Former president Pervez Musharraf has said that India and Pakistan must work together to combat terrorism. “Before accusing Pakistan, India must understand the role of Pakistan in the war against terrorism and must work with it to eliminate the curse of terrorism,” Musharraf said in an interview to a private channel in London while talking about the Mumbai attacks.

“We have to end terrorism and extremism from its roots. It is the responsibility of entire world community, region and each of us to tackle terrorism”. He said Pakistan was a victim of terrorism itself. “Pakistan first” is the agenda and manifesto of his life adding that everyone must play a role for the progress of Pakistan, he added.

“As a nation, we have to think about the progress of Pakistanis and we have to take steps for the social welfare of the masses, progress and development of Pakistan. To maintain law and order, ensuring security for the property and lives of masses must be the top priority of the government,” he said.

Musharraf further said he did not own a residence in the United Kingdom or United States and was currently staying with friends. He said he would soon visit Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.

Earlier in an interview with Daphne Barak of a fashion magazine, Musharraf said he would continue staying in Pakistan. “I still live in Rawalpindi in the same house (Army House) until the construction of my house in Islamabad finishes,” he said.

Asked if he felt secure in Pakistan right now, Musharraf said, “I would not leave Pakistan. It is my home. Am I safe there completely? Of course not. If there are risks but it is not new for me to live with risk. The Army is protecting me. But of course-everything is possible.”

To another question regarding performance of his successor, Musharraf said: “Well, you are getting lots of feedback from the people of Pakistan. You just told me yourself even members of the PPP (Bhutto’s party) are very disappointed (from Zardari’s conduct)”.

Pakistan and India are currently sharing evidence on the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, Husain Haqqani, said in a TV interview adding: “We are acting on that, (but) I will not get into the details of that, because it involves intelligence matters”.

Haqqani said: “But let me just say, Pakistan will take action against any element inside Pakistan who is found to be responsible for a terrorist attack against our neighbour or anywhere else in the world.”

Asked if Pakistan is going to arrest Lashkar leaders such as Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the ambassador said if he answered that question in the affirmative, “many of these guys are going to go underground … so let’s not get into the specifics”.

The important thing, he said, was that the newly elected Pakistani government was clear that no organisation that engages in terrorism was going to be allowed to operate from Pakistan.

“We are not going to judge terrorists by their causes. We are going to judge them by their actions. So basically anybody who engages in terrorism is a terrorist for us, irrespective of what cause they espouse,” he declared.

Haqqani said the purpose of the Mumbai attacks was three-fold: to attack India and cause carnage; to threaten the democratic regime in Pakistan; and to hit the India-Pakistan peace process.

He added: “If India and Pakistan stop looking at each other as rivals or enemies and start thinking of each other as neighbours who have had problems, but who have a future together, then, of course, the terrorists have no cause left. So they want our countries to come to the brink, to be at each other’s throats.”

He said the US has a tremendous technological capability which helps in producing good actionable intelligence, which can be a reliable source of intelligence. Washington can help build Pakistan’s democratic future, with an economy in shambles and large pockets of extremist ideology, in addition to poor literacy. The US can also help India understand that there is a new democratic Pakistan that can be a partner to democratic India in making the lives of Pakistanis and Indians better.

Gdansk (Poland), December 6
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to meet the Dalai Lama today at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Poland, a move that has left China fuming.

As current holder of the European Union’s six-month rotating presidency, the French leader’s decision to engage with the exiled leader has so far seen Beijing retaliate by scrapping a China-EU summit in France earlier this week.

It also warned multi-billion-dollar trade deals between China and France are at stake should the meeting go ahead.

Asked on Friday in Gdansk whether he thought the French President might cancel the meeting with him as has happened twice in the past, the Dalai Lama said: “Wait until tomorrow. I don’t know.” Commenting on whether EU-China relations and trade could substantially suffer over his planned meeting with Sarkozy, the Dalai Lama remarked, “China also needs Europe. The original initiative of some pressure, sometimes is not followed by action.”

France is digging in its heels, saying the meeting will go ahead and calling for economic ties to be spared from retribution.

“We cannot have France’s conduct dictated to, even by our friends,” said foreign minister Bernard Kouchner. — AFP

Kuala Lumpur, December 6
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan today became the first Indian actor to be conferred on a prestigious Malaysian title.

Wearing a traditional black and gold Malay outfit (Baju Melayu and samping) and headgear, Khan received the title of “Datuk” (equivalent to British Knighthood) from the governor of Malaysia’s southern Malacca state.

Baju Melayu is similar to a kurta pajama, while ‘samping’ is a piece of cloth men tie around the waist and which falls to the length of the long shirt.

The 43-year-old actor, who has a large fan base among the Malays, held the estimated 1,000 guests at the investiture spellbound as he received the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka (DMSM), conferred on him and 76 others.

The actor kept waving to his fans as he was escorted into the hall. The Bollywood icon was the focus of attention as media and fans clicked away using cameras from their seats.

The actor will be referred to as Datuk Shah Rukh Khan in Malaysia and will be addressed as Datuk. Each Malaysian state chooses its own list of people to honour with “Datukship”. A majority of the awardees are local Malaysians who would have excelled in some area or are in the government.

Malacca authorities said Khan was given the title because some of his movies had been shot in the historical state boosting tourism.

However, the decision to award Khan with the Datukship received a fair share of criticism across the country with local artists and public noting that the award could have been given to a local actor or artist. — PTI

Just a few days after the Chinese defence minister wrapped his official visit to the Himalayan nation, a 10-member Chinese military delegation led by Lieutenant General Ma Xiaotian arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday for a five-day visit for a “regular and friendly” visit.

“Since this is a regular visit, there is no specific agenda other than to maintain the friendly relations between the armies of Nepal and China,” said Brigadier General Ramindra Chettri, spokesperson of the Nepal Army.

“There had been a break in the regularity of visits for some time,” he said. The team led by Lieutenant General Ma, who is also the chief of general staff of the China’s People’s Liberation of Army and its second man, has four major-generals. Last month another military delegation led by a major-general had visited Nepal.

The delegation will meet defence minister Ram Bahadur Thapa on Sunday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday and President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and foreign minister Upendra Yadav on Tuesday.