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Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reaches Turkey

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached Turkey on an official visit on Monday.

According to the 24News HD TV channel, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was received at the Ankara airport by Governor Vasip Shahin.

Ankara Governor Vasip Shahin warmly welcomed the Pakistani Foreign Minister and both the leaders discussed issues of mutual interest. https://www.24newshd.tv/30-May-2022/foreign-minister-bilawal-bhutto-zardari-reaches-turkey.

Benazir Bhutto’s Struggle as Relevant Today as it was Decades Ago: Jacinda Ardern

New Zealand prime minister evokes Pakistan’s first female prime minister to stress the many things that connect people regardless of their backgrounds.

Speaking at Harvard University during its annual commencement address, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday recalled assassinated Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto telling the same varsity that democracy was “fragile” and stressed on the need for debate and dialogue.

“In June 1989 the prime minister of Pakistan stood on this spot and delivered the commencement address titled ‘Democratic Nations Must Unite’,” she said. “She spoke about her journey, the importance of citizenry, representative government, human rights, and democracy. I met Benazir Bhutto in Geneva in June of 2007. We both attended a conference that drew together progressive parties from around the world. Just seven months later she was assassinated,” she added.

Noting that there would always be differing perspectives on all political leaders, she said that there were two things about Benazir that no one could ever contest. “She was the first Muslim female prime minister elected in an Islamic country, when a woman in power was a rare thing. She was also the first to give birth in office,” she said.

“The second and only other leader to have given birth in office almost 30 years later, was me. My daughter, Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford, was born on June 21, 2018; Benazir Bhutto’s birthday,” she added, noting that there were “some moments” that remind you of the many things that connect humanity despite vastly different histories and experiences.

“The path she carved as a woman feels as relevant today as it was decades ago, and so too is the message she shared here. In this place. She said partway through her speech in 1989 the following: ‘We must realize that democracy… can be fragile’,” she said, quoting the former Pakistani leader. “I read those words as I sat in my office in Wellington, New Zealand. A world away from Pakistan. And while the reasons that gave rise for her words then were vastly different, they still ring true. Democracy can be fragile,” she said.

Describing democracy as “imperfect but precious”, she said it had been designed to give equal voice to the weak and the strong. “For years it feels as though we have assumed that the fragility of democracy was determined by duration. That somehow the strength of your democracy was like a marriage; the longer you’d been in it, the more likely it was to stick. But that takes so much for granted,” she said, adding that if trust in institutions that could take decades to build up could also be torn down within years. “It ignores what happens, when regardless of how long your democracy has been tried and tested—when facts are turned into fiction, and fiction turned into fact, you stop debating ideas and you start debating conspiracy. It ignores the reality of what we are now being confronted by every single day,” she warned.

Directing her criticism at online disinformation, she called on tech companies to do more to stop the online spread of conspiracy theories. “The time has come for social media companies and other online providers to recognize their power and to act on it,” she said, as she called for “kindness” and greater efforts to bridge differences. “What we do as individuals in these spaces matters too … we are the richer for our difference, and poorer for our division,” she said.

https://www.newsweekpakistan.com/benazir-bhuttos-struggle-as-relevant-today-as-it-was-decades-ago-jacinda-ardern/

#Pakistan #PPP - Remembering Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

By Khaled Ahmed

Decades after his execution, questions persist over the manner in which courts declared the PPP founder guilty of ‘conspiracy to murder’.

Syeda Hameed’s book, Born to be Hanged (Rupa 2017), pays tribute to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whose death bequeathed to the Pakistani national memory a permanent challenge to the “frequent accident” of military rule.

On July 5, 1977, then-Army chief General Ziaul Haq imposed martial law in Pakistan. Then-prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) was overthrown, and replaced with the Chief of Army Staff, who appointed himself the Chief Martial Law Administrator. The PPP had won the March 1977 elections with an overwhelming majority (136 seats in the National Assembly to the Pakistan National Alliance’s 36), but was faced with allegations that the polling had been rigged, with the PNA coalition—“helped by the ISI”—mounting several protests against its rule. The resultant unrest ultimately saw General Zia seizing power.

Bhutto’s arrest

Following the imposition of martial law, Bhutto was tried on a charge of conspiracy to murder his political opponent, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, who was an active member of the opposition in Parliament and a virulent critic of ZAB and his government; an attack on Kasuri in November 1974 that he survived had resulted in the death of his father, Nawab Muhammad Khan. Following the imposition of martial law, ZAB was confined to a mess at Rawalpindi before being taken to Abbottabad, where he was kept till the end of July 1977.

Gen. Zia formally placed ZAB under arrest on Sept. 3, accusing him of entering into a conspiracy with Masood Mahmud and some other officers from the Federal Security Force for the murder of Kasuri’s father. He was arrested from his home in Karachi at 5:20 a.m. and brought to Lahore, where he was sent to Kot Lakhpat prison. On Sept. 11, police filed an incomplete challan before a magistrate at Lahore, which was sent to the Sessions Court before the state moved an application for the transfer of the case to the Lahore High Court. The very next day, Acting Chief Justice Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain passed an order transferring the case to the LHC and constituted a bench of five judges headed by himself to hear it.

Calling back Justice Mushtaq

Justice Mushtaq Hussain was in Europe when Zia declared martial law. He was called back to preside over the bench to try the prime minister. On Sept. 14, 1977, Justice M.A. Samdani ordered his release against bail of Rs. 50,000. Upon his release, ZAB immediately held a press conference in Lahore before leaving for Karachi and onwards to Larkana. It was from there that he was arrested for the last time; he would never see his ancestral home again.

Justice Mushtaq had a personal rivalry with ZAB. At one point, the PPP founder had prevented him becoming the chief justice of the Lahore High Court by blocking his request to transfer from Lahore to Karachi. When approached with the plea that ZAB’s life be spared, he responded: “If I don’t hang him, there is no other judge in Pakistan who will dare do that.”

Throughout his detention and trial, Bhutto never gave the impression that he was dispirited, nor did he show any signs of distress or despair. To quote his court submission: “Since the 18th of March 1978 [the day he was sentenced to death by the High Court] I have spent 22 to 23 hours out of the 24 in a congested and suffocating death cell. I have been hemmed in by its sordidness and stink throughout the heat and rain of the long hot summer. The light is poor. My eyesight has worsened. My health has been shattered. I have been in solitary confinement for almost a year but my morale is high because I am not made of the wood which burns easily. Through sheer will power, in conditions that are adverse in the extreme, I have written this rejoinder. Let all the White Papers come. I do not have to defend myself.”

Enter Justice Anwarul Haq

On Sept. 20, Begum Nusrat Bhutto submitted a Habeas Corpus application in the Supreme Court challenging the orders of arrest of her husband as unconstitutional and illegal. On Sept. 22, 1977, General Zia announced that the office of the Chief Justice had fallen vacant, and Chief Justice Yakub Ali Khan would be replaced by Anwarul Haq. ZAB objected to Anwarul Haq hearing his appeal for the following reasons: that he had publicly criticized Bhutto’s government and party, and declared General Zia ‘a national savior’; that he was closely associated with the chief justice of the Lahore High Court, which had pronounced him guilty; that he had acted as head of state during President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry’s absence abroad during the martial law regime; and that he had temporarily merged the military executive with the judiciary.

On Oct. 22, 1977, ZAB made a three-hour-long speech before the Supreme Court in support of his petition for release. On Nov. 10, 1977, the Supreme Court dismissed the application for ZAB’s release and rejected the submission about the unconstitutionality of the processes of the law. It held that the imposition of martial law, although an extra-constitutional step, was validated by the “doctrine of necessity” as the constitutional and moral authority of Bhutto’s government had completely broken down.

Begum Bhutto leads

While ZAB was in prison, the PPP was led by his wife, Begum Nusrat, who was assisted by their daughter, Benazir Bhutto. The weekly Al-Fatah reported on how she was attacked at the Gaddafi Stadium: “While wielding dandas (sticks) on the PPP supporters, a superintendent of police shouted to a policeman pointing at Begum Nusrat: ‘Attack this woman.’ He lifted his lathi and brought it down on her head. Blood gushed out and she fell to the ground. The SP was seen smiling.”

On Jan. 24, 1978, ZAB’s statement was recorded in open court. He said he was not presenting his defense but had confined himself to two issues (1) Reason for this trial and the fabricated case against him; (2) No confidence in getting a fair trial and justice. On March 22, 1978, the edition of PPP-supporting newspaper Musawat was sealed and its distribution stopped after the publication of a letter of ZAB to Yahya Bakhtiar, in which he described military authorities as dirty, miserable and slinking men. A few days later, on March 27, 1978, police raided Musawat’s Karachi office and seized all copies containing reports of ZAB’s appeal to the Supreme Court. Abbas Athar, a popular freelance journalist, was arrested for trying to publish ZAB’s speech in the court. The press was seized while the statement was being printed. On April 23, 1978, the editor of newspaper Sadaqat was likewise arrested. Zia observed at a press conference: “One or two public hangings will bring saboteurs to their senses.”

New laws bring death

On Feb. 10, 1979, President Zia announced that Pakistan’s legal system would be replaced by the traditional Islamic code. Punishments now included lashes, stoning to death, amputation of right hand, amputation of left foot for first and second offense and life sentence for third offense. On Feb. 24, 1979, Bhutto’s counsel presented a petition to the Supreme Court to review its judgment with the request that the two judges who dropped off be recalled. The apex court refused. The five judges of the LHC who had presided over the trial of ZAB had given a guilty verdict unanimously. The Supreme Court, during appeal, have a four-to-three judgment in favor of the guilty ruling. While all nine judges of the Supreme Court commenced hearing the appeal, one of them—Qaisar Khan—retired from the court after superannuation; while another, Justice Waheeduddin Ahmad, suffered a stroke near the conclusion of hearings.

The court waited three weeks for Ahmad’s recovery before resuming the hearing without him. The case proceedings concluded on Dec. 23, 1978, and judgement was rendered on Feb. 6, 1979. Chief Justice Anwarul Haq convicted ZAB and awarded him death penalty for a crime he deemed was “rarest of rare.” Senior journalist I.A. Rehman spoke about the fault-lines in the judgment: “In the case of death penalty, the court has to give unanimous decision; it has to be resolved beyond the slightest trace of doubt. But in this case at least 3 judges acquitted him, which means the doubt remained palpably unresolved.”

Ironies that survive

But what was this case? On Nov. 11 1974, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, an active member of the opposition in Parliament and a nasty critic of ZAB and his government, was returning home in his car after attending a marriage ceremony at Shadman Chowk in Lahore. A number of shots were fired at the car using automatic weapons. Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Kasuri’s father, was hit on the head and died on the spot. Kasuri, his mother, and sister escaped unhurt.

The huge irony which can only be termed destiny was that in 1931, Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan was the honorary magistrate of Kasur. It was in this exact spot that he had supervised the hanging of Bhagat Singh; the central jail located at Shadman Chowk had served as Singh’s prison. The roundabout in Shadman Colony, Lahore, where the execution chambers of the Lahore Central jail used to be, is where the former magistrate was shot in 1974.

https://www.newsweekpakistan.com/remembering-zulfikar-ali-bhutto/

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زه خو شرابي يم، زه خو شرابي يم شیخه څه راسره جنګ کړې برخې ازلي دي، کاشکې ما د ځان په رنګ کړې زه خو شرابي يم

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Afghanistan-based TTP poses threat to Pakistan: UNSC report

The United Nations Security Council report has warned that Afghanistan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) posed a threat to Pakistan.

TTP is focused on a long-term campaign against the Pakistani state with its several thousand fighters in Afghanistan, according to Dawn citing the 13th report of the UNSC Monitoring Team on Afghanistan.

According to the report, TTP constituted the largest component of foreign terrorist fighters in Afghanistan, with their number estimated to be several thousand.

“TTP has arguably benefited the most of all the foreign extremist groups in Afghanistan from the Taliban takeover. It has conducted numerous attacks and operations in Pakistan…” UN report said.The UN Monitoring Team’s earlier report had focused on the global threat posed by Al-Qaeda, and related groups as well as the one before that had also underlined increasing cross-border attacks by TTP from the Afghan soil as a result of the reunification of the terrorist group in Afghanistan.

Earlier, TTP was responsible for the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in which over 150 children were killed.

Separately, quoting information provided by a “Member State,” the Monitoring Team report mentioned the presence of defunct Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Afghanistan. According to the publication, these details were not given in its several previous reports.

https://theprint.in/world/afghanistan-based-ttp-poses-threat-to-pakistan-unsc-report/976082/

Chairman PPP and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari felicitates newly-elected body of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors

 Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has felicitated the newly-elected body of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE).

The PPP Chairman extended his best wishes to the new body of the CPNE.
According to a statement issued by Media Cell Bilawal House, the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his message felicitated CPNE’s new president Kazim Khan and general secretary Mian Amir Mahmood.
He extended his best wishes to Ayaz Khan on being elected as Senior Vice President, Yousuf Nizami as Deputy Secretary General, Ghulam Nabi Chandio as Finance Secretary, Zubair Mehmood as Information Secretary, Dr Jabbar Khattak as CPNE Sindh Vice President, Maqsood Yousufi as CPNE Sindh Joint Secretary, Haider Amin as Punjab CPNE Vice President, Salman Masood as CPNE Islamabad Vice President, Tahir Farooque as CPNE Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Vice President, and Arif Baloch as CPNE Balochistan Vice President.
The PPP Chairman also felicitated the CPNE’s standing committee of 44 newly elected members.
He expressed his fervent hope that the role of CPNE towards cementing the democracy and the freedom of press would be commendable as was the history of the CPNE.
The PPP believes in freedom of media and would extend all possible cooperation for ensuring freedom of expression and press in the country and development of dynamic media.

https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/27189/

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A Supreme Court justice’s solution to gun violence: Repeal Second Amendment

By Frederic J. Frommer

Four years ago, when — as now — the nation was reeling from the horror of a mass school shooting, a retired Supreme Court justice suggested a radical solution: getting rid of the Second Amendment.

John Paul Stevens issued the call after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February 2018. The attack prompted hundreds of thousands to demand action the next month to end gun violence at the March for Our Lives. In a March 27, 2018, New York Times op-ed, Stevens praised the protesters and their call for stricter gun control laws. “But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform,” he wrote, about a year before his death at 99. “They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.”Stevens said the amendment was adopted out of concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the states. “Today that concern is a relic of the 18th century,” he wrote.

An elementary school massacre spurred tighter gun control in the U.K.

He called repeal a “simple but dramatic action [that] would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform” and would make schoolchildren safer.But Stevens didn’t acknowledge the herculean challenge that his proposal entailed, as there was (and remains) zero chance that gun control advocates would get anywhere close to the two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states needed for repeal.Stevens’s proposal didn’t generate a lot of momentum, but it did get pushback from some fellow liberals.

“I admire Justice Stevens but his supposedly ‘simple but dramatic’ step of repealing the 2d Am is AWFUL advice,” tweeted Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor. “The obstacle to strong gun laws is political, not legal. Urging a politically impossible effort just strengthens opponents of achievable reform.”

Tribe expanded on his argument in a Washington Post op-ed, headlined “The Second Amendment isn’t the problem.” “The NRA’s strongest rallying cry has been: ‘They’re coming for our beloved Second Amendment,’” he wrote. “Enter Stevens, stage left, boldly calling for the amendment’s demise, thereby giving aid and comfort to the gun lobby’s favorite argument.”

In his op-ed, Stevens wrote that repeal was necessary to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller ruling that Americans had an individual right to bear arms. He was one of four dissenters in that case.

They were killers with powerful guns. The president went after their weapons.

“For over 200 years after the adoption of the Second Amendment, it was uniformly understood as not placing any limit on either federal or state authority to enact gun control legislation,” Stevens wrote in the op-ed.Republican President Gerald Ford nominated Stevens to the court in 1975, at a time when Supreme Court nominations were not as politicized as they are today. Stevens eventually became one of its most liberal members. Although his 2018 proposal didn’t go anywhere, calls for repeal continue today.

A portrait of the late John Paul Stevens in the Great Hall of the U.S. Supreme Court as the former justice's casket rested inside the court building in July 2019. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) “Who will say on this network or any other network in the next few days, ‘It’s time to repeal the Second Amendment?’” liberal filmmaker Michael Moore challenged during a feisty appearance on MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes” this week.

“Look, I support all gun control legislation,” Moore said. “Not sensible gun control. We don’t need the sensible stuff. We need the hardcore stuff that’s going to protect ourselves and our children.”Writing in the New Republic on Thursday, Walter Shapiro, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and a lecturer in political science at Yale University, said that “the hard truth is that the core problem is the Second Amendment itself. And America is going to reel from one mass murder to another unless the Second Amendment is repealed or the Supreme Court drastically reduces its scope.”

“As a starting point,” he added, “Democrats should drop the mealy-mouthed formulation, ‘Nobody supports the Second Amendment more than I do, but still. … ’ Claiming fidelity to the Second Amendment has never convinced a single NRA supporter of a candidate’s sincerity, but it has stopped bold thinking about lasting solutions to America’s gun crisis.”

The first U.S. school shooting was in 1853. Its victim was a teacher.

But repeal hasn’t been a mainstream cause. Just last month, President Biden declared, “I support the Second Amendment,” although he said that didn’t mean people could get any gun they wanted. In the wake of this week’s Texas elementary school massacre that killed 19 children and two teachers, the president said the Second Amendment is not absolute, and that common-sense gun control would not “negatively affect” it. Stevens’s op-ed came just a few years after he issued a proposal to amend the Second Amendment, in his book “Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution,” which was excerpted in a 2014 Washington Post opinion piece. Stevens suggested adding five words (in italics below) to the amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/05/28/supreme-court-stevens-repeal-second-amendment/

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The Nexus Of Capitalism And Democracy In Pakistan Keeps Getting Stronger, Is There Any Hope For Change?

Zoha Asim Banday Capitalism is a term which represents an economic or political system run by private owners for gaining personal profits and benefits. Once this approach is adopted in a state, it not only affects a specific sector, rather it tends to embed itself in all the sectors of that state.

For example, if we take into account the situation in Pakistan, it is evident how this factor is affecting the education as well as healthcare systems etc. Nowadays, the youth has only been limited to memorizing the bookish information instead of focusing on the actual essence of the discourse. Students have been set on a path of competition for gaining marks rather than embracing the concepts that are being taught to them which might be beneficial for them in the future. The teachers are also not sincere in their jobs as they are getting their paychecks whether they properly teach the students or not. As long as the students keep bringing in good grades resulting in more admissions, they have less regard for how much knowledge they are obtaining.

Another drawback is that ideal states and information about other countries are being promoted more in our curriculum instead of our own, which makes these students completely unaware of the things going on in their state. Similarly, hospitals have also become places of business instead of institutions that provide healthcare. It has become impossible for average people to access even basic healthcare services without a hefty sum of money being demanded from them. If we focus on what kind of capitalism is being followed at the state level in Pakistan, it is evidently crony capitalism. In this type of capitalism, the resources are not spent just for monetary gains but rather on a conglomeration of the elite and the politicians. This means that monetary investments are made in the campaigns of political leaders; as money is a major factor in politics and in return, vocational benefits are acquired e.g. laws and policies being framed in a way that proves beneficial for them.

In its worst state, crony capitalism gives rise to corruption where political entities are given bribes to get benefits. Sadly, our country has gotten far ahead in this stage, many politicians have been charged with corruption and many more are being suspected. Still, no hard and fast rules have been made to deal with this issue once and for all.Pakistan is said to have a democratic form of government. Democracy means that the citizens of the country have the power to elect a politician of their choice to run the state and also question them if things start to go south. However, if the current scenario is observed, the freedom that the citizens are entitled to, is being compromised for the personal gains of politicians and the elite class. Even when crucial decisions are being made concerning the welfare of the citizens, they are not consulted. The people in power sit together in an enclosed room and make all the decisions for them. Therefore, these decisions are seen to be favourable for themselves instead of the people. Everyone in the political race is power-hungry; they have no empathy or even remorse for mistreating their voters. This shows that democracy is far from its true form, it only exists on paper and in certain aspects like elections when votes are being demanded but that is also debatable as usually cases of rigged voting are heard.

Capitalism is said to go hand in hand with the democracy of a state. They are claimed to be two sides of a coin but even though, it plays a necessary role in democracy, political inequality and violation of liberty are also observed consequently.

A well-known example of how capitalism is threatening the democratic ideology, can be the sugar industries and their relations with the politicians of Pakistan. Annually, the government announces support prices for sugar and wheat which help the farmers, so they can obtain these items at lower prices but it is observed that the mill owners are enjoying the perks of this more than those it is meant for. This makes the farmers’ conditions even worse than before by causing a surge in food prices and general price levels. It also contributes to a rise in sugar prices locally in comparison to international prices which leads the government to provide them with subsidies. This shows the conglomeration between sugar mill owners and the political elite of our country. The lower class might shift from 2 meals a day to only 1 but the elite class won’t have to face any difficulties and that’s all they care about.

Despite all this going on in the country, the citizens are yet to raise their voices against these crucial issues and the ones who do are unceremoniously silenced. If this mindset remains in play, it is going to be detrimental to the country in the long run. We are headed towards a dark tunnel from where there is no turning back. Looking at these conditions, it seems like there is no hope for even a light at the end of the tunnel since it will only worsen with time. No one cares about the betterment of the country or its citizens, all they care about is their own pockets, and as long as they are filled, they remain satisfied.

https://en.humsub.com.pk/4014/the-nexus-of-capitalism-and-democracy-in-pakistan-keeps-getting-stronger-is-there-any-hope-for-change/

Opinion: Pakistan’s foreign minister calls for a reset. Washington should hear him out.

By Josh Rogin 

 Pakistan’s new civilian government is already under attack by the forces of recently removed prime minister Imran Khan, who is pushing the conspiracy theory that President Biden somehow orchestrated his ouster. Last week, the country’s new foreign minister came to the United States to explore yet another attempt to repair the U.S.-Pakistan alliance, which might look unsalvageable. Washington should hear him out.

Leaders in both U.S. political parties have largely written off Pakistan. Yet it is a major non-NATO ally, the world’s fifth-most-populous country and a nuclear power situated strategically among China, India, Afghanistan and Iran. After years of mutual distrust between Washington and Islamabad, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of the idea that either side is capable — much less willing — to do the hard work of reviving the alliance.

But the basic argument for trying again is sound. And Pakistan’s new foreign minister, the son of two previous Pakistani leaders, believes that both nations can learn from the mistakes of the past. Besides, he told me, letting the alliance further deteriorate makes little sense.

“The way in which this relationship progressed in recent years doesn’t serve the interests of the people of Pakistan, but it also doesn’t serve the interests of the people of America,” Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told me in an interview. “And I still believe that Pakistan and the United States agree on far more than we disagree on.”

Zardari, only 33 years old, brings with him to the job two giant legacies. His mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, led the Pakistani People’s Party in a fight to wrestle power from the military and intelligence agencies that have controlled Pakistan — mostly from the shadows — since its inception as a modern state. The first woman to lead a democratic, Muslim-majority country, she was assassinated in 2007.

His father, Asif Ali Zardari, was Pakistan’s president from 2008 until 2013. The Bhutto-Zardari family’s archenemy was three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Today, Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif is the new prime minister and Zardari serves in his cabinet.

“It’s like the Trumps and the Clintons being part of a coalition government,” Zardari said.

The main lesson Zardari took from his family’s epic battles with other powerful Pakistani institutions was that change should be pursued slowly and through negotiation, not confrontation.

“Even though I'm young and I'm supposed to be a lot more idealistic and revolutionary, because of our [family’s] experience, I actually believe in evolution over revolution,” Zardari said.

Perhaps this strategy of lowering short-term expectations and focusing on incremental progress could be applied to the U.S.-Pakistan relationship as well. Although Khan’s accusations of U.S. meddling in Pakistan’s politics are ridiculous, they play off an anti-Americanism that has become deeply rooted in parts of the Pakistani polity. Likewise, in Washington, there’s no strong domestic political constituency for improving U.S.-Pakistan ties.But there are reasons to think progress is possible, Zardari said. The main issue of contention, the war in Afghanistan, could now be an area of cooperation following Biden’s troop withdrawal last year. Now, the two countries’ interests there are largely aligned around encouraging the Taliban to behave better and bringing stability to the Afghan people.

“Now we can move beyond that disagreement without having to go back and litigate the past,” Zardari said. “There’s a lot more common ground now and less fog of war.”

Diversifying the relationship beyond military issues might also help, he said. In his meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York last week, they discussed moving toward more cooperation on trade, climate change, tech investment and food security. Skeptics in Washington will quickly point out that the ultimate power in Pakistan still seems to reside with the generals and spy chiefs. Many in Washington are rightly critical of Pakistan for failing to condemn China’s human rights abuses and refusing to join Western sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine.

Don’t expect the Sharif-Zardari government to change those policies anytime soon. But unrealistic expectations on both sides are a big part of why the relationship got so bad in the first place.

“If we're going to let our emotions get in the way of a constructive relationship, then we would both be cutting off our nose to spite our face,” Zardari said. “How do we tackle that? The only answer is engagement.”

Those still not convinced must answer this question: What exactly is the better alternative? If Washington isn’t happy that the Pakistani military has the bulk of power and influence, engaging civilian leaders is a way to balance that out. If the United States doesn’t want Pakistan to go from being a U.S. ally to a Chinese client state, Zardari’s offer of a reset must be embraced, not ignored.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/26/pakistan-foreign-minister-zardari-reset-united-states-democracy/

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto stresses engagement with US for ties reset

 FM says Pakistan and the United States agree far more than they disagree.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has called for a reset of the strained Pakistan-US relations through engagement, saying that he believes the two countries agree on far more than they disagree on.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Foreign Minister Bilawal cited his family’s epic battles with other powerful Pakistani institutions stressing that change should be pursued slowly and through negotiation, not confrontation.

“The way in which this relationship progressed in recent years doesn’t serve the interests of the people of Pakistan, but it also doesn’t serve the interests of the people of America,” he said. “And I still believe that Pakistan and the United States agree on far more than we disagree on,” he added.

”Even though I’m young and I’m supposed to be a lot more idealistic and revolutionary, because of our [family’s] experience, I actually believe in evolution over revolution,” Post correspondent Josh Rogin, quoted him in his write-up about the interview that appeared in the newspaper on Friday.The foreign minister came to New York on May 17 to attend the high-level meetings at the United Nations on food security. On the sidelines of the meeting, he met a number of world leaders, including the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.Responding to a question, Foreign Minister Bilawal noted that in his meeting with Secretary Blinken in New York, they discussed moving toward more cooperation on trade, climate change, tech investment, and food security.

In the interview, Bilawal, while emphasizing that there was a lot more common ground now and less fog of war, stressed the need for diversifying the Pakistan-US relationship beyond military issues, saying that it might also help. Letting the Pakistan-US alliance further deteriorate makes little sense,” he added.

The foreign minister believed that there were reasons to think that progress was possible. “The main issue of contention, the war in Afghanistan, could now be an area of cooperation after [US President Joe] Biden’s troops withdrawal,” the foreign minister said.

“Now, the two countries’ interests… are largely aligned around encouraging the Taliban to behave better and bringing stability to the Afghan people. Now we can move beyond that disagreement without having to go back and litigate the past,” the foreign minister said.

On May 18, against the backdrop of strained ties between Pakistan and the US, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with FM Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Blinken assured the FM that the administration of President Joe Biden was looking forward to working with the new government in Pakistan and discussed “expanding partnership” between the two countries.

This was the first high-level face-to-face contact between Pakistan and the US since the change of government in Islamabad.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2358572/bilawal-stresses-engagement-with-us-for-ties-reset

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Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari backs steps for financial inclusion in Pakistan

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Tuesday Pakistan was fully committed to the promotion of financial inclusion in the country and highlighted the initiatives aimed at facilitating women’s participation and integration in the national economy, the Foreign Office said in a press release.

Bilawal, who is in Davos to represent Pakistan at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), met with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and his counterparts, Bogdan Aurescu of Romania and Pekka Haavisto of Finland on the sidelines of the Davos forum.

In a meeting with Queen Maxima, also the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, the foreign minister highlighted that Pakistan’s efforts through the Roshan Digital Account initiative would improve access to the country’s banking services to the overseas Pakistanis.

As part of the National Digital Infrastructure Development Strategy, the foreign minister emphasised, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had successfully operationalised the instant digital micropayments gateway called RAAST. In a separate press release, the foreign said that Bilawal and Romanian Foreign Minister Aurescu discussed bilateral matters including mutual cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, development and education as well as collaboration at multilateral forums.

Foreign Minister Bilawal underscored that Pakistan attached high importance to its relations with Romania, both bilaterally and in the context of the European Union. “The two ministers also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the press release added.

While talking to his Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto, Bilawal expressed the hope that Finland’s embassy would be reopened in Islamabad, which would help facilitate trade relations as well as promote people-to-people contacts between the two countries.

The Foreign Office said that the two foreign ministers discussed the state of bilateral relations as well as regional and global matters. Bilawal stressed that Pakistan valued Finland as an important bilateral partner as well as a key member of the European Union.

The foreign minister expressed Pakistan’s resolve to further solidify its political and economic relations with Finland. He particularly stressed on the need for enhancing commercial ties and investment cooperation. Both the foreign ministers agreed to work together for promoting bilateral ties.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2358277/bilawal-backs-steps-for-financial-inclusion-in-pakistan

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari , Saudi FM discuss ways to enhance bilateral ties

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud expressed the resolve on Wednesday to deepen the mutual cooperation in all fields, including economy, trade and investment as well as at multilateral fora.Bilawal also met Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Dr Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf and reviewed the status of Pakistan’s cooperation with GCC states. Both sides expressed determination to conclude the negotiations on the Pakistan-GCC free trade agreement (FTA) at the earliest.

Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar and Minister of Climate Change Sherry Rehman were also present during the meeting, held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, said a press release issued here by the Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting with Prince Faisal, various aspects of bilateral relations, besides regional and global issues of mutual interest were discussed. The two foreign ministers expressed satisfaction over the excellent bilateral partnership and resolved to strengthen this partnership for mutual benefit. Noting the commonality of views between the two sides on international issues, the two foreign ministers agreed to jointly explore avenues for improving coordination among the developing countries, including through the platform of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Meanwhile, the foreign minister and the GCC secretary general agreed to explore further avenues for enhancing bilateral trade and economic ties between Pakistan and the GCC. It was also agreed to strengthen institutional linkages, in line with the Joint Action Plan for Strategic Dialogue.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also met with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg. He underscored that Pakistan valued its relations with Austria, both bilaterally as well as a key member of the European Union.

The two foreign ministers discussed the entire spectrum of Pakistan-Austria relations. Bilawal hoped that the two sides would work together for greater collaboration in various sectors including trade and investment, higher education, renewable energy, tourism, and science and technology.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2358364/bilawal-saudi-fm-discuss-ways-to-enhance-bilateral-ties

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Pakistan badly needs a rudder

 

By Pervez Hoodbhoy 

WITH economic meltdown around the corner and the dollar over the roof, panic is all around. If successful, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail’s IMF negotiations in Doha may push ahead the day of reckoning by some months. But then what? How long before the house of cards comes crashing down? Decades of overspending and underproduction cannot be undone in a day.

Editorial: Import ban is just a band-aid for Pakistan's economic meltdown and tougher decisions are needed

Each successive government has routinely blamed its predecessor for all that’s gone wrong. Whichever party wins the next elections — if and when held — will surely continue this childish charade. In so passing the buck, Pakistan seeks to avoid recognising that it is the sick man of South Asia. This denial means it will resist seeking the right medicines. Today Pakistan lags behind Bangladesh and India in every indicator of consequence: economy, political stability, and human development.

There are three powerful reasons for our present predicament.

First is militarism. Since 1947, Pakistan has had a war economy. This enabled it to fight four wars, one of which was forced upon it but the other three were of choice. The luxury of choosing to go to war in 1965, and then again in 1999, was made possible by generous military and economic aid provided by the US. But now that Pakistan’s ex-patron has turned niggardly, and our current taller-than-the-Himalayas patron appears unenthusiastic, a forever war with India over Kashmir is unaffordable.

That India’s occupation puts Kashmiris at the mercy of Indian security forces is tragic. This has been the case now for decades. But India’s wrongdoing became an excuse for creating a militarised Pakistani security state that, for selfish institutional reasons, has sought to keep Kashmir on the boil. Little good has resulted but plenty of harm was caused all around, including to Pakistan itself.

To avoid shipwreck, Pakistan will have to deal effectively with militarism, overpopulation, and its skill deficit.

Pakistan suffered self-inflicted wounds by harbouring militants who ultimately turned their guns on their benefactor. Nevertheless, there is a glimmer of hope. The 31-year sentence awarded to Lashkar-e-Taiba supremo Hafiz Saeed is a clear admission that the old policies will not work. High inside the military establishment it has been understood that cross-border jihad must be shelved. Fear of FATF contributed in no small way.

Editorial: Action on FATF plan

More needs to be undone. Does it make sense to make a sick economy sicker by closing down the country for one full day on the fifth of every February? Or have all government employees and school students stand outside their buildings every Friday at noon and observe a five-minute silence (this flopped after the first attempt)? Or rename Kashmir Highway as Srinagar Highway in the vain hope that this will carry triumphant Pakistanis into the heart of Kashmir?

Recipe: Pakistan must let embattled Kashmiris sort out their problems with India while staying strictly within the formal bounds of what we have pledged to do — provide Kashmiris political and diplomatic support, and no more. If regional peace follows then one can be hopeful about civilian supremacy in Pakistan, moderation of defence expenses and, ultimately, some degree of self-sufficiency. Instead of more back-breaking Chinese loans, the way ahead lies through mutually beneficial Pakistan-India trade. If China and India are geopolitical rivals that can trade massively with each other, why cannot Pakistan and India do the same?

Editorial: India trade ties

Second is Pakistan’s uncontrolled population growth. Our cities are bursting at the seams, spilling far into the countryside, and gobbling up agricultural land. Pakistan’s present rate of population increase is enough to create one more Israel every two years. In another 25 years there will be 400 million Pakistani NIC holders.

In his new book Charter of the Economy, economist Hafiz Pasha has considered some impacts. Water availability has decreased by 49 per cent between 1990-1991 and 2020-2021; unemployment has risen from 1.7pc in 1961 to 3.1pc in 1981 to 5.8pc in 2018; availability of agricultural land has decreased from 6.1 acres in 1947 to 0.49 acres per capita of rural population; the quality of life in Karachi stands at 201 out of 231 cities in the world; etc.

Nevertheless, believing that more is better, like old-time Catholics, many Muslim conservatives continue to oppose contraception. Every newborn, they say, comes with a guaranteed rizq (provision) stamped on its forehead. Let’s assume this is correct and food was to drop miraculously from the skies for every Pakistani man, woman and child. Then what?

The law of exponential growth says that Pakistan will run out of physical space in a few decades, and water well before that. As for the amount of human waste generated and where it will go — one does not want to even think about it. And yet, setting aside this horrific future scene, Pakistan abolished the ministry for population planning many years ago.

Third is the rock-bottom quality of Pakistan’s education system. As every employer will tell you, local degrees and certificates are worthless. Producing high-quality professionals requires much more than putting up buildings for universities, colleges and schools. Critical thinking skills make graduates useful and employable. These skills are entirely absent in the Matric, FA/FSc system and only partially developed in high-end O/A level elite private schools. Emphasis on rote memorisation and religious indoctrination has crippled minds and curtailed thinking ability.

The proof stares us in the face. Pakistan has the world’s tenth largest overseas workforce that earns the bulk of its foreign exchange. But only 1pc of migrant workers are classified as highly qualified (engineer, doctor, accountant, computer analyst, pharmacist) and 2pc highly skilled (nurse, teacher, manager). The remaining 97pc belong to different categories ranging from skilled (welder, painter, carpenter, etc) to low-skilled (agriculture workers and labourers). Pakistanis are entirely absent from the world stage of high science and engineering.

Prognosis: dangerous times lie ahead. It’s bad enough to have a ship adrift in bad weather near a rocky shore. More ominously, its quarrelling crew members are trading blows rather than worrying about shipwreck. But the far greater problem is being rudderless. Pakistan’s ultimate goals need fundamental redefinition. Until we recognise the urgent need to combat three deadly monsters — militarism, overpopulation, and skill deficit — any optimism for the longer term is unjustified.