Latest news with #AsifShahzad
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pakistan open, 'not desperate' for talks with arch-rival India, says foreign minister
By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan is "ready but not desperate" for talks with arch-rival India, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, in remarks that underline the lack of a thaw between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following their worst military conflict in decades. Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery last month in four days of clashes, their worst fighting in decades, before agreeing to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on May 10. "Whenever they ask for a dialogue, at whatever level, we are ready but we are not desperate," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told a news conference in Islamabad. The spark for the recent fighting between the old enemies was an April 22 attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad. Dar said Pakistan wanted a comprehensive dialogue on a range of issues including water, whereas India wanted to focus only on terrorism. "That's not on. Nobody else is more serious than us. It takes two to tango," he said, referring to comments by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar that the talks should only cover the issue of terrorism. The Indian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Dar's remarks. New Delhi has previously said that terrorism and dialogue cannot go hand in hand. Pakistan is keen to discuss water rights after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following the April 22 attack. The treaty guarantees water for 80% of Pakistan's farms from three rivers that flow from India.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pakistan to upgrade diplomatic ties with Afghanistan in easing of tensions
By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan will designate an ambassador to Afghanistan, the first since Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021, the country's foreign minister said on Friday, announcing an upgrade in diplomatic ties that shows some easing of tensions between the two neighbours. Currently, Pakistan and Afghanistan's top envoy in each other's country is a charge d'affaires, a lower level than ambassador. Pakistan has not yet said who will be nominated to the upgraded post. Announcing the decision to upgrade diplomatic representation, Pakistan's foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said bilateral relations had been on a positive trajectory since he visited Kabul with a Pakistani delegation last month. "I am confident this step would further contribute towards enhanced engagement," he said on X. Afghanistan's foreign ministry and Taliban's charge d'affaires in Islamabad did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China, which hosted an informal meeting last week between the Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban administration, said afterward that the two countries planned to upgrade their diplomatic ties. Pakistan and Afghanistan have had a strained relationship since the Taliban administration took power after the withdrawal of U.S.-led NATO forces. Islamabad says that Islamist militants who launch attacks inside Pakistan use Afghan soil. Kabul denies this, saying such militancy is Pakistan's domestic problem to handle. No country has formally recognised the Taliban administration since it took power, with foreign powers calling for it to change course on women's rights. Pakistan becomes the fourth country after China, UAE and Uzbekistan to designate an ambassador to Kabul. Although those governments say they have not formally recognised the Taliban's government, diplomats and experts say that having an ambassador officially present their credentials represents a step towards recognition.
Zawya
27-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Pakistan extends deadline to bid for national airline to June 19
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has extended the deadline for expressions of interest in purchasing Pakistan International Airlines to June 19, the country's privatisation ministry said on Tuesday. The earlier deadline was June 3. The ministry did not provide any reason for the extension and it did not disclose whether any expressions of interest had been submitted so far. Pakistan has been seeking to sell a 51% to 100% stake in the debt-ridden carrier to raise funds and reform cash-draining state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund programme. Its failed attempt to privatise Pakistan International Airlines last year received a single offer well below the asking price of more than $300 million. Pakistan has shifted almost all of the national carrier's legacy debt and liabilities to government books after issues raised by bidders led to the failure of the last privatisation attempt. In April, the airline said it reported its first annual profit in more than two decades. (Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Jamie Freed)
Japan Today
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Pakistan vows retaliation after Indian strike over tourist deaths
Smoke rises from Bilal Mosque after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Akhtar Somroo By Asif Shahzad and Shivam Patel India hit Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir with missiles on Wednesday and Pakistan vowed to retaliate saying it shot down five Indian aircraft, in the worst clash in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors. India told more than a dozen foreign envoys in New Delhi that "if Pakistan responds, India will respond," fueling fears of a larger military conflict in one of the world's most dangerous - and most populated - nuclear flashpoint regions. The escalation comes at a fragile moment for Pakistan's $350 billion economy, which recently emerged from an economic crisis with the government trying to shore up finances and make progress on the $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan program of 2024. India said it struck nine "terrorist infrastructure" sites, some of them linked to an attack by Islamist militants that killed 25 Hindu tourists and one local in Indian Kashmir last month. Pakistan said at least 31 of its civilians had been killed and 46 wounded, a military spokesperson said, and that India "had ignited an inferno in the region". This included deaths from the strikes and border shelling. Islamabad pledged to respond "at a time, place and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of innocent Pakistani lives and blatant violation of its sovereignty", emphatically rejecting Indian allegations it had terrorist camps on its territory. "For the blatant mistake that India made last night, it will now have to pay the price," Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a televised address on state broadcaster PTV to the nation. "Perhaps they thought that we would retreat, but they forgot is a nation of brave people." Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told broadcaster Geo News that Islamabad would only strike Indian military targets and not civilians, in retaliation. The Indian strikes included Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, for the first time since the last full-scale war between the old enemies more than half a century ago. "The targets we had set were destroyed with exactness according to a well-planned strategy," India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. "We have shown sensitivity by ensuring that no civilian population was affected in the slightest." Islamabad said none of the six locations targeted in Pakistan were militant camps. Fifty-seven commercial aircraft were in the air over Pakistan when India attacked, endangering thousands of lives, the spokesperson said, adding they included airlines of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Thailand, South Korea and China. In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, the Indian strike had badly damaged a mosque-seminary in the heart of the city. Five missiles killed three people in the two storey structure, which also had residential quarters, locals said. Reuters journalists saw the roof and walls of the concrete building crumbled under the impact of the strikes and household items scattered on the first floor. An Indian source said the mosque was actually a "terrorist camp", which Pakistan denies. Pakistan has said all targets were civilians. Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which both sides claim in full and control in part. 'OPERATION SINDOOR' The Pakistan prime minister's office said five Indian fighter jets and drones had been shot down, although this was not confirmed by India. The Indian embassy in Beijing called reports of fighter jets downed by Pakistan "disinformation". Local government sources in Indian Kashmir told Reuters three fighter jets had crashed in separate areas of the Himalayan region overnight and their pilots had been hospitalised. Indian defence ministry officials did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Images circulating on local media showed a large, damaged cylindrical chunk of silver-coloured metal lying in a field at one of the crash sites. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the image. Indian forces attacked facilities linked to Islamist militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, two Indian military spokespeople told a briefing in New Delhi, in what New Delhi called "Operation Sindoor". Jaish said 10 relatives of its leader Masood Azhar - who was released from an Indian jail in 1999 in exchange for 155 hostages from a hijacked Indian Airlines plane - were killed. Sindoor is the Hindi language word for vermilion, a red powder that Hindu women put on the forehead or parting of their hair as a sign of marriage. India had earlier said two of three suspects in the tourist attack were Pakistani nationals, without detailing any evidence. Pakistan has denied any links to the attack. Wednesday's strikes used precision weapons to target "terrorist camps" that served as recruitment centres, launchpads and indoctrination centres and housed weapons and training facilities, Indian military spokespeople said. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, the top official in its external affairs ministry, said the strikes were to pre-empt further attacks on India. Misri briefed 13 foreign envoys in New Delhi on the strikes, an Indian source familiar with the developments said. "India made it clear that if Pakistan responds, India will respond," the source said. The neighbours also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across their de facto border in Kashmir, with 13 civilians killed and 43 wounded on the Indian side and at least six killed on the Pakistani side, officials there said. RISK OF ESCALATION The scale of the strikes went far beyond New Delhi's response to previous attacks in Kashmir, it has blamed on Pakistan. "Given the scale of the Indian strike, which was far greater than what we saw in 2019, we can expect a sizable Pakistani response," said Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst. U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants to see India and Pakistan "work it out. I want to see them stop, and hopefully they can stop now. And if I can do anything to help, I will be there". There were calls for restraint from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, China, which neighbours both India and Pakistan, and Russia as well as Britain. Many people in both countries voiced anger and hostility. "Pakistan has been testing our patience. The good thing is India is taking revenge," said Kumar Ravi Shankar, a Delhi lawyer. In Pakistan, businessman Umbreen Mahar said: "No one in today's world wants to favour war. But if India continues to slander us and then attack, Pakistan has the right to retaliate and defend its sovereignty." AIRLINES CANCEL FLIGHTS Pakistan's international bonds rose, reversing early losses, while the benchmark share index fell 2.2%, after opening nearly 6% lower. India's stock market benchmarks closed little changed, while the Indian rupee closed nearly 0.5% lower at 84.8250 against the U.S. dollar, marking its worst performance since April 9. Several airlines cancelled flights in areas of India and Pakistan due to closures of airports and airspace. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
RNZ News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
India and Pakistan clash in worst fighting in decades
By Asif Shahzad and Shivam Patel for Reuters Photo: SAJJAD HUSSAIN Multiple civilian deaths have been reported by Indian and Pakistani authorities, with the worst fighting in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed enemies. India says it struck nine Pakistani "terrorist infrastructure" sites, some of them linked to an attack by Islamist militants on Hindu tourists that killed 26 people in Indian Kashmir last month. Islamabad said six Pakistani locations were targeted, and that none of them were militant camps. At least 26 civilians were killed and 46 injured, a Pakistan military spokesperson said. Indian forces attacked the headquarters of Islamist militant groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Indian defence source told Reuters. "India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution," the Indian defence ministry said in a statement. Activists and members of Pasban-e-Hurriyat, a Kashmiri refugee organisation, shout slogans during an anti-India protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on 5 May, 2025. Photo: AFP Pakistan said Indian missiles hit three sites and a military spokesperson told Reuters five Indian aircraft had been shot down, a claim not confirmed by India. However, four local government sources in Indian Kashmir told Reuters that three fighter jets had crashed in separate areas of the Himalayan region during the night. All three pilots had been hospitalised, the sources added. Indian defence ministry officials were not immediately available to confirm the report. Images circulating on local media showed a large, damaged cylindrical chunk of silver-coloured metal lying in a field at one of the crash sites. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the image. Islamabad called the assault a "blatant act of war" and said it had informed the UN Security Council that Pakistan reserved the right to respond appropriately to Indian aggression. "All of these engagements have been done as a defensive measure," Pakistan military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said. "Pakistan remains a very responsible state. However, we will take all the steps necessary for defending the honour, integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan, at all cost." Paramilitary soldiers stand guard outside the Government Health and Educational complex after Indian strikes in Muridke, about 30 kilometres from Lahore. Photo: ARIF ALI The South Asian neighbours also exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across much of their de facto border in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, police and witnesses told Reuters. Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which both sides claim in full and control in part. Since a 2003 ceasefire, to which both countries recommitted in 2021, targeted strikes between the neighbours are extremely rare, especially Indian strikes on Pakistani areas outside Pakistani Kashmir. But analysts said the risk of escalation is higher than in the recent past due to the severity of India's attack, which New Delhi called "Operation Sindoor". Sindoor is the Hindi language word for vermilion, a red powder that Hindu women put on the forehead or parting of their hair as a sign of marriage. US President Donald Trump called the fighting "a shame" and added, "I hope it ends quickly." The State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to the national security advisers of both nations, urging "both to keep lines of communication open and avoid escalation." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum military restraint from both countries, a spokesperson said. China, which neighbours both India and Pakistan, also called for restraint. Paramilitary soldiers stand guard outside the Government Health and Educational complex after Indian strikes in Muridke, about 30 kilometres from Lahore. Photo: ARIF ALI The Pakistani army's shelling across the frontier in Kashmir killed seven civilians and injured 35 in the Indian sector of the region, police there said. Indian TV channels showed videos of explosions, fire, large plumes of smoke in the night sky and people fleeing in several places in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir. Reuters could not independently verify the footage. In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, damage from the Indian strike was visible at sunrise. Security forces surrounded a small mosque in a hill-side residential neighbourhood which had been hit, with its minaret collapsed. All schools in Pakistani Kashmir, the national capital Islamabad, and much of Indian Kashmir and the populous Pakistani province of Punjab were ordered closed on Wednesday in the aftermath of the strikes. Imran Shaheen, a district official in Pakistani Kashmir, said two mortars landed on a house in the town of Forward Kahuta, killing two men and injuring several women and children. In another village, a resident had been killed in firing, Shaheen said. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad was responding to the Indian attacks but did not provide details. Pakistan's populous province of Punjab declared an emergency, its chief minister said, and hospitals and emergency services were on high alert. A Pakistani military spokesperson told broadcaster Geo that two mosques were among the sites hit by India. The Pakistani defence minister told Geo that all the sites were civilian and not militant camps. He said India's claim of targeting "camps of terrorists is false". After India's strikes, the Indian army said in a post on X on Wednesday: "Justice is served." Photo: AFP / Murtaz Ali A spokesperson for the Indian Embassy in Washington told Reuters that evidence pointed "towards the clear involvement of Pakistan-based terrorists in this terror attack," referring to the April tourist killings. India said two of three suspects in that attack were Pakistani nationals but had not detailed its evidence. Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the April killings. News of the strikes impacted Indian stock futures mildly, with the GIFT NIFTY at 24,311, 0.3% below the NIFTY 50's last close of 24,379.6 on Tuesday. Several airlines including India's largest airline, IndiGo , Air India and Qatar Airways cancelled flights in areas of India and Pakistan due to closures of airports and airspace. Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior Indian officials briefed counterparts in Britain, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, an Indian source told Reuters. The Indian strike goes far beyond New Delhi's response to previous attacks in Kashmir blamed on Pakistan. Those include India's 2019 air strike on Pakistan after 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed in Kashmir and India's retaliation for the deaths of 18 soldiers in 2016. "Given the scale of the Indian strike, which was far greater than what we saw in 2019, we can expect a sizable Pakistani response," said Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst and writer for the Foreign Policy magazine. "All eyes will be on India's next move. We've had a strike and a counter-strike, and what comes next will be the strongest indication of just how serious a crisis this could become," he said. - Reuters
