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Modi’s enthusiastic bear hug beats Trump’s handshake

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has responded to the infamous “Trump handshake” with his own diplomatic tool of choice – the bear hug.

A series of awkward greetings and handshakes between Mr Trump and other world leaders has left many wondering who could “beat” his approach.

French President Emmanuel Macron was deemed a winner when he gripped and refused to let go of Mr Trump’s hand.
But for many observers, Mr Modi – an experienced hugger – has outdone that.

The Indian prime minister’s propensity to hug global leaders goes back a long way – this BBC blog called him “the most physically demonstrative Indian leader in years”.

It is also a true diplomatic masterstroke – Mr Macron may have “beaten” the Trump handshake last month, but it was a tense encounter with both men’s knuckles turning white.

But who could possibly object to a hug?

The choreography of the bear hug

The success of the Modi bear hug is in no small part down to its athletic choreography – that disarmed Mr Trump before he could respond.

The initial approach was slow with arms outstretched and there was no hint of the embrace to come, though if Mr Trump’s advisers had done their homework they would have seen how Mr Modi has clung to other world leaders.

He slowly reels President Trump in with first one hand then the other and there is little of the trademark Trump awkwardness in his slow but sure progress towards the Indian leader.

He finally barrels at the US president, avoiding all eye contact and presses his head on his chest in a gesture at once disarming and confident.

Mr Trump draws away slightly but not without looking down at Mr Modi with what could even be affection, although their eyes do not meet.

And as they draw away Mr Modi keeps hold of the US president’s hand and lingers in a firm double hand-lock.
They retreat to their podiums and carry on as if nothing has happened.

For many observers the hug was both natural and commanding and left neither of the leaders at a loss – in stark contrast to numerous other Trump greetings with world leaders.

And many on social media marvelled at what they called Mr Modi’s “craftsmanship”.

Of course both sides are likely to have prepared for the meeting. Like football coaches before international matches, their political aides and advisers may well have studied the techniques of either leader and there could well have been briefings on how to handle that first contact.

How likely is that really to have happened?
KC Singh, a former secretary in India’s external affairs ministry, told the BBC that “given Mr Modi’s hugging record, it would have been a very ill-informed US team that would not have known Mr Modi was going to go for Donald Trump”.

Mr Singh added that the gesture seemed to be done more for viral value than anything else, noting that even in India “no one hugs each other randomly”.

Going by social media, Mr Modi’s mastery was largely expected in India. There was quite a lot of humour about it, as well as some pride. But quite a few found this effusive display a bit embarrassing as well. Others had seen it coming.

It looks as though world leaders have become more tactical about responding to the Trump handshake after both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and British Prime Minister Theresa May were seen as faring poorly against it.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in is due to meet Mr Trump next.

It remains to be seen if he can best the hug.

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‘Horrible Tragedy’ as Fuel Tanker Fire in Pakistan Leaves at Least 150 Dead

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A tanker truck caught fire and exploded after overturning on a road in eastern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 150 people and seriously injuring at least 100 others after they rushed toward the vehicle to collect spilled and leaking fuel.

The authorities were investigating what had caused the driver to lose control, leading the tanker to overturn and creating the conditions for the inferno. One official suggested that a spark from a passing vehicle had probably caused the blast, but news media reports quoted witnesses blaming a lit cigarette tossed by a passer-by.

The tanker overturned in Ahmedpur East, a small city in Punjab Province, as it was traveling from the southern port city of Karachi to Lahore, the province’s capital. It was believed to be carrying 5,500 gallons of fuel, officials and the state-run news media reported.

At least 73 motorbikes and several cars were destroyed in the blast, which occurred the day before Pakistan celebrates Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday at the end of Ramadan.

Fuel is a high-value commodity in Pakistan, so even for those aware of the risks, the prospect of obtaining it for free was too powerful a lure to ignore for many. Ahmedpur East has long suffered from poverty illiteracy and a lack of modern facilities, and local residents have blamed the provincial government for spending money on urban areas at the expense of rural regions.

“It is a horrible tragedy,” Makhdoom Syed Hassan Gillani, who represents Ahmedpur East in Parliament, said in an interview. With a heavy voice, he said, “You can blame poverty 100 percent,” and added, “It was poverty. It was greed. It was ignorance.”

The blast occurred about an hour after the tanker crashed, Mr. Gilani said. By that time, hundreds of people from surrounding neighborhoods had rushed to the site, and people driving by in cars and on motorbikes stopped and joined them in scooping up the fuel.

Pakistani television networks broadcast images of dozens of people collecting the fuel in bottles and buckets, and thick plumes of smoke enveloped the area after the explosion.
Photo

“People brought bottles, pots, buckets and other home utensils,” Mr. Gilani said. “Many people made several rounds and urged others to do the same.” He said people had planned to use the fuel for themselves and also to sell.

He said the devastation had swept through several poor settlements near the crash site. “In one house, all eight men of the family died due to the fire,” he said.

Muhammad Rizwan, a police official, said that the police had “kept on telling people to leave the crash site, but people wouldn’t listen and more kept coming.”

“We knew it was dangerous,” he said, “and if there were more cars and bikes, the casualties would have been much higher.”

The injured were taken to the district hospital and Victoria Hospital in neighboring Bahawalpur, but the response was hindered by a shortage of facilities to treat burn victims.

The seriously injured were ferried to a hospital in Multan, about 80 miles to the north, which has a burn treatment unit. The Pakistan Army said it had sent two helicopters to help with the rescue efforts.

Abdul Rashid, 30, one of those injured, said he and a friend had joined in collecting the spilled fuel after passing by the area and seeing others trying to scoop it up from the overturned tanker.

“I parked my bike by the road and waited while my friend went to collect the fuel,” said Mr. Rashid, who had burns on one hand and a leg. “We did not have any bottles, so we asked people and got one. The bottle was small, so my friend went thrice to collect the fuel.”

Mr. Gilani said that even though the word danger was clearly written at the rear of such tanker, people did not take heed. “Many were not even aware of the risk they were putting themselves into,” he said.

There was no immediate information about what had caused the tanker to overturn: speeding at a sharp turn, a burst tire or something else.

Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab, expressed his grief over the loss of life, said an aide, Salman Sufi.

“The chief minister is monitoring the situation and has directed the authorities to provide the best medical facilities to the injured,” Mr. Sufi said.

He said the fire had probably been started by an engine spark that caused the fuel tanker to explode, though he noted that the exact cause was being investigated.

Mr. Sufi said the driver of the tanker had escaped serious injury because the crash had taken place “long before” the explosion, and a provincial government spokesman said the driver had been taken into custody, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was in London on a private visit, cut short his stay and was returning to Pakistan, officials said. Imran Khan, the country’s most prominent opposition politician, called the accident “a national tragedy of epic proportions.”

Abdul Malik, a local police officer who was among the first to arrive, said he had “never seen anything like it in my life,” The Associated Press reported. “Victims trapped in the fireball. They were screaming for help.”
When the fire subsided, he said, “We saw bodies everywhere, so many were just skeletons.”

Daniyal Hassan contributed reporting from Lahore, Pakistan

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First Pakistan-owned wind power project starts operation

BEIJING, Jun 24: The first Pakistan-owned early-harvest wind power project constructed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework has started commercial operation after passing required assessments.

The 49.5MW facility developed by Sachal Energy Development (Private) Limited over 680 acres of land in the Jhimpir Wind Corridor in Sindh province was wholly financed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Tariffs for solar, wind power projects set to fall further
The success of the project sets a good example for the construction of CPEC and the “Belt and Road” initiative, according to Global Times. Sachal Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arif Habib Corporation Limited, one of the largest private sector conglomerates in Pakistan.

It has received formal notification from the Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited. The company is committed to supplying electricity to the national grid through the National Transmission and Dispatch Company for 20 years under an energy purchase agreement.

The project comprises 33 wind turbine generators manufactured by Goldwind of China whereas HydroChina is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) contractor of the project.

It is the first project that has received Sinosure-backed financing and has been 100% financed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Pakistan and China have signed $57-billion worth of energy and infrastructure projects under the CPEC framework. The bulk of the investment is going to the energy projects, including renewable and clean energy to bridge the energy shortfall.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2017.

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The Guardian: Attack on Al Jazeera must be resisted UK newspaper says attack on Al Jazeera is part of ‘assault on free speech to subvert the impact of media in Arab world’.

A demand by a group of Arab countries to close Al Jazeera Media Network is “wrong”, “ridiculous” and “must be resisted”, The Guardian newspaper has said in an editorial, joining a growing chorus of voices raising concerns about suppresion of press freedom in the Gulf.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt reportedly gave Qatar 10 days to comply with 13 demands to end a major diplomatic crisisin the Gulf, insisting, among others, that Doha shut down Al Jazeera, close a Turkish military base and scale down ties with Iran.

Al Jazeera: Call for closure siege against journalism
“The attack on Al Jazeera is part of an assault on free speech to subvert the impact of old and new media in the Arab world. It should be condemned and resisted,” the editorial published by The Guardian on Friday said.
‘Muzzling journalism’

By attacking Doha-based Al Jazeera, “Qatar’s neighbours want to gag media that raises questions about the way these nations are run,” the respected British newspaper said in a piece titled, “The Guardian view on Al Jazeera: muzzling journalism”.

Al Jazeera was a key source of news as the Arab Spring rolled across the Middle East in 2011, “infuriating many Arab leaders” who “no doubt wished it would be taken off air, permanently”, The Guardian wrote.

“Al Jazeera, which arrived long before the internet in the region, broke the mould by reaching directly into Arab living rooms. Along with social media, Al Jazeera has in recent years stirred public opinion in ways Arab governments could not ignore.

“But now Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates think they can silence it with a blockade of Qatar that will only be lifted if Al Jazeera is shut down.”

While noting that “Al Jazeera is not perfect”, The Guardian said that Qatar abolished formal censorship 20 years ago.

“By comparison, in 2012 the UAE demanded [ex-British Prime Minister] David Cameron rein in adverse BBC coverage or it would halt lucrative arms deals,” it said.

“Abu Dhabi is a regional media player. The UAE’s deputy prime minister owns Sky News Arabia, along with Rupert Murdoch’s broadcaster. According to observers this station put out fake news about Qatar’s ruler.”

Earlier on Friday, media watchdogs, human rights groups and prominent commentators all condemned the demand to close Al Jazeera as “outrageous”, “absurd” and “worrying”.

The Qatar-based network also described the call for its closure as “nothing short than a siege against the journalistic profession”.

“We assert our right to practice our journalism professionally without bowing to pressure from any government or authority and we demand that governments respect the freedom of media to allow journalists to continue to do their jobs free of intimidation, threats, and fearmongering,” it said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the Editorial Board of the New York Times said a “misguided attack” on Al Jazeera was an attempt by Saudi Arabia and its anti-Qatar coalition to “eliminate a voice that could lead citizens to question their rulers”.

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Indian spy Jadhav appeals to COAS to ‘spare his life’; army releases new video confession

Convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is currently on death row, has appealed to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Bajwa for mercy.

“Commander Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav, the serving Indian Naval Officer who has been sentenced to death on charges of espionage, sabotage and terrorism, has made a mercy petition to the Chief of Army Staff,” the army’s media wing said in a press release issued Thursday.

“In his plea, Commander Jadhav has admitted his involvement in espionage, terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan and expressed remorse at the resultant loss of many precious innocent lives and extensive damage to property due to his actions.

“Seeking forgiveness for his actions, he has requested the Chief of Army Staff to spare his life on compassionate grounds,” the Army said.

Commander Jadhav has reportedly exhausted an appeal to the Military Appellate Court, it emerged from the press release. If his appeal for clemency is rejected by Gen Bajwa, he will have recourse to appeal to President Mamnoon Hussain.

A new confessional video, released by Inter-Services Public Relations along with the news of Jadhav’s petition, purports to detail the crimes Jadhav has sought absolution from.

In the video, Jadhav can be heard saying that Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) sponsored various terrorist activities in Pakistan in order to disrupt economic activities linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and foment socio-political disturbance and strife in Balochistan and Karachi.

‘RAW-sponsored terrorism’
Jadhav, in his “confession”, has said that one Anil Kumar “on behalf of RAW” sponsored terrorist activities in Pakistan. These included encouraging sectarian violence targeting Hazara and Shia citizens, particularly those travelling between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan on pilgrimage.

The purpose of sponsoring various attacks in the region was so that “instability or some kind of fear is set into the mindsets of the people of Pakistan”, Jadhav said, saying that the high-profile assassination of Superintendent Police Chaudhry Aslam was an example of the kind of disturbance India wanted to create.

According to Jadhav, RAW also ‘directly sponsored’ the targeting of Frontier Works Organisation workers in Balochistan and sponsored Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks carried out by “Baloch sub-nationals” within Quetta, Turbat and various other cities of Balochistan.

The spy said that “various financing which subsequently happened for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and various other Afghan anti-Pakistani terrorist groups led to the attack by TTP on one of the Mehran Naval Bases in which a lot of damage was cost to the Pakistani Navy.”

Other attacks that Jadhav said were “funded and directly supported by Anil Kumar” included a “sort of radar installation attack, the Sui pipeline gas attack, then attacks on civilian bus stations where some, I suppose, Pakistani nationals were being targeted by sub-nationals and murdered and massacred” in order to cause disruptions in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“He wanted it [the attacks] to be raised to the next level so that complete disruption and complete stoppage of the CPEC between Gwadar and China is achieved,” Jadhav added.

A ‘military-style’ attack on the Pakistani consulate in Zahidan was also planned by RAW officials along with Baloch insurgents, Jadhav confessed.

“The aim was to either attack it with a grenade or some kind of Rocket-Propelled Grenade or IED attack or then try to harm the consul-general or some kind of vicious attack on the Pakistani consulate in Zahidan,” he said.

Additionally, he said, RAW had sponsored the creation of a new website for the Baloch movement in addition to handling an existing website “which was luring people from within Pakistan for various activities to be carried out in the future.”

Funding for these activities took place through hawala and hundi operations, Jadhav said, with finances moved from Delhi and Mumbai via Dubai into Pakistan.

Jadhav’s trial
Jadhav had previously been tried by a Field General Court Martial under Section 59 of the PAA and Section 3 of the official Secret Act of 1923 and sentenced to death.

Jadhav had confessed before a magistrate and court that he was tasked by RAW to plan, coordinate and organise espionage and sabotage activities seeking to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan through impeding the efforts of law enforcement agencies for the restoration of peace in Balochistan and Karachi, the ISPR had said earlier.

Jadhav’s first confession
Jadhav’s first confessional statement was aired by former ISPR head Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, in which the spy admitted to involvement in terror activities in Balochistan and Karachi.

Terming the Indian spy’s arrest a ‘big achievement’, Bajwa said at the time that Jadhav was directly handled by the RAW chief, the Indian National Security Adviser and the RAW joint secretary.

“His goal was to disrupt development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with Gwadar port as a special target,” Bajwa had said, adding, “This is nothing short of state-sponsored terrorism… There can be no clearer evidence of Indian interference in Pakistan.”

“If an intelligence or an armed forces officer of this rank is arrested in another country, it is a big achievement,” Bajwa had said, before going on to play a video of Jadhav confessing to Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) involvement in Balochistan separatist activities in Pakistan.

Case goes to ICJ
A 10-member bench of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ top court, is hearing an urgent bid by India to stop Pakistan from executing Jadhav.

The ICJ in a hearing of the case on May 18 restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav and rejected India’s request to delay proceedings in Jadhav’s case until December.

India was also ordered to submit a response by September 13 regarding the case.

Rejecting Pakistan’s argument that the court did not have jurisdiction in the matter, the court reasoned it could hear the case because it involved, on the face of it, an alleged violation of one of the clauses of the Vienna Convention, which both Pakistan and India ascribe to and whose interpretation falls under its purview.

“[Meanwhile] Pakistan should take all measures to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed till the final decision of this court,” the court said at the time.

The court also said Pakistan should inform it of all measures taken in implementation of the order.

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Trump seen hardening line toward Pakistan after Afghan war review

WASHINGTON, June 20: President Donald Trump’s administration appears ready to harden its approach toward Pakistan to crack down on home-based militants launching attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan, US officials tell Reuters.
Potential Trump administration responses being discussed include expanding US drone strikes, redirecting or withholding some aid to Pakistan and perhaps eventually downgrading Pakistan’s status as a major non-NATO ally, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Some US officials, however, are skeptical of the prospects for success, arguing that years of previous US efforts to curb Pakistan’s support for militant groups have failed, and that already strengthening US ties to India, Pakistan’s arch-enemy, undermine chances of a breakthrough with Islamabad.
US officials say they seek greater cooperation with Pakistan, not a rupture in ties, once the administration finishes a regional review of the strategy guiding the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan. Precise actions have yet to be decided.

The White House and Pentagon declined to comment on the review before its completion. Pakistan’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “The United States and Pakistan continue to partner on a range of national security issues,” Pentagon spokesperson Adam Stump said.

But the discussions alone suggest a shift toward a more assertive approach to address safe havens in Pakistan that have been blamed for in part helping turn Afghanistan’s war into an intractable conflict. Experts on America’s longest war argue that militant safe havens in Pakistan have allowed Taliban-linked insurgents a place to plot deadly strikes in Afghanistan and regroup after ground offensives.

Although long mindful of Pakistan, the Trump administration in recent weeks has put more emphasis on the relationship with Islamabad in discussions as it hammers out a regional strategy to be presented to Trump by mid-July, nearly six months after he took office, one official said. “We’ve never really fully articulated what our strategy towards Pakistan is. The strategy will more clearly say what we want from Pakistan specifically,” the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Other US officials warn of divisions within the government about the right approach and question whether any mix of carrots and sticks can get Islamabad to change its behaviour. At the end of the day, Washington needs a partner, even if an imperfect one, in nuclear-armed Pakistan, they say.

Congressman urges Trump to consider resuming airstrikes in Pakistan
The United States is again poised to deploy thousands more troops in Afghanistan, an acknowledgment that US-backed forces are not winning and Taliban militants are resurgent. Without more pressure on militants within Pakistan who target Afghanistan, experts say additional US troop deployments will fail to meet their ultimate objective: to pressure the Taliban to eventually negotiate peace.

“I believe there will be a much harder US line on Pakistan going forward than there has been in the past,” Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan ambassador to the United States, told Reuters, without citing specific measures under review. Kabul has long been critical of Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan.

Pakistan fiercely denies allowing any militants safe haven on its territory. “What Pakistan says is that we are already doing a lot and that our plate is already full,” a senior government source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source doubted the Trump administration would press too hard, saying: “They don’t want to push Pakistan to abandon their war against terrorism.”

Afghan president blames Pakistan for home-grown violence
Pakistani officials point towards the toll militancy has taken on the country. Since 2003, almost 22,000 civilians and nearly 7,000 Pakistani security forces have been killed as a result of militancy, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, which tracks violence. Experts say Pakistan’s policy towards Afghanistan is also driven in part by fears that India will gain influence in Afghanistan.

Is Pakistan an ally?
Nuclear-armed Pakistan won the status as a major non-NATO ally in 2004 from the George Bush administration, in what was at the time seen in part as recognition of its importance in the US battle against al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents.

The status is mainly symbolic, allowing limited benefits such as giving Pakistan faster access to surplus US military hardware. Some US officials and experts on the region scoff at the title. “Pakistan is not an ally. It’s not North Korea or Iran. But it’s not an ally,” said Bruce Riedel, a Pakistan expert at the Brookings Institution.
But yanking the title would be seen by Pakistan as a major blow.

SCO membership likely to pose fresh challenges for Pakistan
Lisa Curtis, senior director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council, co-authored a report with Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington, in which they recommended the Trump administration warn Pakistan the status could be revoked in six months. “Thinking of Pakistan as an ally will continue to create problems for the next administration as it did for the last one,” said the February report. It was unclear how seriously the Trump administration was considering the proposal.

The growing danger to Afghanistan from suspected Pakistan-based militants was underscored by a devastating May 31 truck bomb that killed more than 80 people and wounded 460 in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency said the attack – one of the deadliest in memory in Kabul – had been carried out by the Haqqani network with assistance from Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies. Washington believes the strikes appeared to be the work of the Haqqani network, US officials told Reuters.

US frustration over the Haqqani’s presence in Pakistan has been building for years. The United States designated the Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation in 2012. US Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, then the top US military officer, told Congress in 2011 that the Haqqani network was a “veritable arm” of the ISI.

American soldiers wounded, not killed in incident at Afghan base: US official

The potential US pivot to a more assertive approach would be sharply different than the approach taken at the start of the Obama administration, when US officials sought to court Pakistani leaders, including former Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.

David Sedney, who served as Obama’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia from 2009 to 2013, said the attempt to turn Islamabad into a strategic partner was a “disaster.” “It didn’t affect Pakistan’s behaviour one bit. In fact, I would argue it made Pakistan’s behaviour worse,” Sedney said.

More drones, cash cut-off
Pakistan has received more than $33 billion in US assistance since 2002, including more than $14 billion in so-called Coalition Support Funds (CSF), a US Defense Department programme to reimburse allies that have incurred costs in supporting counter-insurgency operations.

It is an important form of foreign currency for the nuclear-armed country and one that is getting particularly close scrutiny during the Trump administration review. Last year, the Pentagon decided not to pay Pakistan $300 million in CSF funding after then-US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter declined to sign authorisation that Pakistan was taking adequate action against the Haqqani network.

US officials said the Trump administration was discussing withholding at least some assistance to Pakistan. Curtis’ report also singled out the aid as a target. But US aid cuts could cede even more influence to China, which already has committed nearly $60 billion in investments in Pakistan.

Top career US diplomat in China embassy steps down
Another option under review is broadening a drone campaign to penetrate deeper into Pakistan to target Haqqani fighters and other militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, US officials and a Pakistan expert said. “Now the Americans (will be) saying, you aren’t taking out our enemies, so therefore we are taking them out ourselves,” the Pakistan expert, who declined to be identified, said.

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa last week criticised “unilateral actions” such as drone strikes as “counterproductive and against (the) spirit of ongoing cooperation and intelligence sharing being diligently undertaken by Pakistan”.

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Understanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

As Chinese philosophy decisively asserts, “you cannot live in a castle made of glass while your neighbour lives in the stone ages”. This maxim offers a stark contrast to the case of the United States, a highly developed state that faces tremendous migration problems from its neighbours Mexico and Puerto Rico due to the existence of a glaring development gap in the region. Instead of increasing aid to these destitute countries, the current US administration is considering the construction of a “wall” to keep migrants out. There has not been a conclusive agreement upon which side of the border will bear the financial burden of this project.

On the contrary, in accordance with the Chinese wisdom aforementioned, the Chinese mega project, One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, worth approximately $900 billion, is a regional plan which will enrich the entire Euro-Asiatic region, including China.

OBOR is a regional connectivity strategy that comprises 65 countries and six economic corridors and caters to two-thirds of the world’s population. It aims to improve infrastructure in these countries and enhance the movement of goods and people, promoting trade and exchange, generating more economic activities and employment opportunities for the whole region.

This will definitely better the standard of living for people in this region of the world. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the six economic corridors proposed under the OBOR initiative. It is the shortest, most convenient and most feasible corridor, among them all. It is also the flagship project, as both governments attribute high value to its success, and are striving to make it the prototype for the rest of the world.

CPEC is not a completely novel idea. It was introduced by the first Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, General Geng Biao, in the 1960s. Geng was a visionary diplomat, general, and politician. He proposed the road linkage between China and Pakistan through Khunjerab. That is how the Karakoram Highway came to fruition. This highway was a blessing for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) because prior to its construction, locals used to travel by foot or horseback to reach Punjab and the journey often took a couple of months.

With the commencement of this road, the travel was reduced to less than 24 hours. The topography of G-B encompasses a very tough terrain, high altitudes (Khunjerab Pass lies at approximately 4000m above the sea level), solid hard rocks, mountains, and extreme climate (some of the areas have minus 50 degree Celsius). Thus, the construction of the Karakoram Highway was a miracle and it is considered the eighth wonder of the world. Due to budgetary constraints and the lack of modern technology, however, the quality of the road was rather poor, with many sharp curves and steep slopes. The average speed of a vehicle could not be more than 40 kilometres per hour. But recently, the highway has been upgraded and a decent speed of 120 kilometres per hour can be maintained. Nevertheless, some sections of the Karakoram Highway are still under construction and hopefully, within the next couple of years, it will turn into a proper motorway.

Under CPEC, a huge network of highways and motorways are in progress. The ML1 railway track from Karachi to Peshawar is being upgraded. Some tunnels and bridges are under construction to maintain the high speed of trains and shorten distances. A huge dry port linked by railway and motorway is under construction at Havelian, which will be a logistic hub for CPEC in the future.

Oil and gas pipelines are now in an advanced stage of completion throughout the country. One of them is an oil and gas pipeline from Gwadar to Nawabshah constructed by a Chinese company, and another from Karachi to Lahore is under the initial stages of construction by a Russian company. In the future, transportation of energy (oil, gas, LNG, etc) will be conveniently transported by pipelines, instead of with costly trucks that cause pollution. In the next few years, these pipelines will also be transporting oil and gas from Gwadar to inside China through Khunjerab, at a fraction of the cost of the sea containers going through Malacca Strait. Even if China imports only ten per cent of its requirements through CPEC pipelines, Pakistan will be earning billions of dollars in revenue, and this makes it a win-win situation for both countries.

Among the 51 projects signed during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jin Ping, priority was given to power projects that amounted to a total worth of 33 billion. Some of these power projects have been completed and have begun adding power to the National Grid. However, several of the mega projects will take some time to complete. Upon completion of these projects, it is expected that Pakistan will have sufficient power, and there will be no more shortage of power. The next stage of CPEC is under planning, also referred to as the “industrialisation” phase. The Chinese industrial sector is saturated and increasing labour cost is forcing Chinese industries to shift out of China. Pakistan is the best destination for the Chinese industry. Pakistan is planning industrial parks, special economic zones and science parks to facilitate the flourishing of the Chinese industry in Pakistan. After overcoming the power shortage, the shifting of Chinese industries into Pakistan will be accelerated.

CPEC will directly or indirectly generate around two million jobs. In the beginning, Chinese workforce will be hired in Pakistan, but gradually within a few years once Pakistan trains its workforce to the Chinese standard, Pakistanis will replace the workforce. Chinese industry will increase our productivity, reduce our imports, and enhance our exports. The economy will grow on an unprecedented scale. It will also improve the security situation in Pakistan as well as in the whole region. The aforementioned is possible if we unite and work hard. We need visionary and sincere leadership to execute this. The common man in Pakistan is honest, simple, hardworking and willing to devote himself to the cause of a prosperous nation.

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On his 71st birthday, Trump expected a quiet morning and woke up to a shooting

WASHINGTON, June 14 — It was supposed to be a quiet morning at the White House as President Donald Trump marked his 71st birthday, with nothing on his public schedule until the late afternoon. But that was shattered by early reports that a shooter had opened fire on Republican lawmakers and staff at a baseball practice across the Potomac River in Virginia.

White House staff canceled Trump’s scheduled public events Wednesday and scrambled to bring details to the president as he watched the developments on television, including the news that the House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and a congressional aide were shot.

Trump posted on Twitter shortly before 9 a.m. that Scalise, “a true friend and patriot, was badly injured but will fully recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.”

Scalise was shot in the hip on the ball field in Alexandria, Va., shortly after 7 a.m. and was taken to George Washington University Hospital in Washington for surgery.

Aides told reporters Trump would cancel his scheduled speech at the Department of Labor on Wednesday afternoon, and Trump’s senior advisers huddled to decide how the president would react to the shooting.

Vice President Mike Pence canceled a morning speech at the National Assn. of Home Builders in Washington to stay in the West Wing with Trump to help manage the administration’s response.

“The vice president and I are aware of the shooting incident in Virginia and are monitoring developments closely,” Trump said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the members of Congress, their staffs, Capitol Police, first responders, and all others affected.”

In the hours immediately after the shooting, Secret Service agents closed off large sections of Lafayette Park in front of the White House. By 10:30 am, the park was open to the public again, and tourists were taking photos in front of the White House fence.

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Pakistan faces a diplomatic conundrum over the Gulf crisis (DW)

The Saudi-Qatari standoff poses a great diplomatic challenge to Pakistani authorities as they enjoy close economic and geopolitical ties with both Riyadh and Doha. Can Pakistan afford to remain neutral in the conflict?
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif embarked Monday on a one-day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along with the country’s army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and the foreign ministry staff.

The urgency of the trip shows that Sharif faces a tough diplomatic challenge in Riyadh.

Islamabad enjoys cordial relations with both Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but the diplomatic standoff in the Gulf region, which saw Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sever ties with Qatar, means the Pakistani government now faces a predicament – to choose between Riyadh and Doha.

For now, Pakistani authorities do not want to take sides, but in the coming days, and with Saudi officials’ increasingly belligerent stance toward Iran and its allies in the region – including Qatar – remaining neutral could prove to be difficult.

“Since Pakistan enjoys good relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar, we will try our best to resolve the differences between the Arab countries,” PM Sharif told journalists during a recent visit to Kazakhstan.
Pakistan also denied reports that it had sent some 2,000 troops to Qatar’s aid after the crisis erupted.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria stressed that “these false reports appear to be part of a malicious campaign aimed at creating misunderstanding between Pakistan and brotherly Muslim countries in the Gulf.”
Besides the obvious diplomatic dilemma, Pakistani authorities are also in a quandary because of their nation’s economic ties with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

The Islamic country receives large revenue from the Pakistani citizens working in the Arab countries. More than 1.9 million Pakistanis live in Saudi Arabia, while the UAE hosts 1.2 million, according to government data. Qatar hosts some 115,000 Pakistani nationals.

“The Pakistani government has close economic ties with Doha. PM Sharif signed a crucial gas deal with Qatar to ease the country’s energy crisis,” Usama bin Javed, an Islamabad-based Middle East expert, told DW.
London-based Pakistani analyst, Farooq Sulehria, says that the largest sum of Pakistan’s foreign exchange comes from Saudi Arabia. “There is a mammoth work force of Pakistani laborers in the Arab countries. It would be ‘suicidal’ to offend the Saudis,” Sulehria told DW.

Diplomatic predicament
Even if the Saudi-Qatari dispute gets resolved through regional and international efforts – the United States and the European Union have urged a quick resolution of the standoff – Pakistan’s long-term problems in relation to the Saudi-Iranian rivalry won’t go away easily. After all, Riyadh’s main concern about Doha is the latter’s alleged ties with terrorist groups that Saudi authorities say are promoting Tehran’s geopolitical agenda in the region.

Saudi authorities have leverage over Pakistan, and they have been persistent in their demands that Islamabad assists them in the Yemeni war as well as a larger regional security alliance led by Riyadh.

Despite parliament’s decision last year against becoming a party to the intensifying Saudi-Iranian conflict in the Middle East, in April Islamabad approved the appointment of Raheel Sharif, the country’s former army chief, as head of the 39-member Saudi-led military coalition. Riyadh says the Muslim nations’ alliance was formed to fight terrorism in the region, but experts point out that it is primarily an anti-Iran grouping. Naturally, Tehran is not part of the coalition.

The Pakistani government has sent mixed signals about Raheel Sharif’s position in the alliance in the past few weeks, especially after US President Donald Trump’s last month’s visit to Saudi Arabia. Media reports claim that Raheel Sharif is contemplating heading back to Pakistan as a result of Washington and Riyadh’s now official anti-Iran posture. But Raheel Sharif’s speculated departure from Saudi Arabia is as much shrouded in mystery and secrecy as was his decision to join the Saudi-led alliance.

“Pakistani armed forces are already part of the Saudi military alliance. This gives Islamabad an opportunity to mediate in the crisis. But it has to be very careful,” analyst Javed said, adding that Pakistan could not afford a prolonged Gulf crisis.

Security analyst Sabir Karbalai suggests Islamabad should take the issue to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a 57-member forum of Muslim-majority nations.

“If Pakistan can’t leave the Saudi alliance, it should put its activities on hold and together with Turkey try to resolve the dispute between Riyadh and Doha,” Karbalai told DW.

But it’s probably easier said than done. With Saudi Arabia-US alliance stronger than ever after Trump’s coming to power in the US, Pakistan cannot afford to cozy up with Iran. In the rapidly changing geopolitical milieu, Islamabad has aligned itself by forging closer ties with China and Russia, but it cannot afford to go all the way against Washington and Riyadh.

Sectarian strife
Pakistan’s intelligentsia and civil society have advised PM Sharif to remain neutral in the Gulf crisis as Islamabad’s support to Saudi Arabia could also increase the Sunni-Shiite tension in the South Asian country. Analysts believe that Pakistan’s Sunni militant groups already feel emboldened by the fact that the nation’s ex-army chief is linked with the Saudi security alliance.

The sectarian strife in Pakistan has been ongoing for some time now, with militant Islamist groups unleashing terror on the minority Shiite groups in many parts of the country. Most of these outfits, including the Taliban, take inspiration from the hardline Saudi-Wahabi Islamic ideology.

For Pakistan’s Islamic fanatics, the country “is already a ‘Sunni Wall’ against Shiite Iran,” Siegfried O. Wolf, an expert at the University of Heidelberg’s South Asia Institute, told DW in an interview.

Experts say that while Pakistan will try to demonstrate its neutrality in the Saudi-Iran regional rivalry, in practice and in terms of policies, its closeness to Riyadh and the hardline Sunni ideology will remain intact. But domestically, this will plunge Pakistan into a bigger security crisis than it is already in.

Additional reporting by Sattar Khan, DW’s Islamabad correspondent.

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‘Grave concern’ over Chinese teachers reportedly killed by ISIS in Pakistan

China has expressed “grave concern” over reports that ISIS has killed two Chinese teachers kidnapped in Pakistan.
The man and woman, said by Chinese media to be a couple, were kidnapped by armed men on May 24 from the city of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, on May 24 on their way to teach a Chinese language class, a senior security officer told CNN last month.

Amaq, a news agency affiliated with ISIS, said Thursday that Islamic State fighters had killed two Chinese teachers who were being held in the Mastung, Balochistan. The group also released a video, which showed two bodies shot and bleeding on some grassy ground.

“China resolutely opposes all forms of kidnapping of civilians and opposes all forms of terrorism and extreme acts of violence,” said Hua Chunying, the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement on Friday.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “working to confirm authenticity of the reports of killing of two Chinese nationals, kidnapped in Quetta.”

The deaths underscore the risks of China’s growing international reach and influence. The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, said that guarding Chinese nationals overseas had become a new and serious challenge for national security.

“As China’s international influence is growing, terrorist organizations target Chinese for ransom or just to create a sensation. Cases of Chinese being kidnapped have increased,” the paper said in an editorial.

Chinese nationals have settled in Pakistan in greater numbers since the announcement of a $46 billion investment plan known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2015 — part of China’s One Belt One Road initiative.

“Given Pakistan’s complex security situation, both sides need to study and formulate a more comprehensive security plan to fully cover Chinese in Pakistan,” the Global Times added.

Rescue attempt
Hua said authorities had been trying to rescue the hostages.

Pakistan’s military said Thursday that its security forces conducted an operation from June 1 to 3 in Mastung, where it said it killed 12 terrorists with links to ISIS that had been hiding in caves but didn’t mention the abducted Chinese teachers.
Balochistan is home to the Gwador Port Complex, a flagship project of the economic corridor, but has been plagued by violence by different militant groups including the Pakistani Taliban and a separatist movement.

Pakistan views CPEC, a combination of infrastructure projects ranging from road networks, a fiber optic cable project, railway lines, a deep-sea port, coal mines and solar farms, as a huge opportunity to develop its economy.

Pakistan is home to roughly 20,000 Chinese, according to Mustafa Hyder, chief executive of the Pakistan-China Institute.

CNN’s Serenitie Wang and Yuli Yang contributed to this report