US President Barack Obama steered clear of Indo-Pak issues while unveiling his new momentous Af-Pak policy, but he consulted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while formulating his strategy.
'Pakistan should evolve a common narrative. The country should have common position in combating all kinds of terrorism and not fight selectively.' 'The main motive was revenge, of course. But the Nobel Prize to Malala Yousufzai also contributed to the Taliban's anger' Bestselling Pakistani author and foreign policy expert Ahmed Rashid speaks exclusively on the Peshawar school attack with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
China and Pakistan have agreed to step up their defence and counter-terrorism cooperation amidst 'challenging times', as Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa held wide-ranging talks with the Chinese military leadership to further cement their all-weather strategic partnership.
Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, who was seriously injured in a barbaric assassination attempt by the Taliban last week, arrived in Britain on Monday by an air ambulance for specialist treatment, including the repair of damaged bones of her skull.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has allowed the country's military to carry out air strikes on the identified Taliban havens located in the intricate mountain terrains in Tribal Areas.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has admitted that terrorists operating in Kashmir have nexus with Al Qaeda, Taliban and Pakistani extremists, which is a "very dangerous" combination.
Terming it as a breakthrough in Indo-Pak relationship, a US-based strategic think tank has said that New Delhi's offer to have foreign secretary-level talks with Islamabad is driven by India's concerns over Taliban appeasement in Afghanistan.
TTP chief said the blast was in retaliation for killing LeJ chief Chotu, along with three others in an encounter.
The Biden administration is quietly pressing Pakistan to cooperate on combating dreaded terrorist groups such as the ISIS-K and Al Qaeda following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a set of leaked documents and diplomatic cables to a prominent US media outlet.
India can stay relevant in Afghanistan not by being a bystander but by actively bolstering anti-Taliban forces monetarily, militarily and politically, say Lt Gen R K Sawhney and Sushant Sareen
This year saw no improvement in bilateral ties as India accused Pakistan of cross-border infiltration and re-activation of terror-launching pads near the LoC.
The US said the current "status quo" in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, which have become a safe haven for Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists, is "unacceptable" amid growing fears that Islamabad was not doing enough to battle militants holed up near the Af-Pak border.
Four-star General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is expected to succeed chairman Admiral Mike Mullen as the top military man in Pentagon next year, has admitted that the terrorist safe havens that exist in Pakistan are a major strategic vulnerability in achieving success in Afghanistan against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
So far, almost every positive development in terms of the bilateral ties has been overtaken by innate hostility that is often driven by popular sentiments.
Afghanistan and the US have criticised Pakistan in the past for allowing Taliban fighters to cross into Pakistan where they are provided safe havens and also receive medical treatment.
It is learnt that the sympathisers of the Taliban who are targeting India are now active.
Asim said 53 injured were currently being treated while seven had been admitted to the intensive care unit.
Stung by a stunning leak of classified records indicating links between the Inter State Intelligence and the Taliban-Al Qaeda network, the White House came out in defence of Pakistan, insisting that the US-Pak alliance has led to significant blows against the Al Qaeda leadership since 2009.
A 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl who spoke out against Taliban atrocities in their former stronghold of Swat was on Tuesday shot in the head and seriously injured, with the banned outfit saying they had targeted her for her "pro-West" views.
The world today sees them (Pakistan) as the epicentre of terrorism, Jaishankar said.
In an impending Talibanisation of Pakistan, we face hordes entering our country to carry out mayhem. Once the state of Pakistan is taken over by the Taliban, we face a prospect of use of nuclear weapons against us, either through direct or indirect means of delivery.
A top Taliban commander in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan tribal region has threatened to scrap an unofficial peace deal with the army, citing recurring American drone attacks and demolition carried out by the military in Miranshah.
Describing Pakistan as "the most threatening place," an influential US lawmaker has said that the Taliban and the Al Qaeda-infested Af-Pak region poses greater danger to the world than Yemen, another hotbed of terrorists.
The US drone strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri has raised questions over Pakistan's possible role in the raid amid reports suggesting that the country's airspace could have been used for carrying out the precision strike on the Al Qaeda chief's safe house in Kabul.
With Pakistan's trial of Mumbai attack suspects making little progress, efforts to revive the stalled Indo-Pak peace process failed to make much headway in 2010, a year which also saw Islamabad struggling to deal with a rising Taliban insurgency.
As top Obama Administration official went to the Capitol Hill to explain to them the new Af-Pak policy, lawmakers questioned Pakistan's role and wanted assurance from the US government that Islamabad would be honest and sincere this time.
At a time when the United States is supporting a reconciliation effort in Afghanistan, Pakistan needs to focus on the Taliban on its side of the border by both signaling its support to the talks and squeezing down the militants, the US state department has said.
The US and others have long complained that Pakistan provides safe haven to the Afghan Taliban and their allies, the Haqqani network.
Pakistan has deployed several army brigades along the Indo-Pak border in Jehlum-Chenab and Chenab-Ravi corridors in the recent days, sparking concern in the Indian armed forces, defence sources said on Sunday.The forces have been withdrawn from Pakistan's troubled north-western tribal belt where they were battling the Taliban to put pressure on the United States, which has been pressing Islamabad to act against terrorists operating from its soil, and diverted to the border.
The Obama administration is apparently committed to alleviating India-Pakistan tensions and consequently influencing the Pakistani army to focus on the internal terrorist threat from the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and not India, in order to advance Washington's AfPak agenda.
'The last thing he would want is new tensions with India.'
Those killed included six members of the cleric's family.
The decision was taken during a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the southwestern the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday.
Unidentified gunmen have shot dead a 'businessman' in Karachi who Indian intelligence officials said was Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Mistry Zahoor Ibrahim, involved in the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 and fatal stabbing of passenger Rupin Katyal.
Pakistan's close ties with China and its lack of democracy and disregard for human rights will not be overlooked, said Haqqani, who currently is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute think-tank in Washington.
China has said it will not attend the regional security dialogue on Afghanistan being hosted by India on November 10 due to a 'scheduling issue,' sources said.
Media reports also cited the US aid restrictions over the F-16 fighter jets deal between the two countries.
Acknowledging that deferent terrorist outfits are becoming more linked with each other which could lead to the revival of the Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a United States military commander has underlined the need for a "combination of effort" to prevent them from regaining the "epicentre".
General Asim Munir becomes Pakistan's 17th Chief of the Army Staff.
America's relationship with Pakistan has 'not served' either of the two countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday raising questions on the Biden administration's approval of a $450-million sustenance package for F-16 fleet.
