29-Jul-2019: Shawala Teja Singh temple in Pakistan reopens after 72 Years
A 1,000-year-old Hindu temple in Pakistan Punjab’s Sialkot city, which was sealed for the last 72 years, has been re-opened for people.
Shawala Teja Singh Temple in Dhaarowal was built by Sardar Teja Singh and closed during partition. The Hindus of Sialkot stopped visiting the temple after a mob damaged it in 1992 while protesting the demolition of the Babri Masjid in India.
The step was taken on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The government said that the work to preserve and restore the temple will start soon.
22-Apr-2019: Iran, Pakistan Agree To Set Up Joint Border 'Reaction Force'
Iranian President Hassan Rohani and visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have agreed to set up a joint border "reaction force" to counter terrorism.
The announcement comes following tensions between the two countries who have in recent months accused each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border.
Khan arrived in Iran on April 21 on his first official visit to the Islamic republic for talks set to focus on strengthening bilateral ties, “fighting terrorism, and safeguarding borders”.
The visit comes a day after Pakistan asked Iran to take action against terrorist groups believed to be behind the killing of 14 Pakistani soldiers earlier this month.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on April 20 that 15 gunmen wearing military uniforms ambushed a bus in southwestern Baluchistan Province on April 18, killing 14 Pakistani Army personnel.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a letter to the Iranian government that the assailants came from an alliance of three Baluch terrorist organizations based in Iran.
Earlier this year, Iran called on Pakistan to take action against a militant group behind a deadly attack on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Twenty-seven IRGC members were killed in the February suicide car bombing near the border with Pakistan. The Sunni Muslim extremist group Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack in southeastern Iran.
18-Apr-2019: Suspension of LoC Trade between J&K and PoJK
MHA has issued orders to suspend the LoC trade in Jammu & Kashmir w.e.f 19-04-2019. This action has been taken as the Government of India has been receiving reports that the Cross LoC trade routes are being misused by the Pakistan based elements for funnelling illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency etc.
It may be recalled that the LoC trade is meant to facilitate exchange of goods of common use between local populations across the LoC in Jammu & Kashmir. The trade is allowed through two Trade Facilitation Centres located at Salamabad, Uri, District Baramulla and Chakkan-da-Bagh, District Poonch. The trade takes place four days a week. The Trade is based on Barter system and zero duty basis.
However, reports have been received that the LoC trade is being misused on very large scale. It has been revealed that the trade has changed its character to mostly third party trade and products from other regions, including foreign countries, are finding their way through this route. Unscrupulous and anti-national elements are using the route as a conduit for Hawala money, drugs and weapons, under the garb of this trade.
During the ongoing investigations of certain cases by NIA, it has been brought out that a significant number of trading concerns engaged in LoC trade are being operated by persons closely associated with banned terrorist organizations involved in fuelling terrorism/separatism. Investigations have further revealed that some individuals, who have crossed over to Pakistan, and joined militant organizations have opened trading firms in Pakistan. These trading firms are under the control of militant organizations and are engaged in LoC trade.
After the Pulwama incident, Government of India has withdrawn the MFN status to Pakistan. Inputs have also been received that in order to evade the consequent higher duty, LoC trade is likely to be misused to a much larger extent.
It has, therefore, been decided by the Government of India to suspend the LoC trade at Salamabad and Chakkan-da-Bagh in Jammu and Kashmir with immediate effect. Meanwhile, a stricter regulatory & enforcement mechanism is being worked out and will be put in place in consultation with various agencies. The issue of reopening of LoC trade will be revisited thereafter.
25-Mar-2019: Pakistan approves plan to open ancient Hindu temple corridor in PoK
The Pakistan government approved a proposal to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims from India to visit Sharda Peeth, an ancient Hindu temple and cultural site in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Sharda Peeth corridor, when opened, will be the second religious tract after Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan-controlled territory that will connect the two neighbouring nations.
India had already sent a proposal to Pakistan to open the temple corridor.
Established in 237 B.C. during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, the 5,000-year-old Sharada Peeth is an abandoned temple and ancient centre of learning dedicated to the Hindu goddess of learning. Between the 6th and 12th centuries C.E, Sharada Peeth was one of the foremost temple universities of the Indian subcontinent. It is also one of the three famous holy sites for Kashmiri Pandits, the other two being the Martand Sun Temple in Anantnag and the Amarnath temple.
Kashmiri Pandit organisations have been demanding opening of the Sharda Peeth corridor for many years now. Work on the project will start from the current year after which Hindus in Pakistan will also be able to visit the site.
"I am going to visit the place in a couple of days. I will also send a report to Prime Minister Imran Khan," he added.
Kartarpur corridor is expected to be completed by 2019 and will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur -- the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev -- with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims, who will have to just obtain a permit to visit Kartarpur Sahib, which was established in 1522 by Guru Nanak Dev.
15-Feb-2019: India revokes Most Favoured Nation status granted to Pakistan
India announced that it had decided to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted to Pakistan and would also take all possible steps to isolate the country at the international level after Thursday’s car bomb attack in which at least 37 CRPF men were killed in the Kashmir Valley.
The Ministry of External Affairs would announce the diplomatic steps to be taken against Pakistan. A notification would be issued by the Commerce Ministry withdrawing the MFN status. The government would call for an all-party meeting after Home Minister Rajnath Singh returned from a visit to the Kashmir Valley.
1-Jan-2019: India and Pakistan exchanged list of Nuclear Installations
India and Pakistan exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the list of nuclear installations and facilities covered under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations between India and Pakistan.
The Agreement, which was signed on 31 December 1988 and entered into force on 27 January 1991 provides, inter alia, that the two countries inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the Agreement on the first of January of every calendar year. This is the twenty eighth consecutive exchange of such list between the two countries, the first one having taken place on 01 January 1992.
21-Mar-2017: India and Pakistan agreed to review Miyar project
India and Pakistan agreed on redesigning the Miyar Hydroelectric project, at the end of two-day talks of Indus Water Commissioners in Islamabad.
It was also agreed that the Lower Kalnai and the Pakal Dul projects would also be inspected again.
The talks between the two countries began after 22 months when Pakistan in 2015 skipped consultations following objections on the Kishenganga and the Ratle hydroelectric projects by India.
Kishenganga is in arbitration while officials of the two countries are meeting in Washington next month on the Ratle project on the invitation of the World Bank. Pakistan’s request for arbitration on Ratle is still pending with the World Bank, which is the guarantor of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty.
The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by World Bank, was signed by the then-president Ayub Khan and Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 19 September 1960.
It administers how the Indus River and its tributaries would be utilised by the two countries. India governs the Beas, the Ravi, and the Sutlej while Pakistan governs the Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum rivers. However, India is allowed to use 20% of Indus water for irrigation, power-generation, and transportation.
The Permanent Indus Commission, a bilateral commission, implements, manages and solves the disputes arising over water sharing. It is mandatory for the commission to meet alternately in India and Pakistan at least once in a fiscal year.
10-Mar-2017: Pakistan National Assembly passes Hindu Marriage Bill.
Pakistan for the first time has passed a bill which formally recognises Hindu marriages by law.
The bill enshrines the conditions for a valid marriage, and provides for official documentation that can be used to verify marital status.
The Muslim-majority country has about 3.8 million Hindus, close to 2% of the population.
The bill, which applies only to certain regions, has now been sent to the president to be signed into law. As part of the formal regulation, the act sets the conditions for a valid Hindu marriage within the country. They include valid consent, both participants being over the age of 18 and a ban on polygamy. However, the ban on multiple wives will not apply where a living female spouse cannot conceive a child and is medically declared to be so. The bill also details the circumstances for separation or divorce, and gives formal legal validity to all existing Hindu marriages.
The law will only apply in three provinces - Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - as well as the capital territory around Islamabad. Local authorities in these areas have already passed resolutions to accept the regulations.
Sindh province - which has a particularly high concentration of Hindus - has introduced its own regulations. The new national bill retains a controversial clause from the Sindh regulation, which allows termination of the marriage if either person converts to another religion.
The bill was passed after a lengthy debate. It was first approved by the country's national assembly last year but later amended by the senate. The modified bill was then sent back to the assembly for re-approval. It is expected to receive presidential assent and become law within the week.
Pakistani Hindus have long complained of discrimination and religious persecution, and many have fled across the border to India to escape it. Since 2011, more than a thousand Pakistanis have been granted Indian citizenship, the majority of whom are Hindus.