Pakistan to remain on FATF 'grey list' till June, asked to address 'strategic deficiencies' - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Pakistan to remain on FATF 'grey list' till June, asked to address 'strategic deficiencies'.

• Pakistan must have an effective system to deal with terror financing, said FATF

• Pakistan courts must give effective, decisive and proportionate punishment to those involved in terrorism, the global terror financing watchdog said

Global terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Thursday retained Pakistan on its "grey list" till June after concluding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27 point action plan that the watchdog had drawn up for Pakistan.

The global watchdog had in October last year asked Pakistan, which has been on the FATF grey list over issues related to terror financing, to deliver on all 27 points by this February.

"To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan before June 2021," FATF said in a statement at the outcome of a plenary that began on Monday.

FATF said Pakistan should continue to work on implementing the three remaining items in its action plan to address its strategically important deficiencies, including "demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists, specifically those acting for or on their behalf."

The decision came on the final day of the FATF plenary, where governments around the world and partner organisations, including the UN, IMF and World Bank, discussed key money laundering and terrorist financing issues.

Pakistan's continuation on the "grey" list means that it will not get any respite in trying to access finances in the form of investments and aid from various international bodies including International Monetary Fund (IMF). The latest decision will now further exacerbate its problems given its perilous financial situation.

Earlier, Dawn had reported that some European countries, especially the host France, had recommended to FATF to continue to keep Pakistan on the "grey list" and had taken the position that not all points had been fully implemented by Islamabad.

Pakistan has been on the FATF's grey list since June 2018 and the government was given a final warning in February 2020 to complete the 27 action points by June in the same year.

Pakistan is facing the difficult task of clearing its name from the FATF grey list. As things stand, Islamabad is finding it difficult to shield terror perpetrators and implement the FATF action plan at the same time.

A research paper by an Islamabad-based think tank recently revealed that Pakistan sustained a total of USD 38 billion in economic losses due to FATF' decision to thrice place the country on its grey list since 2008.

The research paper titled "Bearing the cost of global politics -- the impact of FATF grey-listing on Pakistan's economy" states that that grey-listing events spanning from 2008 to 2019, may have resulted in total GDP losses worth USD 38 billion, The Express Tribune reported.

The report published by Tabadlab said the losses are worked out on the basis of a decrease in consumption expenditures, foreign direct investment and exports. (Source: Livemint)

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Pakistan to remain on FATF 'grey list' till June, asked to address 'strategic deficiencies'.

Will a new road between China and Pakistan lead to a military boost against India? - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

Will a new road between China and Pakistan lead to a military boost against India?.

Pakistan is looking to develop new overland border crossings with China that would potentially boost the allies’ military interoperability against Indian forces in Ladakh and the rest of Kashmir.

Proposals floated this month by the government of the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region primarily aim to pave the way for a new transit and trade route between China and Pakistan’s neighbours Afghanistan and Iran.

Currently, China and Pakistan are connected only by the Karakoram Highway, completed in 1978, via a single crossing in the Khunjerab Pass.

However, the route of a proposed new border road from Yarkand – on GB’s border with the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region – also suggests strong strategic motivations because it would open a new supply line from China to Pakistani forces deployed along the Line of Control (LOC).

The 740km LOC divides Kashmir roughly into two halves governed by India and Pakistan. Its northernmost point, the India-held Siachen Glacier, is located next to the western extreme of the disputed 3,488km China-India border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The GB government’s public works department was instructed on January 15 to prepare a “project concept clearance proposal” for a 10-metre-wide road capable of being used by trucks, from the Mustagh Pass on the border with the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region via the eastern GB region of Skardu, where the Siachen Glacier is located.

The proposed new road would be linked to Yarkand in Xinjiang, and enter GB 126km west of Ladakh, crossing the major supply artery from the Karakoram Highway near Skardu city. From there, it would run south through the high-altitude Deosai Plateau to the Astore Valley, where the southern flank of GB meets the LOC amid the Himalayas.

In a video posted on social media platforms this month, GB chief minister Khalid Khurshid announced plans to drill a road tunnel through the mountains to connect Astore to the Neelum Valley in the Azad Kashmir region, where much of the LOC is thinly demarcated by the Neelum and Jhelum rivers.

The tunnel would be built with the help of Chinese engineering firms, because their Pakistani counterparts lack the expertise.

ALARM BELLS

Washington-based analyst Sameer Lalwani told This Week In Asia there were potentially three logistics and strategic effects of enhanced China-Pakistan connectivity.

“It could deepen trade links by enhancing transport capacity; enable great Pakistan military mobility in any contingency, threatening India’s hold over the Siachen Glacier; and it can even facilitate greater China-Pakistan military coordination that generates peacetime dilemmas and wartime complications for India,” he said.

The proposed Xinjiang-GB-Kashmir road would “certainly ring alarm bells in New Delhi, which has been acutely sensitive to deepening China-Pakistan strategic and military ties over the past decade”, said Lalwani, who is director of the South Asia programme at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank.

“It may also result in the Indian military – which has already sunk considerable resources to retain control of Siachen – concentrating an even greater proportion of money, manpower, and materiel to its continental defences at the expense of maritime power projection,” he said.

The GB government’s decision to initiate work on the new road between Xinjiang and Kashmir is the latest in a series of developments triggered by New Delhi’s August 2019 decision to rescind India-administered Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status under the Indian constitution.

The move saw the region split into two union territories, Kashmir and Ladakh, fuelling tensions with Pakistan and China, their respective counter-claimants.

Forces from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) subsequently seized 103 square kilometres of India-held territory in Ladakh last year, while Pakistan revised its official map to lay claim to all of Kashmir.

In November, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that GB would be granted provisional provincial status.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won elections held in GB that month, and its new administration there has vowed to embark on a series of development projects aimed at leveraging the region’s position as the cross-border hub for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Since the CPEC’s launch in 2015, some US$28 billion of power generation, motorway and mass transit projects have been built in Pakistan by Chinese state-owned enterprises, ending crippling power shortages and vastly improving its logistical infrastructure.

As part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, the 15-year CPEC programme was envisioned as a means of integrating the Chinese and Pakistani economies with a view to developing a trade and investment corridor with the Middle East via the Chinese-operated Pakistani port of Gwadar.

‘STRATEGIC OR SECURITY SUPPORT’

Mustafa Hyder, executive director of the Pakistan-China Institute in Islamabad, said “the plan has always been for the CPEC to serve as one corridor with multiple passages”.

“When you talk of the Mustagh Pass or other routes, these are part of the multiple passages which define the CPEC,” he said.

The proposed road from Yarkand to Neelum Valley is part of the historic Silk Road that China has sought to revive under the belt and road plan. Until glaciers blocked the Mustagh Pass in the 1890s, it served as a trade route between Tibet and India.

After much of the Karakoram Highway was upgraded under the CPEC’s first five-year phase, Hyder said “it is only natural that other routes that supplement the Karakoram Highway will come about because the local population and business community of GB foresee a lot of prospective business with China, in which they can be a stakeholder”.

The proposal for the new road was first floated in 2016 during a meeting in Skardu between influential residents and a Chinese delegation.

While conceived as an economic development project, the new China-Pakistan route and other intra-Pakistan connectivity projects “are certainly going to cater to the core interests of Pakistan”, Hyder said.

“If those core interests include strategic or security support to protect Pakistan or China’s sovereignty and security, those roads will certainly be used, if and when need be – and they should be used,” he said.

“The Ladakh stand-off has upped the ante in South Asia. When we talk about the India-China confrontation, particularly post-Ladakh stand-off, the skirmishes between the two sides have alerted neighbouring countries … to the expansionist designs of India, which is being backed by Washington to counter and contain China, and also because of the CPEC, which is seen as a project that needs to be truncated or sabotaged.”

In the video posted online, GB chief minister Khurshid said his administration would also build a westbound highway linking the Karakoram Highway from GB to Chitral, a district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that straddles the Wakhan Corridor, a sliver of Afghanistan that also borders China and Tajikistan.

The Chinese army has since 2018 stationed troops at a dedicated military base in Tajikistan situated 12km from the corridor, and has conducted joint patrols and counterterrorism operations with Afghan security forces to prevent infiltration by militant Uygur groups.

NATURAL PARTNER

Few members of the separatist Turkestan Islamic Party remain in Afghanistan, after hundreds of militants relocated to Syria following the outbreak of civil war there in 2011 to join al-Qaeda and Islamic State militias that have since been defeated.

In recent CPEC joint working-group meetings, discussions between China and Pakistan have progressed on the development of a highway between Chitral and Chakdara, where it would connect to an existing motorway that culminates near Rashakai, home to the top-priority CPEC special economic zone.

From there, it is a short drive to Peshawar and the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan is a natural partner for Pakistan, so we can see multiple opportunities emerging as the infrastructure improves,” said Hyder of the Pakistan-China Institute.

Likewise, Pakistan is moving ahead with upgrades for the highways connecting Peshawar to Gwadar, as well as two motorways that will complete its nationwide network by 2024.

Pakistan is currently fencing its western border with Afghanistan and Iran, along which it will open dedicated crossings to promote legitimate cross-border trade as a replacement for the large-scale smuggling that has been prevalent along the porous boundaries for decades.

Michael Kugelman, senior South Asia associate at The Wilson Center in Washington, said both China and Pakistan had powerful economic motivations for pursuing new connectivity projects.

“With China having controlled the pandemic and showing signs of an economic recovery, it has a strong incentive to roll up its sleeves and focus on new infrastructure projects. The idea is to enhance connectivity efforts, but also to better enable China to project power, especially with an eye towards its nearby rival India,” he said.

“For China’s ally Pakistan, which is keen to push back against India and to see the emergence of new infrastructure in a key strategic space, this is just what the doctor ordered – so long as it’s happy with the financing terms of these projects.”

Pakistan expects its deepening alliance with China to figure prominently in forthcoming talks with the newly installed United States administration led by President Joe Biden.

“The first thing we want to talk about is investment partnerships,” Pakistan’s national security adviser Moeed Yusuf said last week at an online event organised by The Wilson Center.

“This conversation about CPEC is not always positive in Washington – how about an American reprocessing zone? How about American companies coming, investing money, reprocessing for export and sending [goods] wherever they want. How about doing things economically where there can be Pakistan-US-China co-investment?”

Yusuf said Pakistan had rejected the idea of being a member of either the American or Chinese camps as the rivals continue to jostle for supremacy.

“It doesn’t make sense for us to say I’m with one and not the other. Neither, frankly, [have] the Chinese ever asked us that, or the US for that matter,” he said. (Source: pib)

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Will a new road between China and Pakistan lead to a military boost against India?.

India-US Defence Deal 2020: Security Implications for Pakistan - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India-US Defence Deal 2020: Security Implications for Pakistan.

During recent Trump’s visit to India, both the countries signed US 3 billion dollars defence deal involving various sophisticated weapons. The deal consists of the sale of six Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters for the Indian Army and 24 Sikorsky MH-60R Sea Hawk multi-role helicopters for the Indian Navy.

Pakistan has already shown concerns that this deal would result in further destabilizing the already volatile region.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry’s Spokeswoman Aisha Farooqui stated that “the sale of such sophisticated weapons to India will disturb the strategic balance in South Asia with security implications for Pakistan and the region.” She also stated that the region could not afford an arms race or conflict and urged the international community to prevent the destabilization of the region.
Since 2007 India’s defence cooperation with the US has reached US 17 billion dollars as it aims to modernize its military to achieve its ultimate goal of becoming the global power. With the recent purchase of the sophisticated weapons, India is increasing its sphere of influence in the region which is quite alarming for its neighboring countries specifically Pakistan. The defence agreement between them clearly marks close collaboration in military, conventional and non-conventional weapons which may pose serious repercussion on geo-strategic scenarios of South Asia.
US being the major power is supporting India to play a larger role of the regional policeman and fulfill its long term hegemonic designs to dominate the smaller states with the help of its military strength. Hence this defence cooperation has accelerated India’s dream of becoming the global power.
Moreover India’s obsession of buying the most sophisticated weapons is a serious concern for Pakistan as it is likely to create conventional asymmetry in the region. The recent deal consist of weapons which Pakistan doesn’t have right now, hence it will disturb the conventional balance between the two states. Maritime security cooperation between India and the US is nothing but an attempt to secure the maritime domain which can cause serious maritime conflict between India and Pakistan in the Indian Ocean and international seas as well.
The Apache attack helicopters are equipped with the hellfire missiles, night vision capabilities, 70 mm rockets and an automatic gun, which makes it the most lethal machine in the world. The Apache would add greater firepower and agility to the Indian ground forces for any quick and intense operations against Pakistan.
This Indo-US deal has the potential to undermine the Pakistan’s strategy of minimum credible deterrence. Hence this cooperation can have disastrous effects on the stability of the region by tilting the strategic balance between in favor of India. Pakistan should convey to the US at the highest level, its security concerns caused by the latest Indo-US defence deal. We must emphasize upon the destabilizing consequences for South Asia caused by the open ended supply of highly advanced weapons to India, creating conventional asymmetry in the region.
Pakistan being the smaller state with a fragile economy cannot afford to indulge in an all-out arms race. However, Pakistan also should not remain oblivious to growing Indo-US cooperation as it can have strong security implications. Enhanced capacity building of Indian armed forces can threaten the deterrent value of Pakistan’s nuclear and conventional weapons. Hence a combination of expedient foreign policy along with credible conventional and nuclear deterrent could meet the desired national interest. In order to counter the conventional imbalance Pakistan has to rely on the indigenous weapon production, superior strategy and training.
Pakistan needs to build anti-weapons and long-range air defense system to detect any aerial threats and reduce the pace of the Indian mechanized forces. Moreover with these capabilities Pakistan can tackle with any advantage of Indian military in the conventional domain. Pakistan should build stronger ties with China while remaining strategically relevant to the US. Pakistan must revive its economy in order to counter the negative impact of the Indo-US strategic convergence.
It cannot be reiterated enough that the Indo-US defence deal raises strong security implication for Pakistan as it further increases the conventional asymmetry between the two states which will ultimately threaten the strategic stability of South Asia.Hence Pakistan needs to improve its overall conventional capabilities in order to fill the gaps and maintain the conventional balance. (Source:defencenews.in)


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India-US Defence Deal 2020: Security Implications for Pakistan.

Pakistan makes progress on FATF goals, may get a reprieve from blacklist - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Pakistan makes progress on FATF goals, may get a reprieve from blacklist.

May earn reprieve from ‘greylist’

Pakistan appeared to make some progress on convincing members of the global watchdog FATF (Financial Action Task Force) of its efforts to curb terror financing at a key meeting in Beijing on Thursday. A final decision on its “greylist” status is expected next month.

According to sources, Pakistan was cleared at the Asia Pacific Group (APG) meeting held in China from January 21 to 23 on 14 of the 27 specific counter-terror goals set by the body. The figure indicates that Islamabad is only half-way towards fulfilling its commitment, but is a significant improvement over its record before the FATF in October 2019, when it had only been cleared on five goals. Pakistan is understood to have convinced the committee that it has frozen the bank accounts and regulated access to funds for nine terrorists, including LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and Taliban leaders, banned by the UN Security Council.
The External Affairs Ministry refused to comment on the deliberations of the APG, which are confidential, but said India would watch the final result of the Plenary Group meeting beginning in Paris on February 16.
A positive recommendation from the APG could significantly reduce chances of a blacklist for Pakistan.
“We presume that the FATF will evaluate the progress made by Pakistan on the basis of the set criteria,” Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday. “At the last plenary meeting in Paris in October, the body had expressed serious concerns with the lack of progress overall by Pakistan to address its terror financing risks, emanating from areas under its control. It is now for the members to decide [in February] whether Pakistan has fulfilled its commitments,” he said.
India, along with several countries in the 39-member body, had increased efforts to hold Pakistan to account on support to banned terror groups, which had led to it being placed on the ‘greylist’ in June 2018.
According to sources, Pakistan engaged several countries directly to gain some leniency in the process, which could have otherwise placed severe financial strictures on investment into the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan reportedly raised the FATF issue during talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at Davos this week. In addition, India’s strained ties with Malaysia and Turkey could mean that any attempt to blacklist Pakistan is vetoed by them.
China, the current President of the FATF and co-chair for APG, has praised the Pakistan team for the government’s efforts. (Source: The Hindu)


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Pakistan makes progress on FATF goals, may get a reprieve from blacklist.

Pakistan may seek more time from FATF to curb terror financing - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Pakistan may seek more time from FATF to curb terror financing.

• With China as chair of the FATF, Pakistan is likely to get a breather
• The Paris-based international terror financing watchdog kept Pakistan on the Grey List for an extended period till February 2020
Pakistan could seek more time from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to comply with its demands to cut finances to terrorist groups, two people familiar with the matter have said, ahead of Islamabad this week submitting responses on queries sent last month by the global watchdog, demanding clarification and data on steps taken by Islamabad to curb terror financing.

One of the two people cited above pointed to a number of news reports and opinion pieces in Pakistani media in recent weeks that have suggested that Pakistan should be given more time to implement the FATF’s list of demands. One such piece by Khawaja Khalid Farooq, a retired inspector general of police and former chief of Pakistan’s National Counter Terrorism Authority, published on “The News" website pointed out that Pakistan had an “evolving counter-terrorism regime" that had to “grapple with deep structural impediments to achieving full compliance".
Farooq noted that it was “not an easy task to dismantle such long established (terrorist) networks".
“Kinetic operations have broken the back of terrorist outfits, and there will definitely be some time lag before these deeply entrenched groups in society can be weeded out. But, time is not on Pakistan’s side where the FATF is concerned," he wrote.
With China as chair of the FATF, which last month sent a list of 150 questions demanding more clarity on the steps, Pakistan said it had put in place to curb terrorist financing, Islamabad could get a breather given that Beijing is seen as Pakistan’s all weather friend. Pakistan’s progress in choking terrorism financing channels is to be analysed at an FATF meeting in Beijing later this month. It is here that Islamabad is likely to get support from Malaysia and Turkey for a respite – till June – to put its house in order, a second person said.
The FATF’s October plenary meeting in Paris had given Pakistan time till February to comply with 27 benchmarks set by the body in June 2018 and agreed to by Pakistan to escape being penalized – ie being put on the FATF’s blacklist. Blacklisting would put Pakistan in the company of Iran and North Korea. Though the move doesn’t amount to international sanctions, countries will be wary of investing in Pakistan knowing that it is not a jurisdiction seen as compliant with FATF rules. Just prior to the FATF’s October meeting, an assessment by the FATF’s Asia Pacific Group found Pakistan fully compliant only on one out of 40 benchmarks set by the FATF in June 2018 when Pakistan was first put on the “gray list." It was found to be non-compliant on 32 out of 40 compliance parameters.
India, on its part, will be looking towards a second FATF meet in February in Paris where New Delhi is expected to work through friendly countries like France to keep up pressure on Pakistan to cut off funding to terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and its front organisation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity. The LeT is blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack in which 166 people were killed while the JuD’s network includes hundreds of seminaries and schools. Recently, Pakistani authorities had produced in court Hafiz Saeed who heads the JuD and the LeT in court last month on charges of terrorism financing but the case was later adjourned. According to Indian government officials, the "little cleanup" of Pakistan's system that is happening is because of the FATF’s relentless focus on Pakistan. While blacklisting of Pakistan may be some distance away,New Delhi’s aim will be to ensure there is no let up in pressure on Islamabad to comply with the benchmarks set by the FATF at this point, the second person cited above said. (Source: Livemint)


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Pakistan may seek more time from FATF to curb terror financing.

Pakistan to remain on FATF 'Grey List' till February 2020 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Pakistan to remain on FATF 'Grey List' till February 2020.

• FATF directed Islamabad to take 'extra measures' for 'complete' elimination of terror financing and money laundering, a Pakistani newspaper reported
• The country was placed on the Grey List by the watchdog in June 2018 and was given 15 months to complete implementation of a 27-point action plan
In a major development, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Tuesday decided "in principle" that Pakistan will remain on its grey list till February 2020 and directed the country to take "extra measures" for the "complete elimination" of terror financing and money laundering.

The meeting of the international watchdog reviewed the measures taken by Pakistan to control money laundering and terror financing, and observed that Islamabad will have to take further steps on the two parameters in these four months, reported Dawn.
The formal announcement of these decisions will be made on 18 October.
The country was placed on the Grey List by the watchdog in June 2018 and was given 15 months to complete implementation of a 27-point action plan, failing which it be placed in the Black List.
It included safeguards against money-laundering and terror-financing by banned outfits and non-government entities through banking and non-banking jurisdictions, capital markets, corporate and non-corporate sectors like chartered accountancy, financial advisory services, cost and management accountancy firm, jewellery and similar related services.
According to Dawn, the FATF has linked the blacklisting of Pakistan with "unsatisfactory steps" to curb money laundering and terror financing. The watchdog will make its final decision in February 2020.
The report said that China, Turkey and Malaysia appreciated the steps taken by Pakistan, and on the outright support extended by these countries, the FATF decided not to include Pakistan on the blacklist and give it more time to implement the remaining measures.
On being asked about the development, Pakistan Finance Ministry spokesperson Omar Hameed Khan responded, "it is not true and nothing before October 18".
A Pakistani delegation led by Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar told the meeting that the country has made positive progress in 20 out of 27 points. The FATF expressed satisfaction on the measures taken by Pakistan and its progress in various areas. (Source: Livemint)


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Pakistan to remain on FATF 'Grey List' till February 2020.

How a booming Pakistan became bankrupt and a bankrupt India became a booming economy - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

How a booming Pakistan became bankrupt and a bankrupt India became a booming economy.

Highlights
• Pakistan began with better indicators of social growth, but lagged later
• Pak's children had better expectancy of survival at birth and lower infant mortality rate
• India had a lower GDP than Pakistan in 1947
When the British colonial rulers partitioned India before granting independence to the jewel in the crown, the two newly created countries began on a fresh note. Some said that Pakistan had been granted an unfairly favourable deal in terms of fertile land and infrastructure set up by the Border Commission headed by Sir Cyril Radcliffe. While that argument is done and dusted, where the two nations headed to from there does hold importance now.

Pakistan began with better indicators of social growth and prosperity, as compared to India.
Its children had a better expectancy of survival at birth and lower infant mortality rate. Pakistan, till 1971 had a mortality rate per 1000 live births, and ran neck-and-neck with India (135/1000) till the slide began. Now Pakistan's infant mortality rate is sadder and higher at 61 to India's 31.
The life expectancy of an average Pakistani was pegged higher than an average Indian. An Indian hoped to live an average age of 41 in 1947, a Pakistani could look at an average of 46. Now that same figure stands at 69 and 66 respectively in India's figure.
India had a lower GDP than Pakistan in 1947. In 1960 too, Pakistan's GDP was nearly 6 per cent against India's 3.6 per cent. In a reversal of growth fortunes, Pakistan's FY 19 figures plummeted to 3.3 per cent while India's are pegged at 6.6 per cent.
The Indian and Pakistani Rupee began at par with the dollar in 1947. Today the Pakistani Rupee is 160 to a dollar and India is 71.
Pakistan and India have been struggling to maintain forest cover, as are other nations across the world. But India seems to have now gained a huge headstart on increasing its forest cover while Pakistan is worried about its dwindling green assets. From almost 3.2 per cent of its area under forest cover in 1960, Pakistan has been steadily losing its green cover and now only 1.8% of its land area is forested. The billion-tree planting drive that it undertook recently, also demands intensive sustenance which is suspect at the moment. On the contrary, India's forest cover, from 21.05% in 1960 has gone up to nearly 24%.
What has undone the Pakistan story?
Basically, the Islamic nation has been done in by its Kashmir obsession and its hefty spendings on military matters. While still holding a major part of what was once the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir that had legally acceded to India in 1947, Pakistan is choking the fortunes of the Kashmiris and that of the Pakistani generations by focussing (initially covertly and now overtly) on its pipedream "Kashmir Banega Pakistan".
Subsidies are supposed to be sops that help the uplift of those trapped in the lower rungs of the poverty scale. While only 9 per cent of India's total Budget is earmarked for subsidies, Pakistan trusts 4 per cent allocation for the subsidy to do the job. Now let us look at the defence budget allocation of both these nuclear-armed countries. India's defence budget accounted for 8 per cent of the GDP, but keeping the India bogie alive, Pakistan earmarks 17 per cent for defence spendings.
The terror-related activities and the various organisations that they like to call 'good terrorists, bad terrorists' have not done any good for their reputation. The FATF has already sounded off Pakistan on showing improvement on cutting out all terror-funding activities or face international blacklisting soon.
While India prides itself in its space research initiatives through the Indian Space Research Organisation, the IT sector jobs and education centres, the industrial power-houses and Bollywood as well as robust regional cinema... our western neighbour has no educational institution or industrial brand that is known across the world.
Indian diaspora across the world graces positions of power in MNCs and IT majors. Pakistan is struggling to make the Gulf nations accept its doctors and the validity of their MBBS and MS/MD degrees.
Not a matter for India to rejoice, we need a prosperous Pakistan ::
A healthy neighbourhood also means a healthy India. India has always rooted for a prosperous Pakistan. Pakistani citizens would often travel to India for jobs, Bollywood contracts, even medical aid and treatment. But when the Pakistani army kept snatching the power reins in Islamabad, its motto of bleeding India with a 1000 cuts did not augur well with the synergy of cultural exchange.
Sadly, Pakistani schools and influencers indoctrinate children that India is an enemy nation. So, wish as we may, to see Pakistan rise from this abysmal state of affairs, the writing on the wall is not very encouraging. (Source: defencenews.in)


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How a booming Pakistan became bankrupt and a bankrupt India became a booming economy.

UN rejects Pakistan’s appeal for intervention on J-K - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

UN rejects Pakistan’s appeal for intervention on J-K.

Calling for "maximum restraint" by all sides, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres on Thursday indicated the Kashmir dispute needs to be resolved bilaterally in keeping with the Shimla Agreement of 1972 and by peaceful means in accordance with the UN charter.

The reference to the Shimla Agreement in this context is rare and significant, according to people familiar with these discussions, as it provides the framework for resolving the dispute bilaterally, which is a rebuff in a way to Pakistan's attempts to seek UN intervention.
"The Secretary-General has been following the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with concern and makes an appeal for maximum restraint," a spokesperson for Gutteres said in a statement and added that the position of the United Nations on this region is governed by the world body's Charter and applicable Security Council resolutions.
The spokesperson also said, "The Secretary-General also recalls the 1972 Agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, also known as the Shimla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."
The secretary general was "concerned over reports of restrictions on the Indian-side of Kashmir, which could exacerbate the human rights situation in the region," the spokesperson added and that he has called on all parties to "refrain from taking steps that could affect the status of Jammu and Kashmir", which was a reference, according to those people cited above, to the "final status", and not the change in the state's status to that of a Union Territory.
Pakistan had sought UN and UNSC intervention in a letter to Gutteres, but it appears to have not achieved its objectives. Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had written on Twitter on Tuesday that the letter, written by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would make "clear that the rights of Kashmiris as provided by Security Council resolutions cannot be abrogated by any unilateral action. Compliance of SC resolutions on J&K is essential for peace in our region". She did not say, but was referring to Resolutions 39 and 47 from 1948, which set up a UN-mandated commission to help resolve the dispute and recommended a plebiscite in the state to determine its final status. (Source: defencenews.in)


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UN rejects Pakistan’s appeal for intervention on J-K.

India suspends cross-LoC trade with Pakistan - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India suspends cross-LoC trade with Pakistan.

India has suspended the trade across the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan from Friday after probe agencies found the route was being "misused" by elements from the neighbouring country to smuggle illegal weapons, drugs and fake currency, a government order said Thursday.

It said a stricter regulatory and enforcement mechanism is being worked and the issue of the reopening the trade routes will be revisited once they are implemented.

The Union Home Ministry order stated that it has been "decided by the Government of India to suspend the LoC trade at Salamabad and Chakkan-da-Bagh in Jammu and Kashmir".
It said the action was taken on the basis of reports that the trade routes were being "misused by the Pakistan-based elements for funnelling illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency, among others."
The LoC trade, at present, is conducted through two trade facilitation centres located at Salamabad in Uri of Baramulla district, and Chakkan-da-Bagh in Poonch district.
This trade takes place four days a week and is based on barter system and zero-duty.
The measure has been taken in the backdrop of the Pulwama terror attack following which India stepped up its military and strategic offensive against Pakistan and also withdrew the most favoured nation (MFN) from its neighbour.
"Meanwhile, a stricter regulatory and enforcement mechanism is being worked out and will be put in place in consultation with various agencies. The issue of reopening of LoC trade will be revisited thereafter," the government said in the statement. (Source: defencenews.in)


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India suspends cross-LoC trade with Pakistan.

U.S. Infrared Satellite Data Could Settle The Debate Over Pakistan-India Dogfight - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

U.S. Infrared Satellite Data Could Settle The Debate Over Pakistan-India Dogfight.

America's constellation of panoptic infrared early warning satellites is known for providing the Pentagon with the first indication that a ballistic missile launch has occurred and where to cue the attention of other sensors so that the missile can be tracked, classified, and even potentially intercepted. Yet America's huge investment in orbital early warning platforms, which dates back to the 1960s, has also resulted in a secondary function for these systems—picking up much more than just large rocket and ballistic missile launches. These ancillary events can include the launch of smaller missiles, like surface-to-air and even air-to-air types, artillery barrages, large detonations on the ground... and exploding aircraft.

The limited air battle between India and Pakistan that occurred over Kashmir on February 28, 2019, is one of the most hotly contested military events we have seen in a long time. Misinformation flowed like a waterfall in the hours, days, and weeks following the shoot-down of the Indian MiG-21 Bison by a Pakistani fighter, with allegations of systemic deception at the highest levels of government being flung with reckless abandon across both sides of Line Of Control. In fact, it continues to this very day with no sign of abating.
We have covered the story in extreme depth and tried to separate myth from reality and knowns from unknowns as much as possible in an attempt to bring an objective and well-versed viewpoint to the alarmingly murky and spiteful debate. But even a month and a half after the aerial engagement happened, what exactly occurred during it remains unclear.
India says their MiG-21 pilot that got shot down also shot down a fighter of his own—a Pakistani F-16—moments before his aircraft was struck. Meanwhile, Pakistan claims they lost no aircraft during the engagement and reports attributed to undisclosed sources state that all of its F-16s are accounted for.
So, when it comes to the air-to-air side of hostilities, we are left with one crucial question that has tensions boiling between the two long-time foes—was a Pakistani fighter shot down or not? India has produced some far from conclusive "radar data" that they say shows the F-16 being shot down. It also provides general positioning information of the aircraft involved and especially of the MiG-21 in relation to the F-16 that New Delhi says was shot down by its MiG pilot.
But with just a few screenshots to go by of said radar data and with Pakistan unwilling to provide any additional info of their own, the two sides seem locked in an informational stalemate of sorts, where one narrative is constantly pitted against the other without end.
The thing is that the Pentagon very likely possesses sensor data that can unequivocally prove one story right and the other wrong. That aforementioned infrared early warning constellation includes Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) and Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites—the former being the more modern and advanced of the two. You can and should read all about these fascinating satellites and their origins in this past feature of mine.
It is all but certain that portions of America's space-based infrared early warning system staring down on the India-Pakistan area as the air battle unfolded. With the two countries possessing enough nuclear warheads to cause significant harm to the globe—many of which would be deployed via ballistic missile—the region is something of a "must monitor" for Department of Defense. This is especially true considering a nearly unprecedented bombing raid into Pakistani territory occurred just a day before the air engagement in question and a full-out war between the bitter foes could have been right around the corner.
As we mentioned earlier, these satellites not only have a strategic function, they also have a tactical one in that they have the ability to detect non-ballistic missile launches and other infrared events. In fact, there is an entire Air Force unit tasked with squeezing out secondary surveillance products from these spacecraft that constantly stare at the earther's surface. And they see a lot. In 2014, over 8,000 separate infrared events were detected and cataloged, the next year was even busier.
So, it is probable that any missile launches that occurred that day, whether it was an AIM-120 AMRAAM from the Pakistani F-16 or the R-73 from the Indian MiG-21, could have been detected, geolocated, and catalogized. But it is even less challenging for the satellites to detect a missile exploding in mid-air and causing the aircraft it showers with shrapnel to erupt into a massive fireball.
This is not conjecture. The downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Eastern Ukraine was picked up by SBIRS, as was the SA-11's missile launch that doomed that Boeing 777. The bombing of Metrojet Flight 9268 over the Sanai Peninsula was also detected by SBIRS. So, are we to believe that a fighter loaded with weapons and fuel, flying over what could be an imminent flashpoint of war between two nuclear powers, had a missile blow it out of the sky and it wasn't detected?
Highly unlikely, to say the least.
That data could totally validate or invalidate the radar surveillance data India has presented, including correlating the locations of the MiG and F-16 with the geolocations and timing of the infrared events detected.
So why isn't the U.S. setting the record straight assuming it has this information? Geopolitically there is a long list of reasons for the U.S. not to inject itself into a conflict between two nuclear-armed powers with different levels of complex relations with Washington D.C. In addition, the Pentagon has never been all that talkative about the secondary uses for its space-based infrared early warning network and detecting terrestrial infrared events is just one of its potentially secondary applications. Leveraging this information in real time could have huge advantages during a conflict, so it seems to only be talked about when it is absolutely necessary—like the shoot down of MH17, an event that Russia was accused of having a direct hand in.
So, there you have it. As the brutal information war on the internet rages on between the two estranged neighbors, keep in mind that the U.S. could most likely settle the debate once and for all with data it has had since the moment the engagement occurred. And this is just one intelligence product among many that the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community can pull from to make an accurate analysis of what went on that day. But as of yet, nobody with the power to do so is willing to offer up such definitive information to put the issue to rest.
It's possible that unless that changes, we may never truly know exactly what went on in the chaotic skies over Kashmir on that fateful day. (Source:defencenews.in)


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U.S. Infrared Satellite Data Could Settle The Debate Over Pakistan-India Dogfight.

Withdrawing Pakistan's MFN status will divert trade - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Withdrawing Pakistan's MFN status will divert trade.

• Most of the trade (around $3 billion) between India and Pakistan is routed either through the UAE or Singapore
• Pakistan enjoys benefits of lower tariffs on its exports to India due to the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status
With India finally deciding to withdraw the unilateral non-discriminatory market status it granted to Pakistan in 1996 — popularly known as Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status in World Trade Organization (WTO) parlance — after the Pulwama terror attack, the already weak trade links between the two neighbours in South Asia is set to worsen.

Pakistan enjoys benefits of lower tariffs on its exports to India due to the MFN status while it continues to impose higher tariffs on its imports from India than it charges other countries and restricts trade through land routes.
After the Uri terror attack in 2016, India had also reviewed the MFN status to Pakistan but decided not to withdraw it. The complex relations between India and Pakistan have adversely affected bilateral trade as well as trade within the region.
Total trade between the two South Asian neighbours increased by 6% in 2017-18 to $2.4 billion, with $1.9 billion exports and $500 million imports from Pakistan. At present most of the trade between India and Pakistan is routed through either the United Arab Emirates or Singapore to the tune of $3 billion because of trade restrictions imposed by Islamabad. Trade diversion is likely to increase after withdrawal of the MFN status. Trade between India and Pakistan can increase to $37 billion if both countries do away with artificial trade barriers, a World Bank report said in September last year.
Although Pakistan had agreed to grant MFN status during a secretary-level agreement in September 2012, it later changed its mind. The translation of most-favoured nation into Urdu (sabse pasandida mulk), Pakistan’s official language, was also said to be a problem.
Pakistan has, however, moved from a so-called positive list trade regime to a negative list-based regime with India in which it does not allow imports of 1,209 items from India. MFN status will mean abolishing the negative list altogether while maintaining a list of prohibited items that cannot be imported.
Both countries have a preferential trading arrangement under the South Asia Free Trade Area (Safta) process. However, Pakistan has blocked some of these benefits to India through the negative list. It further restricts imports from India by allowing only 137 items through the land route via the Wagah-Attari border.(Source: Livemint)


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Withdrawing Pakistan's MFN status will divert trade.

Pakistan India Water Conflict: Pakistan’s water crisis not India’s fault - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Pakistan India Water Conflict: Pakistan’s water crisis not India’s fault.

THE Indus Waters Treaty, signed by India and Pakistan in 1960, mandates the commissions of both countries to inspect sites and works on both sides of the Indus basin in a block of five years.

Honouring this obligation, a Pakistani delegation recently visited the Chenab river basin in Jammu and Kashmir for an inspection. Since the signing of the treaty, 118 such tours on both sides have been undertaken. The last tours of the commissions in Pakistan and India were conducted in July 2013 and September 2014, respectively. The current five-year block ends in March 2020.

During the bilateral talks on the treaty in Lahore in August last year, India, rejecting Pakistan’s objections to the construction of the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric power projects (HEPs) on the Chenab river, had invited Pakistani experts to visit the sites to address their concerns regarding the impact on the flow of water into their country.
The Pakul Dul project (1,000 MW, ultimately 1,500 MW) is located on the Marusadar river, a major right-bank tributary of the Chenab Main, in Doda district. The confluence of the Marusadar and Chenab is 225 km upstream of the Marala headworks and 76 km from the Baglihar HEP. A concrete-faced rock fill dam with a height of 167 metres is being constructed at a cost of Rs 8,110 crore. Pakul Dul will not only be the largest hydroelectric power project in Jammu and Kashmir, but will also have the first storage unit. Also, subsequent to its commissioning, Jammu and Kashmir will get 12 per cent free power after 10 years.
The Lower Kalnai HEP is located on the left-bank tributary of the Chenab, about 19 km downstream of Dulhasti HEP and 180 km upstream of the boundary between Pakistan and India. A concrete gravity dam with a height of 34 metres is proposed to be constructed with an installed capacity of 48 MW.
Pakistan has raised technical issues, alleging that the design parameters constitute a violation of the restrictions imposed as per the treaty. Pakistan has objected to the designs of the projects — freeboard, pondage, spillway and intake crest elevation.
India, however, has rejected such assertions, stating that the projects were being built in adherence to the parameters laid down in the treaty. As against 3.6 MAF (million acre ft) which India can store on the western rivers, the total storage capacity created so far is a mere 0.5 MAF. Pakal Dul is a storage project with a capacity of 88,000 acre ft, but this is within the permissible limit of storage of 0.6 MAF on the tributaries of the Chenab. The gross storage capacity of Lower Kalnai (1,508 acre ft) is so small that it has negligible downstream impact on Pakistan. Other design differences are small and not of much significance with respect to downstream impacts.
Water is becoming an existential issue for Pakistan. The country is facing a grim situation regarding its fast-depleting fresh water resources. Pakistan has been attributing its problems of water scarcity to Indian action of constructing hydel projects on the western rivers. In Pakistan’s perception, the construction of dams by India could lower the quantity of water in these rivers.
However, their water-related problems need to be attributed to Pakistan having drawn limited benefit of India’s benevolence, despite the fact that it has been receiving more than its authorised share. Projects being undertaken by India are in tune with the provisions of the treaty. In 1950, the water available per capita annually was 5,500 cubic metres when the population of the erstwhile West Pakistan was 33 million; at present, it is down to 850 cubic metres annually, while the population has increased to 210 million. The overall quantity of water flowing in the western rivers to Pakistan remains approximately the same. As per a recent report, Pakistan is receiving about 154 MAF of water annually against an authorisation of 136 MAF.
As far as India is concerned, the Kashmir dispute and the water dispute are inextricably intertwined. Pakistan’s attempts over the years to annex Kashmir can be seen in the context of attempts to ensure water security. Despite India’s generosity in the sharing of the Indus river waters, Pakistan has consistently adopted an obstructionist strategy since 1977, raising issues regarding run-of-river projects under construction on the western rivers by India.
Such an attitude has not only stressed the treaty itself, but also has had a considerable negative impact on the economic progress of Jammu and Kashmir. The state, even though being upper riparian, exploits merely one-seventh of its hydel power potential. India, at present, irrigates 0.8 million acres area against the limitation imposed on the extent of area to be irrigated (1.32 million acres) with the waters of the western rivers. The annual energy loss suffered by Jammu and Kashmir is 60,000 million units; evaluated at the rate of Rs 2 per unit, it is approximately Rs 12,000 crore. These restrictions have, therefore, imposed a loss in terms of development of industry, power and agriculture equal to around Rs 40,000 crore annually.
The World Economic Forum rates the water crisis as the biggest risk in Pakistan, with terrorist attacks third on the list. Pakistan is facing the crisis due to poor management and anticipated reduction in intake through the nine trans-border rivers from Afghanistan and in the Indus river from China. The reduction in discharge is the result of construction of hydel power projects with storage facilities by Afghanistan and China. Shortage of water in Pakistan, thus, has very little to do with the non-adherence of the provisions of the treaty by India. As such, its allegation that India is trying to usurp its share of water by constructing hydel power plants on the western rivers is not based on facts.
A recent report of the World Bank puts into perspective the massive wastage of water in Pakistan. Water worth $25 billion flows into the sea annually. As per the report, agriculture, which consumes more than 80 per cent of water, contributes less than 5 per cent of the GDP. Pakistan needs to initiate necessary action on its own to improve the water availability to overcome the crisis. (Source: defencenews.in)


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Pakistan India Water Conflict: Pakistan’s water crisis not India’s fault.

A water crisis is brewing between India and Pakistan - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

A water crisis is brewing between India and Pakistan.

• Both have accused each other of violating the World Bank-brokered 1960s Indus Waters Treaty
• Imran Khan’s six-month-old Pakistani government has sought to mend ties with India
Women and children walk miles each day in search for water in a crowded, downtrodden district of Pakistan’s financial capital, Karachi — a scene repeated in cities throughout the country.

Across the border in India, government research indicates about three-quarters of people don’t have drinking water at home and 70% of the country’s water is contaminated.
As rivers and taps run dry, water has the potential to become a major flash point between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. Both have repeatedly accused each other of violating the World Bank-brokered 1960s Indus Waters Treaty that ensures shared management of the six rivers crossing between the two neighbors, which have fought three major wars in the past 71 years.
The latest dispute is over hydroelectric projects India is building along the Chenab River that Pakistan says violate the treaty and will impact its water supply. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is sending inspectors to visit the site on January 27. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who faces elections in the next few months — has vowed to proceed with construction, and it remains unclear how the impasse will be resolved.
“Tensions over water will undoubtedly intensify and put the Indus Waters Treaty — which to this point has helped ensure that they have never fought a war over water — to its greatest test," Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington said by email.
“The prospect of two nuclear-armed rivals becoming enmeshed in increasing tensions over a critical resource like water is unsettling and poses highly troubling implications for security in South Asia and the world on the whole," he said.
For now, relations between India and Pakistan appear to be stable, and even looking more positive. Khan’s six-month-old Pakistani government has sought to mend ties with India, and has said the country’s powerful military supports those efforts — a notion greeted with skepticism in New Delhi.
Still, all sides see the long-term risks of a conflict over water: Khan himself is attempting to raise $17 billion via the world’s largest crowd fund for the construction of two large dams, one of which would be built in the disputed territory of Kashmir. In a region that’s home to about a quarter of the world’s population, failure to manage water shortages could be catastrophic.
“Any future war that happens will be on these issues," Major General Asif Ghafoor, Pakistan’s military spokesman, told reporters last year, referring to water issues. “We need to give it a lot of attention."
The most serious threat to the water agreement of late followed a terrorist attack on an Indian army camp in September 2016, when Modi stated that “blood and water and cannot flow together" and vowed to review the treaty.
If Modi is re-elected “there’s a possibility that water may become a tool to try bring Pakistan to heel," said Ashok Swain, professor of peace and conflict research and the director of research at the School of International Water Cooperation at Uppsala University in Sweden.
“He may not do something immediately after resuming power but if relations with Pakistan deteriorate, by 2020-21, it’s a possibility," Swain said. And although Pakistan’s new political leaders are aware the two dams being built by India are only one part its problem, “a water conflict with India can be a good way to hide their own mismanagement."India's Ministry of Water spokesman Sudhir Pandey didn't respond to phone calls, while Pakistan's Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah was unavailable to comment.
Pakistan, India and Afghanistan are among the world’s eight most water stressed countries. Waiting for hours or going days without water supply is the new normal in some crowded South Asian cities. The Indus river, one of Asia’s longest that originates in the Tibetan Plateau and flows into the Arabian sea near Karachi, has shriveled to a shadow of its former self. Water scarcity has led to regular protests in cities from Shimla in India to Lahore in Pakistan.
Most South Asian nations are heavily dependent on agriculture that consumes the majority of fresh water supply. Rice and sugarcane are grown by flooding the entire area with more than four feet of water. About 60 percent of households in India rely on agriculture while about half of Pakistan’s labor force is employed by the industry.
“South Asia has a water crisis," said Pervaiz Amir, a regional expert for the Stockholm-based Global Water Partnership, pointing to the cities of Karachi and India’s capital, New Delhi. “You immediately start a ripple effect, first it is poverty that will increase. In the southern areas of Pakistan, extremism and terrorism will increase."
Global agencies have made dire predictions that Pakistan — despite having the world’s largest glaciers — will face mass water scarcity by 2025. Already availability per capita has dropped by a third since 1991 to 1,017 cubic meters, according to the International Monetary Fund.
In most areas of Karachi flowing piped water is a rarity and its more than 15 million residents receive less than half of their daily needs. Even when it is supplied in the densely populated district of Lyari it only reaches a handful of houses through a leaking line that passes through mounds of garbage and leaves it smelling of sewage.
“When water comes, women come from far, far away to fill water," said 30-year-old fisherman Abdul Qadir, pointing out dilapidated pipelines in Lyari’s Khadda Market area. “There is a line of more than 200 people here."
Last year a judicial report showed that 91% of Karachi’s water was unsafe to drink. Pakistan’s poorest urban dwellers have access to only 10 liters per capita — just one fifth of the requirement, according to James Wescoat, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The World Economic Forum rates the water crisis as the biggest risk in Pakistan, with terrorist attacks third on the list. Waseem Akhtar, Karachi’s mayor, told Bloomberg the city needs to fix widespread leakages and theft, but funding is scarce.
India’s water demand is projected to be twice the available supply by 2030 and will lead to a 6% loss in the country’s economic growth by 2050, according to the New Delhi-based government think-tank NITI Aayog.
While a solution will need regional cooperation, there's been little coordination between India and Pakistan apart from their decades-old river-sharing agreement. Still, officials on both sides of the border recognize they need to act with urgency.
“We have a near crisis," said S. Massod Hussain, chairman of India’s central water commission. “We need better management of our water resources." (Source:Livemint)


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A water crisis is brewing between India and Pakistan.

ISRO to Launch Exclusive Satellite to Help in Securing Pakistan, Bangladesh Borders - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

ISRO to Launch Exclusive Satellite to Help in Securing Pakistan, Bangladesh Borders.

A satellite will be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) exclusively for the home ministry to help it further strengthen its frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh among others, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.

The move is part of recommendations made by a task force on the use of space technology in improving border management which have been accepted by home minister Rajnath Singh.
To execute the project in a time bound manner, a short, medium and long-term plan has been proposed for implementation in five years in close coordination with the ISRO and the defence ministry.
"Major recommendations of the report are to build capacity in border guarding forces to use space resources for security, operational planning and border infrastructure development," the statement issued by the home ministry said.
In short term, immediate needs of border guarding forces will be met by procurement of high resolution imagery and hiring of bandwidth for communications, it said.
"In mid-term, one satellite is being launched by the ISRO for exclusive use of the MHA," the statement said.
Over the long term, the MHA will develop ground segment and network infrastructure to share satellite resources by user agencies, develop a central archival facility for storing various imagery resources and dissemination of the same to user agencies, it said.
"Deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces in remote areas will be also coordinated by satellite communications. Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-based GPS will provide navigation facilities for operational parties in high altitude, remote and difficult borders and Naxal areas," the home ministry said.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has been designated as lead agency for implementation of ground segment and network infrastructure, including establishment of archival facility, it said.
India shares land borders with Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
With the assistance of the department of space, the ministry of home affairs would implement the project, the statement said.
"This project will strengthen island and border security and facilitate development of infrastructure in border/island areas," it said.
The home minister has approved report of the task force created by the MHA to identify areas for use of space technology in improving border management, the statement said.
The task force headed by Joint Secretary (Border Management), having members from the BSF, the Department of Space and BM division of the Home Ministry, consulted all stakeholders including border guarding forces, the ISRO, National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and the Ministry of Defence to finalise the report.
Island development, border security, communication and navigation, Geographic Information System (GIS) and operations planning system, and border infrastructure development are the areas identified for use of space technology, it added.


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ISRO to Launch Exclusive Satellite to Help in Securing Pakistan, Bangladesh Borders.

India’s military retains 4th spot in global ranking, Pakistan drops to 17 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India’s military retains 4th spot in global ranking, Pakistan drops to 17.

India’s military has secured the fourth position on a global index of 136 countries ranked on the basis of their military capabilities, trailing behind United States, Russia and China.

While India has maintained its position among the top five nations in the Global Firepower (GFP) List 2018, Pakistan has slipped four spots to 17 from 13 in 2017.
The top three military powers too have held on to their ranks. France rounded up the top five. The United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Turkey and Germany complete the top 10, in that order.
Ireland, Montenegro and Liberia are three new additions to the list this year.
The GFP index ranked the countries based on 55 parameters, including military resources, geographical factors, logistical flexibility, natural resources, local industry and available manpower.
India, China, Pakistan ::
China leads India in terms of active military personnel with its 21.83 lakh personnel as against India’s 13.62 lakh. Pakistan has 6.37 active personnel.
China’s defence budget continues to be over three times more than India’s.
India remains ahead of Pakistan on most parameters, but the number of attack helicopters available with the western neighbour is significantly higher at 49, compared to India’s 15.
An increase or decline in ranking can be related to equipment/manpower attrition, financial instability, population and resource fluxes, etc, said the report.
It also said that India is looking beyond its position as a top military importer to that of a top military exporter and has several high-profile programmes to market.
Pakistan’s military, however, continues to be challenged by internal unrest, disaster relief operations and standing global requirements in the fight against terrorism, added the report.
The GFP index didn’t consider nuclear stockpiles, but gave weightage to recognised and suspected nuclear powers in terms of additional bonus.
Available manpower was a key consideration in the ranking, a factor understood to have helped India and China significantly because of the strength of their armed forces.(Source:defencenews.in)


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India’s military retains 4th spot in global ranking, Pakistan drops to 17.

What does Kartarpur signify for India-Pakistan ties? - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

What does Kartarpur signify for India-Pakistan ties?.

What is it?
In a year, if all goes to plan, the dusty roads leading to the Kartarpur shrine in Pakistani Punjab’s Narowal province will be transformed into a bustling network of tourists and pilgrims. In this town by the river Ravi, the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, spent his last 18 years. After 1947, Sikhs in India lost access to it. While larger groups of pilgrims travel to Nanak’s birthplace Nankana Sahib, where he began preaching, very few have been able to visit the more remotely positioned shrine just four kilometres from the border with India. At present, the journey from the closest town of Dera Baba Nanak takes over 200 km on a circuitous route through the Wagah/Attari border. In the last 70 years, several Indian governments and countless delegations from the Sikh community have appealed to the Pakistani government to open access for them directly over the border from Dera Baba Nanak, by building a “pilgrim corridor.” It wasn’t until August this year, when Pakistan’s Army chief General Bajwa went up to the Congress leader and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu at the swearing-in of Prime Minister Imran Khan and told him that the proposal was being considered, that India received the first official assurance on the issue. India has also committed to building its end of a two-kilometre four-lane highway corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to the border. The plan is to complete the project by November 23, 2019, the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

How did it come about?
The anniversary is the most obvious reason for fast-tracking the project. But other questions are legitimately being raised about Pakistan’s decision, which was first conveyed by its military leadership, not the political one, to accept the request from India for the corridor. Security officials have pointed to an uptick in Sikh separatist violence fuelled by terror groups in Punjab, and the appearance of organisations and posters in Gurdwaras in Pakistan that call for a “referendum” in 2020 on a separate state of Khalistan to question whether the move has a hidden motive to radicalise pilgrims. On the Indian side, the Central government’s desire to cater to a major domestic constituency, and its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, has added to its alacrity in responding to Pakistan. Despite vowing not to engage with Islamabad until “terror ends,” it sent two senior Ministers to attend the ground-breaking ceremony by Mr. Khan at Kartarpur this week.
Why does it matter?
In a relationship where ties have always progressed at a glacial pace, and often face reverses, the Kartarpur corridor initiative has moved rapidly since August. On the Pakistan side, a full proposal has already been made, including an expressway that will take pilgrims by bus from the border to the shrine.
What lies ahead?
The project is unique for several reasons. Human corridors of this sort are normally used for emergency situations: refugees fleeing violence or humanitarian disasters. Secondly, the corridor will come up at a time when few avenues for India-Pakistan relations exist. In the past few years, not only has all official dialogue ceased but other exchanges by actors, artists, authors, academics, media and musicians have all but ended. Religious pilgrimages by Sikhs and Hindus to shrines in Pakistan and by Muslims to Sufi shrines in India see a reduced number of visas, and the corridor will be an exception where large numbers will be able to travel visa-free, according to the current plan. Many logistics will have to be finalised once officials on both sides meet. Finally, the corridor of peace, as it has been termed by leaders on both sides, stands apart for its potential to further other such exchanges, as well as in promoting dialogue between the two neighbours. For the moment, the Kartarpur initiative itself will be a major marker for both governments to accomplish in the next year, and the realisation of a dream for so many, for so many decades. (Source: The Hindu)


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What does Kartarpur signify for India-Pakistan ties?.

Kartarpur corridor green lit, India and Pakistan to begin construction soon - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Kartarpur corridor green lit, India and Pakistan to begin construction soon

India today announced that it will start construction of the Kartarpur corridor up to the international border.

The corridor will begin from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and will end at the international border, on the Indian side. The government says it will ask Pakistan government to build a similar corridor stretch on its land up to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
The corridor is being built to facilitate the visit by Indian pilgrims to the holy Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, where Guru Nanak spent his last 18 years.
The Kartarpur corridor will be built as an integrated development project with funding from the Indian government.
Pakistan, on its part, too has decided to begin building the Kartarpur corridor later this month, with Prime Minister Imran Khan likely to lay the foundation stone of the project.
According to officials, while a date for beginning the construction has not been set, the Pakistan government wants the announcement to coincide with the arrival of Sikh pilgrims, who are currently in the country to observe the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh faith.
They said that a survey in this regard has already been conducted, and the government plans to complete the corridor's construction by next year.
The Kartarpur Sahib corridor was first proposed in 1999 when the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a bus ride to Lahore. The Sikhs had been demanding that the two countries should revoke restrictions on movement of pilgrims to the holy shrine.
Currently, there is no restriction on an Indian pilgrim going to Pakistan on a regular visa. So, anyone can visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib without requiring any special permission from Pakistani authorities.
Sikh jathas are known to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on four occasions every year -- Guru Nanak's birth anniversary, Baisakhi, Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom day and Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death anniversary.(Source:defencenews.in)


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Kartarpur corridor green lit, India and Pakistan to begin construction soon.

India stands by Indus Treaty commitment, rejects Pakistan reports - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

India stands by Indus Treaty commitment, rejects Pakistan reports

India on Saturday (October 20) rejected reports in Pakistani media that New Delhi has refused "permission" to Pakistan from inspecting water projects being built on the River Chenab.

In the last meeting of Indus Waters Commission held in August, 2018 in Lahore, an understanding was reached on schedule of tours on both the sides.
However, the said tours had to be rescheduled after the declaration of elections of local bodies and panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources told India Today that the Indian side iterated its position that the agreed tours will be held after the completion of these elections.
Meanwhile, sources in Pakistan told India Today that Pakistan commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Mehr Ali Shah had telephoned his Indian counterpart PK Saxena on this account. Shah reminded him of talks held in Lahore two months ago where both sides had spoken about Pakistani experts inspecting the projects.
Shah had written to his Indian counterpart in this regard too. In the letter, he emphasised Pakistan's right to inspect water projects being built on the river in accordance with the Indus Waters Treaty. Commissioner Saxena had responded to the letter writing to Shah emphasising on India's commitment to the Treaty.
Pakistani team was expected to visit India this month to inspect the water projects. India postponed the planned visit on account of local body and panchayat elections being held in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Visit of the Pakistani delegation would require security which cannot be spared till the election process is complete.
The panchayat elections would be held in nine phases on November 17, 20, 24, 27, 29 and December 01, 04, 08 and 11.(Source:defencenews.in)

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India stands by Indus Treaty commitment, rejects Pakistan reports

Pakistan successfully test-fires missile system with 1,300-km range - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Pakistan successfully test-fires missile system with 1,300-km range.

The Ghauri Ballistic Missile can carry conventional and nuclear warheads, the Pakistan Army said.

Pakistan on Monday successfully conducted the training launch of Ghauri Missile System, which has a range of up to 1,300 km, reported Radio Pakistan.
Pakistan Army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, said the Army Strategic Forces Command conducted the launch and it was aimed at testing the operational and technical readiness of the command.
“Ghauri Ballistic Missile can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a distance of 1,300 km,” said a statement. Army Strategic Forces Command chief Lieutenant General Muhammad Hilal Hussain “appreciated the standard of training and operational preparedness of Army Strategic Forces”, it said.
President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan appreciated the efforts of the scientists and engineers on the successful missile test.
In April, Pakistan test-fired an enhanced version of the indigenous Babur cruise missile that can deliver conventional and non-conventional weapons with a range of 700 km.


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Pakistan successfully test-fires missile system with 1,300-km range.

China, Pakistan to extend economic corridor to Afghanistan - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

China, Pakistan to extend economic corridor to Afghanistan.

In an apparent reference to India’s concerns, Chinese foreign ministry says close ties between Islamabad and Beijing will not target a third party nor it will be influenced by the development of foreign relations with other countries

China and Pakistan have decided to speed up and extend the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor towards Afghanistan during foreign minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to Islamabad, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.
Wang, designated as China’s top diplomat as he is also the State Councillor—a higher rank in the Chinese political hierarchy —visited Pakistan from 7 to 9 September and held talks with the new government headed by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. His visit was mainly aimed at exchanging views with the new government and compare notes with Pakistan on cooperation in all areas, thus making “our bilateral cooperation to get off under the new circumstances”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media briefing here.
Asked whether any new economic package by China has been discussed as Pakistan is currently facing serious economic crisis, he said the two sides have agreed to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) towards west to enable more people to benefit from it.
“The two sides will advance the CPEC in the light of Pakistan’s economic and social development and people’s needs. “We will identify the pathways and cooperation for the CPEC. we will accelerate the industrial cooperation and the projects of the people’s livelihoods and extend the CPEC to the western area and make the people gets benefits from it,” Geng said.
India has protested over the CPEC, a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as it traversed through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). While Geng has not elaborated on the extension of the CPEC towards the “west”, Wang in April announced plans to extend it towards Afghanistan during the first trilateral foreign ministers meeting held here.
The CPEC is originally conceived be a strategic link with highways, rail and pipeline links between China’s Xinjiang and Pakistan’s Gwadar port. But several projects have been extended to different provinces following allegations that all the main projects are garnered by Pakistan’s dominant Punjab province.
Prime Minister Khan in the past had accused the previous Pakistani government of depriving other provinces, specially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the western borders with Afghanistan. “During the (Wang’s) visit, we have reached consensus on advancing the CPEC... The key is to accelerate industrial cooperation and the projects related with people’s livelihoods. To extend the CPEC to the western areas and make the people get benefits from these project,” Geng said.
During his visit to Pakistan, Wang said there were currently 22 cooperation projects in Pakistan within the framework of the CPEC of which nine have been completed and 13 are under construction. The total investment of the projects was to the tune of $19 billion and they have created 70,000 new jobs, he was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Chinese officials said it is not the practice to announce any economic packages during foreign minister’s visit.
Terming China and Pakistan as “all-weather” strategic cooperation partners, Geng said on Monday that “our relations will not be influenced by the changes in the domestic situation. It is as stable as a mountain. Our friendship has withstood the test of international landscape and time. It is rooted in the hearts of our two people”. In an apparent reference to concerns in India over close ties between Pakistan and China, Geng said close ties between Islamabad and Beijing will not target a third party nor it will be influenced by the development of foreign relations with other countries.
“Politically they will further enhance political mutual trust, strategic communication and firmly support each other’s core interests and mutual concerns. They will have closer communication and coordination on issues of common interest,” he said. “On the security front, the two sides will enhance cooperation in defence and enhance exchanges between the two militaries and law enforcement agencies. China will firmly support Pakistan in combating terrorism in the light of its own national conditions,” Geng said.
The new government of Pakistan said it will regard its ties with China as a cornerstone of its foreign policy. China will regard Pakistan as a priority in the neighbourhood diplomacy, he added. (Source: Livemint)


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China, Pakistan to extend economic corridor to Afghanistan.