India cannot afford to be complacent about a possible Pakistan resort to military options across the LoC, warns Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Bhutanese members of Parliament on Monday deviated from the custom of not clapping when they broke into applause after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his extempore address in Hindi to a joint sitting of the Parliament here.
The Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz has formally nominated its chief Nawaz Sharif for the office of prime minister after the party moved towards a simple majority in the 342-member National Assembly or Pakistan's lower house of parliament. The final approval for Sharif's nomination will be made during a meeting of the PML-N's parliamentary committee before the start of the first session of the new National Assembly.
Khadim Hussain Rizvi is now gone. But the mass appeal of fundamentalism among Pakistan's burgeoning, young, illiterate, unemployed and angry population isn't, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said that they have the required numbers to form government.
An opposition youth leader, a pro-government candidate and a soldier were among those who were killed.
In a televised statement he said he was quitting with immediate effect but said he disagreed with his African National Congress party's decision.
Before the elections, concerns have been raised in the country over the participation of hardline Islamist groups in large numbers.
Sharif, 68, was disqualified by the apex court in the Panama Papers case last year under Article 62 of the Constitution for failing to declare a receivable salary as an asset.
In a historic move, Pakistan's parliament has passed the much-delayed bill to enable the country's minority Hindu community to register their marriages.
The election of a new prime minister by Pakistan's National Assembly on Friday will be a three-way contest between Raja Parvez Ashraf of the ruling PPP, Sardar Mehtab Abbasi of the main opposition PML-N and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The founder of Lashkar-e-Tayiba also vowed to continue supporting Kashmiris.
Modi had given his maiden address to the UN General Assembly as Prime Minister in 2014.
Khan, who is believed to have the backing of the powerful military, has vowed to make a 'Naya Pakistan' which would be an Islamic welfare state.
Former India captain Kapil Dev on Saturday said he is yet to get a formal invite from Pakistan's Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan to attend his swearing-in ceremony though he has been informally communicated to be present at the event.
The new PM would be more than unwise to attempt steering away from India into an all-encompassing Chinese embrace that would ultimately swamp Bhutanese identity, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'A six month extension, if not extended further, would make General Bajwa a lame duck chief, altering the balance of his equations with the senior peer group of lieutenant generals,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The prime minister also decided to stop using special plane for foreign visits or domestic travelling and use business class.
The Pakistani PM explained how the war-like scenario could erupt in the middle of the current tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. He said Kashmiris would protest and India would launch a crackdown on them.
"A Maputo morning, an African dawn! PM @narendramodi arrives in Mozambique for the first leg of his visit," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted on Modi's arrival in Mozambique's capital Maputo.
Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are expected to discuss strengthening the alliance, developing close coordination to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue, establishing peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, and increasing cooperation on bilateral and global issues.
The move came as the Pakistan government decided to curtail the space given by the press to jailed politicians like Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Zardari.
Pakistan National Assembly's newly-elected first woman Speaker Fehmida Mirza has said that President Pervez Musharraf may be impeached by a two-thirds majority if Members of Parliament favour such a move. "If Parliamentarians want to impeach Musharraf, they may do so with a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and the Senate," she said. "I'll see the matter is in accordance with the Constitution because I am a custodian of the National Assembly and not a party."
Paksitan's People's Party nominee Fehmida Mirza, a loyalist of slain former Premier Benazir Bhutto, was on Wednesday elected the first woman Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. 51-year-old Mirza, who has been thrice elected to Parliament, won 249 of the 324 votes cast by the newly-elected members of the National Assembly.
Indian officials claimed that the white helicopter crossed into the Indian airspace in Gulpur sector and hovered over there for sometime before turning back.
Pakistan has said that it did not rule out the involvement of "foreign hands" in the recent incidents of Karachi violence.
As the country readies to go to polls on July 25, one can't deny the role of the military, but there are other factors too.
Pakistan National Assembly's Standing Committee on Sports has directed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to file a case against those security officials who didn't respond to the call of duty during the terror attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March this year.
.jpg)
The Pakistani parliament on Thursday expressed concern over the violation of the ceasefire on the LoC and called for a "constructive" engagement with India.
Shahbaz was allegedly involved in the corruption of Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing project and Rs 4 billion Punjab Saaf Pani Company scams.
The party, political observers said, seems as an effort to set up a front which is acceptable to moderate Pakistanis.
Imran's party has asked the FO if it would be possible to invite PM Modi.
Police said PML-N leaders and workers have been booked for taking the rally in violation of law.
Sharif, 67, had to step down as the chief of the PML-N after he was disqualified as the prime minister by the Supreme Court on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal.
'Against the backdrop of difficult administrative, political and economic problems, Imran's temperament and staying power will be the subject of intense expectation and public scrutiny,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
A single party will need at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.
After decades of delay and inaction, the Hindu minority community in Pakistan will soon have a marriage law as a parliamentary panel has unanimously approved the Hindu Marriage Bill.
India has provided 1,935 electronic voting machines to Bhutan for the country's second national elections to be held on Saturday.
The IAF 'evidence' shows that the S-2000 laser-guided munition hit the intended targets causing significant 'internal damage', sources said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances