Here’s what’s happening across the border: US to ensure Pak doesn’t use IMF bailout to repay Chinese debt, and Voice of America’s Urdu and Pashto websites blocked in Pakistan.
BBC says omission of Kulbhushan remark not an act of censorship
The BBC Thursday clarified that the omission of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mention from its interview with Pakistan Finance Minister Asad Umar was “not an act of censorship” and that it was deleted because the show was too long to be broadcast on TV, reports Dawn.
During an interview with BBC’s Stephen Sackur for the popular show ‘Hard Talk’, Umar answered questions on issues concerning Pakistan, including its fragile economy. The TV version, however, did not have the part where the minister mentioned Jadhav, who was handed down a death sentence by a military tribunal in 2017 for spying.
On its Twitter handle, BBC cited reasons for omission of Jadhav’s mention.
“The reason Kulbhushan Jadhav’s name was deleted from the TV version of the HARDtalk interview with Asad Umar has a simple technical explanation. The recorded interview was too long for our broadcast slot and so had to be edited,” it said.
The reason Kulbhushan Jadhav’s name was deleted from the TV version of the HARDtalk interview with Asad Umar has a simple technical explanation.
The recorded interview was too long for our broadcast slot and so had to be edited. This was done separately for radio and TV. 1/2
— BBC HARDtalk (@BBCHARDtalk) December 13, 2018
The channel said while Jadhav’s mention was deleted from the TV interview, it was retained in the radio version. This, BBC said, was not an intention of the channel to censor Asad Umar’s words.
BBC further said it will “restore the short section to the TV broadcast and we’ll give the new programme an extra airing tonight as well as tomorrow morning”.
His name was omitted from the TV version. This was not an act of censorship, but clearly confusion has been caused, so we are happy to restore that short section to the TV broadcast and we’ll give the new programme an extra airing tonight as well as tomorrow morning. 2/2 https://t.co/STjcCKsWGt
— BBC HARDtalk (@BBCHARDtalk) December 13, 2018
During the interview, Umar accused India of sponsoring “terrorists” in Balochistan in a bid to thwart China’s investment in the province. “Pakistan arrested a senior operative from India, his name is Kulbhushan Jadhav; he is in the custody of Pakistan and he gave details of how the Indian intervention in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan is taking place”.
US wants to ensure Pak does not use IMF bailout to repay Chinese debt
US under secretary of treasury for international affairs David Malpass said Washington wants to ensure that IMF loans are not used to repay the Chinese debt that Pakistan is under.
During a Congressional hearing Wednesday, Malpass told lawmakers, “Important in this, in my view is the structural reforms in Pakistan that are necessary for it to stop being such a poor country.”
At the Housing Financial Services Committee hearing, several US lawmakers expressed concern over the $60 billion loan that Pakistan has taken from China, reports Dawn.
Pakistan has requested for $8 billion as loan from the International Monetary Fund due to its skewed balance of payment. The two parties are yet to reach an agreement over the same.
Urdu and Pashto sites of Voice of America blocked in Pakistan
The Urdu and Pashto websites of Voice of America (VOA) have been blocked for reporting incidents, which the Pakistan government had objections to, reports Dawn.
An employee of VOA said that the Pashto website was blocked a few months back but “the Urdu website became inaccessible last week after the coverage of a press conference held by the leader of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), Mohsin Dawar”.
“Initially, we received complaints that the website was not accessible at some places, but later it was completely blocked,” the VOA employee added.
The official said that information and broadcasting minister Fawad Chaudhry has also confirmed the news.
Ayesha Tanzeem, VOA’s bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan, took to Twitter to claim that it was because of the organisation’s coverage of the Pashtun Nationalist Movement that cost them dear.
VOA’s Deewa news website’s target audience is the Pashto-speaking population, especially around the Afghan border.
#Pakistan Blocks VOA's Urdu and Deewa Service Sites https://t.co/krUexbsYJZ @voanews
— Ayesha Tanzeem (@atanzeem) December 13, 2018
In an English report published in VOA, it was mentioned that the Pakistan government had directed the internet service providers to block the two sites. It also alleged that Pakistan was filing police cases against VOA journalists for writing about pro-Pashtun rights local rallies.
Chaudhry justified the move by accusing VOA of “false and prejudiced reporting”.
Meanwhile, Balochistan’s chief minister Jam Kamal Khan said Wednesday that around 600 development schemes meant for the province existed only on papers, reports Dawn. Khan was attending a ceremony organised by the National Accountability Bureau when he said that these schemes were prepared by the previous government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party.
Muhammad Abid Javed, director general of NAB, gave a cheque of Rs 600 million to Khan which the bureau recovered from different corrupt government officials.
ADB to provide $7.5-billion grant to Pakistan over three years
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged to provide $7.5 billion grant to Pakistan spread over a period of the next three years. This money is to be utilised for infrastructural redevelopment in energy and transport sector and for domestic resource mobilisation.
According to the country operations business plan, almost third of this financing amount is to solve the power sector deficiencies.
According to a report in The News, a loan of $2.24 billion will be for financing hydropower plant and support the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline. Another $1.39 billion will be allocated for sustenance and development of the national highway and the Sindh Hyderabad southern bypass project.
The agricultural and rural development sector will be allocated a $794 million. $470 million in loan will be allocated to develop a cross-sector project readiness facility for the Punjab region.
For education and health sectors a loan of $225 million under the three-year financing programme will be provided.
Switzerland borrows 2000-year-old Buddha statue from Pakistan
Pakistan’s Peshawar Museum Thursday loaned an almost 2000-year-old Buddha sculpture to Switzerland for the purpose of exhibiting it in Zurich, reports The News.
The Swiss Embassy in Pakistan made a video of how the statue of ‘Buddha Shakyamuni’ was taken from Peshawar Museum to Zurich’s Rietberg Museum.
Asif Raza, assistant curator and in charge of Peshawar Museum, shared details about the historical figure. “This Buddha had been excavated in 1909 from Sahri Bahlol. It is from first century AD, almost 2000 years old,” he said.
Daniel Valenghi, deputy head of cooperation at the Switzerland embassy in Pakistan, said that the statue has been in the museum for the past 80 years.
He admitted that cultural lending of this kind “definitely strengthens the ties between Pakistan and Switzerland in a completely unconventional way I would say. And to also show that Pakistan has a very diverse cultural heritage”.
The ancient sculpture will be placed at the “Next Stop Nirvana- Approaches to Buddhism” exhibition in Zurich starting 12 December to 31 March next year.