Pakistan will continue to give diplomatic, political and moral support to the Kashmiri people until the 'core issue' of Kashmir is resolved even as it pursues cordial relations with India, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said Wednesday.
According to sources, this decision was taken during a high-level informal meeting held at the Presidency, which was chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari and attended by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, ISI DG Lt. Gen Zaheerul Islam, foreign secretary and Pakistan's ambassador to US Sherry Rehman, reports The Nation.
In a huge relief to Pakistan Prime Minster Raja Pervez Ashraf, the country's apex court on Wednesday discharged the court of contempt notice served to him.
Pakistani authorities are still probing a multi-billion rupee scam involving private power projects and could summon Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who held the power portfolio when some of the projects were cleared, according to a media report.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday hosted a lunch for Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf but did not discuss issues like terrorism with him.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf's trip to Ajmer on Saturday has hit a sour note with the Ajmer Sharif spritiual head saying he will boycott the visit in protest against the recent brutal killing and beheading of Indian soldiers by the Pakistani Army.
No official meeting is scheduled during the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who is arriving on Saturday in Jaipur on a pilgrimage to Ajmer Sharif.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf will visit India on Saturday to offer prayers at the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer though no official meetings have been lined up so far, sources said on Tuesday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday pledged a transparent and impartial probe into the rigging of the 1990 general election by some politicians and military officers, in line with a Supreme Court order and to punish the guilty according to the law.
Amid continuing speculation that elements backed by the security establishment are working to delay Pakistan's general election, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday said there could be 'no room for any delay' in holding the polls.
Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday warned that it would resume contempt proceedings against Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf if the government does not finalise by October 5 a letter to be sent to Swiss authorities for reopening graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Arguing that the unresolved Kashmir issue poses a threat to the region and the world, Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf asked the international community to push India to resolve the lingering dispute.
The apex court, hearing a contempt case against Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf over reopening of graft cases against Zardari, adjourned the matter for a day after the government sought time to make changes to the draft.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday informed Pakistan's supreme court that the government would revoke a former attorney general's letter to Swiss authorities for the closure of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
As a fresh confrontation appeared imminent between Pakistan People's Party government and the judiciary, former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has warned that this time the ruling party will not take any "unconstitutional" move by the Supreme Court against his successor "lying down".
The Pakistan government has approved a draft agreement with the United States on transportation of supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan, weeks after it ended a seven-month blockade of the crucial routes.
Pakistan Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf on Wednesday got a temporary reprieve as the Supreme Court extended till August 8 the deadline for him to approach Swiss authorities to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, a case that had cost his predecessor his job
Pakistan's National Assembly has passed a government-backed bill that will provide the right of appeal to Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav, according to a media report.
All stakeholders in Pakistan believe that the solutions to problems facing the people lie in strengthening democracy and not in depriving the people of their right of choice, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Saturday.
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a doctor working for the World Health Organisation in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Friday, three days after a foreign consultant for the UN agency was injured in a shooting.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf will announce on August 14 the roadmap for the next general elections that are likely to be held in the first week of November, months ahead of schedule.
Pakistan Supreme Court has asked the government to respond by July 23 to several petitions challenging a new law aimed at shielding top leaders from contempt charges and preventing possible disqualification of new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.
A bill aimed at shielding top Pakistani leaders from contempt charges and curbing the apex court's efforts to push Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf into reopening graft cases against the President has been approved by the lower house of Parliament.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice for contempt of court to former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, saying he had tried to influence the court by asking it to form a commission to investigate graft charges against him.
In the face of pressure from Pakistan's Supreme Court to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Saturday defended the President's immunity, saying it would only end after he leaves office.
Listing extremism and terrorism as "serious challenges", Pakistan's new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday vowed to establish the writ of the State and said the country's soil will not be allowed to be used for attacking other nations. Addressing the first meeting of his Cabinet since assuming office last week, Ashraf said Pakistan values its relations with the Islamic world, the United States and China as well as neighbours like India and Afghanistan.
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, a top leader of the ruling PPP's key ally PML-Q, has been appointed as Pakistan's deputy prime minister.
Fifteen lawmakers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, a key ally of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, were on Monday included in new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf's council of ministers.
Pakistan's new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf retained most key members of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani's cabinet in the same positions as he allocated portfolios among his council of ministers.
Pakistan desires peaceful ties with its neighbours, including India, and will work to strengthen the dialogue process that is already underway to resolve problems like the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister-elect Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Friday.
Officials in the office of Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf went into a tizzy after unidentified persons attempted to circulate an email purportedly containing the premier's message for Defence Day, exposing the lack of cyber security in the office's media arm. Defence Day is observed on September 6.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa issued the show cause notice under Article 204 of the Constitution, which relates to contempt of court, and observed that the premier should comply with the court's repeated orders and approach Swiss authorities to reopen the cases against the President.
The strategy for the next week's US visit of Islam was finalised during a high-power meeting co-chaired on Wednesday by President Asif Ali Zardari and Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, and attended by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Khalid Wynne, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the naval and air force chiefs.
Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf described him as a 'great actor'.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk reminded Attorney General Irfan Qadir that former Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani had been convicted for contempt and sentenced for refusing to act on the apex court's orders to revive the corruption cases.
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is expected to appear in Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday to face a contempt charge but the government has no plans to reopen graft cases against the President, an aide to the premier said on Monday. "The prime minister is expected to go to the court on Tuesday. However, there is no change in the government's position -- that the cases against President Asif Ali Zardari will not be revived," the aide said.
"If Nawaz Sharif does accept the invitation, let's hope Narendra Modi will serve him chicken biryani!" Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said in an apparent jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime minister-designate.
His ministers's conduct may lead to a distancing between the army leadership and Prime Minister Imran Khan reveals Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Pakistan's former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was on Friday charged along with six others in the Rs 22 billion Rental Power Scam by a court in Islamabad.
Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he would prefer going to jail rather than appear before Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog that is investigating graft charges against him.