Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf believes that he os the panacea for Pakistan if it were to be saved from being a failed state, thanks to the 'inept and pathetic performance' by President Asif Ali Zardari led civilian government in Islamabad.Musharraf said that at the time he left office, the poverty rate in Pakistan, according to World Bank figures, had been halved, from 34 percent to 17 percent. "Which government has done this?" he asked.
Pakistan has claimed it had gone 'out of the way' in its peace overtures towards India but failed to get a positive response, after United States President Barack Obama asked the two nations to begin talks on 'less controversial issues' and resolve their differences. Claiming that Islamabad wants early resumption of the composite dialogue process with India, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said that his country stands for peace in the region and the world.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who will travel to Islamabad next week to hold talks with President Asif Ali Zardari and caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, will also meet Pakistan Muslim League chief Nawaz Sharif, who is set to form Pakistan's new government.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said he was prepared to resign if the issue of approaching Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari was resolved by his departure.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki Moon on Tuesday said he had impressed upon top Pakistani leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani that they should fully cooperate with India and thoroughly investigate the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Addressing a press conference on returning from his visit to India and Pakistan, he said the Pakistani leaders had 'committed to me that they will fully cooperate' with India in the investigation
Making an aggressive move on its foreign policy front, the new United States administration has reached out to key world leaders, with President Barack Obama himself calling heads of the states of Canada, Saudi Arabia and Britain, besides United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached out to as many as 21 foreign leaders including Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Defence Minister Chaudry Ahmad Mukhtar, a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari, informed US Ambassador Anne Patterson about the defence requirements of Pakistan, particularly the provision of F-16 aircraft.
Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief on Wednesday arrived here for talks with Pakistan's top political leadership for discussions on various issues, including the tension with India in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks.
President Asif Ali Zardari today conferred one of Pakistan's highest civilian honours on US Vice President-elect Joseph Biden in recognition of his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development" in the country.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was on Monday indicted by the Pakistan Supreme Court on contempt charges for refusing to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, a move that may force the beleaguered leader to quit. Gilani, 59, the first Pakistani prime minister to be arraigned for contempt by the apex court, pleaded not guilty in the packed court room.
Pakistan's armed forces will mount an equal response "within minutes" if India carries out any surgical strike inside the country, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has reportedly assured the nation's leadership.
A seven-judge bench led by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk issued the order on Thursday afternoon after hearing arguments from Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, who argued that the premier had not committed contempt by acting on the apex court's orders as the president had complete immunity from prosecution within Pakistan and abroad.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and the United States have reasons to be gratified by the turn of events in the country with regard to the memogate scandal. B Raman analyses
Appearing to change the tone after tough talk on Mumbai attacks, the US on Thursday said Pakistan "understands its responsibilities" to respond to terrorism wherever it exists and sounded convinced that Islamabad would act against those responsible for the strikes in India.
India and Pakistan have agreed to reinforce cooperation between their civilian investigation agencies to control cross-border terrorism, illegal immigration, influx of fake currency and liberalise the visa regime under the joint anti-terrorism mechanism
Beleaguered Pakistan government appears to be in no mood to tone down in the battle of attrition when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appears before the Supreme Court on Thursday in compliance with its direction. Gilani, who is already involved in a tussle with the powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is unlikely to offer apology to the court which has issued a contempt notice for failing to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, sources said.
Hours after Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday issued a contempt notice to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the leaders of ruling coalition decided that he should appear in the apex court on January 19 in the matter relating to reopening of corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
More than 300 million British pounds of aid for victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake has been diverted by President Asif Ali Zardari's government, raising fears that this will deter donors coming to the aid of flood devastated people in the country., a report stated.
As confrontation mounted between the Pakistan government and the army on the one side, and the judiciary on the other, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said holding immediate polls was the only was out of the crisis.
Pakistan's ruling coalition leaders have decided to call an urgent session of parliament on Thursday in the wake of a warning from the Supreme Court that action could be taken against the president and prime minister for failing to reopen high-profile corruption cases.
Acts of cyber terrorism that cause death will be punishable with death or life imprisonment in Pakistan, an ordinance issued by President Asif Ali Zardari has proposed.
A carefully modulated exercise is evident from the reports emanating from Beijing on the current visit of Pakistan's army chief Ashfaq Kayani, says B Raman
The ruling Pakistan People's Party has decided to hold the general election and the polls to the Senate ahead of schedule against the backdrop of rampant speculation that the government may not be able to complete its tenure, according to media reports on Friday.
Bilawal has said the reality is that his party does not have a mandate to form a federal government.
China, which plans to have a rail link with Pakistan through the strategic Karakoram ranges, has signed another agreement with the country for building two highways in the disputed Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir close to the Chinese border.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yosuf Raza Gilani has accused an unnamed lawmaker of being in touch with 'memogate' scandal blower Mansoor Ijaz, hinting that there was a conspiracy against President Asif Ali Zardari
Amid a controversy over a secret memo sent to the then United States military chief to prevent a possible military coup in Pakistan, the spokesperson of Admiral Mike Mullen said that the former top general never met the Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz and does not know him.
The US may re-look its human and technical intelligence apparatus in Pakistan following the attack on seven CIA officers in Khost and the failed New York bombing plot, writes security expert B Raman
Newly-appointed PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf said improving Pakistan cricket's image, which has taken a beating due to allegations of match-fixing, is his top priority.
The Pakistan government on Tuesday did not retain Ijaz Butt as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and appointed Zaka Ashraf.
Pakistan has reserved four seats for minorities in its Senate whose strength will climb to 104 from 100 under the landmark Constitutional reforms package, a move lauded as "people-friendly" by the community which so far had no representation in the upper house of Parliament.
Pakistan's Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan resigned on Friday citing "lack of cooperation" from the Law Minister, a day after he accused him of obstructing efforts to implement the Supreme Court's order to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland.
In an effort to consolidate its grip on internal security affairs, the Pakistan government on Tuesday carried out a major revamp of the country's intelligence agencies, transferring the political wing of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence to the civilian Intelligence Bureau. As part of the revamp, carried out by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the intelligence agencies would no longer be required to send secret reports to President Pervez Musharraf.
At a luncheon hosted by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for newly elected Parliamentarians, leaders of the three parties said they would support each other to form the federal government and to change the establishment to ensure that the military no longer had a role in Pakistan's politics.
Hina Rabbani Khar, on Tuesday, became the youngest and first woman foreign minister of Pakistan. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Islamabad where Farooq H A Naik, chairman senate and caretaker president presided over the ceremony in the absence of President Asif Ali Zardari, who is in Kabul for a day-long visit.
Pakistan's two main Opposition parties stepped up efforts on Friday to identify a consensus candidate for Prime Minister and hammer out a power-sharing formula after the former rivals agreed to form a coalition government.
The Bush administration may fail to save its most trusted friend because the PPP and PML-N are determined to form a coalition and clip all those powers through which a president can dissolve parliament.
The Pentagon does not believe that the shaky civilian government of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will be deposed by a military coup anytime soon.United States' Central Command Commander General David Petraeus assured the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that "as one who's been in Pakistan, and had a lot of conversations with military leaders as well as the civilian leadership, I actually don't think that the current challenges imperil civilian rule,".
Less than a week after they met in Washington, DC, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday called Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and discussed his administration's Af-Pak policy and climate change with him.
US President Barack Obama will brief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with other world leaders about his new policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, the White House said on Tuesday.
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