Asian champions India have never won the Champions Trophy in its last 36 editions but will be hoping to claim the feat in the tournament's last edition.
The United States has sought access to records of all passengers flying out from Pakistan and permission to deploy American security officials at airports as part of an effort to prevent terror suspects reaching its soil, according to a media report published on Monday.
The White House has rejected a revelation by a prominent US journalist who claimed that an operative of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence had revealed the hideout of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden who was later killed in a raid by American commandos.
Senator John Kerry, a close foreign policy aid of United States President Barack Obama, has left for a quick visit to Pakistan amidst strained bilateral ties after Islamabad refused to grant diplomatic immunity to an American official facing murder charges. "Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry left on Monday night for Pakistan where he will meet with senior Pakistan government officials to reaffirm support for the strategic relationship," said his aide.
A top United States lawmaker has introduced a "joint resolution" in the House of Representatives to express Congress's disapproval over an arms deal with Pakistan which includes the sale of eight nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets to the latter.
"We want to work closely (with) Pakistan to create a more stable and secure Pakistan as well," he said.
Pakistan on Thursday said its nuclear assets are completely safe and dismissed the world's suspicions as "baseless" at a meeting of the National Command Authority chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The latest request from Washington had suggested that the official who would be permanently posted in the US embassy in Islamabad to deal with nuclear issues should have direct access to the National Command Authority Secretariat, The News reported on Monday.
The government of Pakistan has been providing weapons and resources to radical Muslim elements, who use them against Americans, says US Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who declares he was once Pakistan's best friend. Aziz Haniffa reports
Pakistan may earn $365 million annually under an agreement with the United States, following the reopening of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's supply routes for American troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's foreign ministry has sought more time from the Lahore high court to file its reply on the immunity status of double murder-accused American official Raymond Davis. The LHC began the hearing on Thursday to decide whether Davis possesses diplomatic immunity in a case that has frayed ties between the United States and Pakistan. Chief Justice LHC Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry said that the Pakistan government had to decide whether Davis was a diplomat.
Pakistan poses a 'bigger' security challenge than Afghanistan for the United States and the rest of the world, a top American diplomat has said. Christopher Dell, who currently runs the US embassy in Kabul, said Pakistani Taliban groups had formed a common front to attack North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops in Afghanistan. "Pakistan is a bigger place, has a larger population, it's nuclear-armed. It has certainly made radical Islam a part of its political life," he said.
Prima facie there was a nexus between human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, and Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, an agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI convicted in the United States for terror funding, a special NIA court has said in its order denying bail to the campaigner.
US promised to help Pakistan enhance security at all its airports and provided some equipment in this regard.
Dr Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the highest ranking Indian American in the Barack Obama administration, while speaking on the devastating floods in Pakistan, said, "The scale and scope of this natural disaster is astronomical."
Russian President Vladimir Putin told a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Friday that the group should consider staging its own major sporting competition.
The agency, in its affidavit filed in response to Navlakha's plea, also claimed that he had 'committed acts that had a direct impact on the national security, unity and sovereignty'.
'The Modi government would chaff at the very idea of holding talks with Pakistan, facilitated by Washington and under close US monitoring, when the 2019 poll is sailing into view.' 'But in politics and diplomacy, there may be moments when drinking from the chalice of poison is necessary,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'India had nothing to gain by the talks except for some brownie points from the US for being reasonable. Pakistan desperately needed the talks to get arms and money from the Americans,' says T P Sreenivasan.
Utilising a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump, issued on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, the treasury department sanctioned over two dozen individuals and entities from 11 terrorist groups, including Pakistan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
An American newspaper columnist has proposed a $100 billion buyout of Pakistan's nuclear arsenals, saying these weapons had become "an inviting target" for Jehadists."
The Modi government finds itself in a contradiction of its own making. It has encouraged pro-Russian, Westophobic public sentiment while setting strategic policy that's exactly the opposite, points out Shekhar Gupta.
After weighing all the costs and benefits, the next administration is likely to reduce and restructure assistance to Pakistan but not to end it altogether, says Daniel S Markey.
'Pakistan's Islamic dream has gone sour miserably.'
American drones regularly target terrorists in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said in a first such acknowledgment by the top US leadership on its highly successful but secretive programme.
As Pakistan continues to block the NATO supply routes to Afghanistan after deadly November 24 incident and no change seen in its policies with regard to its links with extremist groups, America's patience with Pakistan is growing thinner, US officials feel.
Observing that Pakistan is a "critical country" for the US in the long run, a top American General has said Washington wants to have a long-term partnership with Islamabad.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday lifted a travel ban on the country's former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, as it gave the judicial commission two more months to complete its probe in the memo scandal that rocked ties between the civilian government and the military.
"Pakistan's jump from an estimated 60 to 110 nuclear weapons is unlikely to shift the balance of power vis a vis India," said Alexander H Rothman and Lawrence J Korb from the Centre for American Progress in their analysis of the recent news reports that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
'Openness is a great weapon in the armoury of more open societies. That's why the fight with Pakistan isn't just about India be six times bigger, but equally bitter and insecure Pakistan,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
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 seems that like in the late 1980s, Pakistan feels that its support to the IM is giving diminishing returns and they have decided to jettison them. It is not unlikely that an American nudge and pressure to do this has been a significant factor in all these happenings, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale
'He told senior journalists a few days after the Babri Masjid demolition, 'Jo hua theek hua. Maine isliye hone diya ki BJP ki rajniti hamesha ke liye khatam ho jaye.'
'Instead of penalising Pakistan for its support to the notorious terrorists and spreading global terrorism, US, unfortunately, is rewarding this country with the deadly weapons and billions of dollars of hard cash,' Narayan Kataria, head of New York-based Indian American Intellectual Forum, said in a letter to Clinton.
"Our success will depend chiefly on reforms taken in Pakistan by Pakistanis. And I see little in this bill to provide any assurance that such changes are on the way. I fear we are again choosing to be Pakistan's patron rather than its partner," Congressman Gary Ackerman said.
It is learnt that China placed a hold on the proposal by India and the US to designate Mahmood as a global terrorist under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
Oppenheimer is a very politically significant film for our time, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
