India Narrative

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

  It seems the honeymoon between Pakistan's military establishment and the Taliban government is over. In a fresh move to put pressure on the Taliban leaders, the chief of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Lt. General Nadim Ahmad Anjum has approached the anti-Taliban leaders. Last week the new chief of the ISI met Afghan warlords Marshall Dostam, Nadim Ahmad Anjum and  Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq in Ankara - the capital of Turkey. The meeting took place at the request of Anjum to discuss Pakistan's concerns about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, reports the Persian edition of The Independent. Citing sources, the daily says that Anjum and two of his deputies met the three anti-Taliban leaders who are founders of anti-Taliban National Resistance Council of Afghanistan (ANRC). In the meeting, General Anjum told the three leaders about his dissatisfaction with the current situation in Afghanistan and the Taliban's reluctance to form a cohesive structure, including all ethnic

  After three days of unprecedented attacks on the two camps of Pakistani security forces in restive Balochistan, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa finally reached the spot to boost the morale of their forces. “All those soldiers who sacrificed their lives have a special place in heaven. It is an honour for the Muslims when they lay down their lives for their country,” Express Tribune reported Khan as saying while addressing the troops at Naushki army base camp on Tuesday. Khan said that the martyrs have the second-highest place after the Prophets. “Our troops are waging a jihad against the terrorists,”  Khan said. Read More

The Pakistani army has publically accused the Taliban government of giving shelter to terrorists who are carrying out attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil. "Terrorists from inside Afghanistan across the international border, opened fire on Pakistani troops in Kurram District. Pakistani troops responded in a "befitting" manner causing heavy causalities to terrorists, however, as a result of the exchange of fire, five Pakistani soldiers were martyred," read a statement issued by the Pakistani army’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Sunday. Though the Taliban has denied the firing had come from within Afghan territory, the Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said that the attack was launched by militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who are given shelter by the Taliban in Afghanistan. He told the media that till now Pakistan has been down playing the incidents but now the situation has gone out of control. “Pakistan is running out o

  Much to the relief of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved disbursement of $1 billion as part of its $6 billion loan programme under the Extended Fund Facility (EEF) that essentially facilitates assistance to countries with serious payment imbalances caused due to structural impediments or slow growth. Despite this, the road ahead for Khan may be even tougher, as he is expected to implement more structural reform measures. At a time when inflation is at a two-year high of 13 per cent -- in January inflation touched 13 per cent up from 12.3 per cent in December, announcing such measures would surely not be easy. Khan has already come under severe criticism for “surrendering” to the IMF. In April last year, the inflation rate in Pakistan touched 11.1 per cent. Though it eased a little after that, since August, prices have been rising again, impacting the poorer section the most. “The country’s economic situation has come as a blow for Imran

  The well-coordinated twin- strikes by Baloch rebels on Thursday marked one of the most daring attacks on the Pakistani military in recent years. In these sophisticated attacks on two Pakistani military camps, Baloch rebels used US made weapons, worrying the Pakistani military establishment no end. Citing intelligence reports, the Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid told media that, “Baloch militants are not capable of launching major attacks in Nushki and Panjgur. TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) has the capability, experience and latest NATO weapons to launch such attacks. There's some understanding between the TTP and Baloch militants. They have their hideouts in Afghanistan.” And  for the first time TTP  agreed with the Pakistan government. The spokesperson of the banned militant organisation, Mohammad Khorasani  congratulated the Baloch rebel groups for their audacious attacks on the “enemy” forces. “The Pakistani army is carrying out the massacre in Balochistan. We are

 The Afghanistan-Pakistan dispute over the Durand Line has taken centre- stage yet again. Facing prospects of high-octane street protests Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf has dropped his plans of leading a high-level inter-ministerial delegation to Kabul on January  18  for two-day  talks on the Durand Line dispute and the humanitarian crisis exploding in Afghanistan! In the last week of December 2021, videos showing Taliban fighters removing Pakistan’s border fencing appeared on social media. Taliban commanders were seen threatening Pakistani soldiers against pursuing construction of the border fence. Various spokespersons and Taliban Commanders described the Durand Line border fence as “illegal”, and resolved to “not allow the fencing anytime, in any form”. What is the Durand Line? Henry Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary of British India from 1884 to 1894 left behind two legacies in India and Pakistan. One, the popular Durand Cup Football Tournament in India that

  The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Pakistan Taliban, killed two policemen guarding polio teams in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in north-west Pakistan over the weekend. Another policeman was wounded even as the polio workers escaped unharmed. The attacks began as soon as the one-month-long ceasefire ended between the TTP and the Imran Khan government. The TTP militants identify themselves closely with the Taliban militants in neighbouring Afghanistan and advocate for an Islamic rule in Pakistan—in a manner resembling Afghanistan. Soon after the Kabul takeover by Taliban in August, the TTP began its attacks on the Pakistani Army and security forces.  Aseefa B Zardari, polio ambassador and daughter of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, tweeted about the attacks. In a series of tweets, she said: “The cowardly TTP have taken responsibility for the attack on health workers and police. They are attacking those who are trying to protect our children from disease. Now t

  A bellicose and rather desperate Pakistan wanting to ratchet up the volume over Kashmir tried a spanking new manoeuvre yesterday. Pakistan News The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation wary of Pakistan’s antics is refusing to hold a foreign ministers meeting on Kashmir. A troubled Pakistan however, is unwilling to listen and is looking to appeal to the Islamic Umma and hold a confabulation of its own. A panicky Pakistan realising that it is losing the momentum on Kashmir has been literally pushing the 57-member organisation, which is the second largest intergovernmental body after the UN, for the foreign ministers’ meeting since India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir last August. In a television interview foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that if OIC cannot call for such a meeting then he would ask PM Imran Khan to give a clarion call to the Islamic conclave. OIC bloc heavy hitter Saudi Arabia has been remaining steadfast on not going ahead with a meeting spec