SOURCE: Ausaf, Ummat, Daily Pak, Nawa-i-Waqt, Urdu Point, Daily Jinnah, Awami Awaz, Daily Dharti, Jasarat, Kawish, Daily Intekhab, Daily Times, Jang, Ibrat, Khabrain, Roznama Dunya, Hizb Media, Al Qalam Weekly, Baad-e-Shimal, Bang-e-Sahar, Sindh Express, Pk Voices.

CHINA
1. Top Pakistani and Chinese officials will meet today to decide the agenda for the 6th CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee which will take place on 29 December. (Jasarat)
SAUDI ARABIA/ IRAN
1. General (Retd). Raheel Sharif went to Saudi Arabia and there is a possibility that he would be made the Defence Advisor of the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism. It is learnt that the initial contract would be of 2 years. ; Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Nayef is the Commander of the Islamic force which enjoys the support of Turkey. (Khabrain)
2. The agreement between Pakistan and Iran on gas supplies seems to be in trouble. According to sources in the Ministry of Trade, to evade consequences for delay and subsequent legal action, Pakistan had requested Iran for reduction in gas prices. According to a private TV channel, Iran once again refused to reduce the agreed gas prices. Pakistan too took no steps on Tehran’s proposals for a free trade agreement and on channels for banking and relief in duties. In view of these developments, Ministry of Petroleum and Ministry of Trade delegations have postponed their visit to Tehran which was to begin on Tuesday. According to Ministry of Trade, talks on FDA will be rescheduled. It may take place next month. (Daily Intekhab)
AFGHANISTAN
1. Afghan Taliban has shot down a helicopter of Afghan government and killed 18 security force personnel in Kandahar, Nimroz, Badakhshan and Farah. Moreover, Taliban have also got control over many chowkies. (Ummat)
INDIA
1. Reports say an inter-ministerial task force has been set up by the Modi government to look into strategic aspects of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan. This task force is led by Arun Jaitley. The Indian PM is fed up of the Kashmir movement and has started to make Pakistan infertile if Pakistan continues to provide diplomatic and logistic support to Kashmiris. The Indian PM overlooked the fact that the international powers and World Bank (WB) are the guarantors of IWT. The WB is reviewing the Indian effort for protecting the 70- year old agreement. (Khabrain Edit)
2. India has diverted itself from the Indus Water Treaty and its extremist PM Modi has ordered diversion of the waters of Beas, Ravi and Sutlej. India at any moment could announce about the abrogation of the IWT and India has plans to hold the waters of all three Rivers flowing from J&K. On the other hand Pakistani leadership is busy in protecting its own government which is under pressure of the Panama leaks and is not paying attention to India’s water aggression. Pakistan only kept waiting for arbitration of the World Bank whereas India kept issuing threats. Now, when India has given a signal of getting out of the treaty the President of the World Bank has called on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and ensured that water disputes with India would be resolved through dialogue. How can Pakistan trust the assurance of the World Bank which till a few days ago was not ready to arbitrate over the dispute? Pakistani leaders should have to understand the cunningness of India which is busy against Pakistan on every level. India, with the patronage of US is damaging the interests of Pakistan. India has not tested Agni-5 to play crackers. Entire Pakistan is on its radars. Water scarcity is going to be a serious issue in coming years and Pakistani leaders are unconcerned about the seriousness of the water. (Jasarat Edit)
3. JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed said that Balochistan has the major share of CPEC and hence it is being the first target of enemies. He alleged that India is behind terrorism in Balochistan. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
ARMY/SECURITY FORCES
1. COAS General Qamar Bajwa’s statement in Quetta stressing that maintaining success of operation Zarb-e-Azb is the biggest challenge and that Pakistan’s progress depends on the development in Baluchistan tells a home truth. The entire world admired the way former Army Chief pushed ahead the operation Zarb-e-Azb and gave due credit to the army. The new COAS is carrying on with the priorities set up by his predecessor. If at all the operation Zarb-e-Azb slows down, the reason will be Afghanistan’s exit-entry policies which are under Indian influence. If Afghanistan did not shelter terrorists who fled from Pakistan as a result of operation Zarb-e-Azb, Afghanistan also would have been free of terrorists. The CPEC project is for the benefit of the entire region, but jealous elements do not realize this commitment to make Balochistan a pride of Pakistan. Bajwa has spoken about recruitment of youth from Balochistan to Pakistan Army. Such efforts would boost people’s confidence in the Pakistan Army and the government and would be helpful in reducing radicalization. (Roznama Dunya Edit, Daily Pak Edit)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Home Ministry is reportedly ignoring the criticism that is heaped on it for its failure to act effectively against militancy in the country, especially in its measures against banned fundamentalist organisations. The Home Ministry keeps saying this criticism is unnecessary but only the other day the ministry itself has released review of the National Action Plan (NAP) wherein it admitted that it has not been effective enough against fundamentalist groups. In fact the Apex Court too has observed that the Home Ministry has not implemented the NAP against militants. Now that the Home Ministry has taken time to admit its lapses, the people will surely ask as to what the Home Ministry plans to do against militancy and for the betterment of law and order within the framework of NAP during remaining time of this government. It is clear from the Home Ministry’s review report that the larger reason for not meeting targets set by the NAP could be attributed to political reconciliations or vested interests of factions and parties. If the Home Ministry accepted the criticism in healthy and constructive manner, its functioning could have been a lot better. The Home Ministry was repeatedly informed through media reports and columns that fundamentalist remained active by changing names of their organisations and if they are not checked in time, it will have negative fallout. Instead of taking note of such alerts and criticism from media, Home Ministry kept citing its own statistics which were far from real scenario on ground. Now that the Home Ministry has admitted its lapses in its review, hopefully it will start working on the weak aspects of its measures against militancy. (Sindh Express Edit)
2. Reacting to yesterday’s news regarding the improper implementation on National Action Plan, the Interior Ministry has issued a clarification that it had not released any such report. It has asked the media to be careful and responsible in dealing with sensitive national issues and refrain from broadcasting unattested news. (Daily Pak)
3. JuI (S) Chief, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq said in Bahawalpur that anti-Islamic powers fear major threat from students of religious madaris. The students should spread Islam in the world. He criticized that National Action Plan is made only against religious people and is misused. (Jang)
ECONOMY/POWER/WATER
1. Prolonged drought and low water levels in reservoirs are affecting wheat sowing in Pakistan. The Meteorological Department has ruled out any heavy rainfall next month. IRSA has also warned that water level in Mangla and Tarbela dams is nearing dead end due to drought conditions. IRSA spokesman said the current water levels in reservoirs are not enough for irrigation. Earlier there were forecasts of 17 per cent water cut during the Rabi season but because of continuing drought, water levels are expected to come down further in reservoirs. In other words, there can be more water cut during Rabi season. The Meteorological Department has also warned that drought that has set in about three months ago is not likely to end soon. It said snowfall in mountainous has come down to only 50 per cent. The water reservoirs in Pakistan have capacity to store water for 30 days but water experts are of the view that in the times of seasonal fluctuations, such low storage capacity is inadequate. (Sindh Express)
2. WAPDA Chairman said that the Kalabagh dam must come up. The government should be asked as to why Kalabagh has not been built so far. Pakistan is capable of generating 1 lakh MW hydro power and 60,000 MW of that capacity has been identified. It is a matter of shame that despite a high capacity only 7 per cent hydroelectricity is being generated. Pakistan will build Bhasha dam with its own funds because global donors have kept this project hanging since 10 years but good thing is that this project costing 14 billion dollars is now being spilt in two parts. First seven years will see completion of dam and once the dam is ready power plants will be raised. (Sindh Express)
3. Briefing the Planning and Development Standing Committee of the Senate, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Chief said Chashma nuclear power plant has been inaugurated. This plant has a 340 MW capacity. The Chashma nuclear power IV will be completed by June next year and will start generating power from July. Two nuclear power plants are coming up in Karachi. These plants are costing a lot but their running cost is low. (Sindh Express)
SINDH/BALOCHISTAN/KP/PUNJAB
1. Chief of Balochistan National Party Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal has said that census operations are a question of life and death for Baloch people. Chairing a meeting of BNP Central Committee in Karachi, he said BNP will neither agree for the census nor accept the census report as long as four million Afghan refugees are in Balochistan and resettlement of lakhs of Balochs is pending. For a census to take place, identity cards should be issued to at least 60% of Balochs. He demanded that laws should be amended to ensure that Baloch race is not reduced to a minority. He said CPEC is said to be progressing while Balochs from Gwadar long for every drop of water. Symptoms of progress can be seen only in Punjab. He demanded that Chief Minister and provincial Home Minister to resign taking responsibility for the recent terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, in a tweet Baloch resistance leader Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch has announced a popular resistance movement against census in Balochistan. He said the proposed census is against the existence of Baloch race. (Daily Intekhab)
2. Sensitive agencies and the police have arrested 12 criminals from Lyari during a search operation in Karachi. Also nabbed were three terrorists of a banned outfit. Weapons and explosive material were recovered from them. (Jang/Roznama Dunya)
POLITICAL SCENE
1. Musharraf has gone back on his ‘Raheel helped’ statement. He now says that former Army Chief, Raheel Sharif, did not help him in leaving Pakistan. In a TV programme Musharraf also said that he never asked for any such help from Raheel Sharif. He clarified that the TV channels have distorted his statements. He said in his recent new interview that all reports about taking help from Raheel Sharif were based on imagination. (Ibrat)
2. PML-N leader Talal Chaudhary said if the Supreme Court issues a red warrant against Musharraf, government will surely arrest the former president and bring him to Pakistan. He also said that the PPP alone cannot take on the government. PPP can join hands with the PTI against the government. Zardari has to explain his Swiss accounts and several other corruption scandals during his time. (Sindh Express)
3. In a Geo News Program, senior analyst, Najam Sethi said Asif Zardari knows that army is not in the mood to interfere at the moment; hence he could take a risk of joining Imran Khan’s sit-ins. If the government doesn’t react positively to PPP demands, he could make an alliance with Imran Khan temporarily. Zardari is disappointed with his parliamentary party’s performance also. Zardari will be able to play opposition’s role better in the parliament which Bilawal cannot do. (Jang)
4. Zardari’s return is a result of deal with the government; that is why at the last minute the speech script was altered and made softer. The meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Fazlur Rahman is important in this regard. Now PPP will wait and watch as to what extent Nawaz Sharif fulfils his promises; it is equally essential to watch whether the PPP convinces government for early elections. In this regard, Zardari will win bi-election and will take on opposition leader’s seat. Both PPP and PML-N will try to obstruct Imran Khan. (Roznama Dunya)
5. In a Dunya TV program, columnist Kamran Khan said that Zardari’s announcement of returning to parliament seems like strengthening democracy. He did not talk of toppling the government. He wants to use parliament to promote his party’s interests. It is possible that Zardari will be the opposition leader and in this way his role will be very important. He was in so much hurry to make this announcement that he did not wait for his party’s central executive committee meeting. PTI leader, Shafqat Mehmood who took part in the TV show, said that Zardari’s talk indicates that he has returned as per some understanding. Senior analyst Iftekhar Ahmed said that it appears like preparation for next elections. (Roznama Dunya)
6. Though there is a strong criticism of the government by PPP leaders in yesterday’s Benazir anniversary meeting it is a clear indication that PPP means business now. It is in no mood to pack off the government of the day before time and it is in no mood for early polls as evident from announcements that Zardari and Bilawal are contesting polls. In other words, both will be in National Assembly as long as this government stays. After Benazir, the PPP is facing steep decline in popularity. Despite remaining in power during 2008-13, its performance was far from satisfactory. Though PPP could complete its five year term, it was marred by several instances of bad governance and scams. Pakistan parties like PPP have their own distinct identity and no wonder it has remained a hope for the enlightened section of the country. But, the way PPP joined hands with the opposition and even with its traditional opponents (MQM) and kept compromising has disappointed the liberal and progressive forces in the country. PPP is popular for its dissenting nature and that is the reason at one time the elite too were keen to seek PPP tickets during elections. But a U-turn in party’s policies has lent a big blow to party. It is not too late for PPP to mend its ways but for that, it will have to review its policies. It will have to go back to its dissenting policy of the past and will have to be truly the party of the masses, working class and party of the enlightened sections of the society. (Awami Awaz Edit)