|
|
|
|
|
Obama ‘secretly’ told Pak it would push India on Kashmir
Post-Osama, US threatened to name Pak as terror state
Armies of India, China begin 10-day anti-terror exercise
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Pak army shows anti-drone technology
B’desh moves to form all-party govt within next 15 days
Ahead of talks, Iran calls for elimination of nukes
Congo’s rebels end revolt, to disarm troops
|
|
Obama ‘secretly’ told Pak it would push India on Kashmir
Washington, November 5 This is Haqqani's interpretation of the secret letter written by President Obama to the then President Asif Ali Zardari, which was personally hand delivered by his then National Security Advisor Gen (rtd) James Jones. The letter's content is for the first time being disclosed by Haqqani, the then Pakistan's envoy to the US. In his book, spread over 300 pages, Haqqani writes that in November 2009, Jones travelled to Islamabad to hand deliver a letter written by Obama to Zardari. Dated November 11, 2009, through the letter Obama offered Pakistan to become America's "long-term strategic" partner. The letter "even hinted at addressing Pakistan's oft-stated desire for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute," he writes. “Obama wrote that the United States would tell countries of the region that 'the old ways of doing business are no longer acceptable'. He acknowledged that some countries - a reference to India- had used 'unresolved disputes to leave open bilateral wounds for years or decades. They must find ways to come together'," Haqqani writes. "But in an allusion to Pakistan, he (Obama) said, 'Some countries have turned to proxy groups to do their fighting instead of choosing a path of peace and security. The tolerance or support of such proxies cannot continue'," the former diplomat writes quoting from the letter. "I am committed to working with your government to ensure the security of the Pakistani state and to address threats to your security in a constructive way,” the book says, citing Obama's letter to Zardari. “He (Obama) asked for cooperation in defeating Al-Qaida, Tehrik-e-Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Haqqani network, the Afghan Taliban and the assorted other militant groups that threaten security. — PTI |
|
|
Post-Osama, US threatened to name Pak as terror state
Washington, November 5 Pakistan’s former envoy to the US Husain Haqqani claims that such a threat was made by the then National Security Council's Co-coordinator for Afghanistan and Pakistan Lt Gen (rtd) Douglas Lute when he was asked to meet him at the White House on May 12. The meeting was held less than a fortnight after the daring raid, following which the anti-US sentiment was being fuelled in Pakistan by a vested section in the establishment. “Lute made a veiled threat: “Countries have been design state sponsors of terrorism on less evidence than that available on Pakistan,” — PTI |
|
|
Armies of India, China begin 10-day anti-terror exercise
Beijing, November 5 Both sides have deployed about 150 soldiers each in the 10-day exercise, code-named “Hand-in-Hand 2013”, aimed at enhancing counter terrorism skills which began at Miaoergang, south of the Chinese city of Chengdu. Personnel from the Indian Army’s 16 Sikh Light Infantry and similar strength of PLA’s 1st Battalion Infantry Division of 13 Group are taking part in the drills, the third such exercise between the two armies since 2007. During the opening ceremony, the Chinese side gave an “enthralling display” of Chinese martial art kungfu followed by “breathtaking” Punjabi Gatka martial art by the Indian. The two sides also displayed their weapons which generated keen interest to familiarise and understand the characteristics of each other, an Indian defence press release said. Declaring open the exercise along with Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia leader of Indian Army observer group, the head of the Chinese team Lt Gen Yung Jinshan of the PLA said terrorism is a global challenge and China and India faced similar threats in an apparent reference to the suicide attack at the historic Tiananmen Square on October 28 in which five people were killed and 40 others injured. This exercise is designed to consolidate and exchange tactical skills as well as enhance mutual understanding and trust, Yung said. In his address, Lt Gen Bhatia said the exercise is a perfect beginning for renewed bilateral cooperation and friendship. “We intend learning best practices of each other which would be mutually beneficial for both the armies,” he said. During the exercise, Indian and Chinese soldiers will conduct drills in tactical hand signals, arrest and escort, hostage rescue and joint attack, as well as comprehensive anti-terror combat manoeuvres, official media reported. A Chinese military observer and deputy commander of the Chengdu Military Area Command told state-run Xinhua news agency that the exercise is intended to exchange anti-terror experiences, enhance mutual understanding and trust, and boost cooperation between the two armies. — PTI Hand-in-Hand 2013
|
|
|
Pak army shows anti-drone technology
Islamabad, November 5 During the “Azm-e-Nau 4 Exercise” at Bahawalpur in Punjab province yesterday, the army air defence demonstrated its anti-drone technology by successfully bringing down a drone by targeting it with the 35mm Oerlikon guns, The News daily said. The event also marked the culmination of five-year series of exercises jointly conducted by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force at firing range in Khairpur Tamewali, about 75 km from international borders. The public opinion on drones has been further divided with the latest strike by a CIA- operated spy plane on Friday that killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. — PTI |
|
|
B’desh moves to form all-party govt within next 15 days
Dhaka, November 5 Ministers will resign within a week to form the all-party poll-time government, Hasina told a cabinet meeting yesterday. “The existing cabinet members will resign first to pave way for constituting the all-party government in next 15 days," a spokesman of the premier quoted her as saying. The remark comes at a time when the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance called its second 60-hour strike within a week to press for the restoration of the neutral caretaker government system to oversee the polls scheduled to be held by January 25, 2014. A total of 26 people have died in political violence since October 25, including four killed in different parts yesterday. Communications Minister Obaidul Quader said his cabinet colleagues will submit their resignations to Hasina within a week. “After submitting their resignations, those who would be in the all-party government, won't need to take oath anew," Quader said. Meanwhile, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, joint general secretary of the ruling Awami League, said the members of the all-party government would be picked up from the political parties. — PTI new equations
|
|
Ahead of talks, Iran calls for elimination of nukes United Nations, November 5 Mohammad Khazaee told a meeting of the General Assembly’s disarmament committee yesterday that “the total elimination of these inhuman weapons is the only absolute guarantee against their threat or use.” The election of President Hassan Rouhani, viewed as a moderate, has led to a revival of talks in Geneva aimed at allaying Western fears that the real aim of Iran's nuclear enrichment program is producing nuclear weapons, not nuclear energy and medical isotopes as it claims. For years, Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is purely peaceful, and that it opposes nuclear weapons, but Khazaee's comments were especially strong. “Before they consume us all together, we must consume them all together," he said. "This is not an option but a must. This is both our right and responsibility.” Khazaee told the committee “we need to invest further political will to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world at the earliest date.” — AP
|
||||||
30 Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy 20 killed in Karachi violence Pak successfully test-fires Nasr missile New Jersey mall shooting suspect is dead Woman sentenced to death for fraud in China |
||||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
“Since the 1950s Pakistan had wanted an American role in South Asia. Now it was being offered one. In the end, Pakistan would have to negotiate the Kashmir issue directly with India. But at least now the American President was saying that he would nudge the Indians toward those negotiations,” Pakistan's former Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani writes in his book 'Magnificent Delusions', which hit the stores today.
