qaumi Pukaar when unknown attackers riding a motorcycle opened fire on him at Bank Road in the jurisdiction of Civil Lines police station, before midnight. The site of the incident is minutes away from GHQ, the Pakistani military's national headquarters.
=================================================
'India-backed' terrorist group busted in Hyderabad, police claim
Hyderabad police on Friday claimed to have busted a gang which was reportedly getting funding from India to sabotage China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and target security personnel in Sindh.
Hyderabad DIG Javed Alam Odho and SSP Pir Mohammad Shah held a joint press conference to share the details of the suspected terrorist group with the media.
The official said that the five-member group was led by the self-proclaimed chief of Sindhudesh Revolution Army (SRA), and it was targeting security personnel and Chinese nationals.
“The suspects were running a sub-nationalist group to launch a separatist movement in the province and, according to their own confession, they were trained and sponsored by India," DIG Javed Odho said, adding that the "suspects used to frequently visit India by crossing the border near Badin district".
Odho mentioned that suspect Muzaffar Hussain Nanjrajt, who travelled to India under codename Pankhaj, had confessed to his involvement in Rohri bypass explosion on Dec 2016, Mehrabpur explosion in March 2017, January 2018 blast in Qasimabad in which one ragpicker had died, as well as planting of a bomb outside Mehran University in Jamshoro in November 2017.
SPRING'
SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2018 BY INDIANDEFENSE NEWS
by Daud Khattak
The protests, mostly by youth, in northwestern Pakistan since early February are a clear and visible indication of decades-old resentment among locals against a system based on repression, injustice, suppression of free speech, and widespread corruption in the country’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which are still being ruled under colonial-era laws. The protests also suggest the replacement of the traditional old guards — the Malaks or tribal elders — by the younger generation, who are educated, well-informed, politically more aware, and ready to challenge the system they believe to be denying them their due rights under the Constitution of Pakistan.
Manzoor Pashteen has become the linchpin of the so-called “FATA Spring.” The 25-year-old youth from South Waziristan tribal district was catapulted to fame and popularity after he led a rally in Islamabad and staged an unprecedented 10-day sit-in protest, which culminated in the acknowledgement of almost all their demands by the authorities.
The key demands included, but were not limited to, the clearance of landmines that often kill civilians, mostly children; the removal of security check-points; the release of all those held in extralegal detention by the security agencies; and the arrest of a police officer who allegedly killed a tribal youth in a “fake police encounter” in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi in January.
The roots of the so-called “Pashtun Uprising” date back to 2015, when Manzoor Pashteen, along with 25 comrades from the tribal areas, launched a protest campaign against the landmines in their areas.
However, the real catalyst is more deeply buried: the decades of subjective and discriminatory treatment of the tribal people by successive Pakistani governments, both civilian and military; the incoming al-Qaeda leadership in FATA and the emergence of the Pakistani Taliban after the overthrow of the hard-line Taliban regime in Afghanistan; and the subsequent takeover of the Pakistani security forces, who conducted numerous anti-Taliban operations that also displaced hundreds of thousands of tribal people and damaged their businesses.
Uprooted from their remote and backward villages and towns in the tribal belt, which stretches north to south along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, the tribal people, many of them for the first time, came to settle in the cities. This gave them the chance to see and observe progress, prosperity, and amenities firsthand.
The displacement also provided tribespeople the opportunity to access the media, admit their children to government-run schools, use treatment facilities at well-equipped city hospitals, and observe the legal system, comprising police, courts, and the right to appeal.
The last one in particular was unbelievable for the tribal people who continue to suffer under the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). Under the FCR, a political agent, who is representative of the federal government, can arrest any number of people from a family, clan, subtribe, or tribe if one member commits a crime. The political agent can also sentence people to prison for any number of days without the right to appeal.
When Manzoor Pashteen was laying the foundation stone of his Mehsud Tahaffuz Movement (Mehsud Protection Movement) in 2015, he was conscious of the rights and privileges enjoyed by his fellow Pakistanis in the cities and towns outside his tribal areas. Unlike the elders, who remained stuck in the old system by providing support to the political agent to ensure their personal and family access to perks and privileges, Pashteen and his young comrades were more concerned about the collective benefit of their people.
The killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, an aspiring model from Waziristan, added fuel to the fire. Youths from other tribal districts rushed to become part of the movement raised from Waziristan, which soon spread to areas as far away as the Valley of Swat and the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar. The struggle launched to protect the rights of Mehsud tribe people was soon converted into the broader Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement or movement for the protection of Pashtuns.
“We raised those issues while looking into the eyes of the civilian and military authorities in Islamabad, which people were scared to mention even within the four walls of their houses before this,” said Manzoor Pashteen in his Facebook Live message after ending his protest sit-in in Islamabad on February 10.
Since then, massive protests, mostly by youth without the participation of traditional political leadership or tribal elders, have been observed in the Valley of Swat and the Bajaur tribal district.
Swat, also known as the Switzerland of Pakistan, witnessed the Taliban’s brutality when a cleric by the name of Mullah Fazlullah raised an army of Taliban using his FM radio sermons from 2006 till 2008. Mullah Fazlullah, who is now leading the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), not only started intimidating, taxing, beating, and even beheading locals but also challenged the state by forcefully occupying the government offices in the Malakand region, of which Swat is a district.
The Pakistani security forces launched numerous operations against Mullah Fazlullah, finally dislodging him from Swat in May 2009. Since then, the security forces have maintained a presence in the valley to block the Taliban re-entry there.
However, the people of Swat often complain about maltreatment at the check-points established by the Pakistani security forces. On February 18, despite orders from the authorities, youth in Swat Valley’s main town of Mingora organized a massive rally to express their resentment over the presence of security check-posts.
Like the protest in Islamabad, a complete media blackout of the Swat rally was observed. Later, police filed cases against the organizers of the protest under the sections of the Pakistani law relating to terrorism and sedition, although the rally ended quite peacefully.
Days later, another protest was staged in Bajaur, one of the seven tribal districts. Here, as in other areas, Pakistani security forces had conducted numerous operations from 2007 onward to defeat the Taliban.
The protest in Bajaur, the first of its type in more than a decade, was organized to demand the arrest of the killer(s) of a university student from that area who was kidnapped by unidentified people in Karachi. The student’s blood-soaked body was found earlier this month. The news sparked widespread anger in his hometown.
Encouraged and emboldened by the protests in Islamabad and Swat, the youth in Bajaur came out on the roads in large numbers on February 20 and warned they would undertake a march toward Islamabad if the killers were not arrested. The protest was once again ignored by mainstream Pakistani media.
The wave of protests by youth in areas where the people have adopted an enforced silence, partly because of the Taliban brutalities and partly because of the military presence, signals a landmark shift. The old-style Malaks (tribal elders) are ceding influence to the educated and somewhat high-tech generation of tribal youth, who are using the expanding influence of social media to create awareness and protect their rights.
Daud Khattak is Senior Editor for Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Pashto language Mashaal Radio. Before joining RFE/RL, Khattak worked for The News International and London’s Sunday Times in Peshawar, Pakistan. He has also worked for Pajhwok Afghan News in Kabul. The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent those of RFE/RL.
Pakistan's 'FATA Spring'
SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2018 BY INDIANDEFENSE NEWS
by Daud Khattak
The protests, mostly by youth, in northwestern Pakistan since early February are a clear and visible indication of decades-old resentment among locals against a system based on repression, injustice, suppression of free speech, and widespread corruption in the country’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which are still being ruled under colonial-era laws. The protests also suggest the replacement of the traditional old guards — the Malaks or tribal elders — by the younger generation, who are educated, well-informed, politically more aware, and ready to challenge the system they believe to be denying them their due rights under the Constitution of Pakistan.
Manzoor Pashteen has become the linchpin of the so-called “FATA Spring.” The 25-year-old youth from South Waziristan tribal district was catapulted to fame and popularity after he led a rally in Islamabad and staged an unprecedented 10-day sit-in protest, which culminated in the acknowledgement of almost all their demands by the authorities.
The key demands included, but were not limited to, the clearance of landmines that often kill civilians, mostly children; the removal of security check-points; the release of all those held in extralegal detention by the security agencies; and the arrest of a police officer who allegedly killed a tribal youth in a “fake police encounter” in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi in January.
The roots of the so-called “Pashtun Uprising” date back to 2015, when Manzoor Pashteen, along with 25 comrades from the tribal areas, launched a protest campaign against the landmines in their areas.
However, the real catalyst is more deeply buried: the decades of subjective and discriminatory treatment of the tribal people by successive Pakistani governments, both civilian and military; the incoming al-Qaeda leadership in FATA and the emergence of the Pakistani Taliban after the overthrow of the hard-line Taliban regime in Afghanistan; and the subsequent takeover of the Pakistani security forces, who conducted numerous anti-Taliban operations that also displaced hundreds of thousands of tribal people and damaged their businesses.
Uprooted from their remote and backward villages and towns in the tribal belt, which stretches north to south along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, the tribal people, many of them for the first time, came to settle in the cities. This gave them the chance to see and observe progress, prosperity, and amenities firsthand.
The displacement also provided tribespeople the opportunity to access the media, admit their children to government-run schools, use treatment facilities at well-equipped city hospitals, and observe the legal system, comprising police, courts, and the right to appeal.
The last one in particular was unbelievable for the tribal people who continue to suffer under the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). Under the FCR, a political agent, who is representative of the federal government, can arrest any number of people from a family, clan, subtribe, or tribe if one member commits a crime. The political agent can also sentence people to prison for any number of days without the right to appeal.
When Manzoor Pashteen was laying the foundation stone of his Mehsud Tahaffuz Movement (Mehsud Protection Movement) in 2015, he was conscious of the rights and privileges enjoyed by his fellow Pakistanis in the cities and towns outside his tribal areas. Unlike the elders, who remained stuck in the old system by providing support to the political agent to ensure their personal and family access to perks and privileges, Pashteen and his young comrades were more concerned about the collective benefit of their people.
The killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, an aspiring model from Waziristan, added fuel to the fire. Youths from other tribal districts rushed to become part of the movement raised from Waziristan, which soon spread to areas as far away as the Valley of Swat and the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar. The struggle launched to protect the rights of Mehsud tribe people was soon converted into the broader Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement or movement for the protection of Pashtuns.
“We raised those issues while looking into the eyes of the civilian and military authorities in Islamabad, which people were scared to mention even within the four walls of their houses before this,” said Manzoor Pashteen in his Facebook Live message after ending his protest sit-in in Islamabad on February 10.
Since then, massive protests, mostly by youth without the participation of traditional political leadership or tribal elders, have been observed in the Valley of Swat and the Bajaur tribal district.
Swat, also known as the Switzerland of Pakistan, witnessed the Taliban’s brutality when a cleric by the name of Mullah Fazlullah raised an army of Taliban using his FM radio sermons from 2006 till 2008. Mullah Fazlullah, who is now leading the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), not only started intimidating, taxing, beating, and even beheading locals but also challenged the state by forcefully occupying the government offices in the Malakand region, of which Swat is a district.
The Pakistani security forces launched numerous operations against Mullah Fazlullah, finally dislodging him from Swat in May 2009. Since then, the security forces have maintained a presence in the valley to block the Taliban re-entry there.
However, the people of Swat often complain about maltreatment at the check-points established by the Pakistani security forces. On February 18, despite orders from the authorities, youth in Swat Valley’s main town of Mingora organized a massive rally to express their resentment over the presence of security check-posts.
Like the protest in Islamabad, a complete media blackout of the Swat rally was observed. Later, police filed cases against the organizers of the protest under the sections of the Pakistani law relating to terrorism and sedition, although the rally ended quite peacefully.
Days later, another protest was staged in Bajaur, one of the seven tribal districts. Here, as in other areas, Pakistani security forces had conducted numerous operations from 2007 onward to defeat the Taliban.
The protest in Bajaur, the first of its type in more than a decade, was organized to demand the arrest of the killer(s) of a university student from that area who was kidnapped by unidentified people in Karachi. The student’s blood-soaked body was found earlier this month. The news sparked widespread anger in his hometown.
Encouraged and emboldened by the protests in Islamabad and Swat, the youth in Bajaur came out on the roads in large numbers on February 20 and warned they would undertake a march toward Islamabad if the killers were not arrested. The protest was once again ignored by mainstream Pakistani media.
The wave of protests by youth in areas where the people have adopted an enforced silence, partly because of the Taliban brutalities and partly because of the military presence, signals a landmark shift. The old-style Malaks (tribal elders) are ceding influence to the educated and somewhat high-tech generation of tribal youth, who are using the expanding influence of social media to create awareness and protect their rights.
Daud Khattak is Senior Editor for Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Pashto language Mashaal Radio. Before joining RFE/RL, Khattak worked for The News International and London’s Sunday Times in Peshawar, Pakistan. He has also worked for Pajhwok Afghan News in Kabul. The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent those of RFE/RL.
Pakistan's 'FATA Spring'
HOLD
SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2018 BY INDIANDEFENSE NEWS
Ajay Bisaria's application for membership to the elite 'Islamabad Club' has been put 'on hold'. He is the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. Media reports cited "security concerns" as the reason for this hold
Amid increasing tensions between India and Pakistan, reports have emerged that the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria's application for membership to the elite 'Islamabad Club' has been put 'on hold'.
Some media reports cited "security concerns" as the reason for this hold. This is the first time that an Indian envoy's application has been put on hold.
It normally takes only days to process such applications. Ajay Bisaria who took over in December 2017 had applied soon after his arrival. But, the Indian mission in Islamabad has still not heard from the Club authorities.
The Islamabad Club, according to reports, has denied the reports saying that they await "political clearance" and that the request was under process.
"The club needs NOC (No Objection Certificate) by the Ministry of Interior to grant membership." said an official of the club according to a Pakistani Daily. "We have not denied Bisaria's request... It is a routine matter," the official added.
The club has not approved the Indian envoy's membership so far and is reportedly threatening to not renew the membership of other Indian diplomats as well to a place where all foreign diplomats and envoys go to hang out and network.
This 346-acre exclusive club is next to the diplomatic enclave, a highly secure zone so "security concerns" for just one diplomat cannot be the reason for such delay when diplomats of all countries including US, UK, EU often frequent the club.
With the situation at the border heating up and issues of "reciprocity" in behavior for diplomats on either side always cropping up, this seems like another way adopted by the Pakistan administration to snub India.
Islamabad Club puts Indian envoy's membership application on hold
SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2018 BY INDIANDEFENSE NEWS
Ajay Bisaria's application for membership to the elite 'Islamabad Club' has been put 'on hold'. He is the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. Media reports cited "security concerns" as the reason for this hold
Amid increasing tensions between India and Pakistan, reports have emerged that the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria's application for membership to the elite 'Islamabad Club' has been put 'on hold'.
Some media reports cited "security concerns" as the reason for this hold. This is the first time that an Indian envoy's application has been put on hold.
It normally takes only days to process such applications. Ajay Bisaria who took over in December 2017 had applied soon after his arrival. But, the Indian mission in Islamabad has still not heard from the Club authorities.
The Islamabad Club, according to reports, has denied the reports saying that they await "political clearance" and that the request was under process.
"The club needs NOC (No Objection Certificate) by the Ministry of Interior to grant membership." said an official of the club according to a Pakistani Daily. "We have not denied Bisaria's request... It is a routine matter," the official added.
The club has not approved the Indian envoy's membership so far and is reportedly threatening to not renew the membership of other Indian diplomats as well to a place where all foreign diplomats and envoys go to hang out and network.
This 346-acre exclusive club is next to the diplomatic enclave, a highly secure zone so "security concerns" for just one diplomat cannot be the reason for such delay when diplomats of all countries including US, UK, EU often frequent the club.
With the situation at the border heating up and issues of "reciprocity" in behavior for diplomats on either side always cropping up, this seems like another way adopted by the Pakistan administration to snub India.
Islamabad Club puts Indian envoy's membership application on hold
DIPLOMACY
SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2018 BY INDIANDEFENSE NEWS
New Delhi must exhibit resolve and intent that it is serious about isolating Islamabad across the board
by Minhaz Merchant
Twenty-four hours after the attack by Pakistan’s terrorist-army on the an Indian Army station and family quarters in Jammu's Sunjuwan, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a press conference.
She said: “Pakistan will pay a heavy price for this attack.” Revenge is a dish best served cold. But retribution for Sunjuwan will not end Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. It will not even mitigate it. Pakistan does not care about 3x or even 5x losses to its terrorists and soldiers who man terror launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). For Islamabad, terrorism against India is low-cost warfare. But make no mistake: it is warfare.
India has always “reacted” to Pakistani terror attacks with retributive Army assaults. Pakistan absorbs those assaults, accepting them as a small price to pay for bleeding India.
Islamabad knows that it has a limited time window of about 10 years to practise this strategy. After that India’s economic and military superiority will place it beyond Pakistan’s reach. The GDP gap between the two countries is today 9:1. By 2028, at current growth rates, the gap will widen to 12:1.
Militarily, India’s 30-year-long stupor in modernising its air force, army and navy has ended. The IAF will by 2028 have close to a full strength of 42 fighter jet squadrons, several new nuclear submarines (currently being built at classified shipyards), warships, anti-tank guided missiles, nuclear-capable stealth fighters, Apache attack helicopters and mobile shoot-and-scoot howitzers with a 40-km shelling range.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s nuclear bluff must be treated for what it is: bluff. India’s new low-yield battlefield nuclear weapons, along with its nuclear triad (air, land and sea), is a deterrent whose potency the generals in Rawalpindi will not dare to put to test.
But the real challenge today is to evolve and implement a comprehensive and coherent strategy to isolate Pakistan by every means available.
Last week in Paris, Pakistan was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey-list. Islamabad has a three-month window until June 2018 to end terrorist financing. If it fails to do so (as it inevitably will) harsh global financial sanctions will follow. They will cause Pakistan's fragile economy considerable pain.
“Being placed on the FATF watchlist will bring extra scrutiny from regulators and financial institutions that can chill trade and investment and increase transaction costs,” conceded a report in Pakistan Today. “Mike Casey, a partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis in London, said being put back on the grey-list would heighten Pakistan’s risk profile and some financial institutions would be wary of transacting with Pakistani banks and counterparties. Others might elect to avoid Pakistan altogether, viewing the legal risks associated with doing business there to outweigh any economic benefits.”
What should India, the main victim of Pakistani terrorism, now do? The key is to execute a series of steps that, like a tourniquet, strangle Pakistan’s terror infrastructure by imposing progressively heavier costs on it. Half-way measures will no longer do.
India must move from a reactive military strategy to a proactive military strategy. In retaliation for the terror attack on the Sunjuwan Army camp and family station that killed six Indian soldiers and one civilian, the Indian Army pounded Pakistani posts in the Uri and Mendhar sectors, destroying both. An unconfirmed number of Pakistani soldiers and terrorists (there’s little differentiation between the two) have been killed in India’s retaliatory attacks. That hasn’t changed Pakistan’s terrorism-as-state-policy mindset. Nor will it.
What does a comprehensive strategy to isolate Pakistan involve? First, downgrade diplomacy. The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi is a warren of subversion, packed with ISI agents. Downgrade it to a bare-bones consular status. Withdraw India’s high commissioner in Islamabad. Consular representation will do.
Even with downgraded status, certain arm’s length multilateral diplomatic engagements with Pakistan will take place. This week, for example, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale will attend a 25-nation conference on Afghanistan in Kabul. A brief meeting on the sidelines of the conference between Gokhale and Pakistan’s foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua can’t be ruled out. This falls well within the new paradigm of downgraded diplomacy.
India must exhibit resolve and intent that it is serious about isolating Pakistan across the board. End the hypocritical access Pakistani artistes have to Bollywood. All take huge Indian fees but mock India when they return to Pakistan. Without exception, they never condemn Pakistani terror attacks on India.
But why, ask India’s Pakistan apologists, drag artistes into politics? Because it’s not politics. It’s terrorism.
South Africa was isolated by the world over its racist apartheid policy. India sacrificed a Davis Cup title by refusing to play South Africa (even though that country had never sent terrorists to kill Indians as Pakistan incessantly does). The pressure of isolation on South Africa paid off. The inhumanity of apartheid ended in 1991 and Nelson Mandela was sworn in as President in 1994.
What about trade, ask India’s Pakistan apologists? Why ban poor Pakistani filmstars when we still trade with Pakistan and haven’t revoked its most favoured nation (MFN) status? And hasn’t India invited Pervaiz Malik, Pakistan’s commerce minister, to India for the WTO mini-ministerial meeting in Delhi scheduled for March 19-20? He will doubtless have a congenial chat with India’s commerce minister Suresh Prabhu.
This reflects the failure of the Narendra Modi government’s confused Pakistan policy. Revocation of Pakistan’s MFN status must be placed high on its agenda as it enters the final year of its first term. Under WTO rules, revocation is legally justifiable based on non-reciprocity. Reciprocity was pledged by Pakistan in 1996 when India granted Islamabad MFN status. It was never implemented. It is time to end this farce.
While the 37 members of the FATF have taken Pakistan’s terror financing seriously and imposed sanctions on it which kick in from June 2018, India continues to soft pedal. That sends the wrong message to the world about India’s intent to deal effectively with the horrific nature of Pakistan’s continuing terror attacks.
Just how horrific those attacks are is reflected in this The Indian Express report: “Standing on a mountain, Silikote, a hamlet of 22 households, is overlooked by Pakistani army pickets across a ridge and is vulnerable even to small-arm fire from Pakistan. For the past five days, the village has been continuously hit by shells fired by Pakistani soldiers. ‘We have witnessed such intense shelling for the first time since 1999,’ says Ghulam Nabi Handoo. ‘We are lucky to be alive.’ Says Nazir Ahmad, from the same village: ‘We are dying every day. Is this life? Life there is hell. I think around 20,000 mortars were fired in an hour.’”
Such Pakistani army attacks on Indian civilians in villages near the LoC are trivialised by the daily retreat ceremony at Wagah and other border crossings. These must end immediately. They give Pakistan a false sense of importance and equivalence.
Meanwhile, the Modi government has got at least one aspect of its Pakistan policy right: it has fast-tracked hydro-electric power projects in J&K. They will now draw the full legally permissible quota of water under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). India had inexplicably under-drawn its legal quota for decades.
The Modi government’s Pakistan policy has been a disappointment thus far. It has a year to turn things around or Sunjuwan will not be the last Indian Army camp to be attacked by Pakistan’s army of terrorists.
India needs to cut Pakistan off, end the farce of trade, sport and diplomacy
SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2018 BY INDIANDEFENSE NEWS
New Delhi must exhibit resolve and intent that it is serious about isolating Islamabad across the board
by Minhaz Merchant
Twenty-four hours after the attack by Pakistan’s terrorist-army on the an Indian Army station and family quarters in Jammu's Sunjuwan, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a press conference.
She said: “Pakistan will pay a heavy price for this attack.” Revenge is a dish best served cold. But retribution for Sunjuwan will not end Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. It will not even mitigate it. Pakistan does not care about 3x or even 5x losses to its terrorists and soldiers who man terror launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). For Islamabad, terrorism against India is low-cost warfare. But make no mistake: it is warfare.
India has always “reacted” to Pakistani terror attacks with retributive Army assaults. Pakistan absorbs those assaults, accepting them as a small price to pay for bleeding India.
Islamabad knows that it has a limited time window of about 10 years to practise this strategy. After that India’s economic and military superiority will place it beyond Pakistan’s reach. The GDP gap between the two countries is today 9:1. By 2028, at current growth rates, the gap will widen to 12:1.
Militarily, India’s 30-year-long stupor in modernising its air force, army and navy has ended. The IAF will by 2028 have close to a full strength of 42 fighter jet squadrons, several new nuclear submarines (currently being built at classified shipyards), warships, anti-tank guided missiles, nuclear-capable stealth fighters, Apache attack helicopters and mobile shoot-and-scoot howitzers with a 40-km shelling range.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s nuclear bluff must be treated for what it is: bluff. India’s new low-yield battlefield nuclear weapons, along with its nuclear triad (air, land and sea), is a deterrent whose potency the generals in Rawalpindi will not dare to put to test.
But the real challenge today is to evolve and implement a comprehensive and coherent strategy to isolate Pakistan by every means available.
Last week in Paris, Pakistan was placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey-list. Islamabad has a three-month window until June 2018 to end terrorist financing. If it fails to do so (as it inevitably will) harsh global financial sanctions will follow. They will cause Pakistan's fragile economy considerable pain.
“Being placed on the FATF watchlist will bring extra scrutiny from regulators and financial institutions that can chill trade and investment and increase transaction costs,” conceded a report in Pakistan Today. “Mike Casey, a partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis in London, said being put back on the grey-list would heighten Pakistan’s risk profile and some financial institutions would be wary of transacting with Pakistani banks and counterparties. Others might elect to avoid Pakistan altogether, viewing the legal risks associated with doing business there to outweigh any economic benefits.”
What should India, the main victim of Pakistani terrorism, now do? The key is to execute a series of steps that, like a tourniquet, strangle Pakistan’s terror infrastructure by imposing progressively heavier costs on it. Half-way measures will no longer do.
India must move from a reactive military strategy to a proactive military strategy. In retaliation for the terror attack on the Sunjuwan Army camp and family station that killed six Indian soldiers and one civilian, the Indian Army pounded Pakistani posts in the Uri and Mendhar sectors, destroying both. An unconfirmed number of Pakistani soldiers and terrorists (there’s little differentiation between the two) have been killed in India’s retaliatory attacks. That hasn’t changed Pakistan’s terrorism-as-state-policy mindset. Nor will it.
What does a comprehensive strategy to isolate Pakistan involve? First, downgrade diplomacy. The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi is a warren of subversion, packed with ISI agents. Downgrade it to a bare-bones consular status. Withdraw India’s high commissioner in Islamabad. Consular representation will do.
Even with downgraded status, certain arm’s length multilateral diplomatic engagements with Pakistan will take place. This week, for example, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale will attend a 25-nation conference on Afghanistan in Kabul. A brief meeting on the sidelines of the conference between Gokhale and Pakistan’s foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua can’t be ruled out. This falls well within the new paradigm of downgraded diplomacy.
India must exhibit resolve and intent that it is serious about isolating Pakistan across the board. End the hypocritical access Pakistani artistes have to Bollywood. All take huge Indian fees but mock India when they return to Pakistan. Without exception, they never condemn Pakistani terror attacks on India.
But why, ask India’s Pakistan apologists, drag artistes into politics? Because it’s not politics. It’s terrorism.
South Africa was isolated by the world over its racist apartheid policy. India sacrificed a Davis Cup title by refusing to play South Africa (even though that country had never sent terrorists to kill Indians as Pakistan incessantly does). The pressure of isolation on South Africa paid off. The inhumanity of apartheid ended in 1991 and Nelson Mandela was sworn in as President in 1994.
What about trade, ask India’s Pakistan apologists? Why ban poor Pakistani filmstars when we still trade with Pakistan and haven’t revoked its most favoured nation (MFN) status? And hasn’t India invited Pervaiz Malik, Pakistan’s commerce minister, to India for the WTO mini-ministerial meeting in Delhi scheduled for March 19-20? He will doubtless have a congenial chat with India’s commerce minister Suresh Prabhu.
This reflects the failure of the Narendra Modi government’s confused Pakistan policy. Revocation of Pakistan’s MFN status must be placed high on its agenda as it enters the final year of its first term. Under WTO rules, revocation is legally justifiable based on non-reciprocity. Reciprocity was pledged by Pakistan in 1996 when India granted Islamabad MFN status. It was never implemented. It is time to end this farce.
While the 37 members of the FATF have taken Pakistan’s terror financing seriously and imposed sanctions on it which kick in from June 2018, India continues to soft pedal. That sends the wrong message to the world about India’s intent to deal effectively with the horrific nature of Pakistan’s continuing terror attacks.
Just how horrific those attacks are is reflected in this The Indian Express report: “Standing on a mountain, Silikote, a hamlet of 22 households, is overlooked by Pakistani army pickets across a ridge and is vulnerable even to small-arm fire from Pakistan. For the past five days, the village has been continuously hit by shells fired by Pakistani soldiers. ‘We have witnessed such intense shelling for the first time since 1999,’ says Ghulam Nabi Handoo. ‘We are lucky to be alive.’ Says Nazir Ahmad, from the same village: ‘We are dying every day. Is this life? Life there is hell. I think around 20,000 mortars were fired in an hour.’”
Such Pakistani army attacks on Indian civilians in villages near the LoC are trivialised by the daily retreat ceremony at Wagah and other border crossings. These must end immediately. They give Pakistan a false sense of importance and equivalence.
Meanwhile, the Modi government has got at least one aspect of its Pakistan policy right: it has fast-tracked hydro-electric power projects in J&K. They will now draw the full legally permissible quota of water under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). India had inexplicably under-drawn its legal quota for decades.
The Modi government’s Pakistan policy has been a disappointment thus far. It has a year to turn things around or Sunjuwan will not be the last Indian Army camp to be attacked by Pakistan’s army of terrorists.
India needs to cut Pakistan off, end the farce of trade, sport and diplomacy
Pakistan loses 50pc market share in Kabul
KARACHI: India has succeeded to penetrate in Kabul slashing the market share of Pakistan by more than 50 per cent in the last two years, Chairman Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry Zubair Motiwala told Dawn on Friday.
Motiwala who recently visited Kabul said the penetration of India and China has limited Pakistan’s option to retain its market share while India subsidises heavily on its exports. He said Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan fell to $1.2 billion from $2.7bn within in the last two years and the country has been losing even the traditional markets of flour, men and women’s clothes and red meat.
Kabul has been the natural market for Pakistani exports but that is changing as cheaper products from China and India flood the country. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, exports to Afghanistan dropped to $1.271bn in FY17 from $1.437bn in FY16. Exports in the first quarter of 2017-18 stood at $319 million.
Each year thousands of Afghans used to visit Peshawar for medical treatment but now they prefer India due to cheaper treatments and other attractions like concessional treatments. “Medical tourism of Peshawar, which was mainly due to Afghans, is now at zero level; hospitals in Hayatabad are empty,” he continued.
He said Peshawar is the main victim of the declining trade with Afghanistan where people have lost their businesses on a large scale. Out of 200 flour mills, about 100 have been closed down due to a drastic fall in the export of flour to Afghanistan, he added.
He also referred to the decreasing containers’ traffic from Pakistan to Afghanistan. He said 70,000 goods containers were used to pass through between the two countries which has now dropped to just 7,000, reflecting the change of routes for imported goods to Afghans.
KARACHI: India has succeeded to penetrate in Kabul slashing the market share of Pakistan by more than 50 per cent in the last two years, Chairman Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry Zubair Motiwala told Dawn on Friday.
Motiwala who recently visited Kabul said the penetration of India and China has limited Pakistan’s option to retain its market share while India subsidises heavily on its exports. He said Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan fell to $1.2 billion from $2.7bn within in the last two years and the country has been losing even the traditional markets of flour, men and women’s clothes and red meat.
Kabul has been the natural market for Pakistani exports but that is changing as cheaper products from China and India flood the country. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, exports to Afghanistan dropped to $1.271bn in FY17 from $1.437bn in FY16. Exports in the first quarter of 2017-18 stood at $319 million.
Each year thousands of Afghans used to visit Peshawar for medical treatment but now they prefer India due to cheaper treatments and other attractions like concessional treatments. “Medical tourism of Peshawar, which was mainly due to Afghans, is now at zero level; hospitals in Hayatabad are empty,” he continued.
He said Peshawar is the main victim of the declining trade with Afghanistan where people have lost their businesses on a large scale. Out of 200 flour mills, about 100 have been closed down due to a drastic fall in the export of flour to Afghanistan, he added.
He also referred to the decreasing containers’ traffic from Pakistan to Afghanistan. He said 70,000 goods containers were used to pass through between the two countries which has now dropped to just 7,000, reflecting the change of routes for imported goods to Afghans.
After FATF grey-listing, Pakistan faces EU black-listing threat
The Financial Action Taken Force’s (FATF) decision to put Pakistan on its grey list will not only make it difficult for Islamabad to attract foreign investments, but may also invite punitive action by the European Union as the bloc might put the country on its own blacklist.
At the same time, South Asia’s second biggest country runs the risk also of being put on blacklist by the EU. Such a decision by its top trading partner could severely hit that country’s industry, especially the lucrative textile sector, as well as banking channels with Europe, India’s foreign ministry officials familiar with the subject said. The motion to put Pak on the grey list was jointly moved by the US and three key powers of Europe: the UK, France and Germany.
Pakistan had earlier been pulled up by members of EU Parliament for its failure to control terrorism emanating from its soil. The issue of crossborder terror will figure prominently when French President meets the Indian PM here on March 10.
The EU is Pakistan’s most important trading partner, European Commission figures show. This puts the EU in a strong negotiating position. According to Indian officials, FATF’s decision to put Pakistan on the grey list came after much deliberations. The February 18-23 plenary in Paris witnessed hectic negotiations from day one till the final day as India, supported by its partners, put forward strong arguments against Pakistan’s lacklustre efforts to control financing of terror groups.
Pakistan’s debt obligations
(full list of baki loans.Do read)
WITH total debt servicing projections at $31.3 billion until 2022-23, Pakistan expects a balanced report today from the International Monetary Fund, notwithstanding America’s adversarial stance, seen at its peak during the recent meetings of a global money-laundering watchdog in Paris.
This will be the first post-programme monitoring (PPM) report from the IMF executive board after the completion of $6.4bn Extended Fund Facility in September 2016.
Pakistan has to undergo annual PPM reviews in addition to usual Article-IV consultations until 2023 for borrowing significantly higher than its quota. The threshold for Pakistan to move out of the PPM is estimated at 1.4bn special drawing rights (SDRs) of the IMF ($2bn), currently estimated at around 4bn SDRs ($5.8bn).
It is against this backdrop that the government has made foreign debt servicing projections until 2022-23 to all creditors starting November 2017 including $4.2bn payable to foreign creditors during the current fiscal year. The current year would also see the beginning of debt servicing of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) loans with less than $80m repayments.
The debt servicing cost is estimated to increase to $6.42bn during the next fiscal year
The debt servicing cost is estimated to increase to $6.42bn during the 2018-19 fiscal year, including $1.76bn to multilaterals, $1.76bn to commercial banks and up to $1.34bn to international capital markets against bonds.
Repayments to Paris Club and non-Paris Club creditors for the next year are estimated at $900 million and $600m, respectively.
For the 2019-20 fiscal year, the government has projected foreign debt servicing cost at about $7bn, including $2.23bn to commercial banks, $1.9bn to multilaterals, $1.24bn to bond investors and $1.6bn to Paris and non-Paris Club members.
Similarly, the government estimates the debt servicing cost to come down significantly to $4.4bn in 2020-21 led by about $2bn to multilaterals, followed by about $1.6bn to bilateral creditors (Paris and non-Paris Club) and bond servicing declining to just $204m.
The debt repayment would again increase to $5.2bn in 2021-22 including more than $2bn to multilateral lenders, $1.9bn to bilaterals and $1.2bn as bond servicing.
The 2022-23 fiscal year is expected to see a decline in debt servicing to $4.2bn including $2bn to multilaterals, $1.9bn to bilaterals and fewer ($320m) repayments to commercial banks and bond investors put together.
The repayments due to the IMF are estimated at about $740m in 2019, $1.06bn in 2020, $1.19bn in 2021 and $1.08bn in 2022.
Government projections also include CPEC-related repayments on account of loans without taking into account repayments on account of return on investments. The government told the IMF during December consultations that $23bn worth of CPEC projects were under implementation, including $17bn in the energy sector by the private sector.
About $6.035bn worth of projects were in the road sector and funded through loans at a weighted average rate of interest at about 2.4pc. These include $1.315bn phase-II of the Karakoram Highway, $1.626bn Lahore Metro Orange Train and $2.9bn Sukkur-Multan Motorway.
This, however, does not include key projects on which agreements have yet to be signed, such as $8.2bn railway line from Karachi to Torkham on the Afghan border.
The flow of funds from not only the multilateral lenders like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), but also from some major bilateral lenders would depend on the clean chit of economic health from the IMF.
The draft report has already been shared with Pakistani authorities as required before putting it up consideration of the executive board, but adverse comments from some directors could not be ruled out in the aftermath of Pakistan being put on the terror financing watchlist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Islamabad says the move was politically motivated and intended to embarrass the country globally.
While the IMF has been appreciative of government policies under its three-year programme, things that may attract negative marking include some loosening of the fiscal side, inability to carry forward structural reforms to address energy sector losses, poor health of public sector entities, and limited success on tax base.
The IMF staff and Pakistan authorities have reportedly revised fiscal deficit limit to 5pc of GDP for the current fiscal year instead of 4.1pc despite a Rs200bn cut to the development programme. The current account deficit would remain challenging, as it soared 48pc to $9.2bn — almost 3.1pc of GDP — in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.
The flow of the World Bank assistance is normally linked to Pakistan’s ability to maintain official foreign exchange reserves sufficient to finance at least two months of the import bill, but it can sometimes be influenced by political dimensions.
The ADB has been a different case in the past that helped Pakistan in difficult situations despite US opposition and could find some support from newly established China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The timing is of critical importance and a reminder of a 2007-08 situation when the Musharraf-led administration was pushed to the wall for political reasons and the subsequent PPP-led coalition government decided at the last moment to put on hold launching of a few transactions in the international capital market, followed by an IMF programme on tough conditions that could not survive the test of time beyond few initial tranches.
Ahead of FATF meetings in Paris, the Miftah Ismail-led Ministry of Finance withdrew from the cabinet meeting a case for launching another $1bn plus bond at the last moment. This was done even though the federal cabinet had already authorised a $3.5bn fund raising from the international market last year when the government stopped at $2.5bn bonds to avoid price escalation.
The ministry had announced at the time it could go for another bond launch for the remaining lot within 45 days. How things unfold going forward would be seen with interest, as the country traverses through diplomatic challenges and political transition.
The Financial Action Taken Force’s (FATF) decision to put Pakistan on its grey list will not only make it difficult for Islamabad to attract foreign investments, but may also invite punitive action by the European Union as the bloc might put the country on its own blacklist.
At the same time, South Asia’s second biggest country runs the risk also of being put on blacklist by the EU. Such a decision by its top trading partner could severely hit that country’s industry, especially the lucrative textile sector, as well as banking channels with Europe, India’s foreign ministry officials familiar with the subject said. The motion to put Pak on the grey list was jointly moved by the US and three key powers of Europe: the UK, France and Germany.
Pakistan had earlier been pulled up by members of EU Parliament for its failure to control terrorism emanating from its soil. The issue of crossborder terror will figure prominently when French President meets the Indian PM here on March 10.
The EU is Pakistan’s most important trading partner, European Commission figures show. This puts the EU in a strong negotiating position. According to Indian officials, FATF’s decision to put Pakistan on the grey list came after much deliberations. The February 18-23 plenary in Paris witnessed hectic negotiations from day one till the final day as India, supported by its partners, put forward strong arguments against Pakistan’s lacklustre efforts to control financing of terror groups.
Pakistan’s debt obligations
(full list of baki loans.Do read)
WITH total debt servicing projections at $31.3 billion until 2022-23, Pakistan expects a balanced report today from the International Monetary Fund, notwithstanding America’s adversarial stance, seen at its peak during the recent meetings of a global money-laundering watchdog in Paris.
This will be the first post-programme monitoring (PPM) report from the IMF executive board after the completion of $6.4bn Extended Fund Facility in September 2016.
Pakistan has to undergo annual PPM reviews in addition to usual Article-IV consultations until 2023 for borrowing significantly higher than its quota. The threshold for Pakistan to move out of the PPM is estimated at 1.4bn special drawing rights (SDRs) of the IMF ($2bn), currently estimated at around 4bn SDRs ($5.8bn).
It is against this backdrop that the government has made foreign debt servicing projections until 2022-23 to all creditors starting November 2017 including $4.2bn payable to foreign creditors during the current fiscal year. The current year would also see the beginning of debt servicing of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) loans with less than $80m repayments.
The debt servicing cost is estimated to increase to $6.42bn during the next fiscal year
The debt servicing cost is estimated to increase to $6.42bn during the 2018-19 fiscal year, including $1.76bn to multilaterals, $1.76bn to commercial banks and up to $1.34bn to international capital markets against bonds.
Repayments to Paris Club and non-Paris Club creditors for the next year are estimated at $900 million and $600m, respectively.
For the 2019-20 fiscal year, the government has projected foreign debt servicing cost at about $7bn, including $2.23bn to commercial banks, $1.9bn to multilaterals, $1.24bn to bond investors and $1.6bn to Paris and non-Paris Club members.
Similarly, the government estimates the debt servicing cost to come down significantly to $4.4bn in 2020-21 led by about $2bn to multilaterals, followed by about $1.6bn to bilateral creditors (Paris and non-Paris Club) and bond servicing declining to just $204m.
The debt repayment would again increase to $5.2bn in 2021-22 including more than $2bn to multilateral lenders, $1.9bn to bilaterals and $1.2bn as bond servicing.
The 2022-23 fiscal year is expected to see a decline in debt servicing to $4.2bn including $2bn to multilaterals, $1.9bn to bilaterals and fewer ($320m) repayments to commercial banks and bond investors put together.
The repayments due to the IMF are estimated at about $740m in 2019, $1.06bn in 2020, $1.19bn in 2021 and $1.08bn in 2022.
Government projections also include CPEC-related repayments on account of loans without taking into account repayments on account of return on investments. The government told the IMF during December consultations that $23bn worth of CPEC projects were under implementation, including $17bn in the energy sector by the private sector.
About $6.035bn worth of projects were in the road sector and funded through loans at a weighted average rate of interest at about 2.4pc. These include $1.315bn phase-II of the Karakoram Highway, $1.626bn Lahore Metro Orange Train and $2.9bn Sukkur-Multan Motorway.
This, however, does not include key projects on which agreements have yet to be signed, such as $8.2bn railway line from Karachi to Torkham on the Afghan border.
The flow of funds from not only the multilateral lenders like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), but also from some major bilateral lenders would depend on the clean chit of economic health from the IMF.
The draft report has already been shared with Pakistani authorities as required before putting it up consideration of the executive board, but adverse comments from some directors could not be ruled out in the aftermath of Pakistan being put on the terror financing watchlist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Islamabad says the move was politically motivated and intended to embarrass the country globally.
While the IMF has been appreciative of government policies under its three-year programme, things that may attract negative marking include some loosening of the fiscal side, inability to carry forward structural reforms to address energy sector losses, poor health of public sector entities, and limited success on tax base.
The IMF staff and Pakistan authorities have reportedly revised fiscal deficit limit to 5pc of GDP for the current fiscal year instead of 4.1pc despite a Rs200bn cut to the development programme. The current account deficit would remain challenging, as it soared 48pc to $9.2bn — almost 3.1pc of GDP — in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.
The flow of the World Bank assistance is normally linked to Pakistan’s ability to maintain official foreign exchange reserves sufficient to finance at least two months of the import bill, but it can sometimes be influenced by political dimensions.
The ADB has been a different case in the past that helped Pakistan in difficult situations despite US opposition and could find some support from newly established China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The timing is of critical importance and a reminder of a 2007-08 situation when the Musharraf-led administration was pushed to the wall for political reasons and the subsequent PPP-led coalition government decided at the last moment to put on hold launching of a few transactions in the international capital market, followed by an IMF programme on tough conditions that could not survive the test of time beyond few initial tranches.
Ahead of FATF meetings in Paris, the Miftah Ismail-led Ministry of Finance withdrew from the cabinet meeting a case for launching another $1bn plus bond at the last moment. This was done even though the federal cabinet had already authorised a $3.5bn fund raising from the international market last year when the government stopped at $2.5bn bonds to avoid price escalation.
The ministry had announced at the time it could go for another bond launch for the remaining lot within 45 days. How things unfold going forward would be seen with interest, as the country traverses through diplomatic challenges and political transition.
Pakistan in talks with China to borrow $1b
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is in talks with a Chinese financial institution to obtain $1 billion as a foreign commercial loan, as its recent internal assessment revealed that inflows from traditional lenders would fall below budgeted projections.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have already withheld $700 million as balance of payments’ policy loans due to deterioration in macroeconomic indicators in the past one year.
The cost of borrowing from the Chinese bank could go over 5% this time due to increase in the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), said the sources. The six-month US dollar Libor was 2.228% on March 2, which would push the overall borrowing cost for the government in the range of 5.1% to 5.3%, said the sources. Last year, the Libor remained around 1.5%, which kept commercial borrowing cost below 5% for most of the deals.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is in talks with a Chinese financial institution to obtain $1 billion as a foreign commercial loan, as its recent internal assessment revealed that inflows from traditional lenders would fall below budgeted projections.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have already withheld $700 million as balance of payments’ policy loans due to deterioration in macroeconomic indicators in the past one year.
The cost of borrowing from the Chinese bank could go over 5% this time due to increase in the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), said the sources. The six-month US dollar Libor was 2.228% on March 2, which would push the overall borrowing cost for the government in the range of 5.1% to 5.3%, said the sources. Last year, the Libor remained around 1.5%, which kept commercial borrowing cost below 5% for most of the deals.
The way things are China will have a separate budget for Pakistan like our earlier rail budget
Pakistanis most of of the people know that China will loot them, the awareness is already there. But due to helplessness they are stuck. Let them enjoy more chinese hospitality.
Foreign exchange: SBP's reserves fall $112m, stand at $12.2b
KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) continued to remain under pressure, decreasing 0.91% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday.
The fall marks the 12th successive week of decline, sparking concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet future payment obligations and manage a bulging current account deficit.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court attacked by pigs
ISLAMABAD – In winter, wild boars usually descend on Islamabad at night to feed on garbage heaps, sometimes terrifying citizens who are out for a walk.
This time the wild animal appeared in daylight in the capital and crossed into the premises of Pakistan’s top court, which is under criticism these days for its bold decisions in cases against politicians.
In the video clip, the staff of the Supreme Court can be seen trying to throw the intruders out of the premises with sticks. In retaliation, a wild pig ran towards the staffer and tried to attack him, but the employee remained safe luckily.
The animals enter the city from neighbouring hills, causing road mishaps. The population of pigs has multiplied over the years, but the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has failed to contain them.
KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) continued to remain under pressure, decreasing 0.91% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday.
The fall marks the 12th successive week of decline, sparking concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet future payment obligations and manage a bulging current account deficit.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court attacked by pigs
ISLAMABAD – In winter, wild boars usually descend on Islamabad at night to feed on garbage heaps, sometimes terrifying citizens who are out for a walk.
This time the wild animal appeared in daylight in the capital and crossed into the premises of Pakistan’s top court, which is under criticism these days for its bold decisions in cases against politicians.
In the video clip, the staff of the Supreme Court can be seen trying to throw the intruders out of the premises with sticks. In retaliation, a wild pig ran towards the staffer and tried to attack him, but the employee remained safe luckily.
The animals enter the city from neighbouring hills, causing road mishaps. The population of pigs has multiplied over the years, but the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has failed to contain them.
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Haqqani Network receiving significant support in Pak: NATO commander
The Haqqani Network continues to enjoy significant support inside Pakistan due to which the terrorist group still carrying out across the border in Afghanistan, a top NATO commander has said.
General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the second in command in the Haqqani Network, he said, is effectively driving the Taliban today. “We still see that there is a significant support, or at least provision of safe haven to Haqqani network (in Pakistan),” Pavel told Defense Writers Group yesterday.
A number of high profile attacks in Afghanistan in the last couple of months were delivered by the Haqqani network, General Pavel said.
General Pavel has been Chairman of the NATO Military Committee since June 2015.
As such he said Pakistan has a very important role to play in the Afghan peace process.
That means creating the conditions where all opposing forces will see their chance at the negotiating table rather than on battlefield, he said.
The Haqqani Network continues to enjoy significant support inside Pakistan due to which the terrorist group still carrying out across the border in Afghanistan, a top NATO commander has said.
General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the second in command in the Haqqani Network, he said, is effectively driving the Taliban today. “We still see that there is a significant support, or at least provision of safe haven to Haqqani network (in Pakistan),” Pavel told Defense Writers Group yesterday.
A number of high profile attacks in Afghanistan in the last couple of months were delivered by the Haqqani network, General Pavel said.
General Pavel has been Chairman of the NATO Military Committee since June 2015.
As such he said Pakistan has a very important role to play in the Afghan peace process.
That means creating the conditions where all opposing forces will see their chance at the negotiating table rather than on battlefield, he said.
Pashtun youth from Zhob,Northern Balochistan chanting "Yeh jo dehshadgardi hai,iske peeche wardi hai" (Army is behind terrorism)
They receive around $20 billion per year from foreign remittances, mostly from Gulf countries.