As he settled down to his job as army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa -- who died last week; his passing did not merit even an obituary in major print or electronic media in Pakistan! -- developed a vision of reducing his country's and his institution, the army's traditional hostility toward India, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
The Islamabad high court is set to hear the petitions requesting the suspension of sentences to Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the 190 million Pound Al-Qadir Trust case on June 11.
Leaders of the All Parties Democratic Movement termed the amendment 'a clear violation of the Constitution.'
Giving a boost to the Pakistan's Ruling Party in the politically crucial province of Punjab ahead of this year's general election, two top leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz and Pakistan Muslim League - F, including Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood, have joined the party along with their lawmaker sons.
'Under the circumstances, this announcement may remain limited to bravado and little else, adding momentum to Imran's narrative of victimhood,' points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Pakistan's nuclear arsenal deterred India from carrying out any attacks and made the country's defence impregnable, former premier Nawaz Sharif has claimed.
Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has swept the country's last by-polls ahead of next year's general election, winning seven out of eight provincial and national assembly seats that went to the polls in Punjab province.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf will announce on August 14 the roadmap for the next general elections that are likely to be held in the first week of November, months ahead of schedule.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that independent candidates, a majority of them supported by the PTI secured 101 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) getting 54 seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagging 17 seats.
The result is a big blow to the military establishment, revealing the limits of 'political engineering'. It reflected the anger of the electorate, especially its younger voters, who have spoken decisively against the persistent harassment and victimisation of Imran Khan's political party, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
'Five months after the elections in February 2024, the Pakistan army has not been able to break Imran Khan's resolve and break his political party.'
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
Pakistan's Supreme Court will take up former premier Nawaz Sharif's petition seeking a probe into the secret memorandum sent to the US military on December 1, officials said on Tuesday.
Amid claims that a group of four generals led by the then army chief Pervez Musharraf masterminded the Kargil operation, Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, which was the ruling party at that time, on Thursday demanded a judicial inquiry into the 1999 conflict with India.
Main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said the Kashmir issue and differences over the sharing of river waters must be discussed during the February 25 talks between foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan.
The Pakistan government on Thursday said former premier Nawaz Sharif along with his brother Shahbaz would be provided with VVIP-level security in view of "serious threats" to their lives, shortly after the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief accused the "high-ranking" officials of plotting to kill him.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed an earlier verdict disqualifying opposition leaders Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif from electoral politics, paving the way for the restoration of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government in the politically crucial Punjab province.
Describing the United States' drone strikes inside Pakistan as attacks on the Pakistan's "self-reliance and self-respect", opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said no sovereign country can tolerate such attacks.
In a move towards political reconciliation in Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday met opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif offering an "olive branch", as reinstated chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry returned to his post after two years of protests over his ouster.
This came after the beleaguered Zardari was put on notice by the US, which reportedly gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to ease the simmering political crisis in Pakistan amid speculation that a deal brokered by Washington and the UK in consultation with the Pakistan army had been conveyed to the government.
Pakistan's main political parties on Monday stepped up their war of words, with opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif asking the people to rise up and join him in a 'revolution' against President Asif Ali Zardari's regime and the ruling Pakistan People's Party criticising the politics of confrontation. PML-N president and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif ruled out any reconciliation with Zardari till he gave up his controversial powers.
Pakistan should buy electricity from India to overcome a crippling energy shortage if it is provided at an affordable rate, former premier Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party's efforts to finalise a constitutional reforms package suffered a major setback after it failed to achieve consensus with the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on the procedure for appointing judges and on renaming the North West Frontier Province.
Keeping up his tirade against his bete noire Asif Ali Zardari, Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif on Sunday compared the President to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and accused him of compromising Pakistan's sovereignty by acting on the dictates of the US.
Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has asked the government to put former President Pervez Musharraf on trial for allegedly being responsible for the assassination of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
The Pakistan People's Party-led government is considering a proposal to seek Interpol's Red Corner notice against ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf, in a bid to bring him back from abroad to face treason charges, days after he called party chief and President Asif Ali Zardari 'a criminal and a fraud'. Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani had even hinted that it might not be possible to put Musharraf on trial, after main opposition PML-N stepped up demands for action against him.
A bill aimed at shielding top Pakistani leaders from contempt charges and curbing the apex court's efforts to push Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf into reopening graft cases against the President has been approved by the lower house of Parliament.
Pakistan's opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif gave a slip to the police and went into hiding on Sunday, before he could be served orders for his house arrest, a party spokesman said.
Sharif told a television news channel in an interview on Thursday that Zardari, whom he has blamed for influencing the apex court's verdict, would not be able to complete his term. He did not give details.
Amid main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's demand that Pervez Musharraf be tried for treason, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said the fate of the former military ruler will be decided by the people and Parliament and ruled out using his powers on "frivolous issues of the past".
Former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif has threatened to pull his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party out of the ruling coalition and "sit in the opposition" if judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf are not reinstated by Friday.
A Pakistani commission to probe how Osama bin Laden lived undetected in the garrison city of Abbottabad has run into rough weather days after its formation, with one member refusing to join the panel and the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz criticising the manner of its formation.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has said that Islamabad should not beg New Delhi for talks."We should tell India that if they are not ready for talks then Pakistan is also not eager to enter any talk process," Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the House in categorical words.Chaudhry Nisar was referring to the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Smaller parties in Pakistan have launched a bid to patch up differences between President Asif Ali Zardari and the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif before matters reach a point of no return.
Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif claimed on Monday that there was a major breakthrough to resolve the Kashmir issue with India during his premiership but the gains were "turned upside down" by the subsequent military regime of Pervez Musharraf.
'Outrage will take place sooner than later, because it's not only that their mandate has been stolen, but the most important issue right now is the sinking economy in Pakistan.' 'Inflation is 26%-27%. It is backbreaking inflation.' 'Food, energy, education, health, which are the primary things that every family requires, is going beyond the reach of the masses.'
Nine candidates on Wednesday filed nominations for Pakistan's presidential election, with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's India-born nominee Mamnoon Hussain emerging a clear frontrunner for the poll to be held on July 30.
Pakistan's opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday gave the beleaguered government a 72-hour ultimatum to act on several demands, including rollback of a fuel price hike and probe into corruption scandals, failing which the Pakistan People's Party could be booted out from the Punjab government. Sharif, chief of the country's main opposition party the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, did not link the demands to support for the PPP-led government at the centre.
India has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no legal basis.
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