Islamabad, Sep 29 (PTI) In a big legal victory for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, its vice president Maryam Nawaz was on Thursday acquitted by a high court in a corruption case.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) accepted her appeal and that of her husband Muhammad Safdar who had challenged their convictions by an anti-corruption court in the Avenfield property case in July 2018.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani hearing their appeals said the opinion of the investigating officer could not be considered as evidence.

“The joint investigation team did not present any facts, it just collected information,” Justice Kayani observed.

At the conclusion of the case, the bench held that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the prosecutor in the case, failed to establish the charges of corruption.

The Thursday’s verdict has paved way for Maryam to be eligible to contest elections.

Lawyer Mirza Moiz Baig said: “A person who has been convicted of a crime involving corruption or moral turpitude is disqualified from contesting elections unless a period of five years has lapsed since their release.” “While the Supreme Court has, in the case of Samiullah Baloch, held that a disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) continues for life, a disqualification under Article 63(1)(g) isn’t incurable,” he explained.

“Maryam Nawaz, unlike her father, was never declared to fall short of the requirements enshrined under Article 62(1)(f). To the contrary, the only bar to her contesting elections was her conviction in the Avenfield — properties in London — reference. With the conviction being overturned by the Islamabad High Court, Maryam Nawaz’s candidature for an election to the Parliament will no longer trigger Article 63(1)(g),” he added.

Maryam in a brief chat with the media outside the court said they had been “vindicated”.

As she talked to the media, she also spoke to her father Nawaz Sharif in London and also received another call from her uncle Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who congratulated her on her acquittal.

The Prime Minister later in his reaction to the verdict said the “edifice of lies, slander and character assassination” had come crumbling down.

“Maryam’s acquittal in the Avenfield reference is a slap in the face of the so-called accountability system that was employed to target the Sharif family. My congratulations to Maryam beti (daughter) and Safdar,” he tweeted.

While Maryam and her husband were convicted along with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, the elder Sharif was handed down 10 years in jail, Maryam sentenced to seven years in prison, and her husband was sentenced to one year in prison.

They had filed appeals against their conviction before the IHC in the second week of August 2018 and the court had on September 18 the same year suspended their sentences and released them on bail.

The elder Sharif’s appeal is still pending as has been living in London and failed to appear before the court despite being given several opportunities.

Overturning the conviction of his daughter, however, opens a window for him to come back and get his bail processed with the hope to get relief. PTI 

The bullish sentiment on India was on clear display, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Tuesday after holding a meeting with business executives here.

US India Business Council (USIBC) president Atul Keshap thanked Jaishankar for sharing "such keen insights" with its members. "We all found it very useful and instructive," he said.

"The bullish sentiment on India was on clear display. Shared the conviction that stronger business links will further galvanize our relationship," Jaishankar said in a tweet after his meeting with the business executives and USIBC members.

"The bullish sentiment on India was on clear display. Shared the conviction that stronger business links will further galvanize our relationship," Jaishankar said in a tweet after his meeting with the business executives and USIBC members.

Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the US is India's largest trading partner, with USD 157 billion last year in bilateral trade.

"We're India's largest source of foreign direct investment, with a diverse range of US companies investing USD 45 billion in India – Google, Microsoft, Whirlpool, Boeing, GE, and I could go on," he said.

"But we see more room to grow, and to do it in a way that creates jobs for workers in both of our countries. The US-India Commercial Dialogue, the US-India CEO Forum will give us more opportunities to do that in the months ahead," he noted.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House and discussed ways to strengthen, deepen the India-US strategic partnership and advance a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

Jaishankar, who is on a four-day official trip to Washington, also discussed Ukraine's conflict with Sullivan on Tuesday. "Met today with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar to discuss our shared efforts to deepen the US-India strategic partnership, mitigate the impacts of Russia's war in Ukraine, and advance a free, open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific., Sullivan said in a tweet.

The US, India and several other world powers have been discussing the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.

Jaishankar said they discussed the Ukraine conflict and its repercussions, the Indo-Pacific situation, South Asia and the Gulf. Exchanged views on addressing the current global economic volatility, the minister said in a tweet.

Good to meet US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Jaishankar said. Earlier in the day, the minister met Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko of Papua New Guinea.

Spoke about our ongoing cooperation with the Pacific Islands. Discussed next steps for taking it forward in the coming days, he said.

Washington,(PTI) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has underlined the need to “modernise” the UN Security Council by making it more inclusive and increasing the number of permanent seats in the global body, a “long-standing” goal of India.

India has been at the forefront of efforts at the UN to push for urgent long-pending reform of the Security Council, emphasising that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.

“We recognise that to meet the challenges we face, members of the UN must not only uphold the charter but also modernise the institution, including by making the Security Council more inclusive,” Blinken told reporters at a joint news conference with visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

“That’s why, in his address to the General Assembly, President (Joe) Biden expressed his support for increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives of the Security Council, a long-standing goal of India,” he said on Tuesday.

“This includes permanent seats for those nations we’ve long supported, and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean,” the top American diplomat said.

At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries can veto any substantive resolution. There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.

Jaishankar, who arrived here from New York where he attended the UN General Assembly Sessions, said the reform of the UN is a particularly topical subject.

“We appreciate the positive approach of the US to this issue reflected in the position articulated by President Biden himself. We look forward to working with the US to take this further,” he said.

“I also expressed appreciation at the strong cooperation that we have got from the US on the question of tackling international terrorism. In particular, I refer to the listing of well-known and wanted terrorists by the UN sanction process. In many other formats too, our two countries collaborate to keep the world safer and more secure,” Jaishankar said.

In New York, S Jaishankar on Sunday said that terrorism should not be used as a “political tool” and the idea that something is blocked without assigning a reason challenges common sense.

China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, has repeatedly put holds on listing proposals by India, the US and other allies to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions regime of the Council.

Last week, China put a hold on a proposal moved at the United Nations by the US and co-supported by India to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, as a global terrorist.

Last month, China put a hold on a proposal by the US and India at the United Nations to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar and a senior leader of the Pakistan-based terror organisation. Abdul Rauf Azhar, born in 1974 in Pakistan, was sanctioned by the US in December 2010.

In June this year, China had put a hold, at the last moment, on a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council. PTI

Washington, (PTI) The importance of managing a "responsible relationship" with India and addressing the debt issue with China so that Pakistan can recover more quickly from the impact of the devastating floods were the key focus of the talks between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

During the meeting at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department on Monday, Blinken also said US and Pakistan will continue to work closely on counterterrorism issues.

“In our discussion today, we talked about the importance of managing a responsible relationship with India, and I also urged our colleagues to engage China on some of the important issues of debt relief and restructure so that Pakistan can more quickly recover from the floods,” Blinken said at an event here to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of US-Pakistan relations.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.The ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.

Following India’s decision, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian envoy. Trade ties between Pakistan and India have largely been frozen since then.

Blinken said they also spoke about the importance of meeting their commitments as democracies, upholding core values like respect for freedom of religion, belief, freedom of expression.

On his part, Bilawal said the Pakistan-US relationship is not only resilient, but also stood the test of time.

“We have proved throughout history that when we work together, we achieve great things. And I believe that when we don’t work together, then we fumble, then we falter, then things go wrong,” he said.

Underlining that the two countries will continue to work closely on counterterrorism issues, Blinken said the US and Pakistan have a shared stake in Afghanistan’s future after two decades of war.

"We’ve had our differences; that’s no secret. But we share a common objective: a more stable, a more peaceful, and free future for all of Afghanistan and for those across the broader region.

“We’ll continue to work together toward that end as well as support the basic human rights of the Afghan people, especially women and girls,” he said.

Ahead of his meeting with Bilawal, Blinken told reporters that the US stands in solidarity with Pakistani people who have been suffering due to the devastating flood in recent weeks.

“There is tremendous focus right now on the truly devastating floods that Pakistan has experienced, and we stand in strong solidarity with our friends in Pakistan...and not only stand in solidarity, but we are also doing everything we can to be of assistance in this moment just as Pakistan has been of assistance to us, including at the beginning of COVID,” he said.

Later in a readout, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said during the meeting between the two leaders, Blinken expressed sorrow over the devastation and loss of life throughout Pakistan caused by catastrophic flooding.

“He reaffirmed the US commitment to the people of Pakistan, noting the nearly USD 56.5 million in flood relief and humanitarian assistance provided this year as well as the additional USD10 million of food security assistance announced today,” Price said.

The two leaders also discussed partnering on food security and issues related to economic prosperity, regional stability, and Afghanistan, he said. PTI

Washington, (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin have agreed that the global situation this year has become more challenging, especially due to the challenges in the Indo-Pacific, and underscored the need to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, in particular the defence ties.

The remarks came amidst China's increasingly intimidatory behaviour in the region.

Jaishankar is here in the American Capital for bilateral consultations with several US Cabinet ministers, including his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“I do share with you that the global situation has become far more challenging this year (due to) a variety of reasons, the Indo-Pacific in particular," Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the top of his meeting with Austin at the Pentagon here on Monday.

"It is important that the stability, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific should be secured. That is best done amongst others by cooperation between two countries," he said.

Welcoming the External Affairs Minister to the Pentagon, Austin said sustaining the region's security is especially important.

“In recent months, we have seen the PRC (People’s Republic of China) intensify its efforts to challenge the rules-based international court from its unprecedented provocations in the Taiwan Strait to its actions in its neighbourhood,” he said.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.

Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.

“The PRC continues to support Russia amid its unprovoked and cruel invasion of Ukraine. So we face sustained challenges to peace, security and prosperity in the region and beyond. But they only reaffirm the importance of our partnership,” Austin said.

“I'm grateful for your friendship. And we work together toward our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. And I look forward to a great discussion,” he added.

Referring to his recent conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Austin said these conversations reinforce the growing depth, breadth and ambition of the partnership between the two nations.

“This partnership is moving from strength to strength. Today, we are positioning the US and Indian militaries to operate and coordinate more closely together than ever. We are taking significant steps to deepen our defence cooperation from stronger information sharing and defence industrial ties to cooperation in emerging defence domains, including through the launch of a new dialogue later this year," Austin said.

“All this will help ensure that our militaries are ready,” he added.

“The United States and India, along with a dozen other Indo-Pacific partners, pushing to expand our region's prosperity for the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum. And through our deepening cooperation with Japan and Australia, we are delivering on the issues that matter the most to the region, from entering infrastructure development to maritime security,” Austin said.

Jaishankar said he believes that defence and security cooperation are the “bedrock of our contemporary” relationship.

This has been expressed in closer policy exchange in coordination with policies on very important and sensitive challenges to growing defence trade and stronger defense industrial collaboration and military exercises, he said.

“But, the ripple impact of our defence cooperation, I think, has a larger beneficiary implication on our relationship,” Jaishankar said.

Earlier, Jaishankar was received at the riverside entrance of the Pentagon by Austin and was accorded an honour cordon by the US military.

During the honour cordon, visitors are greeted at the Pentagon stairs and welcomed with handshakes, before proceeding inside the building.

Accompanying him were India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and other senior Indian officials. The Indian delegations were served cookies with flags of India and the United States on them. PTI LKJ NSA.

China’s ruling Communist Party on Sunday announced it had chosen the 2,296 delegates who will attend an all-important twice-a-decade national congress on October 16 that is expected to further bolster President Xi Jinping’s sway over the party.

The Party said the delegates were “elected in accordance with the Party Constitution” and “under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, referring to the Chinese leader’s official ideology which has already been written into the Party Constitution.

The week-long congress, which is likely to mark the start of an unprecedented third five-year term for Mr. Xi, will pass several amendments to the Party Constitution, some of which will further enshrine Mr. Xi’s status in the party on a par with former leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

Core status

Among considered constitutional amendments is a move to officially mark Mr. Xi’s status as a “core” of the party leadership and to require all Party members to commit to upholding Mr. Xi’s “core” status as well as ideology.

Announcing the congress delegates, the official People’s Daily in an editorial said the “Congress will be a congress of unity… under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core”.

Sound plans

“The congress will lay out sound plans on the targets, tasks and major policies for the cause of the Party and the country in the next five years and beyond,” the paper said, adding that the event “will take stock of the Party’s work over the past five years, as well as major achievements and valuable experience of the Party’s Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in uniting and leading the whole Party and Chinese people”.

The delegates, who will approve the amendments to the Constitution and other policies by “voting” — although the approvals are a foregone conclusion at such events — include representatives from different government Ministries and the military, as well as figures involved in science and technology, culture and sport.

Among the military’s delegates to the congress is the PLA commander in Galwan Valley who was involved and injured in the June 2020 clash and was later given honours by the Central Military Commission, which Mr. Xi heads.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday it summoned Britain's ambassador to protest what it described as a hostile atmosphere created by London-based Farsi language media outlets. The move comes amid violent unrest in Iran triggered by the death of a young woman in police custody.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported the ministry also summoned Norway’s ambassador to Iran and strongly protested recent remarks by the president of the Norwegian parliament, Masud Gharahkhani.

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody after being detained by Iranian morality police launched unrest across Iran’s provinces and the capital of Tehran.

Protests over Amini’s death have spread across at least 46 cities, towns and villages in Iran. State TV has suggested that at least 41 protesters and police have been killed since the protests began Sept. 17. An Associated Press count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 13 dead, with more than 1,200 demonstrators arrested.

Running clashes between demonstrators and security forces have continued to erupt. A member of the Basij, a volunteer force with Iran's Guards, was killed by protesters last night in Tehran, semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday. Another Basij member, who was in a coma since Thursday after street clashes, died in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province on Sunday, IRNA reported.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry's website said it summoned Simon Shercliff, the U.K.'s ambassador to Iran, on Saturday and protested the hosting of critical Farsi-language media outlets. The ministry alleges the news outlets have provoked disturbances and the spread of riots in Iran at the top of their programs.

Iran said it considers the news agencies' reporting to be interference in Iran's internal affairs and acts against its sovereignty.

The crisis in Iran began as a public outpouring of anger over the the death of Amini, who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her Islamic headscarf too loosely. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.

Amini’s death has sparked sharp condemnation from Western countries and the United Nations, as well as protests in solidarity abroad. On Sunday, violent street demonstrations erupted outside the Iranian embassy in London, with rocks thrown at police and five protesters arrested. A number of police officers were injured in the skirmishes though none seriously.

Pro-government rallies were also held on Sunday in several cities across Iran. Thousands attended a rally in the capital's Enghelab, or Revolution Square, waving Iranian flags. Some officials, including cabinet spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, attended to the rally in Tehran.

India’s dependence on Russian defence equipment and the strong defence ties with Moscow is not because New Delhi did not approach the US to get those from the United States, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Sunday.

"One of the changes in our relationships has actually been the defence cooperation which has really come about in this current form maybe the last 15 years,” Jaishankar told Indian Americans here during an interactive discussion with him organized by the US India Friendship Council and Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies.

“From 1965 pretty much for the next 40 years, there was no US defence equipment to India. This was, in fact, a period when the India Soviet, India Russia relationship became very strong,” he said.

“This was not due to a lack of trying on India’s part. I can vouch for it myself. I’ve had my relatives, my father, my grandfather, they worked with the defence ministry. So, I know firsthand what great efforts were made over those years to try to make the US understand that it was in American interest to have a strong, united, independent, prosperous India,” Jaishankar said.

“At that time, they did not succeed, maybe the state of the world was such,” he noted. “The change that started was really triggered by the nuclear deal that removed a very big obstacle to go forward and then to actually take the relationship to a new level requires leadership in India,” that did not had reservations.

“It takes two hands to clap. It was not just that all the problems are on the American side they were visitations on the Indian side as well,” he said.

“So we also have to address the institutions on our side. I think today, the relationship is on a very different footing. We have possibility of working together in many more areas, especially the security domain. Some of our major exercises are with the American military. We fly a number of American planes today, the C 17,

Very bullish on the future of India-US relationship, he said: “I think there are really deep convergences, which will sustain it over many, many years” the minister said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday took a dog on the mainstream American media, including The Washington Post, for their 'biased' coverage of India.

"I look at the media. You know, there are some newspapers you know, exactly, what they are going to write including one in this town," Jaishankar told a gathering of Indian-Americans from across the country amidst laughter and applause.

The prestigious Washington Post is the national daily published from Washington DC and is currently owned by Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

"My point is there are biases, there are efforts really, to determine, . Look the more India goes its way and the people who believe that they were the custodians and the shapers of India lose ground in India the more actually, some of these debaters gonna come outside," Jaishankar said responding to a question on the increase in anti-Indian forces in this country.

Such groups, he asserted, are "not winning in India." Such groups, the minister noted, will try and win outside or try and shape India from outside.

"This is something which we need to be aware of. It is important to contest. It isn't because most Americans will not know what sort of the nuances and the complexities of back home, so, it's important not to sit back, not to let other people define me. That is something which I feel as a community is very important for us," he said.

Responding to a question on misrepresentation of the Kashmir issue in the American capital, the External Affairs Minister said if there is a terrorist incident, it doesn't matter what faith the person who's killed belongs to; if there are Indian soldiers or Indian policemen who are abducted; If there are people working for the government, or citizens going about their business, who will lose their lives.

"How often do you hear people talking about it; pronouncing it, in fact, look at the media coverage. What does the media cover what does the media not cover? That is how actually opinions and perceptions are shaped," he said.

"There is a big song and dance about the Internet being cut. Now, if you've reached the stage where you say an Internet cut is more dangerous than the loss of human lives, then what can I say?" Jaishankar said amidst applause from the audience.

"If you look at A (Article) 370-issue. What was a temporary provision of the Constitution was finally put to rest. This was supposed to be an act of majority. This was supposed to be majoritarian. Tell me what was happening in Kashmir was not majoritarian?, I think the way facts are slanted, things are laid out. What is right, what is wrong is confused. This is actually politics at work," he said.

"We should not let it go. We should contest it. We should educate. We should shape the narrative. This is a competitive world. We need to get our messages out. That is my message to you," he said.

"We are not serving our country well or our beliefs well, or even our sense of what is right and wrong, but by staying out of these debates. I think we have opinions we must express them. We must share it with people, we must educate others on what is right and what is wrong.

"I honestly believe that if you look at the whole 370 the Jammu and Kashmir situation, to me it's mind-boggling. Something whose merits were so obvious, there should actually even be people who would think different way,” he said.