New Delhi, Mar.12 (ANI): Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is here on a two-day visit, has expressed his concern over terrorism emanating from the AFPAK region and the danger it poses to India’s security interests, but at the same time, has also hailed Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts.
During a video interaction at the offices of the Sistema Corporation in New Delhi, Putin said: ‘We are concerned on what happens at the Pakistan-Afghan border and, we are aware of the concerns of India with respect to what’s going on regarding Pakistan concerning the terrorist activities of the certain banned grouping there.’
‘We shouldn’t be aloof to the efforts made by Islamabad. I believe, we shouldn’t be aloof to the activities of the Pakistan Government, which have been undertaking steps in order to intensify the fight against bandit groupings in those territories where for a long while steps were not taken by the Pakistan,’ he added.
‘We know today that the Government of Pakistan has decided to directly engage with insurgents that had not happened before,’ he said further.
India has been blaming Pakistan for not taking appropriate action against terrorist groups operating from its soil, which is at a variance With Putin’s defence of Islamabad’s counter-terrorism efforts.
India is also opposed to any sort of engagement with militants.
‘We cherish hopes that the Government of Pakistan is not restricted to addressing local problems having to do with their own interests, but will address global issues. These need to be commensurate to the potential capability of the government in effect,’ said Putin.
The steps taken by the Pakistan Government in combating terrorism need to be supported, he added.
Later this evening, Putin will be discussing the AFPAK issue with the Indian Prime Minister.
Putin said: ‘We are totally aware of the fact that Afghanistan unfortunately still uses a certain part of its territory for the purposes of training terrorist groups and, we can see that they are active currently.’ (ANI)
Islamabad, March 12 (DPA) Pakistan Friday successfully test-fired new missiles and torpedoes in the Arabian Sea, the country’s navy said.
A statement from the Pakistan Navy said it tested its firepower “to assess the lethality, precision and efficacy of its weapon systems”.
The weapons tested included missiles fired from an F-22P frigate, air-to-surface missiles from P-3C aircraft, and subsurface-to-surface missiles from French-built Agosta 90B submarines.
“While reassuring Pakistan Navy’s commitment of defending the motherland, this strike capability would also send a message of deterrence to anyone harbouring nefarious designs against Pakistan,” said the navy statement, in an apparent reference to neighbouring India, with whom Pakistan has tense relations.
Pakistan’s tests came around a month after India successfully fired its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-III missile, which has a range of over 3,000 km.
New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik traded charges Friday as the minister accused Islamabad of backing all militant outfits and the envoy denied the charge.
The venue was the India Today conclave where Chidambaram, a key speaker, said: “It is no secret that every militant organisation in Pakistan is supported by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence).”
He took the names of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and other groups operating in Pakistan that are bitterly opposed to India, Israel and the US.
Refuting Chidambaram’s accusation of Pakistan’s involvement in terror activities against India, Malik said Islamabad was a responsible state and would not allow its territory to be used by anyone for violence.
“The Pakistan government has no intention of any aggressive activity against India,” Malik said during an animated question and answer session that followed Chidambaram’s address on South Asia’s future.
Going on the offensive, Malik alleged India’s covert involvement in the insurgency in Balochistan. He also referred to the alleged anti-Pakistan activities of Indian consulates in Afghanistan.
In his reply, Chidambaram said Pakistan needed to show credible action against terrorists to match its words.
“Is it not the obligation of the Pakistan government to neutralise all non-state actors working against India?” asked the minister, who has taken a tough line on terrorism since taking charge of the home ministry in the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.
“I know you wish to mean what you say. You are stating the Pakistan government’s official brief. But let’s put that to test,” Chidambaram told Malik.
Earlier, Chidambaram argued that Pakistan had proved a difficult neighbour since partition and independence in 1947. He said India’s main hope was for a political transformation in Islamabad.
“It must reinvent itself…to become a truly democratic country where real power lies in democratically elected leaders,” he said.
Washington, Mar.12 (ANI): Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation has said the Obama Administration must develop policies that approach the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) with the same urgency as that shown towards Al-Qaeda.
Testifying before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Curtis said American Government have shied away from pressuring Pakistan on the LeT in the past to garner Islamabad’s support against targets they believed were more critical to the country’s interests.
Arguing during the discussion titled: “Bad Company: Lashkar-e-Taiba and the growing ambition of Islamist militancy in Pakistan”, Curtis said there is ample proof that the LeT has close links with Al-Qaeda and shares the same ‘virulent anti-west Islamist ideology’, so, it makes little sense to believe one can dismantle Al-Qaeda without also shutting down the operations of the LeT.
To degrade the overall international terrorist threat emanating from Pakistan, the U.S. must convince Islamabad to confront those groups it has supported against India, she stressed.
Curtis underlined that merely banning the extremist organisation would not serve any purpose, and that the US must closely monitor Pakistani actions to dismantle the LeT.
“The U.S. in collaboration with other allies must increase pressure on Pakistan to take specific steps like denying the LeT leaders the ability to hold public rallies, collect donations, and engage in paramilitary training on Pakistani territory,” she said.
Curtis also noted that Washington must avoid conveying message that is more interested in some terrorist groups than others, which would then encourage the Pakistani leadership to avoid addressing the issue of confronting the LeT. (ANI)
Islamabad, March 12 (IANS) The noose seems to be tightening around Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, with the Supreme Court saying a Swiss money laundering case against him should be immediately reopened.
At a hearing Friday, the court asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to immediately write to the Swiss authorities for reopening the case and also take into its custody the records related to the case lying in London, Online news agency reported.
The ruling came after the NAB submitted that it was hampered in its efforts because records relating to the case had gone missing during the tenure of then president Pervez Musharraf.
Dissatisfied with this statement, Judge Tariq Pervez said the court was not interested in individuals and asked the NAB to recover the missing records, Geo TV reported.
Judge Javed Iqbal wondered why a Supreme Court order striking down an amnesty against graft was not being implemented, adding that the prosecutor general did not seem to be interested in pursuing NAB cases.
In August 2008, Swiss judicial authorities, acting on the request of the Pakistani government, closed the money-laundering case against Zardari and released $60 million frozen in Swiss accounts.
The Pakistani government had cited the amnesty against graft promulgated by Musharraf as the reason for seeking closure of the case.
Musharraf had promulgated the amnesty, in the form of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), primarily to enable former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Zardari, who faced a slew of corruption cases, to return home from self-imposed exile.
Some 250 other politicians, retired army officers and bureaucrats also benefited from the NRO.
The Supreme Court in December 2009 termed the NRO unconstitutional and ordered the reopening of all the cases closed after its promulgation.
Zardari and his aides have been blowing hot and cold since then. While he says he is ready to face the courts, his aides insist he enjoys presidential immunity, at least as long as he is in office.
New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) India will act “swiftly and decisively” if another terrorist attack emanates from Pakistani soil, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Friday, urging Pakistan to “reinvent itself” as a genuine democracy and a responsible neighbour.
“If we are able to establish with a reasonable degree of certainty that another attack on India emanated from Pakistani soil, we will respond swiftly and decisively,” the home minister said while addressing the India Today conclave titled “South Asia: Securing the Future”.
“It suffices to say our response will be swift and decisive,” he added, in response to a a query if this also meant military action.
Pointing to Pakistan’s duplicity over Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafeez Saeed, Chidambaram said, “Investigations around the world are carried out in a certain way. If Pakistan does not know how to interrogate Saeed, then they should allow my agents to go in there and do the job. I am willing to get this done.”
The minister summarised how the dossiers presented to Pakistan contained information of Hafeez Saeed’s specific location on certain dates, the terror camps he visited and his interaction with those suspected of launching the terror attacks in Mumbai.
“If Pakistan wants to bury its head ostrich-like, then what can we say. I’d like to believe that Pakistan has stepped back from sponsoring non-state actors, but there is no proof of that yet,” Chidambaram said.
Pakistan could make a start towards convincing India of its sincerity by providing voice samples of those suspected of guiding the 26/11 terrorists from Pakistan, said Chidambaram.
But in the same breath he indicated that Pakistan had simply refused to act even though India had sent in a list of suspects.
“The voice samples can be tested in India or in a neutral country – maybe in Quantico, USA – and that would go a certain distance in helping establish what we believe – that state actors are indeed involved, but Pakistan refuses to provide us with these samples,” he said.
Arguing that Pakistan had proved to be a “difficult neighbour” ever since partition and independence in 1947, Chidambaram said India’s main hope was for a political transformation in Islamabad.
“It must reinvent itself…to become a truly democratic country where real power lies in democratically elected leaders’ hands,” he said.
“The two nations are nuclear powers, and war is not an option, so we must talk,” the home minister said. “At other times, we must remain vigilant.”
“We tried to make a beginning with the foreign secretary talks, but nothing came out of it, I’m afraid,” Chidambaram said. “But I am told we are still open to another round of talks between the foreign secretaries.”
India and Pakistan held official talks in February for the first time since the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008.
Describing the Feb 13 Pune terror attack as a “blot” on India’s preparedness, Chidamabaram said, “If the German Bakery had taken measures and followed advisories, Pune could have been avoided. The manager of German Bakery Praveen Pant had even signed on the advisory.
“Small, low-cost measures could have been taken, but they were not. Simple things like the direction the CCTV camera was pointed out, or employing a person to check customer’s bags. Any number of things could have been done.”
-Indo-Asian News Service
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Islamabad, Mar.12 (ANI): Pakistan on Friday reportedly test-fired a number of missiles and torpedoes, acquired from other countries, from ships and submarines in the Arabian Sea.
A statement issued by the Pakistan Navy described the tests as ‘successful’ but did not disclose much about the range or other technical details of the weapons fired.
“Pakistan navy fleet today tested its fire power in the north Arabian Sea to assess lethality, precision and efficacy of its weapon system,” the statement said.
The tests included anti-surface missiles from an F-22P frigate, acquired recently from China, air-to-surface missiles from P-3C aircraft and sub surface-to-surface missiles from Agosta 90B submarines, which were bought from France, The Dawn reports.
The navy’s statement said that tests were aimed to send a strong message to those who are conspiring against the country.
“While reassuring Pakistan navy’s commitment of defending the motherland, this strike capability would also send a message of deterrence to anyone harbouring nefarious designs against Pakistan,” it stated. (ANI)
Islamabad, Mar.12 (ANI): A senior Corps Commander, Lt. Gen. Masood Alam, has said that there are reports that Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah had fled the region fearing arrest by security agencies.
Talking to media persons on the sidelines of a function in Mingora, Lt.Gen Alam said the security forces have not stopped searching Fazllulah and working extensively to nab him.
“We will keep chasing him until he is arrested. We will not let him go scot free,” The Daily Times quoted Lt.Gen. Alam, as saying.
Responding to a question, he said the troops would remain in Swat as long as they are needed, and would continue their offensive against the Taliban and other extremist organisations.
“We appeal to the public to share information on Taliban. Security forces must be informed wherever members of the group are seen,” he said.
Lt.Gen. Alam also vowed that his forces would build all the schools destroyed by the Taliban in the region in order to provide a better future to the youth of the region.
“The Taliban has pushed back Swat 100 years by destroying schools. But the army will reconstruct these destroyed schools to help the Swat youth get education and serve the country,” he said. (ANI)
Islamabad, Mar.12 (ANI): Confusion still persists over the recovery of five-year old British boy Sahil Saeed, who was kidnapped from his grandmother’s house in Punjab’s Jhelum last week, with diplomats and officials failing to confirm the news regarding Saeed’s whereabouts.
On Thursday, media reports said that Saeed has been found and is returning to London with his father and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Hasan also confirmed the news only to backtrack later.
“Now I’ve come to know that there’s confusion about it so I don’t want to make further comments,” Hasan told a foreign news agency minutes after he confirmed the recovery of the British toddler.
British diplomats in Pakistan and London said they were urgently checking the reports, but police in Jehlum said they could not confirm he had been located.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Law Minister Babar Awan had revealed that Sahil has been found.
Sky News quoted Awan as saying that toddler was found yesterday, but news of his freedom had been kept quiet for safety reasons.
Sahil was taken by gunmen from his grandmother’s house in Jhelum last Wednesday after a gang reportedly tortured his family for up to six hours.
The young boy and his father were preparing to fly back to Britain and booked a taxi to take them to the airport before the gunmen struck. Sahil’s mother had stayed at home in Oldham.
Meanwhile, Sahil’s father Raja Naqqash Saeed was reported to have returned home to Britain on Wednesday after initially staying in Pakistan amid efforts to rescue the schoolboy. (ANI)
Islamabad, March 11 (IANS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai Thursday described India as a friend and Pakistan as twin brother of Afghanistan, which could not be stable without Islamabad’s cooperation.
India has gone out of the way to help Afghanistan. But Pakistan is twin brother of Afghanistan and without cooperation from Pakistan, there could be no stability, Karzai said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani here.
“We are fighting against terrorism; I brought message from people of Afghanistan to the people of Pakistan,” he said and assured Pakistani leaders that his country would never allow its soil to be used against Pakistan, Geo News reported.
Karzai said, “We want future with no terrorism” and peace is not likely to be restored in Afghanistan without the help from Pakistan.
Gilani said that Pakistan will enhance its cooperation with Afghanistan to eliminate the terrorism and bilateral ties between the two countries would be furthered.
The prime minister said Pakistan will extend all possible help to Afghanistan for its reconstruction and the trade volume between the two countries would also be ramped up.
“We want to take the strategic partnership with Afghanistan forward,” he said.