Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday discussed ways to deepen ties and a bilateral gas pipeline project that has come under a cloud following sanctions imposed on Tehran by Western powers.
The 47-year-old Democrat briefly spoke to Zardari, King Abdullah, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and its Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday over telephone, thanking them for their congratulatory messages.
A draft of the proposed constitutional package to be laid before Parliament later this month indicates that several powers of the President would be massively clipped, The News reported.
Asif Ali Zardari, currently being treated for heart complications in Dubai, will need several weeks to be fit and resume his duties, one of his close aides said on, while acknowledging that "immense pressure" on the Pakistan President could be the reason for his condition.
Pakistan wants a "constructive, sustained and result-oriented" engagement with India and is committed to peacefully resolving all outstanding bilateral issues, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday. Zardari made the remarks during a meeting with Pakistan's High Commissioner-designate to India and former foreign secretary Salman Bashir.
"We want ownership of the drone. Democracy doesn't believe in half measures," Zardari told newsmen in London when asked about reports that US has agreed to hand over control of drone aircraft to Islamabad.
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's 14-member interim cabinet of caretaker premier Mir Hazar Khan Khoso was on Tuesday sworn-in by President Asif Ali Zardari with ministers drawn from all four provinces of the country. Zardari administered oath to the 14-member caretaker cabinet as one candidate stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony because he is serving in a government department.
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso was on Monday sworn in as Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister by President Asif Ali Zardari during a ceremony held at the presidency.
Taking serious note of the 'spot-fixing' scandal that rocked Pakistan cricket team in the ongoing fourth Test against England in London, President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday asked for an immediate preliminary report from PCB chairman Ijaz Butt into the allegations.
Zardari did not name the international and local players that acted as guarantors for the settlement but said jokingly that they had decided that Musharraf would 'play golf in his post-presidential life'.
Pakistan's political circles were abuzz on Wednesday with speculation about the recall of ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani in the wake of media reports on secret communications between Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and the American administration to avert a possible military takeover.
After weeks of wrangling, Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday approved a third draft of a letter that will ask Swiss authorities to revive graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari, with the government making it clear that any proceedings in that country would be conditional to the immunity available to the president.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country wants to resolve all issues, including Kashmir, with India through talks. He reiterated his "unwavering " support for the Kashmiri people during a speech in Muzaffarabad on the occasion of "Kashmir Solidarity Day. "
A 'chadar' was on Sunday offered on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the dargah of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.
Asked if he would agree to a power-sharing deal with Musharraf, Zardari told a magazine: "It's too early and our wounds are too deep to think of having any working relationship with the ruling party or President Pervez Musharraf."
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday failed to break the deadlock over modalities for impeaching Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and reinstating deposed judges.
A Pakistani court on Monday constituted a larger bench to hear a contempt of court petition against President Asif Ali Zardari while a lawyer filed a plea in the supreme court challenging the president's immunity and holding of dual offices.
Pakistan will be in 'great trouble' if President-elect Asif Ali Zardari does not change the policies of his predecessor Pervez Musharraf, which have 'derailed the Kashmir issue', the founder of the outlawed Lashker-e-Taiba has said.Militant ideologue Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who now heads the Jamat-ud-Dawah, called on the people of Pakistan to gather at the Line of Control to show solidarity with the residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan has said that Indian national Sarabjit Singh alias Manjeet Singh's mercy petition was not pending in President Asif Ali Zardari's office, as his execution had already been stayed by the 'previous government'.
A guest present at Dr Singh's lunch for President Zardari tells Sheela Bhatt what happened during the meal.
Top US security officials briefed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday, on the probe into the botched car bombing in New York by a Pakistani-American and discussed measures to prevent "potential attacks."
Ahead of Asif Ali Zardari's pilgrimage to the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on nThursday took a dig at the Pakistan President, wondering how could the prayers of those who have an "evil eye" on India could be answered.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has struck down President Asif Ali Zardari's order appointing two top judges, stoking fears of a fresh showdown between the government and judiciary with the ruling Pakistan People's Party blaming the fiercely independent Chief Justice for the crisis. Going against the recommendations of the country's top judge Iftikhar Chaudhry, the President on Saturday appointed Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif as a judge of the apex court.
Pakistan's national interests will be the basis for a decision on reopening the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation supply routes to Afghanistan that were closed last year, President Asif Ali Zardari has said.
US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas are counter-productive as they violate the country's sovereignty and result in civilian casualties which cause deep resentment and fuel militancy, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday.
Pakistani authorities have foiled a plot to attack parliament during President Asif Ali Zardari's address to a joint sitting of the two houses and arrested several terrorists and an employee of the foreign ministry, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday. The terrorists had planned to attack Parliament when Zardari was addressing a joint session of the National Assembly and Senate on March 17, Malik said.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday insisted that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should write to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, saying no one is above the law.
Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, currently on death row following his conviction for alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990, is hopeful that his fresh mercy petition will get a "favourable decision" from President Asif Ali Zardari, his lawyer said on Thursday.
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.
Addressing media persons after their 40-minute one-on-one meeting, Zardari, in his short statement, said: "I am grateful to Dr Singh for inviting me for lunch even though I am on a private visit. We have had fruitful talks. During the meeting, we spoke on all issues possible. I hope to hold further talks soon with Dr Singh on Pakistani soil."
Pakistan's Law minister Babar Awan resigned on Wednesday to appear as the government's counsel in a case in the Supreme Court seeking a review of the death sentence awarded to former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. President Asif Ali Zardari, who also heads the ruling Pakistan People's Party, recently asked the apex court to review the death sentence awarded to Bhutto in 1979.
A political storm appeared to be brewing in Pakistan on Monday with Asif Ali Zardari's ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement asking him to quit over a controversial law that allowed the President to return home in 2007 by scrapping graft cases and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif threatening to challenge the legislation in court.
When the prime minister met President Zardari in Tehran, 26/11 was clearly on the Indian leader's mind. Nikhil Lakshman reports from the Iranian capital.
Notwithstanding the chill in bilateral relations, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have sent their New Year greetings to their Indian counterparts.Zardari and Gilani have sent their greetings to President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through the Ministry of External Affairs, sources said on Wednesday.
The conspirators, who killed former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto, wanted to "provoke" her supporters with her assassination so as to hasten the process of "balkanisation" of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has said.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will have to face several old corruption cases when he loses his immunity from prosecution at the end of his five-year term next month, a government official said on Monday.
The confidential document shows that the then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had called Zardari, asking him to send the ISI chief to India, to which the President readily agreed. He, however, was overruled by the Pakistani Army led by General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
The strict measures put in place by American authorities to screen air travellers from Pakistan have emerged as a major irritant in relations between the two countries, with President Asif Ali Zardari, on Friday, asking the US to review its new security policy.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday backtracked on his remarks describing militants in Jammu and Kashmir as "terrorists", saying there is no change in Pakistan's Kashmir policy, a day after his comments triggered an outcry in this country.
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