Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday accepted a request from his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to send the ISI chief to India for sharing of information related to the terrorist attack in Mumbai.
Calibrated acceleration of the re-engagement process under the supervision of the two prime ministers is the need of the hour, says B Raman
A get together brought about by cricket should serve to revive Indo-Pakistan dialogue so rudely shattered by the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, advocated the Pakistani media after the historic meeting of the two prime ministers at Mohali on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to join him to watch the much awaited World Cup semi final between India and Pakistan, and also to join in a special dinner organised in honour of visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday night.
Two days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plays host to his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani at Mohali during the World Cup semi-final match between the two neighbours, the home secretaries of India and Pakistan are scheduled to hold talks on a range of bilateral issues at New Delhi on Monday. The talks are scheduled to start at the Ashoka hotel in the capital at 10 am.Pakistan Home Secretary Chaudhary Qamar Zaman arrived in India on Sunday.
Asserting that Pakistan will be held responsible if there is a Mumbai-type attack, India on Monday termed "very irresponsible" the statement by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani that his country cannot guarantee that such an incident will not recur.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was less than well disposed towards India, was stripped of his portfolio as foreign minister in the reconstitution of the Pakistan federal cabinet following which he refused to take oath.
A stable, secure and prosperous neighbourhood is a sine qua non for the emergence of a great power. India cannot be merely seen as free-riding on the outside powers for regional stability.
Pakistan will soon decide when and where to present the proof of India's alleged involvement in fomenting unrest in the country, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday.
Terrorists targeted Pakistan's powerful Inter State Intelligence for the second time in less than a month on Tuesday, as suicide bombers struck its office in eastern Multan city detonating their vehicle packed with up to 1,000 kg of explosives, killing at least 12 people and injuring 47 others.
With the Supreme Court of Pakistan determined to take up the issue of presidential immunity on February 1, the country may have to yet again brace itself for a rocky month ahead, reports Amir Mir.
Seeking resumption of composite dialogue, Pakistan has said that India must "act responsibly" and stop being negative or it too will lose interest in taking the peace process forward.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday left for Colombo to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation summit beginning on Saturday, during which terrorism is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion. Singh is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the summit and is likely to convey India's concerns over the recent spurt in cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is under tremendous pressure from different quarters to step down, which probably is the reason why he handed over the 'nuclear button' to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, but analysts believe Zardari has tightened his clutch on the presidency for the time being.
Pakistan has said it will encourage the process of composite dialogue with India 'to reduce tensions and resolve all outstanding issues' between the two neighbouring countries.In a joint statement issued at the end of formal talks between visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and United States President George W Bush on Monday, the two sides said that the Pakistan-India composite dialogue process will be encouraged "to reduce tensions and build trust".
In some blunt talking on Pakistan's role in fomenting terrorism in Kashmir, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has said the US should confront Islamabad on its funding of "mujahideen" groups in the valley and the terror camps running under its nose.
Ahead of his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Obama said historically Pakistan has tolerated or in some cases funded the Mujahideen because they think it's somehow helpful to them in Kashmir, which continues to be a "constant instigator" of tension between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is committed to shed some constitutional powers well before March 30, the deadline he set for materializing his plan, well-placed official sources have said.
A high-level meeting chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad took stock of the deteriorating security situation in the restive Northwestern Frontier Province and authorised Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani to lead a military effort in this regard.
Making the announcement, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Parliament that the Interior Ministry will be asked to 'move a summary to President Pervez Musharraf to commute the sentence of those on death row to life imprisonment'. Under Pakistan Constitution, the President has powers to commute sentences.
China and Pakistan on Thursday signed two agreements and MoUs pertaining to space technology and energy as Beijing pledged $190 million for a satellite project.
In an effort to consolidate its grip on internal security affairs, the Pakistan government on Tuesday carried out a major revamp of the country's intelligence agencies, transferring the political wing of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence to the civilian Intelligence Bureau. As part of the revamp, carried out by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the intelligence agencies would no longer be required to send secret reports to President Pervez Musharraf.
In an interview with Outlook magazine, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in an apparent volte-face, said Pakistan actually never handed any dossier to India during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the NAM summit at Sharm-el-Sheikh in July.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has once again said that Islamabad would continue its support to the Kashmiri people and the government's decision to give autonomy to Gilgit Baltistan does not mean that it has shelved the Kashmir issue."We gave internal autonomy, sovereignty to Gilgit Baltistan which was a long standing demand of its people but this does not mean that we have forgotten Kashmir issue. We will continue to give moral and diplomatic support," he said.
Validating New Delhi's fears that Islamabad was using US security aid to beef up its military against it, the Obama administration has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying the Harpoon anti-ship missile and maritime surveillance aircraft P-3C for land attacks for potential use against India.
The Pakistani Air Force has started the production of pilot-less drones, days after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani pressed the United States to transfer the sensitive technology for a more potent type, which is used by the American military to target the Taliban.According to details issued by the PAF, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra has commenced the production of pilot-less planes Falco Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has said that Islamabad should not beg New Delhi for talks."We should tell India that if they are not ready for talks then Pakistan is also not eager to enter any talk process," Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the House in categorical words.Chaudhry Nisar was referring to the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
What was the need for the indecent hurry shown by Dr Manmohan Singh at Sharm-el-Sheikh for fresh talks with Pakistan? If we had waited for a few months more till a clearer picture emerged from the proceedings of the anti-terrorism court, would the heavens have fallen on our heads, asks B Raman
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who addressed party Members of Parliament on Thursday, backed Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the joint statement signed between Pakistani PM Yusuf Raza Gilani and him in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
What we need to understand is that when Pakistan feels cornered its leaders will seek assistance and sympathy and export mangoes; their purpose served, they will revert to form and export jihadis. The way to handle Pakistan is not through kind gestures and misplaced magnanimity; these are taken as signs of weakness and generally used to bargain for more.
Leader of opposition L K Advani on Tuesday led a delegation of 146 members of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and met President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to intervene in the row triggered by the joint-statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el Sheikh, Egypt -- wherein the issue of Baluchsitan was mentioned for the first time.
Pakistan on Thursday did not confirm or deny reports that it handed over a dossier to New Delhi on the alleged Indian involvement in the unrest in Balochistan, saying the issue involved intelligence matters which cannot be discussed in public. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the matter had been adequately covered by the joint statement issued after the meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the joint statement issued after his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt.However, his statement had few takers, and most experts feel that the reference to Baluchistan in the joint statement would prove to be a costly blunder.The Bharatiya Janata Party has also criticised Dr Singh.
Prime Minister Mamohan Singh on Friday defended the stance taken by the Indian government, in the joint statement issued with Pakistan, after his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yosuf Raza Gilani at the sidelines of the Non-Aligned summit in Egypt.Dr Singh said that he had discussed the terror attack on Mumbai with Gilani, and stressed that sustained, effective and credible action needs to be taken by Pakistan to prevent terror activities on its soil.
Preparing the ground for the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt, Islamabad has handed over a fresh dossier on its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks to New Delhi which is figuring out what it amounts to.
Against the backdrop of industrialised nations (G-8) putting curbs on full nuclear cooperation with countries like India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for Paris on Monday hoping that the visit would help India and France "build" its strategic partnership in nuclear energy, defence and other areas.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will meet Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt on July 16, the Pakistan Foreign Office has said.Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that the foreign secretaries of both countries would also meet during the summit.
Pakistan's elected government will complete its tenure as there is no threat to democracy and the army has no intention of coming to power, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
Members of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed and militants from South Waziristan tribal region are fighting alongside some 5,000 Taliban fighters in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Friday.
Pakistan's powerful Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was on Thursday night given a three-year extension in service, ending months of speculation over his continuance.