Upping the ante, Pakistan on Thursday said there can be no result-oriented discussions with India on Kashmir unless New Delhi stops treating it as the country's integral part and seeking a solution within the ambit of the Indian Constitution.
Pakistan on Tuesday called on India to 'review the practice' of describing Jammu and Kashmir as its 'integral part' of its territory, even as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani flayed the alleged human rights violations in the Valley. "Indians should quit the policy of finding a solution to the Kashmir issue under their constitution and they should review the practice of calling (Jammu and) Kashmir an integral part of India," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday briefed United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai terror attacks and the trial of suspects linked to the incident.
Pakistan has welcomed United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks that New Delhi and Islamabad should settle the Kashmir problem bilaterally, and said it looked forward to resumption of the composite dialogue between the two countries to discuss the issue. "The two countries have agreed to discuss this issue bilaterally by agreeing to the composite dialogue framework. And Kashmir dispute is a part of that framework," said Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit.
Pakistan on Sunday said it was moving "systematically" in probing the Mumbai terror attacks to bring the perpetrators to justice and there should not be an "iota of doubt" on its intentions.
Playing down President Asif Ali's remarks that Pakistan 'created and nurtured' militants to achieve short-term objectives, the government on Thursday said the statement should be seen in the context of the situation that prevailed after Soviet forces pulled out of Afghanistan. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the President was referring to the period when the "West left Pakistan high and dry after the withdrawal of Soviet troops" from Afghanistan.
Pakistan on Thursday said it will approach upcoming bilateral meetings with India, including one between the two prime ministers, with an 'open mind', in the hope for resumption of the composite dialogue, which have been stalled after the 26/11 attacks. The foreign secretaries will hold talks before a planned meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
Days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed willingness to consider autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan on Thursday said such measures would not help resolve the vexed issue and harped on the 'right to self-determination' for the Kashmiris."It is important to first acknowledge and summon the courage (to say) that the Jammu and Kashmir issue is there and it can't be addressed unless it is properly diagnosed and a proper prescription is given," said a spokesperson.
Pakistan reacted strongly to the seizure by India of a ship carrying equipment used by Pakistan and Bangladesh for UN peacekeeping missions on Sunday.
Pakistan on Thursday said no meeting has been fixed as yet between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan to take forward the bilateral process. Foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said no meeting between the foreign ministers had been fixed, in the wake of the decision by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to revive the peace process between the two countries.
Pakistan said no meeting had been scheduled between Prime Ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Manmohan Singh till Thursday on the sidelines of the South Asian Association of Regional Corporation summit later this month, though it had proposed one and insisted that restarting dialogue was "a necessity".
Pakistan on Thursday said it was not responsible for the lack of progress in the recent foreign secretary-level talks and the ball is now in India's court to respond to its proposals like participation of the political leadership in the dialogue process to normalise ties.
Pakistan on Monday said it is 'not hesitant' about solving terror-related issues with India, though the Kashmir dispute will have to be settled to ensure absolute peace in the region.
A Filipino militant and a bomb- making expert, most-wanted by the United States, was killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan's restive South Waziristan region on January 14.
Pakistan on Sunday junked as "rubbish" a report that elite US troops were ready to counter any move to hijack the country's nuclear arsenal and said it was "a figment of the imagination".
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".
Pakistan on Thursday accused India of conducting the probe into the 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast at a "snail's pace", as it asked New Delhi to share with Islamabad "at the earliest" the latest developments in the case in which 42 of its nationals were killed.
Pakistan on Tuesday expressed disappointment over India's reaction to the Lahore high court quashing cases registered under the anti-terror law against 26/11 mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed, saying that questioning decisions made by the country's independent judiciary was "not a wise step".
Pakistan on Thursday did not confirm or deny reports that it handed over a dossier to New Delhi on the alleged Indian involvement in the unrest in Balochistan, saying the issue involved intelligence matters which cannot be discussed in public. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the matter had been adequately covered by the joint statement issued after the meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
Pakistan has termed as baseless the United States' allegations, regarding the presence of culprits involved in terror attacks in the US and India, living in Pakistan.Reacting to the statement given by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, alleging that the perpetrators of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the terror attack on Mumbai are in Pakistan, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said these culprits were not in Pakistan but in Afghanistan instead.
After vacillating on India's offer of $ 5 million aid for victims of Pakistan's devastating floods for over two weeks, Islamabad has decided not to directly accept the assistance and instead asked that it should be routed through the United Nations.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will meet Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt on July 16, the Pakistan Foreign Office has said.Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that the foreign secretaries of both countries would also meet during the summit.
Pakistan on Thursday said the government of its Punjab province will file an appeal against the Lahore High Court order releasing banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who was placed under house arrest in December last year, in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Pakistan on Thursday said it is fully capable of safeguarding its security in the face of induction of new technology and weapon system by India, including an Israeli-made spy satellite launched earlier this week.
With no let up in drone attacks by the United States-led coalition forces in its tribal belt, Pakistan on Thursday insisted that such strikes were counter-productive to the fight against terrorism and extremism.
Pakistan on Thursday reacted in a guarded manner to the death sentence handed down to its national Ajmal Kasab by Mumbai court for his involvement in the 26/11 attacks, saying its legal experts would study the detailed judgement.
Ahead of Thursday's talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan has reportedly indicated that it would like the discussions to be a follow up of the talks held at the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh in July last year.
Dr Mohammed Abdul Matim Abdul Basit alleged that a cop threatened him against tendering evidence on the alleged escape of co-accused Sayyed Khwaja Yunis from the police custody.
Pakistan made it clear that it would not allow US or other foreign troops to conduct operations on its soil, saying such a move would amount to crossing the "red lines" set by the country for cooperating in the war against terrorism.
Nearly three weeks after the Indo-Pak joint statement in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Pakistan today insisted that there was no change in its foreign policy and raked up its demand for an "independent Kashmir" for "long-lasting" peace in South Asia.
'We do want resumption of the dialogue with India because we sincerely believe that it is in the interest of our region. Pakistan has been insisting that as a 'responsible country' it believes that disengagement is counter-productive,' The Dawn quoted Basit, as saying.
Pakistan today said it has not received a formal request from India or Interpol to hand over 22 suspects in the Mumbai terror attacks even as it insisted it will take action against its nationals on its own soil.
India on Sunday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and lodged a strong protest over ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.
A day after its powerful army expressed "serious concern" over some of the provisions in the US economic aid bill, the Pakistan government said on Thursday that the legislation is "not an ideal document" and that it is not binding on it to accept clauses laid in it.
Minister of State for External Affairs Minister V K Singh on Monday represented the government at the Pakistan National Day reception.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said that the government was hopeful a team of National Investigation Agency will soon visit Pakistan to gather evidence in connection with the Pathankot terror attack.
'DISGUST' -- that's how former army chief and now Minister of State for external affairs V K Singh reacted after attending the Pakistan Day celebrations in the country's high commission in New Delhi on Monday evening.
Pakistan added that it is necessary to establish "veracity of the Indian claim".
Pakistan has said that Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industries, which cancelled Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale's public engagement at the last minute, is an independent body, a day after India summoned Pakistani envoy to lodge a strong protest over the incident.
Amidst exchange of barbs, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday struck a conciliatory note saying he wants to establish good relations with India.
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