Pakistan cabinet approves new Indian visa regime

EVENT NOTICE: The New America Foundation is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for participants in our "South Asia 2020" conference to be held in Dubai from Friday, January 18 to Sunday, January 20, 2013, hosted by Steve Coll and Peter Bergen.

The conference will bring together a total of 30 "new voices" from Pakistan and India to discuss issues of common interest such as trade, business, IT, water, energy, microfinance, climate change, public health and media.

The intent of the conference is to encourage the collaboration of a new generation of experts from both nations in order to develop greater regional integration in South Asia.

TO APPLY: Please send your resume and letter of intent to nssp@newamerica.net no later than Monday, November 26, 2012.

New America will cover economy airfare, as well as hotel costs and meals.

Moving forward

Pakistan’s federal cabinet ratified a historic liberalized India-Pakistan visa regime on Wednesday, which will allow businessmen and women to obtain multiple-entry visas and to visit multiple cities without the previously required police report (ET, Dawn).

A mother and father in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, allegedly murdered their 15-year-old daughter on Tuesday by beating her and then dousing her in acid after seeing her talk to a young man with whom they suspected her of having illicit relations (AFP). And two women were killed by a land mine in the Dera Bugti area of Balochistan Province on Thursday (Dawn).

Britain’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an effort by Yunus Rahmatullah, a Pakistani man being held in Afghanistan by the U.S. military, to force U.K. authorities to press for his release (AP). Rahmatullah was captured by British troops in Iraq in 2004, and has not been charged with a crime though the United States believes he is a member of a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda.

Fight night

On Tuesday night, Afghanistan hosted its first professional boxing match, much to the excitement of thousands of Afghans who arrived at the ring in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the fight (NYT). Dog fights, cockfights, and really any good fights are highly popular in Afghanistan, but this battle was made even more enjoyable by the victory of the German contender of Afghan descent Hamid Rahimi.

— Jennifer Rowland