Pakistan Cabinet rejects proposal to import cotton and sugar from India: Minister Shireen Mazari
Islamabad, Apr 1: In a volte-face, Pakistan's Cabinet on Thursday rejected a proposal of its Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to import cotton and sugar from India, according to a Cabinet minister.
"Cabinet stated clearly NO trade with India," Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said in a tweet soon after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday.
"PM made clear there can be no normalisation of relations with India until they reverse" their actions viz Kashmir of August 5 2019, tweeted Mazari, who is known for her hawkish stand on Kashmir.
The Cabinet decision comes a day after Pakistan's new Finance Minister Hammad Azhar on Wednesday announced that the country will lift a nearly-two year long ban on the import of cotton and sugar from India after a meeting of the ECC chaired by him.
Ahead of the Cabinet meeting, Mazari had said that all ECC decisions have to be approved by Cabinet and only then can they be seen as "approved" by the government.
"Just for the record - All ECC decisions have to be approved by Cabinet & only then they can be seen as "approved by govt"! So today in Cabinet there will be discussion on ECC decisions incl trade with India & then govt decision will be taken! Media shd be aware of this atleast!" Mazari tweeted.
Azhar's announcement on Wednesday to import cotton and sugar from India had raised hopes of a partial revival of bilateral trade relations, which were suspended after the August 5, 2019 decision of New Delhi to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
India is the world's biggest producer of cotton and the second biggest sugar manufacturer.
In May 2020, Pakistan had lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material of essential drugs from India amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in Pakistan. Subsequent attacks, including one on an Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship.
The ties strained further after India's war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack in 2019 in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
India's move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August, 2019 angered Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties with India and expelled the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad. Pakistan also snapped all air and land links with India and suspended trade and railway services.
And today Cabinet stated clearly NO trade with India. PM made clear there can be no normalisation of relations with India until they reverse their illegal actions viz IIOJK of 5 Aug 2019. https://t.co/HDWt3kBM3c
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) April 1, 2021
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Osman Hadi murder: Prime accused denies role, claims he was in Dubai
Dubai: The murder case of Bangladeshi student leader Sharif Osman Hadi has taken a new turn after the prime accused, Faisal Karim Masud, publicly denied any involvement in the killing, asserting that he was in Dubai at the time, contradicting earlier claims by Bangladesh police that he had fled to India.
In a video message that has gone viral on social media, the authenticity of which has not been independently verified, Masud rejected the allegations against him and described the case as a fabricated conspiracy. He claimed that a radical political group was responsible for the attack on Hadi and said he had been falsely implicated.
“I am Faisal Karim Masud. I want to state clearly that I am not involved in the murder of Hadi in any way. This case is completely false and based on a fabricated conspiracy,” Masud said in the video. He added that he was forced to leave Bangladesh and travel to Dubai due to the allegations, despite holding a valid five-year multiple-entry visa for the UAE.
Masud acknowledged that he had visited Hadi’s office shortly before the shooting but maintained that their relationship was purely professional. Describing himself as a businessman who owns an IT firm and a former employee of the Ministry of Finance, Masud said he had approached Hadi regarding a job opportunity. According to him, Hadi sought an advance payment of 500,000 taka for arranging the job and also requested donations for various programmes, which he said he provided.
The accused further alleged that his family members were being harassed and falsely implicated in the case. “They have no involvement whatsoever. This kind of inhumane treatment of my family is unjust and unacceptable, and I strongly protest against it,” he said.
Masud also accused Jamaat-linked elements of orchestrating Hadi’s killing, claiming the student leader was targeted by “Jamaati elements” and that he and his younger brother were deliberately framed. A photograph purportedly showing Masud’s UAE visa has also circulated widely online.
Earlier, Bangladesh police had stated that Masud and another accused, Alamgir Sheikh, fled the country after the killing and entered India through the Meghalaya border. Media reports in Bangladesh claimed the two crossed over via the Haluaghat border in Mymensingh district and were currently in India. India, however, has firmly denied any connection between the accused and its territory, calling the allegations a false narrative being pushed by extremist elements.
Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in Bangladesh’s student uprising last year, was shot in the head by masked gunmen in Dhaka on December 12 and succumbed to his injuries six days later at a hospital in Singapore. He had emerged as a prominent leader during the student-led protests that culminated in the end of Sheikh Hasina’s rule.
