Pakistan suspends cotton imports from India

Pakistan has suspended cotton imports from its top supplier, India, saying shipments failed to fulfill phytosanitary certification, threatening the $822 million-a-year trade, government and industry officials told Reuters. Traders say rising hostility between the neighbours might have prompted Pakistan to restrict imports.The decision will help other cotton suppliers such as Brazil and the United States to increase exports to Pakistan. “We had received some complaints regarding insects, pests, in cotton consignments imported from India, so we have sent samples for tests,” Imran Shami, director general of Pakistan's Plant Protection Department (DPP), told Reuters on Wednesday. “If results show non-compliance of phytosanitary requirements, we would have to stop the imports from India.” Pakistan had put on hold cotton consignments from India, he said, adding that if tests confirmed the presence of pests, “these consignments will go back or would have to be destroyed”, he said. In 2015-16, Pakistan surpassed Bangladesh to become India's biggest cotton buyer, accounting for 40 per cent of exports. “Officially there is nothing on the record, but on the ground, there is an unannounced ban on cotton imports from India,” said Ihsanul Haq, chairman of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Forum. Indian exporters have signed contracts to export 350,000 bales to Pakistan since the start of the marketing year on October 1 and out of that nearly 300,000 bales for shipments in December and January could get stuck, three exporters said. “Out of the contracted quantity, a very small amount has been dispatched so far as the season has just started,” Cotton Association of India President Dhiren Sheth told Reuters. Supplies from the new season crop usually start rising from November in India. But this year, supplies are negligible after the Indian government's move to ban high-value currency notes prompted farmers to postpone sales. “Buyers and sellers are not cancelling contracts. They are waiting for some positive response from the government,” said Chirag Patel, chief executive officer of Indian exporter Jaydeep Cotton Fibers. The nuclear-armed rivals have seen tension increase in the past few months over Kashmir. Last year, Pakistan bought 2.7 million bales from India and supported Indian cotton prices at a time when China was cutting imports, traders said.

“It will be big problem for us if Pakistan stops buying. Other countries could not absorb the entire surplus,” said an exporter based in the western state of Gujarat. Along with Pakistan, India mostly exports cotton to Bangladesh, China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Pakistan, the world's third-largest cotton consumer, has not stopped imports from other countries, said Shami of the DPP. But importers say buying the fibre from other suppliers like the United States, Brazil and West Africa will prove costlier and time consuming. “From India, imports come across within 10 days and sometimes within a week consignments used to cross the Wagah border,” said Haq.

India-Japan nuclear deal will have an adverse impact on the non-proliferation regime

The deal will have security implications in the South Asian region. Pakistan has expressed concerns over the controversial nuclear dealJapan is expanding its strategic landscape by improving relations with India. It was reported in the previous couple of years that India often showed reservations in welcoming Japanese participation in the annual Malabar naval exercise between India and US, notwithstanding pressure from the later. The Indian decline seemingly intended to avoid Chinese provocation. At that time, Japan’s inclination towards India was not seen as a union against China but a move to reinforce Japan’s own presence in the Indian Ocean. Japan's naval posture has been focused to protect home islands and its skimpy fleet of vessels capable of resupplying ships with fuel, munitions and other supplies and its recent developments seems to focus on this policy. The country has been relying on the United States for the security of its supply lines; however, with recent military advancements it can be presumed that Japan is developing an ability to independently secure its supply lines. Both Japan and China are greatly dependent on Strait of Malacca and Indian Ocean for trade routes. Undoubtedly, Japan’s presence in these critical waterways is enhancing its capability to secure its supply lines and improving its strategic position but also increasing tension with China in the South China Sea. Besides, improving its military relations with India, Japan was also bolstering its economic relations with countries in the Indian Ocean basin. In 2013, Japan concluded first bilateral naval exercise with Indian in Bay of Bengal and at that time it was affirmed that more such exercises will be held in future. After that India and Japan are getting closer in pursuing their interests.

As compared to past, Japan and India are having more close cooperation on number of issues in recent times. The perfect example for this proximity is the civil nuclear cooperation between the two states. At a bilateral summit last December in New Delhi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a memorandum of agreement on civil nuclear cooperation. And on August 14, 2016, it was reported that both prime ministers will finalize a full-fledged nuclear cooperation agreement in November 2016. Lately, on November 11, 2016, Japan and India signed the accord for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. After this treaty, India would be able to import nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel and technology from Japan. India is the world’s third largest importer of crude oil and nuclear energy is the most reasonable way to meet country’s demands without emitting large scale carbon. Although India has civil nuclear cooperation with other countries as well but to import large forged components from Japan it was required to sign nuclear agreement. From an economic point of view, the transfer of nuclear technology is not only significant for India’s growing economy but is also attractive reason for Japan to invest, as Japan seeks to build nuclear power plants to revive its nuclear energy market after Fukushima nuclear disaster. Apart from the economic standpoint, India’s potential to compete with China and its strategic cooperation with US further adds to the reasons for this civil nuclear cooperation. The deal will also have security implications in the South Asian region. Pakistan has expressed concerns over the controversial nuclear deal and it urged Japan “to objectively assess the consequences of discriminatory approaches to our region.”

It is presumed that this deal would further develop India’s credibility as responsible nuclear weapon state; however, many argue that Japanese being the victim of nuclear bomb should not have entered into an agreement with non-NPT state. The deal also has a separate nullification clause that would cancel the pact if India were to conduct a nuclear test, even for peaceful purposes, because there cannot be any assurance that technology provided by Japan had not been used for the military purposes. The intensity of Japan’s concern over this can be understood from the December 2015 Japan-India joint statement when Prime Minister Abe stated that “the importance of early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which should lead to nuclear disarmament.” There was also political resistance to the deal in Japan. Therefore the deal can become unstable if India is developing thermonuclear weapon and tests it in future as reported by different sources. However, if India is allowed to receive this nuclear technology without banning its future nuclear tests, it will further bleak the chances of states signing CTBT, because many states have reservation over India’s preferential treatment and they have asked for universal criteria in the last Vienna plenary meeting. In the aforesaid scenario, this will be another deal having adverse impact on non-proliferation regime.

Trump love to visit Pakistan’

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Wednesday felicitated US-President elect Donald Trump on his victory. On being invited to visit Pakistan by the prime minister, Trump said that he would love to come to a “fantastic country, fantastic place of fantastic people”. “Your country is amazing with tremendous opportunities. Pakistanis are one of the most intelligent people,” said Trump. “I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems. “It will be an honour and I will personally do it. Feel free to call me any time even before January 20 that is before I assume my office,” said the US-president elect. Trump also praised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his government. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif you have a very good reputation. You are a terrific guy. “You are doing amazing work which is visible in every way. I am looking forward to see you soon,” he said. “As I am talking to you PM I feel I am talking to a person I have known for long,” he remarked. “Please convey to the Pakistani people that they are amazing and all Pakistanis I have known are exceptional people,” he said.

why do you think single women are a joke?

A couple of days ago, my sister laughingly turned her phone around to show me a post on Facebook.
A single friend of ours had been 'tagged' in a post about a matrimonial meet-up event that is taking place at the Islamabad Club on December 10th. “DONT HAVE TIME TO FIND YOUR PARTNER?" it read, in capital letters of course. “Limited seats available at the 'Him & Her Matrimonial Match-making Event' in Islamabad. Your search for soulmate ends here!!! Get matched today! Restricted to educated and business class only," followed by timings and the venue.We laughed it off. “What if one is 'economy class?'" I quipped. "Is this an airplane ticket?” Later that night, I saw the post making the rounds on several Facebook profiles, mostly the profiles of my single male and female friends. Family members, concerned uncles, aunts, third cousins and random colleagues began 'liking' the post, and soon this devolved into something less than humourous. Married friends began tagging single people on the post as if there was no tomorrow, saying 'maybe you'll have better luck finding a partner here!' and I thought, WHY? Were people singling out unmarried friends because the poster was tacky or because they thought it's unfortunate and rather sad to be single in your late 20s and 30s? Things snowballed and my single friends continued to be tagged in this post. The next morning, my phone was filled with messages from single friends asking “What is wrong with people, why can't they mind their own business?! The answer to this question brings me to my point: no matter which social class you belong to, after a certain age being single is one of the more controversial ways you can choose to live your life in Pakistan today. And to add insult to injury, with our twisted notions of privacy and what's 'right' and 'wrong' everyone seems to think commenting on your marital status is their birthright. I mean, living in a society with such grand double standards as ours in Pakistan, dating is almost blasphemous, but being dolled up and parading around for a stranger's mother, sister and grandmother with a tea trolley that looks like a national day float adorned with snacks from the local bakery is the norm. Weird, right? I returned to the post and thought to myself, while this event may potentially be a good opportunity for those who don't have many avenues to meet potential partners, it could also be yet another ego-shattering experience for those living under constant scrutiny and pressure about marriage. After all, the horror stories of the “rishta drills” that some of my friends have been through were fresh in my mind. Not again, I thought to myself, not in front of so many people. Being rejected primarily on the basis of your physical appearance seems to be the norm during the rishta hunt; when it comes to women no one ever really looks at their academic or professional qualifications. Is this really something we can brush off as funny? While the issue of finding the suitable match might be 'hilarious' in the upper-class, it becomes something darker in other socio-economic classes of society. An older woman, a mother of three unmarried daughters, once said to me: “I really want to know what people want in a 'bride'. In today’s day and age there is a solution for absolutely anything. If she is dark, she can get skin lightening injections. If she is short she can wear heels, if the guy wants light eyes and blonde hair, there are contact lenses and hair dye, the list of solutions goes on."Similarly another friend looking for a rishta for her brother in law made it clear her (and his) choice pick would not be anyone "unconventional” and we jokingly said, “Oh yes, he wants the clutch-bag-holding-Instagram Barbie, got it”. I turned to Facebook that night and wrote a status about how tagging a bunch of single people under this post was offensive.

I asked my married friends to mind their own business and expressed support for my single friends, encouraging them to live life they way they want to. I went on bragging about my own life, which, even though I'm single, happens to be amazing! I have great parents, a flourishing career, caring friends, an exciting social life, and above all else, the freedom to have an independent schedule. I'm not saying that I don't want to settle down, but am just saying that the transition from singledom to marriage will happen at its own time, so please just let people be.

But this privilege and luxury to speak our minds is probably enjoyed by very small segment of the society, where one is entitled to making my their own choices and being supported by family. Mine is not the freedom the majority of girls in Pakistan have.

Which is why being sensitive about the 'marriage question' is more important than ever.

While the issue of finding the suitable match might be 'hilarious' in the upper-class, it becomes something darker in other socio-economic classes of society. As a journalist I routinely come across stories of forced marriages, of minors as young as five-years-old married off without consent, or cases of acid attacks if a proposal is refused, or of girls committing suicide at a high rate — which highlight the harsh consequences society burdens women with when they try to make their own choices and live their own independent lives.

At a recent event held in Islamabad, women community leaders from 45 districts of Pakistan came together and urged women and girls to stand up for their rights and become a change agent in their families. The deputy head of DFID Judith Herbertson, who was present at the event, said that in 2016’s Pakistan, people are born unequal if they are poor, belong to minority group or are person with a disability, but the biggest disadvantage is to be born a woman.

Sharing some basic statistics, she said 55 percent of girls in Pakistan are not allowed to go to school, 35 percent are married before their 16th birthday, 40 percent experience violence — and so on. The speakers at the event said physical violence has considerably decreased in the society but the mental violence still exists, which is a biggest hurdle in the way of women empowerment.

Harassing women to get married just because society deems they 'ought to' is another form of mental violence and moral policing.

Women make approximately 51 percent of the population in Pakistan, our mental well being is key, and we need encouragement to become agents of change through their economic and social contributions.

Battling social pressure is a constant struggle and a serious concern for the majority of girls living in Pakistan. I see no humour in it.

So if you have a single friend — don't constantly ask them when they'll be ready to 'settle down.' Ask them about work, or what books they've read, or anything else, really. There's more to life than getting hitched.