Pakistan on Friday told the United Nations General Assembly that Islamabad looks forward to the resumption of the composite dialogue process with New Delhi and wants friendly relations with India.
With the United States Senate voting to triple the non-military aid to Pakistan at $1.5 billion, India on Friday once again expressed concern over such funds being diverted by Islamabad to support hostile operations against it. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is in New York to participate in the opening session of the United Nation General Assembly, said New Delhi was concerned as former Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf had himself disclosed startling facts.
United States President Barack Obama on Thursday reiterated that the US will remain a steadfast partner for Pakistan as Islamabad moves towards peace and prosperity.The President told the Friends of Democratic Pakistan in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, that he would like to congratulate President Asif Ali Zardari and the member states and organisations constituting the body, for the important work that has been done over the last 12 months.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he would adopt a "positive approach" for his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly 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.
Seeking resumption of the composite dialogue process with India, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said such a move is in the best interest of the region.
Pakistan's action against perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks will top the agenda of the meeting, which will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the first high-level contact between the two countries after the meeting between their Prime Ministers in July.
"We hope and expect that Pakistan will focus in a meaningful manner on our concerns on terrorism. It is our hope and expectation that Pakistan fulfills all its commitments," Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
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.
India on Thursday put on Pakistan the onus of unveiling the conspiracy behind the terror attack on Mumbai and ruled out meaningful dialogue till concrete action is taken against those responsible. The firm message was sent out by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. "It is in our vital interest to normalise our relations with Pakistan. However, we are at a stage where it is for Pakistan to determine the kind of relationship that it wants to have with India," Krishna said.
Asserting that the majority members of the UN General Assembly support expansion of the Security Council, India today said that the body would remain beset with the "current problem" unless it was reformed.
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.
In his hard-hitting maiden address to an informal session of the 192-member Assembly on reform of the 15-member Council, Indian ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri lambasted a 'small group' of countries for trying to derail the process by insisting that expansion be limited to non-permanent category.
When Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari stepped on to the podium to address the United Nations General Assembly last month, people in Pakistan expected him to put forth their concerns in front of the international community, but they had no idea that the four pages of his speech had actually cost them US $ 25,000.
Republican Vice Presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York on Wednesday.No details of the meeting, which lasted for half an hour, were released but Palin had been discussing international issues with world leaders who are here to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.Originally, Republican Presidential candidate John McCain was slated to accompany her but sources said he was held up in Washington.
The ongoing financial crisis, poverty reduction, reforms including expansion of the Security Council, uneven progress in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and Darfur conflict are likely to dominate the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly that begins on Tuesday. More than 170 heads of state and governments, foreign ministers and senior diplomats will participate in the discussion lasting about two weeks.
United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, who opened an emergency session of the 192-member body to discuss the "illegal Israeli actions" in Gaza, briefly clashed with an Israeli diplomat, who questioned the validity of calling the meeting.
Indications are that a 'preliminary agreement' may be unveiled during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US this week, with President Trump signing the final deal in India in November.
Pakistan said that the incipient United States-India nuclear deal has spelled concerns in Islamabad over maintenance of strategic stability in the region, but that it will keep the balance despite its opposition to arms race.
The decision was taken during a ministerial meeting of the four countries on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly session.
US President Barack Obama, on Friday, sought a new era of engagement with the world where power is no longer a "zero-sum game" as he asked them to share responsibility for tackling key challenges of security and prosperity.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday hours after President George Bush spoke at the same forum, he predicted the defeat of American and NATO alliance in Afghanistan and advised the next rulers of the United States to keep "their interference" in their own borders. The people of Afghanistan, he said, are victims of efforts by NATO member states to "dominate the regions surrounding India, China and South Asia."
"The 21st century world cannot be governed with the institutions of the 20th century," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. "Let today's major powers and the powers of tomorrow unite to shoulder together the responsibilities their influence give them in world affairs," Sarkozy, who is the current president of the EU, said.
Modi had given his maiden address to the UN General Assembly as Prime Minister in 2014.
A day after a blast at Ajmer dargah claimed three lives, India asked the international community to send a clear signal to terrorists and their sponsors that their action will not be tolerated irrespective of the motivation and the underlying cause. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly's legal committee, Indian Ambassador Nirupam Sen asked the nations to devise a global response to deal with terrorism, saying nothing can justify the senseless killing of innocents
Addressing the 76th UNGA session in New York, Modi called for ensuring that no country 'tries to take advantage of the delicate situation in Afghanistan and use it for its own selfish interests'.
The transcript of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to do enough to prevent the violence.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be going on a ten-day-long tour starting from September 22. In the last leg of his tenure, Dr Singh has quite an elaborate and action-packed tour that will cover four major events in two continents.
The world's poorest nations have benefitted the least from globalisation and yet suffered the most from the phenomenal downsides, United Nations General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa said.
Should India cancel Sunday's meet with the Pakistani premier or should the dialogue continue? Cast your vote here.
Pakistan's Acting Permanent Representative to the UN Farukh Amil stressed full compliance by all States with their respective safeguards obligations.
They set a Guinness World Record for 'Largest Silent Yoga Class.'
Stressing that tribunals established by the UN cannot prosecute all perpetrators of crime in a given situation, India has called on the global community to help strengthen the national justice systems.
Type 1 diabetes is growing by 3 per cent a year in children and adolescents, and at an alarming 5 per cent per year among pre-school children. Adding to this is the occurrence of Type 2 Diabetes in children in alarming proportions
Do you agree with the minorities' viewpoint that that the government is enforcing 'Hindu practices' on them forcefully?
Protestors say Sonia poses an alarming threat to democracy in India
At the last UNGA, Rahul had hung around with other lawmakers and observed the events. This time, with his mother in tow, he is expected to rub shoulders with several heads of state and governments.
