Pakistani court bars government from 'harassing' Hafiz Saeed
Islamabad: The Lahore High Court on Thursday ordered government authorities to not "harass" banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief and 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and allow him to continue his "social welfare activities".
The founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) alleged in a petition that the government was interfering in his party's welfare projects because it had bowed down to pressure from India and the US, Dawn online reported.
The petition argued that barring an organisation or party from indulging in charity work was against the Constitution.
Justice Ameenud Din Khan, who heard the petition filed by lawyer A.K. Dogar on Saeed's behalf, also directed the authorities to submit their responses by April 23.
Saeed had filed a nearly identical petition through Dogar before the same judge in March. That time, Justice Khan had directed the federal and provincial governments to submit their responses by April 27.
However, due to the similar nature of both petitions, the court decided to club the cases.
After hearing Saeed's arguments in Thursday's hearing, Justice Khan issued notices to the federal and provincial governments again, directing them to file their replies. The hearing was subsequently adjourned until April 23.
On January 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan had barred JuD and several other such organisations named in a list of banned outfits by the UN Security Council from collecting donations in the country.
The federal government had followed suit on February 12, with President Mamnoon Hussain amending the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 1997 and issuing the amended Anti-Terrorism Ordinance, 2018, following which the personnel banned by the UN stood banned in Pakistan as well.
Earlier this week, the US designated LeT's political front, the Milli Muslim League (MML), as well as another front organisation, the Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK), as foreign terrorist groups.
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India, US trade team to start three-day talks from Dec 10: Sources
New Delhi (PTI): India and the United States will commence three-day talks on the first phase of their proposed bilateral trade agreement here from December 10, sources said.
The visit is crucial as India and the US are working to finalise the first tranche of the pact.
"The three-day talks will start on December 10. It will conclude on December 12, and it is not a formal round of talks," said one of the sources.
The US team will be led by Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Rick Switzer.
This visit of the US officials marks their second trip since the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff and an additional 25 per cent penalty on Indian goods entering the American market due to the purchase of Russian crude oil.
On September 16, the US officials last visited India.
On September 22, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also led an official delegation to the US for trade talks. Goyal had also visited Washington in May.
While the USA's chief negotiator for the pact is Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, the Indian side is led by Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain.
The talks are also important as Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has recently stated that India is hopeful of reaching a framework trade deal with the US this year itself, which should address the tariff issue to the benefit of Indian exporters.
While noting that the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) will take time, Agrawal has added that India is engaged in protracted negotiations with the US on a framework trade deal that will address the reciprocal tariff challenge faced by Indian exporters.
India and the US are having two parallel negotiations -- one on a framework trade deal to address tariffs and another on a comprehensive trade deal.
In February, leaders of the two countries directed officials to negotiate an agreement.
It was planned to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall of 2025. So far, six rounds of negotiations have been held. The agreement aims to more than double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030, from the current USD 191 billion.
The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion (USD 86.5 billion exports).
The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent of its imports, and 10.73 per cent of its total merchandise trade.
According to exporters, the agreement is important as India's merchandise exports to the US declined for the second consecutive month in October, falling by 8.58 per cent to USD 6.3 billion due to the hefty tariffs imposed by Washington.
