Month: June 2022

The United States of America has condemned the derogatory remarks made against the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by two members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ned Prince, the official spokesperson of the US State Department speaking to the media said, "Well, this is something that we’ve condemned. We condemn the offensive comments made by two BJP officials and we were glad to see that the party publicly condemns those comments." Pertinently, BJP spokesperson (now removed) made insulting remarks against the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ during a news channel Live debate. The remarks sparked a diplomatic row between India and Muslim-majority countries, forcing BJP to take action against the two. Thousands of Muslims across India took to the streets last Friday to protest the remarks made by BJP spo...

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has removed Pakistan from its Grey List. As per news reports, The decision was taken by the FATF hybrid plenary meeting which met in Berlin and was the final one under the two-year Germany Presidency of Marcus Pleyer. Though a formal announcement has not been made yet and is expected to be made later in the day, sources, as quoted by Tribune, said Pakistan was found in compliance with all the 34 aspects it was asked to improve upon. Pakistan had been on the FATF grey list continuously since June 2018. The removal will enable Pakistan to access loans at cheaper interest rates as well as lower the risk of investing in the country.

China has put a hold on the UN at the last moment on a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based militant Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist under the Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the Security Council. Makki is a US-designated terrorist and brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. It is learned that New Delhi and Washington had put a joint proposal to designate Makki as a global terrorist under the 1267 ISIL and Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council but Beijing placed a hold on this proposal at the last minute here. Earlier also, China, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has placed holds and blocks on bids by India and its allies to list Pakistan-based militants. In May 2019, India had won a huge dipl...