The chiefs of intelligence agencies of India and Pakistan held a meeting in Islamabad as part of cooperation to fight terrorism and deal with security issues.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik have pledged to take more steps to improve bilateral relations. The two leaders, who are in Maldives to attend the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation home/interior ministers' meeting, met on Tuesday evening and discussed a wide range of issues.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation team, which had arrived in Pakistan earlier this week to probe the bungled Times Square bombing plot, visited several areas like Pabbi, Nowshera and Hassanabdal seeking access to Faisal Shahzad's father, former Pakistan Air Force Air Vice Marshal Baharul Haq.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said India considers Taliban as a dreaded terror outfit, and wants Pakistan to take action against it along with other groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).
The Pakistan government will take action against Pervez Musharraf after concrete evidence is obtained against him, after a United Nations panel blamed the former military dictator for failing to provide effective security to slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto. "We welcome the UN (commission's) report because it is independent and transparent. The people already knew what the commission has pointed out," said Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
Pakistan on Friday claimed that the trial of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives arrested for their involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks would be completed within four months, but also sought more time to examine the evidence provided by India against the terror group's founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed.
The Pakistan government has announced that a Supreme Court judge will probe the killing of journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, who was abducted and killed shortly after he wrote an article about the alleged infiltration of the Pakistan Navy by the Al Qaeda.
In an interview with CNN-IBN, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik claims that India's most wanted man, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, is not hiding in Pakistan
Pakistan will respond "effectively" if India's alleged involvement in acts of terrorism within the country was proved, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Thursday.
India attributed the failure of the signing of an agreement with Pakistan on new liberalised visa regime to "some delay in the procedure" in that country and Pakistani Interior Minister's desire for political participation in the exercise.
Pakistan's top investigative agency Federal Investigation Agency has been directed to write to Interpol for the issuance of a Red Corner Notice against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf so that he can be brought back to the country to face trial, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday.
Pakistan on Saturday said that an anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of the seven Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks needs to validate lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab's statement as it forms a key part of the case. "We made the statement of Ajmal Kasab as the base (of our case) but our courts require validation of his statement and we have written about this to India," Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.
Controversial Pakistan-origin American businessman Mansoor Ijaz on Saturday announced that he would be travelling to Pakistan to depose before the Supreme Court on the "memo scandal" to tell the truth.
Pakistan on Tuesday sternly told the Taliban to leave Buner and other areas occupied by them or face "forceful" action, as its troops killed 70 militants in the expanding army operations along the restive Afgan border. The warning that "a handful of militants cannot challenge the writ of the government," came from Interior Minister Rehman Malik as security forces stepped up operations in Dir in North West Frontier Province.
The Pakistan government had to give an undertaking that the suspended trio of Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Muhammad Amir and Mohammad Asif would be available for further investigations by the Scotland Yard to ensure their return home from London.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has instructed the Pakistan Cricket Board to provide all necessary legal help to the tainted trio.
Pakistan has said that it has not made any formal arrest in connection with the Times Square terror plot, amid reports that an 'accomplice' of Faisal Shahzad, who allegedly carried out the botched bombing in New York, has been held. However, an investigation is underway into 30-year-old Shahzad's alleged links in Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. "The US authorities sent us some questions regarding the issue and we are investigating the matter," he said.
Pakistani authorities on Sunday released dramatic security camera footage of the suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that depicted the final minutes before a truck packed with 600 kg of explosives blew up, causing widespread destruction.The footage captured by the Marriott's close-circuit security cameras showed guards running for cover as the six-wheeled truck, packed with explosives hidden under construction material, rammed into a retractable barricade.
Over 3,100 terrorists have been arrested in Pakistan in the last three years and a majority of them were nabbed from the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the country's northwest.
Pakistan says its Constitution does not permit taking voice samples of any accused but still it would "exhaust" all possible means to give voice samples of 26/11 suspects to India.
As Indo-Pak foreign secretaries met in Delhi for talks aimed at ending the chill in bilateral ties, Pakistan on Thursday claimed that 'Indian networks' were behind the terror attacks in Mumbai and on the Samjhauta Express and Indian Parliament. Without giving any evidence to substantiate the claims, Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed that a terrorist assault of the magnitude of the Mumbai terror attacks could not have been carried out otherwise.
Even as the army battles Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's militants headed by Hakimullah Mehsud, the government has decided to adopt another approach to end the spate of terror strikes on its soil. As part of this strategy, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has urged religious scholars to issue fatwas against the Taliban militants, by terming them as kafirs (non-believers).
Maldavian national Iqbal Mohamed, who was suspected of plotting an attack on the Cricket World Cup in South Asia, has been released on the basis of a court order.Mohamed, 42, was arrested on March 10 on arrival at Male International Airport from Pakistan following a tip-off from Interpol. Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Interpol chief Ronald Noble announced the arrest last week, saying a 'serious attempt' at an attack had been foiled.
"We have submitted all information available to us, but we want more information to make our case solid," Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, adding that in the absence of enough evidence, the court would exonerate Saeed for lack of authentic proof.
The Pakistan government has received "credible intelligence reports" confirming the death of local Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack and physical evidence is being collected to validate the claim, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday.
Asking India to reciprocate "positively" to its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan on Tuesday said it will send more queries to New Delhi seeking additional information on the 26/11 strikes blamed on the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in order to move forward its investigation.
From Italy, Spain and an unnamed Middle Eastern country to US and Russia, the plotters of the Mumbai terror attack tapped local resources including dollar payment transfers and registering internet domain names in a sinister global plan to numb India's financial capital that left 183 persons dead.
Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik has said the government would not allow banned outfits and parties to take out any rallies or advertise themselves.
Pakistan on Thursday said it would give India the voice samples of the "criminals" accused in the Mumbai terror attacks within 24 hours after a local court gives its go-ahead. "We want to bring the criminals behind 26/11 to justice. Action on voice samples will be taken in 24 hours after the court gives a go-ahead," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told an Indian TV channel. He was responding to reports of delays in pursuing voice samples of 26/11 accused.
The information provided by India so far is "not sufficient," Interior Minister Rehman Malik was quoted as saying by the Express 24/7 news channel. He also said that India has not given some of the information sought by Pakistan last month.
Iran has for long claimed that members of Jundullah, a Baloch Sunni militant group, are active in Pakistan's Balochistan province and get support from some intelligence officials there.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, one the seven Pakistani nationals accused of planning and abetting the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, was granted bail on Thursday by the anti-terrorism court in the country.
India has asked Pakistan to handover voice samples of the handlers of the Mumbai attackers, speed up the trial against 26/11 terror accused, including LeT Commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and to stop cross-border terrorism.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said that India wants more action from Pakistan against those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks and expressed confidence of a "positive outcome" in the matter after his meeting with his counterpart Rehman Malik.
Talking to media persons in Islamabad, Malik claimed that the military offensive being carried out in the North West Frontier Province's Swat and Malakand Divisions have been successful with the killing of top Taliban commanders.
Zardari was confident that Sharif would not dare to come on the roads himself. The Pakistan government repeatedly informed Sharif about the threat of 'suicide bombers', but Sharif was undeterred.
Zulqarnain claimed that he was forced to leave his team hotel in Dubai and fly out to London under mysterious circumstances after receiving threatening messages from his then teammate Umar Akmal
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
Ruling out war with India, Pakistan on Monday said it is willing to cooperate in fighting terrorism, a scourge affecting both the countries. "There is need for joint efforts by both Pakistan and India to fight terrorism and we are willing to cooperate with India fully in this regard," Pakistan prime minister's advisor on interior affairs Rehman Malik said.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde will represent India at the Interpol General Assembly to be held in Italy next week.