W O R L D

India will have to revisit its Pak policy soon: Qureshi
Pakistan’s foreign minister says he is confident India will have to “revisit” its position that it will not resume the composite dialogue with Pakistan until concrete action is taken against those responsible for acts of terrorism against India.

Pak gets no clear signal on N-deal

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi shares a light moment with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Wednesday. — AP/PTI

Former Nepal king hopes to revive monarchy
Gyanendra’s claim invites hostile response
Almost two years after he was dethroned, Nepal's former king Gyanendra has said that the country's centuries-old Hindu monarchy may be "some day revived". "I don't think the monarchy is over," Gyanendra said breaking a long self-imposed silence on Wednesday after worshipping at the Hindu temple Ramjanaki in Janakpur during the Ram Navami festival.

India will have to revisit its Pak policy soon: Qureshi
Ashish Kumar Sen in Washington DC

Pakistan’s foreign minister says he is confident India will have to “revisit” its position that it will not resume the composite dialogue with Pakistan until concrete action is taken against those responsible for acts of terrorism against India.

Speaking to reporters in Washington on Wednesday, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said: “I’m of the view that Pakistan has been willing to engage. And I’m confident, as two years down the line, I’m confident of this relationship. I’m confident that India will have to revisit its policy and very soon.”

The Obama administration has responded coolly to Pakistani attempts to draw it into mediating the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. Asked by a reporter why the US was reluctant to play a role on mediating between India and Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the US cannot dictate foreign policy to India or Pakistan.

She said it was important to recognise that the United States has positive relationships with both Pakistan and India. “And we certainly encourage the dialogue between India and Pakistan. The issues that are part of that dialogue need to be addressed, and resolution of them between the two countries would certainly be in everyone’s best interest,” she said.

But, she added: “We can’t dictate the Pakistani foreign policy or Indian foreign policy. But we can encourage, as we do, the in-depth discussion between both countries that we think would benefit each of them with respect to security and development.”

Qureshi, meanwhile, maintained that the US-India bilateral relationship should not be at the cost of Pakistan. “And we are very clear and I think you are very clear on that,” he told Clinton.

Ministerial-level US and Pakistani delegations are meeting in Washington this week as part of two days of the first-ever “strategic dialogue.” Clinton thanked Qureshi for his “candor,” and said, “We have listened and we will continue to listen.”

The two sides discussed Pakistan’s national security priorities, ongoing counter-insurgency operations, and long-term military modernisation and recapitalisation efforts. “Pakistan is on the frontline of confronting the violent extremism that threatens us all. And Pakistan’s civilians and security forces continue to bear the brunt of that fight. We respect the sacrifices that Pakistan has made in combating terrorists who seek to undermine its stability and undo its progress,” Clinton said.

Qureshi declared after his meetings that he was a “happy man and a satisfied man.” He explained, “I’m satisfied because you’ve finally agreed to many of the things that we’ve been sharing over our discussions in the last two years… I suggested to Madam Secretary that if you want this relationship to become a partnership, you’ve got to think differently, you’ve got to act differently, and you’ve got to upgrade the level of our engagement.” Clinton did not disagree, but she pointed to the Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation that already gives Pakistan $7.5 billion in assistance over five years.

At his meetings with US lawmakers this week, Qureshi said he noticed a “qualitative difference” in attitudes. “I was at the Senate. I was at the House. It’s 180 degree difference. We’ve turned the corner. And today, there was confidence. There were no question marks. There was no suspicion. There was no ‘do more.’ There was recognition of what we already had done. There was appreciation of what we had already done,” he said.

Pak gets no clear signal on N-deal

Pakistan has failed to secure a clear commitment for its much sought-after civil nuclear deal from the US, which has decided to help in upgrading three of its thermal power plants. Senior Senators, John Kerry and Richard Lugar, declined to endorse Pakistan’s demand for a civilian nuclear deal similar to the US-India pact. That reluctance appears to be shared by the Obama administration.

Former Nepal king hopes to revive monarchy
Gyanendra’s claim invites hostile response
Bishnu Budhathoki in Kathmandu

Almost two years after he was dethroned, Nepal's former king Gyanendra has said that the country's centuries-old Hindu monarchy may be "some day revived". "I don't think the monarchy is over," Gyanendra said breaking a long self-imposed silence on Wednesday after worshipping at the Hindu temple Ramjanaki in Janakpur during the Ram Navami festival.

"History shows that the monarchy has had its ups and downs and twists and turns. And I will accept whatever the people desire," the former monarch told Avenues Television, a private channel.

At a time when the peace and constitution drafting process were in limbo due to surfaced political differences among the major political parties, Gyanendra said it was high time for the people to think how the should move ahead to become a successful and presspersons. He claimed that he relinquished the power in 2006 without the sake of peace and stability without asking for anything.

He, however, admitted that he had committed mistake in February 1, 2005, by assuming the executive power dismissing the then civilian government. “The move of February 1 teaches a lesson. May be it is a message from the people. It could be that the people do not want an active monarch,” Shah said. He added, “This is an issue that requires further consideration.”

Meanwhile, Gyanendra’s claim has invited hostile response from the government, political parties and civil society as well.

While attending a meeting with the top brass of the ruling coalition partners at Sigha Dubar on Thursday, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal dubbed the deposed King Gyanendra Shah’s remarks as a ‘day dream’.

Coming down heavily against his remarks, the main opposition party UCPN-Maoist vice-chair Dr Baburam Bhattarai demanded that the government should take action against Shah for making such statement by going against people’s verdict.

“We pardoned him so that he would stay as a citizen. But if he defies his role as a citizen, he should be brought to book. We should mount formal accusation against him,” he said.

Nepali Congress vice-president and Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel said Shah´s remarks were an attempt to devalue the April 2006 movement.

However, political pandits and analysts have taken his remarks a politically meaningful at the present context.

‘We’ll kill US soldiers if self-confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is executed’
Osama’s fresh threat to US

Dubai, March 25
World's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden today warned that Al-Qaida will kill American soldiers if the self-confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is executed. "The day America will take such decision (to execute Khalid and any other), it would have taken a decision to execute whoever we capture," Bin Laden said in the latest audio record, broadcast on Al-Jazeera.

He also said US President Barack Obama was "following the footsteps of his predecessor", a reference to George Bush, the former US president. "The politicians in the White House were practicing injustice against us and still they are, especially by supporting Israel in its continuous occupation of Palestine.

"They used to think that America across the oceans is protected from the rage of the oppressed until our reaction was loudly heard at your home on the 9/11 with God’s help," he said in the recording.

Osama's threat comes as Obama administration has announced it would try Khalid Mohammed and four other accused at a New York courthouse just steps from where the World Trade Centre once stood.

Osama bin Laden's last audio recording was released on January 24, earlier this year in which he claimed responsibility for alleged attempted attack on an airliner on Christmas Day and vowed there would be further attacks on the US unless Obama took steps to resolves the Palestinian situation. — PTI