Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated on Monday that the Taliban should “end the occupation of their brothers’ soil”, and gave iota importance to a warning from the militant group of consequences if Turkish troops remain in Afghanistan to run Kabul airport. “(The Taliban) need to end the occupation of their brothers’ soil and show the world that peace is prevailing in Afghanistan right away”, said the Turkish President.

Moreover, Tayyip Erdogan stated that the Taliban’s approach was not the way that Muslims should deal with each other. Ankara has offered to run and guard Kabul airport in the capital after NATO withdraws. The Taliban warned Turkey against those plans to keep some troops in Afghanistan to run the airport, calling the strategy ‘invasion’.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001 and have fought for 20 years to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul and reimpose Islamic rule. They are making a fresh push now to gain territory as foreign forces pull out. With the Taliban claiming 85% of Afghanistan to their hold.

India is using an Israeli company’s software called Pegasus to hack the smartphones of government officials, journalists, and human rights activists around the world. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s number also appeared on the surveillance list according to an investigation by 17 media organizations.

The news has been widely covered in the international media. According to a news outlet, 1000 cell phone numbers in India appeared on the surveillance list while 100 were from Pakistan. PM Imran Khan’s number was also on the surveillance list, but it remains unconfirmed whether the attempt was successful or not.

According to the Indian investigative news website, The Wire, 300 mobile numbers appeared on the list of which 40 were Indian journalists from a famous publication as well as the founding editors of The Wire.

Responding to the news, Fawad Chaudhry, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, tweeted that “Extremely concerned with the release of news that the Indian Govt used Israeli software to spy on Journalists, political opponents, and politicians, unethical policies of Modi Government have dangerously polarised India and the region… more details are emerging”.

Shireen Mazari, Federal Human Rights Minister also spoke about the expansion and stated that the Indian government was spying on its minister expected today.

The list also included the Arab royal families, 85 human rights activists,65 business executives,189 journalists, and more than 600 politicians including Prime Ministers.

The report stated that most of the people on the list are from 10 countries: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Pegasus is very powerful software that can switch on a target’s phone camera microphone and also can access your data. Sometimes it can also be installed on your phone without hitting any download button.

NSO, the Israeli technology firm that developed Pegasus spyware, however, has denied the allegation and said: “We firmly deny the false allegations made in their report. We would like to emphasize that NSO sells its technologies solely to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of vetted governments for the sole purpose of saving lives through preventing crime and terror acts.”

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday ensured his Afghan counterpart to take all possible steps to arrest the culprits behind the reported kidnapping of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter.

Foreign Minister briefed Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar on a telephone call regarding the 16th July incident. He told about the steps that have been taking by the law enforcement agencies so far.

He said that Pakistan expects the Afghan government to reconsider its decision of recalling its ambassadors and senior diplomats, as Pakistan has given serious efforts in this regard.

Afghan Foreign Minister thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking personal interest in investigating this matter. He also acknowledged the efforts by Shah Mehmood Qureshi to provide high security to the Afghan Embassy and consulates. Both Foreign Ministers have agreed to collaborate on issues of mutual interest.

Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Mr Nong Rong, reached the combined military hospital in Rawalpindi to visit the injured Chinese nationals in the Dasu incident.

On Wednesday morning, nine Chinese and four Pakistani citizens were killed and multiple were injured after the bus faced an explosion. The bus was carrying the passengers to an incomplete construction site of the Dasu Project in the Kohistan desert.

On Sunday, the Foreign Minister arrived at CMH with the Chinese envoy to inquire about the health of injured Chinese citizens. He also said that we will provide the best medical care to the injured.
Commandant CMH, Major General Muhammad Aleem, briefed the visitors regarding the medical care being provided to the Chinese nationals.

While addressing the media, the Chinese Ambassador said that the governments of both countries would continue to work with cooperation to face any challenge together.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has said that India made sure that Pakistan should remain in Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey-list.

While addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders’ training program on Indian Government’s foreign policy, Foreign Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured that the world should be concerned about terrorism and Pakistan should be kept in grey-list. He claimed that India has been successful in pressurizing Pakistan and the credit of Pakistan’s changed approach towards FATF sanctions also goes to Modi Government.

The foreign minister kept praising Indian Government about its war against terrorism and credited the Modi Government that Modi has influenced the International community about terrorism’s impact on the world and should be tackled as a global issue. The credit goes to Modi Government for highlighting the significance of terrorism issues on the global level, Jaishankar told the BJP leaders.

Since the withdrawal of US troops began, Afghan Taliban are gaining more power along with territories. Kabul regime alleged Pakistan’s involvement in Afghan Taliban gaining victories in Afghanistan. Vice President of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh accused Pakistan Air Force of providing air support to the Afghan Taliban, making it impossible for the Afghan National Army to recapture the lost areas bordering Pakistan’s Chaman.

In a statement delivered on Friday at the “Central and South Asia Regional Connectivity: Challenges and Opportunities” conference in Uzbekistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan rejected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s criticism that Pakistan has played a “negative role” in Afghanistan’s peace talks.

Khan, who was in Uzbekistan for a two‑day visit, said it was “unfair” to blame Pakistan for the turmoil in its neighbor, noting that the country has endured 70,000 casualties over the past 15 years.

Imran Khan reminded the audience that Pakistan’s economy is only now emerging from a difficult period and that the last thing the nation wants is further conflict in Afghanistan.

He argued that the Taliban’s willingness to negotiate waned after the United States set a withdrawal timeline, questioning why the insurgents would compromise when they sense victory.

“When there were 150,000 NATO troops… that was the time to ask the Taliban to come to the table,” he said.

The prime minister emphasized Pakistan’s extensive efforts to bring the Taliban to dialogue, short of military action, and warned that a new refugee influx would strain the country’s limited resources.

He also recounted a conversation with Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev about regional cooperation to support Afghan peace and noted that three million Afghans are already displaced.

Later on the sidelines of the conference, Khan met with President Ghani for delegation‑level talks, underscoring Pakistan’s commitment to acting as a partner in peace despite the criticism. Radio Pakistan reported that both leaders are leading their respective negotiating teams in the ongoing discussions.