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Last Updated: August 22, 2022, 10:43 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. (News18)
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After being denied permission to meet Shahbaz Gill at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Imran Khan announced that he will hold rallies across Pakistan in support of his party official.
Imran Khan made the announcement while speaking with the media outside PIMS.
"We will conduct rallies across all divisional headquarters," Khan said, inviting PTI supporters to join him in raising his voice against the torture and ill-treatment meted out to his chief of staff.
"They don't care about court orders," he said, criticising the government's treatment of Gill and their disregard in relation to his health.
Amid strict security within PIMS' premises, Khan earlier reached the hospital to meet his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill, who has been admitted as per court orders. The former PM was, however, denied permission to visit his party member.
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Thursday, August 18, 2022
Lviv hosts Erdogan, Guterres, Zelenskyy in key summit
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, UN chief Antonio Guterres and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to meet at a high-profile summit, with grain exports and concerns about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to top the agenda.
The trilateral meeting in western Ukraine's Lviv marks Erdogan's first in-person discussion with Zelenskyy since Russia launched its attack on February 24, although the Turkish leader has met Russian President Vladimir Putin twice in recent months.
The three leaders will hold a joint news conference after their meetings in Lviv, an important transit point for Ukrainian refugees heading to Europe.
For live updates from Wednesday (August 17), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
A coordination committee, which the JD(U) kept pressing for while in the BJP-led NDA, may be set up to ensure smooth functioning of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) that now rules Bihar upon the entry of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. There were indications to this effect on Friday evening when MLAs of the CPI(ML), the fourth largest constituent of the Grand Alliance, called on the Chief Minister, the JD(U)’s de facto leader, at his residence.
The chief minister was strongly in favour of a coordination committee and we felt the same. No ally is likely to have any objection. It may, therefore, come up in due course, CPI(ML) MLA Sandeep Saurav told PTI. The Grand Alliance at present comprises seven parties JD(U), RJD, Congress, CPI(ML), CPI, CPI(M) and HAM which together have more than 160 MLAs in the 243-strong assembly.
Notably, while the JD(U) and the BJP were still in an acrimonious tie-up, many leaders of the former had stressed the need for a coordination committee which was in place during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time with George Fernandes as its convenor. JD(U) leaders were of the view that the absence of such a committee left different constituents with no platform to voice their divergent opinions before each other and hence they ended up doing so in the media, leading to deterioration in relations.
Though the BJP seems firmly in saddle with a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, the NDA is in tatters, with most of its prominent constituents including TDP, Shiv Sena and Siromani Akali Dal, now out of the coalition. Moreover, the need for such a committee is likely to grow stronger as the Grand Alliance, at present limited to Bihar, may evolve into a formation with wider appeal across several other states. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed his intention to work for a united opposition to take on the BJP’s hegemony.
To this end, the chief minister is also expected to visit New Delhi next week, shortly after the expansion of his cabinet. In the national capital, Kumar is likely to meet top opposition leaders, including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, said sources close to him. Meanwhile, Saurav also said that the CPI(ML)’s state committee meeting is scheduled here on Saturday which will be attended, among others, by secretary general Dipankar Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya had earlier this week indicated that the party might not join the new government, preferring to support it from outside, though he had pitched for a common minimum programme. Saurav said that Bhattacharya may call on the chief minister to discuss a further plan of action with regard to building an anti-BJP front.
Besides the 12-MLA-strong CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) which have two MLAs each, have decided to extend outside support to the government.
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There is an urgent need to address the global energy and food crisis caused by disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tashkent on Friday. With Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto listening, Jaishankar also asserted that "zero tolerance" for terrorism in all its manifestations is a "must", in remarks seen as an oblique message to Islamabad.
In his address at the foreign ministerial meeting of the eight-nation bloc, Jaishankar also underlined the potential of the Chabahar port in Iran for the economic future of the grouping. The SCO is a key economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
The conclave, also attended by the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, discussed the preparations for the forthcoming SCO summit in Samarkand on September 15-16. The summit is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders of the grouping.
Talking about the current global challenges, Jaishankar said the response required includes resilient and diversified supply chains as well as reformed multilateralism. The external affairs minister reiterated India's position on Afghanistan and highlighted its humanitarian support to the war-torn country, including the supply of wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing.
The major highlights of the deliberations included a decision to grant permanent membership of the bloc to Iran and make Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia its dialogue partners. The ministers also supported the applications of Bahrain and the Maldives for the status of SCO dialogue partners.
"Participated in the SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting at Tashkent. Highlighted that world faces an energy and food crisis due to disruptions from the Covid pandemic and Ukraine conflict. This needs to be urgently addressed," Jaishankar tweeted. "Response required includes resilient and diversified supply chains as well as reformed multilateralism. Zero tolerance for terrorism in all its manifestations is a must," he said.
He said India will give the "fullest support" for the success of the Samarkand summit. "Reiterated India's position on Afghanistan and highlighted our humanitarian support: wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing.
Underlined the potential of Chabahar port for SCO's economic future," Jaishankar said in another tweet. He said the meeting was "very useful" in preparing for the Samarkand summit.
"Spoke of the economic progress in India, stressing the relevance of startups and innovation. Cooperation in traditional medicine is in the common interest of SCO members," the external affairs minister added. Earlier, all the foreign ministers of the SCO nations called on Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Jaishankar said he conveyed Prime Minister Modi’s personal greetings to the Uzbek president. "Appreciated the momentum generated by Uzbek Presidency in fields of security, economy, trade, connectivity and culture," he said.
The external affairs minister held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and also with the secretary general of the SCO. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the meeting witnessed a dialogue on international and regional issues.
According to Uzbek news agency Dunyo, Jaishankar noted that Iran's entry into the SCO will further strengthen the organisation's influence in the world market. It said the ministers also supported the applications of Bahrain and the Maldives for the status of SCO dialogue partners.
The SCO is also actively studying an application for full membership in the bloc by Belarus. "There is a common understanding that the replenishment of the 'SCO family' will give a significant impetus to multifaceted interaction in the field of regional security, trade, investment, and industrial cooperation," acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov said.
He said it will contribute to the further development of the huge transport and transit potential in the space of the organisation. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence. India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping, which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.
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A US delegation discussed with Taliban officials efforts to enable the release of billions of dollars from Afghan central bank reserves, the State Department said.
The meeting, involving Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, took place on Wednesday, the State Department said on Thursday in a release.
"The United States expressed the need to address the urgent humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The two sides discussed ongoing efforts to enable the $3.5 billion in licensed Afghan central bank reserves to be used for the benefit of the Afghan people," the media note said.
The meetings took place after the conclusion of the Uzbekistan-hosted Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan on July 26.
The Taliban is seeking a way to unlock some of the country's foreign reserves — currently frozen by the United States — following a devastating earthquake in June, with the United States looking for assurances the money would go to help the population.
After taking over Afghanistan in July 2021, the Taliban sought international recognition but Western nations are reluctant to do so, citing humanitarian issues and freedom of expression.
READ MORE: US, Taliban discuss foreign reserves, aid for earthquake-hit Afghanistan
READ MORE: Russia hints it may recognise Taliban govt in Afghanistan
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
