Diplomatic AffairsMay 20-26, 2013

An eyeful of weekly

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olson meets Nawazliu Jian meets Nawaz UaE envoy meets Nawaz

Saudis, Pakistanis one nation Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Abdul Aziz Ibrahim al-Ghadeer terms

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www.diplomaticaffairs.netinfo@diplomaticaffairs.net An eyeful of weekly Chief Editor: Abubakar Siddique

Publisher, Abubakar Siddique published at House no: 20, Street No 29, F-8/1, Islamaabd

The general elections, long-awaited by many, have taken place in the country in a suc-cessful manner. Now, it is the time to form new government. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has emerged as a major political

force in the country. The man-date the party has achieved and the trust people have reposed in its leadership is a pleasant development. The world has also hailed the elec-tions and congratulated the PML-N on its victory. Various world leaders have praised the PML-N for its val-iant election campaign. Ambassadors of different countries including the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, have met PML-N President Mian Mu-hammad Nawaz Sharif. The meetings indicate that the party, set for forming government in the centre, will pay a great attention towards international affairs and the country’s foreign pol-icy. The meetings discussed relations and the scope for expanding them. It is a very happy omen.

Geographically and politically, Pa-kistan has a very important status in the world. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will, in the coming days, form government. First of all, the party leadership needs to bring up a compe-tent cabinet. The country is confronted with a maze of problems, which require an efficient team. People have associated high hopes with PML-N with regard to reso-lution to the energy crisis, price hike and other issues. The new government has a tough job to address the internal issues and crises. PML-N is popular for intro-

ducing innovating ideas and projects for the masses welfare. It is widely hoped that the party’s government will leave no stone unturned for the public well being. A major task lying for it is to ensure strength of the state organs. If institutions of the country are strong and are working within their domain, it will lead to ensuring good governance. Secondly, keeping in view the importance of the foreign policy of the country, the new govern-ment will have to remove drawbacks from it and devise it in a pattern that

suits the national interests. The PML-N government must select an efficient and competent team if it revis-its the foreign policy. Incompetent officials dealing with the foreign affairs or having any role in them should be sidelined.

The foreign policy must be focused on developing rela-tions with the neighbouring and friendly countries. It must be developed in a way that it protects the national interests at all costs. There are a lot of issues, be it the war on terror or trade relations, to which the foreign policy needs to sort out solutions. It is undeniable that Pakistan has made numerous sacrifices in the war on terror for the sake of world peace. So, the government needs to keep this factor ahead of it while re-viewing the foreign policy. The country’s relations with the US and Afghanistan have very im-portant role in this regard.

As far as Pakistan’s relations with other countries is con-

cerned, another factor the government must not ignore economic links. The country’s

economic fragility is creating numerous other problems and the masses are getting suppressed under inflation. The government must put an emphasis on improving trade relations with other countries. It must focus on creating invest-ment opportunities and attract foreign investors. It will not only help improve relations but also stabilize the economy. Brotherly countries have always been active in this sphere, but now the approach of a new govern-ment will surely enhance the opportunities.

The new government will obviously face different challenges, as the country has been gripped by several crises internally and externally. But it is also a fact the PML-N has no dearth of sagacious leadership to cope with these challenges. The only thing the party’s gov-ernment will have to pay due heed to when it comes to resolving internal problems is the selection of a compe-tent cabinet; and for dealing with the external matters and foreign affairs, it has also to look for an efficient team that works on the issues and devises policies pro-portionate to the national interests.

Need for effective foreign policy initiatives

The foreign policy must be

focused on developing rela-

tions with the neighbour-

ing and friendly countries. It

must be developed in a way

that it protects the national

interests at all costs. There are

a lot of issues, be it the war on

terror or trade relations, to

which the foreign policy needs

to sort out solutions. It is un-

deniable that Pakistan has

made numerous sacrifices in

the war on terror for the sake

of world peace.

May 20-26, 2013

3

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

A five-member high level delegation of the British Council, led by its UK-based Chief Executive

Martin Davidson, visited a low-cost girls private school affiliated with the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) under its Foundation Assisted School (FAS) programme in Bagh-banpura.

The purpose of the visit was to personally watch the quality of train-ing being imparted to the English language teachers of various FAS partner schools of the provincial metropolis. The training has been arranged by PEF in collaboration with the British Council Pakistan to improve and enhance the didactic skills of the English language teach-ers of elementary and secondary lev-el partner schools under its Certifi-cate in Secondary English Language

Teaching (CiSELT) programme. On the occasion, PEF Deputy

Managing Director (HRM) Aamir Iftikhar Ahmed and Director (CPDP) Bushra Saeed Khan briefed the Brit-ish delegation on various aspects of teachers training programme of the foundation aiming at improving the quality of education of partner schools through teachers’ trainings. Mr. Ahmed said the PEF model of public-private partnership, compris-ing of about 3300 partner schools in 36 districts of the province, had greatly helped to expeditiously ex-tend free education at the doors of the poor and the needy.

Ms Khan said the training mod-ules had been designed to give state of the art training to the teachers, and follow-up workshops were also held to ensure that the teachers might not forget the training lessons. She maintained that training facility had helped in the standardisation of teaching faculty.

British Council team visits PEF school in Lahore

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

In his reaction to the controver-sial statement issued by Mutta-hida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Husain, British High

Commissioner Adam Thomson said the other day that “statements like this have to be taken seriously.”

In a telephonic address, Altaf Hu-sain had said that Karachi should be separated from Pakistan if the man-date given to the MQM is not accepta-ble. Thousands of complaints against Altaf were sent to the London metro-politan police after this statement.

It may be noted that Altaf Hussain and MQM leaders have repeatedly clarified that he did not mean separa-tion of Karachi from Pakistan and his statement was taken out of context by the media.

“The London Metropolitan Police have been flooded with complaints from both Pakistani and British citi-zens about those remarks. What we say is that wherever somebody has a concern that hatred or violence is being incited, that one community or another is being turned against others, this should be reported to the police. And I know that they take such allegations very, very seriously indeed,” Thomson said while ad-dressing a press conference. He said if proved guilty, the MQM chief could face jail sentence.

About handing over Altaf Hussian to the Pakistani authorities, he said

that it has to go through the whole extradition process for that. “It is complicated in the UK Pakistan case as there is no extradition treaty. It doesn’t make it impossible, but it does make it quite difficult,” said the High Commissioner.

He said that it is for London Met-ropolitan Police but not for the Brit-ish High Commission, or the British High Commissioner, to say what they will do next. “Unlike some countries in the world, the British police are fiercely independent of British gov-ernment. And it is for the British police to investigate allegations of incitement to violence or incitement to hatred,” he said while answering a question.

He said that Altaf Hussain has apparently retracted or denied his statement. “So he is not as I under-stand is maintaining a position that he is definitely going to disintegrate. But I don’t want to quibble. I repeat my first point which is that such statements are taken very seriously but please don’t underestimate the threat to the integrity of the state of Pakistan from terrorism.”

In his comments on the May 11 elections, he said Pakistan stands taller in the community of Nations as a result of these elections. Overall, he termed May 11 polls as technically the best elections that Pakistan has ever had and said that the shape of the re-sults from these elections is not seri-ously in doubt.

“Of course, not everything on 11

May went perfectly. We are well aware of claims; things needed to be better and indeed lessons will no doubt be learnt from these elections. But overall I believe that Pakistan and Pakistanis can be very proud in-deed of the 11 May elections.”

Thomson strongly endorsed the judgement made by the European Union’s Election Observation Mis-sion that these elections were indeed a step forward for Pakistan. “And as a result, we have seen, what United Kingdom is deeply hoped for, which is the transition from one full term civilian government via credible elec-tions to further civilian government at Federal and Provincial level. Con-sequently, democratic continuity has been strengthened.”

He said that the British prime minister has already spoken to Mian Nawaz Sharif to congratulate him on his party’s success in the elections. “The two men recognised the strong bond between the United Kingdom and Pakistan. And so that is a huge asset and they pledged themselves to work together to strengthen fur-ther the relations between the United Kingdom and Pakistan.”

Thomson said that British For-eign Minister William Hague has also issued a statement in which he commented among other things that those who went to the polls on 11 May, made a strong statement about the future they want for their coun-try. “They clearly rejected terrorist violence and intimidation.”

He stressed for investigation of vote rigging allegations. “There is of course more to do to make the next round of elections in Pakistan even better. There was unacceptable vio-lence in the run up to the elections and indeed on Election Day. There are now of course, and perhaps not too surprisingly, allegations of vote rigging. These do need to be investi-gated.”

The British High Commissioner also expressed concern over the re-ports of the exclusion of women in voting in some constituencies. “And more generally on women, the Elec-tion Commission of Pakistan made clear and before the 11th of May, there were some 11 million fewer women registered to vote than men. That is more than the entire population of Lahore. Imagine how much impact there might have been and how much

more legitimacy to these elections, if that scale of population have been registered to vote.”

About the implications of May 11 elections for UK-Pakistan relations, he said they are wholly positive. “The elections and their conduct create even stronger prospects for closer UK-Pakistan collaboration on our shared challenges, on eve-rything from countering violent ex-tremism to boosting bilateral trade. We look forward to the resumption to a steady flow of the UK ministe-rial visitors coming in this direction to Pakistan. And we look forward to welcoming new Pakistani ministers to London, so we can pursue even deeper engagement with both the federal and provincial governments here, in mutual respect, for ever-deeper mutual interest and with ever-greater trust.”

‘Karachi separation’

UK envoy for taking serious note of altaf ’s statement

UAE embassy first secretary inaugurates hostel at Sheikh Zayed International Academy

May 13-19, 2013

4

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

The British government is committed to a long-term, productive and friendly part-nership with Pakistan, Brit-

ish High Commissioner Adam Thom-son said.

Talking to Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (LCCI) President Farooq Iftikhar and Vice President Mian Abuzar Shad, he said the United Kingdom views Pakistan as a long-term

strategic partner and would continue to support all its endeavours aimed at ex-pansion of trade relations between the two countries.

The UK high commissioner also talked about exploration of new av-enues for investment. Thomas said that the UK government is foreseeing better economic and investment outlook in Pakistan and encouraging its compa-nies to make more investment here.

Calling for concrete steps to enhance diversified strategic partnership be-tween the two countries, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry president said that the UK is known to have expertise in agriculture sciences that provides specific insight and tech-nologies into the sub-fields such as crop genetics, sustainable pest and disease management, seed and plant sciences, composts and synthetic soils, etc.

“We do need your technical help and

guidance to make the most of our avail-able agriculture resources and also de-velop the much-required agriculture-industry linkage.”

Shad said that Pakistan has a great potential in mines and minerals devel-opment, as important minerals found in Pakistan are iron ores, limestone, chro-mites, silver, gold, gems stones, marble, copper, graphite, etc. He urged the Brit-ish investors to explore the untapped potential of this sector, which will surely result in win-win situation for all.

Moreover, he said, the UK is suc-cessfully implementing advanced sys-tems in education and banking sectors; therefore, joint ventures could be a good option to develop these sectors on modern lines in Pakistan.

In addition, oil and gas exploration sector of Pakistan can be another area of mutual benefits for the two coun-tries, he added.

DA REPORT ISLAMABAD

The Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) held In-ternational Taekwondo Demonstration the other

day in Islamabad featuring 20 Ko-rean athletes to promote diplomacy through sports

According to PTF secretary Wasim Ahmed, the demonstration by the Korean athletes celebrated 30 years of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Korea. The performance by the Korean athletes was a prelude to the ninth Korean Ambassador National Taekwondo Championship 2013.

UK committed to long-term relations with Pakistan, says Adam Thomson

30 years of Pak-Korea diplomatic ties celebrated

Stresses enhancement of diversified strategic partnership between Pakistan, UK

May 20-26, 2013

5

MONITORS REPORT UNITED NATIONS

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated the government and people of Pakistan on the success-

ful conduct of national and provincial elections, hailing the polls, for which millions of voters turned out, as a ma-jor democratic step.

“This is the first ever transition from one civilian government to an-other and a significant step forward for democracy in the country”, the Secretary-General said of the May 11 elections, in a statement issued by his spokesman.

By exercising their constitutional

right to vote, the people of Pakistan have reaffirmed their desire for and commitment to a democratic Pakistan and their respect for the constitution of the country, Secretary-General Ban said.

Noting the significant turnout for the elections, especially the youth and first time voters, who came out in mil-lions to take part, the UN chief also noted the increase in the participation of women, but regretted that in some parts of the country, they were de-terred from voting.

The Secretary-General applauds the courage and determination of political parties and election workers to engage in the electoral process despite the challenging security situation ahead of the voting, the statement said.

Ban also commended the Electoral Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for

successfully organizing the polls, and reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations to continue to support and assist the ECP.

With more than 86 million people reportedly registered to vote, Paki-stanis were set to select from among 5,000 candidates for the National As-sembly and nearly 11,700 vying for the Provincial Assembly.

A statement issued by the secretary-general’s Spokesman on May 9 noted the Secretary-General’s concern about the series of attacks in the run-up to the polls targeting politicians, political rallies, and election officials.

He also acknowledged the efforts being made by the Government of Pa-kistan to ensure the safety and secu-rity of candidates, party workers, elec-tion officials, observers and voters on the day of the elections.

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

US Economic Officer Doreen Bailey has said that the United States is keen to strengthen trade and eco-nomic relations with Pakistan in

all sectors of the economy and to achieve the goal.

She was talking to Lahore Chamber of Com-merce & Industry President, Farooq Iftikhar during a visit. During the meeting, a host of issues, including Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline, Pak-India trade and Pak-US economic rela-tions came under discussion. The two sides pledged to take the bilateral economic ties to new heights. Doreen Bailey said that the Paki-stani businessmen should avail opportunities available under US GSP Scheme. She said that there are a lot of opportunities for Pakistani businessmen in US market therefore they

should visit their counterparts to get benefit of them.

She also appreciated continuity of the dem-ocratic process in Pakistan and hoped that the new government would work on economic challenges more enthusiastically.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar urged the US government to extend support for early completion of Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline project that is crucial to the economic revival of the country.

Giving an overview of the available business opportunities, the LCCI president said that US investment in livestock, agriculture mineral and mines sectors could be of great benefit to US investors. Farooq Iftikhar said that solar energy is another area where US investment is direly needed. American companies can take up these projects because shortage of gas, combined with high cost of thermal electricity, industry is being forced to think of replacing

their captive power plants (CPPs) with solar energy plants therefore US investment can be extremely beneficial for both Pakistan and the United States.

Farooq Iftikhar said that since the process of elections in Pakistan had been completed, the world was going to witness stable Pakistan with solid strategies on agri-culture, education, business, health and energy crisis. The LCCI President said that if US enhances the scope of GSP scheme to most of our textile products that would help in further improving Pakistan’s exports to USA.

He said that Pakistan is very strong in textile sector and this sec-tor contributes more than 60 percent to our total exports but most of our textiles

products are not eligible for GSP duty-free ac-cess to US market.

UN chief hails pakistan polls as major democratic step

US diplomat lauds continuity of democratic process

Lauds political parties, election workers courage to ensure polls despite security challenges

US looks forward to working with new govt: Kerry

MONITORS REPORTWASHINGTON

US Secretary of State John Kerry has tele-phoned Pakistan Mus-lim League-N Quaid

Nawaz Sharif and said that he looks forward to working with him when he forms a government, a State Department spokesperson said the other day.

Spokesperson Jennifer Psaki said Secretary Kerry called Sharif to say he “looks forward to work-ing with the government as the government is formed in Paki-stan.”

“We respect the choice of Paki-stani people and the United States looks forward to engaging with the next democratically elected gov-ernment, when it is formed in the coming weeks,” the spokesper-son said at the daily briefing. “We are encouraged to see so many Pakistanis get involved in the democratic process. Preliminary reports suggest that the elections had the highest voter turnout in 35 years, was close to 60 percent turnout as compared to 44 percent in 2008,” the spokesperson noted.

The United States, she said, looks forward to continuing a broad relationship with Pakistan, working together on a number of issues including counterterrorism but added once the government in Islamabad is formed, Washington would have substantive conversa-tion with the new government on bilateral cooperation.

LAHORE: Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif talking to foreign and local media persons. DA

May 20-26, 2013

6

DNA ISLAMABAD

The US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has an-nounced the release of the

free “American English” mobile appli-cation for lower-tech feature phones and Android devices. Developed in partnership with English Education Alliance (E2A) members, biNu and Worldreader, the application provides new audiences worldwide with “any-time, anywhere” English language learning resources on the mobile de-vices they already own.

The free AE biNu app for feature phones and Android devices can be downloaded at http://m.binu.com/ae. Although, the AE app is not available for iOS devices or Windows phones at this time, it caters to non- smart feature phones such as Nokia 6600, which make up over 80% of this mar-ket. The AE biNu app can be down-loaded directly by end-users.

Expanding access to English lan-guage learning is a top public diplo-macy goal for the Department of State. English language skills open doors to economic empowerment and educa-tional opportunities for billions of peo-ple around the world.

DA REPORTLAHORE

British High Commissioner Adam Thomson met with the leader of recently victorious Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif.

According to sources, HC Adam Thompson met with Nawaz Sharif in Lahore and congratulated him over his party’s success in the elections.

Sources said that the British High Commissioner also dis-cussed the country’s security situation along with economic matters with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.

DA REPORT ISLAMABAD

Embassy of Pakistan in Turkey the other day organised an art com-petition to further pro-

mote arts, as part of activities to celebrate Pakistan Cultural Year.

The event was the third edition of Chughtai Art Award and organ-ised in collaboration with Ankara National Education Directorate.

This was named after re-nowned Pakistani artist Abdul Rahman Chughtai, a message re-

ceived here from Ankara said. High school students of Ankara

province participated in the com-petition under the theme “Arts and Crafts of Pakistan.” Depicting the theme, a total of 26 paintings were short-listed for considera-tion by a panel of independent judges, who selected nine paint-ings for prizes in three categories.

A painting made by Busra Aslantas of Cankaya Bahcelievler Anadolu Lisesi won the first prize while paintings of Busra Yurtdas of Faruk Nafiz Camlibel Lisesi at Yenimahalle and Eda Korkmaz of

Cankaya Guzel Sanatlar ve Spor Lisesi got second and third prizes respectively.

At an exhibition and prize distribution ceremony, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister, Naci Koru said both Pakistan and Tur-key have excellent brotherly rela-tions.

“There is a great scope to fur-ther improve our relations in diverse fields. I look forward to other exciting events that the Em-bassy of Pakistan is organising to commemorate the Cultural Year of Pakistan in Turkey,” he said.

Free American English mobile application announced

Thomson calls on Nawaz

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

The Government of Japan has invited a delegation of 10 Pakistani Japanese Language Learners and

one supervisor to visit Japan, under the JENESYS 2.0 Programme for the Japanese Language Learners, from 20th May to 25th May.

Japanese language learners from member countries of SAARC have been invited to participate in this programme.

“JENESYS 2.0” (Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths) is a new youth ex-change programme between Japan

and SAARC countries. Under this programme, participants will be given opportunities to deepen their understanding on Japan’s cutting-edge high technologies and its sup-port for local and creative indus-tries, experience Japan’s traditional culture, and communicate with lo-cal people.

This programme is expected to develop exchange and mutual un-derstanding among youths in Japan and SAARC countries.

Toshikazu Isomura, Counselor, Embassy of Japan, handed over travel documents to the selected students from Pakistan at an orien-tation ceremony held today at the Embassy of Japan.

Pak students leave for Japan

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

The Alternate Energy and Development Board (AEDB) has forwarded the concept notes of

eight green energy projects to the World Bank to avail of financing under the Clean Technology Fund (CTF).

Arif Alauddin, former chief ex-ecutive officer of AEDB, said that the board has forwarded eight projects to the Ministry of Envi-ronment, which should have been forwarded to the World Bank for approval.

Other departments and min-istries have also been asked to forward the concept notes of any green energy, clean environment projects for which they are will-ing to avail of the financing under the CTF, he said. He was not sure about the number of projects for-warded by other departments.

The World Bank has consented

to support the government of Pa-kistan in its efforts to access the Clean Technologies Fund (CTF) of a total of $4.9 billion for develop-ing countries, an official document revealed.

The CTF would provide de-veloping countries with positive incentives to scale up the demon-stration, deployment and transfer of technologies with a high poten-tial for long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings. This would be a long-term concession-al loan.

The investment plan will be pre-pared in two phases of $300 mil-lion each.

CTF resources could be used to leverage funds from Pakistan’s traditional donors, which could unlock the financial closure and commissioning of hundreds of megawatts of clean energy and contribute to address some of the capacity gaps over the short- and medium-term and provide a quick win, it said.

AEDB forwards eight green energy projects to World Bank

pak embassy in turkey holds chughtai art contest

May 20-26, 2013

7

AzHAR MAHMOOD AWAN

ISLAMABAD

German Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle is-sued a statement on the parliamentary election

in Pakistan, saying that the high turnout for the election was a clear and courageous sign for democ-racy and against terrorism.

“The people of Pakistan have not allowed themselves to be intimi-dated by threats and violence and have chosen the path of democratic renewal,” he said.

“I trust that the future leader-ship will honour the great gesture of good faith shown by the citizens of Pakistan. The people’s hopes for stability, democracy and prosperity should determine the new govern-ment’s agenda.”

Meanwhile, the Turkish em-bassy also issued a statement, con-gratulate Pakistan for the general election that attained the highest level of participation ever recorded.

“These elections, carried out successfully despite numerous acts of terrorism are an achievement of Pakistani democracy, with all its voters, its candidates and its politi-cal parties. We will naturally work in close cooperation with the new government, which will be estab-lished according to the democratic choice of the brotherly people of Pakistan, as we have worked with all the preceding Pakistani govern-ments. Turkey will always be in solidarity with Pakistan.”

AGENCIES LONDON

British Prime Minister Da-vid Cameron congratulated incoming premier Nawaz Sharif on his resounding

election victory and praised his com-mitment to economic reform.

Cameron broke off from a trip to Washington to speak to Sharif on tel-ephone and they agreed to work to reinforce the “strong bond” between their two countries, according to the British PM’s office. They also pledged their commitment to the trilateral process, the three-way talks between Britain, Pakistan and Afghanistan aimed at finding peace in Afghanistan, where Britain is starting to reduce its 9,000-strong troop presence.

“The PM and Nawaz Sharif agreed that the strong bond between the UK and Pakistan was a huge asset and that they would work together to

strengthen the relationship further,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

“The Prime Minister welcomed Nawaz Sharif’s commitment to pri-oritise economic reforms. “The two leaders also agreed on their shared commitment to the trilateral pro-cess and its importance in achieving peace in Afghanistan and the wider region.”

Sharif, who returned to office 14 years after he was ousted in a military coup, campaigned on a pro-business agenda and stocks in Karachi hit an all-time high on Monday on hopes he can revive Pakistan’s shattered econo-my. He has appointed veteran finance minister Ishaq Dar, who served in the role in Sharif’s second administration and again briefly in 2008.

Germany, Turkey appreciate high turnout in Pak polls

British pm telephones Nawaz

OUR CORRESPONDENTMARDAN

A delegation of European Union observers here the other day visited Mardan district and met the Paki-

stan Tehrik-i-Insaf losing candidate Nasir Khan advocate and other party leaders to know about their protest and reservations regarding the poll-ing and result of NA-9 Mardan-I con-stituency.

The European Union monitoring

team was comprised of three mem-bers identified as Mr. Gerd Binder of Austria, Miss Mariam of France and Bilal Khattak of Pakistan.

They first visited the PTI protest-ing camp which was set up by the local leaders and supporters of losing candidate Nasir Khan Advocate near the Mardan Kutchery.

The observers talked with some PTI leaders and workers present at the protesting camp so that to know their point of view about the polling process and rigging in NA-9 Mardan-

I constituency.They, later, moved to the residence

of losing PTI candidate Nasir Khan Advocate and chatted with him for over one and half hours. Mr. Khan apprised the delegation about the rig-ging and changing of result of NA-9 Mardan-I constituency.

He told them that on the night of May 11 he (Nasir Khan) was leading by 5,000 votes against Mr Hoti, but on the morning of May 12 the situ-ation was changed as Mr Hoti was leading by 2,767 votes.

EU observers meet poll losing candidate

MONITORS REPORTISLAMABAD

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has said that Canada congratulates the people of Pakistan for

demonstrating their commitment to democracy by voting in the millions in this historic election.

“The violence aimed at suppressing the voters should be unequivocally condemned. We send our sincere sym-pathies to those who lost loved ones. We encourage Pakistan’s authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice”, he said in a statement issued here by the Canadian High Commission.

Baird said “it is our hope that those elected to office will work to promote freedom and prosperity for the Paki-stani people”. Canada was pleased to see that voter turnout was high and in-

cluded many more women and youth than in the past, another achievement in these elections, he said.

The Australian government also congratulated Pakistan and its people on the successful completion of elec-tions in the country. In a statement Australian Minister for Foreign Af-fairs Senator Bob Carr said the Aus-tralian government was encouraged by the high voter turnout, especially among women, despite threats of violence from some terrorist groups during the election campaign. “The Australian government commends the caretaker government in Paki-stan and the ECP for their efforts in overseeing these elections, and looks forward to working with the incom-ing government of Pakistan once it has been formed,” the statement re-leased by the Australian embassy in Islamabad said.

Canada congratulates Pakistani people on elections

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Expressing concern over death of innocent people during election process in Pakistan, Japanese Elec-

tion Observer Mission has com-mended the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding relatively free and fair elections despite re-ports of disturbance in some areas.

In a statement, the mission applauded successful and peaceful elections in Pa-kistan despite attacks against candidates by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and some disturbances reported at a lim-ited number of areas. The mission was headed by Nobuaki Tanaka, former Am-bassador of Japan to Pakistan, and con-sisted of 16 members; two officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan,

two experts from the University of Osaka and Hitotsubashi University, and eleven officials from the Embassy of Japan in Islamabad and the Consulate General of Japan in Karachi.

The mission was divided into seven groups and conducted the observation in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Murree, Jhelum, Lahore and Karachi (two groups for Ka-rachi).In its observation the mission said many people of Pakistan showed their enthusiasm by casting their votes and this is the proof that the democracy is gradually taking hold in Pakistan.

“The election was a key test for the consolidation of democracy in Pakistan. In light of its significance, the govern-ment of Japan extended a grant aid worth US$2 million through United Nations De-velopment Programme (UNDP) to sup-port the electoral process in Pakistan,” the statement said.

Japanese observers hail ECP for holding free, fair polls

Australia congratulates Pakistan on successful election

DA REPORT ISLAMABAD

The Australian government has congratulated Pakistan on the successful completion of elec-tions that will see first transfer

of power from one democratically elected civilian government to another in coun-try’s 66 year history.

In a statement, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Bob Carr said the Australian government was encouraged by the high voter turnout, especially among women, despite threats of violence from some terrorist groups during the election campaign. Since 2011, Australia has com-mitted a total of $7 million towards the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) efforts to build the capacity of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The Australian government also provided a further $200,000 to support the Com-monwealth’s election observation mission. “The Australian Government commends the caretaker government in Pakistan and the ECP for their efforts in overseeing these elections, and looks forward to working with the incoming Government of Pakistan once it has been formed,” the statement re-leased by the Australian embassy said.

Observers call on PEC KPBUREAU REPORT

PESHAWAR

The European Union team of election observers on Thursday called on Provincial Election Commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkh-wa Sonu Khan Baloch and presented an overview of the recently held general elections.

The EU delegation discussed in detail the elections especially voting by the female voters. The delegation overall termed the elections as fair and peaceful. The members of the EU team termed the high turnout as a good omen for Pakistan and also termed the large number of female voters cast-ing their vote positive for the democracy.

May 20-26, 2013

8

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

US Ambassador Richard Olson on Friday met JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman and congratulated him

as his party has won seats in na-tional and provincial assemblies.

The ambassador underscored the US commitment to a strong bilateral relationship with Pakistan based on respect and mutual interest, accord-ing to statement issued by Jamiat

Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). He said that the US supported a more stable, secure, and prosperous future for the people ofPakistan.

Fazlur Rehman on his part said that Pakistanis an important ally of the United States and can play a significant role to peace and stability in the region. He stressed reducing the divergence of opinion between the two countries on issues such as sovereignty, terrorism and drones through dialogue and mutual un-

derstanding.Fazl said Pakistanhas supported

reconciliation in Afghanistanas peace and stability there would di-rectly contribute to stability in Pa-kistan. JUI-F’s spokesman rejected that the purpose of Fazl’s meeting with US ambassador was to discuss visa issues and rigging in May11 elections.

Talking to the newsmen after the meeting, Fazl said that party’s (CEC) would decide if they would join Pa-

kistan Muslim League-Nawaz in governments at Centre and Balo-chistan. To a question about Paki-stan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) mandate in KPK, he stick to his stance and refused to accept it.

Maulana Fazl maintained that the so-called PTI mandate will hurt peace process in Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa.

Imran Khan’sPakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the leading party with 35 seats in the restive

province. JUI-F of Fazlur Rehman managed to win 13 seats only.

In May11 election, the JUI-F bagged 13 seats in national assem-bly, nine in Balochistan and 14 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Shahbaz Sharif met JUI-F chief a day before and formally invited him to join them in government formation but he refused to back Fazl’s efforts to install their own government in KPK, where PTI has emerged as the largest party.

olson seeks unanimity on terror, drones

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

In a shocking development, exports of $ 900 million to Bangladesh is in doldrums, as the Pakistan’s almost all kinds of citizens includ-ing the representatives of business community

have been denied the visas by Bangladesh. A national daily cited a senior official at com-

merce ministry as saying, “Yes, the Dhaka has placed the ban on issuance of its visas to Pakistanis on account of the allegations according to which Pakistan is sending some elements in the disguise of businessmen, journalists, intellectuals who are found in abetting the sentiments of Jihad in Bang-ladesh.”

This starling disclosure has been unveiled when a top ranking Karachi-based businessman applied the visa for Bangladesh, but he was flatly refused and then the said businessman approached com-merce ministry for intervention but during the of-ficial correspondence with foreign ministry its has been divulged that Bangladesh has informally im-posed the ban on issuance of its visas to Pakistanis.

The sources said that Bangladesh took this de-cision just because of the perpetual penetration of some people which are playing unscrupulous role

in fomenting the sentiment of Bangladeshi masses for Jihad putting the peace of the country at stake. “They are also involved in objectionable activities which are against the interests of the country,” the official told quoting the concerns of Bangladesh.

To a question the official said that Pakistan is ex-porting textile products, pharmaceutical products, wheat and some other items. In addition many business tycoons of Pakistan have already invested in Bangladesh in the sector of textile mainly be-cause of the quota available to the least developed countries like Bangladesh. Now the trade ties with this important country of SAARC family is in dan-ger zone and there is a dire need to alleviate the concerns or misunderstanding of the Bangladesh so that Pakistan could capture the potential of huge market for trade.

To a question, the official said that total trade

volume of Bangladesh is US $55.61 billion and trade balance is US $- 7.89 billion. In contrast to Paki-stan the economy of Bangladesh is mainly driven by the services sector which account for 52.9% in the overall GDP composition, followed by Industry which shared 27.8 per cent in the GDP and agricul-ture is the third composition of GDP with share of 18.4 per cent. Major industries of Bangladesh are cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, pa-per newsprint, cement, chemical fertiliser, light en-gineering, and sugar.

Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Bangladesh is not only very small but also has been growing very slowly over the past years. During the eleven-year period between 2000-01 and 2010-11, Pakistan export to Bangladesh grew at an average annual rate of 27.6 per cent and imports from Bangladesh grew at the rate of 9.2 percent. The total value of trade (export plus import) between the two coun-tries in 2010-11 was about $983 million, FBR added.

The official said that the total volume of trade be-tween Pakistan and Bangladesh stood around US $1 billion during the fiscal year 2010-2011. Pakistan exports to Bangladesh during the fiscal years 2010-2011 stood US $908 million while imports from Bangladesh were to the tune of US $75 million. Hence the trade tilts in favour of Pakistan.

BD imperills trade ties with pakistanpak students participate in int’l science fair

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Around 10 students of different schools from across the country

represented Pakistan at International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2013, held in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.

These students were declared win-ners at a recently concluded National Science Fair, which is an annual event of high school research competition, organized by the Intel Pakistan and the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF).

Selected students included Fatima Moin Veera, Hania Hasan, Umme Sal-ma Shabbir from Gadriwala Mama Parsi Girls Secondary School, Karachi and Qaiser Ali Shah, Ali Yezdan and Sa-jid Khan of Agha Khan Higher Second-ary School, Gilgit. The winners of indi-vidual projects were Javaria Nisar from Government Girls Higher Secondary School Singhpura, Lahore, Haris Bin Ashraf from Defence Authority Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zaid College, Karachi, Isa Bin Qasim from PakcTurk International School and Colleges, Peshawar and Mu-hammad Ahsan Nawaz of Government Model High School, Mailsi, Vehari.

Azerbaijan’s institute, SALU sign MoU

OUR CORRESPONDENTSUKKUR

A Memorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) on the theme of In-

ter University Consortium for the Promotion of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Pakistan (IUCPSS) was signed the other day between Azerbaijan and Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU), Khairpur. LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General, Liaquat Baloch in a meeting with EU election observers. DA

May 20-26, 2013

9

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt has visited

the Nigerian Air Force, Headquar-

ters. On his arrival at the NAF HQs,

he was presented with the Guard of Honour. The air chief, who is on a five-day official visit to Nigeria, also attended a briefing on the organisa-tion, role and functioning of Nigerian

Air Force.During the visit, he met Air Mar-

shal Alex Badeh, Nigerian Chief of the Air Staff. The air chief said that his visit to Nigeria was a follow-up of the visit of Nigerian chief of the air staff. He also requested for further

assistance for the C-130 fleet of NAF and sending an instructor pilot on the C-130 aircraft as well.

The Nigerian air chief sought the cooperation of Pakistan Air Force in revamping the training of pilots at Nigerian Air Academy. Air Marshal Alex Badeh thanked the PAF for its assistance to the Nigerian Air Force and requested for more assistance and cooperation between the two countries.

The Air Chief assured Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff of strength-ening military cooperation be-tween the two countries. He also visited the Tactical Air Command, Training Command and the Lo-gistics Command. He assured the Nigerian Air Force of further co-operation and strengthening of re-lations between the two countries in general and the two Air Forces in particular.

PAF chief visits Nigeria

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kaya-ni has assured Pakistan Mus-lim League-Nawaz (PML-N)

leader Mian Nawaz Sharif of full co-

operation with regard to PML-N’s ‘Na-tional Charter’.

Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who called on him at his brother Shahbaz Sharif’s residence in Model this afternoon, briefed him on the security situation of the country.

During the meeting, security and

other issues of national interest along with the situation in the region were discussed.

Both the two leaders agreed to work together to confront challenges facing Pakistan, including terrorism.

Nawaz praised the role of the army in strengthening democracy and pro-viding security during the elections.

The PML-N president also presented the National Charter to General Kayani, who gave the former assurance of his full cooperation.

This was the first meeting between Gen. Kayani and Sharif since the PML-N emerged victorious in the May 11 gen-eral election.

The meeting lasted over three hours wherein the leaders had lunch to-gether. No other PML-N leaders were present during the meeting other than Sharif brothers.

coaS assures Nawaz of full coop on ‘national charter’

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Essa Abdullah Al-Basha Al-Noaimi had separate meet-

ings with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President, Nawaz Sharif, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, Imran Khan in Lahore.

He felicitated both the leaders on the successful completion of the elec-toral process and their respective vic-tories.

The meeting with Nawaz Sharif lasted about half an hour and was attended, besides others, by Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, honorary con-sul of the UAE in Lahore Chaudhary Muhammad Munir, Hasan Nawaz and PML-N advisor on foreign affairs Tariq Fatmi. Ambassador Essa Abdul-lah Al-Basha Al-Noaimi congratulated Nawaz Sharif on his resounding vic-tory in the last week’s general elec-tions. He conveyed the message of felicitation from President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Vice President, Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai Muhammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Crown Prince and Dep-uty Supreme Commander of Armed Forces General Muhammad bin Zyed

Al-Nahyan. He expressed hope that the verdict of the people of Pakistan would augur well for the country and under the new leadership, the coun-try would overcome its difficulties in a short span of time. Nawaz Sharif thanked the leadership of the broth-erly country and said that he is im-pressed by the brotherly feelings from the people of UAE and he is looking forward to strengthening the econom-ic relations between the two countries.

Later the ambassador visited the PTI leader in Shaukat Khanum Hos-pital (SKH) in Lahore and presented him a bouquet. He inquired about his health and congratulated him on the performance of his party in the polls. He conveyed the message of his leadership for Khan’s early recovery. Imran Khan thanked the UAE envoy and expressed the hope that the two brotherly countries would further en-hance their ties in various spheres of life.

Ambassador Essa Abdullah Al-Basha Al-Noaimi told The News in the evening that Imran Khan’s health is improving speedily and they had useful discussion. The Khan is satis-fied about his recovery and treatment. The ambassador said that Imran Khan would fully recover soon as he looked jubilant and happy.

UAE envoy meets Nawaz, Imran

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer met separately here

with the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl-ur-Rahman and his US counterpart Ritchard Olson.

During the meetings, issues of common interest were discussed. In the meeting with Fazl-ur-Rahman,

matters pertaining to national im-portance and bilateral relations were discussed. In the meeting with US Ambassador Richard Olson, the two ambassadors discussed issues of mu-tual interests.

Al-Ghadeer meets Olson, Fazl separately

May 20-26, 2013

10

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

A five-member high level delegation of the British Council led by its UK-based Chief Executive

Martin Davidson visited a private girls school affiliated with the Pun-jab Education Foundation (PEF) un-der its Foundation Assisted School (FAS) programme in Baghbanpura.

Other members of the delegation included Stephan Roman Regional Director South Asia, Peter Upton Director British Council Pakistan, Richard Weyers Director British Council Punjab chapter, Ms Danielle Soper Bhat Training Consultant and Ms Aisha Nauman Projects Man-ager.

The purpose of the visit was to personally watch the quality of train-ing being imparted to the English Language Teachers of various FAS partner schools of the provincial metropolis. The training has been

arranged by the PEF in collaboration with the British Council Pakistan to improve and enhance the didactic skills of the English language teach-ers of elementary and secondary lev-el partner schools under its Certifi-cate in Secondary English Language Teaching (CiSELT) programme.

On the occasion, PEF-Deputy Managing Director (HRM) Aamir Iftikhar Ahmed and Director (CPDP) Bushra Saeed Khan briefed the Brit-ish delegation about various aspects of teachers training programme of the Foundation aiming at improving the quality of education of partner schools through teachers’ trainings.

Mr Ahmed said that PEF model of public-private partnership, compris-ing about 3300 partner schools in 36 districts of the province, had greatly helped to expeditiously extend free education to the doors of poor and the needy. Ms. Khan told that the training modules had been designed to give state of the art trainings to the teachers and follow-up workshops

were also held to ensure that the teachers may not forget the training lessons. She maintained that train-ing facility had helped in the stand-ardization of teaching faculty adding that this had broadened their future job prospects, as well.

Later, the British Council delega-tion visited various class rooms and observed the training session. They also met with teachers and students and inquired about the quality of education and the future plans of the girl students.

Talking to students, Martin Da-vidson hailed their enthusiasm and hoped that it would help in improv-ing teaching methodology.

While appreciating the confidence level and communication skills of the girl students, he said this pro-gramme had also promoted learning and creative abilities of the girls who are keen to learn new ideas in teach-ing. He also assured British Council’s full support to the PEF in its teachers training programmes.

Visit to girls school

teachers’ training upgrades edu quality: UK team

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, has said the Pakistan Army

will never oppose talks with India.Talking to the foreign media, Nawaz

said his government would focus on the revival of the national economy. He said the revival of economy would help re-solve extremism‚ terrorism‚ corruption‚ unemployment‚ poverty and remove the sense of deprivation. He said all the political parties would be taken along on important national issues.

Nawaz said all the political parties would be invited to come forward to make collective efforts to strengthen the economy. He said the political parties which got the mandate in the provinces

had the right to form their governments and their mandate would be fully re-spected. Nawaz said the Taliban’s offer for dialogue would be taken seriously.

About Balochistan, the PML-N chief said all the stakeholders should be on the same page for the resolution of the is-sue. He said all the outstanding disputes would be discussed to improve relations with India. On the Pak-US relations, he hoped that relations between the two countries would remain good.

Army not to oppose talks with India: Nawaz

‘Japanese firms likely to invest in Pakistan’

MONITORS REPORTTOKYO

A stable government fol-lowing the general elec-tions in Pakistan is likely to attract the Japanese

into the country, the chairperson of the Japanese Investment Group IT Japan said the other day.

During an interview with a na-tional daily, Ms Mizui San said that her group is preparing a huge investment project in Pakistan which will create thousands of jobs in Pakistan. A director of IT Japan, Mr Danjo says his group is work-ing with another famous business group of Japan, DTS Inc Japan, to establish a Japan Pakistan Indus-trial Zone in Karachi.

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry pre-senting a shield to Mr Justice Richard While, judge Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia. DA

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in a meeting with Mr Justice Richard While, judge Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia. DA

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister AJK, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry in a group photo with former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and Norway Ambassador Ms Cecilie Landsverk. DA

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Pak-India Business Council and Sustainable Develop-ment Policy Institute (SDPI) in a meeting held here the

other day expressed a desire to keep trade normalization process between India and Pakistan on a steady track.

Deliberating on at the occasion, Chairman of Pak India Business Coun-cil Noor Muhammad Kasuri informed that Pakistan chapter of newly estab-lished ‘Pakistan India Joint Business Council’ will have its first meeting in Lahore on May 17, 2013 in which it would discuss the way forward re-garding trade integration between In-dia and Pakistan and prepare agenda for joint meeting to be held in July 2013 with Indian counterparts.

Chairman of the council felicitated the new elected government and wel-comed Mian Nawaz Sharif’s intensions for normalization of bilateral relations and appreciated his stance on giving MFN status to India.

Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director SDPI was of the opinion that despite political tensions, trade should continue on both sides and added that business community and civil society should play their role in this important endeavor.

“Consumer associations in Paki-stan must realize that inflation can significantly reduce if trade with India is further liberalized,” he added. He lamented the fact that land route of only Wagha/ Attari is opened for trade with India while other routes are still closed. He also mentioned that Sindh is the only province in Pakistan which is deprived of trade with its regional neighbor while all other provinces are doing trade with neighboring coun-tries.

The research at SDPI has indicated that despite of so many trade barri-ers, there is substantial consumer de-mand for Indian products owning to their better quality and lower prices. It is estimated that Indian goods worth US $4.2 billion dollars enters Pakistan through informal channels annually.

pak-india relations

‘Trade normalization process needs to be on steady track’

May 20-26, 2013

11

LAHORE

World Wide Fund for Na-ture – Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan), in partnership with Sui Northern Gas

Pipelines LTD (SNGPL), held an envi-ronmental education activity at a local school here the other day.

The activity was conducted under the “Spallation” campaign of WWF-Pa-kistan, in which children from schools across Pakistan learn about issues such

as sustainability, environment, spe-cies and water and sanitation and then compete in a spelling competition. This year’s campaign theme is “Energy Con-servation”, which goes beyond the gen-eral concept of electricity being the only energy source.

Officials from SNGPL conducted an awareness raising session for students, which was followed by a prize distribu-tion ceremony. Speaking at the occa-sion, Mr. Jawad Ashraf, Senior Media Consultant for SNGPL said, “usually

people perceive only electricity as an en-ergy conservation issue. We are creating awareness about the fact that it is also important for us all to conserve natural gas, which is important for home and in-dustrial use.” SNGPL officials found the children to be receptive of the message.

Ms Sayeda Saleem, the Principal of School of International Studies in Science & Arts added, “spallation has become a fun yet focused campaign to bring factual information to children about critical en-vironmental issue.” PR

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed

has said that international transfor-mation is taking place and conse-quently the balance of economic, po-litical and cultural power is shifting

from West to East and this is high time that we must utilize this opportunity for making 21st century an Asian cen-tury.

He was expressing these views in a meeting with a group of 39 mid carrier foreign diplomats from Asia and Afri-can region at Parliament House here the other day. The foreign diplomats were given comprehensive briefing re-garding the role of the Parliament par-

ticularly Senate by special Secretary Senate, Amjad Pervaiz.

He informed the participants that Parliament in Pakistan has played significant role in strengthening de-mocracy and its continuity as depicted by holding of recent general elections in the country and peaceful transition from one democratically elected gov-ernment to another democratically elected government.

WWF, SNGPL hold edu activity

meeting with mid career foreign diplomats

Balance of power shifting from West to East: Mushahid

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

A software developed by a class 9th student from Lahore has won silver medal in the e-biko In-

ternational Project Olympiad held recently in Ankara, Turkey.

Muhammad Abdullah Abid son of Muhammad Ismail Abid, a student of PakTurk School Lahore developed a software ‘Rush Hour Controller’ which can change traffic signals ac-cording to the number of vehicles on the road after collecting data through a normal webcam.

Subsequently, he was sent to par-ticipate in the global information and communications technology com-petition where 176 projects from 48 countries including USA, Thailand, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Nigeria, Albania, Brazil etc. were presented.

Abid stood second in the category of software development to bag sec-ond prize and additional reward of US 300 dollars from the organisers of the contest.

His software uses a webcam or any security cam to take pictures of roads continuously, it calculate the number of cars on the roads and give

more green light time to the rush di-rection.

If a road is empty, the programme gives less time to green light and more to red one. It also caters for pe-destrians and send signal to drivers if road is blocked.

This programme can also be ef-fetely used in car parking, if a park-ing areas is empty it send SMS to registered drivers by using SMS while it has an FM radio option too to send audio message to drivers. The programme sends SMS and radio signal to police if it finds something suspicious.

Commenting on the success, Di-rector Education Pak Turk Kamil Ture said that a general symbol of development is technology which helps individuals and societies meet their needs more easily.

Societies having completed their technological developments and keeping up with the age have higher levels of life and culture. Like many innovations, technological innova-tions should be firstly conveyed to education institutions, said Ture.

We should encourage ambitious of Pakistani students to become technology literates to build the fu-ture with their dreams.

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the for-eign affairs ministry the other day to make efforts

to reach an agreement with the US government for repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from the US.

The direction came from a di-vision bench, headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, at a hearing of petition seeking the repatriation of the Pakistani scientist.

Siddiqui, who studied at the Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technology and did her PhD in genetics, was prosecuted in the US for allegedly attacking American soldiers in Af-ghanistan and sentenced to 86 years in prison in September 2010.

The petitioner, Fauzia Siddiqui, a sister of Siddiqui, submitted that her sister along with her three chil-dren was allegedly kidnapped from Gulshan-e-Iqbal in March 2003 when she was leaving for Rawalpin-di from her mother’s house.

She noted that the detainees were handed over to US agencies by Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies in violation of the consti-

tution. She argued that US courts had

no authority to conduct the trial of Siddiqui without the fulfillment of lawful extradition formalities.

The petitioner said the govern-ment violated fundamental rights of her sister by allowing a foreign country to illegally take her away from the country and by leaving her at the mercy of a foreign coun-try.

She said the US government, ac-cording to a reported statement, wanted to send back her sister, but the Pakistani government showed no interest in bring back its citizen. She added that 1,029 Pakistanis were incarcerated in foreign coun-tries’ prisons, including 121 in the US, 41 in Iraq and 867 in the UK.

She said the government should sign a treaty for shifting prisoners incarcerated in other countries back to the country for serving out their sentences.

She asked the bench to direct the government to sign either the Council of Europe Convention or the Organisation of America State Convention on criminal sentences abroad and send a request for her sister’s repatriation.

PakTurk competing with the world for Pakistan

Seeking aafia repatriation

SHC asks govt to make efforts to reach accord with US

LAHORE: US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson in a meeting with Najam Sethi, Punjab caretaker chief minister. DA

ABU DHABI: Ambassador Jamil Ahmed Khan viewing a painting during exhibition of a Pakistani artist, titled ‘ Beautiful Pakistan’ at national theater. DA

May 20-26, 2013

12Saudis, Pakistanis one nation: envoy

Lok Virsa to create cultural diorama on Saudi Arabia

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Saudi Ambassador to Paki-stan Dr Abdul Aziz Ibrahim al-Ghadeer has said his country stands with Paki-

stan in every juncture of time as Kha-dim ul Harmain Sharifain considers people of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia one nation.

“We are with Pakistani nation in every juncture of time as we believe Pakistan and Saudi people are one nation. Governments come and go but the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are gain-ing strength with the passage of time Feelings of affinity are also growing among the people of two countries”, he said this while talking to the jour-nalists on the occasion of inaugura-tion of state of the art Hajj computer cell at ministry of religious affairs here.

He said Khadim ul Harmain Shari-fain attaches special importance to provision of facilities to Pakistani Hajjajs.

Speaking on the occasion minister for religious affairs Shahzada Jamal Nazir said Saudi government sup-ported Pakistan in every trying time

and government of Pakistan and peo-ple of Pakistan are grateful to Saudi government for extending best facili-ties to Pakistani Hajjajs.

He also briefed Saudi ambassador on the utility of newly installed com-puter cell while Saudi Ambassador formally inaugurated the cell.

AzHAR MAHMOOD AWAN ISLAMABAD

Lok Virsa, Ministry of National Heritage & Integration, is cre-ating a cultural diorama on Saudi Arabia “Al-Ghadeer” at the Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology, popularly known as Heritage Museum at Shakarparian.

Heritage Museum depicts living cultural traditions and lifestyles of people of Pakistan having a covered area of 60,000 square feet. Besides thematic displays on the culture of Pakistan, the museum also presents link passages with those countries that have influences and affinities with the culture of Pakistan. So far, link passages with Iran, China and Central Asian States including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have already been set up at the Heritage Mu-seum, which beautifully showcase the cultures of these countries.

Lok Virsa has allocated a spacious hall of 30x30 feet within Heritage Museum for the diorama, for which artifacts will be contributed by the Government of Saudi Arabia.

In this regard, a ceremony to inaugurate the space for Saudi diorama is being held at Lok Virsa Heritage Museum, Garden Avenue, Shakar-parian, on Thursday (today) which will be graced by Dr Abdul Aziz Bin Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer, Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Shahzada Jamal Nazir, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, National Regulation & Services, National Harmony, National Heritage & Integra-tion.

Hajj computer cell launched at ministry

May 20-26, 2013

13

BUREAU REPORT LAHORE

Chinese Ambassador to Pa-kistan, Liu Jian, called on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President, Main Mu-

hammad Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind the other day and congratulated him over PML-N’s victory in elections on the behalf of his country.

The ambassador emphasised that the Chinese leaders and people had great respect for Nawaz Sharif and regard him as an old friend of China. His contribution to strengthening the bilateral relations was well known and widely appreciated, the envoy

said. He briefed the PML-N chief about

the forthcoming visit of China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Pa-kistan, characterising it as another evidence of the high level of trust and confidence between the two countries. He added that the Chinese prime minister intended to have a cordial and productive meeting with Nawaz Sharif.

Nawaz expressed pleasure at the forthcoming visit of Chinese premier, saying that he was looking forward to hold talks with the revered friend from China. He said that he consid-ered China a time-tested friend and he would endeavour to add greater

Chinese PM wants to meet Nawaz during Pak visit: Liu Jian

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson called on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif where he held out an assurance that Washington would continue cooperation with the new government as ‘equal partners’.

Shahbaz Sharif and Senator Ishaq Dar were also present in the meeting.

AGENCIESLAHORE

Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer held a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

He congratulated the PML-N president on his party’s victory in the recently held general elections. Nawaz discussed with him issues of bilateral interest. Shahbaz Sharif and Senator Ishaq Dar were

also present in the meeting.

Nawaz valiantly conducted election campaign: Obama

DA REPORT

ISLAMABAD

US President Barack Obama called the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and congratulated him on his party’s election victory.

Obama lauded the PML-N chief for valiant-ly running the election campaign and wished an early meeting with Nawaz Sharif.

Obama said the US wanted to strengthen the friendly and trade relations with Pakistan. He said his country respected the mandate given to Nawaz Sharif in the elections.

China welcomes smooth elections

MONITORS REPORTLAHORE

China has extended congratulations to Mian Mu-hammad Nawaz Sharif on his party’s victory in the May 11 general elections.

“China is happy to see the smooth (conduct of) general elections in Pakistan,” said spokesman for Chinese Foreign Ministry Hong Lei.

Hong said China would continue to support Pakistan for its stability and development. China, he said, would con-tinue to work with Pakistan to push the mutual coopera-tion to a higher level.

Rahul Gandhi calls Nawaz

MONITORS REPORT

LAHORE

Indian National Congress Vice President, Rahul Gandhi called Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

Rahul congratulated Nawaz on his win in general elections and expressed the hope that the PML-N chief would improve relations between India and Pakistan. Nawaz told Rahul that Pakistan and India would resolve their issues through dialogue.

Olson meets Nawaz Saudi envoy meets Nawaz

May 20-26, 2013

14

MONITORS REPORTLAHORE

The Ministry of Commerce has decided to set up six sectoral committees to ob-tain reservations and sug-

gestions from the stakeholders on lib-eralisation of trade with India.

The decision was made in a maiden meeting of the Pakistan-India Joint Business Council (PIJBC) on Fri-day held at the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP)’s re-gional office. The commerce minister Maqbool H H Rahimtoola chaired the meeting, which was attended by the representatives of trade and industry and the concerned government offi-cials.

The committees are from six sec-tors, including auto, pharmaceutical, textile, agriculture, trade-related in-frastructure and financial. Renowned industrialist Syed Yawar Ali was ap-pointed as the chairman of the com-

mittee in the meeting. Ba-shir Ali Muhammad, chairman of Gul Ahmed Textile, Karachi, Si-kander Mustafa Khan, chairman of Millat Trac-tors, Lahore, Abdul Razak Dawood, chair-man of Descon Engineering, Lahore, Nauman Dar, president and chief executive officer of Ha-bib Bank Limited, Karachi, Iftikhar Ali Malik, owner of Guard Group of Com-panies, Lahore, and Dr Mohammad Tariq Bucha, president of Farmers As-sociates Pakistan, Lahore, Syed Yawar Ali, chairman of Nestle Pakistan, La-hore, senator Ilyas Bilour, and Rubina Qureshi, joint secretary of the ministry of commerce, attended the meeting.

The minister assured the busi-ness community that the government

wanted to work as a team with the business com-

munity of Pakistan with regards to

normalisation of trade with India. He clarified that the stakehold-ers’ suggestions

and recommen-dations would not

be ignored in order to provide level-play-

ing fields to traders. Secretary Commerce Munir

Qureshi emphasised the committee to also differentiate between perception and realities while working on issues relating to India.

The pacts signed with India are in the process of operationalisation and in future things will get better, he said.

The issues of capacity constraints, lack of research and coordination, and nontariff barriers in India were also discussed in the meeting. The mem-

bers also agreed to show prudence and consciousness while liberalising trade with India.

The committees were asked to prepare their suggestions and recom-mendations regarding trade liberalisa-tion with India. They were told that the recommendations of committees would be considered in future bilateral trade negotiation.

The identified sectors will make their one representative for nego-tiations and make sub-committees too, it was decided in the meeting. The representative will identify the issues hindering bilateral trade lib-eralisation. It was also decided that the next meeting of the PIJBC will be held after one week in which the representatives will submit their terms of reference in order to move further.

A meeting of representatives with the officials of commerce ministry and other concerned will be held every two months to resolve the issues.

Bodies to resolve trade issues with India

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

Pakistan can benefit from Ukraine’s expertise in iron, steel, energy and heavy techni-cal manufacturing industries as

the Ukraine is one of the most technically developed country of Europe having ad-vancement and development in technol-ogy.

Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)’s President Haroon Agar talking to honorary Consul of Ukraine in Karachi M A Jabbar said Ukraine could help Pakistan in education, exploration of natural resources and providing technical assistance. It is high time to take serious measures and steps to enhance bilateral trade, exchange of business delegations and participation in exhibitions.

KCCI has invited the business delega-

tion from Ukraine’s Lu-gansk Regional Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry on the occasion of KCCI’s 10th Internat ional M y - K a r a c h i , Oasis of Har-mony Exhibition. At this juncture both Chambers have also agreed to sign ac-cord for mutual cooperation and strengthen B2B relationship between members to boost bilateral trade ties.

President Pakistan-Ukraine Trade and Culture Information Centre Shamim Firpo said in order to promote contacts between entrepreneurs of both countries, Pakistan-Ukraine Trade and Information Centre was created in Karachi. Pakistan

and Ukraine attach importance to bilateral economic and

commercial cooperation. The friendly relationship

between two countries are fortifying with the passage of time, Jabbar said.

Ukraine holds exper-tise in steel, iron, metal-

lurgy, transportation and energy, therefore oppor-

tunities do exist between two countries for mutual cooperation.

He said Pakistani businesspersons have name and fame in the Ukrainian business circles. Pak-Ukraine Business Council is formed to create strong linkage between the business communities of two coun-tries. He sought cooperation for effective liaison between KCCI and Pak-Ukraine Business Council.

Ukraine’s expertise in various sectors help Pakistan: KCCI

Pakistan to release 51 Indian fishermen

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Prime Minister Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has decided to release 51 Indian fisher-men on humanitarian grounds as a gesture of goodwill.

These prisoners have already served their sentences. The decision was taken at a high level meeting attended by Federal Minister for Law Ahmer Bilal Sufi, Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Zahid Qurban Alvi and senior of-ficials of the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, law and justice and PM’s Secretariat. The prime minister expressed the hope that the Indian government will reciprocate the gesture and release the Pakistani prisoners incarcerated in Indian jails.

Khoso was informed that presently there were 482 In-dian prisoners in Pakistani jails whereas 496 Pakistanis were in Indian jails. He was further informed that gov-ernment of Pakistan was awaiting the confirmation of na-tional status of other Indian prisoners. The prime minister directed the ministry of foreign affairs to initiate dialogue with India for the release of Pakistani prisoners and return of Indian prisoners as well.

UK offers support for Pakistan’s democratic future

AGENCIES LONDON

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has reiter-ated his country’s support

for Pakistan’s democratic future.In a statement, William Hague

said the people of Pakistan made a strong statement about the fu-ture they want for their country, based on accountable, demo-cratic government. They clearly rejected terrorist violence and intimidation.

He said the elections represent an important step for Pakistan’s democracy, with strong voter rolls and the highest-ever num-ber of women and new voters.

Hague however hoped that to protect credibility of elections, all allegations of malpractice will be thoroughly investigated. These elections were only possible due to the hard work of the Election Commission, the caretaker gov-ernment, polling station officials, security personnel, election ob-servers, but most of all of those who voted.

The Foreign Secretary said Pa-kistan can be certain of the UK’s support for their democratic fu-ture.

The UK has been a long-term friend of Pakistan and these elec-tions will strengthen our commit-ment to work together, based on mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual benefit.

He said these values have un-derpinned our relationship in the past and he will do his utmost to ensure they continue to do so for the future. He said the UK look forward to working with the new federal and provincial govern-ments as they strive to meet the mandate the people have given them.

LONDON: Chairman Senate Sayyed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari along with Lord Speaker Baroness D'Souza and members of both houses of UK Parliament after a roundtable meeting in the Lord Speaker's office of the House of Lords. DA Desk

May 20-26, 2013

15

WAQAS SIDDIQUIISLAMABAD

Pakistani students who are learning English through the U.S.-sponsored English Access Microscholarship

Program and their teachers met today with U.S. Embassy Public Af-fairs Officer Peter Brennan. In the coming weeks, 25 students and 25 teachers will travel to the United States for a three-week exchange program funded by the U.S. Embas-sy. The students - who come from Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan, Lodhran, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Mansehra, Malakand, Peshawar, Khaplu, and Skardu – came together to be briefed about their trip to the United States.

“Before I got a scholarship for Ac-cess, I had no confidence speaking English. But now I am able to speak English,” said Iqra, an enthusiastic Access student. “We do a lot of ac-tivities in class, and we also do com-munity service projects together. I am very excited to go to America and meet people and see how things are over there.”

“English has become the common language of business and education throughout the world. We operate

the world’s biggest English Access program here in Pakistan because we know how important these skills are to Pakistan’s economic future,” said Mr. Brennan. “We are so pleased to play a role in helping smart and motivated Pakistani stu-dents learn skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.”

The U.S. operates the world’s larg-est English Access Microscholar-ship Program in Pakistan, teaching English to 5,000 14- to 18-year old students from disadvantaged back-grounds. The students learn English by participating in after-school class-es and intensive summer learning activities, leading to better jobs and educational opportunities. Since its inception in 2004, over 95,000 stu-dents in more than 85 countries have participated in the Access Program.

The English Access Microscholar-ship Program is one component of the comprehensive U.S. education assistance program for Pakistan, which includes operating the world’s highest-funded Fulbright exchange program; building or rehabilitating more than 850 schools; and estab-lishing Centers for Advanced Study at three Pakistani universities to fo-cus on applied research in energy, agriculture and water.

Pakistani students learn English with US support

DNA ISLAMABAD

Internationally recognized accreditation of six laboratories of the National Physi-cal and Standard Laboratory (NPSL) will foster the metrological activities

not only in the country but also in the region.This was stated by Shaheen Raja, Director

General, NPSL on the occasion of the visit to these laboratories by the Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark.

This visit was part of the World Metrol-ogy Day celebrations, highlighting major

achievements of NPSL for its internation-ally traceable measurement services for the industry and overall quality infrastructure development which has been embarked upon with the support of European Union’s

funded Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA II) programme being implemented by UNIDO.

Mr PITAD/ Ministry of Commerce, Devel-opment Advisor of the EU Delegation, Direc-tor General of NPSL and representatives of the Ministry of Science & Technology were also present at the occasion.

The newly accredited labs, visited by Mr. Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, included: Thermal Metrology, Pressure Metrology, Electrical Metrology, Dimensional Metrology, Chemi-cal Metrology and Mass Metrology. He ap-preciated NPSL’s hard work for achieving the Accreditation Certificate.

EU supports Pakistan for traceable measurement services

USAID dairy project helps women farmers increase their income

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

The USAID-funded Dairy Project has spurred growth in Pakistan’s rural economy by helping women farm-ers increase their incomes and improve their liveli-hoods.

USAID is creating a pool of up to 5,000 locally-trained and readily- available female livestock extension workers to pro-vide veterinary services and advice on the care and feeding of cattle to rural dairy farmers.

The project also meets farmers’ basic needs by providing them with quality supplies for their animals such as feed, vita-mins, and medication, said a statement released here on Thurs-day. It said that the USAID Dairy Project is a catalyst to create new jobs and improve rural livelihoods in Pakistan.

“My husband used to work at a private school, but he had to quit his job because of an illness. Now he is unemployed. I was educated through the 12th grade, but I could not find a job,” said Asma, a resident of Toba Tek Singh in Punjab.

“I was worried about my husband’s health and the fact that I couldn’t do anything for my children’s future even though I am educated. I couldn’t sleep at night. But then I heard about this USAID project. I am happy to say that I am now working in my village as a livestock extension worker, providing basic animal healthcare services in my village.”

USAID’s Dairy Project, launched in July 2011, selects dynamic rural women with a high school diploma and trains them in ba-sic animal health management techniques and entrepreneur-ship.

The program has already trained 2,470 unemployed rural women, helping them earn an average of 2,500 rupees per month. It aims to train an additional 2,530 farmers. I am ad-vising people in my village about how to improve milk produc-tion,” Asma added.

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) of Saudi Arabia has extend-ed additional financial support

to UNDP in Pakistan bringing its total contribution to US$ 6.7 million for com-munity infrastructure restoration and rehabilitation in the crisis affected areas of district Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Malakand region was adversely affected by massive displacement in 2009. To date, a total of 207 infrastruc-ture schemes have been successfully rehabilitated by the contribution of Saudi Arabia, benefiting approximately 180,000 people including women, people with special needs and children.

Vice Chairman and Managing Direc-tor, SFD Engr Yousef I Al-Bassam said,

“We are happy to see that people are benefiting from our efforts as a result of our partnership with UNDP.”

Country Director UNDP in Pakistan Marc-André Franche, thanked the King-dom of Saudi Arabia for its generous support and said, “We are grateful to the Saudi Fund for Development for their timely support to the crisis affected com-munities of Swat.”

Saudi fund extends additional support for KP uplift

May 20-26, 2013

16

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

US Ambassador Richard Olson has praised the collaborative work of US and Pakistani artists at the opening of an exhibition

at a local hotel.The exhibition entitled, “What Re-

mains are Children’s Lullabies,” features the artwork of two US and four Pakistani artists who collaborated over the course of a year to create a series of images ex-ploring women’s rights and cultural iden-tity. “Building cultural ties create mutual understanding and enhanced productive dialogue and enables inspiring collabora-tion,” said Ambassador Olson.

Ambassador Olson emphasised the US government commitment to strengthen-ing people-to-people ties between the United States and Pakistan. The US Em-bassy has established the largest cultural and exchange program anywhere in the world, and sends nearly 1,000 Pakistanis to the United States every year on cultur-al, academic, and professional exchanges.

Olson praises US-Pakistani artistic collaboration

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

The Pakistan Museum of Nat-ural History and the Paris Museum of Natural History will soon sign a Memoran-

dum of Understanding (MoU) to join hands for preserving natural species.

The Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) has already inked a MoU with Centre Science, Orleans-France for arranging and co-producing expos in Pakistan. PSF chairman, Dr Man-zoor H Soomro said the Foundation in collaboration with the Embassy of France here was carrying out two pro-

grammes, including holding interna-tional travelling expos and promotion of inquiry based science education in the country.

He said the PSF started arranging International Travelling Expos in 2008 in collaboration with French Embassy and Centre Sciences-Orelans-France.

In this regard, expos on the themes of mathematics, environment, biodi-versity and chemistry have already been held in various cities and towns of Pakistan.

This year, keeping in view the im-portance of energy issues, the PSF obtained Travelling Expo titled “En-ergies, for a Sustainable World” (pre-

pared by Centre Sciences, Orleans-France and partners) for showcasing in Pakistan.

The two-month long Expo travelled from Islamabad to Muzzafarabad (AJK), Gilgit, Abbottabad, Gujrat, Lar-kana and Quetta. He said students’s interest in resolving such issues could only be generated through science popularisation through Expos that pave way for national development. He said expos provided an opportu-nity to young scientists to develop new ideas and concepts of science. “Exhibi-tion generates a lot of interest among young scientists to develop new ideas about sustainable use of energy”.

pak, French museums to preserve natural species together

KARACHI: Sindh Caretaker Chief Minister Zahid Qurban Alavi, Governor Ishrat-ul-Ebad and UK envoy Adam Thomson cutting the cake at a ceremony. DA

May 20-26, 2013

17

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will address the sitting of the Upper House of Parlia-ment on 23rd of this month

after his joint meeting with Senate Chairman Nayyer Hussain Bokhari and National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, the Senate Secre-tariat said.

In his address to the Senate, the Chinese premier would focus on Pakistan-China ties and mutual par-liamentary relations between the two countries, besides other issues. The Senate Secretariat is busy in finalis-ing the schedule of Chinese premier’s visit to the Parliament House on May

23 in consultations with officials of Chinese Embassy in Islamabad through the Foreign Office.

Li Keqiang will start his first ever two-day visit to Pakistan from May 22 after he was sworn to the office of

Chinese prime minister in March this year.

According to a tentative schedule prepared by the Senate Secretariat, the chairman and the speaker will re-ceive foreign dignitary on his arrival

at the Parliament House on May 23 before noon. After this, Mr Keqiang would be escorted to the Senate chairman’s chamber, where a joint meeting of the chairman and speaker would be held with the guest. After-wards, Bokhari and Mirza would escort him to the Senate Hall for his address to lawmakers.

All members of the House would be seated fifteen minutes before the arrival of the premier in the hall.

Special seats would be reserved for the Chinese delegation in the galleries of the Senate Hall during the speech of the premier.

At the end of the visit of the Par-liament House, the Senate chairman would see off the premier and his del-egation.

chinese pm to address Senate on 23rd

Pak-China to sign MoUs: FO

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Pakistan and China would sign several Memoranda of Un-derstanding (MoUs) for coop-

eration in various fields during the forthcoming visit of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Pakistan on May 22. Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary said at the weekly news briefing that details of these MoUs are being worked out.

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

President Asif Ali Zardari has invited heads of all the political parties to a luncheon to be held in honour of the

Chinese Prime Minister Mr Li Keqiang at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The Chinese Premier Mr Li Keqiang is reaching on a two days state visit to Paki-

stan on May 22 on the invitation of Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari.

The Chinese Premier Mr Li Keqiang on his arrival at the Presidency will hold one-on-one meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari followed by a delegation level talks between the two countries.

Spokesperson to the President Sena-tor Farhatullah Babar said that besides others invitees, the heads of parties who

have been extended invitations for the Luncheon hosted in honour of the Chinese Premier at the Presidency included PML-N President Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Chief of PTI, Imran Khan, Chaudhry Shu-jaat Hussain of PML(Q), Dr. Farooq Sattar of MQM, Mr. Asfandyar Wali Khan of ANP, Mr Munawar Hasan of JI, Moulana Fazlur Rehman of JUI (F), Mr. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao of QWP and others.

President invites heads of parties to luncheon for Chinese Premier

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

Pakistan was widely represented by a large group of researchers/ academicians led by

University of Veterinary and Ani-mal Sciences Lahore Vice-Chan-cellor Prof Talat Pasha at the joint 10th World Buffalo and 7th Asian Buffalo Congress at Phuket, Thai-land.

According to a press release, more than 350 delegates from 36 countries interested in buffalo re-search and development attended the congress. The theme of the congress was ‘Green Production against Global Warming’.

Prof Pasha spoke about the challenges facing the producers in feeding the buffaloes, the avail-able feeding resources and the new ways of feeding to maximise the growth and production poten-tial of buffaloes. He said the exact nutrient requirements for milk-ing buffaloes still needed to be worked out.

The Vice-Chancellor said that buffalo had a major contribution to the national economy. “Buf-falo contributes 50 per cent meat, 65 per cent milk in addition to its

major share in leather and work (draft animals) sectors in Paki-stan. He said Pakistani climatic conditions were favourable to buffalo production, and the buf-falo was playing a key role in the socio-economic uplift of small farmers of the country. He said that such scientific events provid-ed opportunities to get a research update, share ideas and develop international linkages.

Pakistani buffalo scientists topped among all countries in terms of numbers in making sci-entific contributions to their pres-entations in symposia on repro-duction, breeding and genetics, nutrition, dairy, meat and socio economic aspects in the three-day congress.

Prof Muhammad Abdullah, Dean Faculty of Animal Products and Technology, UVAS, Prof Dr Muhammad Sarwar, Dean Animal Husbandry at UAF Faisalabad, and Muhammad Nawaz Saeed, Director General, Extension, Live-stock and Dairy Development De-partment Punjab also presented papers.

Next Asian Buffalo Congress will be held in 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, and the World Buffalo Congress in 2016 in Columbia.

Pak researchers in buffalo congress in Thailand

IMF team to visit Pakistan in June to discuss economy

AGENCIESWASHINGTON

An IMF team is to visit Islamabad in late June to continue the policy discussions with the new govt on

mitigating economic vulnerabilities in Pakistan.

Answering a question at a press confer-ence whether the Fund had offered $5 bil-lion of aid to Pakistan and were there any conditions attacked with it, Gerry Rice, IMF Director said that there has been no formal request for a programme from the Pakistani authorities as yet. Mr Rice however admitted that the authorities met with the Fund during the Spring Meetings.

He said discussions there cantered around the difficult economic challenges facing Pakistan, and our urging of the au-thorities to begin taking the necessary ac-tions to help stabilize the economy and lay the groundwork for future growth.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior, Malik Mohammad Habib Khan chairing a high level meeting to review security arrangements for the upcoming visit of high powered Chinese delegation to Pakistan. DA

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of China Liu Jian in a meeting with Federal Minister for Interior Malik Mohammad Habib Khan. DA

May 20-26, 2013

18SAARC CCI congratulates PML-N

AGENCIESISLAMABAD

The SAARC Chamber of Commerce & In-dustry (SAARC CCI) has felicitated Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shareef for over-whelming success in general elections

while hoping that it would not only improve Indo-Pakistan relations but also help deepen regional integration process in South Asia. President SAARC CCI Vikramjit Singh Sahney in his statement welcomed the invitation extended by Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Mian Nawaz Sharif to visit India terming it as a gesture that would help redefine cordial rela-tions between two major nations in South Asian region. “Success of PML (N) through democratic process is a reflection of positive change in society of Pakistan” said President SAARC CCI and hoped that Nawaz Government would be instrumental to establish amicable and long term relations with India, which is essential for a prosperous and sus-tained South Asia. Iftikhar Ali Malik, Vice Presi-dent SAARC CCI (Pakistan) also congratulated the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League (N) and expressed his hope that being a business tycoon himself and a matured politician, Nawaz Shareef and his team would take immediate and proactive measures to usher country’s economy.

Young film makers from Pakistan invited to int’l festival

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

Organisers of International Children’s Film Festival 2013 have invited entries for short and feature films, documen-taries, music videos and experimental

films made for and by youth and children by May 31.

The festival, a project of The Little Art, a non-profit arts education organisation, is scheduled to be held in Lahore from December 16 to 21. This year 2013, the Festival is an international competition of films made for and by children and young people and preference is always the film about Pakistan and by a Pakistani film maker.

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

The Pakistani nation will continue fighting for the oppressed Pal-estinians, including

their legitimate right to return to their homeland, said demonstra-tors gathered outside the Karachi Press Club on the eve of Nakba Day.

The Palestinians observe Na-kba Day (Day of the Catastrophe) every year on May 15 to com-memorate the displacement that preceded and followed the Israeli Declaration of Independence in

1948.Organised by the Awami Mus-

lim League and the Palestine Foundation of Pakistan, a large number of people carrying ban-ners, placards and flags partici-pated in the demonstration on Tuesday.

They shouted slogans against the Zionist regime of Israel and the United States. They also burnt the flags of Israel, the US and the United Kingdom.

PFP office-bearers and lawyers Mehfooz Yaar Khan Advocate and Sabir Karbalai, Mehboob Aftab Khan, SM Bukhari, Abida Khan, Rana Parveen, Kanwar

Amir and Asadullah Khan Advo-cate addressed the protesters.

They said that it was the right of all Palestinian refugees to re-turn to their homeland. “All hur-dles in the way of the immediate return of the Palestinians to Pal-estine, occupied under the name of Israel, should be removed forthwith,” they added.

They also said: “Nakba or ca-tastrophe was imposed on the Palestinians by Zionist terrorists who massacred many Arab Pal-estinians and expelled those who survived their witch hunt.”

More than 5 million Palestin-ians now live abroad because the

Zionist regime of Israel has re-fused to recognise the inalienable right of the sons and daughters of the soil to return to their home-land, they added.

They further said, “the inter-national community has failed to sort out the Palestine issue be-cause the US and the European Union are staunch allies of the Zionist regime.”

Lip service and empty state-ments can never help the Pales-tinians acquire their rights, they added. They urged the United Nations and other international bodies to play their role in sort-ing out the Palestine issue.

Nakba Day marked

‘Pakistani nation to continue fighting for Palestinians’

LAHORE: Ambassador of Japan Hiroshe Oe in a meeting with PML-N leader Ishaq Dar. DA

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Hi-roshi OE called on PML-N Senator and would-be Finance Minister of the in-

coming PML-N Government, Ishaq Dar here the other day.

Hiroshi greeted Dar over the success of the PML-N in the elections besides exchanging views on the matters of mutual interest. Dar highlighted the strong bonds of friendship of

Pakistan and Japan and said both are cooper-ating with each other in various sectors.

The Japanese Ambassador said his coun-try will continue to cooperate with Pakistan in trade, industry and others fields in future as well.

Japanese envoy, Dar discuss cooperation

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

The Foreign Office said the other day that it expected the peace process with India to gain pace after the installation

of the new government.“We hope that the dialogue process

would pick up momentum in all ar-eas,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said at the weekly media briefing.

The peace process has been on a vir-tual hold since the violations of the Line of Control in Kashmir at the start of this year. Tensions resurfaced when an In-

dian prisoner, Sarbjeet Singh, died after an attack by inmates in Lahore jail and a Pakistani, Sanaullah, was fatally beaten in Jammu jail. Another Pakistani, Abdul Jabbar, was injured in an attack in Tihar prison.

Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan had al-ways emphasised continuity of the peace talks so that outstanding issues could be resolved.

The peace process has remained ac-cident prone and there have been nu-merous starts and stops, which impeded progress towards normalisation of ties between the two countries.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while congratulating PML-N

chief Mian Nawaz Sharif on the victory of his party in the May 11 elections, had expressed the hope to work with him to “chart a new course and pursue a new destiny in the relations between our countries”.

Dr Singh also invited Mr Sharif to visit India at “a mutually convenient time”.

The PML-N chief, who is set to be-come the next prime minister, also ex-tended an invitation to the Indian leader to visit Pakistan.

The spokesman said Pakistan was in touch with the Indian authorities over the issue of prisoners.

“We have approached the Indian gov-ernment for focused discussions on the

issue of prisoners. We hope that these focused discussions would address all aspects of this important issue, including the release of the 47 prisoners who have completed their sentence.”

There are some 300 Pakistani pris-oners in Indian jails, of whom 47 have completed their sentences but continue to remain in detention because of delays in completion of release formalities.

The joint India-Pakistan Judicial Com-mittee on Prisoners has made a number of recommendations for humane treat-ment of prisoners. Although both coun-tries have acknowledged the work done by the body, they have been slow to im-plement the recommendations.

Speaking on Afghanistan, Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan would continue to maintain a “cooperative approach” to-wards the country.

Afghanistan over the past couple of months has raised the contentious is-sue of Durand Line border and accused Pakistan of unauthorised border post construction. However, Pakistan has avoided playing into the controversies.

Contrary to difficulties in the political relations, the military-to-military ties between the two countries appear to have significantly improved.

Peace process with India likely to gain pace, says FO

May 20-26, 2013

19

AGENCIES ISLAMABAD

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development will support Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in his efforts to revive the shattered economy and address the myriad of challenges confronting the country, said a senior official of the Fund.

“Of course we are looking for part-

nering with the government of Pa-kistan in its efforts to improve the economy,” alAdil alHosani, Director Operations of Abu Dhabi Fund, said at the annual international day func-tion of Sheikh Zayed International Academy. The Fund was set up at the initiative of late president of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan alNahayan in 1971 for cre-ating a favorable environment for sustained economic development of the developing countries by address-

ing their needs for realizing the goal.Education is the catalyst for bol-

stering growth of the developing na-tions, including Pakistan, said alHo-sani. AlHosani specially flew in from the UAE to inaugurate two hostels for teachers and students, and ribbon cutting for a swimming pool of the Sheikh Zayed Academy built with as-sistance from the Fund.

The schools provide quality educa-tion up to A-Level to students hailing from diverse cultures from across

the globe. Wafaa Abdul Ghafar, prin-cipal of the academy, took alHosani around the sprawling institution and explained to him its contribution in promoting tolerance and respect for various cultures, which have ac-quired an added importance in the global village.

Asked if the Fund would back would-be Prime Minister Nawaz Sha-rif’s vow on Monday to divert all his energies to revive the national econ-omy facing serious challenges, alHo-

sani said Pakistan had already bene-fited from the Abu Dhabi Fund, which had undertaken many development projects for progress of the brotherly country. Pakistan and the UAE enjoy very warm and robust relations. The UAE has undertaken various projects across the country indicative of Abu Dhabi’s commitment to further ce-ment their relationship. It has always been forthcoming in helping Pakistan in times of distress like flash flood or devastating quake of 2005, he added.

NEWS RELEASE KARACHI

Emirates’ innovation, investment and customer service was fur-ther recognized at an interna-

tional level with an array of awards from two prestigious awards ceremo-nies.

At the Business Traveller Middle East Awards, Emirates was crowned Best Airline Worldwide as the car-rier received its 32nd A380, pushing its modern fleet to 200 aircraft. Emirates was also named Airline with the Best

Business Class, Airline with the Best Economy Class and Best Regional Air-line Serving the Middle East during the event at The Address Dubai Marina.

“This is a superb collection of awards for Emirates, said Thierry An-tinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice Presi-dent, Passenger Sales Worldwide, who attended the ceremony. “In a fiercely competitive environment and under the scrutiny of Business Traveller Mid-dle East readers, we have truly shone with our products, services and value for money.” Meanwhile, at the World Travel Awards for the Middle East re-

gion, held at Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa, Emirates picked up three more awards.

The airline won the Middle East’s Leading Airline Business Class, the Middle East’s Leading Airline Re-wards Programme and the Middle East’s Leading Airline Website. Kevin Griffiths, Senior Vice President, Cabin Crew, was on hand to receive the awards. The World Travel Awards are voted on by travel and tourism profes-sionals worldwide, recognising a com-mitment to excellence in the previous twelve months.

Revival of economy

Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to assist Pakistan

Emirates dominates international awards

BUREAU REPORT KARACHI

Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of The Abraaj Group, has re-ceived the 2013 Oslo Busi-

ness for Peace Award at a ceremony in the Oslo City Hall, Norway.

Mr Naqvi is the first Pakistani na-tional and the first Chief Executive from the global private equity indus-try to receive this award. The award was presented to Mr Naqvi by the Governing Mayor of Oslo, Stian Berg-

er Rosland, and the Chairman of the Business for Peace Foundation, Per L Saxegaard.

The Oslo Business for Peace Award is one of the highest forms of recog-nition given to global business lead-ers for fostering peace and stabil-ity through creating shared values between business and society.

The search for honourees is a joint effort undertaken between the Inter-national Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the United Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) and the Oslo-based Business for Peace Foundation.

arif Naqvi receives 2013 oslo Business for peace award

BUREAU REPORTLAHORE

Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, unveiled a new phase of its global ‘Share a Smile’

campaign in partnership with Arse-nal Football Club.

With the help of Emirates’ mul-tilingual cabin crew, Arsenal play-ers Mikel Arteta, Lukas Podolski, Wojciech Szczęsny and Theo Wal-cott share some well-loved football phrases in their own languages whilst showing off their footballing skills in a series of light-hearted vid-eos.

Emirates Share a Smile was launched in February 2013. The first phase of the campaign featured 29 videos in 14 languages showcasing members of its cabin crew express-ing quirky and unusual expressions and greetings from around the world.

The campaign was created by Emirates to help “globalistas” con-nect with each other through shar-ing the humourous, videos with their friends and family.

“Emirates and Arsenal have been working together since 2004 and constantly look for new and inno-vative ways in which to extend our partnership”, said Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Emir-ates. “This is the first time we have worked with the team in this way and we hope the videos bring some smiles to football fans around the world, as well as perhaps helping

them to learn some new footballing phrases.”

“Football is a global sport, and with its multilingual international outlook Emirates’ Share a Smile campaign is the perfect match for en-gaging with football fans around the world”, added Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s Head of Global Partner-ships. “The videos were filmed on a snowy English day and despite the weather the players had great fun showing off their tricks alongside the Emirates team and we hope our fans around the world enjoy watch-ing them.”

Emirates and Arsenal have a long standing partnership and in Decem-ber 2012 the airline extended its shirt partnership with the English Pre-mier League club until the end of the 2018/2019 season. As part of the deal Arsenal’s home will continue to be known as Emirates Stadium up to 2028. The companies’ relationship also extends across a number of oth-er areas including a grassroots foot-ball project. Opened in October 2009, ArsenalSoccerSchool based in Dubai at The Sevens, Emirates’ purpose-built sports facility, the school aims to develop football talents in the UAE and surrounding Gulf region through top-class training methods.

“Share a Smile” is the latest exten-sion of Emirates’ global brand plat-form ‘Hello Tomorrow’. Launched in April 2012, the platform aims to inspire people across the world to explore and connect with each other across cultures and borders. To date, the videos have been viewed by near-ly one million people worldwide.

Emirates ‘shares a smile’ with Arsenal

TOKYO: Ambassador Farukh Amil in a group photo with professor Chikako Taya and the students during his visit to Hosei University. DA

May 20-26, 2013

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DA REPORTISLAMABAD

President International Is-lamic University, Islama-bad Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh on Wednesday

paid a visit to Usuluddin faculties of male and female campuses and gave directions to the concerned staff re-garding academic and administra-tive matters of faculty.

Dr Mumtaz Ahmed Vice Presi-dent (academics) was also present with Dr Al-Draiweesh. Talking to the faculty members in the male campus, Dr Al-Draiweesh directed to enhance the research work in the university. He urged the staff mem-bers to arrange interactive activities

in the regard of research; he added that it would help the students to get familiar with contemporary require-ments in the field of research. The President IIUI lauded the efforts of Former Dean of Faculty of Usulud-din, Dr. Zafarullah Baig and award-ed him a shield and certificate for his services to the faculty.

Dr Mumtaz Ahmed also spoke on the occasion; he said we should work hard to achieve the core objec-tives of IIUI. Later, Dr Al-Draiweesh along with Dr. Mumtaz Ahmed also visited the Usuluddin Faculty in fe-male campus. President met with the employees during an interac-tive session and assured the faculty members that their problems would be solved at priority bases.

President IIUI directs for enhancing research criteria in varsity

DA REPORTISLAMABAD

Students of International Islamic University Is-lamabad (IIUI) have per-formed tremendously in

the all Pakistan ‘Software & En-gineering’ competition organized by RACHNA College, Gujranwala.

IIUI students participated in various competitions where they claimed first position in photog-raphy and two 2nd positions in computer game categories while an IIUI student also clinched the title of best student ambassador.

Faraz Javed, Umar Wajid, M

Waqas, Danyal Ali and Ch. She-hzad of Faculty of Basic and Ap-plied Sciences who were among the winners, have dedicated their success to the university. Mean-while, winner students called on President International Islamic University, Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweeshon Tuesday where Dr. Al-Draiweesh congratulated the students on their success and lauded their efforts for image building of the university.

He urged them to keep their ef-forts continue for the betterment of university. Students Advisor Dr. Safeer Awan was also present on the occasion.

IIUI students shine in engineering’ competitionIIUI holds seminar on ‘National Professional Standards for Teachers’

NEWS RELEASEISLAMABAD

Department of Education of the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) organised a seminar on ‘National Profession-

al Standards For Teachers in Pakistan’ the other day, at auditorium, Fatima Tu Zohra Block of the university. Prof Dr Ahmad Yousif Al-Draiweesh, President IIUI was the chief guest on the occasion.

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

Pakistan People’s Party leader Sharjeel Memon said the other day while talking to media that the PPP had the

clear majority in Sindh and the next chief minister would also be from the party.

The PPP leader, who won the May 11 elections from PS-50, declared the party had accepted the mandate of all the parties. “If the PPP’s mandate in Sindh is not accepted, we would also not accept the mandate of Paki-stan Muslim League-Nawaz in Punjab and launch a movement against their rule,” he warned.

Memon, a former information min-

ister of Sindh, claimed the PPP had concrete evidence of election rigging in Punjab and it could bring these evi-dences to the media also.

Meanwhile, another PPP dropped a hint that the chief minister would be “a young face”. “I had a dream in which late Benazir Bhutto told me that a young and nice-looking leader will be the [next] chief minister of Sindh,” said Manzoor Wassan while talking to newspersons at his residence.

The former Sindh home minister said he had always shared his dreams with the media and his dream had turned out to be true as well. He said the people had rejected the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and Paki-stan Muslim League-Nawaz and their allies in Sindh. “They have no right to level allegations against the PPP for rigging.”

“Not only Khairpur but the entire Sindh rejected the PML-N, PML-F and their allies in this election,” he said. “It has been proved that the PPP is still the most popular party having the mandate of the people of Sindh.”

Wassan claimed that two people of his tribe were killed on Thursday in a firing incident during the PML-F strike, adding that he would lodge an FIR against the provincial chief of the PML-N for their murder.

Next Sindh cm to be a ‘young face from ppp’

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would not allow any other party’s chief minis-ter in Sindh, as PPP holds

strong position for the formation of Sindh government, said the scores of leaders of the party addressing press conferences here.

However, the leaders differed on what should be the criteria for choosing a Sindh chief minister from within the party, some left the decision on the party leadership, while the others wished he should

be young instead of the old one. PPP during the last five years appeared to have one voice, but now it seems to be a little disintegrated.

Taking the lead in holding hosts of PPP news conferences here, Former Sindh information minister, Sharjeel Memon said that since PPP holding the majority the CM would also be from his party.

Former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah along with Owais Muzaffar and several other leaders in a subse-quent press conference said that the their party has reservations on the Punjab elections’ results, but has ac-cepted it for the democracy.

Later PPP leader known for his day dreaming, Manzoor Wasan couldn’t hold himself back on see-ing the flashing cameras stood up and disclosed that BB Shaheed came in his dream and told him that now Sindh would witness good govern-ance and the CM would not be old one, but young.

PPP veteran N.D. Khan and Taj Haider also rushed in to join the melee along with Shazia Murree and said that several letters were writ-ten to the Election Commission, but none was heeded to. PPP won 80 seats, but efforts afoot to bring this number down.

PPP won’t allow any other party’s CM in Sindh

ISLAMABAD: IIUI President Prof Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh with the winner students in a group photo. DA

ISLAMABAD: IIUI President Prof Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh presenting a souvenir to former Dean of faculty of Usuluddin Dr Zafar Ullah. DA

May 20-26, 2013

21

SPECIAL REPORTISLAMABAD

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan People’s Party are going neck-to-neck in National Assembly seats.

PPP enjoys the support of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which bagged 17 direct seats in the elections. On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid seems to supports PTI to bring up opposition leader in the National Assembly.

The largest opposition group would submit a signed declaration to the NA speaker while nominating the opposition leader.

“The speaker shall declare a mem-ber as Leader of the Opposition hav-ing the greatest numerical strength after the verification of the signatures of the members,” reads Rule 39 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.

So under the rules even if PTI manages to surpass the numerical strength of PPP, it would require help from other parties. The PTI chief has already announced his party would

not join hands with any party of the former ruling coalition.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has how-ever announced to sit in opposition in the National Assembly. The party, by bagging so high votes and winning in a province with a sharp margin, has no doubt proved that it can emerge as a major party in future if it fulfills its promises made during the election campaign. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is going to form government in the centre while PTI has to sit in opposition. The two parties have been considered stern rivals of each other, as the two have been against the policies . It will surely be a valu-able mixture of power and opposition in the centre.

Opposition has a very important role in a democratic system. Strong opposition is always a pathway to strong democracy. It is predicted by many experts and analysts having sharp eye on the political scenario of the country that PTI as an oppo-sition in the National Assembly in the government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will be a very strong opposition, unlikely to succumb to any thought of compromise for the

sake of national interest. However, it is so far not clear

whether the PTI Chairman Imran Khan proceeds to become the opposi-tion leader or not. He might have to contact PPP and MQM for support in this regard. The time surely stresses the need for flexibility from Khan, as being an opposition leader he and his party can prove to be very effective.

In Punjab, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has emerged as the second largest party of the House, it would be for the first time that the province will have the first ever op-position leader from PTI. According to media reports, so far, two major names seem in circulation in the PTI cadres over the slot of opposition leader and it is likely that the party may nominate any of its senior mem-bers who got elected from Lahore.

The name of Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed seems at the top of the list at the moment in PTI circles as the possible parliamentary leader of party and the opposition leader. Mian Aslam Iqbal, former provincial minis-ter, is also another major PTI figure whose name can be considered for the slot.

imran poised for ‘second most coveted office’ in Na?

Imran to be discharged from hospital this week

BUREAU REPORT LAHORE

PAKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan is expected to be discharged from hospital by the middle of next week.

According to an official statement from Shau-kat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Imran Khan continues to recover from the injuries he sustained as a result of his accident last week.

The doctors said that the injury to Imran’s back caused no neurologic damage and the strength and mobility of his limbs remained undiminished. They said that his pain had lessened dramatically and he now only needed painkillers occasionally.

The SKMCH officials said that Imran was able to sit up on the bed and was receiving regular physiotherapy.

BUREAU REPORTPESHAWAR

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman, Imran Khan is set to form a coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the support of the Jamaat-e-Isla-

mi and Qaumi Watan Party. The coalition partners have agreed on Pervez

Khattak as the candidate for the post of Chief Minister. The candidature of Khattak, the sec-retary general of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, was opposed by a faction led by Asad Qaiser, another leader of the party.

The leaders of the three parties claimed they had the support of 64 legislators in the 124-member Assembly and would face no prob-lem in forming government. The parties also decided on a formula for allocating ministries.

Khattak told reporters in Peshawar yes-terday that details about the distribution of portfolios were yet to be decided.

Following an outcry from the public, the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf dropped plans to allocate the key education and finance portfo-lios to the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Khattak said the new government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would be an example for the other provinces of Pakistan.

“We have formed the alliance only to solve the problems of the people and to bring about an improvement in health and education. We want the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to be a role model for other provinces,” he said.

A news conference was held the other day to announce the formation of the coalition. It was attended by the chief of the Qaumi Watan Party, former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed

Khan Sherpao, and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Sirajul Haq.

Khattak said the Pashtuns were the worst victims of terrorism and resolving this problem would be on top of the agenda of his govern-ment.

Sherpao said the three parties had agreed to hold polls for local government bodies after forming the provincial government.

PTI to form coalition govt in KP with JI help

ISLAMABAD: Pop singer Zoe Viccaji performs on the occasion of a fuction arranged by Asian Study Group at Thrkish embassy premises. DNA

ISLAMABAD: Dancers from Jhang performing in a function arranged at the Turkish em-bassy. DNA

May 20-26, 2013

22

BUREAU REPORT LAHORE

Speakers at the launching of a book “Profiles of South Asian States” by Centre for South Asian Studies direc-

tor, Prof Dr Umbreen Javaid at Pun-jab university here the other day said Pakistan must adopt a wise policy on the issue of US troop with-drawal from Afghanistan.

They said the US forces were not completely pulling out of Afghanistan as 10,000 to 15,000 troops would re-main in the battle-ridden country, so Pakistan must adopt a wise policy on the issue. Punjab University Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran, renowned analyst Syed Mowahid Hussain, defense analyst Brig (r) Fa-rooq Hameed, faculty members and a large number of students were pre-sent on the occasion.

Brig (retd) Farooq Hameed said that South Asian countries were fac-ing instability and the stability of the region was linked to Indo-Pak relations. He said mutual relations between the two neighbours had im-proved during the last three years but the element of mistrust also exists. He said Pakistan had helped Sri Lanka to fight civil war and that is why both

countries are enjoying good relations. He termed the book an asset for the people interested in South Asian af-fairs. In her inaugural address, Dr Umbreen Javed lauded the efforts of the researchers who contributed to the book.

Syed Mowahid Hussain said that South Asia was an important region and Pakistan had to face immense pressure in important international events and happenings. “Unfortu-nately our leaders used to give emo-tional statements in the country but they did not utter a word outside the country to represent Pakistan’s position. Indo-US nuclear deal was against international laws but Paki-stan started to seek the same pack-age from the US instead of declaring Indo-US atomic deal illegal,” he said adding that the book had covered basic information regarding South Asian countries in a comprehensive manner.

Punjab University Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran said that Mian Nawaz Sharif has the ability to resolve Kashmir issue and establish good relations with India on equal footings.

‘Profiles of South Asian States’ launched Speakers urge Pakistan to adopt wise policy on US troop withdrawal

NEWS RELEASEISLAMABAD

State Secretary for Foreign Af-fairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó announced at a press brief-

ing the other day that a Hungarian-Georgian joint economic committee would be set up later this year, a press release from Hungarian embassy here said.

The State Secretary signed a co-operation agreement with Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Pan-jikidze in Parliament, following which he highlighted that joint committees provide an excellent framework for the intensification of bilateral rela-tions. He added that a vital element

of the Government’s opening to the East policy is to strengthen ties with countries in the Caucasus, as their market structure matches Hungary’s economic structure, which could lead to fruitful cooperation.

Hungary and Georgia had a trade turnover of 50 million dollars last year, which can be increased, the State Sec-retary said. Among key areas of coop-eration, projects focusing on transport and energy, agriculture, water man-

agement and joint railway ventures are worth mentioning. He noted that 25 Georgian companies operate in Hungary and two pharmaceutical pro-ducers are present in Georgia.

The Georgian Foreign Minister expressed that the agreement is an important step in strengthening co-operation between the two countries. She also stressed that the Georgian Government is committed to Euro-Atlantic integration and expressed gratitude for Hungary’s support of this aspiration.

At the same time, the Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement with the State Secretary responsible for tourism. Ms Panjikidze also met her Hungarian Counterpart, János Martonyi.

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

The inaugural flight of Etihad Air-ways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has taken

off for the Netherlands’ capital, Amster-dam. Flight EY77, carrying the KL code

of Dutch national carrier, KLM, departed Abu Dhabi airport on schedule at 9.30am local time May 15

The launch of the service is another important development in the strategic partnership between Etihad Airways and KLM. First announced in October 2012, the partnership involves the two airlines

code sharing on multiple routes across each other’s networks. The new daily service between Abu Dhabi and Amster-dam complements KLM’s flights on that route, which carries Etihad Airways’ EY code, ensuring the two airlines will offer a combined double daily service from the summer.

Hungarian-Georgian joint economic committee to be established

Etihad Airways maiden Amsterdam flight takes off

Int’l survey sees Pakistanis as highly tolerant people

SPECIAL REPORTISLAMABAD

An international and credible survey ‘The World Survey’ has estab-lished that the people in Pakistan are remarkably tolerant while the people in India, Jordan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong are by far least

tolerant. The survey has been conducted by distinguished US newspaper Washington Post and British newspaper Daily Mail. The survey has given characteristics of different nations and their people and it suggests while discussing Pakistan that although the country has a number of factors that coincide with racial intolerance, sectarian violence, its location in the least-tolerant region of the world, low economic and human development indices, only 6.5 per cent of Pakistanis objected to a neighbour of a different race.

LAHORE: Ambassador of Japan Hiroshi Oe in a meeting with Punjab Caretaker CM Najam Sethi. DA

KARACHI: Consul General of Indonesia Rossel R Adnan and others cutting the ribbon to inaugurate Thai Travel Art exhibiton. DA

KARACHI: Indonesia artistes presenting their skills at Thai Travel Art exhibiton. DA

May 20-26, 2013

23

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the foreign affairs ministry the other day to make efforts to reach an

agreement with the US government for repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from the US.

The direction came from a division bench, headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, at a hearing of petition seek-ing the repatriation of the Pakistani scientist.

Siddiqui, who studied at the Mas-sachusetts Institute of Technol-

ogy and did her PhD in genetics, was prosecuted in the US for allegedly attacking American soldiers in Af-ghanistan and sentenced to 86 years in prison in September 2010.

The petitioner, Fauzia Siddiqui, a sister of Siddiqui, submitted that her sister along with her three chil-dren was allegedly kidnapped from Gulshan-e-Iqbal in March 2003 when she was leaving for Rawalpindi from her mother’s house.

She noted that the detainees were handed over to US agencies by Paki-stan’s law enforcement agencies in violation of the constitution.

She argued that US courts had no

authority to conduct the trial of Sid-diqui without the fulfillment of lawful extradition formalities.

The petitioner said the government violated fundamental rights of her sister by allowing a foreign country to illegally take her away from the coun-try and by leaving her at the mercy of a foreign country.

She said the US government, ac-cording to a reported statement, wanted to send back her sister, but the Pakistani government showed no interest in bring back its citizen. She added that 1,029 Pakistanis were in-carcerated in foreign countries’ pris-ons, including 121 in the US, 41 in Iraq

and 867 in the UK. She said the government should

sign a treaty for shifting prisoners incarcerated in other countries back to the country for serving out their sentences.

She asked the bench to direct the government to sign either the Council of Europe Convention or the Organi-sation of America State Convention on criminal sentences abroad and send a request for her sister’s repa-triation.

The petitioner’s counsel, Anwar Mansoor Khan, placed before the court the Transfer of Offenders Ordi-nance 2002, and requested a disposal

of the petition by directing the federal government to explore the possibility of a bilateral agreement as contem-plated by the ordinance and make endeavors to materialise it within a reasonable time. The deputy attorney general agreed that the government would do so.

Disposing of the petition, the SHC directed the federal government, in-cluding the foreign affairs ministry, to explore ways and means and make efforts to reach a bilateral agreement as envisaged in the ordinance and in the light of the abovementioned two conventions within a reasonable time.

Seeking aafia repatriation

SHC asks govt to make efforts to reach accord with US

AGENCIES COLOMBO

Pakistan Navy Ship SAIF is on a goodwill visit to the Trincomalee port from 14-17 May 2013. This visit signifies

the strong diplomatic, cultural and military ties between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The 123 meters long PNS SAIF (F-253) is a multi mission frigate capable of operating independently, or as part of Task Force in a multi-threat envi-ronment. The ship was commissioned in September, 2010 at Shanghai, China.

PNS SAIF is the 2nd Ship to bear name “SAIF”. The first ship to be named Saif was Garcia Class Frigate(Ex USS Garcia FF-1040) which served Pakistan Navy till Janu-ary 1994.

PNS SAIF is equipped with state of the art equipment and sensors. It also carries Anti Submarine Z9EC helicop-ter.

The ship is capable of operating in a multi-threat environment, it is equipped with multi role missiles and other modern weapon systems.

The Ship has 14 Officers, 188 CPO’s and Sailors with Captain Jawad

Ahmed as the Commanding Officer. Captain Jawad Ahmed joined Pakistan Navy in 1989 and got commission in 1992. In recognition to his meritori-ous services, Captain Jawad Ahmed has been awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Military).

As part of goodwill, Pakistan Navy ships frequently visit Sri Lankan ports. Such interactions are a part of the multi faceted professional rela-tionship between the two navies, this partnership is considered important by both countries for creating a secure maritime environment in the Indian Ocean.

BUREAU REPORTKARACHI

Relief assistance was dis-tributed among 20,000 families of Mashkhel, Ba-lochistan by the Sheikh

Khalifa Foundation of United Arab Emirates.

A ceremony was held to distribute the relief goods among affected people

in Korangi at TCP Godown No.22 at which Head of Operations of Sheikh Khalifa Foundation Mr Abdul Ra-heem Jani was present, says a press release issued here the other day.

He said that the Sheikh Khalifa Foundation of United Arab Emirates, in keeping with its tradition of helping its brothers and sisters in need, had decided to provide humanitarian aid to the earthquake affected people.

He added that the Sheik Khalifa Foundation is sending 16,000 relief bags containing rice, sugar, wheat, pulses, dates, cooking oil, milk, tea, beverages besides 1,500 tents for shel-ter. The above mentioned aid will help at least 20,000 families of Baluchistan.

Besides Head of Operations of Sheikh Khalifa Foundation Mr Abdul Raheem Jani, diplomats were also present on the occasion.

Pakistan Naval Ship SAIF in Sri Lanka

UAE aid distributed among Balochistan quake victims

AGENCIES DUBAI

Minister for Commerce Maqbool H. H. Ra-himtoola has said that Pakistan’s in-

vestment policy is to actively seek foreign investment by offering a broad array of incentives to attract new capital inflows.

This was stated by the Minis-ter for Commerce, who is leading the Pakistan delegation at the An-nual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai.

The Minister pointed out that investment policy of Pakistan is very liberal and opens new vistas to local as well as foreign investors for investment in various sectors of economy so as to keep Pakistan competitive in international market and make it a viable place for for-eign investment. The World Bank, he said, has ranked Pakistan at number three in South Asia in com-parison to other countries including India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in “ease of doing business”.

“This higher ranking indicates better and stronger regulation for

business and better protection of property rights and it also high-lights Pakistan’s openness for trade and investment,” he added.

He said confidence of the inves-tors can be seen from the fact that the Karachi Stock Exchange has gone up by 394 per cent since Janu-ary 2009 to the close on this last Friday. “This increase is not specu-lative, it is based on the rate of re-turn and growth displayed by these companies’ dividends and profits,” he emphasised.

Chairman Sindh Board of Invest-ment, Zubair Motiwala made a com-prehensive briefing on investment policies, incentive package and tre-mendous potential available in the field of oil and gas, agriculture and energy sector and highlighted the policy parameters which allow 100 percent foreign equity in the major sectors and full repatriation of prof-its and dividends in all the sectors.

Pakistan offers huge incentives to foreign investors

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Azad Jammu Kashmir Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudry meeting with a member of European Parliament here the other day. DA

KARACHI: US Consul General in Karachi Michael Dodman, Chairman Multiple Council Raza Ali, and others posing for a group photo in a function. DA

May 20-26, 2013

24

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