Meanwhile, Pakistan's Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa discussed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with China's Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman Xu Qiliang when he visited the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi with a high-level delegation on Monday
'What his minions do, we are not sure, but he has got to keep them under control. Pogroms against Muslims in India -- I don't think that is going to be his policy.'
'No matter what Modi may boast about 'new India', the geopolitical reality is that India's stature diminishes when it needs a small country like Saudi Arabia under an autocratic ruler to help out with what is arguably one of the most critical templates of its diplomacy,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Addressing a press conference, Trump described Modi as a "terrific" leader and India as a "tremendous country".
Beijing's growing assertiveness as kingmaker in Kabul has suffered a setback with Washington quietly moving in, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Voicing his country's support to Pakistan's stand on the Kashmir issue, he said it can be resolved not through conflict or oppression but on the basis of justice and fairness. "Our Kashmiri brothers and sisters have suffered from inconveniences for decades and these sufferings have become graver due to unilateral steps taken in recent times," Erdogan said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's phone call to Trump will help restore a degree of sanity to Indian statecraft and diplomacy, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Secretary-General's Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during the daily press briefing on Thursday said the UN chief has underscored the need for dialogue as the only way to resolve the issue and, "as part of the solution for the current crisis in Kashmir, to make sure that human rights aspects are very much dealt with, as well."
Since Balakot strike, India is trying to build maximum pressure on Pakistan on the issue of terrorism, sources said.
He rejected suggestions that the Pak-Saudi statement was against India's push at UN.
'The idea that the J&K issue gets internationalised by allowing foreign delegations to visit it appears bizarre to me because the issue is not about Article 370 or the decisions relating to the abrogation, but more to do with the post decision handling,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Islamabad is being bluntly asked not to use the development in Kashmir for cross border terrorism or infiltration across the Line of Control.
In his address to the nation on the Kashmir issue after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, Khan assured the people of Pakistan that his government will stand by the Kashmiris till India lifts the restrictions in the Valley.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has applauded the Indo-Pak leadership for reviving peace talks despite opposition to it in their countries, while ruling out mediation on the issue of Kashmir.
India has maintained it is against any third party mediation to resolve all differences, including on Jammu and Kashmir, with Pakistan.
Pakistan's law minister Zahid Hamid on Monday quit as the government "surrendered" to hardline religious groups, who called off their violent protests in Islamabad that had left six people dead and hundreds injured.
Khan said Pakistan was open for "any kind of mediation" and seeks peace with all its neighbours, especially with India.
'The army has neither any role in the country's electoral process nor has it any desire to do so,' he said.
Pakistan, however, has categorically dismissed as 'utter fabrication' the report published in the newspaper.
Regional States will be worried that the US's nascent engagement with the Taliban behind the fig leaf of humanitarian aid enables the return of US intelligence personnel to Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's position on addressing all issues including Kashmir with Pak in a bilateral framework not changed, the MEA said.
Pakistan Muslim League - Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has emerged as a mediator between Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani after differences between Pakistan's civilian government and the powerful military seemed to reach at point of no return. Hussain, who served as prime minister during Pervez Musharraf's reign, is considered to be close to the security establishment and is known for his links with the armyThe lead
Both factions of Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday attacked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in unison over his statement asking to explore "other options" if Pakistan continues with ceasefire volition, saying his talk of "bullet for bullet" shows lack of understanding of the consequences.
The United States on Friday described as 'completely inaccurate' media reports that it had offered to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve their differences over the sharing of river water.Reports in the Pakistani media on Friday suggested that the water dispute between India and Pakistan had come up during the first meeting of the Water Working Group of the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, which was held on Thursday.
Poland, which currently holds the council's rotating presidency, has listed the matter for discussion at 10 am on Friday, the diplomats were quoted as saying.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India does not comment on the internal affairs of other countries and similarly expects other countries to do likewise.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"When we asked the US, to play facilitating role...Why do we ask? Simply because we are not engaging bilaterally," he said.
Saudi Arabia can be a 'valuable interlocutor' between India and Pakistan, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday and subsequently clarified that he did not mean that Riyadh should be a mediator.
India believes "terrorism is a major issue for China. They know a number of terror groups are based in Pakistan", sources added.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that the Indus Water Treaty was a mutually agreed arrangement between his country and India brokered by the World Bank and no one country can unilaterally separate itself from the treaty.
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.
Zakaria, while talking about the unrest in Kashmir, claimed that 'genocide and crimes against humanity committed by India in Kashmir' were going on unabated.
Amid Pakistan Army's mediation efforts, protesters have stepped up pressure on the embattled government with cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri setting yet another deadline of 24 hours for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to quit.
'Traditionally, the US tried to tamp down tensions whenever a crisis situation arose and deputed officials from Washington to travel to Delhi to counsel restraint.' 'This time around, no US envoy flew down to Delhi -- not even when tensions spiked and a flashpoint was reached last week,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"The United States is not looking for mediation role, but rather we want India and Pakistan to be able to address these issues in a way that eases tensions, because we think it is really in benefit of both countries and also for promoting regional stability," National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer told PTI.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said people from villages close to the borders in Jammu region have been abandoning homes following shelling by Pakistan troops.
Islamabad has in the past tried to involve the United States and the European Union in the issue.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf on Monday withdrew his Rs 220 million defamation suit against fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar after a top government official mediated for a reconciliation between them. The meeting, which took place in Islamabad on Sunday night, was brokered by Rehman Malik, a top man in the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party and advisor to the Prime Minister on interior affairs. Both Shoaib and Ashraf were present at the meeting.
Efforts to rake up the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir by backbenchers in the United Kingdom Parliament virtually fell flat as the debate on the issue drew few takers, even as the government asserted that it was for India and Pakistan to resolve the problem bilaterally.
