China on Sunday lauded Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to India, saying better ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours will benefit both countries and bring stability in the region.
Acknowledging that his government had underestimated the threat from Taliban, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said the terrorist group was present in "huge amounts of land" in the country extending its reach beyond the tribal belt to larger cities like Peshawar.
Under intense pressure from the United States and amidst escalating political standoff at home, the Pakistan government on Saturday decided to challenge the disqualification of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz from contesting elections, in a move seen as an attempt to defuse the crisis.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said it expects Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to categorically convey to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari during his forthcoming visit that no "normal dialogue" is possible between the two countries till it stops sponsoring terrorism against India.
Dismissing the possibility of a coup in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has said the situation in the country was too grave to inspire the military for such a move. "I don't think anybody in his right mind will be wanting to take this responsibility. It's only democracy that can carry this yoke," Zardari told a group of foreign journalists in Islamabad.
'Much as the Palestinian issue remains the core obstacle to peace in the Middle East, the question of Kashmir must be addressed in some meaningful way to bring stability to this region,' he said. He hoped the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan will work towards a 'just and reasonable' solution to the issue.
In an interview with a Turkish media house, Zardari, while raising concerns over the 30 per cent increase in India's defence budget following the November 26, 2008 Mumbai attacks, said South Asian countries should focus on humanitarian issues rather than building armies and piling up devastating weapons.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari recently met 50 captured Taliban leaders, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in a prison to assure them that their outfit had his government's full support and that they would be freed soon, a media report in London claimed on Sunday.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday took 'serious note' of the arrest of an 11-year-old Christian girl in the Pakistani capital on a charge of blasphemy and called for a report from the Interior Ministry within 24 hours.
Intense political pressure has forced the ruling Pakistan People's Party to abandon a move to get the parliament to endorse a controversial law, which scrapped graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, raising questions about his future. Following a meeting of senior PPP leaders chaired by Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the party announced late on Monday night that it would not ask the parliament to validate the National Reconciliation Ordinance.
Pakistan's ruling Pakistan People's Party chief Asif Ali Zardari appears set to sweep Saturday's presidential poll and would be expected to tackle problems like rising militancy and economic malaise after his election.Sources said that Zardari expects to poll over 60 per cent of the 700 members in the electoral college, in an election necessitated by former President Pervez Musharraf's resignation on August 18.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari says the raid by United States special forces to kill the world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden deep inside his country was "not a joint operation."
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to surrender his presidential powers related to the dissolution of assemblies and the appointment of services chiefs to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Defying a Supreme Court order, Pakistan government on Thursday said graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland over alleged stashing of $ 60 million in banks there cannot be reopened and made it clear that the matter is closed.
Amidst differences between Pakistan's civilian government and military over a memo alleging an army plot to seize power, President Asif Ali Zardari has called on the people to not allow any change through "force and intimidation". The ballot should be respected as the instrument of change, said Zardari, who has been facing pressure from the military establishment since Pakistan-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz made public the alleged memo that sought United States's help.
Indian death row prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh has filed a fresh appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari seeking mercy on the occasion of that country's Independence day on August 14, his lawyer Awais Sheikh said on Thursday.
Days after the Supreme Court gave nod to Pakistani prisoner Khalil Chishti to visit his country, Press Council Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju has appealed to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to grant freedom to Sarabjit Singh, who is lodged in a jail there. In a letter addressed to Zardari, he said, "The Indian Supreme Court had recently allowed Chishti to go back to Pakistan. I, therefore, appeal to you in the name of humanity to release Sarabjit Singh," he wrote.
"I want to make a promise to the people that the next election will be held on time and will be fair, free and impartial," Zardari told a meeting of workers of his Pakistan People's Party at Khairpur in Sindh province on Sunday
President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday pledged that the people of Pakistan will continue the campaign against militancy and extremism to the finish as it was a fight for their survival and for protecting their values.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia on Tuesday said the welcome of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari before the extradition of Mumbai terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed was a "matter of shame" and the Centre it seemed was taking it up only as a diplomatic issue.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's "private spiritual journey" to India ended with "a tame nudge" from the hosts who asked him to "work more to win their love," the country's media said on Monday, noting that the visit should set the stage for the two sides to tackle contentious issues like the 26/11 probe.
Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian on death row in Pakistan following his conviction for alleged involvement in bomb attacks, has reached Jaipur in her endavour to meet visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistani analysts and former diplomats have termed the Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's visit as a breakthrough and believe that it will positively affect the future relations of Islamabad and New Delhi. Tahir Ali reports.
This came after the beleaguered Zardari was put on notice by the US, which reportedly gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to ease the simmering political crisis in Pakistan amid speculation that a deal brokered by Washington and the UK in consultation with the Pakistan army had been conveyed to the government.
Pakistan was headed for a political crisis late Wednesday night with uncertainty surrounding Asif Ali Zardari continuing as president after the Supreme Court scrapped an Ordinance under which he and several other prominent politicians had been granted immunity from prosecution in corruption cases.
Political activities will now be allowed in Pakistan's Federally Administrative Tribal Areas under a slew of reforms unveiled by President Asif Ali Zardari for the Taliban-infested tribal belt in a bid to extricate the lawless region from the grip of militants. Describing the move as a gift to the nation on Pakistan's 63rd Independence Day, Zardari said people in the seven tribal areas can now have an identity as they will be able to participate in political activities.
Amid the tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal attended a dinner hosted by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari for envoys of the non-Muslim countries in Islamabad.The dinner hosted by Zardari on Saturday night at the Presidential palace was also attended by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.Apart from the Indian High Commissioner, envoys of the United States, China, Britain, Russia were present.
"Pakistan is committed to the pursuit, arrest, trial and punishment of anyone involved in these heinous attacks," says Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in an oped in the December 8 issue of the New York Times.Cautioning against 'hasty judgments and inflammatory statements', Zardari says that the raids of December 7 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which resulted in the arrest of some wanted Lashkar-e-Tayeba terrorists, demonstrates that 'Pakistan will take action.'
The United States on Wednesday dismissed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's view that the US-backed coalition forces are losing the war in Afghanistan, saying actions taken in the last several months were keeping in mind the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.
Speculation about Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's future continued to run rife on Thursday despite US assertion that "a silent military coup" against him was unlikely.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday declared that his country will not be the first to use nuclear weapons against India and would work towards opening trade, besides underscoring that Kashmir belonged to the Kashmiri people.
In the first top-level contact between India and Pakistan after Mumbai attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will meet in Russia on the sidelines of a multilateral summit next week to break ice in the bilateral ties.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday confirmed Pakistan's ratification of a landmark visa agreement signed with India in September that will benefit several categories of travellers, including businessmen and senior citizens.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's popularity has dipped to an abysmally low, lower than his predecessor Pervez Musharraf, while cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan has the highest popularity ratings in the country.
Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has denied allegations about his involvement in the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, saying President Asif Ali Zardari knows who killed her. Reacting to remarks made by Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday during a briefing on the assassination in the Sindh Assembly, Musharraf told TV news channels that the security of political leaders was the responsibility of provincial governments and not the federal government.
Pakistan Supreme Court's historic judgement declaring the 2007 emergency as "unconstitutional" has put President Asif Ali Zardari in a fix as part of its ruling the apex court has struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance.
The police guard who gunned down Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was assigned to protect key personalities, including Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. Self-confessed killer Mumtaz Qadri was detailed on protection duties on as many as 509 occasions in the past three years, including for United States delegations, which are prime targets for terrorists.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari that firm action needed to be taken against anti-India terrorism emanating from Pakistan to allow forward movement in the bilateral relationship, Parliament was informed Wednesday.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday ordered authorities to take "every possible step" to bring home Dr Khalil Chishti, an ailing 80-year-old scientist who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court after being given a life sentence in a murder case.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari finally visited the flood-hit areas in the southern province of Sindh on Thursday, two weeks after the country was hit by its worst humanitarian crisis in 80 years. Zardari visited the city of Sukkur located on the banks of the Indus River to take stock of the rescue and relief efforts. Zardari's decision to undertake a trip to France and Britain earlier, despite the country reeling under the worst floods in its history.
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