Pakistani singer Rahat Fatah Ali Khan, who was briefly detained in India for possessing foreign currency, today said he will visit the country again if "respectfully" invited, even as he admitted guilt and claimed he was 'unaware' of Indian custom laws.
A Pakistani police guard said he had no regrets for gunning down Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, calling him an "apostate", as an anti-terrorism court indicted him for the assassination. Mumtaz Qadri, 26, who has already admitted gunning down Taseer outside a restaurant in Islamabad on January 4, was indicted on a murder charge during in-camera proceedings at Adiala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, his lawyers said.
India and Pakistan will have to resolve the 'core issue' of Kashmir according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people if they want to give a boost to the peace process that is set to be resumed after an interval of over two years, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said. The upcoming talks to be held ahead of the Pakistani foreign minister's visit to New Delhi in July will have to "take cognisance of what has happened in the past in dialogue with India and the ground reality".
Pervez Musharraf will not appear in court despite the arrest warrant issued on Saturday by an anti-terrorism court in connection with the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, a close aide of the former military ruler has said, terming the move as an attempt to intimidate him. "There is no possibility of him (Musharraf) appearing in court," Muhammad Ali Saif, the legal advisor for the former president said hours after the warrant was issued by the court in Rawalpindi.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was less than well disposed towards India, was stripped of his portfolio as foreign minister in the reconstitution of the Pakistan federal cabinet following which he refused to take oath.
India and Pakistan have agreed to resume dialogue on 'all issues' and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will visit New Delhi by July to review progress in the parleys.Unveiling the road-map for resumption of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, India on Thursday announced that the home secretaries of the two countries will hold talks on counter-terrorism, including progress in the 26/11 trial in Rawalpindi court, ahead of Qureshi's visit in July.
The man stood up about five minutes after Musharraf began his speech at the meeting in Walthamstow, a district of London with a sizeable population of Pakistani origin, and flung his show at the former military ruler. The shoe fell in the front rows and did not reach the stage, Geo News channel reported
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday asked India to hold a 'meaningful' dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party has authorised Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to dissolve his jumbo cabinet and form a smaller council of ministers amid demands for political reforms from the opposition and international donors.
Pakistan on Friday said it is going to the upcoming foreign-secretary level parleys with India with an 'open mind' and was hopeful of a 'constructive attitude' from it so that the stalled peace process can be resumed. Referring to the upcoming meeting between the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India on the margins of the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting in Bhutan, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said, "Pakistan is going to Thimphu with an open mind".
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Friday adjourned the trial of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks till February 17 after prosecutors sought more time for the Lahore high court to decide on a related petition. The prosecution team told anti-terrorism court Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed that more time was needed for the high court to decide on its plea.
Pakistan on Monday welcomed Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks about sharing the findings of the probe into the Samjhauta Express bombing, claiming that the level of cooperation on interaction on security matters had enhanced between the two nations. Welcoming his Indian counterpart's statement in this regard, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, "I welcome the statement of Mr Chidambaram on Samjhauta Express investigations to be shared with Pakistan."
Pakistani authorities have rejected the demand of the United States to release an American diplomat who shot dead two youths in Lahore, saying the matter would be handled in court according to the country's laws. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a TV news channel on Sunday that the matter was already in court and the Punjab police were investigating the shooting incident in Lahore on Thursday. "It would not be appropriate to publicly talk on this issue," he said.
Pakistan will again seek access to the witnesses of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to record their statements and a formal request will be filed with India in this regard, according to a media report on Friday. This will be the second time that Pakistan will be making such a request, unnamed officials of the Interior Ministry were quoted as saying by The Express Tribune newspaper.
Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to form a Joint Reconciliation Commission comprising the Foreign Ministers and military and intelligence officials as part of enhanced bilateral consultations in the run-up to the reduction US troops in the war-torn country.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings targeting Shia processions in Karachi and Lahore that claimed 16 lives on Tuesday.Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told reporters in the lawless North Waziristan tribal region on Wednesday that the two attacks on Tuesday were aimed against security personnel because "they serve the United States's interests".
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said he may visit India in the first quarter of 2011 if there was a breakthrough in talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Bhutan in February. Qureshi said the foreign secretaries would meet to discuss the agenda for talks and he was likely to visit New Delhi in the first quarter of the year if there was a breakthrough in talks between the top diplomats.
Pakistan on Thursday dismissed reports that Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Muhammad Omar was being treated in a Karachi hospital, with the help of officials of the Inter Services Intelligence, after he suffered a heart attack."This is hackneyed speculation with no substance whatsoever," said Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit.He said such reports were aimed at maligning Pakistan and creating misgivings.
An anti-terrorism court has refused to issue arrest warrants for two clerics whose fiery speeches reportedly incited the police guard who gunned down Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer for criticising Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law. Investigators probing the governor's assassination had submitted an application to Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court Judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan, seeking warrants for the arrest of the unnamed clerics.
India should demonstrate "seriousness" in implementing its announcements regarding reducing troops in Jammu and Kashmir as a confidence-building measure, Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said.
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