Former Pakistan Foreign Secretary Shahryar Khan and ex-diplomat S K Lambah, the point men for India-Pakistan back-channel diplomacy, will meet in Dubai on Thursday to ease tensions and firm up a planned meeting between the premiers of the two countries, a media report said.
The negative list regime for trade with India will be phased out by December after the move is approved by the federal cabinet, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim has said.
Pakistan has strongly denied a United Nations report that members of its government had given consent to controversial drone strikes in the country and demanded an end to such attacks which incite hatred.
Inter Services Intelligence's powerful chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha has warned India that any Abbottabad-like attack by it would invite a befitting response from Pakistan. Pasha's warning came as he addressed the in-camera joint session of the Senate and National Assembly held behind closed doors on Friday. Pasha is facing fire over the inability of the ISI to track down Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, where he was living.
In a move apparently aimed at preventing the airing of soaps and serials from countries like India and Turkey, a Pakistani parliamentary panel has asked the government to ban all foreign content in any language during prime time on television channels.
From a Pakistan-trained militant to one of the prominent separatist faces in Kashmir, life has come a full circle for chief of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik, who was in limelight for varied reasons over the past three decades of turmoil in the erstwhile restive border state.
A landmark constitutional reforms package aimed at striking down the Pakistani president's sweeping powers and strengthening democratic institutions was tabled in Pakistan's parliament on Friday, with the ruling Pakistan People's Party describing it as a "bill of hope".
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said the violence during the Popular Front of India (PFI)-sponsored hartal in his state was 'pre-meditated' and assured strict action against the culprits while his Assam counterpart Hemanta Biswas Sarma batted for banning the Islamist outfit, whom the National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused of encouraging youth to join terrorist groups including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 33 in favour, China and Eritrea voting against and 12 abstentions, including India, Armenia, Bolivia, Cameroon, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
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.
Swaraj is expected to give a stinging response to Sharif's UN General Assembly speech, in which he had focused elaborately on Kashmir.
Trying to fish in troubled waters, Pakistan's parliament on Thursday passed a resolution condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru and demanded the return of his body to his family.
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.
Senior leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition partners the Pakistan's People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz -- will resume talks for the fourth day in Dubai on Thursday, about finalising a deal to reinstate deposed judges, while insisting that there is no threat to the government. "We have made progress during seven hours of marathon meetings, but there are still differences on certain legal issues," PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar said.
A total of 138 members of Pakistan's new national assembly, including four federal ministers, have either paid no income tax in 2012 or do not figure in official records of taxpayers, according to a media report.
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.
Asif Ali Zardari is set to create a record by becoming the first president to address a joint session of both houses of Pakistan's parliament for a sixth time, though he will be doing so at a time when his party is no longer in power.
Pakistan has always desired a purposeful dialogue with India to resolve outstanding problems, including the core issue of Kashmir, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Tuesday.Qureshi said, Referring to Pakistan's policy on Kashmir, he said, "We want a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in light of the United Nation's resolutions and according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people," he said.
Gambhir also took a dig at Qureshi's emphasis on a "new Pakistan" under Khan, saying while the Indian delegation had come to listen to Pakistan's "new" foreign minister outline the vision of a new Pakistan, "what we heard is a 'New Pakistan' cast in the mold of old."
The report published in the gazettes of India appeared in local newspapers on Monday and showed that Habba Kadal seat in Kashmir division and Suchetgarh seat in Jammu province had been restored.
A founder member of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party was shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside her residence in Karachi, hours before partial re-polling for the national assembly seat in the area.
"We want to work closely (with) Pakistan to create a more stable and secure Pakistan as well," he said.
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.
Today, the two countries, ruthlessly divided by the Radcliffe line that pierced their very heart, grapple with the political challenges of the present. Yet, when friendships develop there are no borders, observes Payal Singh Mohanka.
Pakistan does not want a war with India but was "prepared" to defend itself if aggression is imposed on the country in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Monday. "We don't want to get involved in a war. I want to assure the House and the people that we do not want war, but if aggression is thrust on us, we will stand united as a proud nation," Gilani told the National assembly or lower house of parliament.
The Pakistan government's top law officer told the supreme court on Monday it had no role to play in the disqualification of the Prime Minister, which could be decided only by the National Assembly speaker or the election commission.
While hearing the petitions filed against the National Assembly Speaker's ruling in the contempt case against Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that a "convicted person is representing a population of 180 million people". "A prime minister does not only represent a party, but is also a country's representative," The Express Tribune quoted Justice Chaudhry as saying.
The Pakistan government has no plans to roll back the country's atomic programme and is committed to maintaining a minimum nuclear deterrence, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan said Tuesday. The Pakistan People's Party-led government will not compromise on the country's defence and sovereignty, he said in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament.
Without naming any nation, Pakistan on Thursday said a "neighbouring country" had supplied a large quantity of ammunition and money to slain Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.
A controversial bill that will give Pakistan's intelligence agencies sweeping powers to conduct surveillance and collect electronic data has been passed by both houses of parliament, paving the way for it to be signed into law by the president.
Pakistan skipper Younis Khan said he would not tolerate the slur of match-fixing levelled against him and his teammates and would resign from the captain's job if he felt so.
Europeans believe that what is under attack is their way of life, their secular faith, the long-fought right to keep religion out of the public sphere, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Pakistan's parliament has passed a bill aimed at protecting top government leaders from contempt of court proceedings and countering the Supreme Court's efforts to pressure the premier to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.The Senate or upper house approved the Contempt of Court Bill of 2012 by a majority after a heated debate late on Wednesday night. The bill was passed by the National Assembly or lower house of parliament on Monday.
A bill aimed at shielding top Pakistani leaders from contempt charges and curbing the apex court's efforts to push Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf into reopening graft cases against the President has been approved by the lower house of Parliament.
The Indian Army, the Border Security Force, Hindu temples and the people of India, all have been targetted by fidayeen from Pakistan.
A new bill passed by the Pakistani parliament may snatch the remote control of the country's nuclear bombs from President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan desires peaceful ties with its neighbours, including India, and will work to strengthen the dialogue process that is already underway to resolve problems like the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister-elect Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Friday.
India on Monday blamed Pakistan for "derailing" the dialogue process but said there is "no fullstop" in diplomatic relations and people always move forward after the short pauses, indicating that there may be a window for resumption of talks in near future.
Pakistan's new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani on Saturday offered a dialogue to militants who lay down their arms, saying ending terrorism is his first priority. He also pledged to reinstate the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during emergency last year. Unveiling a slew of populist measures in his first policy statement after securing an unprecedented unanimous vote of confidence, Gillani told the National Assembly that terrorism is the biggest problem.
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