UNITED STATES
- Strategic dialogue between US and Pakistan will commence from today. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
- A British parliamentarian responding to Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif’s call that drone attacks must stop, said that these are conducted with the Pakistani government’s consent and knowledge. (Khabrain)
- Mirza Ghazi writes in Urdupoint: ‘ISI has given a befitting response to the CIA and it has broken off CIA networks in Pakistan. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha has played a key role in the events that have followed the Abbottabad incident and now the Pakistan army is arresting people on the CIA payroll. CIA agents in Pakistan had close links with members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and TTP. The fact that American media has launched a campaign against Pakistan is proof enough that Pakistan is curbing the privileges CIA enjoyed in this country. (Urdupoint)
- Khabrain’s edit on U.S turning to alternate transport routes to Afghanistan says after the loss of Rs.60 billion and the loss 35,000 lives in 9 years of fighting the War on Terror, Pakistan is still largely mistrusted by the U.S. (Khabrain Edit)
INDIA
- Jasarat editorial on corruption says: Indian social activists like Anna Hazare openly lodge protests against corruption. And the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited all political parties to make a draft to end corruption. In India those who raise voice against corruption are not killed or considered non-state players but people support them. This aspect of India needs to be followed in Pakistan. (Jasarat Edit)
- Daily Pak edit on Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao’s remarks that Pakistan’s attitude to terrorism is changing, says “Pakistan’s attitude towards terrorism has always remained the same but it is India that has branded Kashmiri freedom fighters as terrorists in order to take advantage of the extreme reaction against terrorism in the world. It is however good to hear Indian foreign secretary Rao’s admission that it was wrong on India’s part to snap dialogue with Pakistan. (Daily Pak edit)
- Nawa-i-Waqt editorially on India-Pak talks says: talks are only possible when the parties engaging in these talks are sincere and India is not sincere as it refuses to admit that Kashmir is a disputed territory. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
- Pakistan Army has not ended its patronage of militant groups and the aid flows to these groups is managed by retired Generals and Mullahs. (Jang)
- Sunni Tehreek Chief Sarwat Qadri said banned terrorist outfits have the full support of political parties. (Jang)
- Nawa-i-Waqt editorial takes government to task for its decision to remove Jihadi verses from school books and says that the entire nation will protest and will not let the government go ahead with this decision. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
BALOCHISTAN
- In Awami Awaz, Nabi Soho writes: rulers of Pakistan keep shedding crocodile tears for Kashmir but turn a blind eye to the conditions in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwah and Balochistan. This is a clear instance of double standard. He alleges that an effort is being made to reduce Balochs into a minority in their own province by flooding Balochistan with Punjabis and Pathans and taking away their rights over natural resources. Soho argues that the only way out for survival is to overthrow the yolk of Pakistan and establish an alliance with other free countries. (Awami Awaz, 4 July)
2. President Zardari will be travelling to Karachi tomorrow to discuss the row with MQM. The MQM has put forward eight conditions for its return to the coalition. One of these demands is that appointment of Mustafa Kamal as Sindh governor in place of Ishrat-ul Abad. (Ibrat)
3.The Sindh National Front’s Mumtaz Bhutto has welcomed PML-N’s decision to call for a grand opposition alliance but said that parties that have “gotten fat” with hand-outs from Zardari’s reconciliation policies may not be in hurry to join this alliance. (Ibrat)
4. Jang columnist Nazir Naji writes: Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan after 9 years in exile with the intention of conducting principled politics. As a result he refused to talk to MQM and PML-Q as they had supported Pervez Musharraf. Now he is however so desperate to get into power that he has sacrificed these principles and is ready to shake hands with the enemies (MQM and PML-Q). (Jang)
5. Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is mulling over the idea of setting up his own political party. He has contacted politicians in Sindh and Punjab as well as other provinces. His invitation is to people who are uncorrupted, religious and moderate and at the same time have influence on religious minded people. (Ausaf, 4 July)
6. Ibrat, Jang and the Jinnah editorials are lukewarm towards the idea of a grand opposition alliance. The GA idea has only exposed the political hollowness of those demanding mid term polls, for which this is not the time.(Ibrat Edit, Jang Edit, Jinnah Edit)
- A Loya Jirga held in Peshawar under the aegis of All Parties Tribal Areas and the JI chief (KP) Prof. Muhammad Ibrahim Khan has reiterated that drone attacks must stop. (Jasarat)
ECONOMY
- Pakistani government borrowed Rs.350 billion from the State Bank of Pakistan in the last three months. (Khabrain)
POK NEWS
- Kashmir Student Liberation Front (KSLF) has demanded that India and Pakistan should decide a time frame for the pull-out of the army from Kashmir. (Daily Dharti)
- The Election Commission has said that the polls for the two controversial legislative constituencies reserved for Kashmiri refugees in Karachi will be held on July 20th. It was the postponement of polling in these constituencies that had angered MQM and triggered its decision to pull out of the ruling coalition. (Awami Awaz, 4 July, Jasarat)
- AJK president Zulqarnain will complete his term on 25th August. (Jinnah)
- 70 families of Tashlut in the Upper Ashkuman area of Gilgit-Baltistan have been forced to abandon their houses. They fear that their houses could be submerged or washed away in floods since the government has fulfilled its promise of building a protective bund in the area. (Ausaf, 4 July)
- JKPP Chief Sardar Khalid Ibrahim indicated that violence was used as a cover to rig the AJK election. (Daily Dharti)