Politics

Pakistan has once again assured the world that it is devoted towards fighting extremism and maintaining peaceful relations with all its neighbours.

Pakistan Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman met British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Robert Brinkley and stated that “Pakistan is steadfast in its commitment towards elimination of extremism and for maintaining peaceful relations with all its neighbors.”

In a bid to defuse tension between India and Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi may visit India next week.

On Yang’s arrival, India is expected to provide evidence of Pakistani element’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks.

Yang Jiechi will also hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee on the latest developments in Indo-Pak relations trying calm down the things between two neighbours.

Pranab Mukharjee had spoken with Yang last month and urging him to pressurise Pakistan to arrest the culprits of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Following Pakistan’s rejection to extradite any Pakistani national to India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Pakistan to hand over “criminals” responsible for the Mumbai attacks so that they can face trial in India.

Singh hoped that "some sense" would prevail in the Pakistani leadership and that it would recognise that those behind the “horrible acts” in Mumbai should to be brought to justice.

The political game in Pakistan’s Punjab Province is taking a new turn, with neither the PPP nor the PML-N willing to compromise or budge on their respective stances.

The Nation quotes political observers as saying that the distance between PPP Governor Salman Taseer and PML-N Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is widening with the passage of time and warns that a direct confrontation between them may create a new problem, especially for the province and for the country in general.

A two-day conference held here last month on the cultural heritage of Kashmiris, has declared that there is a need to forge “a peaceful pathway through identifying and implementing a series of steps that will lead to a prosperous and cohesive future for all of the people of Kashmir, wherever they may reside.”

In its eight-point declaration, the conference recognising that, irrespective of their location, all people of the Former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir share a unique and ancient heritage.

In separate encounters, the security personnel have gunned down four militants in eastern Imphal and Bishenpur Districts of Manipur.

Reports reaching here from Imphal said that a joint team of police commandos and Assam Rifles raided Sanjenbam village in Imphal East District on Saturday morning after getting some leads on militant movement in the area.

During the search operation, the militants shot gunfire at the security forces and vice-versa. One militant was gunned down during the retaliatory fire from the security personnel. Rest of them managed to rescue.

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of influential Hamas Leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef, has converted to Christianity, and said that there will never be peace between Israel and Palestine.

Mosab Hassan Yousef stated, among other things, “Is there any chance for fire to co-exist with the water? It’s not about Israel, it’s not about Hamas: It’s about both ideologies,” FOX News reported.

Yousef (30) went on to state that Hamas betrays the Palestinian cause and tortures its own members.

Muslims in Srinagar on Saturday demonstrated against Israel''s air raids over Gaza.

Hundreds of people, including women and children, gathered in the heart of Srinagar and were led by separatist leader Javed Mir, an executive member of Hurriyat Conference, in a protest march.

The protest was against Israel''s continuing aggression against Palestine.

Several people joined the protest as it marched towards Lal Chowk. The protesters were raising anti-US and Israeli slogans and expressed their solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Indian-born Salman Rushdie, the author of famous novels like “ The Satanic Verses” and “Midnight''s Children”, has categorically laid the blame for November terror attacks on Mumbai at Pakistan’s doorstep, by saying that all signs pointed to that fact.

A leading daily in Pakistan has contradicted the statement of a Foreign Office spokesman which said that Pakistan has no terrorist infrastructure on its soil.

According to an editorial in ‘The News’ the statement of the official was no were near the reality. The fact that Pakistan provided a safe haven to the terrorist groups and that its territory is being used as a breeding ground of these outlawed groups can not be denied.