ISLAMABAD, April 6 (APP)::The Embassy of Pakistan in Tehran organized a ceremony on Friday to observe “Kashmir Solidarity Day” with the people of the Indian occupied Kashmir who have been recently subjected to worst kind of brutalities by Indian forces, a press release received here from Tehran said.
Ambassador Asif Durrani, in his speech, paid homage to the sacrifices of the valiant Kashmiris and said the recent brutal use of force by the Indian forces has failed to suppress the indigenous struggle of the Kashmiri people aspiring for their right to self-determination.
Referring to the recent brutalities and atrocities being committed by India against the Kashmiri people, Ambassador Durrani said Indian forces including Indian army, Jammu and Kashmir police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indian occupation Forces have perpetrated a reign of terror and bloodshed, martyred more than 20, blinded youths by using pellet guns and injured scores of innocent peaceful Kashmiris in different parts of Shopian and Anantnag districts of IoK during the last one week.
The brutal crackdown against peaceful Kashmiris by the Indian forces is an attempt to subjugate and suppress the voices of freedom. But, India has failed to suppress those voices. The indigenous nature of the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people also belies Indian propaganda of external involvement in the freedom movement.
Ambassador Durrani urged the international community to pressurize India to stop the reign of terror. He also called upon the Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to fulfill their commitments towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir under the UNSC resolutions.
Ambassador Durrani thanked the Iranian Supreme leader Ayattollah Syed Ali Khamenei and the government for supporting the cause of the Kashmiri Muslims and condemning the recent Indian atrocities in IoK.
Speakers, Syed Salman Naqvi and a senior student from Urdu Department, Tehran University, in their speeches, condemned the atrocities and human rights’ violations being committed by the Indian forces in the IoK. Iranian scholars, academicians, intellectuals, media persons, members of Pakistani community, Pakistani and Iranian students from Urdu Department, Tehran University participated in the event.

LAHORE, Apr 06 (APP):Senator and Chairman Pak-China Institute Mushahid Hussain Syed has said the government has
decided to initiate a number of measures to apprise the international community about the grave human rights violations by Indian occupation forces in Kashmir.
Talking to APP, he said that special envoys would be sent to selected world capitals to highlight Indian atrocities in the held Valley.
He said that the world bodies like the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and other human rights organisations would also be approached in this regard.
He said Pakistanis stood shoulder to shoulder with their Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their struggle for the right to self-determination.
Mushahid said the government, people and all political parties were united on the Kashmir issue and would continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri brethren.
Meanwhile rallies, functions and walks were held in different parts of the country as well as by Pakistanis and Kashmiris living around the globe to expose Indian atrocities and highlight the need for peaceful resolution of the longstanding dispute.

ISLAMABAD, April 6 (APP):Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs, Miftah Ismail Friday said the data of tax evaders would be provided to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), within thirty days.
The tax evaders would be identified and the data would be provided to FBR to broaden the tax network in the country, he said while talking to a private news channel.
The government had announced the amnesty scheme and reduced the tax rate to facilitate the people, he said.
“We will identify the people through National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), and the list would be provided to the department concerned before holding the next elections,” he said.
To a question, he said it was strange that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief who had been beneficiary of amnesty scheme opposing this scheme announced by the present government.
To another question he said about 1,200,000 people were paying tax and that the number would increase in days to come.

MULTAN, Apr 6 (APP)::MPA Punjab Shakeel Ivan Khokhar Friday
lauded the steps taken by Punjab government for the welfare of
minorities.
Addressing as a chief guest in a ceremony organised for
awarding scholarships to students from minorities, he said that
it was the responsibility of the state to protect the basic rights of
minorities and incumbent government of PML-N taking all possible
steps in this regard.
He said the provincial government, under the leadership of
Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, was providing equal
opportunities to the minorities, adding, the fixed quota of five
percent for minorities was also being ensured in the province.
The MPA stressed for the collective efforts for promotion of
peace in the country, saying, the menace of terrorism could be
defeated with unity.
Speaking on this occasion, MPA Shehzad Maqbool Bhutta said
that minorities of the country have equal rights under the
teachings of Islam as well as constitution of Pakistan.
MPA Rai Mansab said that Punjab government was providing
equal rights to the minorities in all fields including education.
At the end of ceremony, the chief guest Shakeel Ivan Khokhar
distributed the cheques of Punjab government among 111 students
having best performance.

ISLAMABAD, April 6 (APP):Pakistan’s ambassador to Oman, Ali Javed, announced that the Pakistan embassy will introduce three new WhatsApp numbers early next week.
These WhatsApp numbers will assist in solving queries from Pakistani expats in the Sultanate and these numbers would address a variety of issues, he added.
“One of these numbers will cater to issues such as deaths, accidents. The second one would deal with destitute citizens in need of help and those facing trouble at work, etc, a press release received here from Oman said.
“While another 3rd one will deal with passports, national identity cards, birth certificates, attestations, transfers, etc,” the ambassador said.
He further said that since the official WhatsApp broadcast of the embassy’s previous official number, it had gathered over 30,000 followers.
However, this number was meant for broadcast only and not for queries so the embassy decided to launch three new numbers for queries.
“It’s very difficult to keep in touch with all queries with two telephone lines or the ambassador’s direct number, when the size of the community is a quarter of a million and there are many people who need urgent help so these new numbers will help them,” he added.
The ambassador said that Pakistani expats who could not afford internet and smartphones could use the embassy’s text message service.
“The people who do not have the luxury to pay OMR5 for an internet pack can send an SMS to the ambassador’s number. These messages are received by my office and I personally respond to the queries,” he said.
“Pakistan embassy’s WhatsApp broadcast was begun last year and now we have 13,000 voluntary subscribers to our WhatsApp group and 12,000 subscribers to our e-mail.
Javed notes, “I would like to praise the efforts of the Pakistan Oman Investment Company (Pak-Oman). It was established back in 2001 when His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said visited Pakistan. He had a vision of setting up a company that would act as a vehicle of investments between the two nations. It deals mostly in micro-financing.
Moreover, the Pakistan ambassador expressed hope that a ferry from Gwadar to Oman would soon become a reality, noting that the two governments were working together to begin the service.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 6 (APP):Defence Minister Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan held a bilateral meeting with Minister for Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov on Friday in Moscow, on the sidelines of the 7th Moscow Conference on International Security.
They are Co-Chairmen of the Pakistan-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation.
Ambassador of Pakistan to the Russian Federation Khalilullah Qazi was also present in the meeting, says a fax message received here from Moscow on Friday.
The minister underscored that Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with Russia. He noted that bilateral relations have improved substantively since 2013 under the shared vision of the highest political leadership of both nations.
He also noted that bilateral trade was growing, and had great potential to rise further.
Denis Manturov observed that IGC provided a good platform for periodic high-level meetings and underlined that further deepening of cooperation between Russia and Pakistan would be helpful in promoting peace and stability in the region.
The two ministers noted the progress made on the execution of decisions taken during the 5th Meeting of Pakistan-Russia IGC held in Moscow in November 2017 and agreed to further enhance cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, defence, science and technology, agriculture, education, health and information technology.
Both sides reiterated their commitment to implementing the Inter-Governmental Agreement on North-South Gas Pipeline Project signed in Islamabad in October 2015.
Denis Manturov assured Khurram Dastgir Khan that a Russian delegation would visit Pakistan in the near future to expedite implementation of the project.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 6 (APP):President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday urged the international community to take notice of the
gross human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOK) and fulfill its
obligations under the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.
“The recent mindless killing spree, carried out by the Indian security forces that took away
lives of more than 20 Kashmiri youth and injured in excess of 200 unarmed protestors, are a
testament to the atrocities being perpetrated against innocent Kashmiris,” the President said
in his message on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day.
He said, “In their historic struggle, the courageous and determined people of Indian occupied
Jammu and Kashmir have rendered unparalleled sacrifices. Indian State Terrorism has failed to
deter the people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir from their struggle for freedom from
Indian oppression.”
The President said that “The Government and the people of Pakistan reaffirm their continued
and resolute moral, diplomatic and political support to the oppressed people of Indian Occupied
Jammu and Kashmir in their valiant struggle for the fundamental right to self-determination.”
“Pakistan calls upon the international community to be cognizant of its responsibilities in
the matter and urges India to facilitate the visit by independent fact finding teams of the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) and the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) to look into the
gross human rights violations in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, being perpetrated by
Indian occupation forces; and to fulfill its obligations under the UN Security Council resolutions
on Kashmir,” he added.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 6 (APP):Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Friday sought help of the international community in sending fact finding missions to the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir to investigate the gross human rights violations by the Indian occupation forces.
The Prime Minister in a message on the Kashmir Solidarity Day urged the world powers to raise their voice in seeking an end to the gross violations of human rights and the reign of terror unleashed by Indian occupation forces in IoK, and fulfill the promises it made with the people of Jammu and Kashmir 70 years ago.
The Prime Minister said it was high time that India was asked to provide access to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) Fact Finding Missions to investigate the human rights violations by the Indian occupation forces.
The Prime Minister said for the past seven decades, the people of Jammu and Kashmir had waged an unprecedented struggle against brutal Indian repression.
The recent spate of Indian aggression carried out against unarmed Kashmiri civilians, killing 20 Kashmiri youth and injuring over 200 innocent protestors, was yet another testament to atrocities being carried out by the Indian occupation forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said India continued to deny the valiant people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir the just right to
self-determination enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions.
Abbasi said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was the unfinished agenda of Partition of the Indo-Pak subcontinent and remains one of the oldest disputes on the agenda of the UN Security Council.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the systematic State terrorism and brutal killings of the people of IoK by Indian occupation forces. The basic human rights of the innocent people of IoK, including the right to life and peaceful assembly have been grossly violated by Indian occupation forces.”
He was also critical of the arrest and placing under house detention of the senior Hurriyat leadership. He said the people of Pakistan and the international community had utmost respect for the people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir for their unparalleled courage, bravery and persistence in facing the worst kind of State terrorism, human rights abuses, violence and suppression by the Indian state apparatus.
“Pakistan will continue to extend its political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people until the realization of the right to self-determination,” the Prime Minister said.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 6 (APP):Advisor to the Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan on Friday inaugurated a new corporate look of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Addressing on the occasion, Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan said PIA had taken a progressive step to rebuild its image in the world and it was a gradient endeavor to rebrand PIA, said a press release.
He said, “We have introduced world class facilities for the local and international fights and it is our foremost commitment to win the hearts of our passengers.“
CEO Musharraf Rasool also gave a detailed briefing. He said the official logo of PIA had been changed and added that efforts were being made to achieve the target to make PIA, a top of the airlines of the world.
“We were trying to upgrade the level and standards of given facilities and we were approaching different proposals and strategies to get success.”