Pakistan, China to increase trade to $20 bn: Ahsan Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has announced that the governments of Pakistan and China have made new advancements for enhancing the economic relationship between the two countries.
Talking to a local television channel, he said that the recent visit by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to China saw him signing various agreements with the Chinese leadership in the fields of trade, energy and communication.

As part of an effort to boost the annual trade volume between the two countries from $12 billion to $20 billion, leaders from both countries had agreed to construction of economic and industrial cities in Gawadar and other parts of Pakistan. They had reached agreements over the establishment of trade corridors and railway links as well as in the area of power development.

The minister added that delegates of both countries had signed agreements for hydro-energy, solar energy and coal-based power projects as well as specifically discussing the Neelum-Jhelum and Diamer- Bhasha Hydropower projects.

Pakistan's War on Terror - Up To & Beyond 2014

While Pakistan continues to be a frontline state in the global war on terror, it is simultaneously fighting domestic terrorism in a war that will seemingly continue well beyond 2014. In recent months, terror attacks targeting the Shia Hazara minority in Baluchistan indicate a transformation of the terror problem in Pakistan. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi present two different sides of Pakistan’s terrorism problem, however, the two organizations have increasingly converged operationally to the extent that Pakistan cannot eliminate one without simultaneously confronting the other.

BACKGROUND: The September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. in which thousands of innocent lives were lost led Pakistan to join the U.S.-led global war against international terrorism in which Pakistan has over the years made an invaluable contribution. However, with the passage of time, Washington increasingly came to view Islamabad as part of the problem rather than the solution. Most U.S. and European policy makers believe that Pakistan is providing a safe haven for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Western media is full of stories about a presence of the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, including of Mullah Omar’s alleged base in Quetta. Since the summer of 2008, U.S. military and intelligence agencies are sharing minimal intelligence with its Pakistani counterparts, instead focusing on drone attacks against suspected terrorist movements and hideouts.

Pakistan is a signatory to the UN’s Palermo Convention. At the regional level, Pakistan has signed and ratified SAARC Regional Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism and the SAARC Convention on Narcotic Drugs Substances and the ECO Protocol against drugs. It has extradition treaties.


with 29 countries and bilateral agreements or MOUs on terrorism with 50 countries. Pakistan has played a major role in eliminating a number of terror networks such as the Al-Qaeda Anthrax network, the Alghuraba network, the UK-based Anglo-Pakistani group and Jundullah. Prominent targets captured include Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, Abu Alfaraj Alibi, Al Shib, Abu Zubaida, Abu Talha, Khalid bin Attash or Walid bin Attish, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, Abu Laith al-Libi, Hasan Bana, Hamza Rabbi, Sharif Al Masri, Abu Mushab Masri, Jaffar Uttayyar Alkashmiri Yassir Al-Jaziri, and Abdul Rehman Al-Masri. Umar Patek was arrested in Abbottabad by Pakistani forces and may have provided important leads to Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts.

Since 9/11, Pakistan has also become a victim of terrorism. The direct and indirect cost suffered by Islamabad in the war on terror has been around US$ 35 billion. There has been a constant increase in the number of terror attacks in Pakistan since 9/11 and a number of prominent Pakistanis have lost their lives in such attacks. These include the two-time Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto and the former head of the Pakistan Army’s Special Service Group, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Ameer Faisal Alvi.

Most of the jihadists in Pakistan, especially the splinter groups of various organizations, are now operating under the umbrella of TTP, a Deobandi Sunni organization established in December 2007. TTP’s objectives include cleansing Pakistan of foreign, meaning the U.S. and overall Western, presence, implementing Sharia and establishing a Caliphate. Over the years, TTP has been involved in a number of suicide bombings, rocket attacks, remote controlled bombs, abductions, and beheadings. It has widened its area of operations beyond Pakistan’s tribal areas and targeted a number of government installations and organizations in the mainland, including the Federal Investigation Agency’s Lahore office, the Naval War College in Lahore, the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the Wah ordinance Factory, the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, a police training school, the GHQ Rawalpindi and the Navy’s Mehran base in Karachi. It is also involved in kidnapping for ransom, bank robberies, forced taxes and drug trade.

IMPLICATIONS:

Since 9/11, the TTP has increasingly converged with the staunchly anti-Shia militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. A number of prominent TTP operations were conducted by known Lashkar-e-Jhangvi operatives. In recent months, the Hazaras in Baluchistan are increasingly becoming a prime target of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Both TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi consider Shias kafirs (infidels) and hence legitimate targets.

Terrorist activities showed no sign of receding in 2012, indicating that after more than a decade of fighting terror, Pakistan is nowhere close to the finishing line in this war and the problem is taking an even uglier shape. According to various sources, Pakistan suffered more than 6000 casualties in different terror attacks in 2012. More than 450 terror attacks were recorded in 2012 in which at least 39 were confirmed suicide attacks. Another important development in 2012 was the increasing operational alliance between the TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, although the two groups have cooperated with each other also in the past, the group led by Amjad Farooqi in 2003-2004 being a case in point.

However, in 2012 the two groups largely converged operationally in the sense that they declared a war against Shias. This convergence has resulted in the worst attacks to date against Shias, especially the Hazaras in Baluchistan. In 2012, Shias were targeted in 113 attacks in which 396 people lost their lives, indicating the increasingly sectarian features of Pakistan’s terrorism problem. So far, more than a thousand terror-related deaths have occurred in 2013.

Apart from a closer alliance emerging between TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, TTP has also established Ansar Al-Aseerian (Helpers of the prisoners) in partnership with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. According to media reports, Adnan Rasheed has been appointed the head of this group. The purpose of this group is to free all militants held in custody by Pakistani security forces and in various jails. TTP is also attempting to expand its activities and area of influence to Karachi, Pakistan’s major financial hub. Karachi, which is also considered to be Pakistan’s major Pashtun center, has been a preferred hideout for TTP, while some TTP and other jihadi activists have received medical treatment in Karachi.

2013 also witnessed two developments that will have long lasting effect on Pakistan’s war against terrorism. Firstly, Pakistan’s national Assembly unanimously passed the National Counter Terrorism Authority Bill 2013 on March 8, 2013. The establishment of a National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA) will play an important role in the efforts to combat terrorism. According to the mandate given to NCTA, it will “coordinate counter terrorism and counter extremism efforts in view of the nature and magnitude of the terrorist threat; and to present strategic policy options to the government for consideration/implementation by the stakeholders after scientifically studying the phenomenon of extremism and terrorism in historic and professional perspective.” Secondly, Pakistan’s army is taking a tougher stance and increasing its attention to the terrorism problem, as indicated by the decision of Pakistan’s army chief to treat the problem of terrorism as an operational priority.

2013 is also an election year in Pakistan, with national and provincial elections scheduled for May 11, 2013. TTP has already targeted a number of political events in Khyber Paktunkhwa and especially the Awami National Party’s election campaign. The political party or parties that will form the 3rd May 2013,next government will not only inherit a crisis in the energy and financial sectors but will also have to make hard decisions about the country’s war against terror.

CONCLUSIONS: Developments in Pakistan suggest that the country’s terror problem will only increase in the lead-up to 2014 and Pakistan will have to fight its war on terror well beyond 2014, if concrete and decisive steps against TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are not taken. Both organizations want Pakistan to be a Sunni state and are increasingly targeting Shias. The Pakistani people and armed forces have paid a huge price in people and material in this ongoing war. Unless Pakistan addresses the root causes of the problem, it will not only persist but also get worse.

AUTHOR’S BIO: Rizwan Zeb is based at the Centre for Muslim States and Societies (CMSS), University of Western Australia. He was previously a Benjamin Meaker visiting Professor of Politics at IAS, University of Bristol and a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution.

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

Pakistan's water shortage drips towards disaster

While economic stagnation, terrorism and religious intolerance remain in the spotlight, the South Asia scholar Anatol Lieven warns that water shortages "present the greatest future threat to the viability of Pakistan as a state and a society." Regrettably, the discourse on the subject remains both delusional and misdirected

In 66 years since independence, Pakistan's per capita water availability has declined from 5,000 cubic metres to less than 1,500 cubic metres, according to a 2009 report. Currently Pakistan provides about 1,000 cubic metres of water per capita - about the same level as Ethiopia. At this rate of depletion, by 2025, Pakistan's water shortfall could be five times the amount it can presently store in its reservoirs.

"The country is heading towards an acute water crisis," confirms Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman, who served as head of Pakistan's metrological department for several years.

Given Pakistan's scarcity of water and proclivity to blame others, a 2009 CIA report concluded that "the likelihood of conflict between India and Pakistan over shared river resources is expected to increase".

"No specific evidence [is] brought forth so far that India is actually obstructing the flow or is diverting the waters," concedes Ahmer Bilal Soofi, the former caretaker law minister. And yet, Pakistani media and politicians blame India for controlling the flow of water to the detriment of Pakistan. Such a course merely blinds the policymakers and public to the impending 28th August 2013

crisis that is of Pakistan's own making and to which there is a no easy solution.

Paradoxically, India and Pakistan resolved the contentious water issue in 1961 through the Indus Water Treaty in only 14 years. Pakistan's own four provinces took 44 years after independence to sign the Water Apportionment Accord in 1991. Notwithstanding the Accord, water remains a highly contentious issue effectively stalling building of any new reservoirs in the past 40 years.

Historically with plenty of water, shaping the wastage culture, its management and distribution have always been an important but a neglected process in much of Pakistan.
There are several reasons for this reduced water availability in Pakistan, some of which are natural.

Pakistan's population is ballooning. Climate change is making glacial water supply uncertain. Reduced snow-melts sometimes lead to less water in the system. Rainwater is wasted for lack of storage reservoirs. Illegal logging and removal of forest cover have denuded Pakistan's rangelands, causing annual flash floods that result in heavy collateral damage.
In addition to the waste, Pakistan is also contaminating its water. Untreated industrial and domestic effluent is being discharged into rivers while unregulated pesticides from farms are finding its way into streams and groundwater.

Pakistan's existing water storage infrastructure is ageing and is unable to cope with the rising demand. Sedimentation in the three main dams constructed during the 1960s and 1970s has reduced their holding capacity.

By a third, leaving Pakistan with a dangerously low water storage capacity of 30 days. Plans for building new dams have fallen prey to narrow provincial self-interest.

Pakistan is estimated to lose 13 million cusecs of water every year into the sea. Some experts, especially from Sindh province, argue that much of this flow is necessary to prevent seawater intrusion into the land. This seawater encroachment damages land otherwise suitable for agriculture up to 100 kilometres inland during periods of reduced river flow.

While water availability has declined, the way Pakistanis use water has not. People waste water by leaving taps running. The household usage is now almost all on a fixed charge basis - meaning excessive wastage. Industrial pollutants and household waste released into water channels contaminates water. The regulatory framework to prevent water wastage is non-existent.

Against the average of 75 per cent water usage for agriculture in the developing world Pakistan uses nearly 90 per cent. With barely 10 per cent left for drinking, household usage, sanitation and industrial purposes, no wonder that a third of the population does not have access to safe drinking water.

From within its usage for agriculture two-thirds of water is wasted due to archaic agricultural practices says Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman. Since many influential landowners are also powerful politicians benefiting from the status quo, they resist all attempts to change - only to maintain some of the lowest productivity rates in the world per unit of water and per unit of land.
Recovering only 24 per cent of its annual overhaul and maintenance (O&M) cost, Pakistan's canal water irrigation system is financially unsustainable. The rest of the money for O&M comes in subsidies, disclosed a planning
commission report. This low cost to the user breeds wastage and thus a national loss.

Pakistan's water scarcity threatens peace in the region. Instead of passing blame Pakistan needs to look within to prevent waste and devise better management methods to reverse this looming crisis. The situation, if not tackled, will fan discord with India and exacerbate inter-provincial disharmony in Pakistan.

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

Power crisis

The inauguration of the New Bong Escape Hydropower Project, Pakistan’s first private hydel power project, in Azad Kashmir by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may ultimately be seen as the symbolic moment when the country finally became serious about solving its power crisis. The project will project will provide 540 GWh of clean energy at a cost of Rs8.7 per kwh, as opposed to the over Rs18 per kwh cost of thermal energy. It should substantially reduce our bill for imported oil and, should it succeed, lead to other private investors entering the field. But one project alone cannot solve a crisis that has been decades in the making. Until the circular debt is eliminated, IPPs simply will not generate the power we so desperately need. For now, the government is planning on tackling the circular debt by raising Rs500 billion, mainly through loans from banks and then by printing the rest. Even though this will lead to greater deficit financing and inflation and will also incur the wrath of the IMF, it will produce more electricity in the short term. Whatever relief we get will be short-lived – a few months at the most. It is during this brief period of respite that the government needs to prove it is capable of tackling the power situation.

The key focus of the government should be the incredibly wasteful manner in which government-owned power plants operate. More than 90 percent of the fuel they burn ends up being wasted, the transmission lines add further unsustainable losses and then electricity is provided to the public far below cost. There are many potential solutions available for the government in the longer term. It could – and this seems to be the preferred policy option of the PML-N – privatise the power sector and hope it has the incentive to reform our wasteful method of power generation. The government could also get out of the business of setting the price of electricity and gas and simply let the market decide, a move that is unlikely to be implemented because it will be unpopular with the masses. Or it could go back to producing thermal power with gas rather than imported oil by moving full speed ahead with the Iranian gas pipeline or Tapi. The PML-N now has the political clout to implement one or all of these strategies; whether it has the will remains to be seen.

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

SCO FMs Meet to Promote Cooperation:

CHOLPON-ATA, Kyrgyzstan - Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers concluded a meeting here Saturday, pledging to expand coordination and cooperation under the regional framework.

In a statement released after the latest session of the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Council, the participants noted that SCO members hold the same or similar positions on major global and regional issues, which is conducive to the development of their partnership.

Against the backdrop of profound changes in international relations, they said the primary task now is to act in unison to effectively tackle global threats and challenges and ensure the sustainable socioeconomic development of the SCO countries.

They pledged concerted efforts within the SCO framework to fight terrorism, extremism and separatism, as well as transnational crime, drug-trafficking, weapons and ammunition smuggling and other illicit activities.
They called for increased cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, investment, finance, transportation, communications, agriculture and innovation, noting that such efforts will contribute to SCO members’ sustainable development.

They also voiced support for greater cooperation in the areas of science and technology, culture, health, tourism and disaster relief.

In addition, the participants stressed the necessity of encouraging SCO observers and dialogue partners to participate more extensively in practical cooperation within the SCO framework.

During the meeting, they also discussed the situation in West Asia and North Africa, and reaffirmed their support for using universally recognized international norms as the basis to achieve regional peace, stability, prosperity and progress.

They also agreed to continue working on the procedures for interested parties to join the SCO and become full SCO members. They also lauded Kyrgyzstan’s preparations for the upcoming SCO summit in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan.
The meeting grouped Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Sarybay of Kazakhstan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev of Kyrgyzstan, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia, Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi of Tajikistan, and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov of Uzbekistan. (Xinhua)


EU Urges Comprehensive Political Process in Egypt:

CAIRO - The European Union (EU) foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday urged for comprehensive political process in Egypt, with the participation of all groups supporting democracy.
The visiting EU top diplomat said in a statement that "Egypt is in need to return swiftly to democratic transition," asserting the EU is insisting on helping the Egyptian people to a better future with real freedom and economic growth.

Ashton reiterated she will meet with the interim President Adli Mansour and the interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi as well as other members of the cabinet.

Ashton will also hold talks with other political forces and representatives, including Amr Darrag and Mohamed Bishr, both of whom held cabinet posts in Morsi's government as Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, and Local Development Minister respectively, Haddad said on Twitter page.
Gehad El-Haddad, Muslim Brotherhood's (MB) spokesman, said two MB senior figures will meet with Ashton.

Ashton's visit came after announcing Egypt's first interim government on Tuesday amid political stalemate with the Islamic forces who insist on protests till their legitimate leader return to power and the state increases political polarization.

On late Monday, deadly clashes between the security forces and the deposed Islamist president's supporters left at least seven people killed and more 260 injured. (Xinhua)

Military Intervention in Egypt’s Politics “Inappropriate”: Iran
TEHRAN - The recent military intervention in Egypt’s political affairs which led to the ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi was an “inappropriate” action, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said Sunday.

Araqchi’s remarks, which was quoted by the official IRNA news agency, were the first official reaction of Iran to the overthrow of Islamist-oriented Morsi.
Asked if it is a backward movement in Egypt, Araqchi told IRNA that it is still too soon to judge since the atmosphere in the country is still so complicated.
The Iranian spokesman stated that the street democracy is not a favorable form of democracy and it is not an appropriate way for military forces in a country to intervene in political affairs and topple a government which gained power through election.

Egypt is currently faced with two issues: one is the public demands which should be responded and the other is the inefficiency of Morsi’s government in its policies, said Araqchi. The territorial integrity, solidarity, peace and stability of Egypt, as one of the most important countries in the Islamic world, is of prime significance for Iran, and the Islamic republic is seriously following the developments in Egypt, he added.

Morsi was ousted on Wednesday by the Egyptian armed forces after the nationwide protests against him due to his alleged “ maladministration” since he came to power a year ago. Chief of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court Adli Mansour was then assigned to run the country for a transitional period. (Xinhua).

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

Sharif for Expediting Anti-Terrorism, Extremism Policy:

ISLAMABAD - Pak Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Friday directed Ministry of Interior to finalize anti-terrorism and anti-extremism policy in consultation with all provinces on fast track basis. The Prime Minister gave these directions while attending a briefing by the Ministry of Interior at Pakistan Secretariat. He asked for preparing a well thought out and workable operational plan to achieve the desired targets. He stressed that restoration of peace and elimination of terrorism should be our top most priority, so the security agencies have to come up with hard intelligence to prevent terror attacks. “We have to perform and failure is not an option at all,” the Prime Minister maintained and added that all security agencies need to coordinate for ensuring national interests.

The Prime Minister said that we have to raise specialized anti-terror, anti-crime and watch and ward law enforcement forces to overcome the challenges faced by the country.

The Prime Minister assured provision of adequate funds for the law enforcement agencies to facilitate them in their professional duties.
He, however, demanded that they must deliver to the expectations of the people and the government.
The Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Interior to extend all out support to the provincial governments in their endeavors to fight the anti-state and terrorist elements.

Dilating upon the situation on the borders, the Prime Minister stressed that efforts should be made to stop the influx of aliens into FATA and other areas of the country.

The Prime Minister expressed the resolve that killers of Chinese and other foreign mountaineers should be traced as it is his government’s top priority.
The Prime Minister paid rich tribute to fellow countrymen who stood against the terrorists despite their brutal acts of terror.

He also paid rich tribute to the security forces and civilian law enforcement agencies for their sacrifices in the war against terror.

“I salute those mothers and daughters of Hazara community who raised their voice to denounce terror killings in Quetta” said the Prime Minister.
Secretary Ministry of Interior apprised the Prime Minister about the overall security paradigm and the steps taken by the Interior Division to strengthen the liaison between the provinces.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, and Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Advisor on National Security, Sartaj Aziz, and Minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Political Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr. Asif Kirmani and senior government officials.

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

China, U.S. Agree to Build New Type of Relations:

SUNNYLANDS, United States - Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, agreed on Friday to build a new type of relations between China and the United States which could avoid the traditional path of confrontations and conflicts between major countries.
The two leaders made the commitment at a joint press conference following their first face-to-face meeting at Sunnylands, a 200-acre (81-hectare) Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage, California.

Xi said he had an in-depth, sincere and candid discussion and reached important consensus with Obama on the domestic and foreign policies of China and the United States, the construction of a new type of relations between major countries, and international and regional issues of common concern.
"I stated very clearly to Obama that China will be firmly committed to the path of peaceful development and will unswervingly deepen reform and open up the country," Xi said, adding that China will work hard to realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and to promote the noble cause of peace and development for mankind.

"By the Chinese dream, we seek to have economic prosperity, national renewal and people's well-beings. The Chinese dream is about peace, development, cooperation and win-win results, and it is connected to the American dream and beautiful dreams of people in other countries," the Chinese president said.

He said Obama and he believed that as the economic globalization develops rapidly and all countries need to sail in the same boat when faced with difficulties, China and the United States should find a new type of relationship between major countries that is different from the past one featuring inevitable confrontation and conflicts.

Both sides agreed to expand all levels of dialogues and communications and keep increasing mutual understanding and trust, Xi said. "I look forward to maintaining close exchanges with Obama through mutual visits, bilateral meetings, exchange of phone calls and letters."

"I invite Obama to come to China at a proper time for a similar meeting like this and we will exchange visits as early as possible," Xi said.
The two sides will closely cooperate to ensure positive outcomes at a new round of the strategic and economic dialogue, people-to-people exchan
ges and high-level consultations between China and the United States, the Chinese president said.

Chinese Minister of National Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs will also visit the United States at invitations, he added.

The two sides agreed to step up cooperation in extensive fields of economy and trade, energy, environment, people-to-people and cultural exchanges as well as local level exchanges, in order to deepen the shared interests of the two countries and expand them to all areas, Xi said.

"We should also improve and strengthen the military-to-military relationship between the two countries and promote the building of the new model of military relationship between the two sides," he said.

"We should also improve coordination on macro-economic policies, strengthen cooperation which can contribute to our respective development, and promote strong, sustainable and balanced economic growth in the Asia Pacific region and the world at large," Xi said.

"I am confident in our joint efforts to build a new model of major country relationship. I believe success depends on human efforts,” he said.
"Firstly, both sides have the political will to build the relationship. Secondly, our cooperation in the last over 40 years provides a good foundation for cooperation. Thirdly, between China and the United States there are over 90 inter-governmental mechanisms which provide the institutional underpinning for our efforts. Fourthly, there is strong public support for this kind of relationship between China and the United States. There are 220 pairs of sister provinces and states and cities between China and the United States. There are nearly 190,000 Chinese students in the United States and over 20,000 American students in China. Fifthly, there is enormous scope for future cooperation between China and the United States," Xi said.
"This endeavor is unprecedented and will inspire future generations,” he said. "We need to deepen mutual understanding, strengthen our mutual trust, develop our cooperation and manage our differences so that we can avoid the traditional path of inevitable confrontation between major countries and really embark on a new path."

"The Chinese nation and the American nation are great nations and the Chinese people and the American people are great peoples. As long as we stand high and look far, as long as we make specific progress and accumulate them over time, as long as we maintain confidence and determination, as long as we have wisdom and patience, I am confident that we will succeed in achieving this cause," Xi said.

Obama said he and Xi had constructive discussions on extensive issues.
He said it is very important to understand each other's strategic objectives at military and political levels, adding that Washington is taking steps to institutionalize and regularize such exchanges.

"I emphasized my firm belief to President Xi that it is very much in the interests of the United States for China's continuous peaceful rise because if China is successful, that helps to drive the world economy and puts China in a position to work with us as equal partners in dealing with many of the global challenges that no single nation can address by itself," Obama said.
He said both Xi and himself recognize the unique opportunity to take the U.S.-China relationship to a new level. The U.S. president said he is absolutely committed to not missing this opportunity.

Responding to a question about cyber security, Xi emphasized that China is a victim of cyber-attacks and firmly supports cyber security. Both China and the United States share the concern over cyber security.
Within the framework of the China-U.S. strategic security dialogue, both sides agreed to set up a working group to address and continue to discuss cyber security issues.

"By conducting good-faith cooperation, we can remove misgivings and make information security and cyber security a positive area of cooperation between China and the U.S.," Xi said. (Xinhua)

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

Syria should not be equated with Libya nor Iraq

WASHINGTON – Britain’s Parliament has been recalled once again to hold a crisis vote on whether to authorize military intervention in another Middle East conflict.

Framed by opposition party members as history repeating itself, Thursday’s meeting of Parliament has already been compared to the drumroll that preceded action against Libya in 2011 and Iraq in 2003. Former UK prime minister Tony Blair was ridiculed for coming out in favor of Western action against Syria’s President Bashar Assad on Monday. Polls and local press coverage suggest that much of the British public is still bitter over being misled into the Iraq war under his leadership.

But Western military campaigns in Iraq and Libya cannot reasonably be compared to the action that appears imminent against the regime of Syria’s embattled president, Bashar Assad.

The specter of weapons of mass destruction motivated Western allies to act in Iraq preemptively, unilaterally and without due diligence. The premise of the war was that Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, could not be trusted to acquire WMD. He had used them years before, in Halabjah in 1988. But the international community was not in agreement that Hussein was pursuing WMD capability, much less in accord on the progress of the development of such programs, as US intelligence alleged.

In the case of Syria, however, no country – not even Assad’s allies – question that the regime has stockpiled massive amounts of chemical weapons. Assad’s government admitted it possesses these weapons in 2012. Syria has the largest stock of sarin in the region, and historically, Russia aided in the development of that program.

The point of drawing a redline on the pursuit of WMD – such as was done to justify the invasion of Iraq – is to avoid a much deeper redline: the use of WMD, as was evidently crossed last week in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Even Iran’s leadership, closely allied with Assad, has admitted that chemical weapons were used last week in Syria to devastating effect. The question now is only of culpability, and to that end, there exists no credible evidence that Syria’s fractured rebel forces could make, much less deliver, chemical weapons on a massive scale.

The issue is not a matter of intelligence. On Syria, it is a matter of will – both of the people in the US and Britain and of their leaders, reluctant to take on the costs of yet another war.

And yet, again in contrast with Iraq, a full declaration of war by the West on Syria is simply not in the cards.

“This is quite different to that ‘boots on the ground’ invasion of another country,” Nick Clegg, UK deputy prime minister, said on Tuesday. Clegg’s political party, the Liberal Democrats, staunchly opposed the 2003 invasion of Western intervention in Libya may be a more appropriate case study when examining the looming attack on Syria, but still has significant differences in the details that matter.

Syria is a country a third the geographic size of Libya, with three times the population. Assad has stocked and used chemical weapons, whereas Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had not at the time.

And Syria’s civil war is burdened by deep sectarian rivalries, while the Libyan conflict was much simpler: rebels were united in their fight to overthrow a dictator. “In the case of Libya, the purpose of military intervention was to win the war for the rebels,” said Gary Samore, executive director of research at the Belfer Center at Harvard. The purpose of intervention in Syria, at this point, will not be to turn the tide of the war against Assad’s favor. It will be to underline a fundamental international norm set forth by the West: the world will not tolerate the use of WMD. Sovereignty is a responsibility, they will assert, and not a right.

Samore says that Kosovo, not Libya or Iraq, provides the best template for comparison to the Syrian crisis. And indeed, the US administration has been studying NATO’s 1999 intervention in the Yugoslav conflict closely in recent days. “The big differences with Libya and Iraq are the facts on the ground,” Samore said. “But it’s based fundamentally on the principle that outside actors can intervene in a local conflict against a government, if that government has failed to protect its people.”

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

The Prime Minister expressed these views in a meeting of Pak-India Joint Business Council at the Prime Minister's House, his office said.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said that his PML-N party has pursued a policy of friendship and cooperation with India ever since its previous stints in power and will continue to do so to promote peace and prosperity in the region.

Pak-India Joint Business Council at the Prime Minister's House, his office said.

"It has always been his utmost Endeavour to bring the peoples of the two South Asian neighbours closer to each other so that they can benefit from each other's experiences," an official statement said.

Expressing his satisfaction over the visit of Indian businessmen under the auspices of Pak-India Joint Business Council, Sharif said, "It is reassuring that both sides are sitting together and talking to each other."

The Prime Minister told the meeting that he had directed Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Water & Power, to visit India and explore potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.

Sharif told the Indian businessmen that his government is following investor-friendly policies.

"We are facing acute power shortage in our country and any assistance in the power sector would help us in addressing the issue," he added.

Indian members of the Council informed the Prime Minister that being located in the same region and facing similar problems, India can be of great help in providing support in the fields of medical science, higher education and technical and vocational training.

The meeting also discussed Non Discriminatory Market Access and agreed that the industrialists of both the countries should be provided a level-playing field.

Pervez Rashid, Minister for Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage and Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and senior officials also attended the meeting.

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.

Pakistan gives high priority to improves ties with India: Salman Bashir:

NEW DELHI: Asserting that it accords high priority for improvement of ties with India, Pakistan today said "all branches" of its government have been given "clear policy directives" to work towards it.

Pakistan also said normalisation of trade relations with India was a priority and said "sky is the limit" for deeper economic cooperation between the two countries.

"The government of Pakistan and in particular the government of Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif is clear, categorical in according high priority to improvement of relations with India," Pakistan High Commissionerto India Salman Bashir said here.

He added this has been stated "very explicitly" by Sharif not only prior to his party's win in the May 11 general elections "but also in fact after that it has been translated into clear policy directives to all branches of the government of Pakistan to work to improving relations with India".

Pakistan pitches for security cooperation with India

NEW DELHI: Pakistan today pitched for security cooperation with
India and said doubting its ability to fight terror in the wake of the recent revelations by the Abbottabad Commission exposing lacunae in its security establishment will not solve anything.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to India who was addressing a gathering at the PHD Chambers Said the dates for talks on various bilateral issues were being worked out with Islamabad looking at "quick movement" across the board.
"Our government is settling in and I must say it considers India the most important track and we are for quick movement across the board in terms of relations," he said when asked about Indo-Pak ties.

Replying to a question on the leaked Abbottabad report which came down heavily on Pakistani security establishment, he said "let me say clearly that the version of the report that you see is a version and government of Pakistan has said that the report is yet to be issued".

He claimed Pakistan has done a lot in the fight against terrorism. "And I think that this argument has continued to be made about Pakistan's intentions or commitments. This is rather futile because it is something that is a demonstrated commitment," he said.

The Pakistani diplomat said it is not only for his country to fight terrorism. "Inequalities, injustices, anywhere in any part of the world breeds violence and violence takes different heinous forms".

He said violence South Asian region witnesses has nothing to do with those living in present times. "There is a history and a context and this history and context needs to be brought in. But I don't want to get into that issue," he said.

Bashir added all countries have its own various concepts of homeland security. "Pakistan has been cooperating with a large number of countries from information-sharing to counter-terrorism and other things for many many years.

"We have Home Secretary-Internal Security dialogue which deals with issues like drugs and counter terrorism etc. "We have said there that there is a need for cooperation in this. So, I don't think doubting Pakistan's ability, in the first place, would really solve anything. I think you can win an argument around by saying that but what is being demonstrated has been demonstrated," he said.
On the dialogue process, Bashir said the two sides are working on it. "We hope to fix the dates for various meeting between now and sometime in the fall.
"And of course, this would mean not only the standard meetings that you keep on hearing like the secretaries' dialogue on water, Wullar and other issues but also the working group meetings of the joint commission which adds another very important dimension to cooperation. "So, all I can say is that these are being worked out," he said.

Asked about the slow pace of the Mumbai attacks trial in Pakistan, he said the matter is being addressed at the legal level. "Whatever is necessary is being done in that regard. Of course, I can understand the desire on this side to see swift movement but all I can say is that the legal procedures are being dealt with in a proper way," Bashir said.

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.