Pakistan said on Saturday night that its "hands are clean", it had nothing to hide and that it is not involved in the Mumbai terror attacks but offered unconditional support and assistance to India to unearth the hands behind the incident.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has met Home Secretary G K Pillai against the backdrop of apparent differences between the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of home affairs in connection with the Indo-Pak talks held recently. Rao met Pillai on Thursday and is understood to have briefed him about the recent talks between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
"I think the foreign minister of Pakistan does not know the ABC of diplomacy. He has to learn the basic elements of diplomacy i.e. courtesy and respect. You may or may not agree with the other person but you cannot leave courtesy and respect due to him," Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
Home Minister P Chidambaram virtually ticked off Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for his statement that it was difficult for his country to rein in elements like Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed.
Iran and Pakistan recently signed an export deal that commits Tehran to selling natural gas to Islamabad from 2014.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will invite his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to India during his visit to Islamabad in July as part of efforts to reduce the "trust deficit" between the two neighbours.
Despite the blasts, Pranab Mukherjee's Pakistan visit is crucial.
The United States on Thursday said it will make sure that justice is delivered to the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and that it has conveyed the same to Pakistan government.
Pakistan intends to invite External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Islamabad where it will make "certain proposals" to bridge the "trust deficit" between the two countries.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will pay a six-day state visit to China from April 10, his first foreign trip since the new coalition government took over, during which several bilateral agreements are expected to be signed. New Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar will accompany Musharraf during the visit. It will also be the first trip abroad by the new ministers.
The security situation in South Asia could get further complicated if the United States agrees to have a civilian nuclear deal with Pakistan, according to experts. Pakistan and the US are set to hold their first high-level strategic dialogue this week in Washington, co-chaired by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Pakistan wants a nuclear deal with the US on the lines of the ndo-US nuclear deal.
Pakistan said on Tuesday that it had given a "blank cheque" to China to play a role in improving the Indo-Pak ties and it is for India to decide whether they would be comfortable with Beijing acting as a "third party".
It seems that the Sharm-el-Sheikh controversy and Congress party's politics over it has hit the Prime Minister's Office. A source in the government is underplaying the September 27 meeting between Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York.
Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has asserted that the main agenda of his meeting his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York would be to pressurise Islamabad in taking action against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack.
Pakistan has been insisting on third party mediation on the Kashmir issue, a demand outrightly rejected by India which wants it to be dealt bilaterally. But chairman of the Pakistan People's Party that leads the ruling coalition had said recently that the ties between the two countries should not be held hostage to the Kashmir issue, which should be left for future generations to resolve.
The new approach should not be construed as putting the Kashmir issue on the back-burner. 'There are areas like trade where we feel we need to move on to the mutual benefit of both the countries,' Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in an interview with Dawn News channel.
Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison on Wednesday in a corruption case for retaining expensive state gifts when he was in power, dealing another blow to the jailed former premier, a day after he was handed a 10-year jail term for leaking sensitive state secrets.
Qureshi is the senior most functionary of the government to be infected with the virus.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quershi has asked the US to help Islamabad fight the Taliban, saying his government is "very determined to eliminate sanctuaries of the extremists on its soil".
Till date, Pakistan, in all its official communication, has been referring to Jammu and Kashmir as "Indian Administered Kashmir"
'India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world including in Karachi'
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday, "recalled France's constant position on Kashmir", which being that "it is up to the two countries (Indian and Pakistan), under the framework of their bilateral political dialogue, to resolve this dispute so as to establish lasting peace."
The army chief also made it clear that a decision in this regard has to be taken by the government.
Qureshi said the matter will be taken up during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to the country on September 5.
Both the countries have deployed their big guns for the 'diplomatic offensive'.
Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noor-Ul-Haq Qadri was seen seated near Saeed as he addressed an All Parties Conference organised by the Difa-e-Pakistan Council on Sunday.
Responding to questions on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan quoting a European Union disinformation lab report to accuse India of subversive activities through fake media organisations and similar allegations by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that as a responsible democracy, India does not practice disinformation campaigns.
The foreign minister said the conversation between the two leaders was held in a 'cordial environment'.
It is also learnt that Khan congratulated Modi on his election victory during their first face-to-face interaction.
Chaudhry, the former information minister, said that the decision was taken in a meeting of the lawmakers of the party ahead of prime minister's elections for which the party has nominated ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place. The ties between the two countries had strained after Pakistan-based terror groups launched attacks in India in 2016.
The decision was approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan in view of the tense situation in Kashmir, the minister told state broadcaster PTV.
The NC leader urged both India and Pakistan to resume their dialogue "for everyone's greater good".
This is the second time after Modi was re-elected to power that the Pakistani premier has expressed his desire to work together with India for the betterment of their peoples.
As a mark of respect to the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in the Pulawama terrorist attack last month, Indian cricketers sported the Army cap and also donated their match fee for the welfare of the families of the martyrs.
The foreign minister acknowledged that he spoke with Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz and India should not make it an issue.
Though Bajwa met Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Arabia's military chief of staff General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili, he failed to meet the crown prince.
Negotiations between the embattled Pakistan government and protesters on Monday made "some progress" even as opposition leader Imran Khan stuck to his demand of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation to end the 26-day political impasse that has paralysed the nation.
The report quoted Khan as saying that he 'tried to call Modi last night' (Wednesday).
Pak claimed that the Indian Prime Minister's 'internal politics' do not permit him to extend an invitation to his Pakistani counterpart.
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