Latest news with #anti-Soviet
Time of India
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Faruk Kabir shares he didn't take Mukesh Rishi's look test before casting him for 'Salakaar'
Director Faruk Kabir , whose recently released streaming series ' Salakaar ' has shared that he did not do the look test of actor Mukesh Rishi before casting him as the antagonist. 'Salakaar' is a period spy drama-thriller and alternates between two timelines, the 1970s and 2025. It follows the story of an Indian spy, who is tailing the nuclear weapon development in India's arch-nemesis, Pakistan. Mukesh Rishi essays the role of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , the Pakistani dictator who escalated his country's atomic bomb project. Faruk spoke with IANS and said that he was more than confident about casting Mukesh Rishi for the role of Zia, and how he would fit the part. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 3BHK -Kalyani LivingTree, KIADB, Pay 10%, 0 EMI for 1 Year* Kalyani Developers Learn More Undo by Taboola by Taboola Talking about the same, Faruk told IANS, "I would like to say two things about Mukesh Sir's casting. We didn't do Mukesh sir's look test because I was very sure it's going to be him, who will play Zia. I had decided. We didn't do anything before we finalised him. We did the look test after the confirmation and the paperwork." "And the second thing, we even asked for a mojadi for Mukesh sir. The mojadi was such that whenever he would walk, it would make a chirping sound. And he would feel it while walking, and the whole set would feel it," he added. Zia-ul-Haq is the bedrock of most of India's problems. He was the second Pakistani dictator after General Ayub Khan. He gave a definitive form to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's plan of "Bleed India by a thousand cuts", a thousand-year war declared against India for Pakistan's own interest. Later, Zia got Zulfikar Ali Bhutto framed in a case and got the death penalty approved for him through hand-picked judges. His political actions are largely responsible for the current-day geopolitical tensions in Southeast Asia. He instituted industrialisation and deregulation, which significantly improved Pakistan's economy. In 1979, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Zia adopted an anti-Soviet stance and aided the Afghan mujahideen. He bolstered ties with China and the United States.
News18
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Faruk Kabir Cast Mukesh Rishi In Salakaar Without A Look Test
Director Faruk Kabir cast Mukesh Rishi as Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 'Salakaar' without a look test. The series is a period spy drama set in the 1970s and 2025. Director Faruk Kabir, whose recently released streaming series 'Salakaar', has shared that he did not do the look test of actor Mukesh Rishi before casting him as the antagonist. 'Salakaar' is a period spy drama-thriller, and alternates between two timelines, the 1970s and 2025. It follows the story of an Indian spy, who is tailing the nuclear weapon development in India's arch-nemesis, Pakistan. Mukesh Rishi essays the role of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the Pakistani dictator, who escalated his country's atomic bomb project. Faruk spoke with IANS, and said that he was more than confident on casting Mukesh Rishi for the role of Zia, and how he would fit the part. Talking about the same, Faruk told IANS, 'I would like to say two things about Mukesh sir's casting, we didn't do Mukesh sir's look test because I was very sure it's going to be him, who will play Zia. I had decided We didn't do anything before we finalised him. We did the look test after the confirmation and the paperwork". 'And the second thing, we even asked for a mojadi for Mukesh sir. The mojadi was such that whenever he would walk, it would make a chirping sound. And, he would feel it while walking And the whole set would feel it", he added. Zia-ul-Haq is the bedrock of most of India's problems. He was the second Pakistani dictator after General Ayub Khan. He gave a definitive form to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's plan of 'Bleed India by thousand cuts", a thousand year war declared against India for Pakistan's own interest. Later, Zia got Zulfikar Ali Bhutto framed in a case, and got the death penalty approved for him through hand-picked judges. His political actions are largely responsible for the current day geo-political tensions in southeast Asia. He instituted industrialisation and deregulation, which significantly improved Pakistan's economy. In 1979, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Zia adopted an anti-Soviet stance and aided the Afghan mujahideen. He bolstered ties with China and the United States. view comments First Published: August 09, 2025, 13:40 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Business Recorder
05-08-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Pakistan-US trade and economic relations
There are around 1 million people in the Pakistani diaspora living in the United States of America (USA). From 3 to 5 May 1950, Pakistan's first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, visited Washington. It was a clear demonstration of Pakistan's loyalty to the anti-Soviet bloc. The US responded well and provided economic aid to the tune of US USD 20 billion from 1953 to 1970. This was a very big sum in those periods. Republicans such as Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon remained US President during that period except for a slightly less than three years' term for Kennedy being a Democrat. Pakistan was the second or third-largest recipient of financial support from the US. Republicans were close to Pakistan on account of their internal semantics in the US. The Colombo Plan of 1950 was for Commonwealth countries; however, the USA supported it. The Plan was the first international help to Pakistan. Pakistan's industrial base is the product of that support from the US. The institutions like Pakistan Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation (PICIC), Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi and Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) are the products of US collaboration. Pakistan remained the major partner of the US in its Cold War in the pre-1970 period. Pakistan's stable foreign policy led the USA to establish the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) involving Iran and Turkey. Pakistan became an ideal country in Asia as a model for economic development. Per capita income of Pakistan reached US USD 175 in 1970 from 85 USD in 1947. Up to that period economic relations with the US were moving in the right direction. However, domestic political and economic power was wholly concentrated in the western wing. There was no industrial group from the Eastern wing and even the industries in that area were owned by persons belonging to the Western wing. Resultantly, there was a sense of economic deprivation. India in collaboration with Soviets took advantage of the same and Bangladesh came into existence. The US, due to international compulsions, tacitly succumbed. Perceived good relations of General Yahya with Nixon and Kissinger could not save Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, though popular in Pakistan, was not able to carry the US. Accordingly, the economic aid from the US reduced substantially. Pakistan developed political and military relations with China at the cost of displeasing the US. In 1979, the then Soviet Union came to Afghanistan. Then everything changed. From that time to the fall of Kabul in 2021 the commitment and interest of the US were different. The US paid money; however, the use and purpose was different. Furthermore, in 1979 Iran also became anti-US. This is a long period of forty years. These are the forty (40) lost years of Pakistan. During this period Pakistan became a market of cheap Chinese goods which were imported under a heavy under-invoicing system. The country's workers' remittance increased from USD 14 billion to USD 30 billion in 2024. These remittances exceeded the tangible exports in real sense. This all resulted in a consumer oriented society without any tangible base for exports. Pakistan had a perennial shortage of foreign exchange as there was neither any foreign aid nor investment. There were IMF programmes before 1970 also; however, the borrowing was very nominal. Out of SDR drawn, about 95 percent were after 2008. Since US and Western investment had dried up, Pakistan, therefore, as a last resort, looked towards China to meet foreign exchange requirements for industrial development. Pakistan became part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2015. The author always had reservations on the validity of economic assumptions of CPEC. However, Pakistan continued with that by the end of 2024 the investment by Chinese companies, especially in power projects and infrastructure to the tune of around USD 40 billion. This was all loan payable over the time. Later on, it transpired that terms of repayment and pricing of products were not suitable for the country. Under that unplanned system there was an investment in generation to the level of around 40,000 MW whereas the sustainable demand was never more than 30,000. Furthermore, the trade from Gwadar could not materialise, and infrastructure development also remained fruitless. As a result, by the end of 2008 and after then Pakistan has drawn 10 billion million SDR from the IMF, out of which 5 billion SDRs are still outstanding. One SDR is equal to around 1.4 USD. The IMF protected Pakistan from default. Now the time has come to review the economic paradigm and priorities of Pakistan. Pakistan needs immediate investment in exploration of oil and gas. This is technology as well as funds. It is a fact that the same can only be provided by the US and the rest of West. Not China. At present all the major oil drilling companies of the world include SLB, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Transocean, and Noble Corporation, while integrated majors like ExxonMobil and Chevron are also major players in the sector. All these are or in the West. Pakistan has significant oil and gas potential due to its large, underexplored sedimentary basins, particularly the offshore Indus Basin, which is considered one of the world's largest submarine fan systems. While recent discoveries offer the chance to reduce dependence on imports, challenges remain, including security concerns in exploration areas and the need to balance development with environmental and climate goals. Pakistan has a large sedimentary basin covering over 880,000 sq. km, with significant portions remaining unexplored both onshore and offshore. There is information in the international press that there is some major discovery in offshore concession. However, the same is to be confirmed. Pakistan has reportedly discovered the world's fourth-largest oil and gas reserves in its offshore territory, a development that could transform the country's energy sector and economic future. According to news reports, top security officials have revealed that a geological survey conducted over three years in collaboration with a friendly country has successfully identified the location and estimated size of the reserves under Pakistan's sea, which stretches over 3,000 kilometres. The US and the West have a very positive history in oil and gas exploration. Pak-Stanvac, a joint venture of Esso Eastern Inc US formed in 1954, discovered gas at the Mari Field in Pakistan in 1957, which led to the production of natural gas beginning in 1967 and was later instrumental in the creation of Mari Petroleum Company Limited. The Sui Gas field, Pakistan's largest natural gas field, was discovered in 1952 in Balochistan. Commercial drilling and exploration began in 1955. It was a project of the UK-based Burmah Oil Company Limited. In this context the message of US President Donald Trump makes a lot of sense. US companies are fully aware that there is huge potential in Pakistan. What they require is stable economic cooperation between two countries, which is not disturbed by unconventional steps. Donald Trump is a 'practical businessman' who would evaluate the new economic relationship with Pakistan wholly on a commercial basis as now such a relationship is not based on any mission to fight the Cold War or Al-Qaida. It is a simple economic equation where Trump rightly feels that the Chinese are not the competitors and goodwill with Pakistan people may create an atmosphere, which is essential for the US in this region. Now it is the duty of Pakistanis not to miss that opportunity. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The Diplomat
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Silencing RFA Uyghur Echoes Past Mistakes
Forty-five years ago, the U.S. silenced Uyghur voices in the name of diplomacy. Today, they are being silenced in the name of austerity. In 1979, the United States shut down Uyghur-language radio broadcasts to appease the Chinese government ahead of Deng Xiaoping's visit to Washington. Forty-five years later, Uyghur voices are being silenced once again, this time in the name of budget cuts. In March, the Trump administration eliminated Radio Free Asia's Uyghur Service, the only source of uncensored Uyghur-language news in the world. Whether for diplomatic gain or domestic political theater, the result is the same: the silencing of our voices and the empowerment of Chinese state propaganda. The U.S. must not repeat this mistake. RFA Uyghur was the first outlet to confirm mass deaths in Chinese internment camps in 2017. When international journalists were blocked from reporting in our homeland, RFA Uyghur revealed that internment camps were still operating despite government claims to the contrary. Its closure is not just a blow to press freedom; it is the silencing of an entire people amid an ongoing genocide. Starting in the late 1960s, the Uyghur-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcasted 15 minutes a day into Central Asia and East Turkistan. The programming — uncensored news, history, culture, and politics — was a lifeline for Uyghurs desperate for truthful reporting. Just before Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's historic visit to Washington in 1979, RFE/RL's Uyghur language service was abruptly closed. U.S. officials, eager to strengthen ties with China to counter the Soviet Union, proactively shut down Uyghur language programming to win favor with the Chinese government ahead of the important meeting. Just 15 minutes of independent Uyghur journalism was important enough to be factored into high-level diplomatic calculations. Later, we were told that the directive came from President Jimmy Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, a staunch anti-Soviet who viewed China as a key partner against Moscow. Erkin Alptekin, a senior staff member at RFE/RL's Uyghur service, wrote in a letter to The Washington Post that the U.S. government was 'trying to eradicate a presumed source of embarrassment to blossoming U.S.-Chinese relations.' In other words, Uyghurs were collateral damage in a global chess game. Under the leadership of Alptekin, Uyghurs advocated strongly to try to save RFE/RL's Uyghur service. Some in Congress listened and tried to right the wrong. In 1979, Rep. John M. Murphy introduced urging RFE/RL to resume Uyghur-language programming. The resolution did not pass, but it gave us a spark of momentum to keep fighting for independent Uyghur journalism. When I was hired as a journalist at RFE/RL in 1988, there was no Uyghur language programming; instead, I worked for RFE/RL's Tajik Service. Even so, the 1979 resolution inspired us to keep advocating for Uyghur language programming. We finally succeeded in 1998, when Radio Free Asia's Uyghur Service was founded. I'll never forget the first broadcast, when independent reporting in our language finally reached our homeland for the first time in nearly 20 years. Now, history is repeating itself. With the elimination of RFA's Uyghur Service, the Chinese government faces one less challenge to its disinformation campaigns. CCP-run newspapers openly celebrated the closure of RFA and VOA. Since March, Chinese state media have added 16 new Uyghur-language radio frequencies, flooding the airwaves with propaganda. Abroad, Beijing's influence expands through tourism-promotion, all-expense-paid tours for foreign vloggers, censorship on Beijing-controlled applications like TikTok, and transnational repression campaigns that go unchecked. We must learn from history instead of repeating our past mistakes. China is far more powerful now than it was when Uyghur language programming was first shut down in 1979. Allowing CCP propaganda to go unchallenged is even more dangerous this time. When the first Uyghur service was cut, China was opening its doors to the West, and allowing Uyghurs slightly more freedom. But now, China is waging a brutal genocide against our people. Uncensored Uyghur journalism is more important than ever before. Sacrificing RFA Uyghur Service at such a desperate time for our people creates a perception that the U.S. only supports fundamental freedom when convenient. Forty-five years ago, the U.S. silenced Uyghur voices in the name of diplomacy. Today, they are being silenced in the name of austerity. Either way, the result is the same: empowering the Chinese government's repression and abandoning a people struggling to survive genocide. The United States must reverse this dangerous decision and restore Radio Free Asia's Uyghur Service. The cost is modest. The stakes could not be higher. Let us not make the same mistake twice.
Straits Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Lithuania says Moscow behind defacing of anti-Soviet monument
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox VILNIUS - Lithuanian prosecutors said on Wednesday Russia's GRU military intelligence service had ordered the defacement of a monument to an anti-Soviet resistance leader in January 2024. Three residents of Estonia have been charged with travelling to fellow Baltic state Lithuania to carry out the act, prosecutor Rimas Bradunas told a press conference. The statue in southern Lithuanian town Merkine of Adolfas Ramanauskas, kneeling with his rifle in hand, was covered in red paint. Ramanauskas led armed resistance to the Soviet occupation of Lithuania after World War Two before being executed in 1957. "Our investigation determined that these people, acting in an organised group, were executing the orders of Russian special services, in particular GRU, to destabilise the country," Bradunas said. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Two of the three charged are dual Estonian-Russian citizens, while one is a Russian citizen. They were arrested in Estonia and handed over to Lithuania after an investigation involving the intelligence services of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the prosecutor said. The three, who are construction workers, were paid from a few hundred euros to a few thousand euros for their job, which lasted several months and included a survey of potential defacement targets, said Bradunas. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade Singapore Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty Singapore Three hair salons raided in clampdown on touting, vice, drugs in Geylang and Joo Chiat Singapore The romance continues: Former 'Singapore girl', 77, returns to Osaka Expo after 55 years Singapore GrabCab, Singapore's newest taxi operator, hits the roads with over 40 cabs to be rolled out in July Singapore Police looking into claim by driver who caused teen's death that he was an NUS student Singapore Man on trial for raping drunken woman after offering to drive her and her friend home Singapore 3 weeks' jail for man who touched himself on train, flicked bodily fluid on female passenger They face up to seven years in jail if convicted on the charges, which include assisting another state to act against the Republic of Lithuania. Lithuanian prosecutors charged two people in March with attempting to start a fire at Vilnius IKEA store in May 2024, and accused Russia's military intelligence of orchestrating it. Russia dismissed the accusations as baseless and driven by what it describes as Russophobia. It has denied allegations by all three Baltic states, annexed by Moscow during World War Two but now part of NATO and the European Union, of cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns and military pressure, especially since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. REUTERS
