Press Release
Embassy of Vienna, Pakistan
Chairman PAEC meets Director General IAEA in Vienna
Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Mr. Muhammad Naeem, who is leading Pakistan’s delegation to the 65th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), met Director General IAEA Rafael Mariano Grossi, today.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna,Ambassador Aftab Ahmad Khokher, also participated in the meeting.
Chairman PAEC and Director General Grossi reviewed the ongoing collaboration between Pakistan and the IAEA. Director General Grossi said that “impeccable collaboration between Pakistan and the Agency will continue to grow”.
Chairman PAEC apprised the Director General about Pakistan’s recent accomplishments in expanding the use of nuclear technologies in the fields of power generation, health, agriculture and industry. He added that this had been made possible thanks to the excellent and mutually beneficial cooperation that Pakistan had enjoyed with the IAEA over the years. He assured DG IAEA of Pakistan’s support to the Agency’s latest initiatives to combat outbreaks of zoonotic diseases and plastic pollution, namely ZODIAC and NUTEC Plastics, respectively.
Chairman PAEC also thanked the Director General IAEA for providing Pakistan COVID-19 diagnostic equipment which had augmented Pakistan’s efforts to combat the pandemic.
Director General Grossi appreciated Pakistan’s financial support to Agency’s ReNuAL 2 project for modernisation of the IAEA’s nuclear application laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria. He said that Pakistan’s Centre of Excellence in Nuclear Security (PCENS) could also collaborate with the IAEA’s planned Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre at Seibersdorf.
Chairman PAEC presented Director General Grossi a souvenir commemorating 65 years of PAEC’s operations in diverse fields which have made an immense contribution to Pakistan’s socio-economic progress.
*******************************************
7 soldiers martyred, 5 terrorists killed in South Waziristan operation: ISPR
(September 15, 2016)
Seven soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom and five terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation in the Asman Manza area of South Waziristan, the military’s media wing said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement, said the operation was launched on intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the area.
“During intense exchange of fire, 5 terrorists were killed and 7 soldiers embraced shahadat,” said the ISPR.
The security forces cordoned off the area and began a search operation “to eliminate any other terrorists” found in the area, the statement added.
There has been an uptick in attacks on security forces in recent months. Earlier this month, at least four Frontier Corps officials were martyred and 18 others injured in a suicide attack near a check post on Quetta’s Mastung Road.
Last week, two Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in North Waziristan.
The ISPR had said that security forces were conducting a clearance operation in the district’s Dosalli area when the IED exploded.
In August, three Levies personnel were martyred and as many injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in Balochistan’s Ziarat district.(Source: Dawn News)
**************************************************
Argentina to buy 12 JF-17 Block III fighters from Pakistan
ByNews Desk | 18 September 2021
The Government of Argentina has officially decided to purchase 12 PAC JF-17 Block III fighters from Pakistan, as a draft bill for the next budget has been presented in Argentina’s Parliament.
An Open-Source Intelligence account on Twitter AEROSINT Division PSF reported that the South American nation will be buying Pakistan’s fighter jets for $664 million while rejecting offers from nations like Russia, the US, and India.
It is worth mentioning that the 12 JF-17s will include 10 single-seater Block IIIs and 2 dual-seater Block IIIs.
The initial news of Argentina looking to purchase Pakistani JF-17 Block-III Jets from Pakistan came in late 2020, but then in May 2021, it was alleged that Britain was hindering the sale of Pakistani fighters to the country.
The reported reason was that Britain has had an arms embargo on Argentina for nearly 40 years now, ever since a 10-week undeclared war between the two sides in 1982, popularly known as the Falklands war.
Britain had already vetoed a sale of 12 South-Korean TA-50 light fighter jets to the country, citing the Falkland war as the reason. The reason Britain was able to do this is that the TA-50s contained British-made components.
After the veto, a delegation from China’s CATIC (China National Aero-technology Import & Export Corp) visited Buenos Aires on May 8th. The corporation manufactures many components of the JF-17 and assembles them in Pakistan. A deal for 12 jets was agreed upon then.
But, the allocation by the Argentinian parliament for a sum of $664 million was seen as a green signal of the buying of JF-17.’
Commenting on the relations between two nations, the chairman of the Pakistan Senate has said of the relationship that “Pakistan and Argentina have very close cooperation in various fields and unanimity of views on international issues”, UK Defence Journal ported.
What is JF17
The JF-17 Thunder is a single-engine multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation of China.
The builders say that the JF-17 can be used for multiple roles, including interception, ground attack, anti-ship, and aerial reconnaissance.
*************************************************
Malaysia is finally going to buy Pakistan’s JF-17
Pakistani strategic analysts took to twitter to claim that Royal Malaysian Air Force is signing a deal with Pakistan for the purchase of JF-17 Block III fighters. Earlier reports from international media agencies have suggested that PAC’s fighter is among the top contenders. Pakistani Journalist and Strategic Analyst Huzaifah Farid took to Twitter to say that the Malaysia-Pakistan JF-17 deal is underway.
“Pakistan’s third-generation JF-17 Thunder deal with Malaysia on the way,” he wrote, posting a picture of the PAC China JF 17. If true, this is not surprising, since the latest reports from earlier in 2021 have suggested already that Pakistani JF-17 Block III is competing with its South Korean counterpart as the last two choices that the Malaysian administration had chosen to buy the aircraft from.
The EurAsian Times reported in April that China-Pakistani JF-17 fighter among the top choice along with Korean FA-50 is the finalists. “According to The Korea Times, Malaysian officials have confirmed that the Pakistani jet is competing with its South Korean counterpart for the requirement,” the news article read. “Despite interest from a diverse group of manufacturers, the FA-50 and JF-17 are the finalists,” an unnamed official told the Korean newspaper.
******************************************
Pakistan urges world powers to unfreeze Afghanistan assets
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says the most urgent priority is averting an even deeper economic collapse of the neighbouring nation that could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.
Pakistan has called on world powers to unblock billions of dollars in Afghan assets frozen after the Taliban takeover but said it did not expect recognition soon of the new government.
Ahead of talks on Afghanistan at the UN General Assembly, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the most urgent priority was averting an even deeper economic collapse of the neighbouring nation that could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.
“On one hand, you’re raising fresh funds to avert a crisis and on the other hand money that is theirs belongs to them they cannot use,” Qureshi told reporters.
“I think freezing the assets is not helping the situation. I would strongly urge the powers that be that they should revisit that policy and think of an unfreeze,” he said.
“It will be a confidence-building measure as well and that could also incentivise positive behaviour.”
The United States froze $9.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets and international lenders have stayed clear of Afghanistan, wary of providing money that could be used by the Taliban.
Pakistan was the chief backer of the Taliban’s draconian 1996-2001 regime and has long faced US allegations that its intelligence service fuelled the insurgents in their two-decade battle against NATO forces and the now collapsed Western-backed government.Source: AFP