Shehbaz, the 70-year-old younger brother of former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has served as chief minister of the country's most populous and politically crucial Punjab province thrice.
India is observing the sixteenth anniversary of the Kargil War this week.
Pervez Musharraf is contemplating a political front with jihadi groups to contest Pakistan's next election. Should the jihadi groups win a few seats, terrorist outfits will gain legitimacy in Pakistan, warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'He has a splendid opportunity to capitalise on the CPEC and turn the economy around decisively, putting Pakistan firmly on a higher growth trajectory.' 'Indeed, under the Imran-Bajwa dispensation, there has been a noticeable whittling down of support to militant groups,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007 outside the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi.
'Elements like the LeT may see the fight against the coronavirus as an opportunity of a lifetime,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'On the Kashmir and Pakistan question, it is startling that Vajpayee and Advani did more than anybody in Indian history.'
Lt Gen Zubair Hayat appointed as Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff Committee.
Pakistan's new Army Chief has begun setting the stage to act against groups like LeT and JeM
AQ Khan, a controversial scientist known as the father of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear programme, passed away here on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 85.
The Pakistani military may shortly give Imran Khan the boot, substituting him with another puppet, predicts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
General Asad Durrani's disclosures could leave considerable egg on the face of those currently wielding the stick in Pakistan, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Under Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan army not only suffered a humiliating military defeat in Kargil, but also sunk to an abysmal depth in the eyes of military professionals all over the world, says Gurmeet Kanwal.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Modi's hardline policy towards Pakistan and J&K has created numerous leverages and bargaining positions that New Delhi can bring to the bargaining table and translate into concessions, argues Ajai Shukla.
Former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf's close aide Rashid Qureshi has described the United Nations commission's enquiry report on former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination as a 'pack of lies'.Qureshi said the probe report, which blamed the then Musharraf government of 'deliberately' failing to probe the December 2007 gun and bomb attack on Bhutto, was based on rumours and that Musharraf cannot be blamed for the attack.
'They have succeeded in killing Benazir. They will now step up their efforts to eliminate Musharraf. Whoever was responsible for killing her could not have done it without inside complicity.'
'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.
Amid claims that a group of four generals led by the then army chief Pervez Musharraf masterminded the Kargil operation, Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, which was the ruling party at that time, on Thursday demanded a judicial inquiry into the 1999 conflict with India.
'He will be constrained if and when he tries to set the foreign policy agenda that is not to the liking of the army.'
'It is not difficult for a Pakistan army chief assisted by the deep state to manipulate a situation.' 'Pulwama, Uri and Pathankot, all come to mind,' cautions Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The modern world will not accommodate bigotry of the sort India is showing the world today, argues Aakar Patel.
'Although India has a lot more to offer in terms of tourism other than the Taj, yet there is nothing compared to the Taj Mahal.'
In an interview to a private television channel, Musharraf claimed that he had shared all details with Sharif regarding the Kargil conflict.
Former ISI chief Hamid Gul said Musharraf has not stated in his memoirs that Washington was behind his military coup.
The Taliban is showing its strong discontent as the high hopes given to it by the Pakistani military have been dashed, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sharif also urged other parties to boycott the elections.In the event of a collective response, the credibility of the January 8 elections could be seriously called into question. Sharif said that after three days of mourning, he would chalk out a strategy to challenge Musharraf's rule but he rebutted suggestions that he could gain political mileage from her demise.
Pakistani authorities executed two men convicted for attacks on the army headquarters and former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Friday night, days after Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death penalty.
Seven terror convicts were hanged on Tuesday in jails across Pakistan, including a junior technician at Pakistan Air Force who was involved in the attack on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf asserted May 11 that former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif would not be allowed to return from exile.
Saudi Arabia is pressing Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return home before the upcoming general elections, media reports said.
'The political direction that Pakistan and provinces bordering Afghanistan are taking is becoming clear. It is only a question of time before the little support that America has in locating Al Qaeda in the NWFP significantly dries up.'
Amid deepening political crisis, embattled Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was on Thursday huddled with his key aides in cobbling up a caretaker government ahead of the general election as police and anti- emergency demonstrators traded fire in Karachi leaving two children dead.
Dubbing his political detractors as "cowards," Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said that the greatest threat his country is facing today is "failure" of governance than India or Taliban.
Ananya Agarwal, who led the Indian delegation to the UNESCO General Conference being held in Paris, told the panel that Pak is home to all shades of darkness; from extremist ideologies and darker powers of radicalisation to the darkest manifestations of terrorism.
'Under National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval and now Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, India began to actively work on Pakistani internal faultlines with a possibility of the break-up of Pakistan as the only solution,' observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Commonwealth while readmitting Pakistan welcomed the country's progress on democratic reform since Musharraf's coup in 1999.
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