We have lost over Rs 8 bn due to airspace closure: Pak aviation minister

International News

Pakistan has incurred a loss of over Rs 8 billion due to the closure of its airspace following the Balakot air strikes in February, according to a media report on Friday.
Pakistan fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force (IAF) struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot in retaliation for the Pulwama attack. Normal air traffic operations between India and Pakistan resumed on Tuesday with Islamabad opening its airspace for all civilian flights.
Addressing a press conference at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) headquarters, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that the CAA suffered a loss of Rs 8.5 billion because of the airspace restrictions.
It's a huge loss for our overall [aviation] industry. But this restriction hit India harder than Pakistan. The loss of India is almost double. But at this juncture detente and harmony are required from both sides," the minister was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
The recent bifurcation of CAA functions into regulatory roles vis-a-vis commercial and service provider is simply to optimise its efficiency and performance," he said.
Khan said that there is no proposal of any downsizing or rightsizing in the CAA after its bifurcation.
"We believe that new measures would spur growth in the national aviation and fetch far-reaching benefits, he added.

 He said it was government's priority to revamp the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and increase its fleet to 45 by phasing-in 14 new aircraft gradually by 2025, the report said...Read More

Azhar's listing shows int'l commitment to root terrorism out of Pak: US

International News

The UN declaring Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist demonstrates international commitment to rooting out terrorism in Pakistan and bringing security and stability to South Asia, the Trump administration said Wednesday, expressing hope that Islamabad will take sustained and irreversible action against terror groups operating from its soil.

Welcoming China's decision to lift its hold on the proposal to blacklist the Pakistan-based JeM chief, a senior Trump administration official during a conference call with reporters said after 10 years China has done the right thing by lifting its blockade.

"I think China seems to have understood that it was increasingly important that it's actions on the international stage on terrorism matched it's rhetoric, the White House official said on the condition of anonymity.

Pulwama attack, the official noted was just the latest in the terrorist attacks that this deadly group has conducted.

"Designating Azhar demonstrates international commitment to rooting out terrorism in Pakistan and bringing security and stability to South Asia," the official said, adding that this designation is critically important and it was a long time coming.

This designation, the official said, is in line with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's stated commitment to crackdown on militancy inside Pakistan and his acknowledgment that prosperity and development in Pakistan is contingent on maintaining regional stability.

 So we acknowledged that this designation is a good step forward and we look forward to how Pakistan would use this international designation press forward on its own stated commitment, the official said...Read More

India, US corner Pak over terrorism, seek 'tangible, irreversible' action

Current Affairs

India and the United States sought "tangible and irreversible action" by Pakistan against terrorist groups and leaders, with the US national security advisor saying Washington stands shoulder-to-shoulder with New Delhi in its fight against terrorism.

The US support to India was expressed by American NSA John Bolton during a meeting with Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Wednesday.

"Met with Indian FS Gokhale to advance progress on the US-India strategic partnership & our shared vision for the Indo-Pacific, as well as reiterate that the US stands shoulder-to-shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism," Bolton said in a tweet.

Post the Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, Bolton and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have emerged as strong supporters of the India-US relationship.

"Both underlined the importance of Pakistan taking tangible and irreversible action against terrorist groups based in territories under its control and denial of safe haven for these groups to launch cross -border attacks," the Indian Embassy said in a readout of the meeting.

However, the US support came on a day China for the fourth time blocked a bid to get Jaish chief Masood Azhar designated a global terrorist by the UN Security Council.


 China put a technical hold on the move by the US, the UK and France, seeking "more time to examine" the proposal, a diplomat at the United Nations has told PTI...Read more

India and Pakistan are both losing in the current confrontation

Current Affairs

Every aspect of the current confrontation between India and Pakistan -- which, I fear, may not be over yet -- was avoidable. The initial attack on Indian paramilitary soldiers, in which 40 of them died, was claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist group which has been allowed to thrive by that country’s military establishment. The attack itself required sophisticated organisation and hundreds of kilograms of explosives. Not preventing it was an Indian intelligence failure for which nobody has yet been held accountable.

After the attack, some form of retaliation was always on the cards, but the Indian government made the particularly risky choice of ordering airstrikes on a target within Pakistan proper. Although it claimed the strikes were a failure, Pakistan nevertheless chose to retaliate in turn. When it did, its front-line fighters had to be engaged by Indian warplanes that included the MiG-21, which many Indian aviation experts worry is too outdated for such duties. In the process, an Indian pilot was shot down and taken prisoner. While the pilot is being sent home, we in South Asia now live in a region in which two nuclear-armed adversaries send planes to bomb each other’s territory. This is a profoundly disturbing turn of events.


 Pakistan is busy congratulating itself on how things have turned out so far. This is unwise and premature. Premature because there is no reason to suppose that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who on Thursday called the airstrikes a “pilot project,” implying they would be scaled up in the future -- will be satisfied with anything other than the total rhetorical victory his camp followers in the Indian media have already promised voters. And it is unwise because the world’s reaction to the Indian airstrikes, unprecedented though they were, was notably unfriendly to Pakistan. Pakistani leaders -- or, more precisely, the generals in Rawalpindi that really run the country -- have few friends left. Even the People’s Republic of China urged only that “sovereignty should be respected” -- criticism, in its way, of both sides and not just India.grouping to rescind the invitation to Swaraj...Read More

Terrorism due to distortion of religion, misguided belief: Swaraj tells OIC

Current Affairs

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday raised the issue of terrorism at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting and said the menace is caused by "distortion of religion" and "misguided belief".

Swaraj, who attended the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting here as the guest of honour, said the fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion.

"It cannot be," she said.

Swaraj's did not name Pakistan in the address.

"Just as Islam literally means peace, none of the 99 names of Allah mean violence. Similarly, every religion in the world stands for peace, compassion and brotherhood," Swaraj told the 57-member powerful grouping.

Her remarks came amid heighteneed tensions between India and Pakistan following the February 14 terror attack on Pulwama by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed that left 40 CRPF personnel dead.
It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi did not attend the meeting over the failure of the grouping to rescind the invitation to Swaraj.


 "Terrorism and extremism bear different names and labels. It uses diverse causes. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion, and a misguided belief in its power to succeed," she told the leaders of the major Muslim countries...Read More

How Saudi Prince's visit to India indicates Modi's West Asia policy success

Economy & Policy:

For a moment leave, aside the immediate context that has overshadowed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS’s) visit to New Delhi – the Pulwama attack and its Pakistan connection. The visit has actually been very fruitful and is yet another indicator that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s West Asia policy remains the one area of achievement in an otherwise indifferent record of foreign policy.
That said, it is important to acknowledge that Modi is building on the legacy of his predecessors – Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. Balancing relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel or Qatar is never easy, but New Delhi has managed to do it with considerable success. Instead of torpedoing legacy, as it did in its relationships with China, Pakistan, or for that matter Nepal, the Modi government has built on it.

In some ways this is brought out by the chief guests that India has had for the Republic Day. In 2003 it was President Mohammed Khatami of Iran, in 2006 it was King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, and in 2017 it was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan.

The reasons for this are not too far to seek. West Asia or the Middle East is the most important external region for India from the point of view of its security and its economy. It is the closest source of hydrocarbons for a country which needs to import them in considerable amounts. Sixty-three per cent of India’s oil imports are from the region, but equally important is that some seven million Indian nationals work in the Saudi peninsula sending back remittances worth $40 billion to the country.


 The strategy of balancing relations in the region were evident in the Vajpayee period, and the UPA government continued the process. In a remarkable interview, one of the first by an Indian prime minister to a Saudi newspaper, Vajpayee described his policy in this way:...Read More

Congress has shown its true colours: BJP hits back over Pulwama allegations

Politics News:

Slamming the Congress for targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Pulwama attack, the BJP dubbed its allegations "shameful" and said they have exposed its "true colours" after it kept a "facade" of standing with security forces and the government following the terror strike.

At a party event in Andhra Pradesh, BJP president Amit Shah said it was condemnable that the Congress has "politicised" the Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14, and asserted that people have full trust in Modi's commitment of ending terrorism.

Citing media reports, the Congress claimed that Modi continued shooting for a film in the Corbett National Park for his "propaganda and publicity" and stayed put in the area till the February 14 evening despite the Pulwama attack taking place in the afternoon that day.

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also claimed that the prime minister continued to "have tea, samosas, at seven o'clock in a PWD guest house" that evening.

Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad rejected the Congress' charge as "shameful" and said Modi was there as part of an official programme related to tiger conservation.

"Was the Congress aware of the Pulwama attack? We were not aware," the BJP leader said in a jibe at the opposition party.


 The Congress attack on the Modi government would have pleased Pakistan, he said, adding that styles of what Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and the opposition party have said may be different but their contents bore striking resemblance...Read More

Pulwama attack: UN Secretary General calls on India, Pak to defuse tension

Current Affairs:

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on India and Pakistan to take "immediate steps" to deescalate tension that soared after 40 Indian security personnel were killed in an attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama.

"The Secretary General stresses the importance for both sides to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps to de-escalation, and his good offices are always available should both sides ask," the UN Chief's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Tuesday at the daily press briefing.

Dujarric was asked about a meeting Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN has sought with the Secretary General and also about Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi saying the UN must step in to defuse tensions between the two nations.
"...Looking at the situation in general between India and Pakistan, we're deeply concerned at the increase in tensions between the two countries in the wake of the attack on Indian security personnel on 14 February in Pulwama," Dujrraic said.

He said Pakistan's mission at the UN requested for the meeting with the Secretary General.
"We have seen press reports of a letter having been delivered to the UN. As far as we've ascertained, none has been received as of this very minute," he added.


 Last week, Guterres had "strongly" condemned the terror attack against security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, perpetrated by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, calling for those behind the attack to be brought to justice...Read More

Pulwama attack: Sitharaman slams Pak for seeking proof of its involvement

Current Affairs:

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lammed Pakistan for seeking proof of its involvement in the Pulwama terror attack and said it was India which has been providing evidence but the neighbouring country has not taken any action on it.

She was reacting to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's message to India to share 'actionable intelligence' if his country was involved in the terror attack for any action.

"Since the Mumbai attacks, not just this government, the earlier government also had sent dossiers after dossiers, evidence after evidence, what action has Pakistan taken on them?" she asked.
Also, at every level India has been following the process of law and the Mumbai attackers had been brought to book and punished by court of law, she told a press conference here.
"In Pakistan not even the first court is doing its job. There is nothing for Pakistan to show," she added.

Reacting to Khan's comments over the attack, Sitharaman said she would not want to say how the government was going to respond to it as no word is sufficient enough to assuage the anger and disappointment of every person of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already allowed the Indian Army to respond at any given time and as they see fit, Sitharaman said.


 On the defence forces morale following the Pulwama terror attack, Sitharaman said "The morale is not affected at all, they are absolutely ready to do their job...Read More

Strategies for Pulwama-like attacks trace back to ISI HQ: Christine Fair

Current Affairs:
In the wake of the Pulwama terrorist attack, India needs a discussion about what is in its best interest — should it continue with its strategy of restraint or change its behaviour — says C Christine Fair, author of In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War. Fair tells Bhaswar Kumar in an interview that terrorist attacks like Pulwama will continue because this is the only way Pakistan can show India that it is not defeated, no matter how powerful India becomes. Edited excerpts:

Indian governments do not say so. Unlike the US, India does not have a written National Security Strategy (NSS). Each American President has to issue an NSS and this is the standard by which informed citizens can monitor the budget and other applications of national powers. Few countries have NSS documents. These are helpful documents, as they effect a public debate and provide a road map for the elected government.

So, though one could not be certain, one could infer a general avoidance of confrontation from the Indian government's behaviour. And, it seems to be a constant since the post-Kargil time.
India understands that if it can keep focusing on its economy, it can continue increasing its defence allocation in real terms, with its overall economy continuing to grow. That will allow India to outgrow the Pakistan threat.


 For its part, Pakistan understands that it has an army that cannot win the wars that it starts, and nuclear weapons that it cannot use, so it must demonstrate that India's hegemonic goals are not unchallenged. This means Pakistan must attack India through proxy actors under its nuclear umbrella, just to demonstrate that India has not defeated it or forced it into accepting the status quo...Read More

Counter-terrorism, energy security top agenda during Saudi prince's visit

Current Affairs:

Counter-terrorism, including Pakistans role in sponsoring terrorism against India, and energy security are likely to be on top of Indias agenda for discussion during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans visit starting .

India is expected to take up with the Saudi Crown Prince Pakistan's role in the Pulwama terror attack that killed at least 49 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, informed sources said.

India has already started diplomatic efforts to isolate Pakistan internationally with Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale briefing envoys of around two dozen nations including those of P-5 and South Asian nations about Pakistan's footprint in the Pulwama attack.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to New Delhi Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saty has said that Mohammed bin Salman's visit to India presents a "historic opportunity" to expand collaboration in all sectors.

Moammed bin Salman is on a three-nation diplomatic tour to Pakistan, India and China.

 He will be on a two-day visit to India staring February 19 and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He is visiting Pakistan before coming to India.

Pulwama terror attack: Like you, fire raging in my heart too, says PM Modi

Current Affairs:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he shared the grief and outrage with the people of the nation in the wake of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

The prime minister, who was in this north Bihar town to launch a slew of projects, began his speech with a few lines in the local dialect Angika and paid tributes to two jawans from the state who died in the Pulwama attack.

“I salute and pay my tributes to Sanjay Kumar Sinha and Ratan Kumar Thakur. To the people who have gathered here, I would like to say the fire that is raging in your bosoms, is in my heart too,” Modi said, evoking a thunderous response from the crowds.J&K withdraws security cover of six separatist leaders


 The security cover of six separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was withdrawn , a decision that comes in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror strike in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, officials said. Besides Mirwaiz, the security cover of Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi, Fazal Haq Qureshi and Shabir Shah has been withdrawn, they said. While there was no categorisation of security for these leaders, the state government in consultation with the Centre had provided them ad hoc security, keeping in mind the threat to their lives from some militant groups.