Latest news with #Indian-Pakistani
Saba Yemen
6 days ago
- General
- Saba Yemen
Pakistan asks Russian President for help in settling dispute with India
Moscow - Saba: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a letter, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help in settling the dispute with India. This was announced by Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister, on Wednesday during the Valdai Discussion Forum. Fatemi said: "Neighbors cannot live in a situation where they are ready to start a war at any moment. We have dispatched important figures to several countries—to the United States, Russia, and the European Union—showing our readiness to listen to any proposal from any country, from the United Nations, or from neutral countries between India and Pakistan. We are ready to sit with them and let them resolve the issue." The Pakistani official noted that he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and delivered "a message from our prime minister and an appeal to His Excellency Mr. Putin. We have asked all these countries to use their influence so that India and Pakistan sit at the negotiating table and reach a peace agreement." Fatemi noted that Pakistan is awaiting any initiative from Russia that would reduce tensions in relations with India. He said, "We are here to see Russia's support for any initiative that would reduce tensions. Pakistan and India must come to the negotiating table." Indian-Pakistani relations deteriorated after the April 22 attack in Pahalgam (Jammu and Kashmir, India). On the night of May 7, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindur, claiming to have "targeted nine terrorist-related targets in Pakistan and its part of Kashmir." The Pakistani army responded. On May 10, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire and to consider reducing troop numbers on the border. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's Team Discovers That Diplomacy Is Hard
You can have your cake and eat it, too. That was the promise of President Donald Trump's "peace through strength" pitch on the campaign trail, promoted most loudly by his former national security adviser Mike Waltz. By looking powerful and fearsome, the United States could get what it wants from its opponents without either costly wars or uncomfortable diplomatic concessions. After all, the Biden administration's combination of moralizing words and military intervention had been the worst of both worlds. And Trump's outside-the-box approach allowed him to snatch some low-hanging fruit that his predecessors failed to. Over the past month, he has freed the last living American hostage from Gaza, cut a deal to get U.S. forces out of Yemen, helped broker an Indian-Pakistani ceasefire, opened negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and brokered a Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange. Trump's tour of the Persian Gulf two weeks ago was supposed to be a victory lap for his diplomatic efforts. The president declared the end of "neocon" meddling and announced the lifting of economic sanctions on Syria, while Arab leaders announced huge new investment deals in the United States. But since then, the Trump administration's efforts to end conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine seem to have stalled—and Trump himself is getting frustrated. "I don't know what the hell happened to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Trump told reporters on Sunday after Russia launched major air raids on Ukraine, killing 12 people. "I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all." Afterward, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Putin "wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!" Although Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off the comments as "emotional overload," the Trump administration followed up on the comments with a serious escalation. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Monday that the United States and European allies were lifting all restrictions on the range of weapons provided to Ukraine, an option Waltz had been a fan of. Last week, Trump had convinced Russia and Ukraine to enter the first direct talks since the beginning of the war. During the meeting in Turkey, the two sides agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners of war for 1,000 prisoners of war—and not much else. Peskov told reporters that further negotiations would be possible only after the two sides "achieve certain results in the form of agreements." The fundamental issue is still the same as it was before Trump came to office: Russia wants to keep the land it seized and neutralize Ukraine as a military threat, while Ukraine wants to get its land back and gain protection against further Russian attacks. Trump reportedly told European leaders that Putin doesn't want to end the war because he believes Russia is winning, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov publicly accused Trump's ceasefire proposal of being a way to buy time in order to "rearm Ukraine in a calm atmosphere." U.S.-Iran talks are dragging on with a similarly unclear outcome. At the same press conference where he attacked Putin's air raids, Trump claimed that the two countries concluded "very, very good talks" in Rome on Friday and "I have a feeling I might be telling you something good" over the next few days. But Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has been mediating the talks, said that the last round was "not conclusive." The U.S. and Iran have publicly incompatible positions on the nuclear issue. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate last Tuesday that Iran can have a civilian nuclear energy program if it gives up on domestic uranium enrichment and imports all of its fuel instead, because "all you need is time" to turn low-enriched fuel into weapons-grade uranium. Iran, on the other hand, sees enrichment as a "source of national pride, our moon shot," and a sovereign right. "Figuring out the path to a deal is not rocket science," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated going into talks. "Zero nuclear weapons = we DO have a deal. Zero enrichment = we do NOT have a deal. Time to decide." More fundamentally, Iran wants to hedge against the possibility that the U.S. will break its side of any deal. In 2015, the Iranian government agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for lifting the U.S. economic embargo, only for Trump to impose "super maximum economic pressure" four years later. In that first deal, Iran had given up concrete concessions—including filling a nuclear reactor with cement—in exchange for paper guarantees. When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Trump administration has been repeatedly pulling the rug out from under its own diplomacy. During the last ceasefire in Gaza, the Trump administration offered a ceasefire extension if Hamas were to release Israeli-American captive Edan Alexander. After Hamas offered to release him, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of "making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire," and Israel resumed its war. Hamas eventually did release Alexander on May 12, with the understanding that Israel would end its 10-week blockade of all imports and aid to Gaza. (At least 58 people have died from malnutrition, 242 people have died from shortages of food or medicine, and 300 women have miscarried since the lockdown began, according to the Palestinian health ministry.) Israel and the U.S. have announced a new plan to distribute food to Palestinians in heavily guarded, access-restricted compounds that leaked internal documents warned would be seen as "'concentration camps' with biometrics." Meanwhile, Arab Americans for Trump founder Bishara Bahbah has continued negotiating on Witkoff's behalf for a new ceasefire deal. After Hamas agreed on Monday to Bahbah's proposal for a 70-day temporary ceasefire in exchange for 10 hostages, with a path to fully ending the war, Israeli officials told local media that they would reject the proposal. Witkoff then denounced the ceasefire proposal, which his own deputy had made, in an interview with Axios. "The deal Bahbah reached with Hamas was totally rejected by Israel, and it seems that when Witkoff realized that, he pulled the brakes on it," an Israeli official told Axios. As with Ukraine and Iran, there is a fundamental disagreement that can't be papered over. Hamas does not want to give up hostages without an end to the war. Israel does not want to end the war short of satisfying vengeance for the October 2023 attacks. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added physically removing the Palestinian population from Gaza as one of his victory conditions. To resolve all these cases, the U.S. would either have to make compromises—giving concessions on European security, allowing Iranian enrichment, and pressuring Israel to moderate its goals—or escalate further. Both come at a political cost that Trump is so far unwilling to pay. Instead, he's resorted to making vague promises and blaming others when they fall short. "This is [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy's, Putin's, and [former President Joe] Biden's War, not 'Trump's,' I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Ukraine. That rhetoric might have cut it on the campaign trail. But now that he's in the White House, Trump owns these conflicts, too. The post Trump's Team Discovers That Diplomacy Is Hard appeared first on
San Francisco Chronicle
20-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Acclaimed restaurant tucked away inside an S.F. mall is expanding
A popular Indian-Pakistani downtown lunch favorite is ready to break beyond the sometimes glum food court at San Francisco Centre mall with a second, substantially larger location. Mohammad and Rabia Waqar confirmed with the Chronicle their restaurant, Mashaallah Halal Pakistani Food, will open a second location at 315 Fifth St., just a few blocks away from the mall inside the former space occupied by French bistro Mathilde. Mohammad said the address will get an interior revamp before it serves its tandoor cooked meats, rich stews and biryani plates and hot chai for customers. He anticipates opening in around eight to 10 weeks. The move comes after the departure of anchor tenant Bloomingdales and as food court operators increasingly rely on e-bike delivery to counter sinking foot traffic. Mohammad Waqar said the mall can be challenging, but convention traffic has improved and business has been steady recently. Ultimately he and his wife are thankful for finding a location that's brought them success. 'We signed a long lease. As long as the mall remains open we'll be here,' he said. The menu will be mostly the same at the new, 50-seat restaurant with a patio. Expect Mashaallah favorites to feature at the new space such as seekh kebab cooked in a tandoor and tender lamb chops, marinated in a garlic-ginger paste for two days. The co-owner said he plans to introduce a couple of new dishes like chicken karahi, tossed in a spicy sauce inside a wok-shaped pot, along with a traditional chicken curry. Quick lunch platters will still be available, with a variety of stews served from cafeteria-style steam trays that include a surprisingly rich palak paneer — made by boiling spinach in milk before the addition of butter and cheese cubes — and a superstar lamb korma which staff simmer to render juicy and tender. The Chronicle's restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan praised the restaurant's ' impressive ' cooking and non-standardized, humble feel with hand-written menu additions and photos of dishes. 'If the physical attributes plant the suspicion that Mashaallah Halal is not your typical food court tenant, a few bites will confirm it,' Fegan wrote. The Waqars, who work closely together and have moments where their mutual admiration and love shines through, are hopeful for their next chapter for their restaurant. For Mohammad, growing the business from a food truck to a second restaurant is validating. 'I've been in the industry for 38 years. Now I'm finally seeing the payoff,' he said.
Business Recorder
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Pakistan Army warns of long consequences if Indus waters stopped
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistani military warns that any Indian attempt to follow through on recent threats to cut Islamabad's share of the Indus River water system would trigger consequences lasting for generations. New Delhi unilaterally suspended a decades-old water-sharing agreement with Pakistan last month. Brokered by the World Bank, the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty has withstood multiple Indian-Pakistani wars. If India weaponizes water and blocks the flow of an Indus River tributary — vital to Pakistan's food security — the military says it will act. 'I hope that time doesn't come, but it will be such actions that the world will see and the consequences of that we will fight for years and decades to come. Nobody dares stop water from Pakistan,' Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesperson of the Pakistan Armed Forces, told Arab News. 'It is some madman who can think that he can stop water of 240 million plus people of this country.' Pakistan armed forces are professional armed forces and we adhere to the commitments that we make, and we follow in letter and spirit the instructions of the political government and the commitments that they hold, he said. 'As far as Pakistan army is concerned, this ceasefire will hold easily and there have been confidence building measures in communication between both the sides,' he said. 'If any violation occurs, our response is always there ... but it is only directed at those posts and those positions from where the violations of the ceasefire happen. We never target the civilians. We never target any civil infrastructure,' Chaudhry said. Chaudhry said that despite damage to infrastructure, they remained active: 'There are ways through which Pakistan Air Force immediately sets these bases operational — they are all operational.' He warned of a high potential for renewed conflict despite the ceasefire, as long as the core issue, Kashmir, remains unaddressed.
Business Recorder
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Army warns of long consequences if Indus waters stopped
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistani military warns that any Indian attempt to follow through on recent threats to cut Islamabad's share of the Indus River water system would trigger consequences lasting for generations. New Delhi unilaterally suspended a decades-old water-sharing agreement with Pakistan last month. Brokered by the World Bank, the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty has withstood multiple Indian-Pakistani wars. If India weaponizes water and blocks the flow of an Indus River tributary — vital to Pakistan's food security — the military says it will act. 'I hope that time doesn't come, but it will be such actions that the world will see and the consequences of that we will fight for years and decades to come. Nobody dares stop water from Pakistan,' Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, spokesperson of the Pakistan Armed Forces, told Arab News. 'It is some madman who can think that he can stop water of 240 million plus people of this country.' Pakistan armed forces are professional armed forces and we adhere to the commitments that we make, and we follow in letter and spirit the instructions of the political government and the commitments that they hold, he said. 'As far as Pakistan army is concerned, this ceasefire will hold easily and there have been confidence building measures in communication between both the sides,' he said. 'If any violation occurs, our response is always there ... but it is only directed at those posts and those positions from where the violations of the ceasefire happen. We never target the civilians. We never target any civil infrastructure,' Chaudhry said. Chaudhry said that despite damage to infrastructure, they remained active: 'There are ways through which Pakistan Air Force immediately sets these bases operational — they are all operational.' He warned of a high potential for renewed conflict despite the ceasefire, as long as the core issue, Kashmir, remains unaddressed.
