Pak seeks bigger SAARC to counter India's influence

October 12, 2016

Islamabad, Oct 12: Pakistan is exploring the possibility of creating a greater South Asian economic alliance to include China, Iran and neighbouring Central Asian republics as part of its bid counter India's influence in SAARC, a media report said today.pak

Dawn News, citing diplomatic observers, said Pakistan is exploring the possibility of creating a greater South Asian economic alliance to counter India's "controlling hold" on the eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

A parliamentary delegation from Pakistan, which is now in New York, pitched this idea during its five-day visit to Washington last week, the report said.

"A greater South Asia is already emerging," Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed was quoted as saying in one of his interactions with the media.

"This greater South Asia includes China, Iran and the neighbouring Central Asian republics," he said.

He described the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as the key economic route linking South Asia with Central Asia.

The Gwadar port, Syed said, would be the nearest warm water port, not only for China but also for the land-locked Central Asian states. "We want India to join this arrangement as well," said Syed.

Indians are "unlikely to accept" the offer as they are comfortable with the advantage that SAARC provides them, the report said.

"India used its influence in SAARC to isolate Pakistan when it announced that it would not attend the regional group's 19th summit, scheduled in Islamabad," the report said.

Citing continuous cross border terrorism by Pakistan, India had announced last month that "in the prevailing circumstances, the Indian government is unable to participate in the proposed Summit in Islamabad."

Besides India, four other SAARC members -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan -- had also pulled out of the summit.

"Among the eight SAARC nations, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are India's strong allies while Bhutan, surrounded by India from all sides, is too small to resist any move from New Delhi. The Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka have good ties with Pakistan, but they are not large enough to take on India," the report said.

The report cited that a senior diplomat had confirmed reports that Pakistan is actively seeking a new regional arrangement.

"Apparently, the showdown forced Pakistan to conclude that in its present shape, SAARC will always be dominated by India. That's why they are now talking about a greater South Asia," the diplomat was quoted as saying.

"Pakistan hopes that this new arrangement will give it more room to manoeuvre when India tries to force a decision on it," another diplomat said.

The report quoted diplomatic observers in Washington as saying that the proposed arrangement also suits China as it is also worried about India's rapidly growing influence in the region.

"They argue that China can play an important role in persuading Central Asian republics and Iran to join the new arrangement. But the observers warn that SAARC members will have little interest in supporting the idea," the report said.

"There is not much benefit for Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka in joining a land route far from their borders and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have their own ports," it said.

The report stated thatt he member that is likely to get the most benefits from a greater South Asian alliance is Afghanistan, which is technically a land-locked Central Asian nation.

Any trade route that links South and Central Asian regions is good for Afghanistan, it noted.

"But observers believe that Afghanistan is too closely linked to India to join any arrangement that hurts India's interests. Afghanistan's presence in SAARC, however, justifies Pakistan's argument that Central Asian nations can be included in a greater South Asia.

Afghanistan applied for SAARC membership in 2006 and joined a year later, generating an interesting debate on the definition of South Asian identity because Afghanistan is a Central Asian country, the report said.

"But, as a South Asian diplomat pointed out, even if a greater South Asia became reality, there's no guarantee that its members would support Pakistan in its disputes with India," it said.

"Many Central Asian states have strong ties with India and Iran too has problems with Pakistan," the diplomat was quoted as saying.

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Rikaz
 - 
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2016

India should not have cancelled this conference....

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News Network
July 2,2020

Washington, Jul 2: Former US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, on Wednesday (local time) hailed India's action to ban 59 apps linked to Chinese firms including Tik Tok and said New Delhi is continuing to show it will not back down from China's aggression.

"Good to see India banning 59 popular apps owned by Chinese firms, including TikTok, which counts India as one of its largest markets. India is continuing to show it won't back down from China's aggression," Haley tweeted.

The Indian government on Monday announced that it had decided to block 59 apps in view of the information available that "they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order".

Information Technology Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government has banned the apps for the safety, security, defense, sovereignty, and integrity of India.

Haley'='s remarks come after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed India''s ban on the Chinese apps and stressed that the move would "boost India''s integrity and national security".

"We welcome India''s ban on certain mobile apps. India''s clean app approach will boost India's sovereignty and boost integrity and national security," Pompeo said.

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News Network
March 21,2020

Beijing, Mar 21: China reported no domestically transmitted coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day even as seven more fatalities have been confirmed, taking the death toll in the country to 3255.

No new domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19 were reported on the Chinese mainland for the third day in a row on Friday, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Saturday.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 81,008 by the end of Friday, which included 3,255 who died, 6,013 patients still undergoing treatment, 71,740 patients who had been discharged after recovery, the NHC said.

The NHC said 41 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Friday from the people arriving from abroad, taking the total number of imported cases to 269.

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Agencies
June 10,2020

Houston, Jun 10: George Floyd was fondly remembered Tuesday as “Big Floyd” — a father and brother, athlete and neighborhood mentor, and now a catalyst for change — at a funeral for the black man whose death has sparked a global reckoning over police brutality and racial prejudice.

More than 500 mourners wearing masks against the coronavirus packed a Houston church a little more than two weeks after Floyd was pinned to the pavement by a white Minneapolis police officer who put a knee on his neck for what prosecutors said was 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Cellphone video of the encounter, including Floyd’s pleas of “I can’t breathe,” ignited protests and scattered violence across the U.S. and around the world, turning the 46-year-old Floyd — a man who in life was little known beyond the public housing project where he was raised in Houston’s Third Ward — into a worldwide symbol of injustice.

“Third Ward, Cuney Homes, that’s where he was born at,” Floyd’s brother, Rodney, told mourners at the Fountain of Praise church. “But everybody is going to remember him around the world. He is going to change the world.”

The funeral capped six days of mourning for Floyd in three cities: Raeford, North Carolina, near where he was born; Houston, where he grew up; and Minneapolis, where he died. The memorials have drawn the families of other black victims whose names have become familiar in the debate over race and justice — among them, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin.

After the service, Floyd’s golden casket was taken by hearse to the cemetery in the Houston suburb of Pearland to be entombed next to his mother, for whom he cried out as he lay dying. A mile from the graveyard, the casket was transferred to a glass-sided carriage drawn by a pair of white horses. A brass band played as his casket was taken inside the mausoleum.

Hundreds of people, some chanting, “Say his name, George Floyd,” gathered along the procession route and outside the cemetery entrance in the mid-90s heat.

“I don’t want to see any black man, any man, but most definitely not a black man sitting on the ground in the hands of bad police,” said Marcus Brooks, 47, who set up a tent with other graduates of Jack Yates High School, Floyd’s alma mater.

In the past two weeks, amid the furor over Floyd’s death, sweeping and previously unthinkable things have taken place: Confederate statues have been toppled, and many cities are debating overhauling, dismantling or cutting funding for police departments. Authorities in some places have barred police from using chokeholds or are otherwise rethinking policies on the use of force.

Dozens of Floyd’s family members, most dressed in white, took part in the four-hour service. Grammy-winning singer Ne-Yo was among those who sang.

The mourners included actors Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum, J.J. Watt of the NFL’s Houston Texans, rapper Trae tha Truth, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who brought the crowd to its feet when he announced he will sign an executive order banning chokeholds in the city.

“I know you have a lot of questions that no child should have to ask, questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations: Why? Why is Daddy gone?” former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, said, addressing Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter in a video eulogy played at the service. “Now is the time for racial justice. That’s the answer we must give to our children when they ask why.”

Biden made no mention of his opponent in November. But other speakers took swipes at President Donald Trump, who has ignored demands to address racial bias and has called on authorities to crack down hard on lawlessness.

“The president talks about bringing in the military, but he did not say one word about 8 minutes and 46 seconds of police murder of George Floyd,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist. “He challenged China on human rights. But what about the human right of George Floyd?”

Most of the pews were full, with relatively little space between people.

“So much for social distancing today,” the Rev. Remus Wright told mourners, gently but firmly instructing those attending to wear face masks.

Texas has no limit on how many people can gather in places of worship during the pandemic, though Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has encouraged churches to follow federal health guidelines.

Although the church service was private, at least 50 people gathered outside to pay their respects.

“There’s a real big change going on, and everybody, especially black, right now should be a part of that,” said Kersey Biagase, who traveled more than three hours from Port Barre, Louisiana, with his girlfriend, Brandy Pickney. They wore T-shirts printed with Floyd’s name and “I Can’t Breathe.”

Floyd served nearly five years in prison for robbery with a deadly weapon before becoming a mentor and a church outreach volunteer in Houston. He moved to Minnesota several years ago through a program that tried to change men’s lives by helping them find work in new settings.

At the time of his death, Floyd was out of work as a bouncer at a Minneapolis club that had closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. He was seized by police after being accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store.

Four Minneapolis officers were arrested in his death: Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged with second-degree murder. J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting. All four could get up to 40 years in prison.

Some of the mostly peaceful demonstrations that erupted after Floyd’s death were marked by bursts of arson, assaults, vandalism and smash-and-grab raids on businesses, with more than 10,000 people arrested. But protests in recent days have been overwhelmingly peaceful.

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