As lawyers paralysed the working of courts across the country, Pakistan government has moved to avert a showdown with the judiciary by initiating steps to end the row over the apex court striking down appointments made by President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan premier Yousuf Raza Gilani today condemned the bomb blast in Pune, saying Pakistan was against terrorism in all its manifestation and maintained that his country wants better relations and a 'meaningful dialogue' with India.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has struck down President Asif Ali Zardari's order appointing two top judges, stoking fears of a fresh showdown between the government and judiciary with the ruling Pakistan People's Party blaming the fiercely independent Chief Justice for the crisis. Going against the recommendations of the country's top judge Iftikhar Chaudhry, the President on Saturday appointed Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif as a judge of the apex court.
Brig Gen Michael Nagata, deputy chief of the US Office of the Defence Representative in Pakistan, handed over the military equipment during two separate events in the southern port city of Karachi on Saturday.
Pakistan has said it is 'free to raise any issue,' including Kashmir, differences over sharing of river waters and India's alleged interference in Balochistan, during the foreign secretary-level talks in New Delhi on February 25.
Pakistan has reportedly accepted India's proposal to hold foreign secretary-level talks on February 25 in New Delhi.Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had proposed February 18 or February 25 as tentative dates for the talks during her meeting with Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik last week.The decision was taken at a meeting held at the prime minister's house in Islamabad. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani chaired the meeting.
Upping the ante, Pakistan on Thursday accused India of trying to sidestep the Kashmir issue and insisted on its inclusion in the upcoming foreign secretary- level talks, saying the composite dialogue on all outstanding issues is the 'only way forward.'
Pakistan has indicated its readiness for the foreign secretary-level talks on February 25, saying the two sides need to 'move forward' but insisted on resumption of composite dialogue covering Kashmir and other outstanding issues that is 'meaningful and result-oriented.'
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will chair the inter-ministerial meeting at the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Wednesday to assess the Indian offer of talks, after which a clearer picture of Pakistan's response is expected to emerge.
The Pakistani Taliban confirmed on Tuesday, that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in a US drone strike, ending weeks of speculation over his fate.Taliban sources based in the Aurakzai tribal region told TV news channels that 28-year-old Mehsud was severely injured in a drone attack in Shaktoi area of North Waziristan Agency on January 14.
Pakistan has negated claims that the Kashmir issue was close to settlement through backchannel diplomacy between Islamabad and New Delhi, with the country's foreign minister saying there was no mention of such developments in the records of the Foreign Office.
India and Pakistan should end their "long legacy of hostility and distrust" and work towards a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday.
India has told Pakistan that the proposed talks with it will focus on terrorism and other issues "hurting" bilateral relations and has given no indication about the full-fledged resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process, official sources said on Friday.
Pakistan on Thursday said it would welcome any move to resume the composite dialogue process with India stalled since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, but insisted that the talks should be 'result-oriented' and cover all outstanding issues, including Kashmir and sharing of river waters.
United States carried out the heaviest bombing so far of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt as a swarm of drones fired a volley of 19 hellfire missiles at the den of the fighters of Haqqani network, killing 31 militants, including two Taliban commanders and several foreign fighters.
After lying low for over a year due to the scrutiny of its leaders in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Jamaat-ud-Dawah, the frontal outfit of Lashkar-e-Tayiba, has stepped up its activities and unveiled plans to hold major conferences of Pakistani jihadi groups on Kashmir this week.
Two soldiers were killed and as many injured when their vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb by suspected Taliban militants in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region on Sunday. The soldiers were attacked in a mountainous area when they were heading to a check post after fetching drinking water. Initial reports had said the vehicle had hit a landmine. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
A Pakistani anti-terror court conducting the trial of Lashkar-e-Tayiba's operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others for involvement in the Mumbai attacks adjourned the hearing for a week, on Saturday, after defence lawyers boycotted the proceedings complaining of lack of security.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik is facing the possibility of being disqualified as an MP and from the federal cabinet once the government begins implementing the Pakistan supreme court's detailed judgement striking down a controversial graft amnesty.
Pakistan, which is experiencing 'Mumbai-like attacks almost every other day', cannot guarantee that there will not be a repeat of the 26/11 strikes in India, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has told the United States."Pakistan is itself facing Mumbai-like attacks almost every other day and when we cannot protect our own citizens, how can we guarantee that there wouldn't be any more terrorist hits in India," Gilani was quoted by a source in the media as saying.
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