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.
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.
The deceased were identified as Abdul Majeed Ganaie, Mehraj-ud-din Dar, Anees Ahmad Mir and Hameed-ul-lah Ganaie.
With the maulana fully committed and PML (N) cadres prepared to court arrest, this would be the first time where both Punjabis and Pakhtuns would be standing up against the Pakistan army, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
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.
Two delectable strikes from magical Manvir Singh and an opportunistic header from substitute Sumeet Passi helped defending champions India breeze past Pakistan 3-1 to romp into the final of the SAFF Suzuki Cup.
The terrorists were identified by the police as Azad Ahmad Malik of Arwani in Bijbehara, Unais Shafi of Takiya Maqbool Shah, Bijbehara, Basit Ishtiyaq of Pushwara Anantnag, Atif Najar of Waghama Bijbehara, Firdous Ahmad of Muchpuna Pulwama and Shahid Bashir of Kawni Awantipora.
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.
India is being represented by 487 athletes in more than 15 disciplines.
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.
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.
Shortly after Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir addressed a press conference in New Delhi that was seen as acrimonious, sources in the government said that by offering to hold talks, India had made a sincere effort to rebuild trust and would watch how Pakistan acts on its core concern of terrorism.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir who spoke to the media at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi on Thursday after meeting his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao said his country desired better ties with India but said Pakistan did not wants talks in which it is lectured to by India.
Sharif is in London with his ailing wife Kulsoom, who is suffering from throat cancer and has undergone three surgeries so far.
On the eve of crucial talks between Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers, top diplomats of the two countries met in New York on Saturday to prepare ground for the parleys, where India is expected to demand speedy probe into the Mumbai attacks and decisive action against their mastermind, Jamaat-ud-Dawaah chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he would adopt a "positive approach" for his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In its chargesheet filed in a special court in Srinagar, the CBI alleged that Abdullah as the association president at that time had connived with the treasurer of JKCA and others for undue siphoning off and misappropriation of funds, a CBI spokesperson said in New Delhi.
At least ten people were killed and nearly 50 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a crowded court complex in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Monday, the latest in a wave of deadly terrorist attacks across the country.
The police remand of two arrested terror suspects Abdul Latif Rashid and Riyaz Ali Imtiaz was on Friday extended till April 1 after the Anti-Terrorism Squad sought their custody. The duo was arrested by the ATS on March 13 for allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks in the metropolis. According to the ATS, the duo was in touch with a person in Pakistan addressed as 'uncle', who is suspected to be Abdul Bashir Khan, an absconding accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts.
In a fresh reshuffle in the Pakistan Hockey Federation, former Olympian Hasan Sardar was appointed selection committee chairman, while Brig (Retd) Manzoor Hussain Atif was named advisor to president Qasim Zia.
Ridiculing the claim by Pakistan navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir that there was no evidence to show that Mumbai attackers had taken the sea route, India on Saturday said its investigation has conclusively proved that they came from the neighbouring country through the maritime route. Commenting on his counterpart's claim, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, also said that the 'full and complete' probe by the investigating agencies have proved that the attackers came via sea.
Now, it is quite clear that the real 'talk' that Pakistan wanted to do with India was done by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir in his press conference at the Pakistan Embassy.
One person was injured on Friday morning in an explosion in Malabagh locality in Srinagar.The police said the explosive device, hidden in a polythene bag, went off when a municipality sweeper was cleaning a road in the area."The sweeper, identified as Bashir Ahmad, was injured in the low-intensity blast and was shifted to the hospital for treatment," a senior police officer said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's surprise visits to check on various government departments have heads rolling with the suspension of an assistant sub inspector of a police station in the city.
Describing Mumbai attacker Ajmal Amir Iman Kasab's confession as "doctored", Pakistani authorities have reportedly said the evidence provided by India on the terror strikes is "insufficient" and no action can be taken based on it.
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