The Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party which won the third largest number of seats in the National Assembly in the elections appears to be split on whether to join a coalition government or sit on Opposition benches.
Stepping up efforts to oust Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has asked people in his country to join hands for establishment of democracy.
Bhutto arrived in London on Saturday from Geneva where she had appeared before a court on Friday in connection with a money laundering case.
The relative did not reveal the exact date of the ex-PM's return.
'We are too important to want to be paired with Pakistan but too intensely connected to it to successfully detach ourselves,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Bracing for two massive anti-government rallies on August 14, Pakistan's Independence Day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday vowed to resist any move to topple his government by a moderate cleric and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan who will take out their protest marches on the same day.
Creating a powerful new chief of defence forces has split the Pakistan military into four competing factions, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said that President Pervez Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, former federal ministers Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Ejaz-ul-Haq, Amir Muqam and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi faced threats to their lives from extremists.
The brief exchange and handshake between Jaishankar and Sharif took place at a banquet dinner hosted by the Pakistani prime minister at his residence in honour of the delegates attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Sharif in an interview had appeared to admit that terrorists sent by Pakistan were responsible for the 26/11 attacks.
Last year on this day, Modi had made a huge gesture by travelling to Lahore on an unscheduled visit to wish Sharif personally and attend the marriage ceremony of his kin.
Police said PML-N leaders and workers have been booked for taking the rally in violation of law.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president and Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, 70, who is the Opposition's candidate for the new prime minister, will announce his possible government priorities after taking the oath.
Sharif also thanked Modi for visiting Lahore last week.
In the backdrop of Nawaz Sharif's positive remarks on ties with India, powerful Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has suggested Pakistan's Prime Minister-designate to take gradual initiatives with utmost caution for improving relations with New Delhi, a media report said Sunday.
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
The United States has advised former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif to adopt a lenient view on the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf and let him determine his own future.The US advice came as Assistant Secretary of state Richard Boucher met Sharif at the Raiwind farm house near Lahore on Tuesday.He said the US should let Pakistan settle its issues by itself. He added if the US could not facilitate Pakistan, it should not interfere in its internal affairs.
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Pundits in Pakistan and also some western diplomats are predicting that the next army chief will be forced, partly by institutional pressure and partly by circumstances, to indulge in some tough talking with the civilian leadership. How the civil-military equation settles in this sort of a situation is something that will determine the future of Pakistani politics, and also Pakistan's relations with rest of the world, says Sushant Sareen.
Considering petitions filed by the deposed premier and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, the apex court had ruled on Thursday that they were free to return to the Islamic nation after seven years in "forced" exile.
Speculation swirls in Pakistan regarding potential changes in the political landscape, fueled by rumors of the army chief's possible presidential aspirations and discussions between top civilian and military leaders.
Noting that Pakistan's Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif appears to be sincere in his effort to improve relationship with India, a former top American diplomat has said he might not be able to do much unless he brings on board the powerful military.
Amid continued ceasefire violations by Pakistan, India on Monday expressed "disappointment" that a meeting of DGMOs of the two countries could not be scheduled so far as decided by their prime ministers.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will take the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor forward with new vigour, vitality and in a rejuvenated manner, ensuring the multifaceted development of the flagship project of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, a top leader of the ruling PML-N has said.
Sharif has been deported to Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif today said he will invite Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan for his oath-taking ceremony as the new premier.
Cameron Munter, former United States ambassador to Pakistan, is optimistic that under the new leadership of Nawaz Sharif, a rapprochement between New Delhi and Islamabad may be on the cards.
All of India, said Madhav, is angry after Nawaz Sharif's speech, in which he also raked up the recent protests in Kashmir.
"Saudi Arabia has already told Nawaz Sharif that he can go back to his country whenever he likes. We are working out the modalities so that he can return in November," said PML-N acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.
India's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim is not in Pakistan, a top Pakistani official has said.
In a breakthrough that could end the political uncertainty in Pakistan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government after intense negotiations following a fractured poll verdict.
Describing the United States' drone strikes inside Pakistan as attacks on the Pakistan's "self-reliance and self-respect", opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said no sovereign country can tolerate such attacks.
Sharif told a television news channel in an interview on Thursday that Zardari, whom he has blamed for influencing the apex court's verdict, would not be able to complete his term. He did not give details.
Saudi Arabia is pressing Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return home before the upcoming general elections, media reports said.
Pakistan's main political parties on Monday stepped up their war of words, with opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif asking the people to rise up and join him in a 'revolution' against President Asif Ali Zardari's regime and the ruling Pakistan People's Party criticising the politics of confrontation. PML-N president and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif ruled out any reconciliation with Zardari till he gave up his controversial powers.
Shehbaz Sharif, the joint opposition's candidate for the post of prime minister, on Sunday vowed that the new government in Pakistan want to 'move forward' and not indulge in 'politics of revenge'.
The 66-year-old leader was recovering after the operation at Princess Grace Hospital in London and was expected to be conscious in a few hours.
A major controversy erupted on Sunday over Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif purportedly calling his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh a "village woman" with Narendra Modi terming it as the "biggest insult" of the prime minister.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif, who is set to form Pakistan's new government after an emphatic win, on Monday said he would be "very happy" to invite Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to his swearing-in for a record third term as premier.
Shahbaz was allegedly involved in the corruption of Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing project and Rs 4 billion Punjab Saaf Pani Company scams.
Sharif moved to his home in Park Lane this evening after undergoing the "successful" surgery last Tuesday.
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