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.
Separately, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said during a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store in Islamabad that Pakistan wanted its ties with India to normalise "by resolving bilateral disputes through a sustained and meaningful dialogue process."However, "engaging in talks for the sake of talks would serve no purpose," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
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 President Asif Ali Zardari is on shaky grounds, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is pro-America and Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani is doing well in taking military action against terrorists in his country, a top Republican Senator said on Monday.
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.
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.
The sharing of river waters between India and Pakistan is a "sensitive issue" that has the potential for triggering a war between the two countries, an adviser to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Reza Gilani on the sidelines of the 15th SAARC Summit in Colombo against the backdrop of a spurt in terrorist activities against Indian installations and infiltration across the Line of Control.
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.
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.
Sharif told a television news channel in an interview on Thursday that Zardari, whom he has blamed for influencing the apex court's verdict, would not be able to complete his term. He did not give details.
Sharif, who has urged the masses to defy a government clampdown and join a nationwide protest, said the "chances of army takeover is absolutely nil".
Pakistan's relations with India will improve under his government, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Giliani said on Saturday but insisted that an early settlement of all disputes, including the Kashmir issue, was necessary for the two countries to benefit from the peace dividend. Gilani expressed the confidence that "with the election of the new government, Pakistan's relations with India will improve, allowing both countries to grow, develop and prosper in an atmosphere of peace."
Pakistan's report on its probe into the dossier provided by India into the Mumbai terror attacks was on Monday examined in Islamabad, by a top level cabinet committee, headed by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, before being handed over to New Delhi.
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.
A Pakistani probe team has arrived in Sri Lanka to investigate whether there were any local links, including the possibility of the role of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, on the attack on the Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March.
Ahead of the meeting of the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday urged Pakistan to shed its mindset of using terror as an instrument of state policy against New Delhi and take action against those involved in the terror attack on Mumbai. He made it clear that there was no change in India's stand on Pakistan since the Sharm-el-Sheikh talks with his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Pakistan premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday claimed that the material provided by India on the Mumbai attacks constituted "information" and not evidence, and said that "pragmatic cooperation" was the way forward for dealing with the 26/11 probe.
Former National Security Adviser of Pakistan Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was sacked after disclosing to media the Pakistani nationality of Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab, has said he had written authorisation from the prime minister to speak on the evolving situation in the wake of the 26/11 strikes.
Pakistan today said that nuclear proliferation network of atomic scientist A Q Khan was a "closed chapter" and the country is "mindful of its responsibilities as a nuclear weapon state as well as its international obligations."
A brief statement issued by the Prime Minister's House said Yousuf Raza Gilani had sacked Durrani 'for his irresponsible behaviour (of) not taking Prime Minister and other stakeholders into confidence and lack of coordination on matters of national security'. Gilani was quoted by Geo News channel as saying that he had sacked Durrani for commenting on the issue of the nationality of Iman alias Ajmal Kasab without taking him (Gilani) or the government into confidence.
American Vice President-elect Joseph Biden will travel to Pakistan this week to defuse regional tensions in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, according to a media report.
'Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, has insisted that Pakistan is not only working to track down those who may have had links to the attacks, but also promised that if India's allegations prove true, the perpetrators will be put on trial,' Fatima wrote in a column for Al-Jazeera. 'Given the government's track record, one can understand India's lack of faith in Pakistan's justice system,' she wrote in the piece titled, S Asian neighbours' linked destinies.
"Pakistan is a peace-loving country. We don't want to have war or aggression," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said, addressing a function on the occasion of the first death anniversary of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. "We want to have friendly relations with our neighbours -- Afghanistan and India," Gilani said.
Pakistan on Monday turned down British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's request for allowing UK authorities to interrogate the Pakistani suspects arrested in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks, saying it will not hand over any of its nationals to a foreign country and will act on them according to the country's own laws
Taking exception to India's contention that "epicentre of terrorism" is located in Pakistan, Islamabad today warned that such comments would be counter-productive for joint efforts to combat the menace and insisted that none of those detained during the crackdown on JuD would be handed over to India.
India has asked Pakistan to take strict action against Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon and terror leader Maulana Masood Azhar, who are named in a list of 20 wanted terrorists handed over to Islamabad by New Delhi.
In the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, the Pakistan Army chief has informed the country's leadership that if tensions with India mount further, the military will have to move troops from its restive tribal areas to the eastern borders, ending the war against local militants.
It is necessary to resolve all issues between India and Pakistan so that the countries could give attention to the problems of the people, he said in an interview to a TV news channel. Replying to a question about Pakistan's relations with India, he said Islamabad has always maintained that the ties "should be on the basis of equality."
The United States has not pressurised India to return to the dialogue table with Pakistan, says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and added that she was "very impressed" with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's discussion with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt.
"Surely, India gave concessions to Pakistan keeping in mind a long term goal. I think Dr Singh has made a sacrifice to gain bigger things in future. We understand he has taken a risk by going against public opinion in India. Dr Singh has shown some flexibility," says Pakistan media expert Hamid Mir.
Faced with a financial crunch and its currency at its lowest, Pakistan's government has said it will not default on debt repayments, which are to the tune of $500 million.
"Such attacks are a grim reminder of the challenges we face from destructive forces, which have pitted themselves against the values of democracy and pluralism and the voices of moderation," Dr Singh said in a letter to his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani was handed a "charge-sheet" by Central Intelligence Agency chief Michael V Hayden on Pakistani intelligence agencies' links to militant activities and was told to rein in the ISI during their meeting in Washington.
Addressing a press conference, Karzai said Kabul reserved the right to strike Taliban insurgents on Pakistani soil as a form of self-defence. "Afghanistan has the right of self defence. When the Taliban cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and to kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to go back and do the same," Karzai said.
Pakistan has expressed hope that resolution of all outstanding matters, including the core issue of Kashmir, with India, would usher in a new era of peace, enabling the two sides to use their scarce resources to overcome pressing problems like poverty and disease.Pakistan has embarked on the composite dialogue process with India "with a sense of responsibility towards the future generations," he said.
United States President George W Bush on Sunday appreciated Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism, as he held talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.During the hour-long meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Middle East in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, Bush lauded Pakistan's initiatives to curb terrorism and extremism, posing threat to the entire world. The two leaders also discussed ways and means to enhance economic cooperation.
