Beleaguered Pakistan government appears to be in no mood to tone down in the battle of attrition when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appears before the Supreme Court on Thursday in compliance with its direction. Gilani, who is already involved in a tussle with the powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is unlikely to offer apology to the court which has issued a contempt notice for failing to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, sources said.
The Pakistan Army on Wednesday changed the commander of a Rawalpindi-based unit that has traditionally played a vital role in military coups as army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani gathered his key aides to assess an escalation in tensions with the civilian government.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Saturday night to discuss the fallout of the coordinated terrorist strikes in Mumbai amid India's accusations about possible Pakistani links to the attacks. This was the second meeting on Satruday of the three top leaders
A US-based businessman has claimed that he has "crystal clear" evidence to back his claim that he acted as an intermediary between President Asif Ali Zardari and the US administration to avert a military coup in wake of the unilateral US raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Pakistan on Saturday launched its biggest ever Army exercise invloving 50,000 soldiers to train them to prepare for the threat of a conventional war with India in the Cholistan desert along the country's eastern border.
The Pakistan Army on Monday issued orders to recall nearly 300 officers deployed with various departments of the government and security agencies.
Sharif, who has urged the masses to defy a government clampdown and join a nationwide protest, said the "chances of army takeover is absolutely nil".
In the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, the Pakistan Army chief has informed the country's leadership that if tensions with India mount further, the military will have to move troops from its restive tribal areas to the eastern borders, ending the war against local militants.
A week after the covert United States raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, President Asif Ali Zardari sought to reach out to the Obama administration to ask it to stop army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani from staging a coup, a Pakistan-American businessman has said.
'The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment.'
Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today visited the LoC to assess the security situation in the wake of violations of a ceasefire in the region over the past few weeks.
Gen Sharif had earlier promised to bow out at the end of his term in November this year.
Lt Gen Haroon Aslam of the Pakistan Army on Thursday resigned a day after he was superseded by his two juniors who were made the new army chief and the chairman joint chief of staff committee.
Violations from the Pakistani side along the Line of Control have become a common recurrence, and according to sources in the Intelligence Bureau, some peace can be expected only after Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani retires next month.
General Qamar Bajwa, his colleagues say, is a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism. He may prove even more forceful in the fight against terrorism than his predecessor, who is credited with launching Operation Zarb-i-Azb, which helped lower the frequency of terrorist attacks.
Al-Qaeda chief's daughters released for ex-Pakistan Army chief's son, claimed a media report.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on formally charged Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Asif Yasin Malik for contempt of court after he failed to deliver on an undertaking for holding local body polls in cantonments across the country.
Eleven people died in sectarian violence in Pakistan's largest city today, taking the overall death toll in two days to 18 as unrest spiralled out of control on the eve of the Islamic holy month of Muharram.
"We want good ties with all neighbours including India and Afghanistan," he told the Senators.
With its new army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa set to take charge, Pakistan has asserted that focus will remain on country's eastern border with India, even as the US nudged Islamabad to keep the pledge of not allowing use of its soil for terror attacks against neighbours.
Will Gen Kayani's increasingly conservative soldiers fight the Waziri militants, who have long been lauded as a sword arm of Pakistan, asks Ajai Shukla.
According to sources, this decision was taken during a high-level informal meeting held at the Presidency, which was chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari and attended by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, ISI DG Lt. Gen Zaheerul Islam, foreign secretary and Pakistan's ambassador to US Sherry Rehman, reports The Nation.
United States special envoy Marc Grossman on Thursday met Pakistan's top civil and military leadership as part of efforts to salvage bilateral relations following the covert American operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden.
Raking up the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said it is the "main source of tension" in Indo-Pak relations and sought its peaceful resolution to explore new ways to bolster bilateral ties.
"It is interesting that the US claims to want a democratic Pakistan, but whenever there's a congressional delegation that goes to Pakistan, they don't meet their counterparts in the National Assembly. They all want to meet General Kayani and General Pasha, because they understand that's where the power lies," said Christina Fair of the Georgetown University.
The verdict was announced after the government submitted a 'new summary' to extend the service of 59-year-old Gen Bajwa.
Reacting to the embarrassing development, Khan chaired an emergency Cabinet meeting and took back the notification to extend services of General Bajwa.
Through its early days to the 1980s, Pakistan sought to expand its sphere of Islamic influence through Afghanistan to Central Asia and got Pakistani citizens recruited in the Afghan government institutions in the 1990s when the Taliban were power. Now, it is looking eastward through India to Bangladesh and Myanmar to establish an imaginary caliphate.
The recent postings and promotions of three-star generals in the Pakistan Army have propelled some of former chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's favourites to traditionally important positions
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Pakistan's powerful Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif has described Kashmir as the "jugular vein" of his country, saying the issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiris and in line with UNSC resolutions for lasting peace in the region.
Fortunately, there was no cold exposure-related frost bite or bony injuries to him, a medical bulletin issued by the hospital said.
Pundits in Pakistan and also some western diplomats are predicting that the next army chief will be forced, partly by institutional pressure and partly by circumstances, to indulge in some tough talking with the civilian leadership. How the civil-military equation settles in this sort of a situation is something that will determine the future of Pakistani politics, and also Pakistan's relations with rest of the world, says Sushant Sareen.
'Already, there is talk of a possible extension for Raheel Sharif in the context of his perceived sterling, but incomplete work in the war against terror, as also the cleansing of crime and extortion networks in Karachi,' says Rana Banerji.
The relations between Pakistan and the US nosedived this January after US President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists.
Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz brings to New Delhi a newfound Pakistani confidence, stemming from its leverage in Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
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