AIR World Service English

The deadly attack on the famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar in Lahore on the second day of the holy month of Ramadan that killed 10 and injured more than 25 people is yet another ghastly reminder that Pakistan still shelters terrorist groups that have now come to haunt its own State. The suicide bombing was apparently targeted towards the elite security force that was assigned to guard the Shrine as the inflow of devotees increase during Ramadan. This is not the first time a Sufi Shrine was targeted by terrorists in Pakistan. Many Shrines like Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Baba Farid in Pakpattan and Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi were attacked in the past. The Sufi nature of these shrines has made them an easy target of the terrorist groups that consider Sufis to be heretics. The terror organisations within Pakistan such as the Pakistan Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Hizbul Ahrar (said to be a splinter faction of the local Taliban) that took responsibility for the latest bombings in...

Recently US Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, described India as the country with the highest tariffs in the world. He was in New Delhi for participating in the 11th “US Trade Winds Indo-Pacific Business Forum and Mission Initiative”, the US government’s largest annual trade mission; that was held this year in India. The United States is India’s biggest trading partner after China. In the bilateral meeting with the Indian Commerce Minister, Mr. Ross reiterated US President Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America great again”. He said, “Let’s make America great again by making India-US relationship far better again”, The US Secretary of Commerce, coined a new term “MAGAWIC”, or “Make America great again with Indian cooperation”. However, all is not well in the trade Indo-US relations and there are undercurrents of tension. India is concerned about the worsening trade war between US and China; the US decision to enforce sanctions on oil imports from Iran and the withdrawal of incentives ...

The US has deviated from its resolve to root out terrorism in any form. From July last year it has entered into a dialogue with Taliban. The sixth round of these talks began in Doha, Qatar last week and is still underway. The talks have not yielded any result so far. US Special Envoy for the talks, Zalmay Khalilzad is reported to have said that the talks revolve around withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, guarantees against terrorism, ensuring negotiations between Taliban and Afghanistan government for initiation of political settlement and a lasting cease fire. Direct involvement of US in Afghanistan dates back seventeen years to September 2001; when terrorists attacked twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. Following this, America had declared a war against terrorism. It vowed to punish Al Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden, whom it considered to be behind the attacks on American soil. It also declared to root out Taliban from Afghanistan for providing safe ...

With the deadline for the United States’ grant of exemption to seven countries including India from the sanction law CAATSA (Countering American Adversaries through Sanctions Act) against Iran getting over, the impact on the oil market or on India is relatively benign. No doubt, the price of crude oil had breached the $70 per barrel last month with production losses in sanction-hit Iran and Venezuela having tightened the supply position in the global oil markets. It should be noted that the price of Brent crude oil has been steadily surging in the last couple of months and had escalated by 50 per cent last December, as a direct result of the decision of the production cartel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to whittle down their output to bolster prices to capture the scarcity value of oil the world over. For India which was importing close to 11 per cent of its crude oil from Iran, the waiver from sanctions till last week, helped in cushioning the impact. Ira...

Pakistan and Afghanistan have resolved to make efforts to benefit from their geographic location to enhance regional connectivity and realise their true economic potential for socio-economic development, alleviation of poverty and welfare of people. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani made a rare phone call to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. The two leaders exchanged views on a host of bilateral issues that included matters relating to peace, security and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region. The Afghanistan President and Pakistan Prime Minister vowed to strengthen bilateral ties and restore peace in Afghanistan and the South Asian region. Relations between Islamabad and Kabul are marred by years of suspicions and mistrust over mutual allegations of harbouring militants waging attacks in both countries. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that for the sake of the people of the two countries, the aim of the leadership of both countries should be to help build peace, promote eco...

The 16th Ministerial meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) took place in Doha this week. The ACD is a continental level initiative inaugurated in 2002 with 18 founding members to promote interdependence among Asian countries. The core objective of the ACD is to “constitute the missing link in Asia by incorporating every Asian country and building an Asian Community without duplicating other organizations or creating a bloc against others.” Currently, the organisation has 34 members and is focussed on two aspects, that is, dialogue and projects. Its ministerial meetings have taken place annually since the inauguration and among its key projects are promoting cooperation are in the areas of “energy, agriculture, biotechnology, tourism, poverty alleviation, IT development, e-education and financial cooperation.” The focus during the 16th Ministerial meeting was to discuss strategies to achieve the larger objectives of sustainable growth through partnership in six principle areas...

The Joint Communiqué issued at the end of the second summit of the leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing demonstrated the members’ desire for greater connectivity and enhanced cooperation for mutual benefits and all-round economic and social growth. The Forum Round table called by the Chinese President Xi Jinping was attended by 37 heads of states and governments. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde besides representatives from many countries and international organizations also attended the meet. India, concerned over the $60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) a flagship project of China’s Belt & Road Initiative, which passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir, violating India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, skipped the second BRF meet also as it boycotted the first one held in May 2017 for the same reasons. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Myanmar’s ...