MARKETWATCH
"Fears of escalation between nuclear powers after India drops bombs in Pakistan"
By Associated Press
Published: Feb 26, 2019 6:04 p.m. ET
BALAKOT, Pakistan — Tensions escalated sharply on the Asian subcontinent Tuesday with nuclear-armed neighbors Pakistan and India trading accusations and warnings after a pre-dawn airstrike by India that New Delhi said targeted a terrorist training camp.
Pakistan said there were no casualties, while New Delhi called the attack a pre-emptive strike that hit a terrorist training camp and killed “a very large number” of militants.
The airstrike followed a suicide bombing in India’s section of the disputed territory of Kashmir on Feb. 14 that killed more than 40 Indian soldiers.
Pakistan has denied involvement in the attack but vowed to respond to any Indian military operation against it.
Several reporters, including an Associated Press journalist, trudged up the Kangaran Nallah hill to the site of Tuesday’s bombing near the town of Balakot, close to the border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir.
They saw several large craters, a few upended trees and villagers wondering why they had been targeted.
“There are only mud-brick homes here."
"There is no madrassas."
"There isn’t even a concrete house,” said 55-year-old Noor Shah who lived about a third of a mile from the site.
When the bombs struck, Shah said residents of his village of Jabba stayed indoors.
It wasn’t until morning when “we saw soldiers and learned from them that Indian planes dropped bombs in our village,” he said.
Two of the dried mud structures were damaged in the explosions but no one was hurt, said Tahir Khan, 45, of the same village.
He added that his frightened children refused to let him leave their side to go to work.
“No one has been killed, no one has been seriously hurt."
"But we want to know, what have we done that we were attacked?” asked Khan.
Pakistan’s military spokesman, Maj. Gen Asif Ghafoor, said Indian planes crossed into the Muzafarabad sector of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
He said Pakistan scrambled its warplanes and the Indian jets released their payload “in haste” near Balakot.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told reporters in New Delhi that Indian fighter jets targeted Jaish-e-Mohammad camps in a pre-emptive strike after intelligence indicated another attack was being planned.
“Acting on intelligence, India early today struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot,” he said.
“In this operation, a very large number of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and jihadis being trained were eliminated.”
Balakot Police Chief Saghir Hussain Shah said he had sent teams to the area where the Indian bombs reportedly hit, which he described as a mostly deserted wooded area.
He said there were no casualties and no damage.
There was no immediate explanation for the differing accounts, although India and Pakistan routinely contradict one another.
The Feb. 14 attack was the worst on Indian forces since the start of the 1989 insurgency in Kashmir and came as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a re-election campaign.
Addressing a rally of former soldier’s in the Indian state of Rajasthan hours after the airstrike, Modi said India was in “safe hands.”
“I vow that I will not let the country bow down,” he said.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi condemned Tuesday’s incursion, saying New Delhi had “endangered” peace in the region for political gains.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan dismissed India’s account of the airstrike on a terrorist training camp as “self-serving, reckless and fictitious.”
Earlier this month, Khan had authorized the army to “respond decisively and comprehensively to any aggression or misadventure” by India, after New Delhi vowed a “jaw-breaking response” to the Kashmir suicide bombing.
Pakistan has vowed to help investigate the suicide bombing and to take action against anyone found to be using Pakistani soil for attacks on India.
It also offered to hold a dialogue with India on all issues, including terrorism.
Kashmir, which is split between the two countries but claimed by each in its entirety, has been the cause of two wars between the neighbors.
They fought a third war in 1971 over East Pakistan, which gained independence with the help of India and became Bangladesh.
Insurgents in Indian-controlled Kashmir have been demanding either outright independence or union with Pakistan.
India routinely accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants who cross the mountainous Himalayan region.
The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.
The bomber, who made a video beforehand, was a resident of Indian-controlled sector of Kashmir.
Muhammad Amir Rana, a security analyst and executive director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, urged the international community to move quickly to de-escalate tensions.
“It’s quite critical and it is important that the international community intervene quickly to start a peace process between India and Pakistan,” he said, adding that the United States, China and Russia should take the lead.
China, a close ally of Pakistan, urged both sides to show restraint.
“We hope that both India and Pakistan can ... take actions that will help stabilize the situation in the region and help to improve mutual relations,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang.
Pakistan has outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad and seized its property in south Punjab’s Bawahalpur area, including religious schools and mosques.
India has demanded that Jaish-e-Mohammad’s leader, Azhar Masood, be listed as a terrorist by the U.N., but that has been stymied by China.
After the airstrike, Lt. Col. Devender Anand, an Indian army spokesman, said Pakistani soldiers attacked Indian positions along the boundary in Kashmir, the so-called Line of Control.
He called the attack an “unprovoked” violation of the 2003 cease-fire.
He said there were no casualties and refused to discuss India’s incursion into Pakistan.
Residents of Chikhoti, on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, said they heard the roar of Indian jets overhead.
They said they had been expecting an Indian response to the suicide bombing.
“We built bunkers near our home years ago and we will use them if there is any attack from India in our area,” said Mohammad Shafiq, 55.
Later Tuesday evening, Anand said Pakistani soldiers fired mortar shells and small-arms fire along the Line of Control at the Nowshera, Poonch and Akhnoor sectors, prompting Indian troops to “strongly and befittingly” respond.
Shakir Ahmed, a resident of Poonch in Indian-controlled Kashmir, said people heard loud sounds of shelling.
“People are afraid."
"It’s getting dark,” he said.
“We pray it doesn’t escalate into war.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fears ... ewer_click
PAKISTAN/INDIA
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
REUTERS
"India, Pakistan down each other's jets as Kashmir conflict heats up"
By James Mackenzie and Alasdair Pal
27 FEBRUARY 2019
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and Pakistan both said they shot down each other's fighter jets on Wednesday, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a 1971 war, prompting world powers to urge restraint.
Both countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have done so, while ground forces have exchanged fire in more than a dozen locations.
Tension has been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb. 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for talks with India and hoped "better sense" would prevail so that both sides could de-escalate.
"History tells us that wars are full of miscalculation."
"My question is that, given the weapons we have, can we afford miscalculation," Khan said during a brief televised broadcast to the nation.
"We should sit down and talk."
India's attack on Tuesday targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed credit for the suicide attack.
India said a large number of JeM fighters had been killed, but Pakistani officials said the strike was a failure and inflicted no casualties.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, and went to the brink a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India's parliament.
The latest escalation marks a sudden turnaround in relations between the two countries, that both claim Kashmir in full but rule in part.
As recently as November, Pakistan's Khan spoke of "mending ties" with India.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to avoid "further military activity" following Tuesday's air strike.
"I expressed to both ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost," Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday.
"I also encouraged both ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity," he said.
Both China and the European Union have also called for restraint.
AERIAL BATTLE
Many of the facts in the latest series of engagements are disputed by the two sides.
Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the Pakistan armed forces, said two Indian jets had been shot down after they entered Pakistani airspace while responding to a Pakistani aerial mission on targets in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
One of the jets crashed on the Indian-controlled side of the de facto border in Kashmir, known as the Line of Control, and the other on the Pakistani side and two Indian pilots had been captured, he said.
Ghafoor said the Pakistani aircraft had carried out the strikes in response to India's air strike the day before but had taken deliberate action to ensure no casualties were caused.
The Pakistani jets had locked on to six targets, in a demonstration of their capacity to hit strategic installations, but deliberately fired into open spaces where there would be no casualties.
"This was not a retaliation in true sense, but to tell Pakistan has capability, we can do it, but we want to be responsible, we don't want an escalation, we don't want a war," Ghafoor told a news conference.
One of the aircraft fell on India's side of Kashmir, while the second came down in Pakistani-held territory with two pilots captured, he added.
Raveesh Kumar, a spokesman for India's foreign ministry, gave a different account, telling a news briefing that the Pakistan air strikes on military targets had been "foiled".
India shot down one Pakistani plane that landed in Pakistani territory, and that it had lost one of its own planes, not two, with the pilot "missing in action", Kumar added.
"Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody."
"We are ascertaining the facts," Kumar said.
Pakistan denies it lost a plane in the encounter.
At the Pakistani briefing, Ghafoor produced photographs of weapons and identity documents he said were carried by Indian pilots.
The Pakistan government's official Twitter account released a video of what it claimed was one of the Indian pilots who had been shot down.
The man, whose face is bloodied and blindfolded, gives his name and service number, before telling a man questioning him: "I'm sorry sir, that's all I'm supposed to tell you."
The Indian air force has ordered Kashmir's main airport in Srinagar along with at least three others in neighboring states to close, an official said.
Pakistan shut its airspace, with commercial flights in the country canceled.
Flights from the Middle East and India were also affected.
In a separate incident, police officials in Indian-occupied Kashmir said that four passengers and a civilian had died after an Indian aircraft crashed in Kashmir.
The craft was initially reported by officials to be a plane, but a partial tail number from the craft seen by a Reuters witness showed it to be an Mi17 military helicopter.
The cause of the crash was unknown.
CIVILIAN FRIGHT
The aerial engagement followed overnight artillery fire by both sides.
Pakistan used heavy caliber weapons in 12 to 15 places along the Line of Control, a spokesman for the Indian defense forces said on Wednesday.
"The Indian Army retaliated for effect and our focused fire resulted in severe destruction to five posts and number of casualties," the spokesman said.
Five Indian soldiers suffered minor wounds in the shelling that ended on Wednesday morning, he added.
"So far there are no (civilian) casualties but there is panic among people," said Rahul Yadav, the deputy commissioner of the Poonch district on the Indian side where some of the shelling took place.
"We have an evacuation plan in place and if need arises we will evacuate people to safer areas,” he said.
Officials on the Pakistani side said at least four people had been killed and seven wounded, including civilians, with thousands evacuated and schools closed in border areas.
"Only those families are still here which have concrete bunkers built within or along their homes," said Muhammad Din, a resident of Chakothi, a village in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir near the de facto border.
India has also continued its crackdown on suspected militants operating in Kashmir, and on Wednesday security forces killed two Jaish militants in a gun battle, Indian police said.
Syed Maqsood, the superintendent of a government hospital in Indian-occupied Kashmir, said that all hospitals in the region had been asked to paint a red cross on their roofs.
The latest exchanges hit stock markets in both countries.
Pakistani stocks fell sharply during morning trade with the benchmark KSE 100 Index index down 3.34 percent and the narrower KMI 30 index down 3.6 percent in Karachi.
The Indian stock market was down around 0.5 percent, but the nervousness was evident in Mumbai.
There was a visible increase in security levels in India's financial capital, which has suffered numerous militant attacks in the past.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Alasdair Pal; Additional reporting by Fayaz Bukhari, Devjyot Ghoshal, Aditi Shah, Aditya Kalra, Drazen Jorgic, Rupam Jain, Abu Arqam Naqash, Eric Beech and Praveen Menon; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pak ... P17#page=2
"India, Pakistan down each other's jets as Kashmir conflict heats up"
By James Mackenzie and Alasdair Pal
27 FEBRUARY 2019
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and Pakistan both said they shot down each other's fighter jets on Wednesday, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a 1971 war, prompting world powers to urge restraint.
Both countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have done so, while ground forces have exchanged fire in more than a dozen locations.
Tension has been elevated since a suicide car bombing by Pakistan-based militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police on Feb. 14, but the risk of conflict rose dramatically on Tuesday when India launched an air strike on what it said was a militant training base.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for talks with India and hoped "better sense" would prevail so that both sides could de-escalate.
"History tells us that wars are full of miscalculation."
"My question is that, given the weapons we have, can we afford miscalculation," Khan said during a brief televised broadcast to the nation.
"We should sit down and talk."
India's attack on Tuesday targeted the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed credit for the suicide attack.
India said a large number of JeM fighters had been killed, but Pakistani officials said the strike was a failure and inflicted no casualties.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, two over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, and went to the brink a fourth in 2002 after a Pakistani militant attack on India's parliament.
The latest escalation marks a sudden turnaround in relations between the two countries, that both claim Kashmir in full but rule in part.
As recently as November, Pakistan's Khan spoke of "mending ties" with India.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke separately with the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan and urged them to avoid "further military activity" following Tuesday's air strike.
"I expressed to both ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost," Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday.
"I also encouraged both ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity," he said.
Both China and the European Union have also called for restraint.
AERIAL BATTLE
Many of the facts in the latest series of engagements are disputed by the two sides.
Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesman for the Pakistan armed forces, said two Indian jets had been shot down after they entered Pakistani airspace while responding to a Pakistani aerial mission on targets in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
One of the jets crashed on the Indian-controlled side of the de facto border in Kashmir, known as the Line of Control, and the other on the Pakistani side and two Indian pilots had been captured, he said.
Ghafoor said the Pakistani aircraft had carried out the strikes in response to India's air strike the day before but had taken deliberate action to ensure no casualties were caused.
The Pakistani jets had locked on to six targets, in a demonstration of their capacity to hit strategic installations, but deliberately fired into open spaces where there would be no casualties.
"This was not a retaliation in true sense, but to tell Pakistan has capability, we can do it, but we want to be responsible, we don't want an escalation, we don't want a war," Ghafoor told a news conference.
One of the aircraft fell on India's side of Kashmir, while the second came down in Pakistani-held territory with two pilots captured, he added.
Raveesh Kumar, a spokesman for India's foreign ministry, gave a different account, telling a news briefing that the Pakistan air strikes on military targets had been "foiled".
India shot down one Pakistani plane that landed in Pakistani territory, and that it had lost one of its own planes, not two, with the pilot "missing in action", Kumar added.
"Pakistan has claimed that he is in their custody."
"We are ascertaining the facts," Kumar said.
Pakistan denies it lost a plane in the encounter.
At the Pakistani briefing, Ghafoor produced photographs of weapons and identity documents he said were carried by Indian pilots.
The Pakistan government's official Twitter account released a video of what it claimed was one of the Indian pilots who had been shot down.
The man, whose face is bloodied and blindfolded, gives his name and service number, before telling a man questioning him: "I'm sorry sir, that's all I'm supposed to tell you."
The Indian air force has ordered Kashmir's main airport in Srinagar along with at least three others in neighboring states to close, an official said.
Pakistan shut its airspace, with commercial flights in the country canceled.
Flights from the Middle East and India were also affected.
In a separate incident, police officials in Indian-occupied Kashmir said that four passengers and a civilian had died after an Indian aircraft crashed in Kashmir.
The craft was initially reported by officials to be a plane, but a partial tail number from the craft seen by a Reuters witness showed it to be an Mi17 military helicopter.
The cause of the crash was unknown.
CIVILIAN FRIGHT
The aerial engagement followed overnight artillery fire by both sides.
Pakistan used heavy caliber weapons in 12 to 15 places along the Line of Control, a spokesman for the Indian defense forces said on Wednesday.
"The Indian Army retaliated for effect and our focused fire resulted in severe destruction to five posts and number of casualties," the spokesman said.
Five Indian soldiers suffered minor wounds in the shelling that ended on Wednesday morning, he added.
"So far there are no (civilian) casualties but there is panic among people," said Rahul Yadav, the deputy commissioner of the Poonch district on the Indian side where some of the shelling took place.
"We have an evacuation plan in place and if need arises we will evacuate people to safer areas,” he said.
Officials on the Pakistani side said at least four people had been killed and seven wounded, including civilians, with thousands evacuated and schools closed in border areas.
"Only those families are still here which have concrete bunkers built within or along their homes," said Muhammad Din, a resident of Chakothi, a village in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir near the de facto border.
India has also continued its crackdown on suspected militants operating in Kashmir, and on Wednesday security forces killed two Jaish militants in a gun battle, Indian police said.
Syed Maqsood, the superintendent of a government hospital in Indian-occupied Kashmir, said that all hospitals in the region had been asked to paint a red cross on their roofs.
The latest exchanges hit stock markets in both countries.
Pakistani stocks fell sharply during morning trade with the benchmark KSE 100 Index index down 3.34 percent and the narrower KMI 30 index down 3.6 percent in Karachi.
The Indian stock market was down around 0.5 percent, but the nervousness was evident in Mumbai.
There was a visible increase in security levels in India's financial capital, which has suffered numerous militant attacks in the past.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Alasdair Pal; Additional reporting by Fayaz Bukhari, Devjyot Ghoshal, Aditi Shah, Aditya Kalra, Drazen Jorgic, Rupam Jain, Abu Arqam Naqash, Eric Beech and Praveen Menon; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Simon Cameron-Moore and Nick Macfie)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pak ... P17#page=2
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
GEO TV
"Experts warn of 'sanitation emergency' as 'worst fly infestation' hits Karachi"
By Web Desk
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
Urban and medical experts have warned of a "sanitation emergency" as Pakistan's economic hub experiences the "worst infestation of flies" to date while local politicians play catch with responsibility.
According to a report in The New York Times, flies in Karachi have become "a bullying force on sidewalks, flying in and out of stores and cars and homes, and settling onto every available surface, from vegetables to people".
The flies follow the torrential rainstorm that hit the southern port city a few weeks ago, leading to days-long power outages and flooding on major thoroughfares and streets as well as in the drainage system.
The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center's (JPMC) executive director, Dr Seemin Jamali, told the NYT that the latest was the "worst infestation of flies she had ever witnessed".
She said: “There are huge swarms of flies and mosquitoes."
"It’s not just affecting the life of the common man — they’re so scary, they’re hounding people."
"You can’t walk straight on the road, there are so many flies everywhere.”
Speaking of the remains and tripe left behind on the streets after Eid-ul-Azha, Dr Jamali said: "We have collected these heaps of garbage."
She warned about diseases spreading in the city as a consequence of the poor waste management and stagnant rainwater, saying the ailments included malaria, gastroenteritis, typhoid, dengue fever, the chikungunya virus, respiratory disorders, and Congo fever.
'Completely dysfunctional'
Karachi faces an assortment of challenges — ranging from garbage problems and lack of proper waste disposal systems to fumigation-resistant bugs — but local politicians continue to feud over egos and responsibilities with no one willing to stand up and take charge except if it involves publicity stunts.
The issues became worse with the stagnant rainwater following the downpour early August as well as the entrails of sacrificial animals thrown out on the streets after Eid-ul-Azha.
"The kind of havoc it created — if there are a couple of more spells like this, then the city will become completely dysfunctional," Dr Noman Ahmed, a professor at the NED University of Engineering and Technology, told the NYT.
“Karachi’s livability is falling,” he adding, noting: “The city requires a kind of sanitation emergency.”
The fact that Karachi churns out 12,000 tonnes of waste per day, according to a June 2019 study by the World Bank — coupled with a severe lack of resources and infrastructure, a rampant growth in population, and other climate change issues — has choked the city in terms of commuting and business as well.
A street-side vendor told the publication that his "business has completely ended" and that "whoever comes just looks at the flies".
The problems of Pakistan's most crucial economic and industrial hub are further exacerbated by politicians that rule the city.
Garbage, cleanliness, and rainwater management is what the NYT report termed "an issue that feuding political factions have wielded against each other for years but that hasn’t gotten any better".
It also highlighted how cleanliness drives have become the new "in" thing for politicians.
"The parties tussling for influence in Karachi have not failed to notice."
"In recent days, sanitation has again become a rallying cry — and a political weapon — for politicians."
"The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., which holds power in the national government, is trying to assert its base in Karachi to fight the traditional provincial-level powerhouse, the Pakistan Peoples Party, or P.P.P," it wrote.
On the other hand, Mustafa Kamal, former Karachi mayor and now-chief of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), had said Tuesday the reason why no one had yet picked garbage from the metropolis was the rampant corruption.
Also to note is the fact that the ruling PTI's federal minister, Ali Zaidi, had on August 2 vowed to clean Karachi in two weeks.
The NYT, however, also noted that to combat the latest plague of flies, politicians would have "to forge a working relationship".
Yet, "the bugs don’t seem willing to observe political boundaries".
https://www.geo.tv/latest/246162-any-mo ... rn-experts
"Experts warn of 'sanitation emergency' as 'worst fly infestation' hits Karachi"
By Web Desk
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
Urban and medical experts have warned of a "sanitation emergency" as Pakistan's economic hub experiences the "worst infestation of flies" to date while local politicians play catch with responsibility.
According to a report in The New York Times, flies in Karachi have become "a bullying force on sidewalks, flying in and out of stores and cars and homes, and settling onto every available surface, from vegetables to people".
The flies follow the torrential rainstorm that hit the southern port city a few weeks ago, leading to days-long power outages and flooding on major thoroughfares and streets as well as in the drainage system.
The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center's (JPMC) executive director, Dr Seemin Jamali, told the NYT that the latest was the "worst infestation of flies she had ever witnessed".
She said: “There are huge swarms of flies and mosquitoes."
"It’s not just affecting the life of the common man — they’re so scary, they’re hounding people."
"You can’t walk straight on the road, there are so many flies everywhere.”
Speaking of the remains and tripe left behind on the streets after Eid-ul-Azha, Dr Jamali said: "We have collected these heaps of garbage."
She warned about diseases spreading in the city as a consequence of the poor waste management and stagnant rainwater, saying the ailments included malaria, gastroenteritis, typhoid, dengue fever, the chikungunya virus, respiratory disorders, and Congo fever.
'Completely dysfunctional'
Karachi faces an assortment of challenges — ranging from garbage problems and lack of proper waste disposal systems to fumigation-resistant bugs — but local politicians continue to feud over egos and responsibilities with no one willing to stand up and take charge except if it involves publicity stunts.
The issues became worse with the stagnant rainwater following the downpour early August as well as the entrails of sacrificial animals thrown out on the streets after Eid-ul-Azha.
"The kind of havoc it created — if there are a couple of more spells like this, then the city will become completely dysfunctional," Dr Noman Ahmed, a professor at the NED University of Engineering and Technology, told the NYT.
“Karachi’s livability is falling,” he adding, noting: “The city requires a kind of sanitation emergency.”
The fact that Karachi churns out 12,000 tonnes of waste per day, according to a June 2019 study by the World Bank — coupled with a severe lack of resources and infrastructure, a rampant growth in population, and other climate change issues — has choked the city in terms of commuting and business as well.
A street-side vendor told the publication that his "business has completely ended" and that "whoever comes just looks at the flies".
The problems of Pakistan's most crucial economic and industrial hub are further exacerbated by politicians that rule the city.
Garbage, cleanliness, and rainwater management is what the NYT report termed "an issue that feuding political factions have wielded against each other for years but that hasn’t gotten any better".
It also highlighted how cleanliness drives have become the new "in" thing for politicians.
"The parties tussling for influence in Karachi have not failed to notice."
"In recent days, sanitation has again become a rallying cry — and a political weapon — for politicians."
"The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., which holds power in the national government, is trying to assert its base in Karachi to fight the traditional provincial-level powerhouse, the Pakistan Peoples Party, or P.P.P," it wrote.
On the other hand, Mustafa Kamal, former Karachi mayor and now-chief of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), had said Tuesday the reason why no one had yet picked garbage from the metropolis was the rampant corruption.
Also to note is the fact that the ruling PTI's federal minister, Ali Zaidi, had on August 2 vowed to clean Karachi in two weeks.
The NYT, however, also noted that to combat the latest plague of flies, politicians would have "to forge a working relationship".
Yet, "the bugs don’t seem willing to observe political boundaries".
https://www.geo.tv/latest/246162-any-mo ... rn-experts
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
BLOOMBERG
"Biden to Press India’s Modi on Russia Ahead of Defense Meeting - U.S disappointed with India neutral stand on War in Ukraine"
By Sudhi Ranjan Sen
April 11, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden will again press India to take a harder stand on Russia’s war in Ukraine during a virtual meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of a dialog between the foreign and defense ministers from both sides.
Biden will continue “consultations on the consequences of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets,” the White House Press Secretary said in a press statement Sunday.
Tensions between the U.S. and India have risen in recent weeks over Modi’s reluctance to criticize Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, which has complicated a budding security partnership between the democracies in countering China’s influence.
Top Biden administration officials have publicly expressed alarm and disappointment with New Delhi’s reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its purchases of weapons and discounted oil from Moscow.
However, people familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg News that the public position is contrary to private discussions between the two sides.
They cited conversations in New Delhi last month with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who offered help in finding alternative sources of weapons that could be used to counter India’s neighbors Pakistan and China.
India has advocated a diplomatic solution to end the fighting in Ukraine but has refrained from taking a stronger stand.
Last week new Delhi again abstained when the UN General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from its Human Rights Council.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not mention Ukraine at all in its press statement on the meeting between Biden and Modi, saying only that they will “review ongoing bilateral cooperation and exchange views on recent developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and global issues of mutual interest.”
The virtual summit between the leaders on Monday will be followed by a two-plus-two meeting between foreign and defense ministers of both nations in Washington.
Last week, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told lawmakers that Moscow was an “important partner in a variety of areas” and India was trying to “stabilize economic transactions with Russia.”
The minister also said that India and Russia were working on a non-dollar denominated payment system.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... se-meeting
"Biden to Press India’s Modi on Russia Ahead of Defense Meeting - U.S disappointed with India neutral stand on War in Ukraine"
By Sudhi Ranjan Sen
April 11, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden will again press India to take a harder stand on Russia’s war in Ukraine during a virtual meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of a dialog between the foreign and defense ministers from both sides.
Biden will continue “consultations on the consequences of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets,” the White House Press Secretary said in a press statement Sunday.
Tensions between the U.S. and India have risen in recent weeks over Modi’s reluctance to criticize Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, which has complicated a budding security partnership between the democracies in countering China’s influence.
Top Biden administration officials have publicly expressed alarm and disappointment with New Delhi’s reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its purchases of weapons and discounted oil from Moscow.
However, people familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg News that the public position is contrary to private discussions between the two sides.
They cited conversations in New Delhi last month with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who offered help in finding alternative sources of weapons that could be used to counter India’s neighbors Pakistan and China.
India has advocated a diplomatic solution to end the fighting in Ukraine but has refrained from taking a stronger stand.
Last week new Delhi again abstained when the UN General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from its Human Rights Council.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not mention Ukraine at all in its press statement on the meeting between Biden and Modi, saying only that they will “review ongoing bilateral cooperation and exchange views on recent developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and global issues of mutual interest.”
The virtual summit between the leaders on Monday will be followed by a two-plus-two meeting between foreign and defense ministers of both nations in Washington.
Last week, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told lawmakers that Moscow was an “important partner in a variety of areas” and India was trying to “stabilize economic transactions with Russia.”
The minister also said that India and Russia were working on a non-dollar denominated payment system.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... se-meeting
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
REUTERS
"Russia becomes India's second biggest oil exporter, trade sources' data show"
By Nidhi Verma
June 13, 2022
NEW DELHI, June 13 (Reuters) - Russia rose to become India's second biggest supplier of oil in May, pushing Saudi Arabia into third place but still behind Iraq which remains No. 1, data from trade sources showed.
In May Indian refiners received about 819,000 barrels per day (bpd) Russian oil, the highest thus far in any month, compared to about 277,00 in April, the data showed.
Western sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine prompted many oil importers to shun trade with Moscow, pushing spot prices for Russian crude to record discounts against other grades.
That provided Indian refiners, which rarely used to buy Russian oil due to high freight costs, an opportunity to snap up low-priced crude.
Russian grades accounted for about 16.5% of India's overall oil imports in May, and helped raise the share of oil from the C.I.S. countries to about 20.5%, while that from the Middle East declined to about 59.5% %, the data showed.
The share of African oil in India's crude imports last month surged to 11.5% from 5.9% in April, the data showed.
"Diesel is calling the tune ... if you want to boost production of diesel and jet fuel then you need Nigerian and Angolan grades."
"China has cut imports of Angolan grades because of COVID-related shutdowns so some of these barrels are going to Europe and some to India," said Ehsan Ul Haq, analyst with Refinitiv.
He said apart from availability of cheaper Russian barrels, higher official selling prices of Middle Eastern oil also pushed Indian refiners to buy Nigerian crude.
India's oil imports in May totalled 4.98 million bpd, the highest since December 2020, as state refiners raised output to meet growing local demand while private refiners turned focus to gain from exports, the data showed.
India's oil imports in May were about 5.6% up from the previous month and about 19% from a year earlier, the data obtained from sources showed.
India has defended its purchase of "cheap" Russian oil saying imports from Moscow made only a fraction of the country's overall needs and a sudden stop would drive up costs for its consumers.
Higher oil imports from Russia, curbed OPEC's share in India's overall imports to 65% in April.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by David Evans
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rus ... 022-06-13/
"Russia becomes India's second biggest oil exporter, trade sources' data show"
By Nidhi Verma
June 13, 2022
NEW DELHI, June 13 (Reuters) - Russia rose to become India's second biggest supplier of oil in May, pushing Saudi Arabia into third place but still behind Iraq which remains No. 1, data from trade sources showed.
In May Indian refiners received about 819,000 barrels per day (bpd) Russian oil, the highest thus far in any month, compared to about 277,00 in April, the data showed.
Western sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine prompted many oil importers to shun trade with Moscow, pushing spot prices for Russian crude to record discounts against other grades.
That provided Indian refiners, which rarely used to buy Russian oil due to high freight costs, an opportunity to snap up low-priced crude.
Russian grades accounted for about 16.5% of India's overall oil imports in May, and helped raise the share of oil from the C.I.S. countries to about 20.5%, while that from the Middle East declined to about 59.5% %, the data showed.
The share of African oil in India's crude imports last month surged to 11.5% from 5.9% in April, the data showed.
"Diesel is calling the tune ... if you want to boost production of diesel and jet fuel then you need Nigerian and Angolan grades."
"China has cut imports of Angolan grades because of COVID-related shutdowns so some of these barrels are going to Europe and some to India," said Ehsan Ul Haq, analyst with Refinitiv.
He said apart from availability of cheaper Russian barrels, higher official selling prices of Middle Eastern oil also pushed Indian refiners to buy Nigerian crude.
India's oil imports in May totalled 4.98 million bpd, the highest since December 2020, as state refiners raised output to meet growing local demand while private refiners turned focus to gain from exports, the data showed.
India's oil imports in May were about 5.6% up from the previous month and about 19% from a year earlier, the data obtained from sources showed.
India has defended its purchase of "cheap" Russian oil saying imports from Moscow made only a fraction of the country's overall needs and a sudden stop would drive up costs for its consumers.
Higher oil imports from Russia, curbed OPEC's share in India's overall imports to 65% in April.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by David Evans
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rus ... 022-06-13/
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
RIGZONE
"China Gets Competition For Its Favorite Russian Oil From India"
by Bojan Lepic, Serene Cheong and Sharon Cho
Friday, July 22, 2022
India has ramped up purchases of crude from Russia’s far east, a grade that’s typically favored by Chinese oil refiners.
Four vessels hauling Russian ESPO oil are making their way to India, with two tankers heading for Paradip port on the east coast, where a refinery operated by Indian Oil Corp. is located, according to shipbrokers and data compiled by Bloomberg.
That compares with three vessels in June and one in April, said Emma Li, an analyst at Vortexa in Singapore.
State-owned Indian Oil didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The trade is typically not attractive to Indian buyers due to the long distance from the Russian loading port of Kozmino and because ESPO crude cargoes are usually transported in aframax vessels, which carry smaller volumes.
However, the cheaper price compared with other grades from the Persian Gulf and West Africa are likely to have prompted the buying, according to traders.
Cargoes of ESPO can be shipped to China in around five days, and the nation’s refiners have been eagerly snapping up the cheap Russian barrels, which have displaced flows from other suppliers such as West Africa and Brazil.
--With assistance from Debjit Chakraborty.
https://www.rigzone.com/news/china_gets ... 0-article/
"China Gets Competition For Its Favorite Russian Oil From India"
by Bojan Lepic, Serene Cheong and Sharon Cho
Friday, July 22, 2022
India has ramped up purchases of crude from Russia’s far east, a grade that’s typically favored by Chinese oil refiners.
Four vessels hauling Russian ESPO oil are making their way to India, with two tankers heading for Paradip port on the east coast, where a refinery operated by Indian Oil Corp. is located, according to shipbrokers and data compiled by Bloomberg.
That compares with three vessels in June and one in April, said Emma Li, an analyst at Vortexa in Singapore.
State-owned Indian Oil didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The trade is typically not attractive to Indian buyers due to the long distance from the Russian loading port of Kozmino and because ESPO crude cargoes are usually transported in aframax vessels, which carry smaller volumes.
However, the cheaper price compared with other grades from the Persian Gulf and West Africa are likely to have prompted the buying, according to traders.
Cargoes of ESPO can be shipped to China in around five days, and the nation’s refiners have been eagerly snapping up the cheap Russian barrels, which have displaced flows from other suppliers such as West Africa and Brazil.
--With assistance from Debjit Chakraborty.
https://www.rigzone.com/news/china_gets ... 0-article/
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
REUTERS
"India says Russia oil deals advantageous as Yellen visits Delhi"
By Shivam Patel and Krishna N. Das
November 8, 2022
NEW DELHI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - India will continue buying Russian oil because it benefits the country, India's foreign minister said on Tuesday after meeting his Russian counterpart for the fifth time this year, adding that the two countries were expanding their trade ties.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is visiting Moscow for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
His trip comes as U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits New Delhi this week to hold talks with Indian officials, including possibly on capping Russian oil prices.
India has become Russia's largest oil customer after China, as its refiners snap up discounted cargoes shunned by Western buyers.
Russia's share of India's oil imports surged to an all-time high of 23% in September, from just about 2% before the invasion.
Jaishankar was accompanied by senior officials in charge of agriculture, petroleum and natural gas, ports and shipping, finance, chemicals and fertiliser, and trade - which he said showed the importance of ties with Russia.
Both sides are keen to expand their rupee-rouble trade given Russia's problems with the dollar.
"Russia has been a steady and time-tested partner."
"Any objective evaluation of our relationship over many decades would confirm that it has actually served both our countries very, very well," Jaishankar said in a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Asked about a Group of Seven plan to cap the price of Russian oil, Jaishankar said that as the world's third-largest consumer of oil and gas where the levels of income were not high, India had to look after its own interests.
"And in that respect, quite honestly, we have seen that the India-Russia relationship has worked to our advantage," he said.
"So, if it works to my advantage, I would like to keep that going."
Reuters reported on Monday that India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp had applied to the new Russian operator of the Sakhalin-1, following the exit of ExxonMobil, to retain its stake in the oil and gas project in the Far East.
India has not condemned Moscow's invasion, but has called for peace and dialogue and Jaishankar reiterated India would "be supportive of any initiative that de-risks the global economy and stabilises global order".
Russia has been India's biggest supplier of military equipment for decades and it is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceutical products.
Jaishankar said India needed to boost its exports to Russia to balance bilateral trade that is now tilted towards Russia.
Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Louise Heavens and Tomasz Janowski
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-11-08/
"India says Russia oil deals advantageous as Yellen visits Delhi"
By Shivam Patel and Krishna N. Das
November 8, 2022
NEW DELHI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - India will continue buying Russian oil because it benefits the country, India's foreign minister said on Tuesday after meeting his Russian counterpart for the fifth time this year, adding that the two countries were expanding their trade ties.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is visiting Moscow for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
His trip comes as U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits New Delhi this week to hold talks with Indian officials, including possibly on capping Russian oil prices.
India has become Russia's largest oil customer after China, as its refiners snap up discounted cargoes shunned by Western buyers.
Russia's share of India's oil imports surged to an all-time high of 23% in September, from just about 2% before the invasion.
Jaishankar was accompanied by senior officials in charge of agriculture, petroleum and natural gas, ports and shipping, finance, chemicals and fertiliser, and trade - which he said showed the importance of ties with Russia.
Both sides are keen to expand their rupee-rouble trade given Russia's problems with the dollar.
"Russia has been a steady and time-tested partner."
"Any objective evaluation of our relationship over many decades would confirm that it has actually served both our countries very, very well," Jaishankar said in a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Asked about a Group of Seven plan to cap the price of Russian oil, Jaishankar said that as the world's third-largest consumer of oil and gas where the levels of income were not high, India had to look after its own interests.
"And in that respect, quite honestly, we have seen that the India-Russia relationship has worked to our advantage," he said.
"So, if it works to my advantage, I would like to keep that going."
Reuters reported on Monday that India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp had applied to the new Russian operator of the Sakhalin-1, following the exit of ExxonMobil, to retain its stake in the oil and gas project in the Far East.
India has not condemned Moscow's invasion, but has called for peace and dialogue and Jaishankar reiterated India would "be supportive of any initiative that de-risks the global economy and stabilises global order".
Russia has been India's biggest supplier of military equipment for decades and it is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceutical products.
Jaishankar said India needed to boost its exports to Russia to balance bilateral trade that is now tilted towards Russia.
Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Louise Heavens and Tomasz Janowski
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-11-08/
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
REUTERS
"EXCLUSIVE India can buy as much Russian oil as it wants, outside price cap, Yellen says"
By David Lawder
November 11, 2022
NEW DELHI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The United States is happy for India to continue buying as much Russian oil as it wants, including at prices above a G7-imposed price cap mechanism, if it steers clear of Western insurance, finance and maritime services bound by the cap, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday.
The cap would still drive global oil prices lower while curbing Russia's revenues, Yellen said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on deepening U.S.-Indian economic ties.
Russia will not be able to sell as much oil as it does now once the European Union halts imports without resorting to the capped price or significant discounts from current prices, Yellen added.
"Russia is going to find it very difficult to continue shipping as much oil as they have done when the EU stops buying Russian oil," Yellen said.
"They're going to be heavily in search of buyers."
"And many buyers are reliant on Western services."
India is now Russia's largest oil customer other than China.
Final details of the price cap to be imposed by wealthy G7 democracies and Australia are still coming together ahead of a Dec. 5 deadline.
The existence of the cap would give India, China and other major buyers of Russian crude leverage to push down the price they pay to Moscow, Yellen said.
Russian oil "is going to be selling at bargain prices and we're happy to have India get that bargain or Africa or China."
"It's fine," Yellen added.
Yellen told Reuters that India and private Indian oil companies "can also purchase oil at any price they want as long as they don't use these Western services and they find other services."
"And either way is fine."
The cap is intended to cut Russia's oil revenues while keeping Russian crude on the market by denying insurance, maritime services and finance provided by the Western allies for tanker cargoes priced above a fixed dollar-per barrel cap.
A historical Russian Urals crude average of $63-64 a barrel could form an upper limit.
The cap is a concept promoted by the United States since the EU first laid out plans in May for an embargo on Russian oil to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
INDIA WARY
Yellen's remarks were made after India's foreign minister said last week that his country would continue to buy Russian crude because it benefits India.
India's finance and energy ministries were not available for comment on Yellen's remarks, but other officials have said they were wary of the untested price cap mechanism.
"I do not think we will follow the price cap mechanism, and we have communicated that to the countries."
"We believe most countries are comfortable with it and it is in no one's case that Russian oil should go offline," one Indian government official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official added that stable supplies and prices are most important.
Rosneft, Russia's largest oil exporter, is expanding its tanker charter business to avoid its buyers having to find tankers, insurance or other services as the price cap.
Yellen said that even with Russian tankers, Chinese tankers and a "shadow" fleet of older, decommissioned tankers and re-flagged vessels, "I just think they will find it very difficult to sell all the oil that they have been selling without a reasonable price."
Reporting by David Lawder; additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed in New Delhi; Editing by Will Dunham and Heather Timmons
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-11-11/
"EXCLUSIVE India can buy as much Russian oil as it wants, outside price cap, Yellen says"
By David Lawder
November 11, 2022
NEW DELHI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The United States is happy for India to continue buying as much Russian oil as it wants, including at prices above a G7-imposed price cap mechanism, if it steers clear of Western insurance, finance and maritime services bound by the cap, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday.
The cap would still drive global oil prices lower while curbing Russia's revenues, Yellen said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on deepening U.S.-Indian economic ties.
Russia will not be able to sell as much oil as it does now once the European Union halts imports without resorting to the capped price or significant discounts from current prices, Yellen added.
"Russia is going to find it very difficult to continue shipping as much oil as they have done when the EU stops buying Russian oil," Yellen said.
"They're going to be heavily in search of buyers."
"And many buyers are reliant on Western services."
India is now Russia's largest oil customer other than China.
Final details of the price cap to be imposed by wealthy G7 democracies and Australia are still coming together ahead of a Dec. 5 deadline.
The existence of the cap would give India, China and other major buyers of Russian crude leverage to push down the price they pay to Moscow, Yellen said.
Russian oil "is going to be selling at bargain prices and we're happy to have India get that bargain or Africa or China."
"It's fine," Yellen added.
Yellen told Reuters that India and private Indian oil companies "can also purchase oil at any price they want as long as they don't use these Western services and they find other services."
"And either way is fine."
The cap is intended to cut Russia's oil revenues while keeping Russian crude on the market by denying insurance, maritime services and finance provided by the Western allies for tanker cargoes priced above a fixed dollar-per barrel cap.
A historical Russian Urals crude average of $63-64 a barrel could form an upper limit.
The cap is a concept promoted by the United States since the EU first laid out plans in May for an embargo on Russian oil to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
INDIA WARY
Yellen's remarks were made after India's foreign minister said last week that his country would continue to buy Russian crude because it benefits India.
India's finance and energy ministries were not available for comment on Yellen's remarks, but other officials have said they were wary of the untested price cap mechanism.
"I do not think we will follow the price cap mechanism, and we have communicated that to the countries."
"We believe most countries are comfortable with it and it is in no one's case that Russian oil should go offline," one Indian government official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official added that stable supplies and prices are most important.
Rosneft, Russia's largest oil exporter, is expanding its tanker charter business to avoid its buyers having to find tankers, insurance or other services as the price cap.
Yellen said that even with Russian tankers, Chinese tankers and a "shadow" fleet of older, decommissioned tankers and re-flagged vessels, "I just think they will find it very difficult to sell all the oil that they have been selling without a reasonable price."
Reporting by David Lawder; additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed in New Delhi; Editing by Will Dunham and Heather Timmons
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 022-11-11/
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
"Demands for 'climate reparations' are laughable"
Opinion by Dan Hannan
21 NOVEMBER 2022
The demands for climate reparations from wealthy countries are so absurd, so unscientific, and so offensive to natural justice that it is difficult to know where the criticism should begin.
The argument is that, since countries that industrialized earlier produced a lot of carbon a hundred years ago, they now owe a debt to poorer states.
Naturally, this argument appeals to assorted Marxists, anti-colonialists, and shakedown artists, and COP27 has been dominated by insolent demands for well-run states to pony up.
Some, including Austria, Belgium, and Denmark, have capitulated.
No doubt others will follow.
These days, once something is framed as poor-versus-rich or darker-skinned-versus-lighter-skinned or ex-colony-versus-ex-colonizer, the pressure becomes irresistible.
Nevertheless, it is worth running through the absurdities in play.
First, the claims are rooted in indignation rather than science.
For example, Pakistan, which leads the G-77 group of poorer states and is leading the campaign, claims that its floods are a product of climate change.
But might Pakistan look a little closer to home?
Although Europe and North America have seen significant reforestation over the past half-century, Pakistan has gone in the other direction.
A third of its landmass was forest when it became independent in 1947.
Now, it is one-twentieth, and the rains run straight off the mountains into silted-up reservoirs that then overflow, whence the floods.
But never mind all that — blame the colonialists, eh?
Second, there is the utter refusal to acknowledge what wealthier countries are already doing.
I don’t just mean in terms of making direct monetary transfers — though, sticking with Pakistan for a moment, Britain has been borrowing around $400 million a year to give to that country, which pleads poverty while funding a nuclear weapons program.
No, I mean in terms of impoverishing themselves through drastic action on carbon emissions.
Britain has cut its carbon dioxide production by nearly half since 1990, largely by closing down its coal mines.
Pakistan has more than 100 coal mines in operation.
But, again, blame the colonialists, eh?
Third, there is the ingratitude.
One of the things I used to resent about the European Parliament was the entitled and hectoring way in which representatives of poorer countries (they were usually very rich people) would call for bigger transfers.
“This is unacceptable,” they would say of whatever offer the Brits, the Dutch, or the Germans put on the table.
Fine, I’d think, don’t accept it, then.
Yet the numbers only ever got bigger.
Look, I’m sorry to be blunt about this, but a 2-degree rise in temperature is far less menacing for Britain or Canada than it is for most countries.
The least-threatened countries are doing the heaviest lifting by far.
But don’t expect any gratitude.
Fourth, there is the implication that industrialization, the miracle that released our species from 10,000 years of backbreaking labor, is regrettable.
In truth, as well as giving us longer, healthier, and freer lives, the wealth released over the past 200 years of specialization and exchange is cleaning up the environment.
The air and water are purer in London than in Lahore because GDP is higher.
For the same reason, natural disasters have become far less lethal.
The 1950 floods in Pakistan killed many more people than this year’s, because they hit a poorer country.
Fifth, there is the related assumption that rich countries owe their wealth to exploitation, that one nation’s gain must mean another’s loss.
This is palpable nonsense.
The enrichment of a country, other things being equal, is good news for all of its trading partners.
And countries get wealthy not by conquering others (a process that is always expensive) but by pursuing the right policies, such as secure property rights, low taxes, independent courts, light regulations, and free trade.
If you tax successful countries to pay unsuccessful ones, you will end up with fewer of the former and more of the latter.
Sixth, and most preposterously, there is the ugly collectivism that lurks behind every shakedown attempt, from the return of artworks to slavery reparations.
Our criminal justice system, like every Abrahamic religion, is based on the idea that we are individually responsible for our actions.
But when it comes to these scams, we are all suddenly defined by ancestry or skin color.
It is precisely because Western nations broke out of that dispensation that they became rich in the first place.
And it was by copying their individualist outlook that other countries were able to catch them up.
Far from complaining about industrialization, the rest of the world should thank us for having developed capitalism, and they should seek to emulate it.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/de ... 0b1718f1ff
"Demands for 'climate reparations' are laughable"
Opinion by Dan Hannan
21 NOVEMBER 2022
The demands for climate reparations from wealthy countries are so absurd, so unscientific, and so offensive to natural justice that it is difficult to know where the criticism should begin.
The argument is that, since countries that industrialized earlier produced a lot of carbon a hundred years ago, they now owe a debt to poorer states.
Naturally, this argument appeals to assorted Marxists, anti-colonialists, and shakedown artists, and COP27 has been dominated by insolent demands for well-run states to pony up.
Some, including Austria, Belgium, and Denmark, have capitulated.
No doubt others will follow.
These days, once something is framed as poor-versus-rich or darker-skinned-versus-lighter-skinned or ex-colony-versus-ex-colonizer, the pressure becomes irresistible.
Nevertheless, it is worth running through the absurdities in play.
First, the claims are rooted in indignation rather than science.
For example, Pakistan, which leads the G-77 group of poorer states and is leading the campaign, claims that its floods are a product of climate change.
But might Pakistan look a little closer to home?
Although Europe and North America have seen significant reforestation over the past half-century, Pakistan has gone in the other direction.
A third of its landmass was forest when it became independent in 1947.
Now, it is one-twentieth, and the rains run straight off the mountains into silted-up reservoirs that then overflow, whence the floods.
But never mind all that — blame the colonialists, eh?
Second, there is the utter refusal to acknowledge what wealthier countries are already doing.
I don’t just mean in terms of making direct monetary transfers — though, sticking with Pakistan for a moment, Britain has been borrowing around $400 million a year to give to that country, which pleads poverty while funding a nuclear weapons program.
No, I mean in terms of impoverishing themselves through drastic action on carbon emissions.
Britain has cut its carbon dioxide production by nearly half since 1990, largely by closing down its coal mines.
Pakistan has more than 100 coal mines in operation.
But, again, blame the colonialists, eh?
Third, there is the ingratitude.
One of the things I used to resent about the European Parliament was the entitled and hectoring way in which representatives of poorer countries (they were usually very rich people) would call for bigger transfers.
“This is unacceptable,” they would say of whatever offer the Brits, the Dutch, or the Germans put on the table.
Fine, I’d think, don’t accept it, then.
Yet the numbers only ever got bigger.
Look, I’m sorry to be blunt about this, but a 2-degree rise in temperature is far less menacing for Britain or Canada than it is for most countries.
The least-threatened countries are doing the heaviest lifting by far.
But don’t expect any gratitude.
Fourth, there is the implication that industrialization, the miracle that released our species from 10,000 years of backbreaking labor, is regrettable.
In truth, as well as giving us longer, healthier, and freer lives, the wealth released over the past 200 years of specialization and exchange is cleaning up the environment.
The air and water are purer in London than in Lahore because GDP is higher.
For the same reason, natural disasters have become far less lethal.
The 1950 floods in Pakistan killed many more people than this year’s, because they hit a poorer country.
Fifth, there is the related assumption that rich countries owe their wealth to exploitation, that one nation’s gain must mean another’s loss.
This is palpable nonsense.
The enrichment of a country, other things being equal, is good news for all of its trading partners.
And countries get wealthy not by conquering others (a process that is always expensive) but by pursuing the right policies, such as secure property rights, low taxes, independent courts, light regulations, and free trade.
If you tax successful countries to pay unsuccessful ones, you will end up with fewer of the former and more of the latter.
Sixth, and most preposterously, there is the ugly collectivism that lurks behind every shakedown attempt, from the return of artworks to slavery reparations.
Our criminal justice system, like every Abrahamic religion, is based on the idea that we are individually responsible for our actions.
But when it comes to these scams, we are all suddenly defined by ancestry or skin color.
It is precisely because Western nations broke out of that dispensation that they became rich in the first place.
And it was by copying their individualist outlook that other countries were able to catch them up.
Far from complaining about industrialization, the rest of the world should thank us for having developed capitalism, and they should seek to emulate it.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/de ... 0b1718f1ff
Re: PAKISTAN/INDIA
REUTERS
"Exclusive: Russian oil shipped to Asia in Chinese supertankers amid ship shortage"
By Nidhi Verma and Chen Aizhu
January 13, 2023
Summary
* G7 price cap restricts ships available to Russia
* Western firms avoid Russian oil trade due to sanctions
* Crude sales for Russia's Asia-bound trade below cap
* Russia, China launched 'no-limit partnership' in 2022
NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, Jan 13 (Reuters) - At least four Chinese-owned supertankers are shipping Russian Urals crude to China, according to trading sources and tracking data, as Moscow seeks vessels for exports after a G7 oil price cap restricted the use of Western cargo services and insurance.
China, the world's top oil importer, has continued buying Russian oil despite Western sanctions, after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched what they called a no-limit partnership before the war in Ukraine.
The sources said a fifth supertanker, or very large crude carrier (VLCC), was shipping crude to India, which like China has continued buying Russian oil sold at a discount as many Western buyers turn to other suppliers.
All five shipments were scheduled between Dec. 22 and Jan. 23, according to the sources and Eikon ship tracking data.
The G7 price cap introduced in December allows countries outside the European Union to import seaborne Russian oil but it prohibits shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling Russian crude cargoes unless sold for below the $60 cap.
"With Urals prices well below the price cap, the business of buying and trading Urals is essentially legitimate," said an executive with a Chinese firm involved in the shipments.
As the United States and its allies tried to choke off Moscow's energy revenues to limit its ability to fund the Ukraine war, Russia quickly diverted oil exports from Europe last year, mainly to Asia.
The longer voyages, heavy discounts and record-high freight rates ate into profits but the use of supertankers on the Asian routes may now cut shipping costs.
The Russian energy and transport ministries declined to comment.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment, although Beijing has previously called the Western sanctions on Russia illegal.
Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at a press briefing on Thursday that India would buy oil from wherever it could secure the cheapest price.
Industry sources say Indian refiners are securing a discount of $15-$20 per barrel on Russian oil on a delivered basis compared to Brent.
RUSSIA TURNS TO ASIA
Russia is sending Urals from its Western ports for transhipment to supertankers Lauren II, Monica S, Catalina 7 and Natalina 7, all Panama-flagged ships bound for China, while the Sao Paulo is already approaching India, according to three trading sources and Eikon data.
Based on Eikon data and public maritime databases, Lauren II is managed by China's Greetee Co Ltd and owned by China's Maisie Ltd, Catalina 7 is owned by Hong Kong's Canes Venatici Ltd and Natalina 7 by Hong Kong's Astrid Menks Ltd with both managed by China's Runne Co Ltd, while Monica S is owned by China's Gabrielle Ltd and managed by Derecttor Co Ltd.
The Sao Paulo is owned and managed by Cyprus-based Rotimo Holdings Ltd.
Reuters was unable to immediately contact the owners and managers because of a lack of public information about them.
The executive with the Chinese firm involved in the shipments estimated a total of 18 Chinese supertankers and another 16 Aframax-sized vessels could be used for shipping Russian crude in 2023, enough to transport 15 million tonnes a year or about 10% of total Urals exports.
A VLCC can carry up to 2 million barrels, a Suezmax vessel up to 1 million barrels and Aframax up to 0.6 million barrels.
While most Russian crude is now heading to China, India and Turkey in Russian or non-western ships, G7 sanctions have led to a shortage of smaller ice-class tankers - many belonging to Greek and Norwegian companies - needed by Russia to transport its crude from Baltic Sea ports in winter.
Russia and China do not have a large fleet of ice-class vessels and using Chinese VLCCs frees them up to travel from Baltic ports to conduct ship-to-ship transfers to bigger tankers in international waters, according to traders.
This practice showed up in Eikon tracking data, including in Mediterranean international waters, with the executive highlighting operations near Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa, and Greece's Kalamata, a city in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece.
"It's extremely expensive and doesn't make sense to use ice-class tankers for long distances," one European market trader said, explaining why VLCCs were being used.
Another trader said the Ukraine war and sanctions had pushed up demand for smaller tankers and driven down rates for large vessels, helping reduce some of the extra costs Russia faces.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Edmund Blair
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-01-13/
"Exclusive: Russian oil shipped to Asia in Chinese supertankers amid ship shortage"
By Nidhi Verma and Chen Aizhu
January 13, 2023
Summary
* G7 price cap restricts ships available to Russia
* Western firms avoid Russian oil trade due to sanctions
* Crude sales for Russia's Asia-bound trade below cap
* Russia, China launched 'no-limit partnership' in 2022
NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, Jan 13 (Reuters) - At least four Chinese-owned supertankers are shipping Russian Urals crude to China, according to trading sources and tracking data, as Moscow seeks vessels for exports after a G7 oil price cap restricted the use of Western cargo services and insurance.
China, the world's top oil importer, has continued buying Russian oil despite Western sanctions, after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched what they called a no-limit partnership before the war in Ukraine.
The sources said a fifth supertanker, or very large crude carrier (VLCC), was shipping crude to India, which like China has continued buying Russian oil sold at a discount as many Western buyers turn to other suppliers.
All five shipments were scheduled between Dec. 22 and Jan. 23, according to the sources and Eikon ship tracking data.
The G7 price cap introduced in December allows countries outside the European Union to import seaborne Russian oil but it prohibits shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling Russian crude cargoes unless sold for below the $60 cap.
"With Urals prices well below the price cap, the business of buying and trading Urals is essentially legitimate," said an executive with a Chinese firm involved in the shipments.
As the United States and its allies tried to choke off Moscow's energy revenues to limit its ability to fund the Ukraine war, Russia quickly diverted oil exports from Europe last year, mainly to Asia.
The longer voyages, heavy discounts and record-high freight rates ate into profits but the use of supertankers on the Asian routes may now cut shipping costs.
The Russian energy and transport ministries declined to comment.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment, although Beijing has previously called the Western sanctions on Russia illegal.
Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at a press briefing on Thursday that India would buy oil from wherever it could secure the cheapest price.
Industry sources say Indian refiners are securing a discount of $15-$20 per barrel on Russian oil on a delivered basis compared to Brent.
RUSSIA TURNS TO ASIA
Russia is sending Urals from its Western ports for transhipment to supertankers Lauren II, Monica S, Catalina 7 and Natalina 7, all Panama-flagged ships bound for China, while the Sao Paulo is already approaching India, according to three trading sources and Eikon data.
Based on Eikon data and public maritime databases, Lauren II is managed by China's Greetee Co Ltd and owned by China's Maisie Ltd, Catalina 7 is owned by Hong Kong's Canes Venatici Ltd and Natalina 7 by Hong Kong's Astrid Menks Ltd with both managed by China's Runne Co Ltd, while Monica S is owned by China's Gabrielle Ltd and managed by Derecttor Co Ltd.
The Sao Paulo is owned and managed by Cyprus-based Rotimo Holdings Ltd.
Reuters was unable to immediately contact the owners and managers because of a lack of public information about them.
The executive with the Chinese firm involved in the shipments estimated a total of 18 Chinese supertankers and another 16 Aframax-sized vessels could be used for shipping Russian crude in 2023, enough to transport 15 million tonnes a year or about 10% of total Urals exports.
A VLCC can carry up to 2 million barrels, a Suezmax vessel up to 1 million barrels and Aframax up to 0.6 million barrels.
While most Russian crude is now heading to China, India and Turkey in Russian or non-western ships, G7 sanctions have led to a shortage of smaller ice-class tankers - many belonging to Greek and Norwegian companies - needed by Russia to transport its crude from Baltic Sea ports in winter.
Russia and China do not have a large fleet of ice-class vessels and using Chinese VLCCs frees them up to travel from Baltic ports to conduct ship-to-ship transfers to bigger tankers in international waters, according to traders.
This practice showed up in Eikon tracking data, including in Mediterranean international waters, with the executive highlighting operations near Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa, and Greece's Kalamata, a city in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece.
"It's extremely expensive and doesn't make sense to use ice-class tankers for long distances," one European market trader said, explaining why VLCCs were being used.
Another trader said the Ukraine war and sanctions had pushed up demand for smaller tankers and driven down rates for large vessels, helping reduce some of the extra costs Russia faces.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Edmund Blair
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-01-13/