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.
'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.
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.
"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.
In the first visit by a foreign delegation, a team of 23 MEPs travelled to Kashmir in October on a two-day visit to have a first-hand assessment of the situation after the state's special status was revoked in August by abrogating Article 370.
'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
With US President Barack Obama visiting India next month, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference said it would launch a signature campaign on Monday, calling for America's intervention as a third party to resolve the Kashmir issue.
As Afghans head to the polling booths to elect a new president, a contested and fraud-marred elections could potentially throw Afghanistan into a renewed cycle of violence and instability, says Dr Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
Swaraj also said that Pak cannot take Kashmir to the ICJ.
The battle to manage the international environment over Kashmir has just begun, but what is expected to help is the lifting of internal controls. All eyes are now on that exercise. Aditi Phadnis reports.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, has welcomed United States President Barack Obama's stance on the Kashmir dispute."President Obama offered help in facilitating the negotiations between India and Pakistan as the trust between the two key parties has been shattered. We, the people of Kashmir, are happy with the outcome. We have never ever called for third party mediation," he said.
A realistic assessment will tell us that not much has changed between India and Pakistan; the relationship remains as fraught as before with little prospect of reconciliation, notes Ajai Shukla.
Pakistan's powerful army chief has stepped in to mediate between the embattled government and the protesters seeking resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, bringing the military back into the centre stage and signaling a possible end to the high-political drama.
American Senator John McCain, ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and erstwhile presidential nominee, has said he is aware that the Obama administration is working very hard to help resolve the Kashmir imbroglio, sans any US mediation of the issue between India and Pakistan.
'Many said his visit was very risky. But mercifully, Air Force One has taken off from Delhi without Mr Trump stepping on anybody's toes,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
China said Islamabad is at the frontline of combating terrorism.
'Modi skillfully navigated Trump's ego and pushed the right buttons.' 'Critics assailed Modi's speech for its personalism, but in the Trump era this is par for the course.'
''There is the perennial worry in the Indian mind regarding the US 'hyphenating' India and Pakistan. Frankly, this is a completely nonsensical hypothesis. The US has always 'hyphenated' India and Pakistan and it couldn't have been otherwise,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Despite a last-minute US mediation, the leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition have failed to reach a deal on restoring deposed judges, increasing the probability that ministers belonging to former premier Nawaz Sharif's party might quit the Cabinet on Monday.
Pausing the process for now, the bank would hold off from appointing the Chairman for the Court of Arbitration or the neutral expert -- appointments that had been expected on December 12 as earlier communicated by the bank.
India maintains that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one and no third party has any role in it.
The meeting was facilitated by Pakistan's spy agency -- the ISI
'... to Imran Khan, that there's not going to be any mediation of any meaningful sort given his (Modi's) special relationship with Trump.'
The BRICS summit made clear that China's support for Pakistan is unwavering. China will continue to pressure India to ease tensions with Pakistan and resolve the Kashmir dispute.
Norway had in the past expressed its wish to mediate between India and Pakistan and was willing to do so if both sides wanted it.
When Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visits the White House on Wednesday, it will be his first encounter with an American president since that turbulent meeting with Bill Clinton when the Kargil war was raging 14 years ago.
'We're going to see a defence relationship that really takes off -- now that India is a major defence partner of the US, the sky is the limit for arms sales.' 'The economic partnership will lag behind the security relationship, but the meeting and joint statement give cause to believe that it will progress more robustly than many of us would have expected.'
When Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visits the White House on Wednesday, it will be his first encounter with an American president since that turbulent meeting with Bill Clinton when the Kargil war was raging 14 years ago.
The much talked-about India-Pakistan cricket series could be played out in two parts with Sri Lanka hosting the limited-overs games next month and England being the venue for Test matches next year.
'The BJP has done the Uri surgical strikes, handled the Dokalam crisis and the Balakot strikes.' 'So if there is a de-escalation only at the diplomatic level and not resolving this issue of a colonel being killed, then it translates into public anger.'
Disappointed by the ugly tiff between Shahid Afridi and Javed Miandad, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is likely to take measures to stop former cricketers from levelling match-fixing allegations against each other to settle `personal scores`. A verbal altercation has been going on between Afridi and Miandad after both of them accused each other of being 'money-centric'.
SYL has been a contentious issue between the two states with the Punjab portion of the canal still incomplete.
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