Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has criticised India for refusing to restart the stalled composite dialogue, and has urged the international community to step in and resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir.
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.
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.
Rediff.com takes a look at how the ice between the two estranged neighbours melted after months of diplomatic and political antagonism.
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.
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.
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.
Pakistan on Friday said it would welcome a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has expressed hope of making a trip to the neighbouring country in the next four months, even as it sought the resumption of the composite dialogue.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday issued a joint statement after the completion of their dialogue, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned summit, at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.Gilani described the talks, the second top-level meeting between India and Pakistan since the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year, as 'free and frank'. Terrorism is a threat to both countries, said the joint statement.
He will also review the third round of the Composite Dialogue process, Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a media briefing.
Rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for suspending talks with Pakistan, Congress said it is in favour of a composite dialogue as having any "hostile" attitude is not a solution.
The two sides agreed to continue dialogue to find a peaceful negotiated settlement of all bilateral issues including Jammu and Kashmir.
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 should resume composite dialogue with Pakistan to resolve all outstanding issues- including the Kashmir dispute- peacefully and expeditiously, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said.
It had said the proposal has to wait till the two countries begin a composite dialogue to settle differences on Jammu and Kashmir and other issues.
The best they say about him is that he is a man who attends to details and carries out instructions from the Security Council and the General Assembly, 'a carpenter rather than an architect.'
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.
Senior diplomatic observers and administration sources have told rediff.com that in the weeks following the formation of the new Indian government, the Obama administration will press for India to resurrect the composite dialogue with Pakistan that lie comatose after the Mumbai terror attacks.
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
Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik today met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and discussed the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on the sidelines of the SAARC ministerial meeting in Colombo this week.
Pakistan on Wednesday voiced concern over External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's remarks -- that next week's Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks should not be 'mistaken' for resumption of composite dialogue -- saying "the outcome of the meeting should not be prejudged nor its scope circumscribed". "We have noted with concern remarks attributed by the media to India's External Affairs Minister on the forthcoming meeting of the Foreign Secretaries," Pak said.
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.
Of the many unresolved issues between the two neighbours, what do you think are the five points that India should bring to Pakistan's immediate attention?
"It is very bad. It should be dismantled," Home Minister P Chidambaram said when asked about his assessment of the terror infrastructure in Pakistan.
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 Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that a solution to the Kashmir dispute is critical for better ties between Pakistan and India. He also emphasised that there was a dire need to resolve the issue in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiris. Qureshi further said that the Pakistan government had invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resume the composite dialogue, which was necessary for ensuring peace in the region.
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'
Pakistan's "all or nothing" approach was the cause for the stalemate in the ministerial talks in Islamabad.
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".
Maleeha Lodhi, the former Pakistani Ambassador to the US, has said that both Pakistani government and its people are disappointed that even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Congress party returned to power with an enhanced mandate, India has refused to resume the composite dialogue with Pakistan, and instead continues to focus on the terrorism issue.
Pakistan on Thursday said it will approach upcoming bilateral meetings with India, including one between the two prime ministers, with an 'open mind', in the hope for resumption of the composite dialogue, which have been stalled after the 26/11 attacks. The foreign secretaries will hold talks before a planned meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
The agreement on pre-notification of missile tests was signed by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan.
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.
Ahead of a possible meeting between their prime ministers in Thimphu, Pakistan on Tuesday said it wanted the resumption of composite dialogue with India at the political level, as the outcome of parleys between the foreign secretaries had been 'disappointing'."I don't think a forward movement can take place at the foreign-secretary level," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, adding, "If you want real progress, it will have to come from the political leaders"
In the era of globalization, trade and business are not only about money and profit. They also bring another kind of profit a stronger stake in peaceful, stable and cooperative relations between two countries.
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.
Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf will visit India on Friday to participate in the India Today Conclave.
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