'DISGUST' -- that's how former army chief and now Minister of State for external affairs V K Singh reacted after attending the Pakistan Day celebrations in the country's high commission in New Delhi on Monday evening.
Issues like tackling terrorism and strengthening bilateral ties are expected to figure in the talks.
'A narrative is needed that captures the reality in Pakistan objectively and more fully'
Pakistan has dropped plans to send Syed Ibne Abbas as the new high commissioner to India and instead replaced him with career diplomat Abdul Basit, a top Pakistani official said on Monday.
Virtually every secretary who heads a government department is present along with every officer above the rank of major general/air vice marshal/rear admiral.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh said that Ram Jethmalani was a maverick with a difference.
The Election Commission on Monday said the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir this time was the highest in a Lok Sabha election in the last 35 years with the Kashmir Valley witnessing a 'massive' 30 percentage point jump in poll participation compared to 2019.
The visit will be followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Islamabad on March 28.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said that the government was hopeful a team of National Investigation Agency will soon visit Pakistan to gather evidence in connection with the Pathankot terror attack.
'Pakistan has responded with appropriate contempt -- hrowing our national dignity into the waste paper basket.'
"We are always ready for talks with Pakistan but with a caveat that terror and talks cannot go together... There cannot be a comprehensive dialogue till Pakistan shuns terror," the minister said while addressing a press conference at the completion of four years in power of the Narendra Modi-led government.
As the representative of his government in India, Abdul Basit runs a tight ship at the Pakistan High Commission.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday discussed with top officials, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the security situation in the country, including the tension at National Institute of Technology Srinagar and the denial of permission to the National Investigation Agency team to visit Pakistan in connection with the Pathankot attack.
Pakistan added that it is necessary to establish "veracity of the Indian claim".
The whole state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan remains in illegal occupation of a part of our territory Ajit Kumar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to UN offices and other International Organisations said in a statement.
Deputy High Commissioner Jaleel Abbas Gilani was recently embroiled in a POTA case relating to funding of separatists in J&K.
There is also no information on what has happened to the appeal by Jadhav's mother.
Rejecting India's stand that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, Basit said he was caught in Balochistan and tried for 'espionage and sabotage'.
In the wake of killing of five Indian jawans at the LoC on Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party has suggested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should not hold bilateral talks with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his forthcoming visit to the United States for United Nations General Assembly meeting.
The Pakistan men's cricket team arrived in Kolkata on Saturday evening for the ICC World Twenty20 after high drama over the last few days.
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Monday said that ISI agent Kafaitullah Khan was invited to Pakistan by the handler and was told that he would be given assistance by their people at the Pakistan high commission.
Yashwant Sinha said the government's decision came after taking into account the popular response in India to the Noor Fatima case.
Aziz Ahmed Khan met President A P J Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
The 1994 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) espionage case, in which former space scientist Nambi Narayanan was falsely implicated, was allegedly created by a then special branch officer of Kerala police to justify his illegal detention of a Maldivian woman in India after she spurned his advances, the Central Bureau of Investigation has told a court in Thiruvananthapuram.
Javadekar was at the event, where presence of his ministerial colleague V K Singh last year had drawn flak from the media, for around 20 minutes, and extended his 'best wishes' to the Pakistani people on the sidelines.
Pakistan on Wednesday said it was "encouraged" after BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's remarks regarding ties with foreign countries and asserted that it was looking forward to a stable government here to engage "quickly, comprehensively and meaningfully".
The Ministry of External Affairs said the Charge d' Affaires of Pakistan High Commission was summoned and informed about the decision which was based on instances of involvement of Pakistani officials in 'acts of espionage' and 'dealings with terrorist organisations'. The activities of the two Pakistani mission officials caught red-handed and expelled on 31 May 2020 was one example in that regard, MEA said in a statement.
Should India engage Pakistan's generals directly, bypassing Imran? Ambassador G Parthasarathy, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan, ponders Delhi's diplomatic dilemma.
Condolences over the demise of chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat poured in on Wednesday from various countries, including the US, Russia and Pakistan.
Amid row over Ved Pratap Vaidik's meeting with Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan on Friday said it was not aware about the meeting and asserted that no action can be taken against the Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief as there was no evidence against him.
Pakistan has admitted that the timing of its high commissioner's meeting with the Hurriyat leaders in New Delhi ahead of the foreign secretary-level talks was "perhaps not totally right".
Moti has been described in UK court proceedings as a "senior member" and "top lieutenant" of D Company.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded that India call back its high commissioner in Pakistan and scale down diplomatic relations with Islamabad in the wake of the death of Sarabjit Singh after a brutal attack.
Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April on charges of espionage and terrorism.
The government feels that it is not the right time for the release of Pakistani prisoners, official sources said. The retaliatory action came as India made it clear that it will be regarded as "premeditated murder" if Pakistan carries out the death sentence "without observing basic norms of law and justice".
The MEA called it an "inexplicable diplomatic discourtesy" by Pakistan
This is the sixth time in over two weeks that the Indian Deputy high commissioner has been summoned to the FO in Islamabad.
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