In some blunt talking on Pakistan's role in fomenting terrorism in Kashmir, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has said the US should confront Islamabad on its funding of "mujahideen" groups in the valley and the terror camps running under its nose.
Ahead of his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Obama said historically Pakistan has tolerated or in some cases funded the Mujahideen because they think it's somehow helpful to them in Kashmir, which continues to be a "constant instigator" of tension between Islamabad and New Delhi.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has said that Islamabad should not beg New Delhi for talks."We should tell India that if they are not ready for talks then Pakistan is also not eager to enter any talk process," Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the House in categorical words.Chaudhry Nisar was referring to the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday condemned the bomb attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, describing them as 'acts of senseless violence against innocent persons'.A statement issued by the foreign ministry said: "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the acts of terrorist violence in the Indian cities of Ahmedabad and Bangalore and expressed deep sympathies with the bereaved families and the victims of these dastardly acts,"
Highlighting the need to root out terrorism, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday told his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that 'the present state of unrest in the region demanded more cooperation in combating the menace.Gilani telephoned Singh today to congratulate him on winning the crucial trust vote and said that his success "is the success of democracy and such democratic norms must be encouraged in the region for strengthening the relations."
Lauding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "statesmanship" and his "bold vision of peace and prosperity," Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said dialogue was the only way forward for peace in South Asia. Responding to Singh's statement in the Lok Sabha on the Indo-Pak joint statement of Egypt, Gilani reciprocated the "sentiments for peace" expressed by him and said terrorism was a common threat to the two countries.
What was the need for the indecent hurry shown by Dr Manmohan Singh at Sharm-el-Sheikh for fresh talks with Pakistan? If we had waited for a few months more till a clearer picture emerged from the proceedings of the anti-terrorism court, would the heavens have fallen on our heads, asks B Raman
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani had not handed over any dossier to him on Balochistan during their meeting in Egypt earlier this month. Intervening in a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the joint statement issued with Pakistan, Dr Singh said, "I categorically say no such dossier was given to me".Dr Singh met Gilani in Sharm-el Sheikh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit.
Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani "gave his word" on Sunday to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz that his government will not extend any help to former president Pervez Musharraf to defend himself in any court of law as they agreed to bridge the "trust deficit" between the parties.
Pakistan on Thursday did not confirm or deny reports that it handed over a dossier to New Delhi on the alleged Indian involvement in the unrest in Balochistan, saying the issue involved intelligence matters which cannot be discussed in public. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the matter had been adequately covered by the joint statement issued after the meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
Prime Minister Mamohan Singh on Friday defended the stance taken by the Indian government, in the joint statement issued with Pakistan, after his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yosuf Raza Gilani at the sidelines of the Non-Aligned summit in Egypt.Dr Singh said that he had discussed the terror attack on Mumbai with Gilani, and stressed that sustained, effective and credible action needs to be taken by Pakistan to prevent terror activities on its soil.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt on Thursday.Sources indicate that while Dr Singh will seek a firmer commitment on tackling terror from his Pakistani counterpart, Gilani might rake up the contentious issue of Kashmir during the talks. The composite dialogue between India and Pakistan had come to a standstill after the terror attack on Mumbai in November
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said he would hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt with an 'open mind' as he believed any 'pause' in bilateral dialogue would benefit terrorists. "If talks were on pause, that benefited the terrorists," Gilani told reporters in Islamabad before embarking on a four-day visit to attend the NAM summit.
Preparing the ground for the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt, Islamabad has handed over a fresh dossier on its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks to New Delhi which is figuring out what it amounts to.
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.
Against the backdrop of industrialised nations (G-8) putting curbs on full nuclear cooperation with countries like India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for Paris on Monday hoping that the visit would help India and France "build" its strategic partnership in nuclear energy, defence and other areas.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said that Pakistan and India should overcome 'war phobia' to address their outstanding issues as a 'third power' cannot come and do it for them.
A high-level meeting chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad took stock of the deteriorating security situation in the restive Northwestern Frontier Province and authorised Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani to lead a military effort in this regard.
Making the announcement, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Parliament that the Interior Ministry will be asked to 'move a summary to President Pervez Musharraf to commute the sentence of those on death row to life imprisonment'. Under Pakistan Constitution, the President has powers to commute sentences.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will meet Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt on July 16, the Pakistan Foreign Office has said.Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that the foreign secretaries of both countries would also meet during the summit.
The army operation against militants in Swat and Malakand division will soon be over but Pakistan will continue to fight terrorism and take the campaign to its "logical conclusion", Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday. "The nation will soon hear the good news... soon the army operation will be over.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday asked President Pervez Musharraf to address a joint sitting of the parliament as it is mandatory for him to do so under the constitution.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia, premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has sought early resumption of the stalled dialogue process between India and Pakistan to address long-standing issues like Kashmir.
Pakistanis would like to see the armed forces "confined to garrisons" as the country has already paid an "enormous' cost for frequent interventions by military in politics, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said Pakistan will offer the Indian leadership an "olive branch" to resume the bilateral Composite Dialogue as both countries cannot afford war.
Pakistan on Saturday test fired two short-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads and striking Indian cities, with Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani saying it was time for the world to recognise his country as an atomic power.The armed forces conducted 'training launches' of the Shaheen-I missile with a range of 650 km and the Ghaznavi missile with a range of 290 km at the conclusion of an annual field training exercise.
Hours after an Indian court convicted Ajmal Kasab for involvement in the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh had told him that he trusted Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the carnage to justice.
The decision by the prime ministers of India and Pakistan to resume the stalled peace process is a significant breakthrough though the two sides will have to work quickly to address issues like Kashmir and terrorism to make real progress, local media said on Saturday.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani's meeting at Bhutanese capital Thimphu is a positive development but the meeting could not be called as a big breakthrough' as neither any agenda for further talks nor was ant decision to resume the composite dialogue taken, say Pakistani experts
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani will meet in Thimphu on Thursday, said sources.
In an effort to consolidate its grip on internal security affairs, the Pakistan government on Tuesday carried out a major revamp of the country's intelligence agencies, transferring the political wing of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence to the civilian Intelligence Bureau. As part of the revamp, carried out by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the intelligence agencies would no longer be required to send secret reports to President Pervez Musharraf.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on sidelines of the SAARC Summit here and is expected to convey India's disillusionment over Pakistan not acting against the Mumbai attack suspects and its failure to take credible steps to dismantle terror infrastructure on its soil.
Members of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed and militants from South Waziristan tribal region are fighting alongside some 5,000 Taliban fighters in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Friday.
Aiming at a "decisive" victory over the Taliban, Pakistan on Thursday pressed with air and ground operation in the north-western tribal belt, where fierce fighting killed nine soldiers and 14 militants, including a son of a hardline cleric who negotiated the Swat peace deal.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has decided to send a parliamentary delegation to attend the much-hyped cross-border wedding of tennis star Sania Mirza and cricketer Shoaib Malik.
Hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that his country "qualifies" for a civilian nuclear deal with the US, like that of India, the Obama Administration in a blunt message told it that such a deal is not on platter of its talks with Islamabad.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is unlikely to meet his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh in Washington, where they are scheduled to attend the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April 12 and 13.
Separately, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said during a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store in Islamabad that Pakistan wanted its ties with India to normalise "by resolving bilateral disputes through a sustained and meaningful dialogue process."However, "engaging in talks for the sake of talks would serve no purpose," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
Sharif told a television news channel in an interview on Thursday that Zardari, whom he has blamed for influencing the apex court's verdict, would not be able to complete his term. He did not give details.
Sharif, who has urged the masses to defy a government clampdown and join a nationwide protest, said the "chances of army takeover is absolutely nil".