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Pakistan to send 128 police officers to UN peacekeeping missions, discusses security with UN chief

Pakistan to send 128 police officers to UN peacekeeping missions, discusses security with UN chief
Pakistan Interior Mohsin Naqvi (left) meets UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York, US, on June 8, 2024. (PID)
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Updated 08 June 2024
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Pakistan to send 128 police officers to UN peacekeeping missions, discusses security with UN chief

Pakistan to send 128 police officers to UN peacekeeping missions, discusses security with UN chief
  • Mohsin Naqvi seeks increase in the number of Pakistani personnel in peacekeeping missions with Antonio Guterres
  • Both officials also discuss the possibility of establishing a counterterrorism force under the United Nations umbrella
Updated 08 June 2024
Aamir Saeed
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ISLAMABAD: Over a hundred Pakistani police officials are soon expected to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping missions, announced an official statement on Saturday, following a meeting between Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York.

UN peacekeeping operations, carried out in conflict zones, are vital to maintain security by intervening in disputes, protecting civilians and helping to build a sustainable peace in post-conflict areas.

Last month, the military said Pakistan had contributed 235,000 troops to UN peacekeeping operations in 48 missions spread around in 29 countries since 1960. This also claimed the lives of 181 Pakistanis deployed in different parts of the world.

Many of the peacekeepers arrived from the police services. One of them, Shahzadi Gulfam, earned the prestigious UN International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in 2011 after being deployed in Bosnia in 1997 and later in Kosovo and Timor-Leste.

According to the official statement circulated in Islamabad, Naqvi discussed a number of issues with the UN chief that included peacekeeping missions and joint efforts to combat militant violence.

“During the meeting it was agreed to increase the number of Pakistani personnel in UN peacekeeping missions,” the statement continued, adding there was significant progress related to the deployment of police officials as well.

“128 Pakistani police officers will join UN peacekeeping forces soon,” it said.

The two officials also discussed the establishment of a UN counterterrorism force.

The Pakistani minister informed the UN chief regarding his country’s expertise and professional approach in the area and offered Pakistan’s support for the project.

He also pointed out that the number of women officers in Pakistan’s police had significantly increased in recent years.

The UN secretary general applauded the development, expressing his belief that female police officers would be considered for posting in UN peacekeeping missions.

Naqvi also thanked the UN chief for visiting Pakistan during the 2022 floods and his expression of solidarity with the affected people.

The meeting was also attended by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, and other senior UN officials.

Bomb and mortar attacks in northwest Pakistan kill four security officers, two schoolchildren

Bomb and mortar attacks in northwest Pakistan kill four security officers, two schoolchildren
Updated 32 sec ago
AP
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Bomb and mortar attacks in northwest Pakistan kill four security officers, two schoolchildren

Bomb and mortar attacks in northwest Pakistan kill four security officers, two schoolchildren
  • Pakistan has launched dozens of operations against militants, but they continue to carry out attacks
  • The bomb attack took place in South Waziristan while the children were killed by a mortar in Tirah valley
Updated 32 sec ago
AP

PESHAWAR: A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in northwestern Pakistan, killing four officers and wounding five others, officials said Thursday, while two schoolchildren also lost their lives when a mortar exploded nearby elsewhere in the region.

The roadside bombing happened Wednesday in South Waziristan district, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, local police officer Dilawar Khan said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, has stepped up its assaults in the region since its ally the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.

Later the same day, a mortar fired by insurgents landed near a road in the Tirah valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, killing two schoolchildren who was going to school on foot, police said.

The Pakistani military has launched dozens of operations against the Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents in South Waziristan and other former tribal regions nearby, but the militants continue to carry out frequent attacks.

On Thursday, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Chinese ambassador Jiang Zaidong in Islamabad to brief him about an investigation into an attack Tuesday in which a guard shot and wounded two Chinese nationals at a textile mill in the port city of Karachi, allegedly over a private dispute.

China has frequently demanded better security for its nationals who are in Pakistan to work for Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.

Topics: Pakistan South Waziristan

Pakistan condemns Israeli efforts against operations of UN agency for Palestinian refugees

Pakistan condemns Israeli efforts against operations of UN agency for Palestinian refugees
Updated 7 min 17 sec ago
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Pakistan condemns Israeli efforts against operations of UN agency for Palestinian refugees

Pakistan condemns Israeli efforts against operations of UN agency for Palestinian refugees
  • Israel’s parliament voted last month to ban UNRWA from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem
  • Almost all of Gaza’s population of more than two million people are dependent on aid and services from UNRWA
Updated 7 min 17 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Acting Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, has “strongly condemned” Israel’s attempts to dismantle the operations of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), calling it a part of Israel’s “genocidal campaign” against the people of Palestine.

Israel’s parliament voted last month to ban the UNRWA from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, crippling its ability to work in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Almost all of Gaza’s population of more than two million people are dependent on aid and services from the agency.

The move has faced widespread condemnation, with UNRWA warning the new law could see aid supply chains “fall apart” in the coming weeks. Israel has defended the move, repeating its allegation that a number of the agency’s staff were involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks last year, which killed 1,200 people.

“The adoption of the law by the Israeli parliament [is] a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, international law, provisional measures set by the International Court of Justice, and the ICJ’s advisory opinion issued on July 19,” Jadoon said while speaking at a UN General Assembly meeting, calling on the international community, in particular the UN Security Council, to hold Israel accountable for its actions and ensure unimpeded operations of UNRWA.

Jadoon demanded a stop to the “demonization and delegitimization” of UNRWA.

“By targeting the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, Israel not only obstructs vital humanitarian assistance but also threatens the collective effort to uphold the Palestinian people’s identity, rights and aspirations for justice and peace,” Jadoon added.

Founded in 1949, UNRWA works in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, initially caring for the 700,000 Palestinians who were forced from or fled their homes after the creation of the state of Israel. Over the decades, the agency has grown to become the biggest UN agency operating in Gaza.

Since the war in Gaza began in October last year, the agency says it has distributed food parcels to almost 1.9 million people and also offered nearly six million medical consultations across the enclave over the course of the conflict.

More than 200 UNRWA staff have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 in the course of those duties, according to the agency.
 

Topics: UNRWA UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Pakistan Palestine Ambassador Usman Jadoon Arab News Pakistan

Pakistan, China to form joint security strategy following attack on Chinese workers in Karachi

Pakistan, China to form joint security strategy following attack on Chinese workers in Karachi
Updated 25 min 26 sec ago
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Pakistan, China to form joint security strategy following attack on Chinese workers in Karachi

Pakistan, China to form joint security strategy following attack on Chinese workers in Karachi
  • Mohsin Naqvi says ensuring the safety of Chinese citizens and projects is Pakistan’s top priority
  • Chinese envoy maintains Beijing is ready to enhance bilateral security cooperation with Pakistan
Updated 25 min 26 sec ago
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China agreed on Thursday to develop a joint security strategy, following an incident where two Chinese nationals suffered gunshot wounds in an attack by a security guard at a factory in Karachi, an official statement said.
An unknown number of Chinese nationals work in Pakistan, primarily as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multibillion-dollar energy, infrastructure development, and regional connectivity initiative.
Chinese workers have increasingly come under attack in Pakistan in recent years, with notable incidents including a suicide bombing in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that killed five Chinese engineers in March 2024 and an October blast near Karachi’s airport that left two other Chinese nationals dead.
The latest shooting occurred earlier this week, when a Pakistani security guard opened fire at a factory in Karachi, wounding two Chinese employees.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong to discuss the situation and Pakistan’s response to the rising security risks faced by Chinese nationals.
“We fully agree with China’s vision of integrating development and security,” he was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office after the meeting. “Ensuring the safety of Chinese citizens and projects is our top priority. Those involved in the incident will be brought to justice.”
The interior ministry informed the two officials “agreed to develop a joint strategy to prevent such incidents in the future.”
Ambassador Jiang also underscored the need for a stable environment for ongoing bilateral cooperation and expressed his country’s readiness to strengthen bilateral security ties.
“China is ready to enhance bilateral security cooperation and build the capacities of Pakistani institutions,” he said.
Attacks on Chinese nationals have put the bilateral relations between both states under increasing stress, with the Chinese envoy previously calling such incidents “unacceptable” publicly.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally visited the Chinese embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday to offer sympathies to the families of the Chinese who got injured in the recent shooting incident.
Pakistan and China have been discussing to upgrade CPEC in recent months, hoping to launch yet another phase marked by enhanced business-to-business relationships and further Chinese investment in the country.

Topics: Pakistan China Ties

Pakistani wife of jailed Kashmiri leader urges Indian politician to debate husband’s imprisonment

Pakistani wife of jailed Kashmiri leader urges Indian politician to debate husband’s imprisonment
Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistani wife of jailed Kashmiri leader urges Indian politician to debate husband’s imprisonment

Pakistani wife of jailed Kashmiri leader urges Indian politician to debate husband’s imprisonment
  • Mushaal Mullick tells Rahul Gandhi her husband gave up arms to pursue a non-violent freedom struggle
  • Indian authorities are seeking death sentence for Yasin Malik on the basis of a ‘three-decades-old’ case
Updated 07 November 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani wife of a prominent Kashmiri leader in Indian-administered side of the Himalayan territory wrote Wednesday to opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, urging him to initiate a parliamentary debate on her husband’s incarceration following his hunger strike at the beginning of this month.
Mushaal Hussein Mullick, former assistant on human rights and women’s empowerment in Pakistan’s last caretaker administration, is married to Yasin Malik, leader of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), who, along with other activists, was incarcerated after India revoked Kashmir’s special constitutional status in August 2019.
She said the Indian authorities had filed a case against him on the basis of a “three-decades-old sedition case” in which they were demanding death sentence for him.
The letter noted this was despite the fact that her husband had long given up arms to fight for freedom struggle, following the path of non-violence which was highlighted by several high-profile Indian officials and journalists themselves.
“I request you to bring to use your high moral and political influence in the Parliament and to initiate a debate in the case of Yasin Malik, who could become an instrument for bringing organic and not cosmetic peace back to the Jammu & Kashmir — paradise on earth,” she wrote.
Mullick said her husband “stood by his end of the bargain,” though the same thing “cannot be said for the Indian state” that did not pay attention to his pleas and “victimized” him under the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
Her letter to the Indian opposition leader follows the recent elections in Indian-administered Kashmir in which Gandhi’s allies displayed a good performance while the BJP could not make any impressive electoral gains.
The government in New Delhi has, however, used the polls to suggest that the situation in Kashmir is gradually improving, though the large number of the people of the area have long opposed the Indian rule.
 

Topics: Pakistan India Ties Kashmir

Pakistan signals cooperation with new US administration, raises concerns over Middle East wars

Pakistan signals cooperation with new US administration, raises concerns over Middle East wars
Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan signals cooperation with new US administration, raises concerns over Middle East wars

Pakistan signals cooperation with new US administration, raises concerns over Middle East wars
  • Donald Trump has won the second term as president, nearly four years after he left the top US office
  • Pakistan’s defense minister rules out the new American president will call for the release of ex-PM Khan
Updated 07 November 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Wednesday Pakistan would collaborate with the new US administration where interests aligned but cautioned that cooperation could be strained if interests diverged or Washington persisted in supporting wars in the Middle East.

Asif made the statement following the election of Republican candidate Donald Trump as US president for a second term, nearly four years after he left office. Hours later, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was running against Trump, conceded defeat, acknowledging the election result was not what Democrats had hoped for but pledging a peaceful transfer of power.

Trump is widely regarded as an unpredictable leader, with analysts worldwide assessing the potential impact of his return to the top US office on global affairs. However, the Pakistani defense minister praised him during Geo TV’s special election transmission for promising to end conflicts around the world after assuming power in Washington.

“Where our interests and those of the United States converge, we will definitely work together,” he said while responding to a question. “However, where there’s a clash between our interests and those of the United States, we’ll try to find a way to avoid conflict.”

The minister said things could get challenging if there was a direct clash of interests and no way out, as he specifically mentioned the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
“If these wars persist, if this atmosphere of destruction remains, with cities being devastated and the United States backing this, then it will be an environment in which cooperation will be difficult,” he continued.

Responding to a question about the impact of Trump’s election on Pakistan’s domestic politics, he said the government believed that the new US president would not call for the release of former prime minister of the country Imran Khan who has been in prison for over a year on multiple charges.

Members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party widely expressed hope on social media platforms that Trump’s election could lead to the release of their leader from prison, saying Khan enjoyed a good relationship with the US president-elect.

The former premier also congratulated Trump in a social media post, saying his presence in the top US office would be good for the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Asif noted during the special television transmission that government always prepared themselves for local and international contingencies, adding: “No one [in the US] will want to go on bad terms with Pakistan for the sake of a single individual.”

Topics: Pakistan US Ties Middle East

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