'but the terrorism issue should be fair, square at the centre of the conversation. It is the major issue ... I am not saying there are no other issues. But I am not going to duck that issue for the sake of talking'
As Pakistan celebrated its Independence Day on Thursday, the fear of violence loomed large with the capital turned into a fortress ahead of two massive anti-government rallies, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and fresh elections.
Taking a tough stance, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that Pakistan had been given enough evidence regarding the Mumbai terror attacks and 'Islamabad must act'."We can deal only with the government of the day. Therefore, all arguments which are coming from the other side (Pakistan) are not really convincing," Mukherjee said.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman has claimed that 9,000 agents of US-based private security firm Blackwater are operational in Islamabad. The Daily Times quoted Fazl as saying that Blackwater is responsible for carrying out Taliban-like terrorist activities in Pakistan.
India has shared lists of 337 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen in its custody, who are Pakistanis or are believed to be Pakistanis.
Asif Ali Zardari was overwhelmingly elected as the 14th President of Pakistan on Saturday, becoming the only civilian President of the coup-prone country for a second time.
The Pakistan Army chief arrived in Washington last week on his first official visit to the US.
The freezing cold made the conditions challenging for the players.
A total of 33 members of the Pakistan contingent, including players, three travelling reserves and team officials, are awaiting their visas.
For India, it is a symbol of will and a successful feat of arms.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss the progress in the composite dialogue process as well as to set the course of the peace maneuvers.
A Pakistani passenger plane with 127 people on board crashed due bad weather near the Chaklala airbase in Rawalpindi on Friday evening, Pakistani defence sources have said at least 118 passengers have been killed in the crash.
Wasim Qadir, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidate who defeated PML-N's stalwart Sheikh Rohail Asghar from Lahore's National Assembly-121 constituency, joined the PML-N after a meeting with Maryam Nawaz, daughter of the party supremo Nawaz Sharif, at her residence.
"Such attacks are a grim reminder of the challenges we face from destructive forces, which have pitted themselves against the values of democracy and pluralism and the voices of moderation," Dr Singh said in a letter to his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Ratcheting up pressure on the Pakistan government, thousands of lawyers demanding reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during last year's emergency, led a protest to a heavily fortified Islamabad on Friday where authorities sounded a high alert amid fears of violence.The protesters, who have accused the new government of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of wavering on its election promise of restoring the judiciary, have threatened to continue.
The Islamabad police on Friday claimed to have foiled a possible terrorist attack by arresting two men with suicide jackets, grenades and pistols. The two suspected terrorists were arrested on the outskirts of Islamabad at 9.15 pm on Thursday night while they were trying to sneak into the city on motorcycles to hit their targets, police said.Another terrorist managed to escape with explosives. A contingent of police and paramilitary troops cordoned off the area.
Imran's security personnel held up bulletproof shields to protect the former premier from a possible assassin.
She will return to Pakistan after meeting her children in India, Anju's Pakistani husband said.
The Indian position has never been correctly articulated by successive governments, says security expert Ajay Sahni.
The Lahore police closed the main road leading to the Zaman Park residence of Khan by placing containers. Riot police and water cannons are currently present near Khan's residence.
In an email to the ITF on Monday, AITA chief Hironmoy Chatterjee said India had full confidence the ITF and Pakistan Tennis Federation would organise an "excellent" Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie but said more security checks might be in order.
Strategic analyst B Raman's take on the latest developments in Islamabad that have further cornered the Pakistani government.
Indian Davis Cup team capped its historic visit to Pakistan after 60 years by sealing its place in World Group I as it blanked Pakistan 4-0 with Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni recording a comfortable victory and Niki Poonacha making a winning debut, in Islamabad on Sunday.
India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution introduced by Pakistan and co-sponsored by China on Islamophobia, asserting that the prevalence of 'religiophobia' against Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and other faiths facing violence and discrimination must also be acknowledged rather than singling out just one religion.
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, who was arrested by paramilitary Rangers on Tuesday, is facing 121 cases across the country, including for committing treason and blasphemy and inciting violence and terrorism.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Pakistan on a day-long visit to mend frayed ties with Pakistan and to seek the release of high-profile Taliban prisoners, including Mullah Barader, to give a fresh impetus to the reconciliation process in his war-torn country.
'We want to give our undivided attention and energy to the success of SAARC,' he said.
Saeed accused Rajnath Singh of being "responsible for the killings of innocent Kashmiris".
ICC rejected Khawaja's application to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
Zeeshan Ali will take over as India's non-playing captain, exactly 60 years after his father Akhtar Ali had played a key role in the country's Davis Cup victory in Pakistan in 1964.
With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is tipped to emerge as the single largest party in the elections.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is 'very hopeful' that the seven SAARC nations would be able to clear all roadblocks on the way to signing of Saarc Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) at the Islamabad summit.
There was no progress in the formation of a new coalition government in Pakistan on Tuesday as top leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) failed to agree on a power-sharing deal in their latest round of talks, indicating deepening fissures in the country's political landscape.
Former Pakistan bowlers, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal have been appointed as the fast bowling and spin bowling coaches of the national squad for the upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand.
A prominent foreign woman journalist was found dead at her house in Islamabad in the Pakistani capital on Monday.
Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog on Wednesday sought a 14-day physical remand of former prime minister Imran Khan as he was produced before a special court inside a high security police facility in Islamabad for the hearing in a corruption case in which he has been arrested.
After hearing the case, the chief justice reserved the judgment without giving a date for its announcement.
The explosion took place on a lawn outside the Luna Caprise restaurant at about 8.40 pm and the sound could be heard from several kilometres away. One foreign woman has been confirmed dead in the blast.
Sources in the PML-N told the Press Trust of India in Lahore that Nawaz Sharif decided to withdraw himself from the race for the prime minister's office for his daughter and political heir, Maryam Nawaz, 50.
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