In an apparent move to counter India's offensive over Pakistan's non implementation of SAFTA, Islamabad has charged New Delhi with not reducing tariffs on 350 items for itself and other nations falling under the Not Least Developed Countries.
Shaukat Aziz is a former banker who spent most of his professional life in the US before Musharraf, after seizing power in October 1999, handpicked him for the job of finance minister.
Sarabjit's sister Dalbir said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi assured her that he will raise the issue with the Pakistan government during his visit.
Let them act on these," he said, referring to New Delhi's demand that Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim be handed over and Lashker-e-Tayiba chief Hafiz Mohd Sayeed be arrested.
This will be Singh's first meeting with the Pakistan President.
The proposed South Asia Free Trade Agreement, which will come into effect according to the timetable set out at the SAARC summit in Islamabad, will greatly benefit the region, diplomats from the member countries said in Washington.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing that the meeting, however, does not indicate any change in India's policy towards Pakistan.
Vajpayee, however, said he was willing to discuss economic ties with Pakistan to his visit to Islamabad.
The issue gains importance in view of the recent attempt on the life of President Gen Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad.
"It is a good news and talks between two countries should start," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told Voice of America radio.
'India has asked Pakistan to take certain steps and talks are not possible unless Pakistan convinces India on that,' Sibal said.
Striking a conciliatory note amid rising tension in ties, Pakistan today said it does not want to live in "perpetual hostility" with India, noting time has come for the two neighbours to decide whether status quo should continue or a new beginning be made.
He will be visiting Pakistan to attend the SAARC Summit in January 2004.
'No prime minister of India is averse to normalise relations with Pakistan, if it is possible to do so without altering our fundamental position on Jammu and Kashmir,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The red corner notice was issued on the request of the CBI against seven accused in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on December 24, 1999 -- Yousuf Azhar, Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhter, Sayed Shakir and Abdul Rauf, they said.
In a significant turnaround, Pakistan has said it is ready to resume trade relations with India on bilateral level as well as under the SAARC umbrella as soon as dialogue between the two countries begins
India has maintained that there can be no talks with Pakistan unless it stops supporting terrorists.
PM Modi spoke to Pak PM Nawaz Sharif in an effort to revive suspended diplomatic dialogue.
Modi said Nepal must identify its needs and priorities to deliver results.
Black flags were also shown to the former MP as she came out of the airport.
Saeed said Pakistan government has added insult to the wounds of Kashmiris by welcoming Singh.
The external affairs minister said PM Modi had discussed with his Pakistani counterpart of re-engaging with each other."
'From the very start, PM Modi was insistent that visiting foreign leaders should be exposed to an India beyond its capital.' 'Through these experiences, he felt that the full Indian narrative would be much better understood across the world,' explains External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. A riveting excerpt from Bluekraft Digital Foundation's Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery.
A defiant Pakistan on Wednesday made it clear that it will continue talking to Kashmiri separatists despite India's protestation, saying that the "bottomline" for Indo-Pak talks on Kashmir issue was to engage all stakeholders and dialogue was not a favour by Pakistan to India or vice versa.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have secured a rare concession from Pakistan that 'terrorism' and not the issue of Kashmir be the central theme of the India-Pakistan dialogue.
Foreign Office spokesperson tweeted that India violated the ceasefire agreement in Tandar, Sabzkot, Khuiratta, Baron, Bagsar and Khanjar areas.
Pakistan on Monday summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a protest over alleged ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the border which authorities in Islamabad claim killed three civilians.
A day after a handshake with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday that talks with India should not be at the cost of his country's 'dignity, self-respect and reputation'.
Ramya, a former Congress MP, is facing a private complaint on sedition charge for her "pro-Pakistan" remarks recently.
This is the first time Chinese official media referred to Modi's remarks about PoK and Balochistan.
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