Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Thursday berated the UN Security Council as a "flagrant form of dictatorship" while terming the US and its Western allies as "bullies" trying to monopolise nuclear fuel production, as he asserted Tehran's right to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday accused the United States of killing people in "large numbers and in organised ways" in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan and also blamed the UNSC for the crisis in the Middle East.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday asked Iran to build "international confidence" in its nuclear programme by fully complying with the global obligations under NPT and cooperating with IAEA, shortly after Tehran slammed the UNSC for being "unjust and completely undemocratic".
The two-day meet of the 120-nation grouping, which began with the national anthem of Iran followed by the recitation of the verses from the holy Quran, was inaugurated by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the leaders' Summit hall in Northern Tehran.
With the Supreme Court upholding the death sentence on the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, India's case for action against others involved in the Mumbai terror attacks got strengthened ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in Teheran on Tuesday.
India on Friday made it clear to Pakistan that resolution of the Kashmir issue cannot take place under the "shadow of gun" as the two countries concluded "satisfactory" talks which resulted in agreement on various confidence building measures.
The proposal for including cruise missile tests in the existing bilateral agreement on Pre-Notification Of Flight Testing Of Ballistic Missiles, signed in October 2005, was mooted by the Indian side during Thursday's talks between the foreign secretaries on peace and security, sources familiar with the discussions told PTI
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who arrived in Islamabad on Thursday on a two-day visit, began talks on Friday with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on Kashmir. The two-day talks have been divided into three segments under which the issue of peace and security, including confidence-building measures, was discussed on Thursday. After Jammu and Kashmir, the talks will be held on the promotion of friendly exchanges
Pakistan on Friday said that its foreign minister will be travelling to India in July to take forward the bilateral peace process. "What we can deliver at this stage is that our foreign minister will be visiting New Delhi in July," said Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik. On the ongoing foreign secretary-level talks, Malik said, "They are going well." Pakistan currently has Hina Rabbani Khar as minister of state for foreign affairs.
India's concerns over terror and slow pace of Mumbai trial were discussed in the first round of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks dealing with the issue of peace and security during which the Samjhuta bomb blast case also came up with both sides holding "substantive" deliberations in a "forward looking" approach.
Six Indian sailors, who were part of the 22-member crew of MV Suez vessel that was recently freed by Somali pirates, on Thursday reached Karachi harbour and would be sent back to India soon.
India has assured Pakistan that it would not hesitate from sharing the findings of Samjhauta Express blast case but expressed inability to do so till the probe is not completed as Indian laws do not permit it. This message was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao during her meeting with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
Pakistan expressed its desire to have "cordial and cooperative" ties with India, a day after the two sides agreed to have "constructive" engagement aimed at restoring the stalled dialogue process.
With India raising concern over Pakistan's increasing involvement in Afghanistan's transition process, President Hamid Karzai on Sunday assured visiting External Affairs Minister S M Krishna that his government will not make any move that is detrimental to New Delhi's interest. Karzai sought to allay India's concerns during his meeting with Krishna, who is in Kabul on a two-day visit. The Afghan President assured Krishna that India was 'uppermost' on his prioritiy list.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Friday held talks with leaders from various political parties in Pakistan, including Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz's Shahbaz Sharif to whom he presented a 'chaddar' to be placed on the revered shrine of Data Darbar which was attacked by terrorists recently.A delegation of Muttahida Qaumi Movement leaders led by Overseas Pakistan Affairs Minister Farooq Sattar met Krishna on Friday morning.
Ahead of Thursday's Foreign Minister-level talks, Pakistan expressed disappointment over Indian Home Secretary G K Pillai's remarks on the Inter-Services-Intyelligence's involvement in the Mumbai terror attack citing leads from Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley's interrogation.
President Pratibha Patil on Saturday said the commitment of China's top leadership, including her counterpart Hu Jintao, to strengthen Sino-Indian ties was evident during the 'wide-ranging and constructive' talks she had with them. In her first public engagement in Shanghai, China's gleaming business hub, Patil said India and China enjoy a thriving trade and economic relationship, vibrant cultural ties and also greater people-to-people exchanges.
There were some awkward moments before the departure of President Pratibha Patil from Beijing to the central Chinese city of Luoyang on Saturday when a member of her entourage, Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Raghuvansh Prasad, did not turn up at the airport on time, making her wait for nearly 20 minutes.Though the scheduled departure was slated for 9 am local time, the President arrived at the airport at 8.50 am for the last farewell formalities.
Patil, the first Indian Head of State to visit China in a decade, took up the issue of the growing trade imbalance.
Notwithstanding India's insistence on action against Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan was non-committal on action against the mastermind of Mumbai attacks and several other terror strikes in India. "Same old beaten track," said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi when asked for his response to India's repeated demand that action should be taken against Saeed in connection with Mumbai attacks.
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