Azfar-ul-Ashfaque

Reporter, desk editor @dawn_com
Views are my own. RTs not endorsement.

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

The 200-unit consumer is not the villain of Pakistan’s power sector. The real villains are expensive capacity, rigid contracts, weak governance, high losses, and delayed reform. The IMF must stop chasing ants while elephants roam freely in the power room.

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

A household with elderly patients, students, or heat-exposed workers may require more electricity than its poverty score suggests. A reform that ignores these realities will look clean in a spreadsheet but cruel on the ground.

https://t.co/dXgdU7eW9K

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

In plain terms, consumers are not only paying for electricity; they are paying for plants that often sit idle. This is the architecture of unaffordable power. Blaming protected consumers for the crisis is like blaming the dinner guest for the mortgage on the banquet hall.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🚨BREAKING: For the first time, the original Pakistani cypher — cable I-0678, the document that triggered the removal of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan — is being released in full by Drop Site.

[Seyed Mohammad Marandi @s_m_marandi]

The Iranian foreign minister will not hold any negotiations with the Trump regime in Islamabad and will merely convey Iran’s considerations and views regarding the end of the war to the Pakistani side. This meeting is a response to General Asim Munir’s trip to Tehran, and I have been informed that no negotiations with any Americans are planned during this visit.

[Iran in Japan/ 駐日イラン大使館 @IraninJapan]

A couple of points on the latest in Islamabad:

- You cannot secure through diplomacy what you failed to gain through military aggression.

- The assertion of a 'best and final offer' that JD Vance raised in his press conference is inherently reciprocal; it cannot be a unilateral mandate or a weapon to be used by one side.

- JD Vance's statement that 'they have chosen not to accept our terms,' which attempts to force the other party to accept demands they successfully resisted on the battlefield, is coercive logic.

- It should be noted that throughout this process, the provocations were initiated by the other side, not by Iran.

- JD Vance’s remark regarding an outcome 'that is bad news for Iran' warrants critical scrutiny.

Regardless, credit is due to the brotherly nation of Pakistan for its sincere role in hosting and facilitating these negotiations.

[Iran in Ghana @IRAN_GHANA]

@4jaP2qW0v1175 They entered the room with a stopwatch. We sat down with a calendar. The outcome was never in doubt.

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

Vice President JD Vance gives an update in Pakistan:

"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon."

[Pop Base @PopBase]

Zohran Mamdani walked 6 miles home last night from the New York City Hall to round out his first 100 days in office.

[Shehbaz Sharif @CMShehbaz]

With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.
Both parties have displayed remarkable wisdom and understanding and have remained constructively engaged in furthering the cause of peace and stability. We earnestly hope, that the ‘Islamabad Talks’ succeed in achieving sustainable peace and wish to share more good news in coming days!

@realDonaldTrump
@JDVance
@SecRubio
@SteveWitkoff
@SEPeaceMissions
@drpezeshkian
@mb_ghalibaf
@araghchi

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

Quoting the Financial Times, a Reuters report states that Pakistan is positioning itself as the lead mediator trying to broker an end to the US-Israel war against Iran.

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

In India, 14 Muslims have been arrested and booked for 'hurting religious sentiments' by holding an Iftar party on a boat in Varanasi.

https://t.co/OstZY0Exh3

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

Kamran Tessori was already on ‘borrowed time’, as PML-N had informed MQM-P of its decision to replace him in November last year.

Situationer: PPP's gubernatoril gambit 'pays off'

https://t.co/mW4PBV1b03

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

سینیٹر طلحہ محمود نے کہا بطور چیئرمین قائمہ کمیٹی میں نےاسلام آباد سیف سٹی کمپنی کی تحقیقات کیں،پتہ چلا کمپنی کا دفتر ترکیہ میں تھا لیکن وہ اسرائیلی تھی، میرے اجلاس میں سیکورٹی حکام نے مانا تھا کہ ڈپلومیٹک انکلیو سے وزیر اعظم ہاؤس کی مانیٹرنگ ہوتی تھی-

https://t.co/go9CTBnGbs

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

Students gathered in front of the main gate of the institute to protest ‘unavailability’ of doctors and an ambulance at the GIK Institute’s medical centre whenever they took a seriously-ill patient there during the night.

https://t.co/bVaWQKOjVH

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

The 18-member cabinet committee formed to monitor petroleum prices in Pakistan will consider mandatory work from home wherever possible for the public and private sectors on Thursday.

https://t.co/5uOeg5xvlQ

[Azfar-ul-Ashfaque @azfar_ashfaque]

Violence as protesters storm US consulate in Karachi
#Khamenei

https://t.co/8O5BQu4U39

[Press TV 🔻 @PressTV]

Large crowd of people in Isfahan hit streets to mourn Leader of Islamic Revolution martyrdom