Tag: Hamid Mir

After the May 2025 military clashes with India, Pakistan’s defence production has gained international attention, resulting in major export agreements, Hamid Mir has said. 

Speaking on his program, which airs on a private media outlet, Hamid Mir said, “After the war between Pakistan and India in May 2025, the credibility of Pakistan’s defense production has increased significantly worldwide. Pakistan has already received enough orders to fulfill at least $12–13 billion worth of deals. In particular, defense production, especially military aircraft, will contribute greatly.”

According to Mir, weapons worth $4.6 billion will be sold to Libya, $4.5 billion to Azerbaijan, and $1.5 billion to Sudan. Iraq will receive arms valued at $664 million. Saudi Arabia will likely convert a $2 billion loan into a memorandum of agreement for JF-17 Thunder fighter jets. 

Other countries, including Myanmar, Bangladesh, Türkiye, and Nigeria, are also expected to purchase defence equipment from Pakistan. He noted that “within the next six to ten months, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are likely to rise significantly due to these deals.”

Retired air marshal and defence analyst Amir Masood said Pakistan is either in talks or has finalised defence-related agreements with six countries involving JF-17 aircraft, electronic systems, and weapons packages.

He noted that Saudi Arabia is among these countries, adding that the aircraft’s export prospects improved following its operational deployment during the May 2025 conflict.

Pakistan also reached a multi-billion dollar arms deal with Libya. Officials involved told an international media outlet that the agreement was finalised after a meeting between Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and Lt Gen Saddam Khalifa Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the Libyan Armed Forces. The deal includes 16 JF-17 Thunder fighter jets and 12 Super Mushak trainer aircraft.

Speaking on a private media program, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said, “Pakistan may no longer require financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund after six months,” citing a surge in defence procurement orders following the May 2025 conflict with India.

He added, “Our aircraft have been tested, and we are receiving so many orders that, we will live comfortably on our own resources.”

Asif also referred to the conflict, noting, “India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was politically weakened at home and internationally.”

Amid growing speculation regarding a harsher crackdown on the former ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), senior journalist Hamid Mir has hinted at the possibility of a formal ban on the party.

Speaking during his show on Geo News Tuesday night, the journalist said that statements from some federal officials and state ministers were giving the impression that a decision to ban the PTI had already been made.

“Not only that, but it appears that a treason case could also be filed against Imran Khan, his sisters and some other leaders of the PTI,” he said hours after a press conference by Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Broadcasting Barrister Danyal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik.

During the presser, Malik said that “certain elements” continued to propagate a negative and misleading narrative against Pakistan, causing serious harm to the country’s political environment and youth.

He said that the individuals routinely made delusional and baseless statements, which their party members immediately echoed.

In his remarks, Chaudhry said the PTI was engaged in propaganda against Pakistan and its state institutions.

He said the party’s politics was built on false narratives that damaged the country’s reputation during its tenure and was now attempting to undermine the positive and upward economic trajectory Pakistan is experiencing today.

The press conference came as the Punjab Assembly, separately, adopted a resolution to ban incarcerated PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his party for being “anti-state”.

The resolution followed Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry’s presser from last week wherein he assailed Khan for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric.

Such narratives, he said, were now out of the realm of politics and had become a “national security threat”.

PML-N MPA Tahir Pervaiz moved the resolution in the provincial house on Tuesday, which was passed by the treasury members amid a boycott of the proceedings by PTI parliamentarians.

While the resolution did not specifically name the PTI or its founder, it said, “The institutions that safeguard Pakistan on every front and have successfully countered an enemy five times larger, such as India, are vital to the country’s integrity and stability.”

“A ban should be imposed on the political party and its founder for acting as a tool of the enemy state. He is also accused of making statements against the country and spreading chaos.”

The resolution demanded that action be taken against any leader, whether belonging to political or non-political groups, in accordance with the law, and that they be awarded “appropriate punishment”.

It merits a mention that the federal government in 2024 decided to ban the PTI and sought Article 6 proceedings against Khan, ex-president Dr Arif Alvi and former National Assembly (NA) deputy speaker Qasim Suri.

However, the government did not follow through with the ban.

Pakistan has information that the hardliner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in India plans to once again attack Pakistan at some point and Israel would support it, senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed.

“I am telling you with full confidence that the Pakistani government has information that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Hindu extremist government in India has made another plan to attack Pakistan at some point,” Mir said in a YouTube video, adding that whenever India attacks Pakistan, Israel would support it.

The video comes days after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defence pact, under which an attack on either country would be considered an attack on both.

The agreement, which Mir said was signed after detailed discussions about prevailing threats from the unholy alliance of India and Israel, followed an Israeli attack on Doha in Qatar, and the interception of a drone above the Holy Mosque in Medina.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) late Wednesday night announced the signing of the agreement, which it said reflected the shared commitment of both nations to enhance their security and to achieve security and peace in the region and the world. A statement from the PMO said the pact aims to develop aspects of defence cooperation between the two countries and strengthen joint deterrence against any aggression.

“This is a mini-NATO agreement, and more Muslim Arab countries can join the agreement,” Mir said in the video.

He added that the country already shared a defence cooperation arrangement with China, Türkiye and Azerbaijan. “Whenever Pakistan faces threats from India or any other country, China and Türkiye are the first to stand with Pakistan. Azerbaijan recently stood with Pakistan as well.”

Mir ruled out the claims that a military alliance was being constituted in comparison to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), saying it was being formed to create “deterrence” against the India-Israel alliance.

Meanwhile, Middle East experts have been quoted by foreign media outlets as saying that the agreement between Islamabad and Riyadh could serve as a template for Pakistan to engage in similar bilateral defence cooperation pacts with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar.

Appearing on a private media outlet on Thursday, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also said that “the door had not been closed” and there was a possibility of other countries joining the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia security pact.

Prominent journalist and television analyst Hamid Mir on Wednesday said that the tone of Indian media has shifted following the news that Pakistan shot down five of their fighter jets.

In a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that Pakistan shot down the five Indian jets, including three Rafales, one Su-30 and one Mig-29.

According to DG ISPR Ahmed Sharif, during the intervening night between May 6 and May 7, India launched 24 attacks on six different places on Pakistani soil. The attack has left 31 innocent civilians martyred and dozens wounded.

“Prominent Indian news channels and journalists who were not attending our call four to five days ago for information exchange, now they are calling in the middle of the day.  I’m not receiving their call now,” Mir said while appearing on a private media outlet.

He further said that Indian journalists have now messaged him, asking him to spare some time for them. “A reputed Indian newspaper has sent a request to me asking to write a short piece of 600 words for them.”

“If challenged, I can show the proofs of Indian journalists approaching me,” he said, adding that the same people who were loud before the jets were shit down, have now gone silent.

The journalist’s response followed the host’s question about a change in the attitude of Indian media, which had earlier been boasting about entering the neighbour’s home ground and taking them out.

 
Hours after militants attacked tourists in Pahalgam in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), killing 26 people, Indian media, without having concrete evidence, began accusing Pakistan of orchestrating the attack. Pakistan has strongly denied the accusations and offered a neutral and transparent investigation into the matter.

The National Security Council’s (NSC) meeting clarified that in consonance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, Pakistan reserved the right to respond in self-defence at a time, place, and manner of its choosing to avenge the loss of civilian lives and “blatant violation of its sovereignty,” a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) today (Wednesday) has said. 

The forum, convened under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, offered fateha for the souls of the innocent civilians martyred in India’s strikes, extended its heartfelt condolences to the near ones of the martyrs, and wished speedy recovery for the injured, said the statement.

The statement further said, “The Armed Forces of Pakistan, in line with the exercise of the right of self-defense and response framework outlined in NSC statement dated 22 April 2025, resolutely defended the territorial integrity of Pakistan, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir, against the Indian aggression, while also bringing down five Indian fighter aircrafts and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the process.”

Journalist Imran Waseem has called out prominent journalist Hamid Mir for sharing a “half-baked” story and misrepresenting facts regarding Nasir Javed Rana, the judge who sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Al-Qadir Trust case Friday.

With Khan and his wife being sentenced to 14 and seven years in prison, respectively, in the Al-Qadir Trust case, a series on posts on social media targeted the accountability judge who delivered the verdict. The posts questioned Judge Rana’s credibility on the basis of a 2004 suo motu ruling that had restrained him from exervising his powers as a magistrate.

“This is a Supreme Court verdict against Judge Nasir Javed Rana in 2004. Chief Justice of Pakistan took a Suo Motu action against civil judge Nasir Javed Rana and his judicial powers were withdrawn. He was declared unfit for judicial service but the same judge was hired again [sic],” Mir wrote while sharing said documents on his X account.

Journalist Imran Waseem, however, was quick to react to the post, declaring it “half-baked” truth. “Half-truths are not the truth… they create the impression of lies. If you want to write, then write the whole truth,” he said while quoting Mir’s post.

“Senior journalist Hamid Mir has shared half/incomplete information in this tweet. Undoubtedly, the Supreme Court passed observations on the matter concerning Judge Nasir Javed Rana, but the case was referred to the Lahore High Court for further inquiry. After conducting the inquiry, the Lahore High Court reinstated Nasir Javed Rana to his position,” he clarified.

It may be noted that the case in question pertained to the Supreme Court on October 26, 2004, withdrawing Rana’s judicial powers as a magistrate for granting a ten-day remand of a senior lawyer in violation of the law. The apex court had also directed the Lahore High Court (LHC) to take further action.

“The magistrate has a strong tendency for committing any mischief and is absolutely unfit for judicial service,” then chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, had said in a 14-page judgment on the suo motu notice against the illegal detention of lawyer Habib Wahabul Khairi.

Later, then LHC chief justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, after an inquiry, had acquitted Rana of the charges and reinstated him as a magistrate.

On Friday, Rana delivered the much-delayed verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case also known as the £190 million case. The verdict was announced at a makeshift courtroom in Adiala Jail and pertained to the misappropriation of funds by former PM Khan in collusion with property tycoon Malik Riaz.

In the verdict, Khan was also slapped with a fine of Rs1 million whereas his wife was fined Rs500,000. The former first lady was also taken into custody after months of bail.