External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will reach Islamabad on Friday to hold a comprehensive dialogue with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar. The civilian governments in both India and Pakistan are currently on a weak footing. In Pakistan, the turf war is on between the Judiciary and the Executive while in India, the ruling coalition is facing a severe bout of credibility crisis with scams coming to the forefront everyday.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is facing a challenge from within her party, with Pakistan People's Party leader and parliamentarian Jamshed Dasti saying he will contest the next general election from her constituency in Punjab.
The Pakistan government is finalising agreements with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation over the reopening of supply routes to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has told a key parliamentary panel.
Ashraf, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik, said he would raise the issue of cross-border attacks from Afghanistan on Pakistan with the Afghan leadership
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on Sunday during which he strongly raised the issue of anti-India activities being carried out from the Pakistani soil, maintaining that New Delhi has given additional concrete evidence of the same.
Pakistan has agreed to reopen vital supply routes into Afghanistan blocked since a deadly cross border North Atlantic Treaty Organisation attack in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday, as she apologised for the loss of Pakistani military lives.
Nearly six months after Pakistan shut North Atlantic Treaty Organisation supply lines to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said she personally believes that the routes should be reopened. Khar made the remarks while speaking to reporters, who accompanied Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on an official visit to Britain, The Express Tribune said on Monday.
The Pakistani government has no information about the presence of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in the country, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Monday, hours after United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington believes he is somewhere in Pakistan.
India and Pakistan are back on the dialogue table to sort out issues between the two nations, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has declared, saying that Islamabad cannot afford to be selective in improving ties with its neighbours.
Pakistan has said it would not hinder the proposed United States-driven initiative to open peace talks with Taliban in Qatar, refuting reports that it had blocked some key Taliban figures from flying to Doha to participate in the process.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has warned that Islamabad will not tolerate any further unilateral action by the United States, like the raid that killed former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in his Abbotabad hideout.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday held a meeting with the country's army and intelligence chiefs to discuss the regional security situation and the reconciliation process in Afghanistan, reflecting the easing of tensions between the civilian and the military leadership.
In the face of a call from Leader of Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for a "befitting" response to "propaganda from the Indian government" over the ceasefire violations, Khar reiterated her government's "commitment not to escalate the situation."
The government has reportedly taken note of Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's offer of talks at the foreign minister-level to take steps to tone down the belligerence from both sides with regard to the recent violations of the November 2003 ceasefire violations.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who had earlier accused India of engaging in war-mongering, has offered to hold "discussion and dialogue" with her Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid to resolve the crisis at the Line of Control.
New Delhi and Islamabad have, in the recent past, taken many positive steps to make bilateral relations cordial. For instance, the two countries have firmed up a draft bilateral visa agreement that will ease travel between the two countries.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday said Islamabad is not backtracking on its decision to normalise bilateral trade with New Delhi.
Against the backdrop of Pakistan's flip-flop on the issue of granting the most favoured nation status to India, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Friday held consultations with the top civil and military officials in Islamabad on the dialogue process with New Delhi.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed has criticised Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar for promising to take action against him if India provides evidence, saying the government had been unable to resolve outstanding issues like the Kashmir issue.
He was the mastermind of the deadly 26/11 terror strike and the United States administration has already declared a bounty of $10 million for him.But the Pakistan government has, time and again, expressed its reluctance to prosecute Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed.
The United States has the right to target the Haqqani network that not only kills American troops in Afghanistan, but also sponsors Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, said Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
India and Pakistan are engaged in a "substantive dialogue process" that Islamabad hopes will be "uninterrupted and uninterruptable" as it looks forward to resolve all outstanding issues like the Kashmir dispute, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Tuesday.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told her Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar to take strong action against terrorist groups particularly Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Haqqani network, which is blamed for last week's deadly attack on American embassy in Kabul.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's husband Feroz Gulzar has rubbished rumours about differences in their relationship as a campaign to malign his wife.
Amid an uproar in Pakistan's political circles over a visit by a United Nation's Working Group on enforced disappearances, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Thursday said the panel is not mandated to conduct any investigation or fact finding work.
Carrying forward their engagement process, India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced new Confidence Building Measures, notwithstanding the unhappiness in New Delhi about Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders.
Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, who is travelling with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on his visit to Islamabad, reports that both India and Pakistan are cautious about keeping the peace process moving forward.
India and Pakistan on Saturday agreed to adopt a forward-looking approach in normalising their ties, while recognising the need to "expeditiously" bring perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack to justice. Both External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar emphasised the need for the two countries to set the sight on the future and not be held "hostage" by the past.
For India and Pakistan, the divergence on traditional issues remains, but there is a search for new areas of convergence, believes B Raman
Pakistan is keen to sign a new visa agreement during External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's visit to Islamabad during September 7-9 for talks with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, official sources said on Friday.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will visit Pakistan for three days from September 7 to review the last round of the bilateral dialogue process with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar, the Foreign Office announced on Friday. Krishna will be visiting Pakistan for "holding a review meeting with the Foreign Minister at her invitation," the Foreign Office said in a brief statement.
There has neither been an agreement between Pakistan and the United States for a military offensive in North Waziristan, nor has any final decision been taken on the operation, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has said.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will undertake a three-day visit to Pakistan from September 7 to review the second round of the composite dialogue with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar, reports Amir Mir.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had discussed with her Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar the "language" of her statement apologising for the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a cross-border NATO air raid while she was working on its draft during the last several weeks.
Pakistan's new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf retained most key members of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani's cabinet in the same positions as he allocated portfolios among his council of ministers.
Pakistan has refused to budge from its position seeking a United States apology for a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air strike that killed 24 of its soldiers last year, saying this is necessaryfor ending a six-month blockade of vital supply routes for foreign troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has ruled out unilateral withdrawal of its troops from Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, and sought greater trust with India. The troop withdrawal should happen when both countries trust each other, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said while speaking at her alma mater, the Lahore University of Management and Sciences.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday chaired a meeting of Pakistan's top civil and military leadership ahead of the resumption of a trilateral initiative with Afghanistan and the US to boost the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.
Pakistani media analysts and politicians have called for a review of the deployment of forces at Siachen, where soldiers from the two countries have been engaged in standoff since 1984.
Days after Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar contradicted President Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting with a visiting United States diplomat, speculation is rife that her portfolio may be changed.