Official Blog Of Press Information Department

Courtesy:- Muhammad Nawaz Verdag The Pak-Germany relations refer from the history of friendship and cooperation from the late 1940’s till date very firm. Both countries are tied to each other in effect of their historical, economical and financial development cooperation that initiated between Pakistan and Germany from 1961, “with trade investment exceeding $ 2.3 billion”. Germany’s interest, engagement and commitment for Pakistan have grown significantly with the passage of time.

Courtesy:- Momin Iftikhar Two arguments made by the Indian Foreign Minister, S.M. Krishna, from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), leaves in doubt as to where the composite dialogue process (CDP) that commenced in January 2004, following the rolling back of India’s Operation Parakram (December 2001 to October 2002), is headed. The angry outpourings poignantly make manifest the Indian design of relegating the core issue of Kashmir in the CDP and replacing it with the contrived up subject of terrorism, as the leading issue.

Courtesy:- Dr Raja Muhammad Khan Taking history as evidence, one learns that, wars, conflicts and disagreements have never resolved the global, regional and domestic issues. These rather have further complicated the problems, created hate and more fissures among the competing parties and forces. Political solution, remedy of grievances and negotiations among the disagreeing parties is the only way forward. Balochistan is a domestic problem of Pakistan, where there have been many snags over the years, owing to many grounds. Irrespective of the raison d’être of the problem(s), there is a dire need that, a solution has to be found of all these within the federation and under the constitution of Pakistan through political and peaceful ways. In this regard, negotiation, rather confrontation and rebellion is the best and only way forward.

Courtesy:- Shahid Javed Burki If you look far back into Pakistan’s history, say, to the time when the country was founded, the scope and extent of the demographic change that has occurred in the past several decades becomes evident. In 1947, the year of the country’s birth, what is Pakistan today had a population of 30 million. Of this, only five million people lived in urban areas. By the end of 2012, the size of the population will possibly touch 190 million. Sixty-five years after the country became independent about 40 per cent of the population is urban. In 1947, Karachi had a population of 400,000 people. It is now what demographers call a mega city — contiguous urban clusters with populations of more than 10 million people — with a population of probably 18 million. The city, in other words, accounts for one-quarter of Pakistan’s urban population of 76 million. All this change is awe-inspiring. The population is more than six times larger than its size 65 years ago. The urban

Courtesy:- Malik Muhammad Ashraf Recalibrating Russo-Pak relations A few weeks ago, Asian Development Bank – the major financier of Diamir Bhasha dam – reportedly refused to provide finances for the project maintaining that since the dam was being built on a disputed territory, the bank needed green signal from India to go ahead with its commitment. That indeed was a very frustrating and worrying development for a cash-strapped and energy deficient Pakistan. However, this setback which threatened to scuttle the prospects of this vital multi-purpose project ever taking off proved ephemeral. A new ray of hope has emerged from Russia. As revealed by media, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was scheduled to visit Pakistan in October, and among other things he wanted to discuss with the Pakistani leadership was the prospects of Russia providing entire finances amounting to US$13 billion for the construction of the dam on the basis of government to government funding. Mr Vladimir Puti

Courtesy:- Farooq Yousaf Pakistan enjoys a great strategic edge, serving as a bridge and corridor to different regions. This also gives Russia an attractive spot to materialise on its strategic depth Pak-Russia ties are witnessing a fresh start with an exchange of high-level visits from both the sides. Something considered improbable in the past may soon become a reality as both the sides are vying for a new start in bilateral ties. Although Russian President Putin has postponed his much-hyped visit to Pakistan, yet a visit by a Russian delegation in early September, headed by the Russian sports minister, to Islamabad and a potential visit by the Pakistani army chief to Moscow present positive prospects for furthering bilateral ties.

Courtesy:- Hassan Naqvi Many in Pakistan believe that the Silk Road strategy adapted by the US is to impinge on the vast natural resources in South Asia, since the whole world is now running out of their resources. Some analysts have described this strategy as the ‘Great Game’, as adopted by the British Empire and Russian Empire long ago to attain supremacy in Central Asia. The Islamists in the country think that the initiative is being taken by the American imperialistic forces to subdue Muslims and handicap them of advancement.

Courtesy:- Dr Raja Muhammad Khan Following the sudden deferral of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, there are many speculations as to why the visit was postponed. Whereas, many political and media analysts say that, the visit has been cancelled, the Foreign Office of Pakistan said in a statement that, “New summit dates will be worked out after seeking convenience of the respective leaders through diplomatic channels.” Nevertheless, irrespective of the factors behind the scene, Russian President is not visiting Pakistan as scheduled earlier. Apart from postponement of the visit, this is a fact that, after decades of remaining away from each other, relations between Pakistan and Russia have improved in last one decade.