Pakistan imitates India, calls up Xi Jinping as chief guest at military parade

Islamabad: Feb 3: Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to be the chief guest at an annual military parade that Pakistan will hold after seven years on its national day, March 23, officials said.

A security official said the venue of the parade has not been decided yet, but it is expected to be held near Islamabad.

The joint military parade of the three branches of the armed forces - that was discontinued due to the deteriorating law and order situation in the country - was once the centerpiece of Pakistan Day celebrations, featuring a display of military hardware and culture.

The last military parade was held on March 23, 2008, when General Pervez Musharraf was the president.

The announcement that Pakistan will resume the parade comes days after US President Barack Obama was chief guest at India's Republic Day parade.

Mr Obama's visit was seen as the forging of a new alliance in the Asia-Pacific region aimed at China, and Beijng was irked. This week, India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting China in what is being seen as an attempt to soothe the neighbour's nerves.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit before he completes a year in office, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

Ms Swaraj called on Xi Jinping on Monday and the latter expressed confidence in China's relationship with India. "I have full confidence in India-China relations and I believe that new progress will be achieved in growing this bilateral relationship in this new year," Xi told Swaraj.

Xi said since his visit to India in September last year, relations between the two countries have entered into a new stage of growth.

"The positive side of India-China relations has been growing and momentum of our cooperation has been strengthening and solid steps are being taken to implement agreements reached between Prime Minister Modi and I," he said as he welcomed the Ms Swaraj.

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and China are bound by an "unbreakable bond."

"In this century, once again we have to give something to the world, say something. For this, it is important that we look at each other, know and understand (each other)," he said in a video message to the "Visit India Year 2015" event being held in Beijing.

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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