Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while talking to reporters at the airport in his hometown of Multan on Saturday, described the cooperation between the two countries "as the key to ensuring successful prosecution of the culprits" involved in the Mumbai attacks.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will chair the inter-ministerial meeting at the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Wednesday to assess the Indian offer of talks, after which a clearer picture of Pakistan's response is expected to emerge.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated this after a meeting with visiting NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who sought deepening cooperation and developing political dialogue between Pakistan and the European military alliance to achieve common strategic objectives. Any 'activation on the eastern border' would affect Pakistan's involvement in the war on terror, Qureshi told a joint press conference after their talks.
India's latest offer of talks has been taken up by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
India's latest offer of talks has been taken up by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday said he would be "delighted" to meet his Pakistani counterpart "if an occasion arises," as the two leaders share space at a global conference on Afghanistan in London.
Describing the Mumbai terror attack as a setback that paused the Composite Dialogue with India, Pakistan on Wednesday expressed confidence that 'this hiccup' in the bilateral ties will be overcome. "This unfortunate incident has been a setback... to the extent that our Composite Dialogue is at a pause at the moment," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.
Pakistan on Thursday strongly condemned the terror strikes in Mumbai and offered complete cooperation and support to India to fight the menace.
With investigators suggesting involvement of some Hindu outfits in cross-border Samjhauta Express train blast, the issue is all set to figure in the Indo-Pak Foreign Ministerial and Home Secretary-level talks next week.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will undertake a three-day visit to India from November 26 during which the two countries are expected to discuss terrorism, Kashmir issue and confidence-building measures.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that India has so far failed to respond to Islamabad's overtures on restarting the stalled composite dialogue process. Speaking in an interview to a TV channel, Qureshi reiterated that Islamabad wants New Delhi to respond and engage in a meaningful and constructive manner."I have always welcomed a meeting, but it has to be a meaningful meeting. It has to be a dialogue which is result oriented," he said.
Warning that terrorists wanted to sabotage the Indo-Pak peace process, Pakistan on Sunday said the two countries should not allow extremists to dictate terms to them.
Amid India's insistence that it should bring to book perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks, Pakistan on Thursday said the groups responsible for the brazen assault on Mumbai was not its "friend" and believes that these outfits have to be "checked, curtailed and shut".
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.
In an interview with Outlook magazine, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in an apparent volte-face, said Pakistan actually never handed any dossier to India during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the NAM summit at Sharm-el-Sheikh in July.
Top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud may have been killed in an American drone attack in South Waziristan in Pakistan's restive tribal belt. Quoting unnamed senior administration officials, the popular ABC News said United States and Pakistani officials now believe that Baitullah Mehsud, head of the Pakistani Taliban, was 'very likely' killed. "There is reason to believe that reports of his death may be true, but it can't be confirmed at this time," an American official said.
"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.
Briefing leaders from PoK on its Kashmir policy ahead of crucial meetings with India to review the composite dialogue process, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi noted that the issue had remained "unresolved despite several attempts at bilateral and multilateral levels" over the last six decades. Pakistan "was ready to engage with India in a constructive dialogue to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties, in particular the people of Kashmir," he was quoted.
Pakistan will take up with India 'certain violations' of the provisions of a 1960 treaty in water projects, being constructed by the neighbouring country on Chenab and Jhelum rivers, during External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Islamabad in May.Design changes in the water projects being built by India go beyond the provisions of the Treaty and Pakistan is making efforts for their rectification. The Indus Waters Treaty gave Pakistan the rights to the rivers.
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's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi seems to be in a denial over failure in getting a commitment from the US the civilian nuclear deal.
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".
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Islamabad would discuss all issues with India at the upcoming talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in New Delhi.
Rejecting India's demand to extradite the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to the country, Pakistan has said such a move will be 'harmful' for it as there was no extradition treaty between the two neighbours. Qureshi said Pakistan had conducted its own 'independent investigations' into the charges of Pakistani elements involved in the Mumbai terror strikes and that it will do everything in the interests of India and Pakistan.
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.
Visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday denied the terrorists who attacked Mumbai had travelled by boats from Karachi. He snapped back at the media in Chandigarh asking the question: "Have you seen the boat? Could you travel on that boat from Karachi? The media should be supportive and understanding. It's too early to say anything."
Putting the onus of resumption of dialogue on India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday said he was ready to meet his Indian counterpart S M Krishna anywhere at anytime and was even willing to fly back to New York on Thursday if he has time.
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.
The composite dialogue between India and Pakistan will resume on May 21 and the two countries will review progress made so far in confidence-building measures, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday. "We will review the results of the fourth round of talks (under the composite dialogue) and then plan the agenda for the fifth round to be held after this meeting," Qureshi said.
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.
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.
The army chief also made it clear that a decision in this regard has to be taken by the government.
'India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world including in Karachi'
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.
Till date, Pakistan, in all its official communication, has been referring to Jammu and Kashmir as "Indian Administered Kashmir"