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Arab News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan's defense minister says hybrid model ‘doing wonders' as army chief on solo US visit
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's defense minister has described the country's governance as a 'hybrid model' in which military and civilian leaders share power — an open secret in political circles but a rare public admission by a serving official that has taken on added significance amid the army chief's solo visit to the United States and an unprecedented meeting with President Donald Trump. Officials have presented Field Marshal Asim Munir's trip as an effort to bolster security ties with Washington, particularly in light of last month's military standoff with India and escalating hostilities in the Middle East. But the army chief's meeting with Trump — without Pakistan's prime minister or foreign minister present — has also drawn renewed attention to how much Islamabad relies on its army to handle high-stakes foreign relations, economic ties and sensitive regional issues. The chief's visit comes on the heels of the most serious clash in years between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India in which they exchanged drone, missile and artillery fire until a ceasefire brokered by Washington on May 10 brought an end to hostilities. Pakistan has declared victory in the confrontation, saying it downed six Indian fighter jets and struck military facilities. Munir's leadership during the crisis has won him a rare promotion to field marshal and broad public support, reinforcing the military's standing as one of the country's most influential institutions despite past criticism of its outsized role in politics. In an interview this week conducted as the army chief visited the United States for talks with Trump, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif acknowledged that the military's prestige had 'skyrocketed' after the conflict with India, calling it a 'blessing in disguise,' but rejected that this would erode democratic authority or give the army unchecked control. 'No, it doesn't worry me,' he told Arab News when asked if Pakistan's history of direct and indirect military rule made him uneasy about the army's stronger image. 'This is a hybrid model. It's not an ideal democratic government … So, this arrangement, the hybrid arrangement, I think [it] is doing wonders,' Asif said, adding that the system was a practical necessity until Pakistan was 'out of the woods as far as economic and governance problems are concerned.' The long-running political instability and behind-the-scenes military influence in earlier decades had slowed democratic development, the defense chief argued, but the current arrangement had improved coordination. Pakistan's military has played a central role in national affairs since independence in 1947, including periods of direct rule after coups in 1958, 1977 and 1999, when General Pervez Musharraf toppled then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is the elder brother of current Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif. Musharraf ruled until 2008 when elections restored civilian governance. Even under elected governments, however, the army is widely considered the invisible guiding hand in politics and in shaping foreign policy, security strategy, and often key aspects of governance. 'If this sort of [hybrid] model was adopted way back in the 90s, things would have been much, much better,' Asif said, 'because the confrontation between [military] establishment and the political government, it actually retarded the progress of our democracy.' By contrast, he said, the current 'de facto' hybrid arrangement had brought the army and elected leaders together on joint forums such as the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a civil-military body tasked with setting and managing economic priorities jointly and overseeing big-ticket investments and trade reforms. 'We have common platforms, like SIFC and other platforms, where military leadership and civilian leadership, they sit together and decide about the business,' Asif said. 'So, this is something which is a de facto arrangement and it's working very well.' The military's media wing did not respond to a request for comments. 'TOTAL AGREEMENT' Asif's remarks about power-sharing with the army on an ever-expanding policy portfolio appear particularly relevant after Munir's rare White House meeting with Trump on Wednesday, the first time in years that a Pakistani army chief was received by a sitting US president without civilian leadership present. Munir was accompanied by National Security Adviser Lt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik, Pakistan's serving intelligence chief who now also holds the national security portfolio. This too is a first for the country: that a sitting ISI director general is serving as NSA. According to a statement from ISPR, the military's public relations wing, the Munir-Trump meeting lasted two hours instead of the scheduled one, and covered not only security cooperation and the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict but also wider collaboration in 'trade, economic development, mines and minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, cryptocurrency, and emerging technologies.' These are areas traditionally handled by civilian ministries. While independent analysts say this reflects the military's increasingly visible role in economic and financial initiatives and could permanently weaken civilian supremacy in these domains, Asif insisted PM Sharif remained firmly in charge of key decisions: 'It's something mutual, we have a co-ownership of the power structure … 'There is no superimposed system or superimposed organization on Shehbaz Sharif which dictates him and he acts accordingly … [He] is making his decisions independently and obviously he is in regular consultation with the establishment on all levels.' But were there 'crisis moments' in the relationships when the prime minister had not prevailed over the army chief in decision-making? Asif responded: 'Believe me, very honestly, we haven't had any moment where decisions were not made unanimously with total agreement. Things are moving very smoothly. And god willing, one day we will achieve the sort of democracy which is needed by our country.'
The National
13-06-2025
- Business
- The National
UAE President meets Pakistan's Prime Minister in Abu Dhabi
President Sheikh Mohamed on Thursday received Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Abu Dhabi. During a meeting at Qasr Al Shati, the two leaders exchanged Eid Al Adha greetings and discussed ways to strengthen co-operation between their countries, state news agency Wam reported. The talks took place during Mr Sharif's working visit to the UAE. Discussions focused on the economic, investment and development sectors, in addition to regional and international issues. Mr Sharif arrived on Thursday and was received at the capital's Al Bateen Airport by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser. The Pakistan government shared images of Mr Sharif being welcomed to the Emirates on X. The government said on the platform that his visit would "encompass a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest". Mr Sharif is joined by a high-level delegation that included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, as well as federal ministers and senior government officials. 'The visit reflects the deep-rooted fraternal ties between Pakistan and the UAE,' a spokesman from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. Sheikh Mohamed received by Mr Sharif on his previous visit to the UAE in February, when he also attended the World Governments Summit in Dubai. During the meeting in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Sharif reviewed efforts to bolster co-operation and strengthen economic and trade ties. Sheikh Mohamed also met Mr Sharif in the city of Rahim Yar Khan in January, during a visit to Pakistan. The UAE is home to about 1.7 million Pakistani citizens and relations between the countries date back to the founding of the Emirates in 1971. UAE President meets Pakistan's Prime Minister - in pictures
Fox News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Risch urges 'top to bottom' USAID spending review after waste, fraud exposed
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said a thorough review of spending from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is warranted, following the Trump administration's efforts to overhaul the agency. USAID previously was an independent agency to provide impoverished countries aid and offer development assistance, but the agency was upended since February when President Donald Trump installed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to oversee the organization amid concerns that USAID did not advance U.S. core interests. Since then, the agency has faced layoffs and is being absorbed into the State Department. This increased scrutiny on USAID spending is valid, according to Risch. "The amount of money that we're spending on that has to be reviewed top to bottom," Risch said during an event Wednesday at the Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute. Risch said that several weeks into the Trump administration, he and others, including Rubio, evaluated a list of programs that detailed $3 million in funding for "promotion of democracy in Lower Slobbovia." According to Risch, the description didn't provide enough information and items like these are totaling up to billions of dollars that must undergo review. "Lower Slobbovia" is a fictional place and a term used by Americans to describe an underdeveloped foreign country."We can do so much better, not only in how, how much money we spend, but how we spend it," Risch said. "So if you say, well, we're eliminating this program, be careful you don't say, 'Oh, that means we're walking away from human rights.' Look, America is human rights. If America leads the way on human rights. We are the world standard on human rights. We have no intention of giving that position up." The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted USAID in its push to eliminate wasteful spending. The agency came under fire for many funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to "advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities" and a $70,000 program for a "DEI musical" in Ireland. As a result, Rubio announced March 11 that the State Department completed a six-week review and would cancel more than 80% of USAID programs — cutting roughly 5,200 of USAID's 6,200 programs. Additionally, Fox News Digital was the first to report later in March that the State Department planned to absorb the remaining operations and programs USAID runs so it would no longer function as an independent agency. The move means eliminating thousands of staff members in an attempt to enhance the existing, "life-saving" foreign assistance programs, according to a State Department memo Fox News Digital obtained. "Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies," Rubio said in a March statement to Fox News Digital. "Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high." "We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens," Rubio said. "We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country." Meanwhile, Democrats slammed the restructuring of the agency, labeling the move "illegal." "Donald Trump and Elon Musk's destruction and dismantling of USAID is not only disastrous foreign policy and counter to our national security interests; it is plainly illegal," the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said in a statement in March. "Congress wrote a law establishing USAID as an independent agency with its own appropriation, and only Congress can eliminate it."
News.com.au
30-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Elite US universities accused of prioritising foreign interests over American taxpayers
Centre of the American Experiment President John Hinderaker has criticised elite American universities, accusing them of cultivating 'unholy relationships' with foreign governments while turning their backs on the American taxpayers who fund them. 'University like Harvard gets billions of dollars in American taxpayer money, but they don't think that they are an American institution. They don't care,' Mr Hinderaker told Sky News host James Morrow. 'The last thing they care about is American taxpayers. 'They think they are a global institution and they train their students to be citizens of the world, and I think Donald Trump properly questions whether there's any reason why American taxpayers should be subsidising these operations to the tune of many billions of dollars.'
Al Jazeera
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Trump's treatment of Netanyahu vs other heads of state
Trump's treatment of Netanyahu vs other heads of state Compare & Contrast Trump's treatment of Netanyahu vs other heads of state We compare and contrast how US President Trump treated the Israeli prime minister in the Oval Office versus other foreign leaders.
