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Pakistan said on Thursday it opposed the India-Russia S-400 air defense missile system deal, the foreign office said.
"We are opposed to any arms race in South Asia and have been proposing measures for promoting restraint in both the nuclear and conventional dominos," Mohammad Faisal, Foreign Ministry spokesman, told journalists during his weekly media briefing.
He said that countries providing arms to New Delhi should ensure that their assistance should not disturb the balance of power in the region.
The president of Pakistan on Thursday has dismissed a senior judge, who had accused country's powerful spy agency of manipulating the judicial proceedings, of the Islamabad High Court, officials said.According to a notification issued by the Justice Ministry, President Arif Alvi has removed Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui from the Islamabad High Court after recommendation by the Supreme Judicial Council."The president of Pakistan has been pleased to remove Mr Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, Judge, Islamabad High Court, Islamabad from his office with immediate effect on recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Counci," read an official notification.Earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Judicial Council, the body that holds inquiries into allegations of incapacity or misconduct against Supreme or High Court judges, has recommended the president to remove Justice Siddiqui over on his controversial speech on July 21.Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law’s properties confiscatedOn July 21, Justice Shaukat Siddiqui, accused Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of being involved in “manipulating the judicial proceedings” in the country. “ISI officials approached my chief justice and told him ‘We will not let Nawaz Sharif and his daughter get out of jail prior to the general elections’,” Siddiqui had claimed in his speech before the Rawalpindi Bar Association.Siddiqui claimed officials of the spy agency asked the chief justice of Islamabad High Court to not include him on the bench hearing Sharif’s appeal.On July 22, Pakistan’s army called on the Supreme Court to initiate an inquiry into allegations leveled by a senior judge against the country’s top spy agency.IMF to launch financial assistance talks with Pakistan: Lagarde“In order to safeguard the sanctity and credibility of the state institutions, the honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan has been requested to initiate the appropriate process of ascertain the veracity of the allegations and take actions accordingly,” said Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, Pakistan military’s spokesman, in a his statement on July 22.On July 6, a Pakistani court had handed a 10-year jail term to three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and imposed an 8-million-pound ($10.58 million) fine in a graft case linked to the illegal purchase of four luxury apartments in London in 1993.His daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband Safdar were sentenced to seven years and one year in jail, respectively.Authorities arrested Sharif and his daughter at Lahore Airport after his return from London. However, later on Sept. 19, the Islamabad High Court suspended the accountability court verdict and ordered the release of Sharif, his daughter and his son-in-law.Turkish, Pakistani air forces hold joint exercise
Senior Pakistani judge removed from high court
"We cannot remain oblivious to these developments and are firmly committed to maintaining credible minimum deterrence by taking any measure necessary," Faisal added.
India inked a deal of $5 billion to purchase an S-400 air defense missile system when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India on Oct. 5.
Both rival countries have been blaming each other since last month, India called off a foreign ministers meeting, which had been scheduled in New York during the UN General Assembly.
A Pakistani court on Thursday ordered confiscation of the properties owned by the son-in-law of the jailed opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif for skipping an ongoing investigation in connection with bribe charges against him, court record said.An accountability court in northeastern Lahore city announced the order on the request of the National Accountability Bureau, a state-run anti-corruption agency, which accuses, Ali Imran, Sharif’s son-in-law, of receiving Rs 130 million ($1 million) as bribe in exchange for grating a water contract to a local company.The NAB claimed that the accused, who had reportedly fled to London, was not joining the investigation despite repeated summoning.His father-in-law, and a three-time chief minister of the country’s most populous Punjab province is the prime accused in the said case apart from a string of other corruption cases.Turkish, Pakistani air forces hold joint exerciseThe NAB has also summoned Salman Shehbaz, Sharif’s son, over making assets beyond his known sources of income.Sharif was taken into custody by the NAB authorities in Lahore in connection with a housing scam last week -- a move the opposition parties dubbed as “political victimization.”The opposition leader is accused of granting illegal contracts to his favorites for the construction of low-cost houses for the poor and middle-class in Punjab -- the country’s political power base.His elder brother and three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already been disqualified for life, and given a 10-year jail term in a corruption case. However, Islamabad's High Court suspended the jail term, and granted bail to the former three-time premier last month.Pakistan army appoints new chief of intelligence agencyPakistan stresses efforts for sustainable development
Shehbaz Sharif’s son-in-law’s properties confiscated
Relations between the two nosedived after India accused Pakistan of harboring links to gunmen who killed 19 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir in September 2016. Islamabad has rejected the claim.
Since their partition in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two over Kashmir.
Pakistan has requested financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund to address its economic challenges, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.Lagarde said in a statement that the request came during her meeting with Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar, and central bank governor Tarik Bajwa on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bali."An IMF team will visit Islamabad in the coming weeks to initiate discussions for a possible IMF-supported economic program," Lagarde said. "We look forward to our continuing partnership." 
IMF to launch financial assistance talks with Pakistan: Lagarde