According to sources, this decision was taken during a high-level informal meeting held at the Presidency, which was chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari and attended by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, ISI DG Lt. Gen Zaheerul Islam, foreign secretary and Pakistan's ambassador to US Sherry Rehman, reports The Nation.
India has said that its relations with Pakistan were under 'considerable stress' and that the prime cause for it was terror acts coming out of that country.
Faced with a non-bailable arrest warrant against Makhdoom Shahabuddin, its first choice for prime minister's post, ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on Thursday fielded senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira at the last minute besides a "covering" candidate.
The confrontation between the two will continue in other forms and other arenas, but to describe the recent judgement disqualifying Gilani as a judicial coup would be overstating its significance and implications, says B Raman.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party has nominated senior leader Makhdoom Shahabuddin for the post of premier following the Supreme Court's disqualification of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. Shahbuddin is also a Sajjada Nashin or the descendant of a Sufi saint like his predecessor Yusuf Raza Gilani.
India is likely to thin out troops from wartime positions on the border with Pakistan, where they were deployed after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, according to a media report on Monday.
Under pressure from the US, President Asif Ali Zardari today said Pakistan is ready to shift some of its troops from the Indian border to its western frontier to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists. The US has been pressing Pakistan to step up its offensive against the Taliban but Islamabad has been reluctant to move troops from the eastern border as it considers India as its main threat.
China is "working hard" to improve ties between India and close-ally Pakistan, despite facing heavy criticism from within and its expression of happiness over President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to India is "no hollow diplomatic gesture", a state-run daily said on Tuesday.
A feisty Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari says there is no likelihood of his being deposed in a military coup, but if it does happen it will be because the United States along with other democratic countries has had a hand in it.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday summoned Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi as a witness in contempt proceedings against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and adjourned the high-profile case till March 7.
Pakistan's embattled Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday appeared before the Supreme Court to face a contempt notice for not reopening graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari, saying he was unable to act as the president enjoyed complete immunity under the Constitution.
'Whether he wins or he doesn't win, one thing is for sure: Imran Khan is making an impact, especially with the youth in Pakistan,' former RA&W chief A S Dulat tells Sheela Bhatt.
Pakistan could see a repeat of the "disastrous" pattern of civilian governments being cast aside by military coups, American media reports said, declaring that a stable Islamabad was of critical interest to Washington.
After National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani, it was the turn of the Special Public Prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks case to be sacked by the Pakistan government for making controversial remarks on the lone captured terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
Pakistan's next general election will be held on May 11, marking the first ever transfer of power from an elected government to another in the country's chequered democratic history.
A Pakistani parliamentarian has demanded that Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha should resign following the claims that he travelled to Arab countries to discuss a move to oust President Asif Ali Zardari.
Facing intense pressure from the United States to act against militants thriving in its restive tribal region, Pakistani has blamed India and Afghanistan for stirring trouble in its northwestern areas and Balochistan province.Ruling Pakistan People's Party leader Rehman Malik, who functions as the interior minister and is a confidant of party chief Asif Ali Zardari, appealed to Pakistan's western allies, including the US, to stop India and Afghanistan's alleged activities.
Former National Security Adviser of Pakistan Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was sacked after disclosing to media the Pakistani nationality of Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab, has said he had written authorisation from the prime minister to speak on the evolving situation in the wake of the 26/11 strikes.
Pakistan and China have signed an agreement in Islamabad to hand over the GwadarPort to a Chinese company.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday rejected a government petition seeking a review of its order that struck down a controversial graft amnesty for politicians, setting the stage for possible reopening of corruption cases against top leaders like President Asif Ali Zardari.
Two top United States security officials are traveling to Pakistan on Tuesday to meet the country's civil and military leadership and press for more aggressive action against Al Qaeda-allied groups. Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta and the National Security Advisor General James Jones, who are embarking on a visit to Islamabad, will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, Army Chief General Ashfaq Kiyani.
All Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails would be released soon, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Tuesday.
Pakistan on Friday expressed its satisfaction over a United Nations panel's report on the killing of former premier Benazir Bhutto, saying it had vindicated its stand that former dictator-turned-president Pervez Musharraf's regime was responsible for her assassination in 2007.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in the Pakistani capital on Thursday for talks aimed at pressing the country's leadership to crack down on the Haqqani network to facilitate the process of reconciliation in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Salman Taseer, the slain governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, has been posthumously conferred with one of the country's highest civilian honours, months after he was gunned down by an extremist police guard for favouring amendment to the controversial blasphemy law.
Pakistan's parliament is likely to be dissolved in January next year and a caretaker government installed to oversee elections to be held by April. Speculation has increased in political circles about the government preparing a preliminary roadmap for the next general election, which is scheduled for early next year.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari, India on Thursday said it was sure that Pakistan would not fail to take note of the Supreme Court verdict upholding the death sentence of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the 26/11 attacks.
Our strategic and national security interests should be the decisive factor in our policy-making towards Israel, the US and Iran, says B Raman.
Those in Pakistan who always preceded the possibility of talks with a 'Kashmir being the core issue' argument are now insisting that dialogue is the only way to peace, and both countries should work together to ensure all around stability and peace, says Seema Mustafa.
Calling Pakistan a 'sham democracy', disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan has said that the country's 'elites toe the American line and behave like foreign agents'.
The Pakistan government has decided to file petitions in the Supreme Court seeking a review of the annulment of a new law aimed at preventing the premier's disqualification and another order on reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar confirmed that the government will file a petition seeking a review of the apex court's order that struck down the Contempt of Court Act of 2012.
The Pakistan government has announced it would posthumously confer the Hilal-i-Pakistan, one of the country's highest civilian honours, on late United States Special Representative Richard Holbrooke.
Pakistan Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf on Wednesday got a temporary reprieve as the Supreme Court extended till August 8 the deadline for him to approach Swiss authorities to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, a case that had cost his predecessor his job
Pakistan government is expected to confer posthumously one of the country's highest civilian awards for bravery on slain Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who was lauded by President Asif Ali Zardari as a symbol of tolerance, harmony and respect for minorities.
A bill aimed at making the Inter-Services Intelligence more accountable to Parliament and government has been withdrawn from the Senate by the Presidential Spokesman, who had submitted it in his private capacity, Farhatullah Babar, the spokesman of President Asif Ali Zardari, had submitted the bill to the upper house of Parliament last week.
Pakistan's parliament has passed a bill aimed at protecting top government leaders from contempt of court proceedings and countering the Supreme Court's efforts to pressure the premier to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.The Senate or upper house approved the Contempt of Court Bill of 2012 by a majority after a heated debate late on Wednesday night. The bill was passed by the National Assembly or lower house of parliament on Monday.
With apex court shows no sign of backing down and the government planning to clip the wings of the judiciary another clash between the two is inevitable, says Amir Mir.
Raja Parvez Ashraf, Pakistan Peoples Party's prime minister, is a strong loyalist of the Bhutto family and hails from a royal family of Rawalpindi in Punjab.
The name of the Pakistan People's Party's nominee for the office of the prime minister will be announced at a press conference at 11 am on Friday, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said on Thursday.
Kashmir Solidarity Day will be observed in Pakistan on February 5, as it has been every year since 1990. The propaganda that is being organised is on predictable lines.
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