Ahead of his meeting with President George W Bush, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has urged the US to throw its weight behind the Indo-Pak peace process to ensure that it moved forward without interruption.
Accusing "elements" in Pakistan for the suicide attack on Indian mission in Kabul, India Monday made it clear that the recent spate of terror attacks and ceasefire violations triggered from across the border have put the peace process "under stress". In some tough-talking, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir that these concerns of New Delhi must be addressed.
"Pakistan should not be compared to the rest of the Muslim world... we actually compare ourselves to India. If India can have a democratic process, if they can have 450 million people going to the polls and then have free and fair elections, so can we," he said.
Mirwaiz Farooq, who is also a Muslim religious head, feels that the Friday meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore has given a fresh hope not only to people of the two nations but to the entire South Asian region.
The increase in violence along the Line of Control in the last few weeks indicates that despite the olive branch offered by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, hard-line elements in Islamabad are in no mood to become friendly with India.
He acknowledged that the peace process had found a large number of supporters among the public in both countries, which works to assure that the process would remain sustainable.
With Pakistan's trial of Mumbai attack suspects making little progress, efforts to revive the stalled Indo-Pak peace process failed to make much headway in 2010, a year which also saw Islamabad struggling to deal with a rising Taliban insurgency.
India and Pakistan, the subcontinent's "nuclear flashpoint," stand to gain much from peace, but were losing out because of the "confrontationist approach," former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf said today.
Warning that terrorists wanted to sabotage the Indo-Pak peace process, Pakistan on Sunday said the two countries should not allow extremists to dictate terms to them.
Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi, who is on an official visit to India as the head of the Pakistani delegation taking part in the Urs celebrations during June 14-24, said only 500 Pakistanis had been granted visas for the event in Ajmer. On the other hand, Pakistan grants visas to thousands of Indian Sikhs and Hindus to visit their holy places in Pakistan, he said.
He also expressed 'optimism and hope' over the Indo-Pak peace process.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stating that the Indo-Pak peace process has become Kashmir-centric with the Hurriyat Conference getting prominence over the democratically-elected government of J&K.
On the Indo-Pak peace process, Chatterjee said, "It is driven by the people's urge for peace and normalcy. I am confident that it will succeed."
"Pakistan and India, I think, have come to a stage where we have realised that a military solution is no longer the answer. Therefore, we are moving towards peace."
The NC has said that the present state government cannot claim credit for these improvements.
The Dawn, however, backed Pakistan's version.
'No law in the world can make anyone extradite me,' says terrorist leader Syed Salahuddin.
Has India done the right thing by putting the peace process on hold. Or as the General has said, are we playing into the hands of terrorists? Tell us.
The Indo-Pak peace process and the war against terror will be high on the talks agenda, said officials.
The Mirwaiz said barring the opening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, the Centre had taken no positive step to build the confidence of the people.
Pakistan's foreign minister is expected to discuss the impact of the Indian polls on the peace process.
Musharraf said relations between India and Pakistan improved after India brought about a 'sea change' in its Kashmir policy, recognising it as a 'dispute' and a 'core issue.'
Though the Pak govt denies it, a criminal case is pending against Advani for allegedly conspiring to kill Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Vajpayee said India will enter into a\n\ndialogue with Pakistan only after it sees sincerity in Islamabad's efforts to stop cross border terrorism.
Pakistan is yet to positively respond to India's offer to restore overflight facilities for Pakistani aircraft, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar in New Delhi.
'We have taken it further here, we will take it further in Islamabad and then when he (Kasuri) comes to New Delhi in August,' the external affairs minister said.
External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh has to deal with the Indo-Pak peace process at a crucial stage and tough negotiations underway with China to expeditiously resolve the complex boundary issue.
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