Accusing "elements" in Pakistan for the suicide attack on Indian mission in Kabul, India Monday made it clear that the recent spate of terror attacks and ceasefire violations triggered from across the border have put the peace process "under stress". In some tough-talking, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir that these concerns of New Delhi must be addressed.
Terming India a "leading voice" in the developing world, the UN today said both India and Pakistan should continue their composite dialogue process to maintain peace in the subcontinent but ruled out withdrawal of its observer mission in both countries.
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.
Pakistan on Tuesday said it wants 'all bilateral issues,' including Kashmir, to be discussed at the foreign secretary-level talks on Thursday and feels much progress would not be made if India restricts the dialogue to a 'narrow agenda' of terrorism.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that India has so far failed to respond to Islamabad's overtures on restarting the stalled composite dialogue process. Speaking in an interview to a TV channel, Qureshi reiterated that Islamabad wants New Delhi to respond and engage in a meaningful and constructive manner."I have always welcomed a meeting, but it has to be a meaningful meeting. It has to be a dialogue which is result oriented," he said.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon is likely to travel to Islamabad to hold talks with his counterpart to wind up the fourth round of Composite Dialogue. The two sides are working out exact dates for the talks between the Foreign Secretaries. Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Parliament that India was ready to restart dialogue with Pakistan and hoped that the new leadership there will work with New Delhi in putting the past behind for collective prosperity.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia, premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has sought early resumption of the stalled dialogue process between India and Pakistan to address long-standing issues like Kashmir.
Rediff.com takes a look at how the ice between the two estranged neighbours melted after months of diplomatic and political antagonism.
Pakistan on Tuesday asked India to start the composite dialogue process and delink it from the investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks, citing the Sharm-el-Sheikh agreement even as it assured that all leads provided to them were being seriously pursued.
The two sides agreed to continue dialogue to find a peaceful negotiated settlement of all bilateral issues including Jammu and Kashmir.
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.
The agreement on pre-notification of missile tests was signed by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan.
Pakistan on Wednesday said it had begun approaching global bodies like the United Nations over the 'deteriorating situation' in Jammu and Kashmir, ignoring India's warning that such statements amount to clear interference in its internal affairs and will undermine the composite dialogue process.Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said Islamabad is 'deeply concerned over the deteriorating situation in the Indian state that is resulting in loss of life in JK'
India will hand over 'some' evidence about ISI involvement in the bomb explosions and has made it clear that it would put Pakistan to the 'test' to determine how it cooperates in the fight against terrorism.
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.
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will call on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad on Wednesday and discuss various aspects of bilateral relations including taking forward the Composite Dialogue Process.Mukherjee, who is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad later today for discussions with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmoud Qureshi to take forward the CDP into the fifth round, would also meet Pakistani leaders Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari.
India is interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs through "information centers" it has set up in Afghanistan and promoting terrorism in Balochistan, caretaker Information Minister Nisar Memon has said.
As India and Pakistan agreed to resume talks at political level, Islamabad has said it is ready to discuss bilateral trade, including the grant of most favoured nation status to India
Whatever the prime minister might say in defence of his grand vision to seek peace with Pakistan, he cannot justify the oblique insinuation in the Joint Statement that India has a hand in what Pakistan calls 'threats in Balochistan'. This reference draws a parallel with Pakistan's prolonged proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, under the shadow of its nuclear umbrella, and cannot be justified even though "India has nothing to hide".
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.
Pakistan wants the early resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process with India and is committed to not allowing its soil to be used by terrorists against any country, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday.
Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf will visit India on Friday to participate in the India Today Conclave.
Indian Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Kamal Shah met to discuss issues of terrorism, afflicting both the countries, with New Delhi expected to dwell upon Islamabad for extradition of some of the most wanted fugitives like Dawood Ibrahim, wanted in 1993 Bombay blasts cases.
In his 45-minute I-Day address, the 71-year-old economist-turned-politician outlined the road map for a prosperous Bharat and spoke about the empowerment of people and ways to make government more transparent and officials accountable.
President Pervez Musharraf has welcomed resumption of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan, hoping it would lead to "some fruitful and substantial" conclusion. Musharraf, who has supervised several rounds of talks with India, was given a presentation by the foreign ministry during a meeting attended by Foreign Minister Qureshi, Foreign Secretary Bashir and other senior officials, on the eve of the two-day talks to be held.
Briefing leaders from PoK on its Kashmir policy ahead of crucial meetings with India to review the composite dialogue process, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi noted that the issue had remained "unresolved despite several attempts at bilateral and multilateral levels" over the last six decades. Pakistan "was ready to engage with India in a constructive dialogue to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties, in particular the people of Kashmir," he was quoted.
Advani, the leader of opposition in Parliament, said although he encouraged the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan, he believed that other issues, like information and commerce, should precede Kashmir.Although the Kashmir problem would take time to resolve, Advani was optimistic that a day would come when India and Pakistan would form a confederation to solve the issue.He stressed that cross-border terrorism is a serious bone of contention.
Pakistan's Daily Times quoted officials as saying that Dixit and Aziz could meet either in Kathmandu or Dubai or Amritsar on December 22-23 to discuss the pace and direction of the current peace process between the two countries.
Dismissing India's contention that ISI could be involved in the recent blasts in various cities, Pakistan on that such allegations could vitiate the atmosphere for the ongoing Composite Dialogue process. "Pakistan rejects the allegations leveled by the National Security Adviser of India, M K Narayanan, about the suspected involvement of ISI in Ludhiana, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid blasts," Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Sadiq said in Islamabad on Thursday.
Close on the heels of the US asking it to lend "absolute" cooperation to New Delhi over the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan proposed on Tuesday, the formation of a joint investigating mechanism with India to probe the deadly terror strikes that have sparked tension in bilateral ties.
The two foreign ministers differed over kashmir, but said the ceasefire on the LoC would continue.
Describing India as a 'mature democracy,' Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said there is no threat to Pakistan from it, even as he sought resumption of the composite dialogue process stalled since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Pakistan wants "excellent relations" with India even as the two countries work to address "core issues" like the Kashmir dispute, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
Pakistan has said it could focus on American demands to do more in the war on terror only if the US used its influence with India to lessen tensions and to press for resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process.
Aziz lamented the fact that south Asia lagged behind its neighbourhood.
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