'Despite Modi's high-flown rhetoric about good-neighbourly relationships in South Asia, he lacks a road map how to proceed -- be it with Bangladesh or with Sri Lanka and Pakistan... But a deeper question arises here: Did he duck on his own accord or under the diktat from the RSS, asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan tonight said it was "deeply disappointed" at India putting forth "pre-conditions" for National Security Advisors-level talks, accusing it of going back on the decision mutually agreed at the highest level by coming up with "frivolous pretexts".
So far, almost every positive development in terms of the bilateral ties has been overtaken by innate hostility that is often driven by popular sentiments.
'We do want resumption of the dialogue with India because we sincerely believe that it is in the interest of our region. Pakistan has been insisting that as a 'responsible country' it believes that disengagement is counter-productive,' The Dawn quoted Basit, as saying.
Against the background of a fresh terror strike, India on Friday made it clear that resumption of foreign secretary-level talks will depend on "satisfactory" outcome of next week's meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President
This year saw no improvement in bilateral ties as India accused Pakistan of cross-border infiltration and re-activation of terror-launching pads near the LoC.
The MFN (Most Favoured Nation, meaning non-discriminatory treatment for each other) issue is of prime importance to India, as it wants to have greater access in the Pakistani markets.
India has said that Pakistan created the conditions for cancellation of the talks -- due to issuing of postage stamps glorifying terrorists and brutal killing of its three security personnel.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in India Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh standoff nearly two years ago.
The talks for normalising trade had begun in November 2011.
He, however, said sometimes such people spread wrong news or information about China on purpose.
A prominent Pakistani journalist, who was taken off air indefinitely for making hard-hitting remarks against the country's powerful military establishment in the wake of an attack on a fellow scribe, has apologised and said he had no intention to defame the Army.
The Indian delegation was led by Dilip Sinha, joint secretary in the external affairs ministry while the Pakistan delegation was headed by Mohammad Abbas, additional secretary in the Ministry of Communications.
Maintaining that India wants good relations with Pakistan, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said resumption of stalled talks with Islamabad was possible if there was an improvement in the situation.
A tense standoff continued in Pakistan on Saturday as overnight talks between the government and protesters demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation made little headway in breaking the political logjam.
With less than 24 hours to go for Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz's arrival in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told a press conference that Pakistan had only till Saturday night to give a categorical assurance on two issues.
Pakistan media on Tuesday said the cancellation of Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks was a "major setback" and a "giant step back" after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise move to invite his Pakistani counterpart at his swearing-in ceremony.
Former Pakistan Foreign Secretary Shahryar Khan and ex-diplomat S K Lambah, the point men for India-Pakistan back-channel diplomacy, will meet in Dubai on Thursday to ease tensions and firm up a planned meeting between the premiers of the two countries, a media report said.
"When we asked the US, to play facilitating role...Why do we ask? Simply because we are not engaging bilaterally," he said.
The three-day meeting between the two commissioners of PCIW completed discussions on all agenda items on Wednesday.
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Wang began a two-day trip to Pakistan on Tuesday primarily to attend a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as a special guest.
Sayeed said he was disappointed over the abrupt cancellation of talks but hoped that break would be "temporary".
It was evident that no preparatory exercise for political and inter-departmental consensus-building in New Delhi before embarking on the trust-building exercise in Islamabad was undertaken.
Why don't I hear sharp European condemnation of these practices which have been going on for multiple decades? he asked in response to a question.
Opposition leader Imran Khan's political party on Monday decided to withdraw its lawmakers from the National Assembly and all provincial assemblies except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, piling pressure on beleaguered Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to quit, even as efforts by the ruling PML-N to reach out to anti-government protesters failed.
A day after a handshake with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday that talks with India should not be at the cost of his country's 'dignity, self-respect and reputation'.
Pakistan still has to acquire the patience you need in a democracy. The patience to accept that even if I do not like the government I have, I must wait till the next election to change it, explains Shekhar Gupta.
Pakistan's National Assembly resumed its crucial session on Monday after a two-day recess where Opposition is likely to formally table the no-trust motion against embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan amidst fluid political situation in the country.
India on Monday said there was 'no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting' its position
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday chose Lt Gen Asim Munir as the new Army chief to replace incumbent General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
'No dialogue with India can be successful without the Kashmir on the agenda'
Gokhale will be visiting China for regular consultations, the Indian Embassy in Beijing said on Saturday.
Setting the terms for revival of the composite dialogue process with the Modi government, Pakistan on Monday made it clear that India should not shy away from dealing with "contentious" issues like Jammu and Kashmir and not lay down any preconditions for talks.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday began his engagements in Moscow by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and is scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin, hours after the Russian president ordered a special military operation in eastern Ukraine, ignoring last-minute appeals and warnings from the West.
The participants exchanged views on ways and means to bring peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Friday night said he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expect sabotage by "vested interests", but stressed that talks between India and Pakistan should go on "uninterrupted".
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will undertake a three-day visit to Pakistan from September 7 to review the second round of the composite dialogue with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar, reports Amir Mir.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
