Asian Lite News Archive

Category: PAKISTAN

  • Asia’s largest Cross being built in Karachi

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    A 140-foot bullet-proof Cross is being built in Pakistan’s Karachi city, the biggest in Asia, a media report said. Pakistani Christian businessman Parvez Henry Gill is building the Cross at the Gora Qabristan Cemetery, Dawn online reported. Following a dream in which Gill claims to have seen God asking him to do something for the…

  • Pakistan, Afghan sign landmark deal

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    Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Afghan intelligence outfit National Directorate of Security (NDS) have signed a landmark deal for cooperation aimed at curbing terrorism. The agreement signed in Kabul some time last week, was officially announced by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Twitter, Dawn online reported . “MoU signed by…

  • ‘Found love in enemy territory’: Swara Bhaskar

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       By Nivedita Human relationships are greater than politics. That’s what actor Swara Bhaskar has learned after two “memorable” visits to what she once thought was “enemy territory” but where, after two visits to Pakistan, she was showered with warmth, hospitality and free ‘chai and samosas’ for being an Indian. Her first visit to Pakistan…

  • Pakistan condemns US drone strike

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    Pakistan condemned a recent US drone strike in the country’s North Waziristan tribal region which killed at least six people. Security officials said the US unmanned aircraft fired missiles on a compound in the mountainous Shawal area on Saturday. Sources said some foreigners were among those killed in the strike that was carried out after…

  • India won’t forget Kargil war: Musharraf

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      Recalling the Kargil conflict of 1999 between India and Pakistan, former military strongman Pervez Musharraf said New Delhi would never be able to forget the three-month-long battle when his armed forces “grabbed India by the throat”. “There was a second line force, too, which caught India by the throat and that was latter given…

  • UN raps killings of religious minorities

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    UN urges protection of religious minorities in Pakistan UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the terrorist attack that killed 45 people in Pakistan and called for effective protection of religious minorities in the country, a UN spokesperson said. The attack occurred on a bus in Karachi, Pakistan, reportedly…

  • Huge rise in pakistan terror deaths

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    Pakistan’s rising graph of terrorism-related deaths shows no sign of slowing, with 43 people dead and 20 injured when six motorcycle-borne terrorists raked a bus with automatic gunfire in the Pakistani port city of Karachi . Terrorism-related deaths in Pakistan increased 748.15 percent between 2005 and 2014. Over the same period, India saw a 70 percent decline in terrorism-related deaths. As…

  • Pakistan mourns as victims laid to rest

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    A day after 45 people from a minority community were left killed in a deadly terror attack on a bus, Pakistan observed nationwide mourning on Thursday as the victims were laid to rest by people numb with grief. Funeral prayers for the victims of the gun-attack on the bus that was carrying members of the…

  • Anti-Shia attacks in Pakistan on the rise

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    Pakistan has seen a rising tide of sectarian violence in recent times, particularly against Shias — of which the Ismaili community is a sub-sect — who make up around 20 percent of the country’s predominantly Muslim population. In the past, there have been instances of anti-Ismaili violence in Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan, mostly in the form…

  • Karachi terror attack claims 43

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    At least 43 people were killed and 13 others injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a bus in Pakistan’s Karachi city on Wednesday. The incident took place near the city’s Safoora Chowk area, Dawn online reported.  Those travelling in the bus belonged to the Ismaili community of the city. Sindh Police Inspector General Ghulam…

  • Pakistan’s political drama end with hanging

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     Pakistan’s most famous death-row inmate was executed  in the high-security Machh jail in Balochistan province, weeks after a sensational videotaped confession that became the focus of a major political drama. Saulat Ali Khan, alias Saulat Mirza, was a former activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the political party that has its power base in…

  • Hanged activist indicts MQM chief

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    Saulat Ali Khan, alias Saulat Mirza, admitted to carrying out several political assassinations of rival party leaders and government officials as well as attacks on security forces on orders from the MQM leadership, in particular London-based party chief Altaf Hussain   Pakistan’s most famous death-row inmate was executed on Tuesday in the high-security Machh jail…

  • Sharif arrives in Kabul

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    Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Afghanistan on a one-day official visit. Sharif is accompanied by his Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, army chief General Raheel Sharif, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other senior officials, Khaama Press reported. Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabani received the…

  • Sharif chairs high-level meet

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    Prior to an important Afghanistan visit, Pakistan Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting here to discuss the dimensions related to Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. Sharif, accompanied by his army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif, will be going on a two-day visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday following an invitation from President Ashraf Ghani. “This will be Sharif’s…

  • India will bring Dawood back: Rajnath

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    Home Minister Rajnath Singh  said that “India would do everything possible” to bring back from Pakistan Dawood Ibrahim, the underworld don who is believed to be involved in various crimes, including terrorism. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the home minister said Pakistan was under international obligation to find him out as Interpol has already issued…

  • India 10, Pakistan 10, Bangladesh 3, Lanka 1 at British Polls

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    Pakistani-origin British MPs now equal Indian counterparts – 10 With three gains as compared to their tally in the previous House of Commons, the number of Pakistani-origin MPs in the British parliament has drawn level with their Indian counterparts, whose strength remained static. Earlier, there were seven Pakistani-origin MPs in the Commons. Now the figure…

  • Sharif: Taliban claim is bogus

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    Pakistan denies as ‘bogus’ Taliban claim of shooting down chopper Pakistan dismissed as “bogus” Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s claim of shooting down a military helicopter that led to the death of the ambassadors of Norway and Philippines in the northern area of the country. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry ruled…

  • US has given Pakistan arms worth $5.4 bn

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     Since the September 11, 2001 terror attack, the US has given Pakistan arms worth about $5.4 billion for counter-terrorism operations, along with many “big ticket” platforms more suited to conventional warfare. Sales of F-16 combat aircraft and related equipment account for nearly half of these Foreign Military Sales agreements with Pakistan, according to a report…

  • Malala’s attackers get life term

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    An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan sentenced ten men to 25 years’ imprisonment in the case related to the 2012 attack on child activist Malala Yousufzai. The ATC in Swat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkwha province awarded life imprisonment to the 10 men who attacked Malala, who was campaigning for the education of girls. Those sentenced were…

  • Sharif lauds Indian rescue efforts

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    Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express condolence over the deaths in India due to the quake and appreciated India’s rescue operations in Nepal. “Got a call from PM Nawaz Sharif. He expressed condolences on the loss of lives in various parts of India due to the earthquake,” Modi…

  • CIA had flexible US drone policy in Pakistan

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    US President Barack Obama tightened rules for the US drone programme in 2013, but he secretly approved a waiver giving the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) more flexibility in Pakistan than anywhere else to strike suspected militants, according to current and former US officials. According to a report published in The Wall Street Journal, the US…

  • Malala condemns female activist’s murder in Pakistan

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    Pakistani Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has condemned the killing of female human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud in Karachi and demanded the earliest arrest of the assailants, a media report said. Mahmud, who founded the social forum T2F, was shot dead on Friday night minutes after the end of an interactive discussion on “Unsilencing Balochistan”.…

  • China plans $45 bn investments in Pakistan

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    In a massive boost to bilateral economic ties, Pakistan and China on Monday signed 51 agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for cooperation in diverse fields, and envisaged a whopping $45 billion worth Chinese investments in Pakistan. The Chinese investments are expected for the projects that constitute the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and foresee the creation…

  • Lakhvi’s release challenged in Court

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    The Punjab government challenged in the Supreme Court the Lahore High Court’s order releasing Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. In a petition filed in the apex court by the Punjab home department, it was maintained that despite sufficiently strong evidence being present against Lakhvi, the Lahore court’s Justice…

  • Lahore HC orders Lakhvi’s release

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    The Lahore High Court ordered the immediate release of Mumbai terror attack’s alleged mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, evoking strong reaction from the Indian government which said “terrorists not being effectively prosecuted” constitutes a real security threat to the country as well as the world. The court dismissed the detention orders of Lakhvi, one of the…

  • India rank below neighbours in social progress

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      India has a low rank of 101 among the 133 countries measured for their social progress, even below some immediate neighbours such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, indicating the level of meeting basic human needs and well-being, among other factors. Conducted by Social Progress Imperative, a US-based non-profit organisation set up in…

  • Modi thanks Sharif for helping evacuate Indians

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi  thanked his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for his country’s assistance in evacuating 11 Indians from strife-torn Yemen. “I welcome our 11 citizens who’ve returned from Yemen with assistance from Pakistan. Thank you PM Nawaz Sharif for your humanitarian gesture,” according to an official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. “Service…

  • Iranian foreign minister in Pakistan

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    Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arrived in Pakistan for talks over the Yemen crisis, according to media reports. Soon after his arrival, Zarif met Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, and shared details of the Iran-Turkey talks held in Tehran on Tuesday, Dawn online reported. Zarif’s two-day visit to Pakistan comes…

  • US approves $952 mn military hardware to Pakistan

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    By Arun Kumar    The Obama administration has notified the US Congress it’s selling Pakistan $952 million worth of attack helicopters, air-to-surface missiles and other military assistance saying it will not alter the basic military balance in the region. The State Department has approved the sale saying the “helicopters and weapon systems will provide Pakistan with…

  • Pakistan mulling Saudi request: Sharif

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      Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told parliament  that Islamabad will respond to Saudi Arabia’s request for military assistance after parliament concludes a debate on the crisis in Yemen. Sharif’s remarks came a day after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the Saudi kingdom has sought fighter jets, warships and ground troops from Pakistan as the…

  • South Asia’s concern of growing Pak nuclear arsenal

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    By Arun Kumar  Noting that “Pakistan, with the world’s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal, is unquestionably the biggest concern,” in South Asia, a leading US daily wants major powers to turn their attention towards it after finalising the Iran deal. Citing several recent developments, the New York Times said in an editorial that “These investments reflect the…

  • Pakistan must break terrorist links : US experts

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    By Arun Kumar Citing the case of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, two US experts want the US to push Pakistan to end its selective fight against terrorism. “Pakistan’s selective approach to fighting terrorism continues to undermine US national security objectives in the region,” wrote Lisa Curtis, a…

  • Pakistan undecided over troops to Yemen

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      Pakistan is holding a joint military drill with Saudi Arabia, but has remained undecided over sending troops to assist Saudi Arabia in the military campaign in Yemen, according to media reports. Pakistan Army spokesman Asim Bajwa said that the pre-scheduled joint military exercise “Samsam-5” was being held since March 19 in the Saudi Arabian…

  • Sharif assures support to King Salman

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    Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has told Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz that he will soon send a high-level delegation to Riyadh to discuss cooperation for the Saudi-led strikes on Yemen, a top diplomat said. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry told a press conference late on Saturday that the delegation could depart within 24 to…

  • Decide Lakhvi detention in 5 days: Court

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      The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered the Punjab government to take a decision within five days regarding the detention of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. Lakhvi had submitted an application in the LHC on Wednesday with two pleas — one challenging his detention and the other alleging that the federal…

  • Pakistan examining Saudi request for Yemen operation

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    Pakistan  said it was examining Saudi Arabia’s request to join the Gulf-led operation against Shia Houthi militias in Yemen. Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz confirmed that top Saudi officials had contacted the Pakistani leadership requesting it to join the Yemen operation, Dawn online reported. A decision has not…

  • Taliban deny reports of leader’s death

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      As unconfirmed reports of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah’s death circulated, different Taliban groups have denied that the terrorist was killed during a military operation. TTP spokesman Mohammad Khorasani claimed that reports regarding Fazlullah’s death were “absolutely baseless rumours”, Geo News reported. A spokesman for Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar also denied the report.…

  • Pakistan bowled out for 213

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    Putting up an impressive show, Australia bowled out Pakistan for 213 in 49.5 overs in the third quarterfinal of the cricket World Cup at the Adelaide Oval here. Electing to bat, Pakistan struggled from the beginning. Right-handed openers Ahmed Shehzad (5) and Sarfraz Ahmed (10) lost their wickets by playing bad shots. Sarfraz chased an…

  • Pakistan envoy hopeful about IPI pipeline

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    Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit  said he is hopeful that the gas pipeline project involving Iran, Pakistan and India would resume once the issue of sanctions against Iran gets resolved. “The nuclear deal is struck between Iran and six countries – P5+1 countries – and as soon as sanction (scenario) is removed, we hope to…

  • Lahore church bombing toll rises to 16

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      The toll in the deadly attacks on two churches in Pakistan’s Lahore city on Sunday has increased to 16, as one more person has died from injuries, a media report said . The man received severe multiple injures during the two powerful explosions that rocked the Catholic Church and Christ Church in the city’s…

  • Sharif condemn church bombings

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    Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the bomb blasts at two churches in Lahore city that killed at least 15 people and injured over 70, a media report said . Two powerful explosions on Sunday rocked the Catholic Church and Christ Church in the city’s Youhanabad area, home to the country’s biggest Christian…

  • Pakistan church bombings kill 14

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    At least 14 people were killed in Pakistan’s Lahore city when two powerful explosions rocked two churches, triggering retaliatory violence, the Pakistani media said. Jamatul Ahrar, an offshoot of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, news web sites said. Doctors where the dead and wounded were rushed to said 14 people were dead.…

  • India opposes Lakhvi’s release

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      India asked the Pakistani authorities to ensure that 26/11 mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi is not released from jail. The issue was also raised in Rajya Sabha, as members protested against the release. Talking to reporters here, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said: “All documents related to his involvement in the Mumbai attack…

  • Pak journalist to be questioned in Sunanda murder

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    Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar is likely to be questioned in connection with the murder of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, police said . “Tarar is a relevant person in the case… If necessary, she will be examined,” said Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi. Tarar’s friendship with Tharoor had reportedly led to a…

  • Pakistan urged to abolish death penalty

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    The Pakistan government should reverse its decision to lift its moratorium on death penalty for all capital crimes and move toward abolition, Human Rights Watch said . On Tuesday, government officials confirmed that the interior ministry had instructed provincial governments to proceed with executions according to law. “The Pakistani government’s ill-conceived decision to completely abandon…

  • Musharraf faces arrest

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      A Pakistani court  issued a bailable arrest warrant against former president Pervez Musharraf regarding the murders of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and his wife. Islamabad’s Additional Sessions Judge Wajid Ali Khan presided over the hearing and rejected four requests by Musharraf’s counsel and adjourned the hearing till April 2, Dawn online reported.…

  • Pakistan has more nukes than India

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    By Arun Kumar    Pakistan had about 120 atomic weapons, 10 more than India, in its nuclear arsenal last year, according to a new interactive infographic unveiled by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Designed by the Bulletin, founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first atomic weapons in the…

  • Pakistan urge India to honour Indus water treaty

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    Unless India honours the Indus water treaty, Pakistan will face a severe water shortage in a few years, a minister warned . The treaty, signed with India in 1961, stipulates that the flow from the three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — will be for the exclusive use of Pakistan while the three…

  • Kargil war tripped Pakistan: Daily times

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      The Pakistani military’s decision to launch a covert war against India in Kargil in 1999 has made Islamabad “progressively irrelevant” internationally, a columnist said. “In the context of Pakistan-India relations, 1999 can be called one of the most significant years of the post-Cold War phase,” wrote columnist Qaisar Rashid in the Daily Times. He…

  • Jaishankar meets his Pakistani counterpart

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    Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar met his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary here on the third leg of his four-nation SAARC yatra. Accompanied by a delegation of diplomats, Jaishankar was welcomed by officials from the foreign ministry as well as those from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, Dawn reported. The primary agenda for the…