Pakistan said on Thursday it will adopt a "positive and constructive" approach to its upcoming talks with India with a view to resolving all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir problem, on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect.
Notwithstanding India's insistence on action against Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, Pakistan was non-committal on action against the mastermind of Mumbai attacks and several other terror strikes in India. "Same old beaten track," said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi when asked for his response to India's repeated demand that action should be taken against Saeed in connection with Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan expressed hope on Tuesday night that the issue of an Indian woman diplomat being arrested on charges of spying for the Inter-Services-Intelligence would not overshadow the expected meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu.
Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke on Tuesday said that the Obama administration would soon announce a range of actions for Pakistan in the field of water, energy and security.
"We are opposed to nuclear proliferation as well as an arms race in the region," he said, adding that Pakistan believes the launch of the Indian nuclear-powered submarine will affect strategic stability.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday met Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, who had also met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi earlier. Pakistani officials said that during the 30-minute meeting, Farooq briefed Zardari about the All Parties Hurriyat Conference's perspective of the ground realities in Kashmir.Earlier, the Pakistan foreign minister met Farooq, ahead of his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on Monday.
A day after India gave "additional information" to Pakistan on the Mumbai terror attacks, Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Saturday said that New Delhi will keep providing more evidence to Islamabad "as and when" it is collected.
As the international apprehensions grew over the release of rouge atomic scientist A Q Khan, Pakistan on Saturday defended setting him free, saying his clandestine nuclear proliferation network had been "dismantled." "A Q Khan is history," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, claiming that the Pakistan authorities had broken his nuclear smuggling network and extracted all the information from him.
Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik has met Home Minister P Chidambaram and is understood to have discussed aspects related to the Mumbai terror attacks.
President Asif Ali Zardari today conferred one of Pakistan's highest civilian honours on US Vice President-elect Joseph Biden in recognition of his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development" in the country.
Pakistan today asked India to share information and evidence on the Mumbai terrorist attacks, saying its probe into the incident could not proceed unless there is "sustained and pragmatic cooperation" between the two countries.
"What bewilders me is the lack of realisation that durable peace in South Asia will remain elusive without a just solution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said at an Asia Society meeting in New York on Friday.
"Do we control children and women in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir so that they will come out and agitate? No we can't do that," Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.
India and Israel are the only two countries whose aid workers will not be granted special visas by Pakistan to join relief efforts for the millions of people affected by the country's worst floods.
India on Friday welcomed Pakistan's decision to accept its $5 million aid offer for flood relief in the country and said it was willing to provide more assistance. Pakistan's decision to accept the aid came nearly a week after the offer was made by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi last Friday. "We welcome the decision of Pakistan to accept the aid offer," external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.
Responding to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's invitation to visit India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has made it clear that he would accept it if the talks are to be "result-oriented", covering all issues of importance, including Kashmir. He stressed the need for "positive and constructive approach" after his July 15 talks with Krishna ended on a bitter note, particularly on Kashmir and terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had conveyed the offer of aid to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi during a telephone conversation on Friday.
Pakistan has said it is ready to take action against Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed but added that India should give 'concrete evidence' that stands 'legal scrutiny' and holds him responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi insisted that his country was committed to bringing the perpetrators of 26/11 to justice but could not give any specific time-frame for conclusion of the trial in the case as the judiciary acted independently
Pakistan on Wednesday accused India of not responding positively to its efforts to restart the dialogue process and contended that it would go the "extra mile" if New Delhi takes steps in this regard.
Noting that Pakistan had done nothing on the 26/11 case, former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra on Tuesday said the government had made a "serious mistake" by holding talks and these were "bound to fail".
Pakistan appears to have piped down on Saturday after two days of acrimony with India with its leaders saying it wanted continuation of the bilateral dialogue and is serious about normalisation of Indo-Pak ties.
Pakistan's leading newspapers have lamented that the Indo-Pak foreign ministerial-level talks have produced nothing but a promise for more talks.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday regretted that Home Secretary G K Pillai was not 'defended' by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna when he was 'openly castigated' by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for his remarks that the Inter Services Intelligence had coordinated the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
India [ Images ] secured an assurance from Pakistan on Thursday that it would act on the leads given by Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley to unravel the conspiracy behind the Mumbai terror attacks even as the two countries agreed to continue their dialogue.
The major thrust of the meeting is on anti-India terrorism that continues to emanate from Pakistan.
'If the ministers spend their time throwing Indian dossiers on terrorism and Pakistani dossiers on Kashmir and river waters at each other, they will miss an opportunity for creating a possible and much-needed turning point in Indo-Pakistan relations.'
The Pakistan government has trashed former president Pervez Musharraf's four-point formula to resolve Kashmir issue, saying it was "his thinking" which did not have the endorsement of Pakistan Parliament or Cabinet and suggested a fresh approach to address the vexed problem.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in Islamabad on June 24 to finalise the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has agreed to Pakistan's request to constitute an independent commission to inquire into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Pakistan on Friday sought to assuage Afghanistan's concern over the former's talks with local tribal leaders, stating that the country has not been negligent of its obligation towards peace and stability in Afghanistan.Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who made a day-long visit to Kabul, said his country has not forgone the military option while pursing talks with the Taliban, aimed at ending militancy in the northwestern tribal areas.
Contending that the relations with Pakistan had undergone 'transformation," India on Thursday said it had decided to have dialogue after assurance at the level of Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani that India's 'core concern' with regard to terrorism would be addressed adequately.
Pakistan agreed to a change in the format for future talks with India in return for New Delhi's consent to resume broad-based engagement with it, diplomatic sources said on Friday.
In an apparent bid to drive a wedge between Indian government and the ruling party, Pakistan has said that "well-meaning" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was keen to normalise ties with it but "elements in Congress" did not support him.
As Washington tries to find its way out of Afghanistan, Pakistan has emerged as the central player dictating the terms of this emerging endgame in South Asia, notes Harsh Pant.
Pakistan has indicated its readiness for the foreign secretary-level talks on February 25, saying the two sides need to 'move forward' but insisted on resumption of composite dialogue covering Kashmir and other outstanding issues that is 'meaningful and result-oriented.'
All of 34, Hina Khar Rabbani, Pakistan's first woman and youngest foreign minister, was thrust into the spotlight as she landed in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting later this month, effectively ruling out the possibility of talks with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the summit. Pakistan will be represented by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the meeting to be held at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago during November 27-29, official sources told PTI.
Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who last week stood side-by-side with Qureshi and declared there are no conditions attached to the aid and that the bill in no way impinges on Pakistan's sovereignty, reiterated these assertions and also out a lengthy fact sheet which he said, separates "myth from fact on the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009."
As Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers are set to meet in New York, Pakistan appears to be under tremendous pressure from US and its allies to ensure that it convincingly addresses India's concerns on terrorism, including Mumbai attacks, and does nothing that derails all efforts to revive the bilateral peace process.
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