In an ice-breaking decision that could end the post-26/11 stalemate, India has offered to have Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan to discuss terrorism and any other issue that could lead to peace between the two neighbours.
The case relates to alleged terror funding in 2017 in the valley and involves Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind based in Pakistan.
Separatists on Thursday hailed Pakistan's statement that an "independent Kashmir" could pave the way for long-lasting peace in South Asia, calling it an acknowledgement of the sacrifices made by Kashmiris and asked New Delhi to follow suit.
Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan have met and held "good detailed discussions" on terrorism at Sharm el-Shiekh in Egypt ahead of Thursday's meeting between prime ministers of the two countries to review Islamabad's action on its commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
India on Tuesday demanded a 'visible response' and undertaking from Pakistan on bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice, as officials and leaders of the two countries prepare to meet in Sharm-el-Sheikh to review Islamabad's actions on its promises.
In the first high-level contact with Pakistan since the Mumbai attacks, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in Colombo on Thursday and rejected his suggestion for resumption of Composite Dialogue till Islamabad took credible steps to end terrorism.
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.
Though Pakistan fears that a repeat of the Mumbai attacks could be "very dangerous" to it, there is relatively little shift in its attitude towards India which it views as a "threat", a noted US scholar has said.
A report by leading Pakistani daily The News, on the bilateral talks held in New Delhi on Thursday, has claimed that Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was not invited to Pakistan by her counterpart Salman Bashir.
Shortly after Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir addressed a press conference in New Delhi that was seen as acrimonious, sources in the government said that by offering to hold talks, India had made a sincere effort to rebuild trust and would watch how Pakistan acts on its core concern of terrorism.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir who spoke to the media at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi on Thursday after meeting his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao said his country desired better ties with India but said Pakistan did not wants talks in which it is lectured to by India.
On the eve of crucial talks between Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers, top diplomats of the two countries met in New York on Saturday to prepare ground for the parleys, where India is expected to demand speedy probe into the Mumbai attacks and decisive action against their mastermind, Jamaat-ud-Dawaah chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he would adopt a "positive approach" for his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York.
At least ten people were killed and nearly 50 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a crowded court complex in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Monday, the latest in a wave of deadly terrorist attacks across the country.
The police remand of two arrested terror suspects Abdul Latif Rashid and Riyaz Ali Imtiaz was on Friday extended till April 1 after the Anti-Terrorism Squad sought their custody. The duo was arrested by the ATS on March 13 for allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks in the metropolis. According to the ATS, the duo was in touch with a person in Pakistan addressed as 'uncle', who is suspected to be Abdul Bashir Khan, an absconding accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts.
In a fresh reshuffle in the Pakistan Hockey Federation, former Olympian Hasan Sardar was appointed selection committee chairman, while Brig (Retd) Manzoor Hussain Atif was named advisor to president Qasim Zia.
Ridiculing the claim by Pakistan navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir that there was no evidence to show that Mumbai attackers had taken the sea route, India on Saturday said its investigation has conclusively proved that they came from the neighbouring country through the maritime route. Commenting on his counterpart's claim, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, also said that the 'full and complete' probe by the investigating agencies have proved that the attackers came via sea.
Now, it is quite clear that the real 'talk' that Pakistan wanted to do with India was done by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir in his press conference at the Pakistan Embassy.
One person was injured on Friday morning in an explosion in Malabagh locality in Srinagar.The police said the explosive device, hidden in a polythene bag, went off when a municipality sweeper was cleaning a road in the area."The sweeper, identified as Bashir Ahmad, was injured in the low-intensity blast and was shifted to the hospital for treatment," a senior police officer said.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's surprise visits to check on various government departments have heads rolling with the suspension of an assistant sub inspector of a police station in the city.
Describing Mumbai attacker Ajmal Amir Iman Kasab's confession as "doctored", Pakistani authorities have reportedly said the evidence provided by India on the terror strikes is "insufficient" and no action can be taken based on it.
Pakistan's banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi on Wednesday took responsibility for a bomb attack on a senior judge of the Sindh high court earlier this month in which nine people were killed.
Pakistan's navy chief on Saturday retracted his statement -- that Ajmal Amir Kasab did not take the sea route -- and said he backed the Interior Ministry's report that nine terrorists had sailed from Karachi to launch the strikes. Admiral Noman Bashir, who had on Friday contended that the navy had no evidence to prove that Kasab took the sea route, said he was not contradicting the Interior Ministry's report on the Mumbai attacks.
India reminded Pakistan's Naval Chief Admiral Noman Bashir that Pakistan had already made a formal acknowledgement about the fact that the 10 attackers came to Mumbai from Karachi by vessels. "I am sure somebody (in Pakistan) will deny tomorrow what the Naval chief said. This is part of prevarication," Home Minister P Chidambaram told media-persons in New Delhi when asked to comment on Bashir's statement.
Track and field athletes led India's gold rush on the third day of competitions at the 13th South Asian Games as the country added a whopping 29 medals to jump to the top of the medals tally, in Kathmandu, on Wednesday.
Normal life was affected in Kashmir Valley on Sunday following a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest the killing of a three-year-old boy by unidentified gunmen in Sopore.
Facing flak for inaction against Mumbai attack perpetrators, including Hafiz Mohd Saeed, Pakistan today said it does not want to take to court a "half-baked" case against the JuD chief in the absence of "legally tenable" evidence and asked India not to hold back the ties on a single issue.
In its first formal response to India with regard to the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan on Friday said it had initiated a 'series of actions' in connection with the probe into the terror strikes.Pakistan's response was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal, a day after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Islamabad should inform New Delhi through diplomatic channels about steps it had taken in the wake of the Mumbai strike
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei, who will hold consultations with the top leadership of its 'all weather ally', stressed the need for maintaining peace and stability in South Asia, the Daily Times newspaper reported.Yafei, who met Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Sunday called on India and Pakistan to work together to defuse the heightened tensions.
Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal on Friday met Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to discuss the situation in the region.
Displaying anger at the Kabul embassy blast in which "elements" based in Pakistan were involved, New Delhi on Monday said the incident had vitiated the atmosphere putting the dialogue process "under stress" and asked Islamabad to address its concerns.
Though the main focus of talks between Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir is on peace and security, Jammu and Kashmir and CBMs, other issues like release of prisoners, visa relaxation, trade and commerce will also come up for discussions.
Pakistan navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir on Friday claimed that there was no proof that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year, had used the sea route to reach India's financial capital."We have consistent surveillance on the maritime border. There is no possibility that Kasab and his associates used the sea route from Pakistan," he told a press conference.
In Shujaat Bukhari, Kashmir has lost a journalist, an activist, ambassador, a formidable voice and, above all, a great human being, mourns Athar Parvaiz.
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President Pervez Musharraf has welcomed resumption of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan, hoping it would lead to "some fruitful and substantial" conclusion. Musharraf, who has supervised several rounds of talks with India, was given a presentation by the foreign ministry during a meeting attended by Foreign Minister Qureshi, Foreign Secretary Bashir and other senior officials, on the eve of the two-day talks to be held.
A self-styled divisional commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad was killed and nine security personnel were injured in an encounter in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Tuesday. The encounter broke out between militants and security forces at Shahabad-Kharpora when the ultras hiding there opened fire on the search party, Awantipora SP Bashir Ahmad Khan said.
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Wednesday refused to confirm news reports about official investigations concluding that Kasab was a Pakistani citizen."I can at this point of time only say that our investigation is continuing. We are not in a position to confirm (the media report)," he told a TV channel.Asked if he was denying that Kasab is a Pakistani, he said, "What I am saying, mark my words, we are not in a position at this point to confirm this."
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