DNA

ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan may both be disinterested in speaking to one another, but South Asia needs its perennial challenges to be resolved, including the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan needs to renew its commitment to creating options on Kashmir and overturn India’s strategy of containment, stated Senator Sherry Rehman at Jinnah Institute’s policy roundtable discussion titled, ‘Stocktaking Prospects for Stability in South Asia’ on Wednesday, 26th August, 2020. Prominent foreign policy experts and existing and former government functionaries gathered a local hotel to discuss the future of Kashmir a year after India imposed a lockdown on August 5th.

Participants at the roundtable debated the merits of Pakistan’s global narrative on Kashmir. They questioned the official approach towards resolving the Kashmir issue. While agreeing that the issue had been internationalized to a great extent, through discussions in legislatures abroad, and advertisement campaigns in western capitals, Pakistan had a limited number of options from the diplomatic toolkit. They discussed that the foreign office needs to innovate its traditional foreign policy approach, and revise its methodologies that enable greater projection of Pakistan’s interests and qualitative improvement of relations. They also discussed that Pakistan needed effective economic diplomacy based on institutional reform and capacity to deliver. The persistent differential in economic growth rates of India and Pakistan for the last 20-30 years had led to such large differentials in policy vision, outlook and credibility.

Participants stated that Prime Minister Modi was driving majoritarian Hindutva policies at home and abroad, that impeded good relations with India’s neighbours. Nepal and Bangladesh had revised their diplomatic ties with India soon after the conflagration on the Indo-China border. They also agreed that the international community was unwilling to take preventive action on Kashmir, as India projected economic power and profitable markets, as evidenced by companies like Google setting up investment funds there. They stated that international human rights committees undertook token discussions about Kashmir which had no subsequent bearing on policy.

As far as the US was concerned, Pakistan would have to wait and see the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Elections. A victory for presidential candidate Joe Biden could potentially open up the avenue to engage India in the future, as his running mate, Kamala Harris; her large support base in the Indian diaspora could help normalize relations back in South Asia, and especially if she were to win the election.

The policy discussion was part of Jinnah Institute’s long term Track 2 efforts that seek to enable stability in South Asia, and create space for articulating Pakistan’s foreign policy imperatives. DNA

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KARACHI : The Sindh government has formed a committee to review the Sindh Building Control Authority’s (SBCA) affairs and monitor the issuance of permits for construction of high-rises and approval of maps by it.

The committee has been constituted with approval of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. A notification to this effect has been issued.

According to the notification, the local government secretary will head the committee comprising nine members. It has been tasked to review and monitor the authority’s matters, including grant of permits for high-rises and approval of maps by the SBCA.

The body will ensure that funds set aside for parks, playgrounds, and housing societies are utilised appropriately besides putting forth proposals for conserving heritage sites and bringing amendments to building and services rules.

Under the notification, the committee is required to implement the directives of the Supreme Court and High Court with regard to buildings and their laws as well as monitor whether or not SBCA officers are discharging their duty properly and whether they are following instructions they are given by it.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan constituted the National Coordination Committee on Tourism (NCCT) to “steer the country towards becoming the fastest growing tourism destination”, read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.

According to the notification, the committee will seek to raise the competitiveness of the tourism industry and “maximize utilization of Pakistan’s natural, cultural, historical, archeological, religious and geographical tourist assets for employment creation, poverty reduction, sustained economic growth, social inclusion and quality of life improvement”.

The notification stated that the Cabinet Division will be responsible for providing secretarial support to the committee. The following are the Terms of Reference (TORs) of the committee:

 I) Oversee and review implementation of National Tourism Strategy and alignment/integration of Provincial /Regional Policies/actions to National Tourism Strategy/Action Plan.

II) Implementation of Prime Minister’s Directives on Tourism and the progress thereof.

III) Geo-mapping and profiling of all tourist spots/attractions/destinations, tourism & hospitality business, products, services providers etc.

IV) Identification of barriers to tourism development with concrete recommendation/directions for their removal to create an enabling environment for tourism sector to operate competitively and ensure implementation.

V) Identify policy and legislative impediments and develop and recommend measure to overcome them.

VI) Devise effective regulatory and implementation mechanism of National Minimum Standards while ensuring its monitoring and coordination with all stake holders for its strict compliance.

VII) Promote tourism investment through PPP, SME and access to capital etc. and oversee availability of International Standard Feasibilities of viable projects.

VIII) Identify and oversee implementation of initiatives for improvement of tourism.

IX) Devise and oversee strategy to encourage affordable domestic tourism and identify viable options to ensure the growth of domestic tourism in a systemic manner.

X) To identify and suggest measures to promote formal training to improve skill set of human resource related and working in the industry.

XI) To make required decisions and issue instructions to the relevant Ministries/Divisions/Departments/ Stakeholders and organizations with timeline and monitor progress/implementation.

XII) Hold regular fortnightly meetings to review progress on the deliverables.

XIII) Act as focal point for inter-provincial, inter-ministerial, inter-departmental and inter-agency coordination to resolve implementation issues with respect to tourism sector development.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree on measures to radically improve licensing and permitting procedures.

From January 1, 2021, the government will abolish 70 types of licenses and 35 permits by introducing a notification procedure.

In addition, the period of validity of all licenses and permits, which expire in 2020, has been extended until January 1, 2021.

Individuals and legal entities confirm, by sending a notification, their compliance with the requirements and conditions specified in legislative acts for the implementation of activities or actions in respect of which the notification procedure has been introduced. At the same time, in the process of submitting documents through an automated electronic system, a check is carried out for compliance with the requirements and conditions specified in legislative acts, without human intervention.

Lists of activities that require a license, permitting documents and notification of the authorized body are approved by law, and after the adoption of the relevant law, it is not allowed to require individuals and legal entities to go through administrative procedures to carry out activities or actions not included in these lists.

The Ministry of Justice, together with the Ministry for ICT Development, was instructed, by January 1, 2021, to ensure the development and launch of the “License” information system with a special mobile application covering all processes related to licensing, authorization and notification procedures, which has the ability to implement interdepartmental electronic interactions.