Government sources said the hawkish elements in Pakistan, which do not want dialogue between the two countries, were upset when the talks between the Home Ministers and Home Secretaries went off well last month.
The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on Thursday may have sought to project before a global audience and their respective media that their much awaited talks were positive, constructive and meaningful it was anything but that. Going by the body language of both S M Krishna and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and the pointed, at times, aggressive questions asked by the media, it was plain and simple -- disastrous and awful.
The strongest argument for the creation of Pakistan was that Hindustan, the undivided India, could not be trusted to take care of the Muslims of the subcontinent. If trust breaks out between them, the whole rationale for the existence of Pakistan will be called into question, says T P Sreenivasan.
Terrorism that continues to emanate from Pakistani soil will be high on the agenda of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna as he embarks on a mission to Pakistan on Wednesday, in an effort to bridge the trust deficit that has bedeviled the ties between the two countries.
Pakistan today asked India to "review its stance" and cooperate with it to meet the common threat of terrorism as it cautioned that "any coercion or threat of use of force" would be counter-productive.
Kerry, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who last week stood side-by-side with Qureshi and declared there are no conditions attached to the aid and that the bill in no way impinges on Pakistan's sovereignty, reiterated these assertions and also out a lengthy fact sheet which he said, separates "myth from fact on the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009."
India maintains that it wants to be part of the project but cannot go ahead till its concerns with regard to security and issues related to pricing of gas are addressed.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that the perpetrators of the terror attack on Mumbai are not friends of Islamabad and such terror organisations need to be checked, curtailed and shut. "Those who carried out the Mumbai terrorist attack that killed 166 innocent people are not friends of Pakistan," Qureshi, who is on a visit to United States, said at the Council of Foreign Relations, a Washington-based think tank.
Pakistan today asked India to share information and evidence on the Mumbai terrorist attacks, saying its probe into the incident could not proceed unless there is "sustained and pragmatic cooperation" between the two countries.
As Indo-Pak Foreign Ministers are set to meet in New York, Pakistan appears to be under tremendous pressure from US and its allies to ensure that it convincingly addresses India's concerns on terrorism, including Mumbai attacks, and does nothing that derails all efforts to revive the bilateral peace process.
On the eve of their crucial talks, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had a friendly chat with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of an informal working dinner of SAARC Foreign Ministers in New York
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday said he was 'sceptical' about the outcome of his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in the absence of Pakistan acting against the perpetrators of the terror attack on Mumbai. He also urged the United States to be more 'circumspect' in providing aid to Pakistan that was being diverted for use against India. Krishna is scheduled to meet Qureshi on September 27.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said he is not expecting any "major breakthrough" in the upcoming meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna though his country continues to be hopeful that bilateral relations will improve.
Pakistan on Saturday said India appears to be "hesitating" over the resumption of the stalled peace process due to its "internal political situation" and insisted that dialogue is the only way forward for the two countries.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said he may visit India in the first quarter of 2011 if there was a breakthrough in talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Bhutan in February. Qureshi said the foreign secretaries would meet to discuss the agenda for talks and he was likely to visit New Delhi in the first quarter of the year if there was a breakthrough in talks between the top diplomats.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi are expected to hold telephonic talk on Tuesday to discuss ways to reduce trust deficit in pursuance to the decision reached between prime ministers of the two countries in Thimphu.
Insisting that "war is not an option" in the region, Pakistan today said it is committed to resuming the dialogue process with India as talks are the only way forward to improve the bilateral ties.
The Pakistan police on Tuesday said it is clueless of the whereabouts of kidnapped Afghan diplomat Abdul Khaliq Farahi.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday took stock of the country's probe into the Mumbai terror attacks ahead of a crucial meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in Egypt this week.
'Pakistan has received assurances that no dispensation in Afghanistan will be inimical to Pakistani interests and that Pakistan will have a say in the determination of the future of the region. India would definitely not be part of the new order if the US could help it.'
Pakistan has welcomed India's decision to withdraw troops from some areas in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has blamed India of being trapped in a 'Cold War mindset' and said New Delhi is not serious in resolving issues through talks with Islamabad, which were resumed last month after a 14 month long hiatus.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has agreed to Pakistan's request to constitute an independent commission to inquire into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Foreign ministers of India and Pakistan have sparred over the 26/11 probe with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi accusing New Delhi of non-cooperation, prompting his Indian counterpart S M Krishna to ask the 'people who are sitting in the epicentre of terror' to introspect before making such allegations.
Pakistan on Friday sought to assuage Afghanistan's concern over the former's talks with local tribal leaders, stating that the country has not been negligent of its obligation towards peace and stability in Afghanistan.Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who made a day-long visit to Kabul, said his country has not forgone the military option while pursing talks with the Taliban, aimed at ending militancy in the northwestern tribal areas.
Pakistan is likely to walk out from the forthcoming summit on Afghanistan -- scheduled to be held in London on January 28 -- in protest against India being touted by the West to play a greater role in Afghanistan.
Surprised over reports that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had invited him for tea at the Roosevelt Hotel, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said that he never received any such invitation. "If he has invited me, then I don't know the mode of invitation through which it was conveyed to me, but let me be very honest that I have not received any invitation," Krishna told PTI.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday assured Denmark that the perpetrators of the 'wanton act of terrorism' near the Danish Embassy in Islamabad would be brought to justice. Qureshi made the assurance during a phone call to his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moller, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office. The Pakistani minister strongly condemned the attack and termed terrorism a 'scourge that is threatening the whole human society'.
Unhappy with the behaviour of Pakistan over terrorism, particularly the Mumbai attacks, India is not too keen to have a foreign ministerial meeting with Pakistan, even though both Union Foreign Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi are in Port of Spain in to attend an international summit.
An inexplicable last-minute switch in the schedule of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Thursday afternoon gives a clue to how the script went wrong in the Indo-Pak talks in Islamabad.
Chaudhry, the former information minister, said that the decision was taken in a meeting of the lawmakers of the party ahead of prime minister's elections for which the party has nominated ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Pakistan on Tuesday asked India to send 'positive signals' by deactivating its forward air bases and relocating ground troops to peace time positions, saying it is ready to cooperate in probing Mumbai attacks and bringing perpetrators of the crime to justice. Similarly, he proposed that ground forces, which have been deployed to the forward posts, should be relocated to peace time positions.
The Lahore police closed the main road leading to the Zaman Park residence of Khan by placing containers. Riot police and water cannons are currently present near Khan's residence.
Sweden on Wednesday threw its weight behind the contention of India and major powers like the United States and Britain that the Mumbai terror attacks had their roots in Pakistan and sought more effective steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents. "I think it's fairly obvious from the information that's available to me that the attack was based on Pakistani soil," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said after a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Sunday said his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi assured him during a bilateral meeting that Islamabad will begin the trial of those recently arrested in connection with last year's Mumbai terror attack shortly, and that it would take steps to ensure that justice is done.
The much-awaited meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi has just started in New York. The meeting is on.
Close on the heels of the US asking it to lend "absolute" cooperation to New Delhi over the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan proposed on Tuesday, the formation of a joint investigating mechanism with India to probe the deadly terror strikes that have sparked tension in bilateral ties.
In contradiction to Pakistani President's interview to an English daily where he said he was ready to work with India in the 26/11 case, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asserted that Pakistan will not buckle under pressure mounted on the Mumbai attacks issue.
Pakistan has not received any "solid evidence" against outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed from India so far, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday, as New Delhi presented a fresh dossier on the26/11 carnage to Islamabad.
'Nobody is sure if Baitullah is dead or alive. For me, he is still alive. He can be considered dead when the national flag of Pakistan is hoisted on the buildings of all the schools in South Waziristan and students celebrate August 14 without any fear.'
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