Tired of the alleged "double game" being played by Islamabad, American lawmakers have announced to hold a Congressional hearing next week to discuss whether Pakistan is a "friend or foe" of the US in the war on terror.
The United States and Pakistan are heading towards a confrontation as the Obama administration is preparing to pursue Islamabad to halt the production of nuclear bomb materials by forcing it to sign the Fissile Material Cut off Treaty, a media report said on Friday.
The matter was expected to be discussed in the Security Council Consultations Room under "other matters" during closed consultations Tuesday afternoon.
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.
Pakistani Americans, in a move to counter Indo-American groups active in lobbying in the United States, have urged the Obama administration and US lawmakers against listening to India.Accusing Indian American groups of lobbying with Washington to put pressure on Islamabad in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack, the Pakistani-American groups are telling the US that Islamabad has been a reliable ally in its war against terror.
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who held talks with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon soon after his arrival from Islamabad, stressed the need for tracking down individuals and organisations behind the Mumbai attacks by following leads 'as far as they go'. The US official, who has told the Pakistani leadership to take the probe into Mumbai attacks to its logical conclusion, briefed Menon on his discussions in Islamabad.
Maintaining that the Mumbai attackers had links that lead to Pakistani soil, the United States has asked Islamabad to pursue leads provided by New Delhi and track down the perpetrators of the deadly terror strikes. It was clear that the attackers had links that lead to Pakistani soil, visiting Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said on Monday.
In a bid to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan, United States on Monday rushed its top Army official to Islamabad, to hold discussions with the country's political leadership. US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Islamabad today on an unscheduled visit, second after the November 26 terror strikes in Mumbai that killed more than 180 people. Mullen met Pakistani national security advisor Mehmood Ali Durrani shortly after his arrival.
The Biden administration expects the Modi government to continue to remain as its loyal camp follower even as Washington continues to act in self-interests, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Addressing media persons along with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India was determined to act decisively to protect its territorial integrity.
Pak also suspended all bilateral visits as a mark of protest.
"We believe that US' long-term interests are best served by supporting Pakistan's efforts to combat violent extremism and build a more stable, tolerant, democratic society," a State Department spokesperson while responding to reports that the Pakistan Army attacked suspected militant hideouts close to the Af-Pak border.
'We could quibble with each other whether there were 25 terrorists killed or 250 killed.' 'The message is more that India undertook such an aerial attack and this attack has actually changed the paradigm.' 'The change in paradigm is that India has shown by the surgical strike in 2016 and the aerial strike of 2019 that we will not just sit back and tolerate terrorism which killed so many of our people.' 'We will hit back and by hitting back we will raise the costs of such activities.'
Imran called on Modi not to talk about stopping water and surgical strikes, saying Pakistan is united and standing behind its army against any aggression.
The Trump administration announced this major reward on the 10th anniversary of the terror attack in which 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists went on a shooting rampage in India's financial hub killing 166 people, including six Americans.
The attempt failed as other member countries felt Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
Malala was dressed in Pakistani salwar kameez and dupatta. She was smiling and looked happy as he was greeted at the airport.
"I have to admit, I have not been briefed on those comments. What I can say in general is that we have encouraged India and Pakistan to look for ways to resolve peacefully their deeply-held differences on a range of issues," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
Pak seeks US help to ease tensions with India.
The Taliban knows that Washington holds the key, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In a tough message to Pakistan, the United States has said that it is not satisfied with what Islamabad has done so far to eradicate terrorism from its soil after the Mumbai attack, which was not an ordinary event which can be "swept under the carpet." The message was conveyed by top American officials to Pakistani National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was summoned to Washington as the US government was "getting increasingly frustrated."
Influential American Senator John Kerry has said that United States will monitor Pakistan's firmness in the crackdown on radical Islamic groups and asked Islamabad to do more to restore its credibility with India. There are a lot of 'unfulfilled promises' that were made by Pakistan in the aftermath of the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001 and Islamabad needs to do more to keep its words, Kerry said.
"It would be wonderful if they (India and Pakistan) get along," Trump said.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in major diplomatic mode, trying to save the US-Pakistan relationship; White House adopts same tack; meanwhile, the pro-Pakistan lobby is on an overdrive. Aziz Haniffa reports.
The latest request from Washington had suggested that the official who would be permanently posted in the US embassy in Islamabad to deal with nuclear issues should have direct access to the National Command Authority Secretariat, The News reported on Monday.
'Pakistan will try to escalate covert operations through terrorism,' says Dr Shalini Chawla.
Pakistan has formally communicated to the United Nations its protest and condemnation of the air-strike by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation that killed 24 soldiers and has strained ties between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Hussain Haroon has written a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, informing him of the NATO attack of November 26 "on Pakistan's border posts (that) resulted in the martyrdom of 24 officers".
"The FATF plenary decided continuation of Pakistan in 'Grey List' till its next meeting to be held in October," an official privy to the development told PTI.
Amir Mir unravels the complicated web of spy games and covert manoeuvring that United States and Pakistan are playing against each other
The United States has turned down or deferred Pakistan's request for over $81 million in military aid following reports that Islamabad used much of the amount to pay for heavy equipment suited for a regional conflict with India, according to a media report. There was also criticism that Islamabad has squandered the US funding and allowed Al Qaeda to rebuild a haven in its tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
'We're paying them nothing because that's what they've done to help us. Nothing'
His remarks came in response to the India-US joint statement issued after the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
Pakistan must take certain steps which the United States administration has often "outlined" to ensure the delivery of American military assistance to Islamabad, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. "The government of Pakistan must take certain steps, and we have outlined those steps on more than one occasion, to ensure that we can deliver all the military assistance that the United States has discussed with Pakistan," Clinton told reporters.
'If push comes to shove, Pakistan does have the capability to make it difficult for the US and NATO forces to make even a withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan in orderly fashion,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'New Delhi showed itself willing -- at least for a period -- to tolerate the risk of conflict and to withstand Beijing's implicit and explicit threats.' 'But it also continued to try to cut some kind of deal with China to reduce tensions.'
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats' remarks came days after a group of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists struck the Sunjuwan Military Camp in Jammu on Saturday, killing seven people including six soldiers.
'Their deteriorating economic and international situation is also responsible for being more reasonable.'
"Are they ready to review their decisions? If they do, we can also review our decisions. Review will be on both sides," Qureshi said.
Even as Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asserted that he is ready to re-engage with India in a substantive and purposeful dialogue, he did not lose the opportunity to rake up Islamabad's oft-stated stand on plight of Kashmiris across the border. Suman Guha Mozumder reports
Admitting a "credibility gap" between Islamabad and Washington, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has not ruled out closing Pakistan's airspace to United States and said the blockade of the United States supply lines into Afghanistan would stay in place for weeks.
