Border Security Force personnel shot dead an intruder from Pakistan and thereby foiled an infiltration bid along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab’s Tarn Taran in the early hours of Friday morning. The BSF said, some suspicious movements were observed near the border security fence on the international border early this morning, and immediately took positions. When the intruders kept on moving closer to the border fence, the troops fired on them.

“Alert BSF Troops on August 11 observed suspicious movement of a Pakistani miscreant/ intruder ahead of the border fencing in the area falling near the bordering village-Thekalan in the Tarn Taran district. The intruder was challenged by the forces but he could not stop and continued moving ahead,” a statement by the BSF read. “Sensing an imminent threat and to stop further misadventure, BSF troops fired upon the miscreant in self-defence, killing him on the spot,” it read.

BSF killed two unidentified intruders from Pakistan, who had crossed into Indian territory and recovered three packets of suspected contraband items close to the India-Pakistan border in May this month while it arrested a Pakistani national near the International Border in Punjab in the same month The troopers of BSF on the Punjab Frontier captured 22 drones sent from across the boundary, killed two Pakistani intruders and seized 316 kilograms of drugs in the year 2022.

In an earlier statement, BSF had mentioned, “The troops of the Punjab Frontier have maintained an extremely high level of alertness and vigil. Resultantly, BSF has successfully detected and captured 22 drones and seized 316.988 kgs of heroin, 67 weapons, 850 rounds and killed two Pakistan intruders and apprehended 23 Pakistan nationals in different incidents.”

Just three days before the completion of its five-year tenure, Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly shortly after a summary signed by Prime Shehbaz Sharif advising the dissolution of the Lower House of Parliament, was sent to the Presidency. A statement issued by the Presidency just before Thursday midnight read: “President Arif Alvi has dissolved the National Assembly under Article 58(1) on the advice of the Prime Minister.” The dissolution of the National Assembly, which elects the federal government, has brought an end to the Sharif-led coalition government, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the Pakistani constitution, if the Assembly is terminated before its stipulated time, the general elections would be held within 90 days and if it completes its mandated period then the election will take place within 60 days. Following the end of the government, the Prime Minister will discuss with the opposition leader of the house to decide on a caretaker premier who will take charge until the next general elections. On his last day in power, Sharif on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet, made a farewell address in Parliament and chaired two separate meetings on overseas Pakistanis and the setting up of an ‘Olympic village’ in Islamabad, Dawn news reported.

Addressing the federal cabinet, he confirmed it was his government’s last day in power. The Prime Minister said the coalition government sacrificed their political capital for the sake of the country as they had a “gigantic task to save the motherland from looming default”. After the cabinet meeting, he went to the Parliament House to address the National Assembly. In his farewell speech in the Assembly, Sharif said he would start consultations on Thursday to decide about a caretaker Prime Minister within three days, who will choose his cabinet for three months or until the formation of the next elected government. Soon after the National Assembly’s late-night dissolution, troops were seen at different points in Islamabad. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the soldiers’ presence was because of security reasons or VIP movement.

A Pakistan district and sessions court on Saturday sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case i.e. for illegally selling state gifts and he has been disqualified from politics for a period of five years, local media reported. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 on the PTI chief, Geo News reported. Khan was arrested from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore soon after being convicted in the Toshakhana case today, Geo News reported. Dawn reported that during the hearing today, presided by Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Humayun Dilawar, the trial court ruled that charges against the former prime minister in the case were proven.

“Imran Khan deliberately submitted fake details [of Toshakhana gifts] to the ECP and is found guilty of corrupt practices,” he stated and sent the PTI chief to jail for three years under Section 174 of the Election Act. Ahead of today’s proceedings, a large contingent of police was deployed outside the court premises with only lawyers allowed inside the courtroom. The development comes after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday set aside the session court’s verdict on the Toshakhana reference against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman as maintainable and ordered the lower court to rehear the case. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on August 2 deferred the indictment of former Pakistan PM in the Toshakhana case, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

Earlier on July 3, Imran Khan had lashed out at the Shehbaz Sharif government, alleging that the administration has “made a plan” to put him in jail and the whole episode that transpired over his arrest was “pre-planned”. Giving clarification over the allegations in the Toshakhana case, Khan claimed that the gifts were sold “as per the rules” and everything has been declared in FDR.

“As per the law, when PM, President, Army Chief receives gifts, it goes to Toshakhana, where it is valued. It is done through an FDR, with an initial value and then an appraisal. If there are any excess value, they give the option of purchasing. This is the rule. Under this I took many gifts and refused others. Whatever I sold, is declared in FBR and is under capital gains tax. What is wrong here? Also, under this case, NAB, Election Commission and FIR is also filed. It is just not possible that three cases are being run on the same issue,” he had then said.

The case pertains to the allegations that the former PM “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from the Toshaskhana — a repository where presents handed to government officials from foreign officials are kept — during his time as the prime minister and proceeds from their reported sales. The Toshakhana case registered by ruling party lawmakers is based on a criminal complaint filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), as per the Dawn report.

As per the Toshakhana rules, gifts and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules are applicable shall be reported to the Cabinet Division. Notably, PTI Chairman Imran Khan has faced a number of legal cases over his retention of gifts. He has also been disqualified by the electoral body over the issue.

On May 9, this year, former PM and PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested from inside the High Court in Islamabad by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the charges of corruption in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust, which he owns alongside his wife, Bushra Bibi. Following Khan’s arrest, his party called for demonstrations, which turned violent at many places. The administration resorted to crackdown and many arrests were made across the country. The people accused in the May 9 violence are being tried at military courts.

The Pakistan government had to impose additional taxes of 215 billion Pakistani Rupees (PKR) and slash expenditures by 85 billion PKR in order to strike an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The News International reported on Saturday. Although Pakistan was able to secure the IMF deal just in time, the conditions imposed by the body are turning out to be tedious to implement. The announcement was made by Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at the National Assembly.

While briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenues, Dar said that when the government had presented the budget on June 9, 2023, it was stated that no more taxes would be slapped, however, for striking the IMF agreement the government had to impose more taxes for clinching the new SBA programme. We have to make changes in the winding-up speech in view of the conditions of the IMF. Some concessions granted on June 9 were taken back in the amended Finance Bill 2023. Under the IMF program, it is forbidden to give tax exemptions or preferential tax treatments or amnesty schemes. Till we are in the IMF programme it is prohibited to grant any new tax exemption,” the News International quoted Dar as saying.

When he assumed the charge of minister for finance at the end of September 2022, the IMF was requested to visit for the review in November but the Fund staff delayed dispatching of its mission and they came on January 31, Dar said, adding the staff-level agreement could not be reached within the stipulated timeframe that created difficulties. He said now there is a compulsion, Pakistan is in the IMF programme, he told the participants. Dar further said that it is written in the IMF document that Pakistan will not give any kind of tax amnesty. He said that he had asked the FBR to convene a meeting with the real estate sector to work out revised evaluation rates of immovable properties across the country, The News International reported.

Notably, Pakistan is battling a huge economic crisis, with staggering inflation and depleting Forex reserves. Weeks before, IMF approved a USD 3 billion bailout to support Pakistan in avoiding a default on its debt repayments. With sky-high inflation and foreign exchange reserves barely enough to cover one month of controlled imports, Pakistan has been facing its worst economic crisis in decades, which analysts say could have spiralled into a debt default in the absence of the IMF deal.

The US supports direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on issues of concern, a senior Biden administration official has said. There has been continued strain in ties between India and Pakistan on a number of issues including Islamabad’s continued support of cross-border terrorism and the Kashmir issue.

India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement. India has also asserted that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and will” always be part of the country. “As we have long said, we support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on issues of concern. That has long been our position,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday at his daily news conference.

Miller’s remarks came two days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered to hold talks with India to address all serious and outstanding issues. Bilateral relations between Islamabad and New Delhi have been tense since August 2019 when India changed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. On India’s ties with Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that it is not possible for India to have normal relations with the neighbouring country until the policy of cross-border terrorism is abrogated.

“We can’t allow terrorism to be normalised; we can not allow that to become the basis for getting us into discussions with Pakistan. To me it is a fairly common sense proposition,” he said in June.

As the Pakistan government is readying to bring in an interim setup with a mandate to hold elections within 90 days, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has hinted towards a delay in the polls, creating a rift within his coalition partners. The visible rift, as seen on various social media posts, is exposing the lack of talks and closed-door consultations between Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)) party and its major coalition partner Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), The premier has said that elections will be held only on the basis of the 2023 digital census, hinting towards a delay between eight months to one year. “We have to hold the elections on the basis of the new census… When the census has been conducted, the polls should be held on its basis unless there is an obstacle that cannot be overcome. But I don’t see any such hurdle,” he said during an interview.

Sharif’s comments have sparked a widespread debate as the PPP has made it clear that it would not endorse any decision that results in delaying the polls. “The party has already taken a position on the subject that fresh delimitation would cause a delay in holding general elections and given this reason, the party has opposed it,” senior PPP leader Nawaz Muhammad Yousaf Talpur said. “Fresh delimitations would in theory require four months, but in reality, it might take as long as eight months or a year,” said PPP information secretary Faisal Kareem Kundi. Meanwhile, the Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has also opposed the decision of going to the polls based on the old census.

“We have already taken the matter up with the Prime Minister. We believe that the polls should only be held as per the new delimitations, which is only possible after the digital census,” MQM-P senior leader Mustafa Kamal said. “If the government goes into polls as per old census, it would deprive millions of their voting rights.” The open statements on public fora and social media platforms by political leaders further exposes the detachment and lack of communication between the coalition parties. “The PML-N leadership would want to delay the elections so that it can use the time to campaign and do a much needed damage control to gain the confidence of its voters before the elections,” said senior political analyst Javed Siddique.

“On the other hand, the PPP would be desirous to make full use of the deteriorated loopholes and openings in Punjab, after PTI’s meltdown and PML-N’s weak political position. “PPP would not want to allow PML-N time to campaign for a longer period of time and re-strengthen its political position in Punjab. This way, it would be able to make its comeback in Punjab and become the driving force in the formation of the next government as it would have its stronghold in Sindh province, its solid political alliance in Balochistan and a considerable penetration in Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the analyst added. “The ongoing rumours about the caretaker setup being brought in for a longer stretch of time that would function beyond 90 days, and with financial empowerment of the interim setup seen as part of that scheme, the recent revelations by the premier only provide credence to suspicions of inordinate delay in elections,” said political analyst Rameez Khan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has reiterated Beijing’s unwavering support to Islamabad, saying that “no matter how the international landscape may change, China will always stand firmly with Pakistan”. He made the remarks in a congratulatory message to the decade of CPEC celebration event held in Islamabad on Monday which was also attended by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who is currently on a three-day visit to Pakistan, reports Geo News.

Speaking about the bilateral ties, President Xi stressed that both countries will continue to improve overall planning and expand and deepen cooperation. Pointing out that CPEC is an important pioneering project of the Belt and Road cooperation, Xi said that China will work with Pakistan to further build the project into an exemplary project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Geo News reported. He added that both countries will work to aim for high-standard, sustainable and livelihood-enhancing outcomes.

“Since its launch in 2013, China and Pakistan have been advancing CPEC under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and have achieved a number of early harvests,” he added. This has added new impetus to the economic and social development of Pakistan and laid a good foundation for regional connectivity and integration, he said, adding that it is a vivid testament to the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan, and provides an important underpinning for building an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.

After the recent bomb explosion that shook a rally in Pakistan, the lethal consequences of nurturing terrorism have come under the spotlight again. These horrifying incidents of violence, including the recent suicide bombing in the Peshawar market, which claimed the lives of more than 50 people, have shown Pakistan the chaotic result of being a terrorism well-wisher, according to a report in Khalsa Vox. The Islamic State Khorasan (ISKP), a banned terrorist organisation, was swift to claim responsibility for the atrocity. It was like tasting its own dish for Pakistan, as the country has long been a hospitable environment for terrorists, observed the Khalsa Vox report.

As per the publication, despite the limited resistance from the Pakistani Government, these terrorist organisations continue to succeed in their heinous crimes with chilling ease. Accusations of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies covertly supporting such groups have added to the public’s dismay. The government’s reluctance to deal with these malevolent entities has given rise to a breeding ground of terror that has only harmed the nation.

Economic crises contributing to terrorism

In the words of Hillary Clinton, “If you have snakes in your backyard, they won’t just bite your neighbours.” Terrorism, too, follows the same chilling principle. Should Pakistan continue to be a sanctuary for terrorists, they will eventually turn their fangs on their host. The recent bombings are but the latest cruel reminder of this imminent danger. The ripple effects of nurturing terror are not just security threats; they have started claiming the social and economic development of the country, whose economy despite a bailout by the International Monetary Fund continues to remain in shambles.

It is now a must for Pakistan to cut off all its support and backing for terrorism and dedicate itself to bringing the culprits of these heinous crimes to justice, the Khalsa Vox report. Likewise, rampant terrorism threatens to dismantle Pakistan’s political stability. When a government fails to shield its citizens from violence, it creates a fertile ground for extremist groups to grow and seize power, claimed Khalsa Vox.

The recent blast in Pakistan has sounded a blaring siren that the nation cannot afford to ignore any longer. It’s now no longer about other countries, it’s about the security of the Pakistani people and their future and now, it’s urgent for the Pakistani government to curb the flourishing terror and work for stability and peace.

Every year on July 26, Kargil Vijay Diwas, also known as Kargil Victory Day, is celebrated to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1999 war. The day remembers the courage and sacrifices made by Indian soldiers throughout the gruelling and protracted conflict.
In 1971, the two neighbouring nations engaged in a violent struggle that led to the creation of Bangladesh and ever since, tensions between the two nations have persisted. Although there haven’t been many direct battles, they have been setting up military outposts on the neighbouring mountain ranges in an effort to gain control of the Siachen Glacier.

When both countries conducted nuclear tests in 1998, the situation worsened. They agreed to the Lahore Declaration, which sought a peaceful, bilateral resolution to the Kashmir problem, in order to reduce the tension. However, in the Drass and Batalik Sectors of Kargil, Ladakh, the Pakistani armed forces secretly trained and sent men to breach the Line of Control (LOC) and occupy fortified positions that overlooked NH 1A to gain control over local military and civilian movements.

Significance of the day

The Indian soldiers initially thought the intruders were terrorists or “jihadis” with a radical aim. But as things went on, it became clear that the attack was part of a bigger, more planned scheme. As a result, the Indian side was forced to strike back and send almost 200,000 Indian troops into the area. 527 troops from the Indian Army died during the Kargil War. On July 26, 1999, the Pakistani army was compelled to withdraw from their captured positions, indicating India’s victory. In order to respect and remember the ultimate sacrifice given by the soldiers during the conflict, this day has since been designated as Kargil conflict Diwas.

An Indian woman has crossed the border to meet her lover even though the investigation into the background of Seema Haider, a Pakistani national, and her unauthorised entry into India is still ongoing.

A married Indian woman from the Bhiwadi region of Rajasthan travelled all the way to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan to visit a man she met and fell in love with there.
Anju, the woman, informed her husband Arvind that she would be spending a few days in Jaipur. However, Arvind learned that Anju had crossed the border on Sunday through the media.

Anju reportedly communicated with them via WhatsApp, according to Arvind. On Sunday at around 4 p.m., she gave him a call to let him know that she was in Lahore and would be back in two to three days. Arvind said that he was aware of the reported Pakistani lover of Anju and expressed the hope that his wife would return to him. Anju works as a biodata entry operator at a private company, and Arvind works in Bhiwadi. Arvind revealed that she had her passport created in 2020 since she intended to apply for a job abroad.

Anju converted to Christianity in order to be with Arvind, and the two of them eventually got married. In a leased flat in Bhiwadi, Arvind lived with his wife, children, and Anju’s brother. She left her house on Thursday under the guise of travelling to Jaipur. She then made her way to Pakistan to meet Nasrullah, a 29-year-old Facebook friend.

A few months ago, Anju and Nasrullah—a medical professional—became Facebook friends. After her travel documents were confirmed, she was released from police detention. PTI reported that “She was allowed to go after all the travel documents were found to be in order. They were provided security to ensure no untoward incident takes place and which can bring a bad name to the country.”