Pakistan PM tells UN won’t be scapegoat for Afghanistan bloodshed
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the United Nations on Thursday that Pakistan would not be a “scapegoat” for Afghanistan’s bloodshed or to fight wars for others. “Having suffered and sacrificed so much due to our role in the global counter terrorism campaign, it is especially galling for Pakistan to be blamed for the military or political stalemate in Afghanistan,” Abbasi said while addressing the UN General Assembly. Abbasi also asked India to call off its campaign of arming and bankrolling agents of terrorism and chaos in Pakistan as he renewed an offer for dialogue with New Delhi on all thorny issues, especially over the core dispute of Kashmir.
Read the full text of the speech here. Pakistan Senate passes Election Bill 2017
The Senate on Friday passed the amended Election Bill 2017 which among other things will prevent ousted premier Nawaz Sharif from becoming president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz again ─ a post for which he was declared ineligible after his disqualification from public office by the Supreme Court in July.
The bill also proposes electoral reforms including: A fine of up to Rs0.1 million for lawmakers, or three years in jail, if irregularities are found in details of their assets; and termination of lawmakers’ membership if they fail to submit asset details within 60 days. The bill also allows ECP to summon the services of any institution to investigate irregularities in asset details.
Pakistan foreign office summons Indian high commissioner over deadly border firing
Acting Foreign Secretary Aitzaz Ahmed has summoned Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale to “condemn the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian troops in Charwa sector, near the Working Boundary on September 21,” the Foreign Office said Friday in a press release.
The Foreign Office said in 2017 alone, Indian troops had carried out more than 870 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary, resulting in the death of 38 civilians and injuries to 142.
Yesterday, six people, including four women, were killed and 20 others were injured near Sialkot as Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing of mortars targeting civilians.
Saudi Arabia to join China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Nawaf Saeed Ahmed Al-Malkiy, the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, said that his country will soon join the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and invest in the Gwadar Port to further Pakistan’s prosperity. In a panel interview with The News/Jang, the Ambassador spoke about Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia where he met the crown prince of Saudi Arabia to discuss new avenues for enhancing trade volume between the two countries. Moreover, the Ambassador said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to enhance cooperation in the fields of health, education, sports and others.
Five arrested for marrying off five-year-old to settle debt
Five people, including a prayer leader, were arrested on Friday evening for their suspected involvement in marrying off a five-year-old girl to a fifteen-year-old boy in Dadu’s Taluka Johi area, allegedly to settle a gambling debt, police said.Police said that Shahid had lost the money in a gamble to the 15-year-old child groom, a relative of his. Unable to settle the debt in financial terms, he decided to marry his daughter off to the boy.