United Nations: In an absurd move, while the United Nations Security Council was debating maritime security and expressing concern over terrorism on the seas, Pakistan tried to bring up a river issue, the Indus water.
Without directly naming India but referring to it as “one major country”, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said it “displayed a concerning propensity to usurp and weaponize shared natural resources -- including transboundary rivers -- in flagrant breach of treaty obligations and the principles of good neighbourliness”.
After the terrorist group, The Resistance Front, based in and backed by Pakistan, massacred 26 people in Pahalgam last month, India put the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance. Smarting under the action, Ahmad said India was “leveraging geography” to "the detriment of the lower riparian state that is Pakistan”.
By avoiding mentioning by name, and using innuendos, he tried to avoid India using the right of reply to expose the assertions. India’s Permanent Representative P Harish, who spoke in the session, contemptuously ignored it. Ahmad also rued Pakistan's exclusion from the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and described India’s naval superiority as aggressive naval expansion.
Army Chief Asim Munir promoted as Field MarshalThe Pakistan Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has announced its decision to promote the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir to Field Marshal. "The government approved the promotion of COAS General Munir to the rank of Field Marshal for ensuring the security of the country and defeating the enemy via best strategy and courageous leadership during 'Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos'," Geo News reported, adding that General Munir has been rewarded for his "brilliant military leadership, bravery, and commitment to defending Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity". The 11th Army Chief of Pakistan, General Munir, 57, will become only the second five-star field officer in the country's 78-year-old history. The only Field Marshal in Pakistan so far was military ruler, Ayub Khan, who promoted himself to the top rank in 1959, soon after seizing power. |
