A prominent Sikh politician in Pakistan, who was gunned down last week, was killed by contract killers hired by his miffed Hindu rival after he failed to secure a ticket for elections, police said .
Nawaz Sharif was the last Pakistani prime minister to visit the US on an official trip in October 2015.
The US has the distinction of destroying a flawed but functioning State thrice since 1979. Pakistan has been their constant accomplice, explains Shekhar Gupta.
'The ISI has given a stunning display of its capacity to do with impunity what it likes within Kabul. Incensed over the triumphalism of the hardliners in Kabul, the ISI has hit out; it is a typical ISI reflex action that Indians are familiar with,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Hemal Trivedi, a Hindu filmmaker originally from India, and Mohammed Ali Naqvi, a Muslim from Pakistan have made one of this year's most talked about films.
The Pakistani military may shortly give Imran Khan the boot, substituting him with another puppet, predicts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The press briefing seemed a deliberate decision to let the army convey its angst to Imran directly, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
The Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday 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'.
India has conveyed its concerns to the top security and intelligence officials of the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia over the possible implications of Pakistan's links with the Taliban and various terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan for regional security and stability, people familiar with the development said.
A closure of the Indian mission in Kabul will be a Himalayan blunder at this historic juncture when the wheels of diplomacy and politics are set to accelerate in Afghanistan, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
United States officials have identified Pakistan as a base of operations or target for numerous armed and non state militant groups, some of which have existed since the 1980s, the independent Congressional Research Service said in the report.
Pakistanis began voting on Saturday morning in landmark polls to choose new national and provincial assemblies, setting in motion the first democratic transition of power in the country's 66-year history.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stated with 'deep regret' that the daughter of the Afghan ambassador to Islamabad Silsila Alikhil was abducted for several hours on July 16, 2021 and severely tortured by unknown individuals on her way home.
Militants armed with automatic weapons, grenades and wearing suicide vests tried to storm two heavily-guarded airbases in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, but the attacks were thwarted by security forces which killed 10 attackers suspected to be foreigners.
'The Delhi-Washington stalemate can end only if India's concern over trans-border terrorism is addressed.' 'The Indian security establishment expects a spike in terrorist attacks in the months ahead.' 'And there is every likelihood that India may retaliate against Pakistan at some point,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The United States drone attack that killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has done "serious damage" to the Islamabad's efforts for a dialogue with militants, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday.
According to a Taliban source, "When the suicide attacks got momentum and it was almost impossible for the government to control the situation, talks between the representatives of Taliban and the government took place in Peshawar--that resulted in a halt in the attacks. Apart from few key commanders no one else was aware about the nature of the agreement,"the source said.
'Just this week, the Indians killed a Kashmiri terrorist, who is a member of Hizbul Mujahideen.' 'This is a nasty terrorist organisation, and did Pakistan welcome this killing?' 'No, in fact, they denounced it and referred to him as a Kashmiri separatist.' 'These Kashmiri terrorist groups have been aided by the Pakistani State.'
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.
Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is 'simply a deterrent' to protect the country and there will no longer be any need for it once the Kashmir issue is resolved, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said as he asserted that if the Americans have the resolve and the will, the issue can be sorted out.
The meeting came in the backdrop of recent developments in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday issued an advisory to Amarnath yatris and tourists asking them to curtail their stay in the Valley, citing security concerns after the Indian Army said that Pakistani terrorists are planning to disrupt the pilgrimage.
"Imran Khan is exciting because he is enervating the denervating, actually, the Pakistani polity, particularly the youth," said South Asia expert Professor C Christine Fair, at the Brookings Institution conference on The Future of Pakistan, on Monday.
Trump reiterated his offer to help the two South-Asian neighbours only if both of them want.
As the second season of The Night Manager hits the OTT screen, Deepa Gahlot looks back at the top spy thrillers on streaming platforms.
"It's clear that the Pakistanis are still supporting the Taliban. This was known well before WikiLeaks disclosed secret documents detailing supposed links between the Pakistani military and Taliban," Gilles Dorronsoro, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment, said.
Jaishankar, who presided over the UNSC Briefing: Global Counterterrorism Approach: Challenges and Way Forward, described terrorism as an existential threat to international peace and security and said it knows no borders, nationality, or race.
Pakistan's efforts to have the two Chinese engineers kidnapped by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan on August 29, 2008, released before Zardari's visit have not succeeded. This incident, coming in the wake three other instances last year of targeted attacks on Chinese nationals working in Pakistan, have added to the concerns of the Chinese authorities . This is one of the subjects the Chinese are expected to take up with Zardari
At least 10 people, including some students of a Sunni seminary, were killed and over 80 others injured in sectarian violence that erupted in Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday after a clash during a Muharram procession, following which a curfew was imposed.
Pakistan on Friday agreed to let India transport 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and life-saving drugs as humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan on Afghan trucks through the Wagah border crossing, after a row erupted between the two countries over the modalities of transportation.
'If the Chinese are bringing Pakistan more 'behind the curtain,' in terms of intelligence and military cooperation, it will be tailored to their common interests like confronting India over territorial disputes'
Pakistan on Wednesday brushed aside India's unhappiness over Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz's meetings with Kashmiri separatists in New Delhi, saying such meets were "customary" and the Kashmir issue remains the "core dispute" between the two countries.
Musharraf, 79, was suffering from amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body, The Express Tribune reported.
The Indian government expressed its dismay at some of the language used by participating MPs in the Backbench Debate, specifically Pakistani-origin Labour MP Naz Shah.
'From the Indian perspective, Trump's invitation to Imran Khan to visit the White House is a bitter pill to swallow,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Nine leading Pakistani clerics, who had gathered for a meeting that declared suicide attacks as un-Islamic, fell seriously ill after eating 'halwa' served to them, prompting the police to investigate whether an attempt was made to murder them.
The Blinken visit indicated that the Biden administration is still somewhat tentative about the specifics of its relations with India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who has served multiple stints at India's embassy in Washington, DC.
In India, the anniversary of 26/11 comes and goes with only the bare minimum of remembrance. We don't even bother very much about honouring those who acted with great bravery that day, rues Vir Sanghvi.
'Is Trump going to play a mediating role? Can he play a mediating role? It's out of the question.' 'Kashmir is an Indian responsibility.'
The UK-based Pakistani boxer Amir Khan visited the army-run school in Peshawar where 150 people, mostly children, were massacred by the Taliban and expressed sympathies with the families of the victims.
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head at point-blank range by Taliban for advocating girls' education, has become a millionaire by signing a deal for around $3 million to publish her memoir.
