FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD, APR 15: The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) envoy to Washington confirmed the Gulf state is mediating between India and Pakistan to help the nuclear-armed rivals reach a “healthy and functional” relationship.

Top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, people with knowledge of the matter had told Reuters.

Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said in a virtual discussion with Stanford University's Hoover Institution on Wednesday that the UAE played a role “in bringing Kashmir escalation down and created a ceasefire, hopefully ultimately leading to restoring diplomats and getting the relationship back to a healthy level”.

“They might not sort of become best friends but at least we want to get it to a level where it's functional, where it's operational, where they are speaking to each other,” he said.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been frozen since a suicide bombing of an Indian military convoy in occupied Kashmir in 2019 was blamed on Pakistan, leading to India sending warplanes to Pakistan.

Later that year, India's prime minister withdrew the occupied region's autonomy in order to tighten his grip over the territory, provoking outrage in Pakistan and the downgrading of diplomatic ties and suspension of bilateral trade.

Otaiba also said that Pakistan should play a helpful role in Afghanistan, where the United States plans to start withdrawing US troops on May 1 to end America's longest war.

The Emirati official voiced concern that an abrupt US withdrawal would constitute “reverse progress” by serving the interests of “the more illiberal forces” in Afghanistan.

“The question is if the three parties (the US, Taliban and Afghan government) can reach an agreement that they can all live with,” Otaiba said.

“It's hard for us to see a way to stabilise Afghanistan without Pakistan playing a helpful role,” he added.

Turkey is due to host a peace summit for Afghanistan from April 24 to May 4 meant to jump-start efforts to end the war and sketch out a possible political settlement.

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ISLAMABAD, APR 15: Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Wednesday ended the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League matches against South Africa as the No.1 ranked ODI batsman in the world, overtaking Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Babar had moved ahead of Kohli to No.1 position after his 103 in the first match of the series. But, he slipped to second (five points behind Kohli) after scoring 31 in the second match.

However, after an innings of 94 in the series finale that earned him the player of the match award, Babar has once again leapfrogged the India captain who has slipped from the top for the first time since replacing AB de Villiers in October 2017, a press release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.

Babar had started the three-match ODI series 20 points behind Kohli and finished eight points ahead of the India batsman, earning 28 points in the series in which he aggregated 228 runs.

Babar’s No.1 ODI ranking supplements his No.6 Test and No.3 T20I rankings, which is a hallmark of a fine batsman across all three formats. At present, Kohli is the only other batsman to feature inside the top six across all formats, the PCB said.

"Babar is the fourth Pakistani batsman after PCB Hall of Famers Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad, and Mohammad Yousuf to peak to the top in the ODI batting table," it added.

Reacting to the news, Babar Azam said: “I feel privileged and honoured to have joined the company of stalwarts like Abbas, Miandad and Yousuf, who will always be shining stars in Pakistani cricket.

“This is another milestone in my career, which will now require even more hard work and absolute consistency with the bat in order for me to hold on to the ranking for an extended period of time, like Sir Vivian Richards from January 1984 to October 1988 and Kohli for 1,258 days.

“I have also previously topped the T20I rankings, but the ultimate ambition and goal is to lead the Test rankings, which are the real testament and reward to a batsman’s calibre, reputation and skills. I understand that to achieve this objective, I will not only have to perform consistently, but more importantly, against the top sides," he said.

“I am looking forward to this challenge and remain confident I will be able to accomplish this target with the support of my teammates and coaching staff.

“But at this stage, I will savour the moment as it has come almost 18 months after I was first appointed the white-ball captain and that too at the back of my performances that helped Pakistan become the first Asian side to win two ODI series in South Africa," he said.

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ISLAMABAD, APR 15: During the 18th Huawei Global Analyst Summit attended by more than 400 guests of analysts, experts, key opinion leaders and media representatives from around the world, Eric Xu, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman, shared the company’s business performance in 2020 as well as five strategic initiatives moving forward.

According to Mr. Xu, Huawei will:

1.    Optimize its portfolio to boost business resilience. As part of these efforts, Huawei will strengthen its software capabilities and invest more in businesses that are less reliant on advanced process techniques, as well as in components for intelligent vehicles.

2.    Maximize 5G value and define 5.5G with industry peers to drive the evolution of mobile communications.

3.    Provide a seamless, user-centric, and intelligent experience across all user scenarios.

4.    Innovate to reduce energy consumption for a low-carbon world.

5.    Address supply continuity challenges.

“Rebuilding trust and restoring collaboration across the global semiconductor supply chain is crucial to bringing the industry back on track,” stressed Eric Xu.

“Moving forward, we will continue to find ourselves in a complex and volatile global environment. Resurgence of COVID-19 and geopolitical uncertainty will present ongoing challenges for every organization, business, and country. We believe deeply in the power of digital technology to provide fresh solutions to the problems we all face. So we will keep innovating and driving digital transformation forward with our customers and partners to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.”

William Xu, Director of the Board and President of Huawei’s Institute of Strategic Research, began his keynote by discussing challenges that will affect social well-being over the next decade, including ageing populations and increasingly high energy consumption. He followed with Huawei’s outlook on the intelligent world of 2030, including nine technological challenges and proposed directions for research efforts. These include:

1.    Defining 5.5G to support hundreds of billions of different kinds of connections

2.    Developing nanoscale optics for an exponential increase in fiber capacity

3.    Optimizing network protocols to connect all things

4.    Providing advanced computing power strong enough to support the intelligent world

5.    Extracting knowledge from massive amounts of data to drive breakthroughs in industrial AI

6.    Going beyond von Neumann architecture for 100x denser storage systems

7.    Combining computing and sensing for a hyper-reality, multi-modal experience

8.    Enabling people to more proactively manage their health through continuous self-monitoring of personal vital signs

9.    Building an intelligent Internet of Energy for the generation, storage, and consumption of greener electricity

“In the decade to come,” said William Xu, “we can expect to see many great improvements in society. To promote these efforts, we hope to join forces with different industries, academia, research institutes, and application developers to address the universal challenges facing humanity. With a shared vision, we all have a role to play as we explore how to make connections stronger, computing faster, and energy greener. Together, let’s march ahead towards an Intelligent World in 2030.”

The first Huawei Global Analyst Summit took place in 2004, and has been held annually ever since. This year’s summit, “Building a Fully Connected, Intelligent World” with a number of breakout sessions where industry experts from around the world can share their unique insights and discuss future trends.

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KARACHI, APR 15: Fresh St! hosted a cooking class in collaboration with Karachi Chefs At Home (KCH) and Shireen Anwer. The skillful and renowned chef Shireen Anwer taught the audience a total of six, distinct and appetizing dishes.

On the occasion, Samrah Munsub, Director, Samrah Enterprises, said “We’re so humbled and proud of the response we have got from today’s event. We aim to provide our consumers with a wide range of high-quality products available to them through one reliable brand name.”

M. Salman, VP Marketing, Samrah Enterprises, said “After years of research, development and testing, we introduced a wide range of sauces & condiments to entice the taste buds of consumer. We are committed to make life easier for homemakers by providing products everyone can trust.”

Shireen Anwer, an expert Chef, added, “I really enjoyed using the wide range of products that Fresh St! has to offer, I have tried them before as well and I believe they are really good quality products. I’m definitely going to stock up on these products and I encourage all my students to do so as well.”

Saba Mohsin Sheikh, Admin Karachi Chefs At home, also added, “It was an honor to be a part of this event and working so closely with Samrah Enterprises & Shireen Anwer. Everyone who attended the event learned a great deal. Everything you need to prepare your favorite dish and satisfy your cravings with is all available within the umbrella of House of Samrah.”

All those who were a part of the audience also received goody bags, courtesy of Samrah Enterprises, full of some Fresh St! as well as other brand Goodies for them to enjoy. The audience was aslo really excited as they also got to be a part of an exclusive tasting of the premium new range of Hills & Vales ice cream.

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ISLAMABAD, APR 15: Embassy of Hungary, Islamabad and Center for Global & Strategic Studies, (CGSS), Islamabad are jointly organizing an Article Writing Competition titled “The Socio-Economic Dimensions of Hungary”. The details for participation are as below:

Eligibility Criteria & Incentives

• Intermediate Students
• Age Limit 14 – 18 years
• Best Articles to be published in renowned national & International Newspapers
• Certificate of Appreciation for best articles by the Embassy of Hungary, Islamabad

Topics

• The rich heritage and distinct culture of Hungary
• Tourism in Hungary
•  Hungary’s Economic Development in the last decade: A success story

Author Guidelines:

• Word Limit: 1000 - 1200 Words
• Articles must be solely written by the participant
• Copy-pasting is not allowed 

Rules:

• Articles must be submitted in Word Format
• Include Name, Age, City, Contact number, Email ID and your photograph

Kindly Email your articles at cgssarticles@gmail.com

Last Date of Submission is 15^th May 2021.

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ISLAMABAD/BAKU, APR 15: The third session of the International conference New Vision for South Caucasus: Post-Conflict Development & Cooperation was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The conference was jointly organized by ADA University and the Center of Analysis of International Relations, Azerbaijan.

Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan chaired the session and addressed the participants of the International Conference. 30 participants from 10 countries participated and Pakistan was represented by Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad, Pakistan.

Ilham Aliyev highlighted the devastating atrocities committed by Armenia in the occupied lands, he mentioned that the destruction caused by Armenia was beyond imagination. The President also emphasized that Azerbaijan took care of all people left behind by Armenia in the newly liberated areas.

During the interactive session, Khalid Taimur Akram appreciated the visionary leadership of Ilham Aliyev and congratulated him and the Azerbaijan armed forces for their historic victory against Armenia & liberation of occupied lands.

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ISLAMABAD, APR 15: The Fourth Session of the International Online Internship Program, “Contemporary Dynamics of Indonesia” was held. The internship program is jointly organized by the Embassy of Indonesia to Pakistan and the Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad.

The theme of the fourth session was “Indonesian Foreign Policy: Regionalism and Global Security Challenges” and the speaker for this session was Prof. Dinna P. Raharja, Associate Professor in International Relations, BINUS University, Jakarta Prof. Dinna, during her lecture, explained regarding Indonesia and Framework of Regional Political Security Cooperation, Regional Political Security Challenges, and Global Response to the participants.

Explaining the fundamental factors contributing to the formulation of Foreign Policy, she highlighted factors including Bureaucratic Patrimonialism, history, and desire of a state to go global.

Prof. Dinna also elaborated ASEAN and its evolution process over the years. According to her, at present ASEAN community aims enforce cooperation in politics and security among members with three main characteristics (ASEAN Vision 2020) which are rules-based community of shared values and norms, cohesive, peaceful, stable, and resilient region with shared responsibility for comprehensive security, and dynamic and outward-looking region in an increasingly integrated and interdependent world.

Furthermore, she explained three fundamental ways to secure national interest which are Multilateralism and Diplomacy, Economic Pressure, and Unilateralism and Arms Proliferation. According to her, if one becomes more important then other two factors get affected. Also, historically the major economies have mostly refused to cooperate.

The session was concluded with Adam Mulwaraman Tugio, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Pakistan’s closing remarks. He briefly talked about ASEAN and how individual states can not be impactful in international arena.

Hence, the integrated approach of the states resulted in formation of ASEAN.

The session was moderated by Ms. Palwasha Nawaz, Project Executive, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad. Masters and Ph.D. level Students from across Pakistan are a part of this Online International Internship Program. This program will equip them with the knowledge of the contemporary dynamics of Indonesia and its various sectors.

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WATCH VIDEO: B4U GLOBAL CEO Saif Ur Rehman Latest Updates of Business in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, APR 14: An Online Meeting was held between the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, and the Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad.

During the meeting, areas of mutual interest particularly research were discussed. Furthermore, it was decided that joint academic initiatives will be taken by the three institutions.

It was also decided that training programs and workshops for the capacity building of the students will be arranged. Moreover, the three institutions agreed to work together and explore opportunities to involve academia in multilateral fields.

Additionally, the modalities regarding the establishment of the Azerbaijan Study Center were finalized between the university, CGSS, and the embassy.

The meeting was attended by:

1. Dr. Fauzia Hadi Ali, Director, Regional Integration Center, University of the Punjab, Lahore

2. Mr. Elchin Mehdiyev, Third Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamabad

3. Ms. Palwasha Nawaz, Project Executive, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad.

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• Adam Mulwaraman Tugio, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Pakistan concluded the session with his remarks that there is a need for Pakistan and Indonesia to cooperate in various sectors.

ISLAMABAD, APR 14: The Third Session of the International Online Internship Program, “Contemporary Dynamics of Indonesia” was held. The internship program is jointly organized by the Embassy of Indonesia to Pakistan and the Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad.

The theme of the third session was “Indonesia’s Foreign Policy and Global Maritime Fulcrum ” and the speaker for this session was Drs. Berlian Helmy, M. Ec, Director of Ideology and Politics from National Resilience Institute, Indonesia.

Drs. Berlian discussed the components of the current efforts in-focus and foreign policies to strengthen and deepen the participation of Indonesia in the Global Maritime.

According to him the basic nature and the initial priority for the Indonesian Foreign Policy is to get engaged with the outside world. There is a certain ‘Global Maritime Ambition’ to project the country as a Maritime State. Therefore, the ambition of the Global Maritime Fulcrum is devised on five basic pillars where the rebuilding of the infrastructure of the shipping industry, application of maritime diplomacy, and Maritime Power to Protect is the priority for peaceful maritime relations.

Drs. Berlian also explained the contributions of Indonesia, Implementations of policies, tools to regulate those policies, and challenges –procedurally being overcome. He discussed that it is of vital significance for Indonesia to establish the combatting modules and the protection zones in the Asia Pacific Maritime, while the high standard ports, cost-efficient and effective markets are driving the Maritime connectivity. He also signified foreign policy to be a realm where the chances for the boundaries cooperation and exercises would thrive between the Pacific and the Indian ocean.

Furthermore, acknowledging the role of Pakistan and her ties with Indonesia, Drs. Berlian stated that Pakistan can contribute in two major ways; by becoming a partner and investor in major energy projects of Indonesia and setting up a joint military cooperation scheme in the Indo-Pacific linkups which would decrease the potential tensions and harmonize the revolutionizing Maritime structure in the global maritime Fulcrum.

Adam Mulwaraman Tugio, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Pakistan concluded the session with his remarks that there is a need for Pakistan and Indonesia to cooperate in various sectors.

The session was moderated by Ms. Palwasha Nawaz, Project Executive, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad. Masters and Ph.D. level Students from across Pakistan are a part of this Online International Internship Program. This program will equip them with the knowledge of the contemporary dynamics of Indonesia and its various sectors.

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ISLAMABAD, APR 14: Chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman has asked the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) to “reconsider” their decision of quitting the opposition’s alliance and declared that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will continue its struggle to achieve its objectives even if the two parties do not return to its fold.

“They (PPP and ANP) still have an opportunity to review their decisions and approach the PDM. We can remove their grievances when we will sit together,” said the Maulana while talking to reporters after presiding over the first meeting of the alliance after withdrawal of PPP and ANP from the alliance here on Tuesday.

After the decisions of the PPP and ANP to leave the opposition’s alliance, the PDM has now been reduced to an eight-party alliance. However, Tuesday’s meeting was attended by the leaders of five parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the National Party and Qaumi Watan Party.

The Maulana, who resumed his political activities after nearly two weeks, termed the reaction of the two parties to the show-cause notices issued to them for allegedly violating the PDM’s unanimous decision “immature and not in keeping with their political stature and experience”.

The JUI-F chief, who is also the president of the PDM, said the PPP and ANP should not have made the show-cause notices an issue of “self-respect” and they should have responded to the notices in a “dignified manner”. The two parties, he said, could have called for convening a meeting of the heads of the PDM or the steering committee to explain their viewpoint and resolve the matter. However, he regretted, the PPP and ANP chose to respond to the notices through the media.

• Says opposition alliance will continue its struggle even if the two parties do not return to its fold

“It was through the media that we came to know about the statements of the leaders of the two parties questioning the legitimacy of the notices and tearing up of the notice,” said the Maulana in response to the reports that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during the two-day meeting of his party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Karachi had torn apart the show-cause notice, thus showing the party’s clear intentions that it was no more interested to rejoin the alliance.

The ANP had already announced on April 5 that it was withdrawing from the PDM in protest over issuance of the show-cause notice to it for supporting Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s candidature for the office of the opposition leader in the Senate.

Speaking at a news conference in Peshawar, ANP’s Ameer Haider Hoti had also announced that the party members had resigned from the PDM offices.

The PPP also formally announced its decision to part ways with the PDM and sent resignations of those who were holding the PDM offices, including its vice-president Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Confirming that he had received the resignations of the PPP and ANP leaders, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said he had not accepted them yet as he wanted to give another chance to both the parties.

“Sadly, they have formally announced their decision to part ways with the PDM. The PPP and ANP members have already sent their resignations to me, but we are still trying and asking them to review their decision,” he said, adding that “the PDM is ready to hear you.”

“I want to say it in categorical terms that the PDM is a very serious forum. It is an alliance that was established to achieve objectives of serious nature at the national level and not for fighting over some offices,” said the Maulana, adding that for them, the future of democracy and politics in Pakistan is more important. He said that at a time when Pakistan was “economically sinking” and the people of the country were suffering and facing miseries, they would not make decisions on the basis of personal benefits or losses.

The Maulana refused to comment on the demand made by Mr Bhutto-Zardari that the PDM leaders should tender an apology to PPP and ANP for sending the notices.

“I don’t consider this question worth answering,” said the Maulana when a reporter sought his comment on the PPP chairman’s demand.

“We are actually stopping them from doing such things. They should show maturity and contact the PDM. We are waiting,” he said.

Responding to a question about the Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s allegations that some PDM parties were trying to blackmail his party, the Maulana taunted the young PPP chairman over his inexperience in politics by saying: “This is the difference between the age of 35 years and 70 years.”

Saying that he was not expecting that the PPP would go to an extent of seeking the support of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) for the Senate opposition leader, the Maulana said that the PPP had committed an “excess” with Mr Gilani and damaged him politically.

Justifying the act of sending notices to PPP and ANP, the PDM chief said it was his right to seek an explanation from the parties for violating the PDM’s decisions.

Replying to another question, the Maulana said the nation would be with the PDM, when it would make “big decisions” after the month of Ramazan.

The PDM chief asked PPP and PML-N leaders to refrain from issuing statements against each other.

However, ignoring the Maulana’s call, PPP’s information secretary Faisal Karim Kundi in a video message said if the Maulana wanted reconciliation then he should tell them as to “who wanted to club the resignations with the long march and who is responsible for not complying with the PDM’s action plan”.

Mr Kundi, who is also a direct political rival of the Maulana, alleged that the JUI-F chief had usurped the opposition leader’s position in the 2002 National Assembly despite the fact that the majority in the opposition was of the PPP. He said the Maulana should not turn a political alliance of PDM into a political party, saying the rules of a political party cannot be rules for the political alliance.

Mr Kundi said it was ironic that the Maulana was unaware that the show-cause notices to PPP and ANP were leaked to the media and the public. He said the majority party had the right to bring its own member as the opposition leader in the National Assembly and the Senate.

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