ISLAMABAD, 06 December 2021, (TON): At the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Belgium Sophie Wilmes, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be visiting Brussels from 6-8 December 2021.

According to the Office of the Foreign Office Spokesperson “Pakistan and Belgium enjoy a cordial and friendly relationship, based on shared values of democracy, pluralism, mutual respect, and close cooperation.”

Over the years, the partnership has grown stronger in diverse fields, including political, economic, trade, education and culture, and people-to-people contacts. With a trade volume of US $982 million, Belgium is the fifth largest trading partner of Pakistan in the EU.

As a key component of the visit, the Foreign Minister will co-chair the 6th round of Pakistan-EU Strategic Dialogue with EU High Representative and Vice President Josep Borrell.

NAYPYITAW, 06 December 2021, (TON): The Civilian's Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM) announced on 4 December that they will control and examine ships entering and leaving Myaung town, Sagaing Region through five ports along the Chindwin River.

They issued a statement saying that during the scrutiny, products related to the military council will be confiscated as public property and will be shared as the expenses of the civilian defense forces and residents of Myaung.

Moreover, the responsible port officers of the People's Defense Force will take effective action against uncooperative vessels.

A spokesperson from CDSOM told media “our guerrilla forces will control five checkpoints along the Chindwin River.”

He reported “two ships and 15 crew members, including the military-owned Shwe Vyine Phyu ship, were detained at around 1 pm on 3 December.”

NEW DELHI, 06 December 2021, (TON): While bilateral relations with Pakistan are still frozen, India and Pakistan continue to engage under the banner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political and security group that is playing an increasingly important role in Afghanistan and the US -Disposition.

On a rare visit by high-ranking Pakistani government officials, a delegation from Islamabad arrived on Sunday to take part in a cybersecurity conference of the SCO states, the India on the 7th SCO terrorist exercise aimed at promoting cooperation between member states.

The cyber security conference is being organized by the Indian Secretariat of the National Security Council (NSCS), which recently also hosted a regional NSA meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.

The 4 Central Asian countries, which are also full members of the SCO, took part in the Indian Afghanistan Conference, which, according to the government, reflected the regional consensus on important issues of regional stability and security.

With the exception of China and Pakistan, all full SCO members, including Russia, attended the conference.

Official sources said “the invitation to Pakistan to attend the conference was in line with the SCO’s charter. In their efforts to address security threats and challenges, SCO states are currently considering establishing an SCO information security center in Kazakhstan.”

NEW DELHI, 06 December 2021, (TON): Protesters have burned army vehicles after more than a dozen villagers were shot and killed by soldiers, who thought the villagers were “militants”, in India’s Nagaland state.

according to local media reports “Indian security forces opened fire on civilians late on Saturday in India’s remote northeast region, which borders Myanmar.”

The army said in a statement on Sunday “Based on a credible intelligence of likely movement of insurgents, a specific operation was planned to be conducted.”

It said that the incident and its aftermath is deeply regretted. The cause of the unfortunate loss of lives is being investigated at the highest level and appropriate action will be taken as per the course of law.

Nagaland police officer Sandeep M Tamgadge said that the “situation in entire Mon district is very tense right now” and confirmed 13 deaths.

Nagaland’s chief minister Neiphiu Rio told media “a probe will be conducted and punishment meted out to guilty parties in the incident, which he ascribed to intelligence failure.”

He tweeted “the unfortunate incident leading to the killing of civilians at Oting is highly condemnable.”

India government requests increased testing for new variant.

ISLAMABAD, 05 December 2021, (TON): Pakistan announced to host an extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC countries on December 19, with core objectives of highlighting the need for urgent assistance and mobilization of resources to avert a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in war-torn Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said at a news conference here “if we don’t pay timely attention, half of Afghanistan’s population or 22.8 million people can face food shortage and 3.2 million children may face malnutrition. This is the magnitude which we and the world should understand.”

He said “considering the gravity of the situation, Pakistan made an effort and moved ahead to host the international event realizing that, if not addressed timely, the situation would have dire consequences for Afghanistan, its neighbors as well as the whole region.”

He said “the country could face an economic collapse if the frozen assets were not released to cope with the burgeoning needs.”

He said “such an extraordinary session OIC FMs on Afghanistan situation would be held after 41 years with the first held in 1980.”

He said “besides the foreign ministers of the OIC countries, Pakistan also invited the special representatives of P-5 countries including the US, China, Russia, France and the UK.”

Moreover, the High Representative of the European Union on Foreign Affairs was also invited and that the invitation would also be extended to the World Bank and relevant UN agencies which could assist in the whole process.

KABUL, 05 December 2021, (TON): Afghanistan welcomed Islamabad's decision to allow the use of Afghan trucks for transporting Indian wheat to the war-torn country after crossing into Pakistan via Wagah border in Punjab and travelling to Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders the Afghan province of Nangarhar.

The decision was announced by the Foreign Office and was taken to further facilitate Pakistan’s decision to allow the transport of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and lifesaving medicines from India to Afghanistan on an exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes.

Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan informed Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi of the decision during a meeting with him.

WASHINGTON: A senior State Department official said “Iran walked back any compromises it made in previous talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, pocketed all compromises made by others and asked for more during indirect US-Iranian talks this week.”

The official told reporters on condition of anonymity “Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear programme in provocative ways and China and Russia were taken aback at how far Iran had walked back its proposals in last week's talks in Vienna.”

The indirect US-Iranian talks on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal broke off on Friday as European officials voiced dismay on at sweeping demands by Iran's new, hardline government.

The seventh round of talks in Vienna is the first with delegates sent by Iran's anti-Western President Ebrahim Raisi on how to resuscitate the agreement under which Iran limited its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions.

The senior US official said Iran came with proposals that walked back anything - any of the compromises Iran had floated here in the six rounds of talks, pocket all of the compromises that others, and the US in particular, had made, and then asked for more.”

BAKU: Baku said that Azerbaijan handed over 10 captured Armenian soldiers to Armenia in return for maps detailing the location of landmines in the Karabakh region as part of an exchange mediated by Russia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a ceasefire at their border on Nov 16 after Russia urged them to step back from confrontation following the deadliest clash since a war last year.

Armenia had asked Moscow to help defend it after the worst fighting since a 44-day war last year between ethnic Armenian forces and the Azeri army over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave that killed at least 6,500 people.

In a statement, Azerbaijain's State Security Service said it had handed over 10 Armenian soldiers who were detained on Nov 16 and that Russia had played a mediation role.

MOSCOW: Minsk’s airport said “more than 400 migrants who had traveled to Belarus seeking to cross the border into the EU flew home on an Iraqi Airways plane bound for the city of Irbil in northern Iraq.”

The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus after accusing it of flying in migrants, mostly from the Middle East, and pushing them to illegally cross the Polish border to manufacture a crisis, something Minsk denies.

Minsk airport authorities said “in a statement a Boeing 747-400 would fly 415 adults and four children on Saturday to Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.”

The airport’s website later listed the flight as having departed.

Iraqis who fled seeking economic opportunity and in some cases political asylum began returning to their country last month having failed to get into the EU via a route that people smugglers promised them would work.

TUNIS: Tunisia’s powerful UGTT union called for early elections, saying it was concerned for the country’s democratic gains because of the president’s reluctance to announce a roadmap for political reforms.

UGTT leader Noureddine Taboubi’s comments, in a speech to thousands of his supporters, put more pressure on President Kais Saied, more than four months after he seized all political powers.

Taboubi said “we supported July 25 because it was an opportunity to save the country and implement reforms but we have become afraid for Tunisians’ democratic gains because of the excessive reluctance to announce a roadmap.”

He added that the president should call for a dialogue with political parties and national organizations that includes reviewing the electoral law and agreeing on early and transparent elections.

The UGTT union, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for helping build democracy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring, is a key political player in Tunisia.

Saied suspended parliament and dismissed the government on July 25, installing a new prime minister and announcing he would rule by decree. Critics denounced his move as a coup.