The United States on Tuesday refused to comment on the situation in Kashmir, in the grip of ceaseless violence for a-month-and-a-half, saying that matter has to be decided by the parties concerned.
"Dialogue is the only way forward in normalising situation between the two neighbourly countries," Sharif said on his arrival at the Heathrow airport in London on his return from the US after attending the UN General Assembly.
Pakistani Parliamentarians were left stunned when a lawmaker led a prayer for slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the National Assembly despite being told by Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi not to do so.
Twenty tankers which were destroyed were on their way to Afghanistan, and were attacked on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, early on Wednesday morning,a group of gunmen opened fire at nearly 40 tankers parked at Akhtarabad along the main highway between Quetta and the border town of Chaman, a witness said.
The quake hit at 12:37 pm near Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan in the Hindu Kush mountains at a depth of 191 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.
'India needs to learn in Kashmir how to spread development.' 'Pakistan needs to learn in Balochistan how to spread development.' 'China needs to learn in Xinjiang and Tibet.' 'And if they can show tangible benefits, there will be less terrorism.' 'No one wakes up in the morning saying 'I want to kill myself', right?'
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quereshi at the special session of the UN General Assembly on August 19 had resulted in pledges worth nearly $800 million -- the major pledges being $150 million from the US and $100 million each from the UK and Saudi Arabia. Only China, which apparently suspected that the Pakistani authorities were exaggerating the estimate of the damages suffered, refrained from increasing its pledge beyond the initial amount of $10 million.
India and Pakistan blame each other for their internal security problems because of some 'third interest', Pakistani minister Firdous Ashiq Awan suggested on Wednesday, and said the two countries should sit together to address 'communication gaps and trust deficit'. "Whatever happens in Balochistan, our people blame India and similarly whatever happens here in India, people blame Pakistan. There is some third conspiracy also and we have to pinpoint that," she said.
"He was carrying an Indian passport. Do spies carry passports?" the home minister asked, seeking to trash Islamabad's claim that the 46-year-old was involved in "espionage and sabotage activities".
Inter-Services Intelligence chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha, during his meeting with Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta, has reportedly presented evidence regarding India's hand in fanning terrorism in Balochistan and Waziristan.
The newly-elected National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, is meeting to elect the prime minister.
Jadhav was 'arrested' on March 3 last year by Pakistan security officials in Balochistan.
Here's a recap of moments captured in India in the past 24 hours.
A suicide attack on a procession organised by Shia students and subsequent firing by protesters at Quetta in southwest Pakistan on Friday killed over 50 people and injured more than 100 others, hours after two terrorist attacks left as many persons dead in the northwest.
Pakistan perceives that if it had declared Gilgit-Baltistan, PoK or both, which are only a part of the territories of J&K, as legitimate provinces of Pakistan it would weaken its case for the entire J&K and lead to legal complications, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar were also present at Sushma Swaraj's residence.
This will also be his first August 15 address after coming back to power with a huge mandate.
Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother will arrive in Islamabad on Monday to meet the Indian prisoner on death row, the Pakistan foreign office has said. They will arrive in Islamabad by a commercial flight and leave the same day after the meeting, it added.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik alleged, on Monday, that India was among "anti-Pakistan forces" that are bent on "disintegrating" the country.
Christine Fair, who infuriated New Delhi when she alleged that India was meddling in Balochistan, has been offered the India portfolio in the Obama administration.
Pakistan has said it is 'free to raise any issue,' including Kashmir, differences over sharing of river waters and India's alleged interference in Balochistan, during the foreign secretary-level talks in New Delhi on February 25.
Osama Ali, a 24-year old resident of Rawalkot in PoK, has been diagnosed with a tumour in his liver and wants to seek treatment in Delhi. "PoK is an integral part of India. Pakistan has illegally occupied it. We are giving him visa. No letter required," Swaraj tweeted.
A second wave of floods has inundated several areas in Balochistan even as the worst deluge in Pakistan's history led to mass evacuation in Sindh regions where around 3.6 million people have been affected and over 600,000 displaced.
'This is the first State visit in the Obama administration which is a signal of the importance we attach to our relations with India,' Robert Blake, US Assistant Secretary of South Asian Affairs, tells Aziz Haniffa.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that certain hidden forces are conspiring against democracy and the government in the country.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied India consular access to Jadhav on the ground that it was not applicable in cases related to spies.
The United States' mounting pressure on Pakistan -- to go after the Afghan Taliban inside Balochistan -- could affect the cohesion of the Pakistan army and lead to the destabilisation of the government, according to US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.Earlier, Holbrooke said, "We will not be able to succeed in Afghanistan unless our Pakistan policy is equally successful".
Earlier, Pakistan People's Party had elected first Hindu woman named Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla as a senator.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition walked out of the Lok Sabha on Thursday afternoon, specifically protesting on the issue of Balochistan and the delinking of terror from the composite dialogue process.
Pakistan on Friday made fresh allegations about India's involvement in terrorist activities in the country, with Interior Minister Rehman Malik telling parliament that Indian intelligence agencies were running training camps in Afghanistan to foment unrest in Balochistan.
The murder of two Sikhs by the Taliban in the restless tribal belt highlights the plight of the minorities there. Rajeev Sharma reports.
Pakistan has denied Iranian claims that the government is aware of the fact that Abdolmalek Rigi -- the alleged mastermind of the terror attack in Pishin on Sunday --- is hiding in Balochistan. Rigi is the chief of the underground Sunni outfit group Jundallah which claimed responsibility for the attack in Iran's Sunni-majority Sistan-Baluchistan province. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad too accused Pakistan of having links to the bombers who carried out the attack.
"We will fight our case in court against Pak govt's illegal action," said Saeed.
Rejecting Pakistan's allegations that India was fomenting trouble in Balochistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday termed the charges as 'false accusations,' saying the country is not in the business of exporting terror.
India has proposed February 18 and 25 to Pakistan as the dates for foreign secretary-level talks as part of a "practical and pragmatic" approach to seek redressal of its core concern of cross-border terrorism but warns that there will be a huge setback if a 26/11-type terror attack is repeated.
The Central Information Commission has allowed the inspection of files pertaining to the controversial Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement of India and Pakistan last year, responding to a Right To Information application.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said unless the "core issues" of Kashmir and sharing of river waters are resolved, ties between India and Pakistan cannot improve.
The Family Man is the espionage drama India is waiting to see, raves Karan Sanjay Shah.
Protesting against enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Abdul Qadeer Baloch, 72, has led a small group that has covered more than 2,000 kilometres on foot, breaking the 84-year-old record set by Mahatma Gandhi during his Dandi march. Hamid Mir reports from Islamabad.
The unrest in Pakistan's south-western Balochistan province threatens to dent the military operation against the Taliban militants and its economy, a news report has said.
