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.

CHINA
1. Chinese Ship Building Corporation indicated that eight warships would be provided to Pakistan. Of these four will be built in China and the remaining in Karachi Shipyard. (Daily Pak)
RUSSIA
1. Russia has conducted military drills with Pakistan to pressurize India. It is Russia’s response to India’s tilting towards the US; so Modi was forced to buy weapons from Russia in order to appease Moscow and to show that India is still a friend of Russia. Russia also wants markets; hence it could change its position. Pakistan too should have contracts with Russia to maintain the balance of power in the region. (Daily Pak Edit, Nawa-i-Waqt Edit, Ummat Edit)
AFGHANISTAN
1. Sindh government has written a letter to the Federal government urging that the Afghan refugees should be deported by 17th January. It is a justified demand. There is evidence to show that the refugees are also responsible for growing crime rate and rising terror attacks. All foreigners including Afghans should be sent out from Sindh. (Kawish Edit)
INDIA
1. Hardly a day after the Pakistan PM offered peace talks with India during his press conference at Baku, the Indian PM, at BRICS summit claimed that India’s neighbour has connections with militants across the world. Modi has asked the countries of South Asia to unite against militancy and told BRICS countries to condemn terror. It is a very strange that on one hand, the Pakistan PM makes an offer for peace talks and on other hand, the Indian PM is all out to isolate Pakistan globally ignoring the fact that Delhi has failed miserably every time it made such an attempt. (Ibrat Edit)
2. Modi used BRICS as an economic platform to spew venom against Pakistan but the world leaders did not fall a prey to Modi propaganda. (Ummat)
3. Syed Salahuddin said that Pakistan should close its Embassy in India and recall its High Commissioner. Hizbul Mujahideen will turn the valley into a morgue for India with suicide bombers. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
4. The Indian threat to stop water to Pakistan should be challenged in International Court of Arbitration so that India will not be allowed to construct more dams. (Ausaf Edit)
ARMY/SECURITY FORCES
1. The Federal Home Minister, Nisar Ali Khan has announced that he will keep himself away from the investigation regarding Cyril Almeida’s report published in Dawn. He is likely to inform the PM about his decision. Nisar Ali Khan met the controversial reporter, Cyril Almeida to find out the sources of his report but he refused to reveal the source and commented that he will not cooperate during the investigations. (Kawish)
2. Razak Khati’s writes on ‘Growing chasm between the Army and the government’. It is out in the open that the ties between the civilian authorities and the Establishment are strained. The government thinks that the Establishment is supporting Imran Khan’s protests. The government feels the Establishment is doing this to destabilise it and thus be in a position to dictate its terms. The gulf between the two has developed soon after Nawaz Sharif’s visit to New Delhi to attend PM Modi’s swearing in ceremony. Now there is an apprehension that the government may crash before completing its term. On 4th October Pakistan felt diplomatic isolation. Following that, talks took place between Shahbaz Sharif and the ISI DG. Dawn’s recent report reveals that and the Army seems to be very upset with the government following this report. It seems that the Establishment has no more trust in the PM. There is a lot of resentment within the PML-N too because Nawaz Sharif refuses to change his style of functioning. Nawaz Sharif seems to be heading for tougher times ahead because neither the establishment nor the united opposition want to see him as a strong leader. (Sindh Express)
3. Defence Analyst General Ghulam Mustafa says that the government is trying to delay the probe into the leakage of “false information” about a meeting the PM had with security forces early this month. As a result, apart from the forces, the image of the PM is also affected badly. A negative massage is sent to the international community. Forces should take action under the Army Act as this is a matter of security concern. (Khabrain)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Two security officials were killed in attack by militants at Sarah Khawar in North Waziristan. (Kawish)
2. Qari Navid Masood Hashmi writes: some paid journalists are accusing the JeM and LeT as being harmful for Pakistan in order to appease India. These journalists aver that the days of jihad are over and argue that even a remote link with these organizations can be disadvantageous for Pakistan. The anti-jihad stance is taken by those who drink alcohol. Otherwise all Muslims know that jihad is a command of Allah and practice of Prophet Muhammad. One should differentiate between jihad and terrorism. What Israel is doing in Palestine is terrorism, what the US did in Afghanistan and Iraq was terrorism and what India is doing in Kashmir is terrorism. Jihad is a prayer and calling jihad terrorism is a kind of an ideological terrorism. The enmity of India against Pakistan is not new. Was Maulana Masood Azhar responsible for the wars India forced on Pakistan in 1965 and 1971? Was Maulana Masood responsible for war fought in Kargil? The Indian agency RAW is behind terrorism in Balochistan to split Pakistan. For years it has the funded MQM in Karachi and elsewhere. Is this enmity of India because of Masood Azhar? India’s enmity has is 69 – year-old whereas Maulana Masood is just 46 years old. The truth must prevail. (Al Qalam Weekly, 14-20 October 2016)
POLITICAL SCENE
1. Imran Khan is likely to hold Islamabad protests on 2nd November instead of 30th October. The final announcement is expected today. Major government offices like the Election Commission, FIA, NAB and others are likely to be blocked as part of the PTI protests on the day in Islamabad. (Kawish)
2. PPP Senator Syed Ghani says Farooq Sattar of MQM is just a sparrow. Those who used to be behind target killings in Karachi are in big trouble. They cannot look after their own parties and now they are criticising PPP. (Awami Awaz)
3. Following PTI’s plans for Islamabad bandh either later this month or early next month, the federal police authorities have prepared a security plan in consultation with the Home Minister and the PM. All leave applications by policemen after 25 October were rejected. Police have procured 25,000 additional tear gas shells. Any attempt to harm government buildings, blocking routes, or disrupting vehicular movements at red zone or any other areas will be dealt with as per criminal and anti-terror laws. Police from Azad Kashmir and Punjab are being summoned to since as many as 4500 local police officers are on the VVIP route security duties. The police and the Rangers will together monitor the Red Zone areas. The Islamabad bandh program can affect life in Islamabad on that day. (Sindh Express)
4. Arif Bahar writes that media and the intellectual circles are gripped by an animated discussion after the Chief Justice stated that there is monarchy in Pakistan in the name of democracy. (Jasarat)
5. PTI Chief Imran Khan should reconsider his plans for Islamabad bandh and on his part PM Nawaz Sharif must show flexibility. When Pakistani forces are ready to accept external threats, a large public gathering in Islamabad will give opportunity to Pakistan’s enemies to create chaos in the country. The PM should present himself to accountability. (Ausaf Edit)
6. PEMPRA official have registered case against Sialkot cable operators for airing Indian TV channels. (Jasarat)
POK/G-B NEWS
1. Economic crisis in Azad Jammu Kashmir has taken a serious turn with the State Bank refusing to provide funds. The provincial govt is facing a deficit of Rs 23 billion and all development projects have been stopped. Since two months 15 thousands employees have not been paid salaries. The federal government has not released funds aggravating the monetary crisis in AJK. (Jasarat)
2. Gilgit-Baltistan CM Hafizur Rahman said load shedding would be no more than 12 hours a day this year as compared to 20 hours a day las year. He hoped that load shedding would end in 2020 when new power projects in Gilgit-Baltistan would be delivering 106MW. He also said that environmental tax would be imposed on vehicles using the CPEC. (Daily K2, Baad-e-Shimal)
3. The government of Gilgit Baltistan has made a false claim over the construction of Jiglot-Skardu Road. Construction of this road is extremely important considering the number of accidents taking place enroute but the work has not been completed so far. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)
4. The President of Azad Jammu Kashmir, Muhammad Masood Khan said Kashmir is not a burden for Pakistan. The members of the AJK cabinet should raise the Kashmir issue on social media to draw the attention of the world community on Kashmir. (Jasarat-Roznama Dunya)