Pakistan's parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed two key bills aimed at setting up military courts for the speedy trial of "hardcore terrorists" in the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre by Taliban.
At a luncheon hosted by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for newly elected Parliamentarians, leaders of the three parties said they would support each other to form the federal government and to change the establishment to ensure that the military no longer had a role in Pakistan's politics.
Underlining Pakistan as an important ally of the United States, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said international forces led by America cannot succeed in Afghanistan without Islamabad's assistance. Responding to a point of order raised by Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisat Ali Khan, Gilani said Islamabad would never compromise on the security of the country's nuclear programme. He added that Pakistan will never accept regional imbalance, in an oblique reference to India.
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Strongly hitting out at Pakistan for again raking up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations, India has said a constructive contribution cannot be expected from a country that has an established practice of hosting terrorists and is the "epicentre" of global terrorism, and the biggest destabilising force in the world.
Two women from Pakistan's restive northwest have made history by becoming the first tribal women to file nomination papers for the May 11 parliamentary polls.
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
A special session of Pakistan Parliament will be convened on Friday to elect a new premier following Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's disqualification by the supreme court.
Pakistan's popular hill station Murree was declared a calamity-hit area on Saturday after at least 21 people, including nine children, froze to death in their vehicles due to unprecedented snowfall and rush of tourists to the picturesque town in Punjab province.
India said Ankara should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its own policies more deeply.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Qazi Hussain Ahmed recommends another Kargil to highlight the Kashmir cause.
A Pakistani woman parliamentarian, who was critically injured in a gun attack by unidentified men two days ago, succumbed to her injuries early Friday at a hospital in Lahore.
"We keep hearing that Pakistan is a 'victim of terrorism'. This is the country which is an arsonist disguising itself as a fire-fighter. Pakistan nurtures terrorists in their backyard in the hope that they will only harm their neighbours," India's first secretary Sneha Dubey said in the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday summoned Pakistan's parliament on March 24 to elect the new Prime Minister, though there was still no word from the Pakistan People's Party and its allies on their nominee for the top post.Musharraf received the official communique regarding the convening of the National Assembly to elect the leader of the House from the Prime Minister's Secretariat on Thursday morning.The President signed the summary.
Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, in her reply to the Supreme Court, has contended that she has absolute power to decide the matter regarding the disqualification or qualification of any lawmaker after the passage of the 18th Amendment.
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.
The JuD will contest the election on the platform of a little known "dormant" political entity, Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek.
India has told the United Nations General Assembly that it is high time the international community called on Pakistan to take 'effective and irreversible' actions against terror outfits operating on its soil, asserting that Islamabad should not take the 'high road of morality' which is only laden with mines of falsehood.
Amarinder Singh failed spectacularly in these assembly elections -- his new party failed to open its account, his ally BJP fell flat and he failed to even win his own constituency.
A last minute drama on Thursday marked the selection of Pakistan's new prime minister as the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party choice Makhdoom Shahbuddin was issued a non-bailable warrant by an anti-drug court as he was filing his nomination, virtually ending his prospects.
'I take back my comment, but, now that you proved it was genuine love between the NC and the PDP that prompted a failed govt formation attempt'
There is no proposal under consideration to give India the Most Favoured Nation status, Pakistan Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has said.
India has maintained that there can be no talks with Pakistan unless it stops supporting terrorists.
"The way he (Pakistan MP) is saying that 'pair kaanp rahe the' (his legs were trembling). It is because the military posture was very offensive... God forbid if there are military misadventure on 27th and hit some of our military installations, we were in a position to wipe out their forward brigades. They know what is our capability," he said.
"We call on Pakistan to stop cleansing their own minorities including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and others," Bhat said.
The bomber blew himself up at the residence of PML-N leader Rasheed Akbar Nawani, a prominent politician of Bhakkar district and a member of the National Assembly, almost destroying his home and shaking the entire area sending his panicked neighbours and shopkeepers scurrying for safety.
After Pakistani Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the "blasphemous caricatures" published in French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, dozens marched against the publication in Lahore.
Notably, Pakistan had previously denied the permission of President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Modi to use Pakistan's airspace thrice to travel to foreign countries in 2019 after India abrogated Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
The bill, aimed at easing the existing legislation on rape, which was part of the Hudood Ordinance brought in by former military ruler Zia-ul-Haq, will become law after getting assent from Musharraf, who pressed for its approval.
Pakistan has drawn the attention of the United Nations to what it said was India's "intention" to escalate tension on the Line of Control by launching artillery barrages, which were threatening regional peace and security.
The Pakistan government has banned 25 religious and other organisations, including the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashker-e-Tayiba, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Pak cabinet clears bill to stop N-proliferation
Amid a controversy over the recent the JNU row, the BJP said freedom of expression does not give a right to call for the country's destruction.
"This august forum witnessed a new low on its 75th anniversary. The leader of Pakistan today called for those who incite hate and violence to be outlawed. But as he went on, we were left wondering, was he referring to himself?" First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Mijito Vinito said, making India's Right of Reply.
Rehman made last ditch efforts to convince Hussain and leaders of the other four component parties of the MMA to delay the decision to resign, but in vain, Daily Times reported.
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party has suffered setbacks in country's biggest ever by-polls for 41 national and provincial assembly constituencies, in which the ruling PML-N appeared to have consolidated its position.
India has rejected any third party intervention in the Kashmir issue and has maintained that all outstanding matters in Indo-Pak ties should be resolved bilaterally.
Islamabad should purchase water from India to save 50 million people in southern Punjab, the MPs said.
Khan, who is believed to have the backing of the powerful military, has vowed to make a 'Naya Pakistan' which would be an Islamic welfare state.
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.
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