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Friday, March 1, 2019 Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Friday announced that Pakistan will not attend the two-day 46th session of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Abu Dhabi. Advertising The announcement comes a day after Qureshi requested the host — UAE — to review the decision on inviting India to the conclave. Pakistan had Wednesday officially conveyed to the OIC that it may have to boycott the foreign ministers’ conclave if the invitation extended to the Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to be guest of honour at its inaugural session is not withdrawn. “The United Arab Emirates officials had responded saying that when the invitation was extended, the Pulwama attack had not happened and that it would be hard to retract the invitation,” said Qureshi during the joint session of parliament on Friday as quoted by Dawn. ...

  MARCH 01, 2019 00:02 IST    Happymon Jacob India and Pakistan need to find a way to keep de-escalating tensions without either losing face The possibility of the ongoing India-Pakistan military stand-off spiralling out of control cannot be overstated, given the high stakes involved with regard to national reputations, military redlines and, most undeniably, domestic political considerations. The limited air  war  over the Line of Control (LoC), shooting down of each other’s aircraft and, equally importantly, the capture of an Indian fighter pilot by Pakistan have further complicated what was initially believed to be a crisis that might not go beyond round one (the terror attack in Pulwama and the Indian air strikes on Balakot). With Wednesday’s limited air war, the two sides completed round two, and it’s been anyone’s guess what round three may entail. Thursday’s late evening joint press briefing by the three services gave no definite indication of de-e...

MARCH 01, 2019 00:02  s y qURESHI Abrupt postponement, chaos at polling stations and violence, all contributed to the lowest ever general election turnout Nigeria has just had its general  election,  its sixth since its return to democracy. Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), by about four million votes. Despite pre-election promises of accepting the result, Mr. Abubakar has rejected the results, calling the election a “sham” and “militarised” and deciding to question it in court. There were 73 registered candidates in the fray. There are 91 registered political parties. Election data With a population of nearly 200 million,  Nigeria  is the most populous country in Africa, accounting for 47% of west Africa’s population. It comprises more than 300 ethnic groups. The numbers of Muslims and Christians are almost equal though the f...

MARCH 01, 2019 00:02 IST The drama over Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif’s moves reflects an ideological tussle A day after posting his resignation on Instagram, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was compelled to resume duties when President Hassan Rouhani rejected it. This sudden move by Mr. Zarif, who is widely credited with playing a key role in forging the nuclear deal in 2015, reflects the tensions within the Iranian political establishment. The U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal after Donald Trump became President, and the reintroduction of American sanctions on  Iran,  have sharpened contradictions between the hardliners and the moderates within the Islamic Republic, an ideological tussle that has endured for a long time. Hardliners opposed to any thaw in relations with the West, and who were always sceptical of the nuclear deal, have found in the current circumstances an opportunity to question and critique the architects of the deal. Mr. Zarif’s ...

Afghanistan has complained to the United Nations about violations of its territory by Pakistan’s military, including shelling of Afghan territory, violation of its airspace by military aircraft and construction of military posts and barriers on its soil. The complaint was made in a letter sent by Afghanistan’s deputy permanent representative at the world body, Nazifullah Salarzai, to the president of the UN Security Council on February 22. The latest letter said the Pakistan military’s violation of Afghan territory dated back to 2012 though the “scope and frequency of these unlawful and unjustifiable acts have increased dramatically since 2017”. These actions, including shelling of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, have led to the “death and maiming of scores of innocent Afghan civilians...and destruction of public and private properties” and amount to a “grave breach of the UN Charter (and) international humanitarian law”. The Afghan letter said concerns about the violations ha...

The Trump administration’s plan to sell nuclear technologies to the Saudi Arabian regime is a case study in the decay of American imperial power, the essential corruption of the Trump White House and the self-serving and reckless character of the military-industrial complex. After two years of this administration, it is shocking, if unsurprising, that President Trump shows flagrant disregard for the law, is hypocritical with regard to his claimed desire to ‘drain the swamp’ of big money lobbying and is enabling the intensified militarisation of great power geopolitical rivalries. In so doing, Trump has accelerated longer-term trends begun under successive previous presidents since the end of Second World War. He has declared the return of great power global rivalries, with China and Russia as the biggest threats to US power. But Trump is not alone in this drive to further destabilisation: the Saudis have also shortlisted Russia, China, France and South Korea to bid for nuclea...