ISLAMABAD, JAN 05 (DNA) – President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday said Pakistan will continue to extend all possible support for the just cause of the people of Jammu and Kashmir till the realization of their right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

“The right to self-determination is a vital component of human dignity. Negation of this right is the negation of human freedom, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and UN Human Rights Covenants. India is the biggest violator of this inalienable human right,” the president said in a message on the occasion of Kashmiris’ Right to Self-determination Day being observed on January 5.

The President stressed that the United Nations must honour its commitment made 72 years ago and urged upon the global community not to shy away from its responsibility towards the oppressed people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK). He said on 5th January 1949, the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) adopted the resolution that guaranteed a free and fair plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir to enable the Kashmiri people realize their right to self-determination.

He said since August 5, 2019, through continuous illegal and unilateral steps, the Indian government had created an environment of fear and chaos in the IIOJK. More than 500 days of military siege, and draconian restrictions on fundamental freedoms and rights, including the right to life and health, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, had challenged the conscience of international community and India’s credentials of being a respectable member of the comity of nations, he said.

The President said, “Indian actions have been widely rejected by the international community, the United Nations, and international human rights organizations. The current situation in the IIOJK is the worst in recent history where people have been deprived of all basic rights, including rights to freedom of expression and assembly, as well as self-determination.

” The people of IIOJK, he said, were being subjected to collective punishment by the Indian occupation forces, which had turned the territory into the largest militarized zone in the world and were seeking to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory in violation of the international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention. = DNA

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BEIJING, Jan 05 (DNA): China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Deputy General Manager of Asia Pacific Division, Dong Zhihong said on Tuesday that his company worked out measures to adapt to local conditions and shared its experience with the Pakistani side during the construction.

The natural, geographical and cultural environments of China and Pakistan are very different from each other, so during construction, we worked out measures to adapt to local conditions and shared our construction experience with our Pakistani friends,he said in an interview with China Economic Net.

Take the mountainous areas in Pakistan as an example. It is difficult to conduct construction work there as the geological conditions are not that favorable.

Therefore, blasting, protection and support of high slope, tunneling and excavation technologies are applied to the construction project site after certain improvement and optimization, Dong added.

As per Dong, a joint venture led by CCECC signed a construction contract for the upgrade and renovation of the main runway 18L-36R of Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIAP) with Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) last August.

At present, the commencement order was issued by employer, and work including the take over of the site, the construction of temporary camps for administration office and dormitory, the construction of temporary facilities (batch plant, canteen) and the removal of existing avionics facilities on runway was completed.

Also, a mobilization meeting held last November had CCECC employees ready for 24-hour non-stop day and night construction, with workers running on two shifts and machines running to ensure quality and quantity of timely completion.

The ratio of local employees on site is very high, and the ratio of Chinese and Pakistani employees is about 1:5 to 1:10 according to different types of work, which creates a lot of employment for the locals, Dong further mentioned.

CCECC also has edge in water supply and rail transportation, so we are also looking for good investment opportunities in Pakistan in days to come, such as highways, water supply plants, power plants, and so on, noted Dong.

CCECC Pakistan Branch was officially established in 2015 and has been committed to strengthening the construction of CPEC. It has undertaken the implement of five projects worth about ï¿¥600 million, focusing on infrastructure like roads and airport runways.

As one of the pioneering Chinese companies entering the international market, CCECC is now developed into a large-scale state-owned enterprise with Chinese National Super Grade Qualification for railway project engineering, and has been listed among the world top 225 International contractors for many years in a row. = DNA

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SRINIGAR, JAN 05 (DNA) – Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and organizations including All Parties Hurriyat Conference have called upon the United Nations to save South Asia from turning into a nuclear flashpoint and impending catastrophe by resolving the Kashmir dispute as per its Security Council resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

APHC General Secretary Molvi Bashir Ahmad on the completion of 72 years of the adoption of January 5, 1949 UN Security Council resolution, today, granting the people of Jammu and Kashmir the right to self-determination, urged the UN to ensure the grant of right to self-determination to the Kashmiri people like it ensured it in East Timor and Southern Sudan.

He pointed out that any illegal and immoral action by India cannot impact these resolutions. He said that the silence maintained by the World Body over the sufferings of the Kashmiri people was beyond comprehension.

Molvi Bashir Ahmad said that Indian atrocities were going on in occupied Kashmir and people were sacrificing their lives on a daily basis but the international community seems helpless vis-a-vis India. He called upon the world to hold a referendum in Kashmir in the light of the said UN resolution, adding that Kashmiris were losing one generation after another in pursuit of the same right.

Jammu and Kashmir Tehreek-e-Muzahamat Chairman Bilal Ahmed Sidiqui terming the Kashmir dispute a big question mark on the credibility of United Nations said that the long pending dispute stands as a horrible yardstick for the reputation of world body. He said the UN resolution passed on 5th January 1949 is bedrock for the people’s struggle for right to self determination.

Bilal Sidiqui deplored that the world body has miserably failed to implement its own resolutions on Kashmir. He warned that because of this criminal negligence of UN, Kashmiris have been facing genocide at hands of Indian occupational forces.

He said that the Kashmir dispute has turned into a nuclear flash point between three atomic powers — Pakistan, India and China risking the peace and stability of entire South Asian region.

Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League acting Chairman Abdul Ahad Parra, Abdul Samad Inqalabi, Jammu and Kashmir National Front, Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Front and Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami in their statements also called for implementation of UN resolution to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

They said that the India’s intransigence and policy of deceit and deception have been a stumbling block in the way of peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute that hangs over for the last more than seven decades.

Senior vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Political Party Nisar Ahmed while addressing party workers in Srinagar said, “The massacre of Kashmiris would not have taken place today if the international community had not remained silent on crimes like India’s annexation, trampling on the UN resolution and undermining the so-called accession.” He urged the UN to wake up from slumber and save Kashmiris’ existence from being annihilated.

Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Khawateen Markaz Chairperson, Yasmeen Raja, addressing party workers in Srinagar also called for just settlement of the Kashmir dispute within the frame work of the UN Security Council resolution.

Jammu and Kashmir Peer Panjal Freedom Movement Chairman Qazi Muhammad Irshad in a statement in Jammu urged the United Nations to take cognizance of India’s attempts to change the demography of Jammu and Kashmir.

Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Young Mens League Zahid Ashraf expressed dismay over the duplicitous conduct of the UN vis-à-vis Kashmir dispute. He said that the UN’s hideous conduct on the oldest unresolved item on the its agenda only emboldened the murderous occupier India to pursue its expansionist and imperial dreams at the cost of human life and fundamental rights of freedom.

Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Freedom League, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani in a statement in Islamabad called upon the Security Council to invoke the relevant 5 January resolution as applicable to Jammu and Kashmir for holding plebiscite across the entire disputed region. He strongly condemned fabricated and revengeful trials in  Tihar Jail against Aasiya, Andrabi, Fahmeeda Sofi, Nahida Nasreen, Muhammad Yaseen Malik, Massarrat Aalam Butt, Altaf Shah and other political leaders. = DNA

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Saudi Crown Prince’s warm greeting comes as Gulf states meet to reconcile differences

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim exchanged a warm embrace on the tarmac at Al Ula airport after the Qatari delegation arrived for the 41st Gulf Co-operation Council summit on Tuesday.

Sheikh Tamim’s attendance was another signal of moves towards reconciliation within the GCC, coming a day after Saudi Arabia reopened its borders and airspace to Qatar.

Qatar’s emir is attending the GCC summit for the first time since 2017, when fellow bloc members Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, along with Egypt, cut off ties over Doha’s support for extremist groups.

Dr Anwar Gargash, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said the summit at Al Ula would be a “historic” meeting “through which we restore Gulf cohesion and are keen to ensure that the security, stability and prosperity of our countries and peoples are the first priority”.

“We have more work [to do] and we are [going] in the right direction,” he said on Twitter on Monday after the Saudi-Qatari decision was announced.

Bahrain’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad was the first regional leader to arrive for the summit. He was followed by the Omani delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Fahad bin Mahmoud attending on behalf of Sultan Haitham.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, arrived next with a delegation that included National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed; Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs; Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Al Gergawi; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash; Ali Mohammed Al Shamsi, Deputy Secretary General at the Supreme National Security Council; and Sheikh Shakboot bin Nahyan, the UAE Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The UAE contingent was followed by the Kuwaiti delegation led by Emir Sheikh Nawaf, who said last week that he was optimistic about the meeting. The summit will bring GCC leaders together to strengthen their solidarity against the challenges in the region, he said.

All the delegations were received by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is also expected to attend the summit, according to a US official.

Doha, JAN 5 – Gulf leaders signed the Al Ula solidarity agreement at the Saudi Arabian city of Al Ula this afternoon. This agreement will pave the way to end the Gulf crisis.

The Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed the declaration along with Kuwait Amir HH Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Saudi Crown Prince HRH Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Bahrain’s Crown Prince HE Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Omani Deputy Prime Minister HE Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said.

The Al Ula agreement was signed at the 41st session of the Supreme Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), which is being held in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia.

The summit has been named as Sultan Qaboos Sheikh Sabah Summit in honour of the two great leaders – Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimur and Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah – from Oman and Kuwait who passed away last year.

As part of the agreement Saudi Arabia has already opened the airspace, land and sea border with Qatar and more steps to end the crisis are expected in the coming days.