After 18 Years, It Is Past Time To Face The Truth About Afghanistan

By Charles Ray

If we hope to finally reach the day American troops can pack up their belongings and come back to their families, Washington must start viewing the war with clear eyes.

Last week, three U.S. service members were killed in an improvised explosive device attack near Bagram Air Base, an operation subsequently claimed by the Taliban. The deaths of Christopher Slutman of Newark, Delaware, Robert A. Hendriks of Locust Valley, New York, and Benjamin S. Hines of York, Pennsylvania take the number of U.S. troop fatalities in Afghanistan this year to seven.

It’s the latest grim reminder of a war that has proceeded on an almost autopilot for more than a decade and a half. Hitting its 17th anniversary last October, the conflict has gone on for such a long time that new recruits are being reminded by their drill sergeants about why the United States is involved.

The American people are justifiably exhausted by the Afghanistan conflict, which continues every year with little light at the end of the tunnel. U.S. policy has been defined throughout by muddled thinking, hubris about what the United States can achieve, and an endless stream of troop deployments in support of a strategy that holds little if any chance at success.

The amount of resources and attention Washington has allocated in pursuit of the unattainable—a fully democratic Afghanistan free of corruption and patrimony, governed by the rule of law rather than the rule of the gun—would be the stuff of comedies if it weren’t for the price tag attached to the effort: 2,242 U.S. troop fatalities, tens of thousands of additional injuries (many life-altering), and nearly $1 trillion in American treasure.

U.S. officials owe the soldiers and diplomats in the field and the American people at home a realistic appraisal of what Washington can accomplish in a country that has been in the throes of armed conflict for four decades. If we hope to finally reach the day American troops can pack up their belongings and come back to their families, Washington must start viewing the war with clear eyes. Several hard truths about Afghanistan are in order.

First and foremost, what the United States has been doing in Afghanistan for so many years hasn’t been working. The fact this statement even needs to be made is disturbing given the enormous cost in lives and treasure involved.

Given the state Afghanistan is in today after so many years of American military involvement, it should have been abundantly obvious a long time ago that U.S. policy in Afghanistan is like a leaky ship treading rough oceans. Despite the almost unlimited spending Washington has poured into the country, Afghanistan remains stuck in a precarious existence.The security situation is as bad as it has ever been, and it appears there is very little the U.S. military can do about it. The Pentagon has tried several strategies over successive administrations, running the gambit from nightly joint U.S.-Afghan special forces operations in remote corners of the country to a significantly resourced counterinsurgency campaign in the Taliban heartland. None have produced positive effects beyond a few insurgent leaders taken off the battlefield and a few months of quiet. Indeed, many of the same forward operating bases U.S. troops built during the 2010-2011 surge are now deserted by Afghan forces, left to rot, or occupied by the Taliban.

Secondly, for Afghanistan to have any sense of hope, security, and economic prosperity in the future, military solutions need to be tossed aside and replaced with politics. Neither the U.S. military nor the Afghan security forces have the power to kill every last Taliban fighter or pummel the insurgency into a surrender. The Taliban, also, don’t have the ability to outgun the Afghan government. We are in a stalemate precisely because of these dynamics.

Unless the mindset changes, the stalemate and the violence will merely continue for another four decades. Washington could theoretically deploy 500,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and it would only have a short-term effect.

An inclusive, Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political dialogue is the only forum through which the fuel of the war can be drained from the tank. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad’s months-long talks with the Taliban hold tremendous promise. After a 16-day negotiating stretch, Khalilzad intimated that the Taliban were willing to formally break their two-decade long relationship with al-Qaeda in exchange for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

The Trump administration’s decision to buck conventional orthodoxy and meet face-to-face with the insurgency in peace negotiations was a daring move, but one that can open doors to a more comprehensive discussion between the Afghans themselves. The peace talks, however, must be anchored around a basic reality: the United States cannot, and should not, insist on a perfect Afghanistan. American troops aren’t responsible for defending Afghanistan in perpetuity or serving as the beat cops of Afghan democracy.

While the United States should deliver a stern message to the Taliban that any peace deal should include guarantees of protection for Afghan minorities, women’s rights, and the rule of law, all of these issues will ultimately depend on the degree to which Afghanistan’s politicians, tribal leaders, fighting factions, militia leaders, and civil society activists can find a compromise everyone can live with.

The United States should do everything in its power to ensure that intra-Afghan talks have the best possible chance of success, including pushing the Afghan government to formalize an inclusive negotiating team to bring Kabul into the talks as quickly as possible. Washington encouraging the U.N. Security Council to temporarily remove travel sanctions on senior Taliban negotiators is the kind of low-cost but necessary accelerant to the peace process.

Last but not least, policymakers in Washington must remember that the United States will continue to be a major player in Afghanistan even without U.S. troops on Afghan soil. American troops sitting in bases may help buy the United States some influence in the country, but it also contributes to the false premise that withdrawing those troops will automatically result in withdrawing American influence.

This thinking is not only dangerous, but shortchanges the non-military tools in America’s arsenal that are just as critical to maintaining U.S. staying power. The talent and experience of America’s diplomats and the relationships U.S. officials have cemented with their Afghan colleagues will all ensure that America retains significant leverage in Afghanistan.

The sooner Washington accepts all of these hard truths, the sooner our men and women in uniform can come home from Afghanistan after so many years at war. Continuing the status quo is not an option.

https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/17/18-years-past-time-face-truth-afghanistan/

#Pakistan - Government fails to reduce growing unemployment in Balochistan

By: Yousaf Ajab Baloch

Saeed Ahmed,28, was one of the toppers among National Testing Candidate’s for teaching posts in Union Council Chatkan of Panjgur district, in 2015. Allegedly he was refused to be posted as a teacher, due to the non-availability of vacant post at his UC. This did not happen only in district Panjgur, however, almost in all districts of Balochistan various toppers in UCs were refused to be given their rights to be appointed as a teacher. The denial to almost 332 candidates resulted in peaceful protests in all districts of Balochistan.

The protests continued for more than twenty months in different districts of Balochistan and later they set a camp in front of Quetta Press club in 2018, demanding justice against merit.

The nonviolent protest could not get attention of Balochistan government. It not only resulted hopelessness among the NTS pass candidates but Saeed Ahmed committed suicide by burning himself in Panjgur Bazar as a protest on 5th September 2018, against injustice. Later burn injuries caused his death in a week.

On 30th November 2014, some 4259 vacant posts of Junior Vernacular Teacher(JVT), Senior English Teacher(SET), Junior English Teacher(JET) and others were announced through NTS, the applicants paid Rs 1000 for each post and nearly 93000 applications were submitted. Through this estimation the level of unemployment can be measured in Balochistan.

Tanweer Baloch one of the members of All Balochistan NTS Youth Action Committee told the scribe that the eligibility criteria for candidates was conditioned on UC base, however, more than three hundred toppers in different UCs have not been appointed. The NTS candidates, appeared in the tests on UC level but later they were not appointed.

“In order to adjust their favorite candidates, the district authorities had concealed posts and a limited number of vacant posts were announced in the newspapers.

And later on the name of DRC and CRC many fake and favorite candidates were appointed through illegal way,” Tanweer Baloch alleged.

Muhammad Khalid, another active member of All Balochistan NTS Youth Action Committee told that they had postponed their protest on assurance of Chief minister of Balochistan Jam Kalam Khan. “We were guaranteed that our concerns will be removed within two or three months but now one moth has completed but no development has been witnessed in this regard.”

Muhammad Khalid claimed that NTS candidates had number of proves where the appointments were against the merit and the candidates with low marks were posted. There seemed complete violation of merit in all the districts of Balochistan.

The office bearers of NTS youth Action Committee demanded that appointments of the of the candidates should be based on the merit list published on NTS website. The vacant posts earlier 2014 should be filled by appointing UC based toppers or they should be placed in newly established or schools. The decisions made by DRC or CRC should be called null and wide. The UC based toppers should be appointed if the new vacancies are announced.

There is great pearl of increased desperateness among educated youth in Balochistan if they are not provided their due rights and jobs. The seven recognized universities in Balochistan graduate more than 29,000 students annually, where nearly 10000 of them are female, however, less than 2000 of them can get jobs but the others remain jobless. This keeps the amount of jobless youth increasing.

As Balochistan in the first official report on multi-dimensional poverty has been marked poverty hit. As per the report, over two-third of the people in Balochistan, i.e., 71 percent of the population lives in multi-dimensional poverty. Out of 32 districts in Balochistan, only Quetta has Incidence of Poverty (IOP) of around 50 percent, while the remaining districts have IOP over 70 percent.

It was a ray of hope for jobless people in Balochistan when in the last government in December 2016, the Balochistan’s chief secretary Saifullah Chattha directed the authorities concerned to take measures for filling 35,000 vacant posts in government departments. Though a policy was also framed for the recruitment tests for posts of grade 11 to 15 through National Testing Service (N.T.S) and for

Grade 16 and above through Balochistan Public Service Commission (B.P.S.C) but time proved that no serious measures were taken and impossibility spread among youth and graduates.

Currently there are more than dozens of associations of graduates who have been struggling for jobs in different departments in Balochistan.

One of the graduates of Water Resources Management and member of the Water Resources Management Graduate’s Association Arif Mengal told the writer that HEC initiated Faculty of Water Resources Management in 2006 Lasbella University of Agriculture and Water Managements (LUAWMS) Uthal Balochistan. The output of the faculty was around 300 but unfortunately due attention was not giving to the full fledge water managers of LUAWMS which is symbol of non-serious attitude of policy makers.

He added: “The ultimate result of non-seriousness and ignorance persisted because the graduates are wandering here and there in search of any operational and applicable field & travelling in search of employments.

Arif Mengal told that They were not being utilized in the any of relevant fields in this duration of 10 years although the critical issue of water crises was prevailing in Balochistan. “LUAWM is one of institute which can provide potential graduates to the following departments of Irrigation, Agriculture, Public Health Engineering, WASA, Environmental protection agency.” Arif Mengal added.

Such as Chief Minister of Balochistan Jam Kama has said that for Balochistan youth, 9,000 to 10,000 vacancies would be announced in the February. The government has been working on different sectors to provide jobs to the youth of Balochistan”.

It should be noted that in a recent meeting with the prime minister, CM Kamal raised the job quota issue which currently stands at six per cent approx. 18,000 jobs in federal services.

Similarly, Balochistan Minister for Science and Information Technology, Population Welfare Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran shared in a press conference that recruitment process for more than 20,000 vacant positions would be completed by June2019 to reduce unemployment from the province. This should be noted that President All Balochistan NTS Action Committee Saiful Rehman, General Secretary Khadim Hussain, Tanveer Baloch, Muhammad Anwar Khan Khilji were also present on the occasion. The minister expressed thanks to the NTS Action Committee for ending their 10 months long protest on his request.

Giving hopes to youths in Balochistan continued last month. Federal Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal shared a news that plans were being finalized under the public-private partnership to eradicate unemployment in Balochistan. She said that 20000 thousand new jobs would be awarded in the coming months.

A source on condition of anonymity told that bureaucracy is huge obstacle in announcement and filling of the vacant posts in Balochistan. Because all the last chief ministers Dr Malik Baloch, Sardar Sanullah Zehri, Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo tried their level best but could not get success to get announced and fill the posts.

“Currently there are thousands of vacant positions in education, health, Livestock, Revenue, home, agriculture and some other departments but it seems impossible until there is willingness of administration,” he added.

Though the scribe continuously tried to know provincial governments stance on the issue and future plans of the current government, but Bushra Rindh, the spokes persons of Balochistan Government did not response on the issue. However, Member of the ruling party and Balochistan Home minister Mir Ziaullah Langove expressed current efforts of government of Balochistan.

Talking to the Baloch Zindh Mir Ziaullah Langove said that it had been a great accomplishment of their government that lifted the ban that had been imposed on recruitment in all government departments. “Our government has approved nearly 35000 new recruitments in all government departments where merit will be top priority in new appointments.” Mir Ziaullah added.

“Government of Balochistan, Services and General Administration Department issued a Notification in December 2018 in connection with Restoration of Recruitment Process-Communication of Details of Vacant Posts BPS-01 to BPS-15,” Mir Ziaullah langove added.

Answering another question about Recruitment in the home department in Balochistan, he said that 10000 job vacancies will be announced in Balochistan Levies Force to cope with the alarming issue of unemployment in Balochistan. These job opportunities will not only enable youth in Balochistan to get a job but also provide services for nation.

#Balochistan: Nine people abducted from Kech and Nushki

Pakistani forces have abducted at least nine people from Balochistan’s district Kech and Chaghai on Friday.

According to details, the FC (Frontier Corps) and intelligence agencies have carried out offensives in Kohaad region of Tump in district Kech Balochistan.

The victims have been named as Heyatan son of Abdi, Niaz son of Qadirdad, Rashid son of Dilmurad, Mehran son of Rasul Bakhsh, Ezzat son of Khorsheed, Hameed son of Shahdad and Siddique.

Meanwhile, unknown assailants, driving a white Vigo car, have abducted a 13-year-old boy from Dalbandin city.

http://balochwarna.com/

Pakistan: Gunmen kill 14 on passenger bus

Dozens of gunmen were involved in the attack in the restive Baluchistan province. A separatist group has claimed responsibility.

Gunmen ambushed a passenger bus in southwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing 14 people. A local official said it was unclear who was behind the shooting.

The men reportedly entered the bus, demanded to see everyone's IDs, and then commenced their attack on specific passengers. It remains unknown what ethnicity or denomination the assailants were marking.

Baloch separatists claimed responsibility for the attack later on Thursday. The insurgents seek Baluchistan's "independence" from Islamabad and are known to target the security services and people from Punjab, as they tend to make up the bulk of soldiers stationed in Baluchistan.

The separatists claim that the government does not evenly distribute the region's resources. There are also Islamist extremists active in the area, who have launched attacks on minority Shiite Muslims in the past.

https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-gunmen-kill-14-on-passenger-bus/a-48381318

‘Modi ka yaar and ghaddar’ - Immature, traitor & Modi agent: How Pakistan sees Imran Khan for his BJP love this election

IFTIKHAR ALAM 

Even the few who stand in support of PM Imran Khan in this hour of political isolation say it was avoidable to support Modi publicly.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement in support of Narendra Modi for a second term could well be a Congress ploy, according to India’s Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. But this claim of a conspiracy adds to the woes of Imran Khan, whose words are not being taken as very smart back home in Pakistan.

Academics, lawyers and journalists of Pakistan are calling Imran Khan’s remark a diplomatic blunder while leaders of Islamist parties have started dubbing him as ‘Modi ka yaar and ghaddar’ (friend of Modi and traitor) – a slogan Imran Khan had repeatedly chanted to taunt his main political opponent Nawaz Sharif during the election campaign of July 2018.

With no let-up in criticism, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had to clarifythat Imran Khan was quoted out of context, but this has failed to produce the desired effect on Khan’s political opponents.

Perhaps, this is why the Sindh Assembly (Pakistan’s second largest provincial assembly) Monday passed a resolution against PM Khan, less than a week after his pro-BJP statement, declaring him an “election agent” of PM Modi.

“If someone expects that the BJP government will be helpful to resolve (the) Kashmir issue, then he lives in fool’s paradise,” says Dr Hasan Askari, a leading political scientist.

But Askari is quick to dispel notions that Imran Khan’s statement will create any domestic trouble for the BJP. Askari knows that the BJP enjoys the support “mostly of Right-wingers”. “You know, this kind of vote-bank remains intact in almost all cases,” says the former caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Pakistan.

The matter, however, is not quite as simple as people have made it out to be. Abid Saqi, the former president of Lahore Bar Association, claims PM Imran Khan did not seem to assert the ‘conventional wisdom’ that Right-wing parties take bold steps to resolve domestic and international issues — the ‘Nixon goes to China’ argument — and nor did he make an abrupt statement similar to his past record.

Saqi said that Imran Khan made the comment based on the sense of assurance provided by the international powers.

In a private conversation with me, the senior lawyer clamed that Islamabad was assured by global powers during the recent face-off between India and Pakistan following the 14 February Pulwama attack that they will help resolve the Kashmir issue after NarendraModi is re-elected as India’s prime minister.

“A settlement on the lines of much debated Musharraf-Vajpayee formula could be agreed between India and Pakistan if the BJP again comes into power,” Saqi said.

Then there are some who say Imran Khan acted immaturely by making a statement that seasoned politicians would always steer clear of.

“Since he is not acquainted with diplomatic wisdom and norms, he voiced his opinion about Modi openly. Pakistan and India are presently in a state of war under Modi’s regime and wishing him another tenure is manifestation of confusion on diplomatic front,” says Shoaib Saleem, another senior lawyer and writer.

Saleem points to the political obstacle a statement like this creates for Imran Khan. “What if (Rahul Gandhi’s) Congress-led alliance wins the elections?” The lawyer’s question imagines the scenario where, after endorsing the BJP, Imran Khan is in a situation where he might have to initiate a dialogue on the Kashmir issue — but with the Congress instead of the BJP. In a political advice of sorts, Saleem tells Imran Khan to “learn at the earliest” that it’s the state, and not individuals, that matters. “Modi’s alleged friendship with Nawaz Sharif was detrimental for Pakistan but Imran Khan’s longing for him will cure our core issue… this is nothing less than a paradox.”

Religious leaders weigh in too

Imran Khan has similarly irked the Islamists who lashed out at him, saying there was ‘zero chance’ of any resolution of the Kashmir issue if Modi’s BJP wins the election for the second term.

Jamaat-e-Islami central leader Ameerul Azeem says that at a time when the BJP was bent upon repealing Article 370, Pakistan’s prime minister wished for the party to come into power.

Azeem says Imran Khan’s endorsement of Modi came on “the directions of the international lobby and business tycoon who wanted to see Modi in power”.

The condemnation of PM Khan’s statement by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which emerged as the biggest religious party in terms of vote-bank in Pakistan’s general election of 2018, comes with Indian and Kashmiri Muslims in mind. Spokesperson Ijaz Ashrafi flaysKhan for ‘rubbing salt on (their) wounds by issuing statement in favour of Modi”.

Supporters say ‘avoidable’

But such widespread condemnation doesn’t mean Imran Khan is left all alone in Pakistan. Some like Sohail Warraich, a leading journalist and TV anchor, reiterate PM Khan’s statement verbatim because they were “timely and accurate”, while some like Iqtidar Gilani, a journalist from The Nation, say the PM was “right in his claim” but could have avoided voicing it out nevertheless.

According to Warraich, Khan did not intentionally issue the statement to create some damageto the BJP’s poll campaign.

“A party like the Congress will not go to the extreme due to fear of backlash from the Right-wing parties. The past experience strengthens this idea. The Congress ruled India for such a long time and during that period, we saw meaningless dialogue. It was during the BJP’s rule that Pervez Musharraf and Atal Bihari Vajpayee reached close to an agreement on the Kashmir issue,” says Iqtidar Gilani.

#Pakistan - #PTI’s first wicket has fallen, Opp leaders say after Asad Umar’s ouster

Opposition leaders said on Thursday that the ouster of Asad Umar as finance minister and other major changes in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet had exposed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s competence in managing the country’s economic and governance challenges.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan’s economy was being held hostage by ego, arrogance and stubbornness.

“Imran Khan Niazi should set aside his ego, arrogance and stubbornness and concentrate on the economy,” Sharif said.

Shehbaz added that he had made an offer to improve the economy since day one. “If time had not been wasted we wouldn’t have been facing such economic devastation.”

The PML-N leader said that more adverse economic situation will be encountered by the nation if further time is wasted.

Congratulating the nation over Umar’s ouster, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the first wicket had fallen.

“The government’s entire team will return to the pavilion before the end of 50 overs,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Imran is unable to handle his team and the government.

“The selected PM is neither able to run the economy nor foreign affairs. Imran has pushed the country into a severe crisis. After the financial crisis, severe governance crisis has appeared in the country,” added the PPP chairman.

Former finance minister Ishaq Dar said that Asad Umar’s stepping down as the finance minister of the country reflected “cowardice”.

In his statement, Dar accused Umar of misleading the nation since 2014, adding, “Asad Umar remained the finance minister for eight months and laid distorted facts before the nation”.

He noted that there was only one month left in presentation of budget, while the agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) was also in its final stages.

“It was not appropriate for Asad Umar to leave the ground this way,” the former finance minister said.

He further said his party pointed to Imran Khan’s “lies” over the past three weeks.

“We pointed to the dropping of inflation bomb on the masses. We also gave suggestions to the government as to how could the economy be fixed,” Dar recalled.

“They did not listen to anything, and today, Asad Umar is resigning, which is inappropriate.”

“With the change of ministers, Imran Khan cannot escape responsibility of this economic catastrophe,” he said.

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said the “real problem” lies not with the finance minister, but the prime minister.

In a tweet, Aurangzeb said Umar’s removal is an admission by the PM that “his policies have created an economic crisis.”

PML-N Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq stated a change in one of the most important cabinets is “not a good omen”.

Umar was removed as the finance minister on Thursday after facing mounting criticism in recent weeks over the state of Pakistan’s economy.

Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari took a jibe at the PTI government, saying the prime minister should appoint his sister “Aleema Khan as the new finance minister so she can sa-lie this whole mess together”.

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2019/04/18/ptis-first-wicket-has-fallen-opp-leaders-say-after-asad-umars-ouster/

#PAKISTAN - #PTI’s U-turn exposes PEMRA’s wrong allegations of ‘fake news’

The tableau of constant U-turns by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is still on display. The composition of the cabinet has indeed changed even though the ever-eager Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) served legal notices on some media outlets on April 16. This action was taken over the airing of a news item regarding a possible cabinet reshuffle.

The PEMRA remained insistent that the report on the cabinet reshuffle was “fake news”. However, the “fake news” allegation is now proved to be completely unfounded after the departure of the finance minister from the cabinet. Asad Umar has now stepped down from his post and refused to take the new portfolio of the energy minister. While showing complete faith in the leadership of the prime minister by declaring him the “best hope for Pakistan” on Twitter, the former minister also announced that he had obtained the PM’s consent to decline the offer of a new ministry.

With Asad Umar now having receded to the background – at least for now – the focus has shifted to a legal drama entangling the PEMRA and its eagerness to issue a show cause notice over a news item that turned out to be “not-so-fake” after all. Both the PEMRA and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had been irked by the news items aired by some media networks regarding a cabinet reshuffle. Fawad Chaudhry himself has now lost his portfolio and will use his ‘expertise’ in science and technology. In tandem with the information minister, PEMRA declared the news to be false and claimed that both the channels were in sheer disregard of the Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015 and also liable for a violation of PEMRA Ordinance 2002 and PEMRA Rules 2009. The media outlets were also instructed to respond within seven days, and the chief executive officers (CEOs) of both outlets were told to ensure personal appearance or to send their respective representatives at PEMRA’s headquarters in Islamabad on April 22.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Resigns Amid Economic Crisis

Pakistan Finance Minister Asad Umar has resigned days after returning home from crucial talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a financial bailout package to avert a national balance of payments crisis.

While formally announcing his decision to leave Thursday at a hurriedly arranged news conference in Islamabad, Umar explained that he was asked to take the energy minister position instead of finance as part of a Cabinet reorganization.

Umar acknowledged his successor would have to make "some difficult decisions" to deal with economic challenges facing Pakistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan's eight-month-old administration has faced sustained criticism from political opponents, independent commentators and the business community over the government's handling of the economic crisis facing the country. Much of that criticism was leveled against Umar.

Umar returned this week from Washington, where his delegation fleshed out details of Pakistan's next IMF bailout package that he said could be up to $8 billion.

Critics blamed the outgoing minister for taking months to finalize the IMF deal, saying the delay shattered investor confidence in Pakistan's economy. But speaking Thursday, Umar defended his performance.

"We have finalized the IMF agreement on much better terms than before.I have made these decisions.I refused to take the decisions that would have crushed the nation," Umar said without elaborating.

He said that an IMF mission is expected to visit Islamabad later this month to work out more details "since all major issues had been settled and documented," he said.

13th bailout

The long-delayed package would be Pakistan's 13th IMF bailout since the late 1980s and comes with a worsening economic outlook for the South Asian nation of more than 200 million people.

Former finance minister Salman Shah, while commenting on Umar's resignation, noted a lack of effective financial strategy was slowing down the economy, deterring all sorts of investments, fueling inflation and unemployment in Pakistan.

Late Thursday, the government made the formal announcement about the Cabinet reorginization, re-allocating certain portfolios and appointing new ministers as well as several special advisors to the prime minister. They included Abdul Hafeez Sheikh as advisor on finance to Khan. Sheikh served as finance minister of Pakistan under a previous government. Khan has also appointed Ijaz Ahmed Shah as his full time interior minister.

https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-s-finance-minister-quits-amid-criticism/4881233.html

Video - Bilawal Bhutto Congratulates Nation on Asad Umar Stepping Down as Finance Minister

اسد عمر کو ہٹانے کے مثبت نتائج ہوں گے، بلاول بھٹو

چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ اسد عمر کو ہٹانے کے مثبت نتائج ہوں گے،امید ہے کالعدم تنظیموں سے تعلق رکھنے والے باقی وزیروں کو بھی ہٹایا جائے گا۔

میڈیا سے گفتگو کرتے ہوئے بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا تھا کہ حکومت کو 8 ماہ بعد احساس ہوا کہ ان کی معاشی پالیسیاں غلط ہیں۔

چیئرمین پی پی نے امید ظاہر کی ہے کہ اسد عمر کو ہٹانے سے معاشی صورتحال بہتر ہوگی۔
https://jang.com.pk/news/630373-bilawal-bhutto-reacts-on-finance-minister-asad-umars-departure