ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has thrust itself forward as the primary mediator seeking to negotiate an end to the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, drawing on the Pakistani army chief’s longstanding connections in Tehran and the close rapport between Islamabad’s leadership and President Donald Trump, FT reported on Monday.
Politics
PM Sharif urges Iran and Gulf neighbours to return to dialogue as US postpones strikes on Iranian power plants
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday pressed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for an immediate collective effort to de-escalate the widening Middle East conflict, warning that the fourth week of war had created a “grave situation” requiring urgent dialogue among neighbours and renewed unity across the Muslim world.
Jailed Imran Khan accuses judiciary of failing to deliver justice and decries wife’s isolation
ISLAMABAD: Imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan has criticised the judiciary, saying it has failed to ensure justice despite multiple approaches by his party, according to a message relayed by his son after a phone call permitted during the Eid holiday.
PM Sharif presses for de-escalation in widening Middle East war during Eid calls with leaders from Azerbaijan to Lebanon
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday held a series of telephone conversations with leaders across the Muslim world, using the occasion of Eid al-Fitr to exchange greetings while pressing for an immediate de-escalation of the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Sindh arrests 5 members of banned Baloch group, foils plot to bomb Karachi railway tracks
KARACHI: Counterterrorism authorities in the southern Sindh province arrested five members of a banned Baloch separatist outfit on Friday, disrupting what officials described as an imminent attack on railway infrastructure in this major port city.
Pakistan accuses India of illegal suspension of Indus Waters Treaty, says millions of farmers at risk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan accused India on Thursday of violating a decades-old water-sharing agreement by unilaterally putting the Indus Waters Treaty on hold, warning that the decision endangers the livelihoods of millions who depend on the rivers for their crops and could further inflame tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan rejects Afghan Taliban claims of Eid ceasefire violation, warns of swift resumption of strikes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday dismissed as “frivolous” and “absolutely false” Afghan Taliban accusations that it had violated a temporary pause in cross-border hostilities during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, while issuing a blunt warning that any act of terrorism, cross-border attack or drone strike would immediately end the truce and trigger a resumption of military operations with “renewed intensity.”
Opposition leaders again turned away from Imran Khan jail visit
ISLAMABAD: The opposition figures were once again barred from meeting imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday, an episode that deepened anxieties over his health and prompted sharp accusations that the government is deliberately obscuring details about the longtime political leader’s condition.
Imran Khan’s ex-wife accuses authorities of pushing sons to travel on NICOP without British consular protection
ISLAMABAD: Jemima Goldsmith, the former wife of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, accused the Pakistani government on Thursday of deliberately refusing to issue visas to her two sons so that any visit would leave them without British consular protection.
Pakistan rejects US intelligence chief’s warning that its missiles could reach American homeland
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday categorically rejected a US intelligence assessment that its evolving missile program could one day threaten the American homeland, insisting its strategic arsenal remains strictly defensive, limited in range and focused exclusively on deterring its nuclear-armed rival India.