India shifted gears in rejuvenating strategic ties with its major partners like the US and Russia and focused on drumming up global support for its distinct strategy in the Indo-Pacific to check Beijing's increasing muscle-flexing in the region.
The unusual gift for a visiting foreign dignitary was presented to Mohammad during his first official visit to Islamabad.
The mandates which Pakistan has failed include action against all United Nations-designated terrorists like Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Azhar, Lashker-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and the outfit's operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
'If the Chinese are bringing Pakistan more 'behind the curtain,' in terms of intelligence and military cooperation, it will be tailored to their common interests like confronting India over territorial disputes'
Pakistan's Opposition leaders have ridiculed Khan's allegation, and the US has dismissed it.
"The letter stated that the no-confidence motion was being tabled even before it was filed, which means the Opposition was in contact with them," Khan alleged in his address to the nation.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Sharif, 70, and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice-chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday filed their nomination papers for the post.
Lakhvi, who was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case, was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department.
According to Times Now Navbharat channel, it has 'accessed undeniable visual evidence' that confirms Pakistan's 'deep state is still providing a safe haven to terror masterminds' including Masood Azhar, who heads Jaish-e- Mohammed terror group.
Pakistan will remain on the 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) until it further demonstrates that action is being taken against Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar who are listed as global terrorists by the United Nations, the global anti-money laundering and terror financing watchdog said on Thursday.
Former Pakistan captain and fast bowling great, Wasim Akram slammed the formation of an inquiry committee by the cricket board to probe into the team's poor show in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. "I don't understand the purpose of announcing a probe committee when the national team is due to leave for India for the World T20," Akram told a news conference on Saturday. Akram, who was Director of the Islamabad United franchise which recently won the Pakistan Super League in Dubai, said that it was lamentable that instead of supporting the team the players were being put under pressure. "I don't agree with this thinking. This decision of the Pakistan Cricket Board to evaluate the team's performance in the Asia Cup at this time," he added. "It does not make sense as the World T20 is just a few days away."
Jaishankar was among the first ministers to arrive for the SAARC ministerial meeting. He was in the meeting for over 45 minutes and then left.
In return for Pak's gesture, the US has authorised the reinstatement of a military training and educational programme which had remained suspended for 2 yrs. Pak blamed Iran's Maj Gen Soleimani for Baloch militant attacks against its forces.
Khan, who faced his toughest political test since assuming office in 2018 due to defections in his party and cracks in the ruling coalition, in a surprise announcement during an address to the nation on Sunday said he had advised the president to 'dissolve assemblies'.
Keen to settle the India-Pakistan dispute 'once and for all,' HD Deve Gowda spoke to his then counterpart Nawaz Sharif over the phone and the two hit it off quite well but his government fell before they could meet, says a recent biography of the former Indian prime minister.
Pakistan will not engage with India 'until and unless they lift the siege' in Kashmir, it said.
'When the issue of terrorism came up, the Vice President suo moto referred Pakistan's role in that regard (of terrorism),' Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters when asked if the issue of Pakistan's role in terrorism came up during her meeting with Modi.
Pakistan, however, has categorically dismissed as 'utter fabrication' the report published in the newspaper.
While in power, Khan repeatedly talked about making Pakistan an Islamic welfare state. However, he failed to fix the economy and the basic problem of keeping the prices of commodities in control.
Speaking in parliament during the budget session, Khan said the American forces entered Pakistan and killed Laden without informing Islamabad after which everyone started abusing his country.
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen appeared to have brought the curtain down on his cricket playing career on Saturday, announcing his decision to step away from the game in a series of messages on social media.
Team Taiwan won't be at Winter Games opening ceremony
Mohammad Irfan expects to avoid a backlash from Pakistan fans after the serving a six-month ban for failing to disclose approaches made by bookmakers during a domestic Twenty20 tournament and is happy for the chance to resume his career.
FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that "Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Department on today's phone call between Prime Minister Khan and Secretary Pompeo".
Dawood Ibrahim is wanted in India to face the law of the land for carrying out serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which scores of people were killed and injured.
According to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report of August 2019, a longstanding goal of US policy in South Asia has been to prevent the India-Pakistan conflict from escalating to interstate war.
The anti-terror watchdog has decided to give respite of four months to Pakistan to help her implement remaining recommendations of the task force.
"We want to work closely (with) Pakistan to create a more stable and secure Pakistan as well," he said.
The UN General Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution which calls for counter-terrorism measures, including the use of remotely-piloted aircraft or drones, to comply with international law.
Khan said shadows of war were still hovering over Pakistan and India
There is growing acceptance of the idea in the international community that engaging the Taliban government is a far better approach than ostracising it, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sharif, 70, has been in London since November last year after the Lahore High Court granted him permission to go abroad for four weeks for treatment.
Pakistan's close ties with China and its lack of democracy and disregard for human rights will not be overlooked, said Haqqani, who currently is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute think-tank in Washington.
'What they want to do is their call. We've seen them mainstream terrorism in the past. And what you're now telling me is they may want to mainstream hate speech. It's their call, if they want to do that. Poison pens don't work for too long'
'The more emphatic denial of any proposal for an OIC foreign ministers meet in Islamabad appears aimed at keeping Pakistan on a leash,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Pakistan was "drowning" in debt and it was the new government's job to "sail this ship ashore," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday retained Pakistan on its 'grey list' for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing, and asked Islamabad to investigate and prosecute senior leaders and commanders of United Nations-designated terror groups, including Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday approved the national cricket team's tour of England from the end of this month. The clearance from Imran, also a former Pakistan captain, came when Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ehsan Mani met him in Islamabad and updated him on the cricket matters.
In his pre-recorded video statement to the General Debate at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on Friday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan made references to India's internal affairs, including Jammu and Kashmir. The First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, Mijito Vinito, walked out of the general assembly hall when Khan started his usual diatribe about India.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday, "recalled France's constant position on Kashmir", which being that "it is up to the two countries (Indian and Pakistan), under the framework of their bilateral political dialogue, to resolve this dispute so as to establish lasting peace."
