Tag: Kashmir

JAMMU - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday he was approaching new peace talks with Pakistan with an "open mind", saying all disputes, including the long-running feud over Indian-held Kashmir, would be discussed.
New Delhi and Islamabad announced on February 10 that they would resume full peace talks which were suspended more than two years ago. "We wish to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries through friendly dialogue and constructive and

ISLAMABAD - The British Parliament is interested in finding a permanent solution to the dispute of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. All political parties of the United Kingdom are united over the issue and All Parties Parliamentary Group on Kashmir, a group of parliamentarians from the UK, said on Sunday.
The group, headed by Lord Nazir Ahmed currently on a visit to Pakistan, held meetings with various leaders and later in the evening, addressed a press conference along with

ISLAMABAD - It was only after the acceptance of India's demand for alteration in the composite dialogue agenda that the 'impasse' between Islamabad and New Delhi over the stalled peace process could be removed recently in Bhutanese capital, Thimphu leading to the resumption of talks that came to a halt in November 2008 after the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Before the Indo-Pak foreign secretaries' meeting held in the beginning of this month in Thimphu, India had made it clear that

SRINAGAR - Suspected Muslim militants Friday shot dead a 47-year-old ruling-party activist in Indian Kashmir, police said, while four people were hurt in fresh clashes in the insurgency-hit region. Ghulam Hassan was shot from close range at a market place in the southern township of Hajin, 40 kilometres north of Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar.
"He died spontaneously," a police spokesman said, blaming militants opposed to Indian rule in the region for the late evening

NEW DELHI - India plans to withdraw 10,000 paramilitary troops from Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) in 2011 and renew efforts to hold talks in the rebellion-hit region, a top government official said on Sunday. A separatist insurgency has raged in IHK, and at least 114 people died in street protests last summer in pitched battles with security forces.
"I think this year we can easily take out 10 battalions (10,000 personnel), if not more," Indian Home Secretary Gopal Pillai said.

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday vowed not to comprise Pakistan's stance on Kashmir, saying India had to give up the disputed region through negotiations. Addressing a convention at President House's in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day, Zardari reiterated that Pakistan was ready to talk to India on all issues, including Kashmir dispute, but the negotiations would not go ahead without permission of Kashmiris.
"Kashmiris

ISLAMABAD - On the eve of the Indo-Pak foreign secretaries' talk in Bhutanese capital Thimpu, Pakistan urged its nuclear neighbour for a "meaningful" dialogue on Kashmir and other disputes saying it was vital for durable peace and stability in South Asian.
Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir is set to meet his Indian counterpart, Nirupama Rao today (Sunday) in Thimpu, the Bhutanese capital on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial conference in a bid to revive the dialogue process that

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI/LAHORE/PESHAWAR - People across the country and in Azad Kashmir observed Kashmir Solidarity Day on Saturday, renewing the pledge for continued support to their brethren in Indian-held Kashmir against the atrocities committed by the Indian forces.
Rallies were staged in almost all the cities and towns with a demand for cessation of hostilities and an end to illegal occupation of the valley by India. In Islamabad, National Assembly's Committee on Kashmir Chairman

ISLAMABAD - Authorities on Saturday issued a medium-danger avalanche alert in several parts of Kashmir in view of moderate to heavy snowfall forecast over the next three days. "A medium-danger avalanche warning has been sounded by Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) for Gurez, Gugladara, Keran, Machil, Chowkibal and Tangdar in north Kashmir areas close to the Line of Control," said Amar Ali, Disaster Management Cell coordinator.
He said the warning will be in force

KARACHI - The PPP Karachi Division's public meeting to mark the Kashmir Day on Saturday went awry when the party's jiyalas started protesting police excesses and sale of government jobs. The hall of the Arts Council of Pakistan - where the programme was organised - echoed with slogans by PPP activists belonging to different party wings during Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah's speech.
Holding placards, the People's Students Federation activists started protesting the Aram

LAHORE - No federal government ever changed Pakistan's stance on the Kashmir issue, former foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmed Khan said on Saturday. He was addressing a seminar at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex to highlight the Kashmir issue and express solidarity with the Kashmiris.
Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex Chairman and Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami, former member of the National Assembly (MNA) Onaza Ehsan Butt, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaqat Baloch, Allama Shafi Josh

LAHORE - Religious parties including the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the outlawed Jamaatud Dawa organised two different rallies on Saturday in connection with the Kashmir Day. The JI's rally started from the Nasir Bagh and culminated at the Punjab Assembly. Various leaders addressed the rally and reiterated their solidarity with the Kashmiris.
Speakers asked the Punjab Police to use an iron hand while dealing with Raymond Davis saying that if police investigate freely, they could

LAHORE - Traffic remained congested in the city owing to rallies organised by Jamat-ud-Dawa, a banned religious outfit, and Jamat-e-Islami on Saturday. The Mall and its adjoining roads were closed for the general public before the rallies' commencement. Jamat-ud-Dawa workers took hold of The Mall on the preceding night to hang their banners and flags.
Rallies started from the Nasir Bagh and headed to the Faisal Square, where both rallies turned into a congregation. Roads

LAHORE - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will organise a function at its central secretariat in Islamabad today (Saturday) to mark the Kashmir Day. Party leaders, parliamentarians and workers would participate in the function. In his message on Kashmir Day, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said that solution of the Kashmir issue could guarantee cordial Indo-Pak relations and regional peace.
He said that since regional peace and progress was linked to solution of the Kashmir

LAHORE - It is a holiday today and you probably will be reading this while you sit back, relaxed, lest you work in a newspaper. It is Kashmir Day today. Ever wondered why are you staying home on this day? What is the matter with Kashmiris, and how will you observing this holiday will materialize Kashmir's liberation? Some say that the day is to show solidarity with the Kashmiris. What we ask here to the youth is only if they know what does solidarity mean and how is it showed?