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Pakistan says ceasefire with India extended until May 18

Sinthiya Rahman
                                       Published by: Friday, 16 May, 2025, 10:58 pm
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Pakistan says ceasefire with India extended until May 18

Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Ishaq Dar on Thursday confirmed that the ceasefire with India has been extended until May 18.

Addressing the Senate, Dar—who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio—said the development followed a hotline contact between the directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of both countries on May 14.

After the United States brokered a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed neighbours, Pakistan’s DGMO, Major General Kashif Abdullah, and his Indian counterpart, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, held the first round of talks via hotline on May 10.

“During the DGMOs’ conversation, the ceasefire was extended until May 12. When the DGMOs spoke again on May 12, the ceasefire was extended until May 14. Further talks on May 14 led to the ceasefire being extended until May 18,” the DPM told the upper house.

In a bid to clear the confusion surrounding the recent US-brokered ceasefire between arch-rival nuclear powers Pakistan and India, DPM Dar said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the evening of May 10, told him that New Delhi was ready for a ceasefire.

Addressing the Senate, Dar, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio, said: “On May 10 at around 10:15am, I received a phone call from the US secretary of state, who informed me that India is ready to agree to a ceasefire.”

“At that time our phase-I operation was nearing completion,” the DPM said, adding that he told the top US diplomat that if New Delhi was ready to ceasefire then Pakistan was also ready to do so.

During the telephonic conversation, the minister said he made it clear that the war was not initiated by Islamabad. Dar further told the House that the top US diplomat told him that he would inform the Indian External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, about the development.

The latest escalation in the decades-old India-Pakistan rivalry began on May 7 when at least 31 civilians were martyred in unprovoked Indian strikes in different areas of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). In retaliation, Pakistan downed its five fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. During the four-day standoff, at least 11 troops and 40 civilians were martyred at the hands of India.

The Saturday’s ceasefire, announced by US President Donald Trump came after Pakistan launched retaliatory action under ‘Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos’ in response to India’s unprovoked missile and drone attacks on Pakistani civilians and military sites.

Using precision-guided long-range Fatah series missiles of the Pakistan Army, and precision munitions of PAF, the ISPR said 26 Indian military targets, as well as facilities that were used to target Pakistani citizens, and those enterprises that were responsible for fomenting terrorism in Pakistan, were hit.

Leaders of India and Pakistan were “unwavering”, and the US “helped a lot”, Trump said on Monday, adding that trade was a “big reason” why the countries stopped fighting.

“We are going to do a lot of trade with Pakistan…and India. We are negotiating with India right now. We are soon going to negotiate with Pakistan,” he said.

Addressing the upper house of the parliament, DPM Dar stated he received telephone calls from world leaders, including the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir about the ceasefire.

He emphasised that Pakistan never requested a ceasefire from anyone.

The minister said that Pakistan wants peace in the region, but it will not accept any hegemonic designs or breach of its sovereignty.

Dar added that the armed forces have successfully countered India’s hegemonic designs in the region. He said it is a great success for Pakistan that the international community did not buy India’s narrative. The foreign minister further said that, with the blessings of Allah Almighty, Pakistan has dispelled the myth of any “new norm.”

The DPM stressed that the Indus Waters Treaty is a non-negotiable matter for Pakistan, adding that India cannot unilaterally suspend the treaty.

“This matter will now move to negotiations,” he said, adding that the dialogues with India would be “composite”.

All the matters would be discussed at the dialogue table, he added.

Release of roadmap will boost investor confidence, hopes foreign advisor

Desk Report
Published by: Thursday, 12 June, 2025, 9:03 am
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Release of roadmap will boost investor confidence, hopes foreign advisor

The political “uncertainty” created by the changeover of power has caused foreign investors and expatriates to lose confidence in Bangladesh due to the lack of “financial security”, but the interim government wants to quickly restore their confidence with a “roadmap”, says Foreign Affairs Advisor Md Touhid Hossain.

Touhid made the remarks during his speech as the chief guest at the inauguration of the Branding Bangladesh World Conference series organised by the Centre for NRB (non-resident Bangladeshis) at a hotel in Dhaka on Saturday.

“When someone sees political uncertainty, they are not encouraged to come and invest,” he said.

“That is why a difficult task lies ahead of us and we hope a roadmap will be released very soon. Then they will quickly gain confidence once again.”

The advisor said: “There are foreign investors – including NRBs – who will invest their personal funds. But they will not come, even if they are NRBs, without certainty. This is very natural because you must see that your money is secure. That is undeniable.”

“We are looking into it and our goal is to hand over power to an elected government through an election. We know that it should be done as soon as possible and so the government is working towards this goal.”

Aminul Islam becomes new BCB president

Nurul Islam
Published by: Friday, 30 May, 2025, 8:13 pm
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Aminul Islam becomes new BCB president

Rural power protests an ‘attempt to destabilise nation’, says Power Division

Nasim Hossain
Published by: Wednesday, 28 May, 2025, 9:02 am
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Rural power protests an ‘attempt to destabilise nation’, says Power Division

The Power Division has dismissed the ongoing protests over reforms to Palli Bidyut Samity, or Rural Power Council, as “attempts to destabilise the nation”, asserting that the movement is not connected to the organisation’s “dedicated staff”.

 

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the state-run agency urged demonstrators to end the protests and return to their workplaces.

 

“Some employees of the Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) are trying to create instability in the country by bringing up the issue of rural electricity reform; as an excuse, which is undesirable,” it said.

 

“A press release of unregistered Bangladesh Rural Electricity Association caught the government’s attention and it observed that this so-called group does not represent any legal entity of the PBS, and its dedicated officers and employees were not involved with the movement.”

 

The Rural Electrification Board (REB) supplies power to the countryside through 80 PBSs. Thousands of workers of these councils are protesting over seven demands including implementation of employment rules, cessation of harassment, and withdrawal of cases at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.

 

They call for the removal of the REB chairman, who has allegedly “disrupted the work environment through fascist-style repression and torture” of the workers.’

 

The protesters cut off power to different districts of the country in October, triggering hours-long outages across those areas. Though they are protesting without switching off power this time, different areas are experiencing regular disruption of services.

 

The statement added that the government was “closely monitoring” the movement and took steps to resolve the situation. These are as follows:

 

Formation of a committee, led by BRAC University Vice-Chancellor Syed Ferhat Anwar, to review the structural and operational framework of REB and PBSs. It will consult all stakeholders before submitting a report ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

 

Formation of another committee led by an additional secretary of the Power Division to review alleged discrepancies in pay grades and employment status between REB and PBS employees. A notification on this will be issued next week.

 

Instructions to reconsider the actions against PBS employees on charges of breach of discipline and sparing those who were not involved in activities linked to sabotage.

 

Investigating officers involved in corruption in the procurement, recruitment and promotion process at the REB and taking legal action for those found guilty.

 

Setting an age limit and standard for physical capacity.