Pakistan is looking to adopt a tough stance over India's offer to resume foreign secretary-level talks, as it is worried about engaging New Delhi in 'open-ended' talks, diplomatic sources said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday began negotiations on a Strategic Partnership Agreement even as Kabul called on Islamabad to take more steps, including the release of Taliban detainees, to push forward the troubled peace process in the war-torn country.
Pakistan and Iran have begun discussions on the engineering and construction of a $1.5 billion gas pipeline, with an Iranian firm set to build the Pakistani section of the venture within 16 months.
Swaraj said India has made many efforts to have talks with Islamabad and the only reason they have stopped is because of Pakistan's behaviour.
Research Fellow and Director at Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia Aparna Pande, said that Beijing and Moscow will be keenly watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States.
Vajpayee, however, said he was willing to discuss economic ties with Pakistan to his visit to Islamabad.
Disapproving the comments made by Union Home Secretary G K Pillai on the eve of Indo-Pak talks, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday said his whole visit to Islamabad was 'under-pinned' by the remarks, the timing of which was 'very unfortunate.'
Senior Indian and Pakistani officials will meet in Islamabad on December 26 and December 27 for talks on nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures as part of the bilateral dialogue process. This will be the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on nuclear and conventional CBMs in over four years though other officials, including the two Foreign Secretaries, have discussed these issues in recent meetings in Islamabad and New Delhi, diplomatic sources said.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon is likely to travel to Islamabad to hold talks with his counterpart to wind up the fourth round of Composite Dialogue. The two sides are working out exact dates for the talks between the Foreign Secretaries. Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Parliament that India was ready to restart dialogue with Pakistan and hoped that the new leadership there will work with New Delhi in putting the past behind for collective prosperity.
Pakistan is still considering the dates proposed by India for the NSA-level talks between the two nations, an official of the Foreign Office said in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Talks to resolve the Kashmir issue should be held by India and Pakistan before modifying visa rules or trade policies, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq tells Tahir Ali
The United States supports a constructive dialogue and meaningful conversation between India and Pakistan, the Biden administration said Thursday reiterating that it's for New Delhi and Islamabad to decide on the nature of that dialogue.
The expert-level talks on nuclear CBMs will be held on June 19-20 and Foreign Secretary-level talks on June 27-28.
Talks between the water secretaries of India and Pakistan, which were scheduled to be held in Islamabad during January 28-29, have been put off against the backdrop of tensions between the neighbours over ceasefire violations along the Line of Control. "The talks have been postponed. New dates for the talks are yet to be decided," said an official of Pakistan's Foreign Office.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the government would allow Ghazi to be held under house arrest with his ailing mother if he surrenders and frees the trapped women and children.
The deputy prime minister made it clear that there would be no compromise on the country's "unity and integrity."
Asserting that India will not get into a slanging match with Islamabad, the sources said that the roadmap for talks will be decided in the time to come.
The United States has said it was "unfortunate" that the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks have fallen through and asked both the countries to take steps to improve bilateral ties irrespective of what happened.
The meeting comes ahead of Dr Singh's meeting with Musharraf to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The result is a big blow to the military establishment, revealing the limits of 'political engineering'. It reflected the anger of the electorate, especially its younger voters, who have spoken decisively against the persistent harassment and victimisation of Imran Khan's political party, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Ahead of the talks next week with Pakistan on Siachen, Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday sought to lower the expectations, saying that no "dramatic announcement or decision" should be anticipated. He said India will stick to its stand on the issue at the defence secretary-level talks in Islamabad on June 11-12
'When the issue of terrorism came up, the Vice President suo moto referred Pakistan's role in that regard (of terrorism),' Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters when asked if the issue of Pakistan's role in terrorism came up during her meeting with Modi.
The sudden arrest and immediate release of Kashmiri separatist leaders who are to meet Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz introduced an intriguing element into the scheduled talks he will have with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on terror on next week.
According to Assocham, "the prospects for improving bilateral economic relations seem extraordinary. . .Pakistan will benefit by improving trade and economic relations with a fast growing country like India".
Reiterating that his country wants a purposeful dialogue with India for an early resolution of all outstanding issues, including and Kashmir and the river water sharing dispute, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said Islamabad is no hurry to hold talks with New Delhi.
Singh, who arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday evening on a three-day visit met Musharraf before meeting Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri.
A journalist working for a private TV channel was killed on Sunday in Pakistan's Punjab province by unknown gunmen, the channel said. Yaqoob Shehzad, a news correspondent with the Express News was sitting with a friend inside an office in Gujranwala city when armed men came and opened fire.
Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz says he is ready to travel to India but without any pre-conditions
The government has reportedly taken note of Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar's offer of talks at the foreign minister-level to take steps to tone down the belligerence from both sides with regard to the recent violations of the November 2003 ceasefire violations.
Amidst high expectations by India on the MFN issue, Pakistan on Monday asked New Delhi to have "trust and faith" in it, as "times have changed" and Islamabad wants complete normalisation of the bilateral trade.
Amid the see-sawing developments of dialogue between India and Pakistan, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on Wednesday that New Delhi's priority would be action over talks in the aftermath of the deadly Pathankot terror attack.
In May-June the two foreign secretaries will meet, the Pakistani president said.
Krishna was with Dr Singh for about 30 minutes during which he gave a detailed account of his talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.
Pakistan's main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said that the government should hold talks with the Taliban as part of its efforts to tackle the menace of terrorism. "If Washington says it is prepared to talk to the Taliban who are willing to listen, then a similar initiative should also come from Islamabad. We should not only see what decision they (the Western countries) will make about our fate. We should decide our own fate," said Sharif.
Addressing a seminar organised by South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) in Islamabad, Bose said: "The resumption of talks between India and Pakistan is a good sign. We are optimistic about its positive outcomes but how can we take this process forward? The US is deciding the fate of other nations. It is also sad that both Pakistani and Indian government are involved with the Americans."
Pakistan will try to find a 'common denominator' during the upcoming talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, without 'forgetting' outstanding issues like Kashmir, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has said. "We do not have a prepared agenda. We will see what can be identified as doable and then take it to the foreign ministers' level. In this meeting, we will try and find a common denominator," Bashir said, referring to talks he will hold with Rao in Islamabad.
India and Pakistan on Tuesday discussed each other's 'concerns and interests' with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar raising the issue of terror.
Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Sunday demanded suspension of all official talks with Islamabad until a credible proof of necessary action against perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack was given by it."For the first time in the history of India's diplomatic engagement with Pakistan, the Indian side has allowed Pakistan to mention Baluchistan in a formal statement and that too in such a way that India is made to look like the sponsor of terrorism there," he said.
