India Narrative

Pakistan’s new government has decided to file a case against the ousted former premier Imran Khan following his heavy attack against the Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. In a statement released late Sunday night,  Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that a treason case will be filed against Imran Khan for his speeches against Pakistan and its powerful military establishment. "Imran first conspired to destroy the economy of the country and now planning to trigger civil-war in Pakistan", said Shehbaz Sharif adding that Khan’s “nefarious designs” would be crushed at all costs. Sharif’s statement came after the Pakistani army came heavily on Imran Khan . The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, took exception to “intensified and deliberate attempts to drag Pakistan armed forces and their leadership in ongoing political discourse in the country.” "Pakistan armed forces take strong exception to such unlawful and unethi

They have been one of Pakistan’s most enduring backers and Shahbaz Sharif’s very first foreign visit, after taking over as Prime Minister of Pakistan, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and thereafter to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), set the compass for the future trajectory of the country’s foreign policy. A priority is to mend fences with these two energy powerhouses, as bilateral relations had been in a free fall under the now deposed Prime Minister Imran Khan. To be fair to Imran Khan, relations between the two sides had begun to deteriorate since the time of Nawaz Sharif and his government’s refusal to participate in the Saudi-Emirati war in Yemen in 2015. That spurred the Saudi led coalition to go it on their own and it still remains embroiled in the war with no end in sight while the Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have become increasingly aggressive targeting oil installations inside Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Given the deep and strong security relations between Pakistan and the Gu

When Imran Khan had to unceremoniously give up the office of Prime Minister, he left behind a troubled legacy. Pakistan’s economy was in shambles and the relations with several key foreign powers in free fall. However, in one area where he tasted some success was in forming an “Islamic alliance” with pal Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia, and in crying himself hoarse about 'Islamophobia’, instigating an almost riot like situation near the French Embassy after caricatures of prophet Mohammed were published in France.  He feverishly tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue, taking it after decades to the UN Security Council where nothing came of it. And he managed to get the UN to adopt a resolution to mark an international day for combating Islamophobia. Under Imran Khan's watch the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) strengthened its position in Pakistan, while Khan himself became an unofficial spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban on the internatio

In multiple messages both to his corps commanders, especially the upstart former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Faiz Hamid, and the raucous hordes of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Pak army Chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa has declared that he is boss, and the simmering rebellion against him must end. Amid the speculations of differences between the former ISI chief Lt General Faiz Hameed and the Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the military establishment has declared  that there is a planned propaganda campaign to create division between military, society and the various institution but the “Pakistan army has always stood by the state institutions to guard them.” This was the first time when Gen. Bajwa came out openly since the ouster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. “Pakistan Army is aware of its responsibilities and shall continue to defend territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan against all internal and external threats under all circumstances,” the  Baj

Ousted as Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan is back on the street trying to mobilise mob support while playing the victim card. After his loss, Khan has been telling his supporters to come out on the streets alleging the opposition colluded with the United States to unseat him.  Khan’s strategy is to keep the momentum of street protests to pressure parliament to hold early elections. Contrary to earlier reports, Imran Khan has also decided to field his former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi against the united opposition’s candidate Shehbaz Sharif for the post of Prime Minister. The Pakistan National assembly will convene at 2pm today to elect the new leader of the House. Earlier on Sunday while filing his nomination, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi raised objections against Shehbaz Sharif’s nomination saying that he was not eligible as was involved in several corruption cases and was out on bail. “Shehbaz would be the first prime minister in the world who is on ba

Patience is running thin in Pakistan after its Supreme Court yet again failed to deliver the much awaited verdict on Wednesday on whether the deputy speaker of the national assembly exceeded his brief in daillowing a no-confidence vote  against Prime Minister Imran Khan to take place. Since Sunday, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) has been saying to the people of the country that the larger bench wants to wrap up the case on the ruling by National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri to impede the vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan, But breaking its own promise, the court has been announcing adjournments each day.  The court will now reconvene on Thursday morning.  Though the CJP acknowledged that negative statements are being made against the court and it is being said that the court is delaying the matter, he pointed out that the apex court wanted to know more about the alleged conspiracy against Imran Khan by foreign powers before giving its decision. Read more

After tabling a no-confidence motion, the opposition, now short of single digit numbers, is closing in to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan. The arithmetic to oust the mercurial Khan is simple. The opposition needs to muster the magic number of 172 lawmakers to oust Khan. After the decision of Shahzain Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party to step out of the ruling coalition on Sunday, treasury members have been slashed to 178 in the 342-member lower house of the parliament. With that the opposition has 163 in the bag, only 9 shorts of the required numbers. Later on, Monday, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), an ally of the ruling Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party announced that it was joining the opposition in the no-confidence motion against the premier. Khalid Magsi's parliamentary leader of BAP made the dramatic announcement of ditching the ruling coalition in the National Assembly at a joint press conference accompanied by heavyweights in the Pakistani political spectrum. The bi

The Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is angry and frustrated with his “master” the Pakistani military establishment as it has refused to bail him out at a time when he is facing a crucial no-confidence motion against his government, in what is shaping up to be his toughest test since coming to power in 2018. The establishment has also asked Khan to “resign” as he has lost majority in the parliament. "I salute India. India's foreign Policy is better than Pakistan's, they work for their people, the Indian army is not corrupt and they never interfere in civilian govt" Imran Khan said in a public meeting on Sunday without mentioning the name of Pakistani army. Pakistani observers see Khan’s statement  as a dig at the Pakistani military establishment which controls the country’s foreign policy and the civilian government. Three years ago, it was the Pakistani army or military establishment, rigging the elections in favour of Imran Khan, to head the “hybrid” regime. But

  Last week Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid a state visit to Pakistan - his first ever visit to the country after taking charge in Tashkent in 2016. He had, however, met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan twice earlier - during the Central Asia-South Asia connectivity conference that Tashkent hosted last year in July and thereafter in August at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in September 2021. The two had earlier held a virtual meeting on April 14, 2021where they had supported the construction of the ‘Termez–Mazar-e-Sharif–Kabul–Peshawar’ railway line, calling it an "important initiative" to establish connectivity from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea through Afghanistan and the Pakistani seaports of Karachi, Gwadar and Bin Qasim. Mirziyoyev's visit marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan and is expected to provide a huge fillip to bilateral ties, a wide