Tag: PowerBreakDown

India invites Bilawal to the SCO meeting in May

MUMBAI: According to Indian media on Wednesday, India has extended an invitation to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that it is holding in May, indicating a potential warming of relations between the nuclear-armed foes.

Following a request for negotiations with India over all outstanding issues, including the illegally occupied region of Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended the invitation.

Just one month earlier, Bilawal’s remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of a UN Security Council meeting sparked public riots in India. India referred to the foreign minister’s remarks as being “uncivilized.”

Requests from Reuters for comments on the media claims that Bilawal had been invited to the SCO foreign ministers meeting being held in Goa went unanswered right away by the foreign ministry spokespersons for the two nations.

China, India, Russia, Pakistan, and four Central Asian nations make up the SCO.

The Indian High Commission in Islamabad reportedly delivered the invitation, according to the Indian Express newspaper.

If Pakistan agrees, Bilawal would travel to India for the first time in almost 12 years as its foreign minister.

Since 1947, when they gained independence from British rule, Pakistan and India have fought three wars. Two of the wars had their origins in the partitioned Kashmir area of the Himalayas.

India charges Pakistan with fomenting the long-running uprising in Kashmir, which is largely under its control. Pakistan refutes the charge made by India.

When India unilaterally abolished Kashmir’s autonomous status, tensions erupted once more in late 2019. The actions of New Delhi, according to PM Shehbaz, led to “flagrant” human rights breaches there.

However, there have been some efforts to restart negotiations through covert diplomacy following the suspension of official talks between the two nations. The United Arab Emirates mediated the previous effort in 2021, and PM Shehbaz has once more enlisted their help to help restart negotiations with India.

 

PTI: Fawad was “taken up” from Lahore following criticism from the ECP

After a former minister accused the electoral tribunal of siding with the army and warning “those going after PTI” of Article 6 proceedings, an arrest was made.

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Fawad Chaudhry, senior vice president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), was “taken up” from outside his home in the wee hours of Wednesday, according to the opposition party. He was then brought before a judge in Lahore.

Faisal Chaudhry, Chaudhry’s brother, described the arrest as “illegal,” adding that the family has not yet been told of the charges or whereabouts of the arrestee. The arrest was made by unidentified individuals in four Toyota Hilux pickup trucks without license plates.

 

The opposition party reported on Twitter that Chaudhry was now being escorted by police and counterterrorism department (CTD) officers to a court in the Cantt neighborhood.

 

After a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the former minister at the Kohsar police station in Islamabad on the complaint of Umar Hameed, the secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the former minister was arrested a short time later.

The complaint claims that Chaudhry disparaged the commission by comparing it to a munshi (secretary) and implying that it takes orders from higher-ups, a reference to the military.

 

Furthermore, it asserts that Chaudhry threatened the tribunal by stating during a speech outside the home of former prime minister Imran Khan that “those who join the caretaker government [in Punjab] will be pursued till they are punished.”

The FIR refers to the Pakistan Penal Code’s sections 153-A (promotion of enmity between groups), 506 (criminal intimidation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief), and 124-A (sedition).

Chaudhry allegedly tried to “incite violence against a constitutional institution” and “inflame the people’s sentiments,” according to a later tweet from the Islamabad police.

The case would be handled in accordance with the law, the police added.

 

 

 

 

Exit mobile version