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

UNITED STATES
1. The US State Department has appreciated Pakistan’s war against terror. This is a welcome augury. The US also said that India has given no concrete proof with regard to Pakistan’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attack in 2008. Now if India really wants to counter terrorism, it should cooperate with Pakistan instead of showing aggression. The US is in a position to resolve the Kashmir issue and as such it should come forward mediate between India and Pakistan. (Daily Pak Edit, Nawa-i-Waqt Edit, 15 October)
2. An analyst on Channel-5 said the CIA is escalating controversies between Pakistan’s civilian and military bureaucracy. He said that India would not hold talks on the Kashmir issue. (Khabrain)
INDIA
1. Azerbaijan has endorsed Pakistan stand on the Kashmir issue, and this is proof enough to show that India has failed to isolate Pakistan on Kashmir. Turkey too had supported Pakistan on Kashmir and now even Afghanistan has expressed its support for Pakistan on the CPEC with a wish to become a part of the project. On the contrary, India’s isolation is clearly evident. It has not been able to obtain support for its NSG bid and Modi’s all-out efforts have gone in vain. India should understand that Pakistan is an important country for the entire region and hence India should cooperate with Pakistan by resolving the Kashmir dispute on priority basis. (Daily Pak Edit, Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
2. During his foreign visits, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif exposed India’s duplicity on the Kashmir issue. He also highlighted that Pakistan wants to keep peace talks alive but India is not acceding to the request. He also made another point. It is that Pakistani has continued to make offer of peace talks to India, despite Indian violations along the border and LoC. However there is no positive reply from the Indian side. These gestures will win accolades for Sharif. Pakistan has never wanted unrest or lawlessness in the region but a look at Indian history will show that India has no respect for peace. This is evident from its keenness for more weapons. This mindset means that Indian cannot even look after its own people whereas Pakistan is a country that always wants peace talks. India often backs out of peace talks because it cannot win these talks. This is the reason that whenever Pakistan makes an offer for peace talks, be it on the Kashmir issue or any other issue, India always backs out. By doing this, India is adding to its poor image globally. (Sindh Express)
3. Talhe As-Saif writes in Al Qalam Weekly that Pakistan’s foreign policy has completely failed, and the troika of India, Iran and Afghanistan has tightened the noose around Pakistan. Separatist movements have been strengthened to destabilize Pakistan and if the Afghan Taliban would not have gotten control over the areas along the border with Pakistan, the government of Kabul would have written the history of destructions in Pakistan. Iran is damaging Pakistan as per its policy as in the Middle East but the government is not openly naming Iran. On the other hand agriculture and industries are collapsing, corruption is rampant and India is aggressively carrying out shelling on the borders and doing deals with the US to buy more weapons. The government of Pakistan has responded to these developments by merely announcing that it would take steps against defunct organizations which would work by changing names. Put simply, Pakistan is suffering from something and the government is looking at something else. For every wrong in Pakistan, the government thinks curbing pro-Kashmir organizations is the solution. (Al Qalam Weekly, 14-20 October)
4. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit says he has received threatening calls and he has informed the officials concerned. He expects action would be taken on his complaint. Basit said that India will have to understand that Kashmir is the main reason of tension between the two countries and it will have to be resolved. War is not in the interest of either country. (Jasarat)
5. There is report of scuffle between Indian security forces and Chinese media in Goa when Chinese media were stopped from entering the hotel. (Ummat)
6. For the first time ever in Kashmir, along with the flag of Pakistan, people in Pulwama have waved the flag of China. It was written on the Pakistani flag that people of Kashmir are waiting for China’s help. (Ummat, Roznama Dunya)
7. American news website Huffington Post has stated that India was making a mistake by using the BRICS Summit against Pakistan. Modi has already destroyed SAARC and is now trying to isolate Pakistan through BRICS. (Ummat)
8. India has wasted billions of rupees to purchase S 400 missile system and other war goods from Russia to appease Moscow. But it has failed to influence China. China rejected a bid to term Jihad-e-Kashmir as terrorism. (Ummat)
9. JI Chief Siraj-ul-Haq stated that the Kashmir issue cannot be resolved only though statements and resolutions or even protests. The movement in Kashmir has got a new boost after the killing of Burhan Wani. He also said that the Indian Army has no capacity for surgical strikes and the current Pakistani government has had no foreign policy from the beginning. India wants to dominate the region with US support and keeps violating the LoC and borders. (Awami Awaz)
ARMY/SECURITY FORCES
1. In a national security meeting chaired by COAS Gen. Raheel Sharif, baseless propaganda against Pakistani forces issued in an English newspaper (Dawn report of Oct 6) was discussed. Respecting freedom of press, the Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan has removed the name of the Dawn journalist from ECL. Media organisations have assured their full support to the government. Pakistani forces are fighting against terrorism for a long time. Rival elements are hatching a conspiracy and creating baseless propaganda against the Pakistani forces. It is disturbing that the US blames Pakistan but does not take notice of India’s activities nor of its aggression on Kashmiri people. (Khabrain Edit)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Security forces in Karachi have arrested 2 RAW agents and claimed that over 20 RAW agents were present in the city with the aim of creating law and order problems in the city. (Daily Pak, Nawa-i-Waqt, 15 October)
ECONOMY
1. The World Economic Forum’s Global Travel and Tourism Report has placed Pakistan at number four on the list of unsafe countries and India is put at the 13th place.. Terrorism has jolted the country and law and order is compromised but it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure peace in the country and find ways to take Pakistan’s name out of the dangerous countries list. (Daily K2 Edit)
2. PEMRA, the regulator for Cable TV operators, says they are going to start crackdowns on TV operators illegally showing Indian TV channels across the Sindh region from tonight. In a statement the regulator said notices issued to cable operators in the Sindh region expire tonight and thereafter PEMRA teams will begin crackdowns in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur regions. Action will be taken against those not following the rules. Not only erring cable operators will be penalised but their machinery also will be confiscated. (Awami Awaz)
SINDH/KPK/PUNJAB
1. Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KPK) chief minister CM Pervaiz Khattak says Pakistan suffered more great losses because of its corrupt leaders than what India could have inflicted on it. (Daily K2, Daily Pak, Nawa-i-Waqt)
2. Rajput and Bhatti community leaders from Karachi with their hundreds of associates joined the Pak Sarzameen Party. (Khabrain)
POLITICAL SCENE
1. Qadir Lashari writes in Kawish that it is by now clear that notwithstanding obstacles being created against him, Altaf Hussain still has many supporters in Karachi. Though recent developments created the impression that Altaf Hussain is isolated and that Muhajirs are no longer with him, there is no reaction from any quarters to Altaf getting acquitted in the money laundering case. (Kawish)
2. Prof Hassan Jaffar Arif, one of the members of the MQM London Interim Coordination Committee, says Altaf Hussain is not a traitor but loves Pakistan. There is no such thing as MQM Pakistan or MQM London – MQM is only MQM and it is headed only by Altaf Hussain. All MQM members are united under Altaf Hussain but some forces (alluding to the establishment) have tried to remove Altaf from MQM by setting up parties like Pak Sarzameen Party, MQM Pakistan and MQM (Haqeequi). MQM is the third largest party in Pakistan and despite the conspiracies against it, the party is making progress. (Sindh Express)
3. As many as 336 law makers of national assembly and provincial assemblies have been suspended for not submitting details of their wealth. Election Commission has taken this action after giving sufficient time to members to declare their assets. Those not providing asset details include 66 from National Assembly and 22 from the Senate. Saturday was the last day to submit details of assets. (Daily K-2)
POK/G-B NEWS
1. The Gilgit-Baltistan Government has decided to order NAB probe into more than a dozen incomplete projects. This is a welcome decision. It is necessary to investigate how payments were made to contractors even when the work was not done; the guilty must be punished for this mess. (Daily K2 Edit, 15 October)
2. The government and opposition should work together to solve the basic problems faced by the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit, 15 October)
3. An Islami Tehreek member of the GB Legislative Assembly (GBLA) Mohammad Ali Shaikh has said that Gilgit Baltistan should be elevated to the status of a regular province in order to address all its problems. This is GB people’s constitutional right but it is being denied. This is root cause of increasing sense of deprivation among the locals. The government needs to look at the issue seriously. (Daily K-2)
4. GB CM Hafizur Rahman has said that unless the Kashmir issue was resolved, making Gilgit-Baltistan a constitutional province of Pakistan was not possible. He added that people of Gilgit-Baltistan would die but could never think of separating from Pakistan. (Baad-e-Shimal, Oct 15)
5. GB chief minister may have said that unless the Kashmir issue is resolved, Gilgit-Baltistan could not be made a constitutional province of Pakistan but the federal government should grapple with the issue and find a way to grant constitutional rights for Gilgit-Baltistan. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)