Author: Blake Morgan

The PTI on Tuesday issued a statement disputing Asad Umar’s claims that he left his party positions due to Chairman Imran Khan’s “confrontational” policies. The statement issued by PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan came hours after the former party secretary general told a private news channel that he had quit his party positions over the political strategy adopted by Imran in the aftermath of May 9. On May 24, Umar had announced that he was leaving his party positions with immediate effect. He said that after the events of May 9, when violent protests broke out in the country following Imran’s arrest,…

Pakistan’s Chief of the Army, General Asim Munir, is in China on a four-day official visit where he is holding meetings with the leadership of the People’s Liberation Army to discuss military cooperation between the two countries. Munir met with Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, where the Chinese official described the relationship between the two countries as consistent. “No matter how the international situation changes, China always gives Pakistan priority in its neighborhood diplomacy,” Zhang said, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua. Pakistani military to further deepen and expand their pragmatic cooperation and jointly safeguard…

The Chinese military said it had tracked a US warship in the South China Sea on Thursday and “warned it to leave” waters claimed by Beijing. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea — a strategic waterway through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually — despite an international court ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have overlapping claims in the sea, while the United States sends naval vessels through it to assert freedom of navigation in international waters. The Southern Theater Command of China’s People’s Liberation…

The Philippines on Friday conveyed to China that the disputed South China Sea remains a “serious” source of concern between the two maritime neighbors. This concern was conveyed by Maria Theresa Lazaro, foreign affairs undersecretary of the Philippines, during a press conference with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in the capital Manila. “The Philippines and China are in agreement that maritime issues do not comprise the totality of bilateral relations between our two countries. However, maritime issues continue to remain a serious concern to the Filipino people,” Lazaro said. Sun is in Manila to attend the 7th Bilateral Consultation…

Russia is nearing the first anniversary of its re-invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and supplying sufficient manpower for the war effort remains a key factor in determining the war’s outcome. For several weeks, Ukrainian officials have been warning of Russia’s impending new offensive and waves of mobilization, which seem to be driving Moscow’s increased recruitment of Central Asian labor migrants through aggressive means and a blatant disregard for the law (Euromaidan Press, January 13; The Kyiv Independent, February 6; see EDM, February 15). The pool of Central Asian migrants who work in primarily low-skilled jobs in Russia is large, and,…

Forum: Nations to boost collaboration, connectivity President Xi Jinping underlined on Thursday the importance of industry and investment cooperation between China and Central Asian countries, saying that such partnership will help safeguard the stability of industrial and supply chains in the region. Xi made the remark in a congratulatory letter sent to the China + Central Asia Industry and Investment Cooperation Forum, which opened on Thursday in Qingdao, Shandong province. The two-day forum was jointly organized by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Shandong provincial government. Xi commended the strategic partnerships between China and the five countries of…

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 20th Feb, 2023 ) :Pakistan Rangers Sindh and Police in a joint intelligence-based operation in Orangi Town arrested an alleged street criminal involved in killing a government official over a robbery resistance in SITE Area. Arrested identified as Usman Ghani alias Baloch, confessing his crime, told that he shot injured a government official in SITE Area for resisting robbery and fled from the scene snatching the official’s cell phone and cash on January 18th this year, said a news release on Monday. The injured official succumbed to his injuries during treatment at hospital.…

On February 15, 2023, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov received Alexei Miller, Chairman of the PJSC Gazprom Management Committee. Expressing sincere gratitude for his time, the guest conveyed warm greetings and best wishes from President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to the head of state. At the same time, the interest of the largest energy company of the Russian Federation in mutually beneficial cooperation with Turkmenistan was confirmed. Welcoming the head of PJSC Gazprom, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that his current visit to our country would help strengthen productive cooperation in the fuel and energy sector and, in general, serve to…