Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has met powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani for the second time in as many days, amid reports of tensions between the military and civilian government over secret communications with the Obama administration.
Describing India as a 'mature democracy,' Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said there is no threat to Pakistan from it, even as he sought resumption of the composite dialogue process stalled since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
In what could raise questions about his ability to rule Pakistan, a newspaper has claimed that Asif Ali Zardari, the country's leading contender for presidency, was suffering from severe mental problems as recently as last year.
Pakistan's cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has claimed that President Asif Ali Zardari, chief ministers of three provinces and 61 per cent of Members of Parliament have never paid any taxes, reflecting the widespread corruption in the country. Khan alleged that Zardari and former Premier Nawaz Sharif were hand-in-glove. While Sharif had paid only Rs 5,000 as tax, Zardari had paid no tax at all, he claimed.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari at Islamabad on Wednesday. Mukherjee arrived in Pakistan on a two-day official visit on Tuesday, to hold talks with his counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in India's first high-level contact with the new government. Qureshi and Mukherjee are expected to discuss various issues including terrorism, Kashmir, exchange of prisoners, bilateral trade and confidence building measures.
The crucial talks between the top leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition ended inconclusively on Friday, with Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari seeking more time from his ally Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif, to consider the modalities for reinstatement of the deposed judges. Sharif said that his party remained committed to the restoration of the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, by May 12. Zardari did not talk to the media.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today said his government was determined to eliminate Taliban militants from the region but promised to make every effort to keep collateral damage to the minimum.
Amid speculation that the Pakistan People's Party was opposed to restoring deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry as he could scrap a law granting amnesty to party leaders, President Asif Ali Zardari has said he was never against the sacked judge.
Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, accused by the Pakistan government of being involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, is set to dispatch a delegation to meet Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari to condole the death of the former premier, a news report has said. "The delegation, comprising prominent tribal elders and religious scholars from South Waziristan, will deliver a written condolence letter from Mehsud to Asif Zardari," it said.
Amidst continuing tensions between Pakistan's government and the powerful army over the memo scandal, President Asif Ali Zardari has said that no one had sought his resignation to defuse the political crisis, making light of suggestions that the military had offered him an "escape" route.
Some secretarial staff from the presidency have flown to the United Arab Emirates amid speculation that a presidential camp office was being set up at Pakistan's ailing President Asif Ali Zardari's private residence in Dubai. This is the second batch of officials from the presidency to go to the UAE since Zardari travelled to Dubai on December 6 to seek treatment for a heart condition
Zardari is "said to have quietly given names of four international personalities--Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Muqran bin Abdul Aziz and the UAE intelligence chief to the UN inquiry commission to ask them: how did they know the secret in advance that Benazir Bhutto would be killed?" The News Daily reported on Thursday.
There was some miscommunication, says Zardari Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday blamed "miscommunication" with India for Islamabad seemingly going back on its promise to send Director General of ISI to New Delhi and instead said a Director-level officer will be coming. Zardari claimed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during a telephonic talk with, had requested for sending "Director". "There was a miscommunication... We had announced that a Director will come
United States President Barack Obama would meet his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari at the White House in WashinGton, DC on Friday and hold talks on issues of bilateral importance including combating terrorism.
There will be no captains' photoshoot or press conference in Pakistan before the ICC Champions Trophy, a source in the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed.
Zardari explained to journalists who met him in Bhutto's ancestral village of Naudero that he, like the Congress President, wanted to take a back seat and let the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leadership decide things.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Britain this week to meet teenage rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who is being treated at a United Kingdom hospital after being shot in the head by Taliban militants.
The latest tranche of WikiLeaks published in the media has revealed that Zardari had made extensive preparations in case of his own assassination and instructed his son Bilawal to name his sister, Faryal Talpur, as president.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is hopeful that disputes related to Siachen and Sir Creek will be resolved very soon with India, creating an atmosphere for the two countries to achieve a breakthrough on the long-standing Kashmir issue."All the possible solutions on Kashmir will be discussed first in a parliamentary committee on Kashmir and then the final solution will be approved by parliament," he said.
Pakistan wants a 'sustained and result-oriented' engagement with India to find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue that could usher in peace and stability in the region, President Asif Ali Zardari told a visiting Hurriyat delegation on Thursday.
Benazir Bhutto's husband, who was detained in Islamabad Tuesday, is likely to be released later Wednesday after his lawyers deposit Rs 300,000 as bail.
'We must make viable peace. This (Kashmir) is a solvable problem that must not take further lives,' Zardari said in a 'special vision statement' read out at a conference organised by Tehelka magazine in London on Friday. Pending a final settlement, 'we agree with the statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh supporting an autonomous Kashmir running much of its own affairs', Zardari said.
With Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif sharpening his rhetoric against Pervez Musharraf, the ruling Pakistan People's Party said that it was waiting for an opportune moment to offer an exit to the embattled President."Pakistan People's Party will be the one that sends President Pervez Musharraf home," its co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday night. Zardari's comments came in the wake of a demand by his Sharif for Musharraf to be made accountable for actions.
The husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was freed Monday amidst rumours of a deal with the Army regime.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has transferred control of nuclear weapons to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
A man has filed an application in a Pakistani court against President Asif Ali Zardari for addressing a political gathering in Punjab province in alleged violation of a Supreme Court order.
Two days after saying that he did not consider India a threat to Pakistan and it was the internal terrorist threat from within that is of concern, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was splitting hairs saying the larger threat from India and the so-called existential internal threat as the US has continued to describe it, were different.
Pakitsan President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday returned to Karachi from Dubai, where he had gone almost a fortnight ago to seek treatment for a heart condition, triggering rampant speculation that he might be on the verge of resigning.
US President Barack Obama met his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari twice, including a brief one-on-one conversation, on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Chicago, the White House said.
The petitions challenging the NRO had said the law violated fundamental rights as no government has the right to quash corruption cases. The petitioners also contended that the ordinance was contrary to the constitution and asked for it to be scrapped.
External Affairs Minister S M Kirshna thanked Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who on Tuesday pardoned Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, paving the way for his return home after over 20 years of incarceration in a foreign country.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has denied his request for a visit though he had once played a key role in saving the former premier from being hanged during the regime of military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Swiss authorities cannot open graft cases against Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari under an order from the supreme court, Law Minister Farooq Naek has said.
In the tense post 26/11 scenario, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had told the US that Islamabad would have no option but to respond militarily if India chose to launch an attack on its territory, secret US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show.
Zardari's "shut up" video mysteriously disappears from internet
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left for Dubai after a tiff with his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, over the affairs of the Pakistan People's Party, leaving it without its star campaigner for Pakistan's general election.
President Asif Ali Zardari was repeatedly interrupted by boos and slogans from opposition lawmakers as he made his fifth consecutive address to a joint session of Parliament on Saturday to outline his government's policies for the final year of its five-year term.
President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan will assist India in probing the terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan will take strong action against any Pakistani element found involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, Zardari said.
Pointing that Pakistan has paid the biggest price for conflict in Afghanistan, President Asif Ali Zardari told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that peace and stability in his country were tied to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.