On the eve of US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's visit to the South Asia, The Guardian newspaper has said Pakistan is the greatest foreign policy challenge for the Barack Obama administration.
'The Mansoor Taliban is really an extension of the Haqqani Network which in turn is an instrument of the ISI. With Ashraf Ghani ready to dance to Pakistani tunes and with the Haqqani Network becoming part of the Afghan government, Pakistan is all set to see the fruition of its strategic policy,' says Sushant Sareen.
Terming United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's forthcoming visit to Pakistan as a 'people-to-people trip', Obama administration's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke has said that Clinton's trip to the troubled nation would be one the most important foreign visits of the top American diplomat.
The Obama administration is "disturbed" by the release of Jamaat-ud-Daawa chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who was placed under house arrest nearly six months ago in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke said on Wednesday.
While Cong has made sure that it will follow the central leadership's line on Citizenship Act, Sena and NCP said they will take a decision after discussing the matter.
Special United States Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, who was once speculated to be US President Obama's trouble-shooter to Kashmir, is so sensitive to creating an uproar in New Delhi if he speaks about Kashmir, that he doesn't even want to say the 'K word.'
Top English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur has joined hands with Nagpur-based Krida Vikas Sanstha Nagpur, to take the Indian Slum Team for the Homeless World Cup football tournament in Milan that is scheduled from September 6 to 14.
The independent task force set up last year included Richard Holbrooke, the Special US Representatives for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and General James Jones, National Security Advisor. But both of them stepped down from the task force before the first draft was written, and as such they are not associated with the report, it says.
The United States and its allies are offering cash and jobs to Taliban fighters as part of a stepped up negotiation with representatives of Mullah Omar and other insurgents to persuade them to lay down their arms, a news report said on Thursday.
United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday said that Pakistani leaders brought up the issue of India's alleged involvement in Balochistan, but did not give any credible evidence to support their claim.
India, Pakistan and the United States were facing the shared challenge of combating terrorism, a top American official said on Wednesday as he pressed Islamabad to 'move forward' from the 'complicated history' with New Delhi to take on the 'common enemy.'
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has met top US officials to discuss the Barack Obama Administration's review of the Afghan policy.
Asked whether Swaraj will attend the conference, he said, "The external affairs minister will not be able to attend." Swaraj is undergoing treatment for kidney failure.
Expressing concern over the release of A Q Khan from house arrest, the United States told Pakistan that the disgraced nuclear scientist continues to be a "serious threat" to proliferation of nuclear weapons technology. US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, who is currently on a visit to Islamabad, certainly raised the issue pertaining to A Q Khan, State Department spokesperson Robert Wood said on Wednesday.
'Much as the Palestinian issue remains the core obstacle to peace in the Middle East, the question of Kashmir must be addressed in some meaningful way to bring stability to this region,' he said. He hoped the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan will work towards a 'just and reasonable' solution to the issue.
India and the United States are destined to be partners at the world stage due to their shared common values and outlooks on a wide range of issues, the Pentagon has said as US Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter concluded his highly successful trip to New Delhi.
Australia's World Cup squad will stop at Gallipoli in Turkey on the way to England to draw inspiration at the World War One battle site where thousands of Australian soldiers died in the ill-fated campaign.
A top American diplomat has said asserting that the Trump Administration is moving quickly on its own strategy to fight against terror groups.
Holbrooke is currently in Afghanistan after completing a two-day visit to Pakistan. He is said to have told the Pakistani leadership during his visit that there was a need to keep India informed about developments taking place in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has acknowledged that the Taliban, with whom his government reached a truce deal in the restive Swat valley days ago, are "murderous thugs and militants" who "pose a danger to Pakistan, the United States and India".
"We are troubled and confused in the sense about what happened in Swat, because it is not an encouraging trend," Richard Holbrooke, the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan told the PBS news channel in an interview.
Sharif approved an inquiry committee's recommendation to remove his special assistant on foreign affairs Fatemi from his post.
Bangladesh's star left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan needs just two wickets for becoming the only man in world cricket to be his country's most successful bowler in all three forms of the game. Shakib with 206 ODI wickets is behind fellow left-armer Abdur Razzak on 207. The all-rounder will be looking to achieve the record in the three-match ODI home series against Afghanistan.
Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York during which he raised the Kashmir issue.
Holbrooke declared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, "We do not think that Pakistan is a failed State. We think it's a State under extreme test from the enemies who are also our enemies and who have the same common enemy -- the United States and Pakistan. It just isn't (a failed State). But it is a State under enormous social, political and economic pressure. And India is always a factor."
Condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, US President Barack Obama and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that no country's territory should be used to destabilise its neighbours.
"As the ISI tries to rein in those militant proxies that have slipped from Islamabad's grasp, it will likely try to regain their support by redirecting their attention away from Pakistan and toward India, an enemy on which both Islamabad and the militants can agree. As a result, it is likely India will come under attack again," Stratfor warned.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry has held wide-ranging talks with visiting Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on key issues, including the regional situation with respect to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"We have removed the leader of an organisation that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like Al-Qaeda," the US president said in a statement.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a three-day visit and is expected to discuss regional security situation, defence deals worth over Rs 20,000 crore and joint military hardware development projects with the Indian political and military leadership.
A proposed nuclear deal aims to stop Pakistan from building small tactical nuclear weapons that could fall into terrorist hands.
'Terrorism continues to be the overwhelming threat to security and stability in the SCO region and therefore Dr Jaishankar strongly pitched for 'collective action',' observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi is hoping to arrange a meeting with an Afghan boy who shot to fame after pictures of him dressed in a striped plastic bag jersey went viral, Kabul's football federation said on Monday.
Former Director General of Sikkim Police Avinash Mohananey interrogated Azhar many a times during his two-decade tenure in the Intelligence Bureau.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Tuesday shifted the 50-over Asia Cup from India to United Arab Emirates as the Board of Control for Cricket in India could not procure permission from the central government to host Pakistan.
At least 28 people, including five children, were killed and 30 others injured when a suicide bomber shouting 'Allahu Akbar' blew himself up inside a mosque packed with worshippers for Friday prayers in Mohmand Agency in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal region.
Musharraf also underlined the need to seize the historic opportunity before the two countries to resolve the Kashmir issue.
Government sources had claimed on Tuesday that four persons have committed suicide in fear of NRC so far, while four others had died while waiting in queues to procure the requisite papers.
The prime minister was received at the airport by India's Ambassador to the US, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and his American counterpart Ken Juster.
The government on Monday announced the appointment of Jayant Prasad, India's permanent representative in Geneva, as the next ambassador to Afghanistan.
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