DNA

ISLAMABAD, MAY 3 – Prime Minister Imran Khan met the Islamabad-based Ambassadors of countries belonging to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) today.

Recalling the two letters addressed by him to the leaders of the Islamic world last year, the Prime Minister briefed the envoys on Pakistan’s efforts at the international level to create awareness about Islamophobia and the need to collectively address the phenomenon.

The Prime Minister stressed that Pakistan’s initiatives were aimed at building mutual understanding and promoting inter-faith harmony.

Noting that Islamophobic acts fan inter-religious hatred and disharmony among civilizations, the Prime Minister called for addressing the underlying reasons for the rise in such incidents worldwide. Falsely equating Islam with radicalism and terrorism, he added, was leading to the marginalization and stigmatization of Muslims.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the vilification of Islamic precepts and religious personalities, wrongly justified under the garb of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, hurts the sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.

The Prime Minister urged the OIC to work together for making the international community understand the deep-rooted love and reverence of all Muslims for the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and the Holy Quran.

The Prime Minister also underlined the need for instituting legal safeguards aimed at protecting the sensitivities of all religious groups. He underscored the imperative of OIC’s collective efforts to project the true image of Islam, and its message of peace and tolerance.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed that Pakistan remained committed to dialogue and cooperation with all members of the international community for promoting universal values of tolerance, mutual respect and peaceful co-existence among all nations and peoples.

DNA

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan welcomed the recent ceasefire agreement between the governments of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. We remain confident that both countries would be able to resolve the issue amicably through dialogue and peaceful means.

The European Union has summoned Russia‘s ambassador after Moscow blacklisted eight EU officials in retaliation for the bloc’s decision to impose sanctions over the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The Russian list announced Friday includes European Parliament President David Sassoli and Vera Jourova, a vice president of the European Commission whose brief includes rule of law issues and disinformation.

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said that Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov would meet in Brussels later Monday with senior EU officials who “will convey to him our strong condemnation and rejection of this decision.”

Stano said the Russian-imposed travel bans are “obviously very politically motivated and lack any legal justification. They are groundless.” He said that “this all shows that Russia is determined to continue the hostile track of confrontation.”

Russia‘s foreign ministry has accused the EU of wanting to punish Moscow for its “independent foreign and domestic policies” and of trying to limit its development with “unlawful restrictions.”

EU foreign ministers will discuss tensions with Russia when they meet on May 10. The 27-nation bloc’s heads of state and government will also take up the issue at their summit on May 25.

The EU in March imposed sanctions on six Russian officials involved in the imprisonment of Navalny, who is Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s most vociferous opponent.

Navalny was arrested in January upon his return from Germany where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin — accusations that Russian officials reject. European labs have confirmed that Navalny was poisoned.

WASHINGTON, MAY 03 (DNA) – A prominent Kashmir advocacy organization has called for international solidarity for human rights and freedom of expression of the people in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), saying there is no press freedom in the disputed territory.

“The Indian government uses internet blackouts, police raids, and traumatic intimidation tactics on activists, journalists and civilians to crush dissent and shield its brutal military occupation and demographic engineering,” the Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum said in a statement marking World Press Freedom Day, which is being observed on Monday.

“At the same time,” tit said, “the regime’s followers employ virulent online harassment to silence and discredit those who speak out, study and report on Kashmir from abroad.”

Denouncing their actions, the Forum said the extrajudicial killings, torture, disappearances, displacement and sexual violence that Kashmiris endure must be brought to light and accounted for.

“Access to widespread, reliable information is a matter of life or death for more than 13 million Kashmiris, and is essential in the struggle for a just solution.” Noting that UNESCO established World Press Freedom Day in 1991, recognizing that ‘a free, pluralist and independent press is an essential component of any democratic society.’

“Thirty years later, “, the World Kashmir Awareness Forum said, “it is unconscionable for India to declare itself the world’s largest democracy when it aggressively censors and retaliates against reporting on Kashmir.

 “We, Kashmiris, implore the international community to unite in defense of our human rights and freedom of expression,” the forum said. “This will require advocacy and bravery from the international press, and diplomatic commitment from the world’s leading democracies.” = DNA

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Islamabad, May 3, 2021: President Dr Arif Alvi has called for promoting Knowledge-Economy and digitalization of Government organizations to enhance the efficiency of work and service delivery. He said that Pakistan was blessed with immense talent and resources and the government was making serious efforts to channelize this potential in the right direction. The President stated this while talking to a delegation of Huawei, led by the Vice President of Huawei Middle East Region, Mr.Spacelee, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, today.

The meeting was attended by Secretary M/o Science and Technology, Dr Arshad Mahmood, Secretary M/o Federal Education and Professional Training, Mrs Farah Hamid, Additional Secretary M/o IT&T, Mr Ali Sher Mehsud, Huawei Pakistan CEO Mr.Mark Meng, other senior officials of the Government while the Chairman PM’s Task Force on Science and Technology Dr Atta-ur-Rehman attended the meeting via video link.

Mr.Spacelee gave a presentation about the role of his organization in the promotion of IT Skills in Pakistan. He informed that Huawei had contributed to Pakistan’s economy by providing 10,000 jobs and paying $120 Million in taxes to the Government from 2018 to 2020, besides spending $6 Million to support disaster-relief efforts of the government. He highlighted that his organization had contributed to Pakistan’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) talent by providing 10,000 certifications till 2020.  Mr.Spacelee informed that the M/o IT&T in collaboration with Huawei would train over 1,000 Government employees to achieve Digital Pakistan initiative. He apprised the meeting that government officials would be registered and enrolled for training programs which would be conducted through Huawei Experts.

Huawei Pakistan CEO Mr.Mark Meng added that Huawei will collaborate with the public and private sectors in Pakistan to create an ICT ecosystem that drives digital transformation forward. Huawei will continue to support the government’s Digital Pakistan vision with the latest technologies, unlocking new avenues of growth and innovation.

President Arif Alvi appreciated the initiative of Huawei to provide training and ICT skills to the people of Pakistan. He asked the M/o IT&T to develop an action plan and set timelines for launching training programs for the government employees to train them in fields like Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Technology, Big Data, Blockchain, Neural Networks and Communication Technologies. He urged the M/o IT&T to come up with more innovative ideas and enhance collaboration with Huawei for early realization of Digital Pakistan Initiative.

After the meeting, Mr.Spacelee presented one award to the President for his efforts made towards the development of the ICT Sector in Pakistan.