VIF Information Alerts - 2nd November 2018

Pakistan PM Imran Khan arrives in China on maiden visit for talks on CPEC, IMF bailout

Published: The Hindu
02 Nov 2018

Imran Khan arrived here on Friday in what is termed as the most significant visit to China by a Pakistani Prime Minister in recent years as the all-weather allies grapple to iron out differences over the multi-billion CPEC and Islamabad approaching ‘friendly nations’ to avoid a tough IMF bailout package.

He is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on shoring up the all-weather ties. Both the countries are expected to sign several agreements.Click here to read.... [2]

China, Pakistan Seeking CPEC Extension to Afghanistan

Published: Voice of America
01 Nov 2018

China and Pakistan say they are exploring the extension of their bilateral infrastructure development project to Afghanistan. The stage is now set for “expansion and geographical extension” of CPEC to western Pakistan and to landlocked Afghanistan, say Pakistani and Chinese officials. They say later this year Kabul is to host the next round of a trilateral peace and security cooperation dialogue with Beijing and Islamabad and discussions will also include a proposed framework for engaging Afghanistan in CPEC.Click here to read.... [3]

Asia Bibi: anti-blasphemy protests spread across Pakistan

Published: The Guardian
01 Nov 2018

Thousands of Islamist protesters have brought Pakistan to a standstill, burning rickshaws, cars and lorries to protest against the acquittal of a Christian woman who spent eight years on death row on false charges of blasphemy.

Footage from the protests shows anti-blasphemy campaigners clubbing and throwing shoes at posters of Pakistan’s chief justice and the new prime minister, Imran Khan, who on Wednesday night threatened a fierce government response if protesters did not disperse .Click here to read.... [4]

High-orbit BeiDou-3 satellite boosts China's global navigation system

Published: Xinhua
02 Nov 2018

China's home-grown global satellite navigation system came a step closer to completion with the launch of another BeiDou-3 satellite at 11:57 p.m. Thursday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in the southwestern Sichuan Province. Launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket, it is the 41st of the BeiDou navigation system, and will work with 16 other Beidou-3 satellites already in orbit.

India chides both China, Pakistan for creating hurdles in Indo-Pacific connectivity corridors

"India’s connectivity to our West continues, though, remains blighted. We have sought to bypass an unwilling regime in Islamabad by establishing in June 2017 an air freight corridor between India and Afghanistan, which we plan to expand to more cities," Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale asserted while addressing a Regional Connectivity Conference: S Asia in the Indo-Pacific context here.Click here to read.... [5]

Maldives ex-president ends exile, criticizes current leaders

Published: The Indian Express
02 Nov 2018

The first democratically elected president of the Maldives returned home Thursday after more than two years in exile to escape a long prison term. Mohamed Nasheed travelled by boat parade from the airport island to the national capital, Male, where he was welcomed by his party members and supporters. At a news conference, he criticized outgoing President Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration as “authoritarian” and said it had put the country under a heavy debt burden.Click here to read.... [6]