'We are not part of the Indian sub-continent. We are more like Central Asia than South Asia. I don't know how we got stuck with South Asia.'
The prime minister was accompanied by Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Three gunmen opened fire inside the Imam Bargha Mehdi, a Shiite mosque in Karachi, when worshippers were offering prayers.
But Sadr's spokesman Sheikh Ali Shaibani told journalists while vacating the mosque that the cleric would not accept Allawi's demand to disband his Mehdi army and continue to fight the occupation forces.
Islamic clerics on Friday barred women who are not accompanied by a close male relative from entering markets of Karak area in Pakistan's restive northwest.
Authorities said social media posts will be monitored to ensure that no attempt is made to vitiate the atmosphere.
Incumbent Hassan Rouhani faces stiff competition from hardline cleric Raisi.
Centuries from openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan helped India crush Pakistan by nine wickets in the Super Four match of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday.
A day after Narendra Modi accused her of resorting to "rabid communalism", Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday hit back asking whether someone who "speaks lies" was fit for the PM's post.
The attack was claimed by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) which said it would not tolerate 'any Chinese military expansionist endeavours on Baloch soil'.
The primary aim for the Rohit Sharma-led India against minnows Hong Kong would be to get their combination right before the big game against Pakistan on Wednesday.
'From exile in India, he keeps the Tibetan cause blazing on the world radar.' 'He could take himself very seriously indeed -- hundreds of millions of people do, after all.' 'Instead,' discovers Mitali Saran, 'he is a joyous, laughing beacon of dissent, both political and spiritual.'
Rohit Sharma-led India's main aim would be to settle their middle-order combination and also find a perfect batting position for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Rajneesh Gupta profiles the cricketers playing the World Cup 2019.
Several Sikh, Hindu and South Asian rights groups have asked the United States justice department to probe the "discriminatory" surveillance of Muslims by the New York police department, saying such religious profiling unfairly "stigmatises" the community members and "breeds distrust".
Major Sandeep Kumar,Captain Manik Sharma and Naik Arvind Singh Chauhan gunned down the the poster boy of resurgent militancy in the Kashmir valley.
This is probably the first time a Hindu priest has been called for services at the national prayer service of the presidential inauguration.
The former head of Delhi's Jama Masjid was in Ajmer to visit the memorial to Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.
'The fact that a rural Kashmiri boy was brainwashed into killing himself and others means there is an active programme that exists which does such recruiting and there will potentially be other such individuals out there,' warns Aakar Patel.
'The verdict must be seen as something more; as a historical balm, a moral restitution and the deliverance of justice to a people wronged,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
The hits and misses of the week.
Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari asked Muslims to stop supporting the so-called secular parties and form a separate party to protect the interests of the community.
The incident occurred on Saturday outside the Imam Bargha Mehdi mosque just after the call for evening prayers.
In a first of its kind in Lok Sabha polls, a "recorded video speech" of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will be shown in "3D" on Monday at 300 places across the country, including 18 in Delhi.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Wednesday skipped a rally addressed here by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee who attacked Narendra Modi and ruled out support to either Congress or BJP after the Lok Sabha polls.
The desecration of Vidyasagar's statue during Amit Anilchandra Shah's rally, which the TMC projected to be a 'Bhojpuri' and 'Dhokla' invasion on West Bengal's culture, may help her gain some favour with middle-class and erudite Bengalis in the last phase of the polls.
Making an intervention during the discussion on the motion for granting constitutional status to the national commission for backward classes, Modi highlighted that there are sections among Muslims, who are backward, adding that they should be included in the discussion over backward classes.
India's majoritarian regime is now making a dangerously fast-paced move towards theocracy, like its western counterpart did a few decades ago, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by 77 runs to win its fourth Plate Championship title at the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. India overcame Tagenarine Chanderpaul's century to beat the West Indies by 46 runs and take fifth place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
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