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.
Ali Haider Gilani, son of ex-premier Gilani, has been recovered from Afghanistan's Ghazni province, Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement.
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.
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.
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.
Pakistan on Saturday test fired two short-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads and striking Indian cities, with Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani saying it was time for the world to recognise his country as an atomic power.The armed forces conducted 'training launches' of the Shaheen-I missile with a range of 650 km and the Ghaznavi missile with a range of 290 km at the conclusion of an annual field training exercise.
Hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that his country "qualifies" for a civilian nuclear deal with the US, like that of India, the Obama Administration in a blunt message told it that such a deal is not on platter of its talks with Islamabad.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that Pakistan will 'very soon' inform India about the findings of its probe into the Mumbai attacks after conducting a 'proper inquiry, of which transparency will be a focal point'. "We have assured the world that we are conducting a full investigation into the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks. As soon as we receive the final point of view of the Law Ministry, we will take the world and India into confidence," he said.
India said on Saturday that it has received no reply from Pakistan to the dossier of evidence on Mumbai terror attacks as claimed by Islamabad.
Ruling out the possibility of a war with India in the wake of heightened tensions, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday alleged the Indian government was trying to find a scapegoat to cover up for the intelligence failure behind the Mumbai terror attacks. "My assessment is that there will not be a war," he said in Lahore.
Nuclear weapons will not be used, in case, a war breaks out between Indian and Pakistan, said Pakistan Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar on Tuesday.This was reported by a Pakistani website.
In an apparent bid to counter the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Pakistan plans to seek fuel technology from China for 10 new atomic power plants it intends to set up over the next two decades.
Pak PM Gilani said he would conduct an investigation into the attack on India's mission in Kabul.
The US has said its policy on the Kashmir issue that it should be resolved bilaterally remains unchanged, days after Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani sought its support in the settlement of the problem with India.
The death toll in the deadly suicide bombing near the Lal Masjid in Islamabad rose to 20 with a policeman succumbing to his injuries on Monday even as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the attack was aimed at destabilising Pakistan.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday said that India is keen to bring peace and harmony with Pakistan.
Pakistan's former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said he had spoken to his son Ali Haider for the first time since he was kidnapped by a Taliban group in 2013 and is now being held in Afghanistan.
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.