PM Modi of banned RSS owes resignation by Senator A. Rehman Malik

                      

Since 2007 I was the first who had ever raised voice against RSS for its involvement in number of major terrorist attacks on Muslims in Pakistan as well as in India. But what is RSS exactly? What is their aim? Apparently, RSS is portrayed as the Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organization that is widely regarded as a party committed to the unity of Hindus. Whereas, in actuality, RSS is an extremist organization. RSS leaders have always been aggressive and intolerant towards other faiths (Islam in particular). It is a monolithic organization right from its inception in 1925. Its activities over the years have shown its moral disability and mind set of extremism. On the top of everything, Nathuram Vinak Godse who assassinated MK Gandhi, the father of their own nation, India, was associated with RSS. Today they hide in the back of Hindutva and claim themselves as nationalist.

How can one think of a party/organization to be a nationalist who kills their own founder? And continues to kill their fellow Muslims and Christian citizens.

The term “saffron terror” strongly linked to the RSS has always been called a “myth” by some Hindu influencers and BJP leaders, as RSS is the ideological parent organization of BJP and RSS is being financed by BJP. But that’s not true. Saffron terrorism does exist; it has been there since decades. Saffron terrorism is the use of violence or threat of violence, inspired by Hindutva, which is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India and is carried out by staunch supporters of Hindutva ad RSS tops the list. RSS supporters carry orange flags, which depicts the saffron color and perform discriminatory practices over minorities, primarily on Muslims on the pretext of violation of ban on beef consumption and cow slaughter, which included physical violence.

The major examples of Saffron terrorism by RSS include besides murder of Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, beating of Muslim youth by Bajrang Dal activists over talking to a Hindu girl, the demolition of the Babri Masjid by RSS, BJP, Shiv Sena and VHP activists, the Gujarat pogrom against Muslims by a variety of Hindutva activists, Bombing of the Samjhauta Express by Abhinav Bharat and Malegaon blasts and so on.

RAW in its efforts to isolate Pakistan from the world, apart from its own operations against Pakistan is supporting RSS as well to further the damage. RSS/RAW planned Pakistan Samjhota Express attacks on 18th Feb 2007 that killed 68 Pakistanis. A Hindu extremist leader Swami Aseemanand, a leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) who had strong ties with Modi’s BJP confessed to have been a part of the incident. He also confessed in the court that several RSS preachers and Sang activists were directly involved in planning, funding and executing Samjhauta Express, Ajmer, Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blasts. He even said that Gen J J Singh is “with us”. (Singh was Army Chief till Sept. 2007). Not only this but Indian Lt Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit was also found evidently involved in 2008 blast in the Muslim-majority Malegaon town in Nasik district of Maharashtra and was also linked to the Samjhota Express terrorist attack. In fact it was state sponsored act of terrorism which was ignored by UNO.The involvement of RSS extremist in the said attacks was identified by Chief of the Maharasthra Anti-Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare who discovered that Lt. Col. Srikant Purohit had got 60 kg of RDX explosive from government supplies for use in the terrorist attack on the Samjhauta Express train. He supervised the entire operation through RSS &RAW operators.

The then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate, L. K. Advani accused Karkare of being traitor and it is a charge that in India carries a death penalty. And unfortunately RAW eliminated Mr. Karkare during Mumbai attacks on 27th November 2008. In fact, it is yet another proof that RAW planed Bombay attack and elimination of Mr. Karakare was part of the Indian RAW sting terrorist operation of Bombay. The recently leased book titled “The Betrayal of India” by Elias Davidsson has also corroborated this claim.It was I, who in 2009, had handed over a dossier of RAW and RSS involvement in terrorist activities to the then Indian Interior Minister Chidambaram after Malegaon and Samjhota Express attacks on Muslims. I have consistently been exposing India for both RSS and RAW’s involvement in terrorist activities.

In 2015, I had challenged Narendra Modi and former PM of India Manmohan Singh, for a live television debate to prove acts of terrorism by India particularly Samjhota Express attacks as well as the Mumbai attacks but they did not respond to my challenge. I had referred to these state-sponsored terrorist activities, as I had full knowledge with supporting evidences of these incidents, which were aimed at wiping out Muslims and defaming Pakistan by putting false allegations.

I call Narendra Modi a terrorist who was struggling at international forums to put ban on Pakistan in 2016 saying: “It was strange, today Modi who was recognized terrorist asked world powers to impose sanctions on Pakistan,”. It is no secret that he was involved in bloodshed of innocent Muslims of Gujarat (India) in 2002 and Kashmir. In my efforts to expose Narendra Modi and his criminal intentions against Muslims before the world, I even served an open charge sheet to UNSG on Kashmir day this year for the brutalities which Indian forces are committing in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) under his command and demanded United Nations Secretary General to wake up to take up the notice of human rights violations against Kashmiri Muslims.

The RSS leaders even boasted of killing 2000 Muslims in Gujarat riots but never did once Modi condemned the hate speeches. He is responsible for mass killing of Muslims by using RSS.

Moreover, Narendra Modi on 15th August 2016 clearly showed his hatred against Pakistan in his independence speech by supporting exiled Pakistani insurgent leader Brahamdagh Bugti as well as indirectly threatened Pakistan saying that “India could overtly support separatist groups in the Pakistani province of Balochistan and cause trouble in the regions of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan”.The opposition leaders of Indian government are fully aware of the nefarious activities of RSS but the terror of RSS is forcing them to keep mum on their excesses.

Now we are looking forward to PM Modi himself to be enlisted as a terrorist as India and its RAW has fully been exposed after recent ban on RSS.

Will the Lok Sabha impeach PM Modi for his support to RSS? Would all those MLA’s who are against the RSS mindset pick up the courage to initiate the proceedings of impeachment? PM Modi, a life time member of RSS looks today like a character of Indian movie where it is possible for a criminal / terrorist or an Antank Waadi to become the PM and then the movie ends with the end of the PM himself. Let us see the ultimate end of this supporter of terrorists. Or will PM Modi volunteer to serve his resignation?

Will now Indian Government list out all terrorists’ activities and make public the role of RAW and PM Modi through the Lok Sabha?

It has now become ethically liable for PM Modi to resign after being fully exposed as lifetime member of RSS. I feel happy today to see RSS exposed and banned and my efforts worked out but I would not stop here as the next much needed ban has to be on PM Modi who needs to be declared as war criminal.

The Article has been Published in ‘’The Nation’’ on June 28^th , 2018

The Link to original Article: PM Modi of banned RSS owes resignation by Senator A. Rehman Malik

I am Election- 2018 by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Elections come and go but this time I am the special one as there were so many speculations about me before my final announcement and it looked as if I would not become reality.

Why I say I am special election, it was because I got many changes in the elections reforms/laws, which were not there in previous elections. I would want you to know about those reforms as follows:

The Elections Act 2017 has granted permission to disqualified politicians to lead a political party or hold a public office. It allows every citizen except for government officials to form a party or hold public office. ECP has been empowered in a way that it has all the powers equal to those of a high court to try contempt proceedings against anyone. Election Commission can now also take disciplinary action against any election official under Efficiency and Discipline Rules, being competent authority of such official. The Act empowers the ECP to take penal action against those found guilty of corrupt practices, illegal practices and violation of official duty, which may extend to two years or with fine. The ECP now has more powers and authorities than it ever had as it is now charged with making rules for the conduct of elections including the provisions for anything that is not explained in the law.

The ECP is now empowered to declare any poll void if there are grave irregularities and violations of Election Rules which material affect the results of polls. It has also powers now to declare a poll void if the turnout of women voters is less than 10% of the total votes presuming that women voters have been restrained through an agreement from casting their votes.

The ECP would not take special measures for registration of votes of non-Muslim, persons with disability and transgender citizens. The Act also imposes a fine of up to Rs0.1 million for lawmakers or three years in jail if they fail to declare the right details of their assets. The lawmakers found in such irregularities would be terminated within 60 days.

The Elections Act has introduced the delimitation of constituencies, as constituency boundaries would be revised after every census. The ECP is required to prepare a plan for the conduct of elections four months in advance of a general election and is required to take measures to enhance the transparency of the results process.

The Act has provided for introduction of result transmission system whereby the Presiding Officer and the Returning Officer would send electronically the snap shots of the result of the count, to the Commission, as quickly as the connectivity would become available. In case victory margin was less than 5 percent or 10,000 votes, recounting of votes would become necessary.

Caretaker is not given the right to make bigger policies in any aspect of the state affairs. Women’s participation as candidates has been enhanced as it would be a requirement for political parties to field women candidates on at least 5% of general seats for National Assembly and provincial assembly elections. Political parties and candidates will now have 28 instead of 21 days for running the election campaign. Citizens would be automatically registered for voting once they are issued their CNIC. I have a unique distinction that there is so much horse-trading before my election and many candidates consider to win 2018 election by joining the race of electable and it is me who broke the record of getting maximum electable at one forum. The leaders are scared of losing me hence I am exposed to get my price raised every day with the passage of time. I am moving forward at my pace despite some may not see me actualising. It seems as if, with the passage of time my bidding will rise higher and higher and 2018 election may not stay within the reach of a common man. I fear to become slave in the hands of those who have ill-gotten money and some known mafias who can purchase me from streets to villages. However, my increasingly high price would not be good for democracy. I fear that I am now becoming a toy in the hands of few political parties and they are taking me for granted. I have now an increasing large number of independents clients who do not want to be part of any political party for obvious reasons and God knows how they have perceived that independents members would decide the future prime minister of Pakistan.

It looks independents have found a high yield profitable business to be independent parliamentarians being not only the part of powerful pressure group but also to become the part of the auction group. My fears are increasing day by day, as there are chances that in the end of the polling, the price of the winning independents would go further higher and from 26th of July onwards trading in my name would be there. Most of the independent elected members will be in the market for auction and it will be painful for me as there would be no law to prevent the said future horse-trading.

2018 looks to be my year as I would witness the horse-trading and the auction of the highest executive post and hence I foresee some unexpected candidate for the prime ministership in this process and a desperate aspirant may not get it. Let us see which groups manage to be in the lead.

I feel that in the given situation I would produce only a hung parliament to the country and to the people. It is not my fault but the fault of the people who either do not exercise their right of vote or they did not exercise it rightly. They allowed rigging under their nose but showed no reaction to it. People have a lot of hopes with me as they are expecting prosperity and some good change through elections 2018. Unfortunately I wished for the same but as the old candidates are entering into my domain and the people are fully aware of their past performance so, no change can be expected.

It will be unfortunate that the future protectors of law who are product of horse-trading would be occupying the sacred house of Parliament. I wish I would have given the best and clean representatives for my nation but it can be possible only if people decide to vote for the people who are honest and clean not for the ones who sell their conscious.

Having expressed my fear of horse-trading prior to poll, would these elections be termed as rigged elections once again? I want people to kindly save me from being called a rigged election by casting vote for the right candidate being vigilant. I appeal to all of you to come out and vote for the person who deserves it. Make me proud as 2018 election.

I am also having vibes that my date of election might be delayed as some politicians are being heard saying that no proper delimitation as per the constitution has been done and that 25th of July would be a hot day besides being season of floods in the whole country. If all these hue and cries would be taken into consideration then perhaps the caretaker might get me delayed and if I am delayed then the horse-trading will also be delayed. Anyway, time will tell whether the delay would be beneficial or harmful for the system.

I election 2018, however, once again appeal to all the voters to make me special by voting for the right candidates and reject all those who will put your mandate to auction.

The article was published by ‘The News’ dated June 26, 2018 and the link to the article is I am Election 2018 by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Shaheed Benazir; Leader of the masses by Senator A. Rehman Malik

I happened to see Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for the first time when I was posted in Karachi in 1978 post-1977 coup at Karachi airport. I remained posted in Karachi during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government where I had ample chances to interact with senior leaders of PPP and close aides of ZAB, which included Hafeez Pirzada, Sattar Gabol, Qasim Patel, Pyar Ali Allana, Jam Sadiq, Hafeez Cheema, Habib Ullah, and Mustafa Jatoi. It was a great experience to work in this tenure of PPP.

Unfortunately, when ZAB became a victim of ‘judicial murder’ in the dictatorial regime of Ziaul Haq, most of the above mentioned close political aides switched their loyalties and left him. None of them was found leading resistance movement against the hanging of ZAB consequent to a controversial hearing of his case. The judicial murder of ZAB caused serious political damaged to his party, which took it decades to recover from the loss. Zia regime terrorised the PPP workers and leaders and hence mid-level leadership went into hiding.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (Pinky as her father would affectionately call her) decided to struggle to save her papa. However, she was locked and her voice was suppressed behind high walls of Sukkur jail. Sometimes authorities would put her under house arrests to not let her carry out the struggle.

She once confided in me during an informal discussion that sometimes the food supply would not be allowed to enter the sub-jail and she had to cook the available piece of fish with lime and salt under sun heat using her bit of knowledge of cooking. Her locking up in jail and continuous persecution caused her loss of hearing of one ear but she was not allowed the treatment in time. Indeed, it was not easy to bear the heat of June and July in the shabby rooms of Pakistani jails.

She continued her struggle but could not save her Papa from the powerful jaws of Gen Zia duly backed by a world power, which had claimed to teach a lesson to her Papa who declined to bow before their wish to roll back the nuclear development. The tree of nuclear planted by him not only survived but born fruit in the form of nuclear bomb and Pakistan became the first Islamic nuclear power. ZAB made it possible with sacrificing himself. He would, however, live forever in the minds and hearts of Pakistani nation.

Pinky of Papa decided to take the responsibility of carrying the unfinished mission of ZAB. She started her campaign fearlessly and emerged a true leader of the people. She acted very maturely and played her political cards very wisely and free of mistakes. She went in exile as strategy and Zia regime continued chasing her and her brothers abroad. Eventually, Shah Nawaz Bhutto was killed through the influence of a world power. It was fact Gen Zia was too scared of determined Shah Nawaz Bhutto.

I investigated this matter post-murder in Cannes under the instructions of PM Benazir Bhutto. It was a tragic and heart-hitting moment when I briefed both Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Begum Sahiba in the PM House. I am unable to express the feelings of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto as sister and Begum Sahiba as a mother how they were hurt while listening to the details of the investigation. The murder of her brother was yet another price for preservation and restoration of democracy in the country after hanging of his great father. The enemies of Bhutto made another hit by killing her elder brother, as planned murder and mystery of suicidal of SHO Mr Haq Nawaz Sial were not yet resolved. It is evident that killing of Murtaza Bhutto was part of a larger plan to oust her government.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto continued to face tragedies all her life including the torture of her mother at Karachi airport by the police, which resulted in the memory loss of her mother. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto continued to look after her mother under all odd circumstances till her death.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto always displayed bravery and did not succumb to the pressure of dictators as she continued to rise and rise and the world witnessed her rise when she landed in Lahore and millions of people received her at Lahore airport.

Like her father, during her second exile period, her 17 MNAs ditched her and sided with the dictator to join his government. One day prior to their change of hearts, all of them had a lunch with her and assured her of their loyalties but on very next day, they decided to leave her and join the establishment. I saw her very gloomy on that day and she used words for them, which I would not like to repeat.

She continued to face the cases where her own party men had become the most powerful ministers in the cabinet of Gen Musharraf.

She was a God fearing person and woman of character and she earned respect internationally. She emerged as a leader of the leaders. I remember when we were in Bangkok upon the invitation of Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, the then PM of Thailand and her speech was on the last day of the conference and many heads of the states had delayed their flights just to listen to her speech and she made a historic speech on democracy.

While in exile she was always on the move and always projected Pakistan in a positive light but continued to struggle against the dictator. It was her thought that the mainstream political parties must work together rather against each other to strengthen democracy in the country, which ultimately culminated in the signing of Charter of Democracy (CoD) in 2006 between PPP and PML/N. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif signed the CoD at my residence in London.

She did manage to oust dictator but in the struggle, she lost her life and on return from exile, Mian Nawaz Sharif forgot all the things he had committed in CoD as he was the first to lead anti- PPP campaign. She was born for Pakistan and democracy and she lost her life for Pakistan and democracy.

I had served with her as head of FIA and then assisted her while in exile and acted as her lead representative in almost all political dialogues with Gen. Pervez Musharraf, MQM and world leaders. It was a great experience to work under her guidance and she used to believe in flawless jobs.

I noticed a great level of creativity in Aseefa Bhutto Zardari and I am quoting an incident hereby:

It was mid-June when Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had left for her lecture in the USA. All three children Bakhtawar, Bilawal and Aseefa stayed behind in their London flat with maid Sita. It was just before midnight of 20th that I got a call on my mobile by Aseefa saying: “Uncle I want to give birthday surprise to mum when she returns at 6.00 am in the morning and I need to decorate the house with something special to greet her.” I got it arranged pooling my efforts to convert the flat into truly welcoming atmosphere with all kind of fancy decoration. I went to receive Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto from terminal 4 of the airport in the morning and I was supposed to tell her that a birthday surprise was waiting for her at home arranged by Aseefa. The flight landed and I drove her to the flat, which was at the fourth floor. She entered and the greeting chanting of happy birthday to Mama by Aseefa and her bother Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and sister Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari welcomed her, which was very pleasant scene. She had deep love and affection for Aseefa and said that she knew that it would surely be Aseefa’s idea to greet her with warmth. I am witness to the love she had for her children.

The cruel game of politics and anti-Bhutto sentiments have snatched away a loving mother from the kids and her family is paying a heavy price to hold the flag of PPP and the mission of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto high.

The family will never able to get the love and care of their mother and nothing can companionate the missing love of their mother. She was a great wife too who always used to pray for Asif Sahib and always used to recite Quranic verses on the telephone and pray for him.

She has gone through long duration of victimization especially when she and Mr Asif Ali Zardari were convicted under the direct instructions of the then PM Nawaz Sharif and Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Rashid Aziz. We received the conversation duly tapped by an official of the IB and entire planning and it was made public under the directions of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. It is now history how we got the shameful judgement overturned from the Supreme Court. But this is a separate story and needs a detailed account. This story has already appeared in Sunday Times, UK, exposing all the characters.

She used to pursue the trial of her cases in the court along with Mr Asif Ali Zardari. The trials further strengthened the bond of love between the couple. The children missed a part of their life without their father while they were growing, as he was put behind the bars.

The story of Bhutto family is a tragedy but worth celebrating. The family was victimised because the family rendered unmatched services and a voice to the masses.

Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, you must be proud of your children. I wish you could see the young Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whom we drove once to Oxford, is a grown-up young man and leading the party. I remember you teaching him and I wish to see him the Prime Minister of Pakistan. I have great confidence in Bilawal Bhutto to carry the nation through the numerous challenges with his two sisters to his aide who are equally capable.

I firmly believe that had she been not victimized she would not have left the county and she would have alive today.

Although she has left us forever, however, her memories will always remain in our hearts as well as her political legacy and wisdom which will keep inspiring the masses and especially workers of PPP. She fought against two dictators and she defeated both of them and she continued to advocate for democracy till her last breath.

Let us pray May God bless her soul in peace.

The writer is a PPP Senator, former Interior Minister of Pakistan, and Chairman of think tank “Global  Eye” and Senate Body on Interior and Narcotics. rmalik1212@gmail.com Twitter: @senrehmanmalik

The Article was published in Daily The Nation dated June 21^st, 2018 with link https://nation.com.pk/21-Jun-2018/shaheed-benazir-leader-of-the-masses

RAW declares hybrid war by Senator A. Rehman Malik

The conventional wars have now taken over by the intelligence which is fought with dirty tricks and damaging tools to destroy vital abilities of enemies. This new intelligence warfare started after the World War 2 when USA decided to launch CIA. The warfare trend was set by the CIA operation. Italy, the European countries and even PM Winston Churchill was not spared. These intelligence warfare dirty tricks were first exposed by Phliph and Aggey in their co-authored book “Dirty tricks”. The most recent warfare by Indian Raw is magnified five-fold by using similar resources;

      1.               Isolation of Pakistan internationally
2.       Attempt to declare Pakistan as terrorist state and sponsor of money laundering/ terrorist financing.
3.       Attack on Pakistan through Cyber network and Indian RAW sponsored anti Pakistan through TV/ film and raw sponsored books through their motivated intellectual brainwashing.
4.       Build pressure on Eastern boarder through cold doctrine and western boarders through their Co-partner NDS.
5.       Creating unrest in Baluchistan and KPK and to energize the conspiracy of breaking Pakistan as announced by the Defence Minister of India, duly endorsed by no less than PM Modi.

RAW is trying its best to isolate Pakistan from world and as per reports from the Indian media; it has been given an unlimited and unaudited budget against Pakistan. There is a special allocation of budget to RAW for the isolation and disability of Baluchistan in order to discredit Pakistan eventually.

On 8th September 2016, Indian RAW orchestrated a fake attack on its Uri bas close to LOC with Pakistan and like all other previous attacks following the same old strategy they put blame on Pakistan for it. It was actually a “blatant” attempt to divert attention from the fast deteriorating human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir since the death of Burhan Wani.

Similarly, Pakistan was blamed for the India – Pakistan Samjhota Express attacks on 18th Feb 2007, that killed 68 Pakistanis. But later the Hindu extremist leader Swami Aseemanand, a leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) who has strong ties with Modi’s BJP, confessed to having been a part of the incident. He also confessed in the court that several RSS preachers and Sang activists were directly involved in planning, funding and executing Samjhauta Express, Ajmer, Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blasts. He even said that Gen J J Singh is “with us” (former Singh was Army Chief till Sept. 2007). Indian Lt Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit was also found evidently involved in 2008 blast in the Muslim-majority Malegaon town in Nasik district of Maharashtra, further linked to the Samjhota Express terrorist attack. In fact, RAW sponsored and financed Raymond Davis to write the book “The Contractor”. He was approached by RAW’s Additional Secretary Jagnathan Kumar in order to malign Pakistan’s premier agency ISI, the Pakistan military and the civilian leadership.

In November 2017, Indian RAW lobbied with its CIA counterpart against Pakistan lodging complaint with FATF to put Pakistan’s name on FATF’s blacklist upon baseless and false charges. It sent a secretary-level delegation to Moscow on Jan 31 to undermine Pakistan. The Indian media reported that in his recent visits to Gulf countries, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asked them not to support Pakistan at the FATF. It is no secret that India’s notorious intelligence agency (RAW), has been planning and executing covert operations inside Pakistan through proxies and terrorist networks. In 2009, i as then Interior Minister handed over a dossier of RAW’s involvement in terrorist activities to the then Indian Interior Minister Chadam Baram. He proved it with a set of rightful evidences by presenting them in the Interpol Conference and many other forums.

In 2013, Indian Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh admitted that following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Indian army raised a Tactical Support Division (TSD), which carried out bomb blasts in Pakistan, and doled out money to separatist elements in Baluchistan. Solid evidence of Indian clandestine activities was discovered in March 2016 when Pakistan’s intelligence and security agencies unearthed the largest RAW network to date, which had been involved in carrying out terrorist activities. Leading this network was the now infamous Kulbushan Jadhav, an Indian Navy commissioned officer, who was arrested by Pakistan Army operating from the Pakistan-Iran border area. He was arrested in 2016 in Baluchistan, giving proof of this international controversy against Pakistan. The man himself confessed that many other agents like him have been deployed by the RAW in Karachi and other territories of Pakistan to spread terrorism across the country. Furthermore, he also confessed to being assigned by RAW “to plan and organize espionage and sabotage activities” in the Baluchistan Province and Karachi, the southern port city that is the country’s commercial hub.

RAW is also behind the sponsorship and promotion of a banned extremist outfit (BLA) Baloch Liberation Army in UK and Switzerland. RAW is funding this group of Baloch insurgents to run advertising campaigns against Pakistan by circulating posters with “Free Baluchistan” written on them to attack the sovereignty of Pakistan. India has always been fomenting unrest in Baluchistan by funding and helping the separatist in the province. In 2016, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, our former Interior Minister Rehman Malik had given a 5 hrs long briefing on how separatist leader Brahamdad Bugti was enjoying complete support of RAW for disturbing peace in Baluchistan.

Adding insult to injury now, the thrice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has also given an irresponsible statement against Pakistan. This statement has created political unrest in the country with various controversial views coming out in the media. Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also responded to the statement saying: “It proved India’s position that the handlers of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack were in Pakistan. “Well, it is very serious disclosure. India's position has been that the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack operated from Pakistan. We strongly believe that the handlers of the attack were in Pakistan. It (Sharif's remarks) only proves that India’s stand has been right all the way," she said at a press conference”.

Reading Former DG ISI Asad Durrani’s book “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”, co-authored by Ex-RAW Chief AS Dulat, it seems quite suspicious that it was released right at the time when Nawaz Sharif gave his statement regarding Mumbai attacks, defaming the armed forces and their success in WAT (War Against Terror).

In this book Gen. Durrani has defamed military leadership by putting forth allegations that they cooperated with Americans on the Bin Laden issue and sold him for 50 million dollars. According to Gen. Durrani, Army Chief Gen. Kiyani met the Americans on USS Carl Vinson in Arabian sea and finalized the deal, to hand over Bin Laden in exchange of 50 million Dollars. Former DG-ISI also writes that it was an officer of ISI who informed Americans about presence of Bin Laden in Abbottabad and in return, he demanded the prize money on Bin Laden's head, along with US immigration and permanent residence in USA. It is worth mentioning that Gen Durrani himself has been accused of using ISI in political activities and destabilizing Benazir Bhutto's government, by former Army Chief Gen. Aslam Baig.

The writer is a PPP Senator, former Interior Minister of Pakistan and Chairman of think tank “Global Eye” and Senate Body on Interior and Narcotics.

The article was published by The Nation on June 16, 2018 with link RAW declares hybrid war by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Senator A. Rehman Malik Exclusive Interview to Daily The News & Jang

Malik for consensus on internal security, foreign policy

ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Senator Rehman Malik proposed consensus legislation on the issues of internal security, foreign policy, economy, water management, education and health so that the policies on these could continue despite the change in the governments.

“Once consensus legislation on these issues is made then no successive government could change the continuation of the policies on internal security, foreign policy, economy, water management, education and health,” he said in an interview to The News/Jang on Tuesday.

Malik said, “The nation’s future lies in six points — internal security, foreign policy, economy, water management, education and health — and to remove the hurdles in the way of prosperity of the country and difficulties. We should move ahead with consensus on the national issues to live with the honour in the world so that we should not be stand in the last line at the international airports due to green passport.”

The PPP leader said the country had sustained losses due to carrying out of the ad hoc polices in the past but “now should have move towards long-term planning and policies to put the country on the path of development and prosperity”.

He said the country external debt stood at $200 billion, international debt at Rs 9 trillion, other debt in the shape of issuance of different bonds and more than Rs 1 trillion circular debt just because of the mistakes of the previous governments. “The mistakes of the previous government are still haunting the people of Pakistan and so there is a need to create consensus on national issues so that long-term policies be devised which continue in the future government,” he said.

To a question, Malik said there was no democracy but lotacracy in the PTI and the majority of the party members were those had left the PPP. “The PTI wanted to bring the change with the turncoats of the PPP and in the presence of the PPP turncoats around Imran Khan shows that that Imran Khan had joined the PPP,” he remarked.

He said the PTI always levelled allegations against the PPP and the people rightly questioned that “those who have joined the PTI are now clean”.

Malik said people were being cheated in the name of the electable as those who claimed themselves as a electable sold the vote and did not have any commitment with the people and even the party whom they joined as they were committed to themselves only.”‘The people should elect their own representatives, not those who cheat them,” he said.

Malik expressed his fears about the future of parliamentary system if there was any rigging in the upcoming elections. “I fear that if the elections were rigged then it will have the serious consequences for the parliamentary system and bring the presidential system,” he warned.

He said the people should vote those candidates who did not change their loyalties and sell the votes to others. “Lotacracy means negation of democracy,” he said.

On the issue of the water aggression by India, he said the Indian prime minister was taking steps against Pakistan as first he created rift in the relation between Pakistan and the United States and later used the FATF. “India as per plan is working on agenda of destroying agriculture sector and to create a energy crisis in Pakistan,” he said.

He said, “It was our hard luck that we failed to stop the construction of the Kishanganga Dam despite the Indus Basis Treaty and our case in the World Bank was not even heard. We even provided data to show that how much Pakistan will sustain a loss due to the Kishanganga Dam and even when get addition 10 days to provide the requisite data, we failed to provide the data to World Bank,” he said.

He added that the Pakistan delegation waited for 10 days to meet the World Bank president but did not get time, which was a failure and action should be taken against the responsible officials.

He said the water in Jhelum River had reduced by 27 per cent due to the Kishanganga Dam and it would also affect the greenery in Neelum Valley. “It will also affect the production of energy by 30 per cent in the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project,” he said.

Malik said it was regretful that the country failed to create a consensus on Kalabagh Dam. Commenting on Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s visit to Afghanistan, he said establishing of contact with Afghanistan was a positive development and Kabul would have to move ahead for good relation relations with Pakistan while leaving the past behind.

He said unless and until there was a single US soldier in Afghanistan there would be no peace in that country.”‘The US has to leave Afghanistan for peace in the region as peaceful Afghanistan means peaceful Pakistan,” he said.

Malik said Afghanistan should have to realise that India did not want peace and it was India which was responsible for the worse relation between Islamabad and Kabul.

To a question about the security concerns during upcoming general elections, Malik said Taliban were the biggest threat in the 2013 elections and Daesh had replaced them in 2018. “The provincial governments have to make foolproof security arrangements on the polling day for the voters and polling staff,” he said.

He said the monitoring of 85,000 polling stations should be made through CCTV cameras,

To a question with regard to regional situation, Malik said the US sanctions on Iran and India’s water aggression were real issues in the region.

He said there was a need to revise the country’s foreign policy to end the diplomatic isolation and to improve diplomatic relations with the countries in Europe and Middle East. “I in one of my speeches stated that the US will never attack North Korea and now the US shook hand with North Korea and gave a clear message,” he said.

He said Pakistan should also learn the lesson from it and focus on improving relations with all the countries to end the diplomatic isolation.

The Interview has been published in “THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL” on June 13, 2018.

Link to original Interview:- https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/329076-malik-for-consensus-on-internal-security-foreign-policy

"Water Bomb Shell" by Senator A. Rehman Malik

Water is a basic necessity of life from the day one of human existence. The world entered into modern era with generation of energy, which is through oil and water. The utility of water is more vital as it provides lifeline to every living creature being the only vital important component of survival of the world.

Blocking of water reminds us of Karbala and Modi by blocking of water wants to deprive Pakistan of water to convert her into desert. In fact, Modi is following a full fledged anti Pakistan agenda. Initially he got Pakistan diplomatically isolated, developed closer relations with USA at the cost of Pakistan, created close network with Afghanistan to get more pressure on western boarders and then sponsored a book under the name of “Contractor “by Raymond Davis, which was fully financed by the Indian RAW followed by FATA dirty propaganda on the statement of former PM and then book co authored by former Head of RAW and Gen Durrani, former DG/ISI and now this water bomb. According to the larger plan India will continue to break the Indus Water Treaty.

India has worked out that the one of the national key quotients is water and hence India will continue to block water flow from India to Pakistan. PM Modi has created now a water bomb for Pakistan and the first water bomb has been thrown on Pakistan by blocking of our legitimate natural watercourse. India has completed its construction of Kishanganga hydropower project on the Neelam River by diverting the watercourse through a 16 km tunnel, which is clear violation of the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries.

The Kishanganga River, upon entering Pakistani territory is recognized as Neelam River that originates from Indian occupied Kashmir, and flows through the Gurez Valley to join Jhelum River near Muzaffarabad, at Domail, in Azad Jammu Kashmir. The construction of Kishanganga Dam is also in violation of Article III (4) of the Indus Water Treaty, which places an obligation or restriction on India not to construct any similar projects on western rivers, that is, on Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. Also, the construction of Kishanganga project will adversely affect the Neelam-Jhelum project, as its power generation capacity will reduce radically. In accordance with Article III (2) of Indus Water Treaty, India is also prohibited from developing any human made obstructions that shall have or may cause a change in the volume of the natural flow of western rivers.

 The project includes a 121 feet tall concrete-face rock-fill dam, which will divert a portion of river to south through a 24 km tunnel. The diversion would reduce the flow of water into Pakistan by about 11 per cent in summer and about 27 per cent in winter, which would be contrary to Indus Water Treaty as the western rivers belong to Pakistan. We claim that the project would reduce the power generation capacity of the 969-megawatt Neelam-Jhelum plant by about 11 per cent. It also contends that the diversion would result in an ecological disaster for the area.

Pakistan had decided to raise the issue in the International Court of Justice on the basis of directions of Permanent Court of Arbitration, clauses of the Indus Basin Treaty 1960. But unfortunately when Pakistan was asked to provide all the evidences regarding the issue, we could not provide the required data. We requested for ten days more and even after 10 days we failed to produce any evidence. While we were on the verge of our fight for water against India, on 25th June 2013, Nawaz Sharif took oath as the Prime Minister of Pakistan and he did not appoint a Foreign minister and because of having no Foreign minister we failed to defend our right and on 20th December 2013, international court gave decision in India’s favour adding that Pakistan could not produce any data to support its claims. Had there been any other country they would have been concerned but our then government of PMLN seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. They did not pay attention to the consequences of the project. After the judgment, India got the right to build the dam, and it started playing on the front foot by blatantly violating the water treaty. We wasted our time here as well hoping that we would get appointment to meet World Bank President in April. But it never happened as we were told that the President is busy and after inauguration, the meeting will have no effect.

India has signed all the important Convention that, with complete effect, would ruin our valley totally. It is sad to note that neither our Government nor the opposition is taking this matter seriously whereas the water issue is supposed to be the issue of life and death.

It is also pertinent to mention that the International Court of Arbitration was constituted in 1923, and since then it has been helping to resolve difficulties in international commercial and business disputes to support trade and investment. It performs an essential role by providing individuals, businesses and governments alike with a variety of customizable services for every stage of their dispute. Although they are called a court in name, but do not make formal judgments on disputed matters. Instead, they exercise judicial supervision of arbitration proceedings. It cannot pass any judicial judgments and we do not expect Justice from this Forum.

Let us briefly see the salient features of the Indus Waters Treaty are:Three Eastern Rivers namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beyas were given to India.Three Western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan.Pakistan to meet the requirements of its Eastern river canals from the Western rivers by constructing replacement works.Safeguards incorporated in the treaty to ensure unrestricted flow of waters in the Western rivers.Both parties were to regularly exchange flow-data of rivers, canals and streams.A permanent Indus Waters Commission was constituted to resolve the disputes between the parties. The Treaty sets out the procedure for settlement of the differences and disputes. It also provides for settlement of disputes through the International Court of Arbitration.Thus, future prospects persuaded the two countries to agree to a partition of the Indus Basin waters. Both countries were expected to exploit their respective water shares with the help of an Indus Basin Development Fund to be administered by the World Bank. The past experience with India is that India does not abide by any treaty.It is now a hard fact that India has decided to steal away our water and we start facing shortage of water by 2025 and hence we need to find alternate ways to meet our requirement. Let us see what our alternate ways to fulfill our needs are. Let us have a look on our annual rainfall in our country. We do have reasonable rainfall during the year and especially in July and August. The heavy rainfall causes floods and this rainwater ultimately falls in the sea unhindered, which is sheer wastage of rainwater. There is no such plan or scheme to store this rainwater in the form of small dams.Half of the annual rainfall occurs in July and August, averaging about 255 millimeters in each of those two months. The remainder of the year has significantly less rain, amounting to about fifty millimeters per month.Pakistan receives 145 million-acre feet of water every year. However, only 14m acre-feet of water are preserved and we can meet the shortage if we have proper storage of rainwater and floodwater.Like we are dependent on water flow from India, India is dependent on China via Brahmaputra River, which is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo and has its source in Chemayungdung glacier in Tibet. The river flows into three densely populated nations of the world–China, India and Bangladesh. India, which is the middle riparian of the Brahmaputra River, has sour relations with China, which control the source of this river in Tibet yet China has not blocked the flow of water.For India, the Brahmaputra River is of great importance for two reasons: first, The River, accounts for 29% of the total run-off of India’s rivers, is key to India’s river linking project; second, The Brahmaputra basin possess about 44% of India’s total hydropower potential.It is time for Pakistan to seek help from China to resolve the issue with India through its leverage on the source of water flowing to India. The blockade of water by India to Pakistan would, eventually, affect the proper utilisation of CPEC and the power projects especially Neelam Power project, being developed by China would also badly suffer.Indus Water Commission needs to wake up, do their job and save Pakistan’s water resources and preserve them. It has already committed criminal negligence by not proactively safeguarding the water interests of the country.

The writer is a PPP Senator, former Interior Minister of Pakistan and Chairman of Think Tank “Global Eye” and Senate Body on Interior

The Article was published in Daily The Nation dated June 9, 2018 and link https://nation.com.pk/09-Jun-2018/water-bomb-shell

A Page from History - II by Senator A. Rehman Malik

This page is basically a fact sheet to put the record straight and apprise the nation of few happenings behind the scene.

I am pointing out some of the incidents of my exile period where I was an eyewitness of most of the developments taking place abroad. It was well before the departure of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto from UK when UK had become hub of political activities. I am referring to the initial dialogue with Gen Musharraf through his close aides including Mr. Tariq Aziz, Gen Kiyani, and Gen Hamed, where I acted on behalf of Mohtarma and these dialogues took place mostly in UK and UAE and every meeting has become a hard fact of Pak history.

While our dialogue for a political transition with Gen. Musharraf was going on, it is a matter of record that Nawaz Sharif was also engaged in negotiation with Gen. Musharraf through Brig Niaz whom Sharif brother had met to develop an understanding with Gen Musharraf to end their exile. Brig Niaz was one of the closest friends of Gen. Musharraf and he emerged as one of his political wheeler and dealer as well as known for his dealing in defense deals which he started post-PNA movements. The political activities started to take its final shape in 2007. The GPM strategy was to engage both Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in dialogue.

It was nearly mid-July of 2007 when a delegation from Saudi Arabia visited Mohtarmain Dubai with a question “if she had any objection if Nawaz Sharif returns back to Pakistan”. She responded that she had no objection to him going to Pakistan and she would like him to go back and contest forthcoming elections. She was all out for Sharif to return. Shaheed wanted to mount pressure for fair elections and transition from dictatorship to democracy. It was for this reason that Mohtarma supported the return of Sharif at every forum.

In fact, the return of Mohtarma paved the way for the return of Sharif and it was she who persuaded Sharif to contest elections, which was decided in a meeting between Sharif assisted by Ch. Nisar / Mr. Ishaq Dar/Mr. Javed Hashmi and Mohtarma assisted by Mr. Amin Fahim (Late) and myself in Zardari house in Islamabad. Her death shook the country and was a big national loss and Mr. Asif Zardari acted, thereafter, wisely and controlled the highly charged situation in Sindh.

President Musharraf was not in favour of Mohtarma and Sharif returning and tried to block them but the pressure of the USA for restoration of democracy duly endorsed by yet another country from the Middle East worked well. Admittedly, Saudi Arabia was backing the return of Sharif to Pakistan whereas Mohtarma had become the invincible force which Gen Pervez Musharraf was unable to block.

Just a reminder to refer a press conference: on 8 September 2007 by Lebanese politician Saad Hariri and Saudi intelligence Chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz, managed by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, addressed an unprecedented joint press conference at Army General Headquarters (GHQ) to discuss how Sharif's return would affect relations. Prince Muqrin stated that the initial agreement was for 10 years but "these little things do not affect relations." Muqrin expressed hope that Sharif would continue with the agreement and it was a bid to block the return of Nawaz Sharif. He also urged Nawaz Sharif to respect an earlier promise to stay away until 2010 but this changed when Nawaz Sharif used his influence with Saudi King and moreover he was no more in Saudi and he could influence with his international friends. In fact, Saudi Arabia gave go head to Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan only subject to indemnity to Gen. Pervez Musharraf after long discussions and a visit of Gen Pervez Musharraf where he was informed about assurances. It was a silent NOR between GPM and Nawaz Sharif, which made Nawaz Sharif return where Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto played her political role to prepare the country for meaningful elections.

Let me go through the background and the history, which developed during the exile when Charter of Democracy was signed. On 14th May 2006, COD was signed between Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif in London at my residence while we all were in exile and the leadership of both parties got united just to oust Gen. Pervez Musharraf and both parties had already had experienced the real heat of exile. It did not happen in one day and it resulted after a lot of background meetings between both the sides at various level.

I remember the first meeting, which was between me, Senator Ishaq Dar and Ghous Ali Shah in hotel Pak Lane over lunch and followed by many meeting in the UK. These meetings then followed by a telephone conversation between Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif while both were in London, which was arranged by me and Mr. Ghous Ali Shah. I found Mr. Ghous Ali Shah a very sensible person and he used to be one of the most trusted aides of Nawaz Shah during that time but I still wonder why Nawaz Sharif dropped him from his team. I wish he had not dropped a sensible veteran companion and he would have benefited from his able advice.

Further meetings between me and Kh Asif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif in random places around Edgware Road continued and discussions centered on only one point agenda to forge cooperation between the two parties to oust Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Mian Shahbaz Sharif had some good suggestion but the ultimate rested with Mian Nawaz Sharif. Finally, the dialogue culminated into COD, which was basically an alliance and political road map between two bigger political parties of Pakistan. It outlined steps to end the military rule established by the 1999 coup led by General Pervez Musharraf and to restore civilian democratic rule. The main features of the COD were as under:1) The structure of constitution of 1973 should be revived like exactly what it was till October 1999.2) Both parties will not do any deal with the running party or mercenaries, so as to win the elections.3) The judiciary, law and Election Commission shall be made neutral.4) If any party win the elections then it will not torment opposition, but instead of this, it will invite opposition in offering suggestions in political social, economic, regional and international affairs. And none of the decisions shall be made that will go against the mind of the parliament. And the same liability is for the opposition that it will also not anguish government like what traditionally it is used to doing.5) LFO shall be revoked, and the principles, which say that minimum age of voters should be 18 years, women are permissible to be the parliament members, and seats of parliament can be increased shall remain unaltered or unmodified.6) Genuine relations shall be established between civil administration and military.This political roadmap was to be followed in full letter and spirit. This COD had made Gen. Pervez Musharraf quite nervous but unfortunately, Mian Nawaz Sharif could not abide by to this COD and he started its violations by, inter alia, establishing direct contacts with Brig Niaz to develop his one to one understanding with Gen. Pervez Musharraf while in the UK. Shaheed Mohtarma was of the view to have a joint political strategy rather individual approach but Sharif decided to have an individual approach.

The writer is a PPP Senator, former Interior Minister of Pakistan and Chairman of think tank “Global Eye” and Senate Body on Interior.

The article was published in Daily The Nation dated June 02, 2018 and link to the article is https://nation.com.pk/02-Jun-2018/a-page-from-history

Sanctions on Iran by Senator A. Rehman Malik

The sanctions on Iran by USA will have numerous negative impacts especially on Pakistan and Afghanistan being the immediate neighbours of Iran. It will also dent the peace process in Afghanistan.

Imposing sanction on Iran is sole act of USA where Pakistan cannot do anything. USA always makes such movements to carry out its own interests based on its geo-political agenda. Both countries are engaged in inter-states trade of many commodities mainly through land routes. Although both the countries enjoy cordial relations yet at the same time the volume of trade between the two countries is well below potential.

The recent visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif kindled the potentials of increase of trade with Pakistan to $5 billion by 2012. Pakistan is in negotiation to enhance export of meat, fruits, textile, surgical items, sports goods, gems and jewellery in addition to rice. The key items imported from Iran to Pakistan include: iron ore, iron scrap, dates, detergents, transformers, chemicals, bitumen, polyethylene, propylene, etc. Iran is the second-largest market of Basmati rice of Pakistan, ranking after Iraq.

There is a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), which governs Pakistan Iran trade; this PTA has been operational since 2006. According to a short profile of Iran prepared by Pakistan Business Council, “of the top 50 items exported by Pakistan to Iran, only 12 items (24%) have a preferential tariff under the PTA” and “of the top 50 Iranian exports to Pakistan 22 items (44%)enjoy a tariff preference when imported by Pakistan”. Although there had been deficiency in the figures reported by both the countries relating to the inter-states trade in 2014 yet fact remains that both the countries remained engaged heavily with each other in terms of bilateral trade relations. One of the major factors contributing towards losing Iranian Market by Pakistan included lack of payment mechanism in the wake of international sanctions on Iran. The absence of banking channels had rendered Pakistan-Iran PTA virtually dysfunctional.

After the removal of UN sanctions on Iran in 2016, it was expected that the Iranian economy would be reopened for international trade and an influx of Iranian assets frozen overseas in the region of $100 to $150 billion. Like European companies and the countries worldwide, Pakistan was also looking forward to greater trade and the early completion of the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline, which was hampered by the pervious sanctions on Iran.

Apart from commercial interactions with Iran, Pakistan shares religious linkage with Iran. According to a report, an estimated 150,000 pilgrims had gone to Iran and Iraq from Pakistan in 2017. With each passing year the number of pilgrims is also increasing. Back in 2014, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) started twice a week flight operations to Mashad, Iran, by launching direct flights twice a week carrying pilgrims to the holy places in Iran. Recent announcement of US President to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would have far reaching effects not only on Iran but indirectly on Pakistan being neighbour as well.

The Trump Administration has re-imposed sweeping sanctions against Iran with immediate effect. After November 4, 2018, the US would again put sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, shipping, port operations, central bank dealings, insurance and rest of its energy sectors. As we have witnessed a downfall of bilateral trade between two countries post 2010 international sanctions on Iran, Pakistan would once again be experiencing the same situation. On the contrary India sustained the effects of the sanctions on Iran vis-à-vis bilateral trade through putting a workable payment mechanism in place. While Pakistan’s trade with Iran took a nose down drive during this period, the trade between India flourished during the period of sanctions.

Apart from negative effects on the economy and trade with Iran, Pakistan would be facing other multiple challenges including that of visit of pilgrims from Pakistan to Iran. With the blockade of normal business channels with Iran, Pakistan would have to put extra resources to contain smuggling of goods such food items and other utilities from and to Iran. We will be forced to act like Tunisia during the sanction on Libya.

The re-imposed sanctions on Iran would once again give rise to the emergence of black market/economy as the foreign exchange would fly between both the countries without any control depleting the foreign exchange reserves of the country. Iran had raised its concerns before me vis-à-vis across border attacks on its security forces of Pakistan. I as Interior Minister had series of meetings with the Iranian Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khomeini, President, Interior and Foreign Ministers to neutralise the tension between both the countries. However, recently these relations came under pressure when Indian Agent Kulbhushan Yadav was detected to have been operating from Iran. However, with the announcement of President Trump to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement, Pakistan has once again been placed in a critical situation vis-à-vis its commercial as well as bilateral relations. The multi-million dollars Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline would once again be in jeopardise, which has already been delayed considerably.

In fact USA has divided the world into pro and anti USA blocks. Similarly, the Muslim world has also been divided on the issues relating to Middle East and Arab world. The war that USA started in Iraq on the false allegations of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) ultimately engulfed the whole region and reluctantly both allies of Iran and Saudi Arabia confronted each other in the region. It was, in fact, a big mistake on the part of USA to initiate war in Iraq. I fear that USA may create an ugly situation against Pakistan in collaboration with India and Afghanistan in order to cover up its failures in Afghanistan. The recent statements of President Trump against Pakistan were in fact repetition of which India had been harping on.

It is high time for Pakistan to formulate a comprehensive policy to confront the fall outs of the US sanctions on Iran on Pakistan. I feel that we need to take some important measures urgently in which our Government should try to evaluate the adverse effects of sanctions on Pakistan and Our Ambassadors in Iran and USA should be summoned to work out a strategy to handle this issue.

The Article has been published in “THE NATION” on May 26, 2018.

Link to original Article:- https://nation.com.pk/26-May-2018/sanctions-on-iran