"We want good ties with all neighbours including India and Afghanistan," he told the Senators.
Pakistan's political crisis deepened on Monday with cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri giving a fresh 48-hour ultimatum to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down after a former top election commission official backed protesters' allegations of rigging in last year's polls.
Pakistan's top military commanders have discussed the likely implications of the leaked report of the Abbottabad Commission which has made a series of stinging remarks against the country's powerful security establishment.
.jpg)
Pakistan's powerful Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif has described Kashmir as the "jugular vein" of his country, saying the issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiris and in line with UNSC resolutions for lasting peace in the region.
'It is not difficult for a Pakistan army chief assisted by the deep state to manipulate a situation.' 'Pulwama, Uri and Pathankot, all come to mind,' cautions Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Eleven people died in sectarian violence in Pakistan's largest city today, taking the overall death toll in two days to 18 as unrest spiralled out of control on the eve of the Islamic holy month of Muharram.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on formally charged Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Asif Yasin Malik for contempt of court after he failed to deliver on an undertaking for holding local body polls in cantonments across the country.
India must watch for signs after Peshawar that Pakistan is waking up to the dangers of Islamism, muses Ajai Shukla
The relations between Pakistan and the US nosedived this January after US President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists.
General Qamar Bajwa, his colleagues say, is a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism. He may prove even more forceful in the fight against terrorism than his predecessor, who is credited with launching Operation Zarb-i-Azb, which helped lower the frequency of terrorist attacks.
Gen Sharif had earlier promised to bow out at the end of his term in November this year.
Since January, at least 190 cases of ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army have been reported from the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
'General Bajwa is believed to consider the internal threats to Pakistan's security as far more serious than the bogey of the Indian threat.' 'This doesn't mean that he is soft on India, only that he is more rational and sensible than his predecessor who had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about India,' points out Pakistan expert Sushant Sareen.
'Over the last year, Bajwa has created the environment to support bold moves on India. The ball is in India's court,' a senior Pakistan military officer tells Ajai Shukla.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has welcomed as a "good omen" the decision of the country's political parties to hold talks with it and other militant groups.
Against the backdrop of Pakistan's opposition to American drone strikes, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said the pilotless aircraft should be used only for gathering intelligence.
Raking up the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said it is the "main source of tension" in Indo-Pak relations and sought its peaceful resolution to explore new ways to bolster bilateral ties.
Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan tried to undermine the Afghan government led by ex-president Hamid Karzai for helping "India stab Pakistan in the back".
'By beheading an Indian soldier, the Pakistan army has demonstrated its proclivity for barbaric medievalism.' 'The strategies adopted and the punishment inflicted by India must be made progressively more stringent with every new act of terrorism till the cost becomes prohibitive for Pakistan,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Experts trace the reasons for the 26/11 attacks to the Pakistan's military interest in three key areas: Kashmir, Afghanistan and nuclear armaments.
'While US officials understand and accept India's desire for retaliation, they still don't want to encourage steps that would likely lead to war.'
Uzma, accompanied by Indian mission officials, crossed the Wagah Border near Amritsar.
Pundits in Pakistan and also some western diplomats are predicting that the next army chief will be forced, partly by institutional pressure and partly by circumstances, to indulge in some tough talking with the civilian leadership. How the civil-military equation settles in this sort of a situation is something that will determine the future of Pakistani politics, and also Pakistan's relations with rest of the world, says Sushant Sareen.
Providing military assistance in the hope that it will change Pakistan's worldview is wrong, says erstwhile ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani
'A resurgent Jaish could be a reflection of the Pakistani security establishment's view that with the region moving ever closer to a post-US Afghanistan, it is time to redirect attention to Kashmir.'
Be a traveller, not a tourist.
Fortunately, there was no cold exposure-related frost bite or bony injuries to him, a medical bulletin issued by the hospital said.
After Modi became the prime minister, the Indo-US relationship has seen an upward trajectory, he said.
It has been over two years since Husain Haqqani was forced to resign from the coveted post of Pakistan's envoy to the United States.
Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz brings to New Delhi a newfound Pakistani confidence, stemming from its leverage in Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
United States President Barack Obama secretly offered Pakistan in 2009 that he would nudge India towards negotiations on Kashmir in lieu of it ending support to terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Taliban, but much to his disappointment Islamabad rejected the offer.
The United States drone attack that killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has done "serious damage" to the Islamabad's efforts for a dialogue with militants, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday.
'Their failure to take Siachen is an embarrassment to the Pakistan army -- and let them live with it. Our army's shoulders are broad enough to endure the challenge.'
New Delhi's decision not to call for a flag meeting underlines its conviction that the military cost will soon become too high for Pakistan.
'After General Raheel Sharif took on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, some sections of the military establishment may have felt unease as to whether the crackdown could be extended against friendlier 'non-State' actors like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.'
'A close look at the time-lines tells you that exactly as the back-channel negotiations were in their most crucial stage, "somebody" was planning the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai,' says Shekhar Gupta questioning Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's account of a peace deal with India.
Through its early days to the 1980s, Pakistan sought to expand its sphere of Islamic influence through Afghanistan to Central Asia and got Pakistani citizens recruited in the Afghan government institutions in the 1990s when the Taliban were power. Now, it is looking eastward through India to Bangladesh and Myanmar to establish an imaginary caliphate.
The US needs to do three things to help the newly elected Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan, says Stanley A Weiss
Protesting against enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Abdul Qadeer Baloch, 72, has led a small group that has covered more than 2,000 kilometres on foot, breaking the 84-year-old record set by Mahatma Gandhi during his Dandi march. Hamid Mir reports from Islamabad.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances