Tuesday, 19 October 2021
- Arch-rivals to clash on October 24
DUBAI, OCT 19: Pakistan cricket team think tank is expected to include seniors and experienced players in the playing XI in the all-important clash against India in the ICC T20 World Cup.
The arch-rivals are set to lock
horns on October 24 at the Dubai International Stadium.
The warm-up game against the
defending champions West Indies, which Pakistan won by seven wickets, is the
clear indication, that how the team is going to line up.
Although reports suggest that
there could be one change on cards in the line-up that featured against the
Windies.
One of these two – in-form batter
Haider Ali and hard hitter Asif Ali – could feature in the playing XI against
India.
Asif could be preferred over
young Haider, because of having more experience in international cricket.
This means Pakistan could line up
something like:
Batters: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali.
Bowlers, Shaheen Shah Afridi,
Hassan Ali and Haris Rauf.
All-rounders: Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim.
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Courtesy Samaa news
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MOSCOW, OCT 19: Special Representatives of Russia, China and Pakistan for Afghanistan met in Moscow today.
Common security concerns and mutual interests for provision of urgent humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan were discussed.
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MOSCOW, OCT 19: Russia opted against supplying more gas to Europe yesterday, sending prices rocketing again as it put further pressure on Germany to sign off on its controversial new Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled
gas giant, refrained from booking extra volumes for gas transit via Ukraine for
next month at an auction that traders watched for signs of increased supply.
The news sent wholesale gas
prices in Europe up by 18pc.
It came shortly after Nord Stream
2 announced that the first of the project’s two lines from Russia to Germany
had been filled with technical gas and was ready to go, pending German
approval.
The moves fuelled further
speculation that Moscow is contributing to an ongoing gas supply crunch in
order to force through approval of Nord Stream 2, which has split Europe and
faced resistance from the United States.
Critics say the new pipeline is a
way to punish Ukraine for a conflict that began in 2014.
Ukraine is a major gas transit
hub and could become obsolete once Nord Stream 2 is fully operational.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
last week said Russia stood by its commitments to send gas through Ukraine at
least until 2024.
But he suggested that the shabby
state of the pipeline could potentially cause disruptions.
Global gas prices hit record highs earlier this month.
This came as markets grappled with an unexpectedly large demand from recovering economies amid a limited supply of gas.
Gazprom, which is majority state-owned, yesterday indicated
that it was prepared to help Europe out – but only on its own terms.
The Russian gas monopolist said in a statement that the
first branch of Nord Stream 2 has now been tested and is viable.
“There is enough pressure in the pipeline to start gas
transit in future,” it said in a statement.
Russia has said it has limited capacity to respond to a growing demand for gas in Europe because its own domestic consumption is at a record high due to the cold autumn.
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Courtesy independent.ie
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ISLAMABAD, OCT 19: The Pakistan Navy detected and blocked an Indian submarine from entering Pakistani waters on October 16 (last Saturday), the military's media wing revealed on Tuesday.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the navy showed "unremitting vigilance and professional competence" in ascertaining and blocking the attempted entry of the Indian vessel.
"During the prevailing security milieu, a strict monitoring watch has been kept by Pakistan Navy to safeguard maritime frontiers of Pakistan," the ISPR said.
It added that the Oct 16 incident was the third time an Indian naval submarine had been detected and tracked by the Pakistan Navy's long-range maritime patrol aircraft.
"The recent incident reflects the deplorable Indian machinations vis-à-vis commitment and resolve of Pakistan Navy to defend maritime frontiers of the motherland," the statement reads.
The last such reported incident occurred in March 2019 when the navy had detected and thwarted a similar attempted entry by an Indian submarine. "The Pakistan Navy used its specialised skills to ward off the submarine, successfully keeping it from entering Pakistani waters," a statement from the navy's spokesperson had said at the time.
Another attempt was made in November 2016 when an Indian submarine was tracked and pushed clear out of Pakistan's waters.
The UN Convention on Law of Sea does not allow a state to carry out manoeuvres or exercises in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and in the continental shelf of another coastal state without its consent. EEZ signifies an area of coastal water and seabed within a certain distance of a country's coastline that cannot be entered without permission or prior information.
The area of Pakistan's territorial waters is 12 nautical miles while its seabed territory (EEZ) grew to 290,000 square kilometres in 2015.
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Courtesy dawn news
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ATHENS, OCT 19: Greek authorities
suppress the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Muslim Turkish minority in
Western Thrace, the elected mufti (Muslim scholar and legal expert) of Xanthi
(Iskece) has said.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ahmet
Mete said the heads of the Muslim Turkish minority in Western Thrace are
"threatened and insulted."
Noting that the mufti institution
in Western Thrace was regulated by the principles in the Treaty of Lausanne, he
said the Greek authorities did not give the rights to the minority group it was
entrusted to.
The appointment of muftis by
Greek authorities weaken the position of muftis in Western Thrace, he said,
adding that a man with a primary school degree was appointed to the position in
Xanthi.
Mete said the Islamic clerics
have an important role for the unity and solidarity of the minority in the
region, adding that they will continue their "rightful struggle"
against moves that divide the society.
Mete and his predecessor Mehmet
Emin Aga have previously been convicted by Greek courts for usurping authority.
The Western Thrace region of
Greece is home to a Muslim Turkish minority of around 150,000 people, where
muftis have legal jurisdiction to decide on the family and inheritance matters
in the local community.
The issue of mufti elections has
been a long-standing problem for the group since 1991.
The election of muftis by Muslims
in Greece was regulated in the 1913 Treaty of Athens with the Ottoman Empire
and was later included in Greek law. Greece, however, annulled the law in 1991
and started appointing muftis itself.
The majority of Muslim Turks in the cities of Komotini and Xanthi do not recognize the appointed muftis and instead elect their own, who are not recognized by the Greek state.
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Courtesy anews
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ANKARA, OCT 19: The 5th TRT World
Forum, with the participation of nearly 100 speakers from 36 countries, has
started with the opening speeches of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,
Communications Director of Republic of Turkey Fahrettin Altun, and Director General
of TRT Mehmet Zahid Sobacı.
President Erdoğan, who has
participated in every TRT World Forum since 2017 and made striking statements
regarding the agenda of Turkey and the world, which have drawn significant
interest in the world press, is expected to make important statements at this
year's event, which will be held with the theme "Power and Paradox:
Understanding Grand Strategy in the 21st Century".
In TRT World Forum, alongside
President Erdoğan, Minister of Foreign Issues Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Communications
Director of Republic of Turkey Fahrettin Altun, and Director General of TRT
Mehmet Zahid Sobacı and experts will address many crucial global issues ranging
from climate and global health crises to international economic development and
from the rise of Eurasia to digital governance.
TRT World Forum 2021 can be followed live from http://www.trtworldforum.com
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COURTESY Anews
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WASHINGTON, OCT 19: The special US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has resigned, admitting his shortcomings. His deputy Thomas West would replace him.
The resignation comes as the
United States has withdrawn from a session called by Russia on the future of
Afghanistan.
In a letter to Secretary of State
Antony Blinken, Khalilzad defended his record but acknowledged that he came up
short and said he wanted to step aside during the “new phase of our Afghanistan
policy.”
“The political arrangement
between the Afghan government and the Taliban did not go forward as envisaged,”
he wrote.
“The reasons for this are too
complex and I will share my thoughts in the coming day and weeks.”
Born in Afghanistan, the dapper
70-year-old academic turned US diplomat took senior positions as part of the
inner circle of former president George W. Bush, becoming the US ambassador to
Kabul and then Baghdad and the United Nations.
As former president Donald Trump
itched to end America’s longest war in Afghanistan, he brought back Khalilzad,
who led exhaustive talks with the Taliban — without including the US-backed
government in Kabul.
Those talks led to a February
2020 agreement in which US troops would leave the following year.
But peace negotiations between
the Taliban and the leadership in Kabul failed to gain traction, and the
government that the United States built over 20 years crumbled within days as
US troops left.
Rare US figure
Steeped in Afghanistan’s language
and customs, Khalilzad was a rare US diplomat able to develop a cordial rapport
with Taliban leaders whose regime was toppled by the United States after the
September 11, 2001 attacks over its welcome to Al-Qaeda.
Khalilzad, despite his Republican
affiliation, was kept in place when Democratic President Joe Biden defeated
Trump and decided to go ahead with the withdrawal.
Khalilzad soon became a lightning
rod for criticism, with even his superiors in the Biden administration — while
voicing respect for him personally — faulting the diplomacy behind the 2020
agreement.
Blinken said that Khalilzad’s
deputy, Thomas West, would take over as the special envoy.
West is a longtime aide to Biden,
serving on his staff when he was vice president. West has worked for years on
South Asia policy including on the US-India civilian nuclear deal.
US backtracks from Afghanistan talks
Shortly before Khalilzad’s
resignation became public, the State Department said the United States would not
be able to attend a new session called Tuesday by Russia that also includes
China and Pakistan, historically the Taliban’s primary backer.
Russian peace envoy to
Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov had announced last week that his country would host
the United States, China and Pakistan ” to work out a common position on the
changing situation in Afghanistan.”
The Taliban confirmed their
participation soon afterwards. Taliban’s foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul
Qahar Balkhi tweeted that Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy of the council of
ministers in the Taliban government, will lead the delegation in the meeting.
“We look forward to engaging in
that forum going forward, but we’re not in a position to take part this week,”
state department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Monday.
‘Time not on our side’
After Trump ended US opposition
to speaking to the Taliban, Khalilzad was instrumental in Doha talks between
the US and the Taliban.
But pictures of him smiling with
the Taliban earned him heated criticism in Kabul where some in the now-fallen
government as well as newly Western-oriented elite berated him and accused him
of selling out Afghanistan.
In interviews last month,
Khalilzad said that he had reached a deal with the Taliban in which the
insurgents would stay out of Kabul and negotiate a political transition.
But Khalilzad said the deal
collapsed when president Ashraf Ghani fled the country on August 15 and the
Taliban saw a security vacuum.
Speaking to Foreign Policy,
Khalilzad said that the Taliban fulfilled key parts of the February 2020
agreement including not attacking the departing US troops.
“I respect those who say we
shouldn’t have negotiated with the Talibs without the government being there.
But we don’t know how much more fighting would have taken for the Talibs to
agree to that,” he said.
But with no appetite in the
United States for another surge of troops in its longest war, “each year we
were losing ground to the Talibs,” he said.
“Time was not on our side.”
Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington who is now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said that Khalilzad failed in that he “equated US withdrawal with peace.”
“Khalilzad handed the keys of Kabul to the Taliban in return for promises everyone knew the Taliban would not keep,” Haqqani said.
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COURTESY SAMAA
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ISLAMABAD, OCT 19: Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa reiterated Pakistan’s desire for “enduring ties” with the United States.
He was talking to US Charge d’affaires to Pakistan Angela Aggeler, who called on him.
The Inter-Services Public Relations, the media affairs wing of the army, said the two discussed “matters of mutual interest, current security situation in Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation in various fields”.
“Pakistan desires to maintain the tradition of bilateral engagement and wishes for an enduring relationship with the United States,” Gen Bajwa was quoted as having told the American diplomat.
The ISPR said Gen Bajwa emphasised the need for a “global convergence” on Afghanistan to avoid humanitarian crisis. He called for “coordinated efforts” for economic uplift of the Afghans.
The twin economic and humanitarian crises are aggravating with every passing day in the war-ravaged country. The situation has worsened due to stoppage of foreign aid and freezing of Afghanistan’s assets held abroad.
The ISPR said Ms Aggeler “appreciated Pakistan’s role in Afghan situation, efforts for regional stability and pledged to play their role for further improvement in diplomatic cooperation with Pakistan at all levels”.
The US diplomat also met National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf.
The National Security Division said the two sides agreed to continue their cooperation on Afghanistan.
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COURTESY DAWN NEWS
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Monday, 18 October 2021
ISLAMABAD, OCT 18: The 30th anniversary of Independence of Azerbaijan has celebrated in Islamabad on Monday.
Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser was the chief guest on this occasion. He, along with Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadovand and other diplomats have cut the cake.
During the meeting, Speaker National Assembly extended greetings to Azerbaijani ambassador on his Independence day.
Matters of bilateral interest came under discussion at the time of meeting between both dignitaries.
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By Ehsan Khan
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DUBAI, OCT 18: Pakistan have defeated West Indies in their first warm-up match of the ICC T20 World Cup today (Monday).
Chasing a modest target of 131 runs, the Men-in-Green comfortably went over the line with seven wickets in hand in 15.3 overs.
The star of the run-chase was captain Babar Azam, who led from the front and scored a brilliant half-century. The right-hander scored 50 off 41 balls with the help of six boundaries and a maximum.
He was well supported by Fakhar Zaman, who remained unbeaten on 46 off 24 balls. In that knock, the left-hander hit four boundaries and two gigantic sixes.
Earlier, after opting to bat, the defending champions never looked comfortable with the bat. Their only resistance against Pakistan’s bowling attack came from Chris Gayle (20), Shimron Hetmyer (28) and captain Kieron Pollard (23)’s bats.
For Pakistan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf had a relatively expensive outing with the bowl, as they conceded 41 and 32 runs respectively in their four-over each spells.
The duo also claimed two wickets each for the winning side. Meanwhile, the star with the ball was Imad Wasim, who bowled an economical three-over spell, where he conceded only six runs and claimed a wicket as well.
They were well supported by pacer Hasan Ali, who also claimed two wickets for 21 runs in his four-over spell.
The Men-in-Green will face South Africa in next warm-up fixture.
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COURTESY SAMAA
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