NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CHASHMA 5 A GOOD NEWS FOR PAKISTAN
According to the agreement signed in Nov 2021, and contract on 19 June 2023, CNNC will build a one million kilowatt-class nuclear power unit with HPR 1000 technology at the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Complex in Pakistan – Chashma 5. This marks the seventh nuclear power unit that China has exported to Pakistan and the third unit exported with HPR 1000 technology. CNNC is currently building four HPR 1000 nuclear power units around the world including in the U.K. CNNC has built four nuclear power units in Pakistan so far, with a total installed capacity of 4,630 megawatts and operational capacity of more than 1,300 megawatts. It has helped resolve electricity shortages in Pakistan, and contributed to the country’s economy.
PAKISTAN HITS OUT AT US AND INDIA AFTER BIDEN-MODI MEETING
Pakistan on Friday criticized the United States and India after President Joe Biden met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House and both leaders called on Pakistan to ensure its territory was not used as a base for militant attacks. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said a joint U.S.-Indian statement was “unwarranted, one-sided, and misleading”. The reference to Islamabad in it was “contrary to diplomatic norms,” it said. The ministry added that it was surprised by the joint statement and said it had “close counter terrorism cooperation” with the United States. Relations between India and Pakistan have been fraught for years. Since independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part. The joint U.S.-Indian statement said: “They (Biden and Modi) strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks.” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said India was using the allegations of extremism against Islamabad to deflect from the situation in Kashmir and the treatment of minorities in India. New Delhi has for years accused Pakistan of launching militant attacks in India, including the one in 2008 in Mumbai that killed over 165 people. India also says Pakistan has helped Islamist militants who have battled Indian security forces in its part of Kashmir since the late 1980s. Pakistan denies the accusation and says it only provides diplomatic and moral support for Kashmiris seeking self-determination. The special status given to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked in 2019 when New Delhi split it into two federally controlled territories. Pakistan calls the moves illegal and wants them rolled back. Biden rolled out the red carpet for Modi on Thursday, with both leaders touting deals their countries reached on defense and commerce aimed at countering China’s global influence.
HIMALAYAN GLACIERS ON TRACK TO LOSE UP TO 75% OF ICE BY 2100, REPORT SAYS
Glaciers in Asia’s Hindu Kush Himalaya could lose up to 75% of their volume by century’s end due to global warming, causing both dangerous flooding and water shortages for the 240 million people who live in the mountainous region, according to a new report. A team of international scientists has found that ice loss in the region, home to the famous peaks of Everest and K2, is speeding up. During the 2010s, the glaciers shed ice as much as 65% faster than they had in the preceding decade, according to the assessment by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), an intergovernmental scientific authority on the region.
‘CPEC BOLSTERED PAK-SINO TIES’
The Pakistan-China friendship has further strengthened due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). China’s unparalleled progress is the result of continuous hard work and nationalistic thinking. These remarks were made by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Gulam Ali while addressing a seminar on the occasion of the completion of ten years of CPEC. He said we need to learn from China and work together to bring prosperity and development to our country.
CHINA OPPOSES G20 MEETING IN IIOJK AND WILL SKIP IT
China said on Friday that it is opposed to a G20 tourism meeting next week in the disputed territory of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and will not attend. India, which holds the chair of G20 this year, has organised a series of meetings across the country in the run-up to the summit in New Delhi in September. “China is firmly opposed to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory, and will not attend such meetings,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. In 2019, India split the Muslim-majority state of IIOJK to illegally create the two federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. A large chunk of Ladakh is under Chinese control.
Ties between New Delhi and Beijing have been strained since a military clash in Ladakh in 2020 in which 24 soldiers were killed. Srinagar, the summer capital of IIOJK, will host a meeting of the tourism working group for G20 members on May 22-24. Pakistan has also opposed India’s decision to hold a G20 meeting in occupied Kashmir.
TURKEY’S FIFTH-GEN TF-X FIGHTER JET REACHES PAKISTAN’S DEFENSE EXPO MONTHS AFTER REPORTS OF JOINT PRODUCTION
Turkey displayed a scale model of its fifth-generation fighter, code named the TF-X, at Pakistan’s IDEAS expo 2022, according to images and reports on social media. About 28 Turkish defense manufacturers participated in Pakistan’s biennial event IDEAS 2022. Turkey, alongside China, is believed to have the most prominent presence at the expo. Turkish media has also reported that their pavilion attracted hundreds of visitors, including Pakistani officials. A report in the Daily Sabah newspaper said that Turkish defense manufacturers were displaying an array of products, including military hardware, tactical mini-UAVs, light weaponry, artificial intelligence, and cyber security solutions. However, it did not mention that the fifth-generation fighter would be displayed. The design and technical specifications were also visible on a banner in the images posted on social media. The banner read, “Turkish fifth-generation multi role fighter aircraft developed using national technologies and in-house capabilities.” The photos were posted on November 16, the second day of IDEAS.
PAKISTAN ENVOY HOLDS TALKS WITH US CONGRESSMAN JIM COSTA
Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan had a meeting Jim Costa, a Congressional leader who visited Pakistan several times, reported on Friday. The US Congressman is keen to explore new avenues to build strong Pakistan-US relations. They also agreed to continue bilateral engagements. Meanwhile, Ambassador Masood Khan has said that Georgia-Sindh Sister State-Province Agreement has opened up vistas of opportunities not only for cementing business and investment ties but also brining the people of two sides closer to each other. Masood Khan made these remarks at an event at Global Atlanta on Growing Trade and Investment with Georgia during his two-day visit to Atlanta.
He said there are 30,000 Pakistani-Americans in Georgia and two-way trade between Pakistan and Georgia has reached almost $1 billion, with over $600 million worth of Pakistani exports to Georgia. Masood lauded instrumental role played by Pakistani-American Georgia State Assembly member Farooq Mughal in cementing Pakistan-Georgia relations. Briefing the audience on Pakistan-U.S. relations, he said Pakistan-US relations have seen an upward trajectory during recent months. Both sides have held several high-level dialogues and meetings in last one year including in health, energy, climate change, trade and security. Masood Khan said that Pakistan was looking forward to concrete outcomes of Sister-Province agreement with greater business linkages, people to people and student exchanges and strong cultural ties. The ambassador stressed on establishing robust linkages between universities and the academic institutes. Earlier, Mayor of Atlanta Andre Dickens received the Ambassador at his office and discussed ways to further strengthen ties in trade and investment, people-to-people exchanges and cultural sphere. Masood Khan thanked Andre Dickens for his warm welcome and appreciated his leadership in transforming the metropolis into a smart city.
NO NEED TO LOOK AT ANYTHING NEGATIVELY ABOUT MODI’S US VISIT, SAYS HINA RABBANI KHAR
Commenting on the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to the US, Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar said that Pakistan would always look positively at bilateral ties between sovereign countries and not view them in a negative light. “There is no need to look at anything negatively,” she said in an interview with Voice of America (VoA). However, she maintained Pakistan had a very belligerent neighbour who indulged in military adventurism by sending jets to Pakistan in 2019, terming the move “unprecedented” and “unthinkable”. She said the world must look into this factor and decide whether those being propagated for a role in regional security deserved it. “The world has to see whether there was conflict preservation instead conflict resolution due to them (India), then it did not augur well for the region. We hope that nothing will go wrong for the region and Pakistan,” she remarked. Modi is in US for his first visit with the full diplomatic status of an official state visit. The visit is also the third state visit of Joe Biden’s presidency and the third by an Indian leader to the US, indicating the strengthening bond between Washington and New Delhi. The visit is expected to see the two countries expand cooperation in the defence industry and high technology sectors, with India getting access to critical American technologies that Washington rarely shares with non-allies. The visit, however, puts Pakistan in a precarious position given its strained ties with India. Over the years, Washington’s cooperation with India has increased as Pakistan has gotten closer to China especially after the latter’s investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). About ties with the EU, the state minister said Pakistan’s Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status was not sufficient to define the country’s relations with the EU as their bilateral engagements were wider and broader at all levels, including business contacts, institutional linkages, IT sector growth etc. She said the GSP Plus benefited Pakistan and enhanced the EU’s trade with Pakistan, adding that Pakistan and the EU countries were engaged at different multilateral fora. The MoS further stressed that such relations should not be looked at merely through the GSP Plus lens, but their interactions were much broader. About her recent visits to different Scandinavian countries, she elaborated that certain countries had an ageing population and required young people for various sectors. She said opening legal migration of skilled labour to these countries was their primary objective, as Pakistan and these countries did not want to promote illegal migration.
PAKISTAN, SAUDI ARABIA AGREE TO FURTHER BOLSTER BILATERAL COOPERATION
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have agreed to expedite the collaborative process in order to further bolster the bilateral cooperation. The understanding to this effect reached during an interaction between the two leaders on the sidelines of the New Global Financing Pact Summit being held at Paris in France. The two leaders also exchanged views on matters of bilateral interest. During the interaction, the Prime Minister expressed his best wishes for Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz whereas Prince Mohammed bin Salman also expressed the sentiments of goodwill towards the government and people of Pakistan.
FRANCE KEEN TO SEE A ‘STRONG PAKISTAN’: DEPUTY HEAD MISSION
The bond of friendship and bilateral relations between Pakistan and France is very strong because it is decades old and time-tested, a top French diplomat told the audience here at Hafiz Hayat Campus of the University of Gujrat on Wednesday. Guillaume Dabouis, Deputy Head Mission at the French Embassy in Islamabad, was addressing a seminar ‘A Talk by Deputy Ambassador of France on “Franco Pakistan Relations”, organized by the Student Services Centre (SSC), however, stressed that his government was keen to further strengthen these ties because there’s a lot more room for further cooperation, especially in the fields of education, trade and economy. Earlier, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Shabbar Atiq gave a warm welcome to the French dignitaries upon their arrival at the campus.
UAE ‘KEEN’ TO INVEST IN KARACHI PORT TERMINAL OPERATIONS
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ‘keen’ to invest in Karachi port terminal operations, sources said on Wednesday. Sources further said UAE wants to equip Karachi port terminals with the latest technology for the smooth handling of shipments. The sources claimed that the agreement regarding terminal handling with the UAE will be inked before June 30. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Maritime Affairs Minister Faisal Sabzwari are finalizing the conditions of the agreement with the UAE. Sources said, the panel has been permitted to finalise a draft operation, maintenance, investment, and development agreement under the government-to-government arrangements with a nominated agency of the UAE for handing over the Karachi port terminals. Earlier this year, the federal government formed an eight-member committee to begin outsourcing three major airports in Pakistan Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The committee wrote a letter to managers of all three major airports and directed them to provide data of the airports’ aviation ministry. Pakistan is in a financial crisis amid uncertainty over the revival of the $6.5 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).