India has assured Pakistan that it would not hesitate from sharing the findings of Samjhauta Express blast case but expressed inability to do so till the probe is not completed as Indian laws do not permit it. This message was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao during her meeting with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir.
India and Pakistan on Sunday night agreed on the need for constructive talks to resolve all outstanding issues after a fresh round of parleys in an attempt to infuse new life to their stalled dialogue process.
Setting a positive tone ahead of their meeting in Thimpu, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on Sunday said they would endeavour to find a way forward for continued engagement between the two countries.
India has sought a meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, diplomatic sources said.
India on Sunday said that Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is likely to meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Standing Committee meeting in Bhutan early in February. This comes ahead of a possible visit by Pakistan Foreign Minister S M Qureshi to India. The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are likely to meet in Thimpu on the sidelines of the SAARC Standing Committee meeting on February 6-7.
The MV Suez's 22-member crew, including six Indians, were on Sunday transferred to a Pakistani warship when the Egyptian merchant vessel, which was recently released by Somali pirates after payment of ransom, began taking on water in the Arabian Sea.
In A Suitable Boy, Mira Nair holds our hands and takes us through the magical journey, introducing us to so many fascinating characters from another era, observes Aseem Chhabra.
India and Pakistan must focus on a creative and realistic approach as they begin the long haul of normalising relations following a constructive meeting of their Foreign Secretaries, the Pakistani media and analysts said on Friday. News reports of the coordial meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir dominated the front pages of the dailies.
Making the first effort to bridge the trust deficit between the two countries, Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan discussed all issues of mutual concern with New Delhi flagging its core concern of terrorism emanating from that country on Thursday.
Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan -- Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir -- have begun their much-anticipated meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, even as Indian officials have said that New Delhi is "looking at these talks in a positive and constructive manner".
Pakistan said it would approach the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks with India with an "open mind" in the interest of normalising bilateral relations though "the vibes emanating from the other side have not been encouraging".
The commission to be headed by justice Bashir-ud-Din, a retired judge of the state high court. He will be assisted by another retired judge, Justice YP Nargotra.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, India on Wednesday sounded positive on continuing talks but said there were some "difficult" issues still remaining and Islamabad needed to take credible action to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.
The decision to lift curfew from the two towns in North Kashmir came after Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, Bashir Ahmad Bhat held a meeting with local representatives and discussed various measures to restore law and order on Wednesday evening.
As splendid it is to behold, A Suitable Boy cannot match in soul and falls short of being memorable, feels Sukanya Verma.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Thursday to kick off a dialogue between the two countries after a hiatus of 14 months. India had suspended the composite dialogue with Pakistan after the terror attack on Mumbai on November 26, 2008, which was planned and carried out by Pakistani terrorists.
The 82-year-old former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister received the ED summons a day after the formation of the People's Alliance led by him was announced on October 15.
India is likely to put before Pakistan a set of specific demands related to tackling terrorism when their foreign secretaries meet next week, and Delhi's political circles believe that its response will determine the future course of such talks. Expectations from the talks between Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, to be held in New Delhi on February 25, are 'realistic', informed sources said.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in Islamabad on June 24 to finalise the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries.
The chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Sopore Tuesday rejected the army's application for permission to record the statements of the three accused in the Machil fake encounter case.
India has told Pakistan that the proposed talks with it will focus on terrorism and other issues "hurting" bilateral relations and has given no indication about the full-fledged resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process, official sources said on Friday.
Meet Amir Hussain Lone, who not only plays the game but is captain of the Jammu and Kashmir Para-cricket team. Amir, an avid fan of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, overcame gigantic obstacles to realise his dream of playing cricket which were almost shattered when he lost both his arms in a freak accident -- ironically at a bat-manufacturing unit owned by his father in Bijbehara town of south Kashmir. So how does a double-arm-amputee bat and bowl while playing cricket? Amir holds the bat between his left shoulder and head. His favourite shot is a flick off his legs towards square leg-- shot played with elan by his idol.
After the ice-breaking foreign secretary-level talks on February 25, India has conveyed to Pakistan its willingness to hold the second round of parleys, but is yet to get any response from its neighbour. India also has not heard anything from Pakistan on the three dossiers given to Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir by her Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao during the FS-level talks. The dossiers contained the names of the 34 Pakistani terrorists wanted in India.
If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of number of youths joining various terror groups, according to the officials.
At the end of the talks with Salman Bashir, Pakistani Foreign Secretary in New Delhi on Thursday, Nirupama Rao, the Indian counterpart, projected the initiative taken by India in proposing the meeting between the two countries as a prelude to a wider dialogue at different levels on various contentious issues -- though not necessarily in the form of a reversion to the composite dialogue process to which Pakistan continues to be attached.
India demanded the handover of retired Army Major Iqbal besides Hafiz Saeed and some Lashkar operatives like Muzzamil, Abu Hamza, Abu Kahfa, Usman and Sajjid Mir in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks. The other fugitives demanded by India were Indian Mujahideen chief Asif Raza Khan and its senior member Riaz Bhatkal
Ahead of the resumption of Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan tomorrow, visiting Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir met Geelani for 90 minutes.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir will be meeting at New Delhi on February 25,2010, under a face-saving formula which would enable both the governments to claim that the respective stand taken by them after the 26/11 terrorist strike in Mumbai stands vindicated by this meeting.
Ahead of his talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will be meeting leaders of various separatist outfits from Kashmir over the next two days.
"We are constantly harassed, taunted and beaten up. Even if we complain to the higher authorities, they do not take any action in the matter," Mobin Kader Seikh said. Seikh, along with Asif Bashir Seikh and Mohammed Sakeel made the charges before Additional Sessions Judge Santosh Snehi Mann during the proceedings in the serial blast cases conducted through video-conferencing from the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad.
Ahead of the foreign secretary- level talks, India said on Monday that it was ready to explore a "meaningful" relationship with Pakistan if it seriously addressed the threat of terrorism and stops terror acts against this country.
In an ice-breaking decision that could end the post-26/11 stalemate, India has offered to have Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan to discuss terrorism and any other issue that could lead to peace between the two neighbours.
Separatists on Thursday hailed Pakistan's statement that an "independent Kashmir" could pave the way for long-lasting peace in South Asia, calling it an acknowledgement of the sacrifices made by Kashmiris and asked New Delhi to follow suit.
Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan have met and held "good detailed discussions" on terrorism at Sharm el-Shiekh in Egypt ahead of Thursday's meeting between prime ministers of the two countries to review Islamabad's action on its commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
India on Tuesday demanded a 'visible response' and undertaking from Pakistan on bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice, as officials and leaders of the two countries prepare to meet in Sharm-el-Sheikh to review Islamabad's actions on its promises.
In the first high-level contact with Pakistan since the Mumbai attacks, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in Colombo on Thursday and rejected his suggestion for resumption of Composite Dialogue till Islamabad took credible steps to end terrorism.
The deceased were identified as Abdul Majeed Ganaie, Mehraj-ud-din Dar, Anees Ahmad Mir and Hameed-ul-lah Ganaie.
Separately, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said during a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store in Islamabad that Pakistan wanted its ties with India to normalise "by resolving bilateral disputes through a sustained and meaningful dialogue process."However, "engaging in talks for the sake of talks would serve no purpose," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
Though Pakistan fears that a repeat of the Mumbai attacks could be "very dangerous" to it, there is relatively little shift in its attitude towards India which it views as a "threat", a noted US scholar has said.
A report by leading Pakistani daily The News, on the bilateral talks held in New Delhi on Thursday, has claimed that Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was not invited to Pakistan by her counterpart Salman Bashir.
