CHINA
1. A Logistics Complex is being constructed for Pakistan in Xinjiang to promote bilateral trade between China and Pakistan. Spread over 58 hectares, the project involved an investment of US $ 464 million, according to the Xinjiang local government. (Daily K2, Nawa-i-Waqt)
2. Pakistan has decided to purchase six (6) maritime patrolling vessels from China to secure Gwadar port and to prevent the entry of RAW spies and terrorists into Pakistan. (Roznama Dunya)
AFGHANISTAN
1. Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Salahuddin Rabbani has said that drift in the law and order scene in his county would affect Pakistan as well, reports in Afghan media said. (Roznama Dunya)
SAUDI ARABIA
1. Nawa-i-Waqt has editorially ticked off Saudi Arabia for the honour conferred on Indian Premier Narendra Modi saying that Riyadh has hurt the sentiments of Muslims, especially in India and Pakistan. “Saudi Arabia should revisit its policies with regard to India since it is the only country that has been the main cause for all the troubles in South Asia. India is Pakistan’s enemy Number One and as such Saudi Arabia should avoid strengthening ties with India, as a retort to Pakistan’s improving relations with Iran. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
INDIA
1. An analyst on Saudi TV said that Indian PM Modi wanted to resolve the Yemen dispute under the UN resolutions. Instead of concentrating on Yemen Modi should first try to resolve the Kashmir dispute, which was burning for the past 68 years, as per the UN Resolutions. The analyst also said that India’s ruling party was promoting extremism in India and Muslims were its main target. (Daily Pak, Nawa-i-Waqt)
2. Several editorials have appeared on the murder of an Indian Muslim police officer who was part of NIA team investigating the Pathankot attack case. The murder gives raises doubts since a police officer engaged in the Samjhauta Express case also was killed. This murder cannot just be a coincidence, as India’s satanic mind and its satanic organisations can go to any extent. Pakistani government should review the situation carefully and frame its India policies. India did not cooperate with the Pakistani JIT that had gone to Pathankot. The hand of Indian secret agency is discernible behind the NIA investigation officer’s murder. (Editorials in Jang, Jasarat, Khabrain, Ausaf)
3. Defence experts Lt. Gen. (Retd) Talat Masood, Maj. Gen (Retired) Zahid Sikander, and others, while talking to Dunya, said that the Indian government had killed its Muslim investigating officer to wipe out all the evidences of the Pathankot attack. They said that the Indian government did not want the investigation case to proceed. (Roznama Dunya)
4. As per Pakistan JIT’s initial report, no evidence was found against JeM chief Masood Azhar’s involvement in the Pathankot attack; at the time of attack, he was not present in Bahawalpur. (Roznama Dunya, Jang)
5. Afghan Taliban has strongly refuted the claims made by a former German Ambassador to Qatar that Taliban had arrested RAW agent Kulbhushan and sold him off to Pakistani agencies. India, for whom it was not possible to disown Kulbhushan or deny the fact that he was a RAW agent involved in anti-Pakistan activities, was trying to use the former German envoy’s statement to come clean. (Ummat)
6. Munir Ahmed Baloch criticises that Indian government while professing secularism has been forcing all religious minorities living in the country to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. “Before independence, the Hindu teachers used to force all students to sing ‘Vande Mataram’. Hence Muslims believed that the real meaning of freedom was freedom of Hindus, and demanded a separate nation for Muslims. Even today the Hindu extremists are conveying the message that India is only for Hindus by forcing everyone to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. (Roznama Dunya)
IRAN
1. Jamat-e-Ahle-e-Sunnat Chief Administrator, Alam Riyaz Shah, said that Iran’s soil should not be used for the dirty intentions of India against Pakistan. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
2. On the arrest of RAW agent, Arif Bahar, writes that it is now the responsibility of the Iranian leadership to take notice of the fact that the said Indian agent was using its soil against Pakistan. It is confirmed that a proxy war is underway in the region and every country is using each other’s land. (Jasarat)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Sindh Government has released a list of 625 religious leaders who are alleged to have links with banned organisation. (Roznama Dunya)
2. Talhe-as-Saif says though there are three interpretations on ‘Ad Dawa Qablal Qital’ (invitation to non-believers towards Islam prior to killing them), it is agreed that non-believers should be given an invitation to join Islam or to pay taxes and live under the Islamic rule. “If they wouldn’t agree to either of these two conditions then killing them was allowed. However some interpretations allowed the killing of non-believers without offering the said invitation, if they had already been offered the invitation in the past”, he writes and remarks: “The invitation is also contingent on when Muslims attacked non-Muslims, but in the opposite case, the Muslims could kill the attackers”. (Al Qalam Weekly, 1-7 April)
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Senior PPP leader, Rehman Malik, who is also a former Interior Minister has rejected the charge in the Panama papers that he had stashed ill-gotten abroad. These charges are a part of RAW’s conspiracy to defame him. (Ibrat, Daily K2, Jang)
ECONOMY-WATER- ENERGY
1. Several dailies have commented editorially on the flood havoc in the Northern Areas also known as Gilgit-Baltistan region. Almost all dailies have asked the government rush relief to the affected people without any delay. It is imperative to restore people’s trust in the government. Instead of taking advantage of the rains to build water reserves, the government has let the situation turn into a disaster. This is in contrast to what India has done to collect and save excess water. India uses these excess waters to harass Pakistan as and when it wants by either blocking Pakistan’s share of water or releasing excess water into Pakistan which causes floods. (Ibrat, Kawish, Roznama Dunya, Daily K2, Baad-e-Shimal, Ausaf and Jang)
SINDH
1. Commenting on the formation of Grand Alliance against PPP and its chief Zardari, Haji Gul Hassan said hopefully the new Sindh Democratic Alliance, which met in Umarkot, would succeed in its objectives. Another commentator, Yami Chandiyo points out that the leaders of the grand alliance have demanded imposition of Governor’s Rule in Sindh. It is an undemocratic demand, he remarked and said such leaders had survived only because of the establishment’s blessings in the past and they are looking to get the establishment involved this time as well. Chandiyo further writes that while poor governance and PPP’s monopoly in Sindh are not good for democracy in Sindh, the lack of a healthy opposition and the domination of other undemocratic forces would only make things worse. He concludes that good governance is possible through democratic and parliamentary systems and not through means like Governor’s Rule. (Ibrat, Kawish)
2. Eight people have lost their lives in a fight that broke out between two groups over the ownership of disputed lands in the Sindh province. The PPP government in Karachi should take necessary steps to set right the old land records to avoid the repetition of such incidents. The new Sindh Police Chief to take note of the police’s inertia and neglect that had led to the loss of eight precious lives. (Editorial in Awami Awaz)
BALOCHISTAN
1. The National Party Chief, Mir Haas Bizenjo, has said that his Party would not allow the Balochis to be made a minority behind the veil of progress. Addressing public meeting along with Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch during a two-day visit to Gwadar, he also said his party would not accept the census at any cost till the registration of all outsiders was not cancelled. (Daily Intekhab)
POK/ G-B NEWS
1. Chinese companies would soon begin work on the Bonji Tunnel and Diamer Dam projects, Federal Secretary for Water and Electricity told G-B Governor, Mir Zafar Ali Khan. On his part, the Governor asked him to tap the potential of G-B Rivers to produce cheap power. (Daily K2)