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June 9 (Reuters) – Turkey voted against U.N. sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programme on Wednesday because it wants to continue diplomatic efforts, a source in Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s office said.
Erdogan travelled to Tehran last month to broker a nuclear fuel swap deal with Iran. Voting for sanctions would have meant Turkey no longer stood behind that deal, the source said. (Reporting by Pinar Aydinli, writing by Ayla Jean Yackley, editing by Tim Pearce)
China has welcomed a nuclear fuel swap plan that Iran announced after talks with Brazil and Turkey, urging negotiations over the deepening dispute with Tehran.
Iran agreed with Brazil and Turkey on Monday to send some of its uranium abroad, reviving a fuel swap plan drafted by the United Nations with the aim of keeping its nuclear activities in check.
But Iran made clear it had no intention of suspending domestic enrichment the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.
Western powers have already said the offer will not be enough to ease their worries about Iran. But Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi suggested his government was encouraged by the proposal and favours negotiations.
“China expresses its welcome (of the fuel swap plan)”, Yang said late on Monday while visiting Tunisia, Xinhua news agency said.
“China has noted the relevant reports and expresses its welcome and appreciation for the diplomatic efforts made by the parties involved to seek an appropriate solution to the Iran nuclear issue.”
China is among the world powers that have been discussing possible new U.N. sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear activities. It is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, giving it the power to veto resolutions.
Yang’s published comments did not touch on whether China believes the nuclear fuel swap proposal means those sanctions discussions should be delayed. But he stressed that Beijing prefers a negotiated solution to the dispute.
China “believes that dialogue and negotiations should be the channels for resolving the Iran nuclear issue”, he said.
(Editing by Nick Macfie)
Washington, May 13 (IANS) US President Barack Obama has warned Pakistan that his administration would not allow ‘safe havens’ for militants in its tribal region bordering Afghanistan or let Osama bin Laden operate with impunity.
‘My bottom line is that we cannot allow Al Qaeda to operate,’ he said. ‘We cannot have those safe havens in that region,’ he said Wednesday at a joint White House news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
‘I’m not going to allow Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden to operate with impunity, planning attacks on the US homeland,’ he said, adding his envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, will convey his message to Islamabad.
‘We’re going to have to work both smartly and effectively, but with consistency in order to make sure that those safe havens don’t exist.’
Obama said he had appointed Holbrooke as a special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan to give a new focus to dealings with terrorism.
‘I’ve sent over Richard Holbrooke – one of our top diplomats – to evaluate a regional approach,’ he said. ‘We are going to need more effective coordination of our military efforts with diplomatic efforts, with development efforts, with more effective coordination with our allies in order for us to be successful.’
Obama said he had no schedule for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
‘I do not have yet a timetable for how long that’s going to take…’
Thimphu (Bhutan), Apr.27 (ANI): As the red carpet rolls out for leaders coming to attend the two-day XVIth South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at Thimphu,efforts are reportedly on at the diplomatic level to facilitate a meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines.
Indian and Pakistani diplomats are working hard to finalize the bilateral meeting. Senior officials of both countries dealing specifically with bilateral ties have already arrived here. They include Pakistan”s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik and the Joint Secretary in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in charge of the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran desk,Y.K. Sinha.
Although the stage looks almost set for a possible meeting, officially there is no confirmation.
Sources have told ANI that the meeting is very much on the cards.
According to sources, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir are also expected to hold a separate meeting before the Prime Ministers” of both countries meet.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna told ANI here that the schedule of the Prime
Minister will only be fixed once he arrives here on Wednesday.
Dr.Singh will be arriving here tomorrow morning, while Prime Minister Gilani has already arrived.
Sending a positive feeler about possible talks, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told ANI ” We can talk about talks. One always lives on hope. Talking and engaging is the most sensible way forward.”
Sources also maintain that even if bilateral meeting does not materialise, a “pull aside” meeting like the recent one in Washington is certain. (ANI)
Thu, Apr 1 12:47 PM
China will continue to seek peaceful solution to the Iran nuclear issue, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday, after Beijing agreed to discussions on new sanctions on Tehran.
The United States and other Western powers have said China has agreed to serious negotiations about a proposed new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran, which they say wants the means to make nuclear weapons.
China has been reluctant to back such sanctions and has repeatedly called for more diplomatic efforts to seek a solution. As a permanent member of the Security Council, Beijing has the power to veto any resolution.
(Reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison; editing by Ken Wills)
Islamabad, June 25 (ANI): The Pakistan government sees the failure of the United Nations (UN) to issue a resolution regarding the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks despite unprecedented pressure from India, as its diplomatic win over its neighbour.
Addressing a joint press-conference with Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairwoman Farzana Raja here, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Hussain Haroon said Pakistan was emerging as the most important country on the world map due to Islamabad’s diplomatic efforts.
Haroon said it was primarily due to Islamabad’s effective diplomatic batting which prevented the UN from releasing a resolution on the Mumbai attack.
“This was surely an outcome of strong diplomacy that no resolution has yet been presented over the Mumbai attack,” The Daily Times quoted Haroon, as saying.
Commenting on the Kashmir issue, Haroon said the matter has been tabled before the UN Security Council thrice, but nothing substantial has been done in this regard.
Referring to exodus of over three million people in the Swat and Malakand Divisions of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) due to the military offensive, Haroon said the UN has assured all help to Pakistan to pull it out from the present precarious condition.
He said that the UN has initiated several programmes for the rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). (ANI)
Washington – US President Barack Obama and his administration are scrambling to forge a unified world reaction to North Korea’s most recent test of a nuclear device, and the strategy has already reaped swift support from normally reluctant Moscow and Beijing.
Russia and China, traditionally North Korea’s strongest allies on the UN Security Council, went along on Monday with the immediate and strong condemnation issued by the 15-member panel, and the council is expected to consider sanctions and other measures in the coming days.
“I think we were all impressed with the fact that the Russians and the Chinese denounced this so strongly,” Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, was quoted as saying by the New York Times.
The early Monday morning explosion, which measured 4.5 to 4.7 on the Richter scale, is expected to be followed by more rocket tests similar to the one Pyongyang launched in April, presenting the Obama administration with its first full-blown crisis with a nuclear country.
While his predecessor George W Bush intensified diplomatic efforts after North Korea tested its first nuclear device in 2006, it appeared that Obama was considering a tougher reaction this time around.
In a statement just hours after the blast, Obama condemned North Korea as a “threat to international peace and security,” adding: “The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants action by the international community.”
He vowed the US would “stand up to this behaviour” and added later in the day that North Korea’s actions had “flown in the face of United Nations resolutions, as a result North Korea is not only deepening its own isolation, but it is also inviting stronger international pressure.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the “importance of a strong, unified approach” in her phone calls to her counterparts in the six-party talks – Japan, Russia, China and South Korea, the countries that have been working for several years to get Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear programme.
Obama also personally spoke with the leaders of South Korea and Japan Monday to reassure them that the US was committed to their security and to coordinate world reaction. In the calls, Obama called for “a collective response” by the international community, and for concrete measures from the Security Council to “curtail North Korea’s nuclear and missile activities.”
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Obama agreed in the call “that the test was a reckless violation of international law that compels action in response,” according to a statement released by the White House.
In the call with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, the two leaders said they would intensify coordination within the six-party talks.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nation, Vitaly Churkin, who chairs the council this month, criticized North Korea for violating UN resolutions, the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
“We are one of the founding fathers, Russia is, of those documents,” Churkin was quoted as saying by Voice of America. “So we think they are extremely important in current international relations. So anything which would undermine the regimes of those two treaties is very serious and needs to have a strong response to it.”
North Korea’s nuclear test pushed South Korea on Tuesday into joining the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI,) the high seas interdiction programme set up in 2003 by more than a dozen countries which gives international law backing to seizing illegal weapons of mass destruction.
The initiative was set up after 15 missiles were found on board a North Korean freighter, which had to be released for want of international law.
Seoul had previously hesitated to join PSI, saying the move could create unnecessary tension with North Korea, which is under suspicion of trafficking weapons, drugs and counterfeit money. Pyongyang earlier declared that it would regard Seoul’s participation in the PSI a declaration of war, the Yonhap news agency reported. Obama expressed appreciation for South Korea’s support of PSI when he talked to the prime minister, according to a statement from the White House.
The White House said that Pyongyang gave it about an hour’s notice before the 0100 GMT Monday test, which it estimated was “a few kilotons” in strength.
While the response of condemnation kept Obama working well past midnight and into early Monday morning, just hours later he laid a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at the military’s burial grounds, Arlington National Cemetery, to commemorate US Memorial Day, and then played more than four hours of golf.
The notice about the upcoming test from Pyongyang to Washington came about 0000 GMT Monday, with no definitive mention of time. The United States immediately notified the governments of Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia of the warning, according to a White House statement.
“Less than one hour” later, the 0100 GMT explosion was registered by the US Geological Survey, close to the site of North Korea’s 2006 test of a nuclear device, the official said.
The US official was skeptical about any claims by North Korea of the size of the explosion, which registered at 4.7 on the Richter scale by the USGS. Asian monitors registered a 4.5-level temblor.
“We have also seen the North Korean claims of the size of the test and note that in 2006 North Korea vastly overstated the size of that test,” an official who spoke on condition of anonymity said in the statement.
The US government said analysis was being carried out over the coming days.
With the test, Pyongyang, which also appeared to have test-fired a short-range missile early Monday, was making good on earlier threats issued after the Security Council criticized a rocket launch by Pyongyang in April.
Obama declared that the detonation would deepen the Stalinist state’s isolation and vowed the US would “redouble our efforts toward a more robust nonproliferation regime that all countries have responsibilities to meet.”
“In this effort the United States will never waiver from our determination to protect our people and the peace and security of the world,” Obama declared.(dpa)
Sirsa, May 1 (ANI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that it was Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh who compelled Pakistan to confess that the terrorists involved in 26/11 Mumbai carnage belonged to its land.
Addressing an election rally here, the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, in reply to BJP’s consistent description of Prme Minister Dr. Manohan Singh as a weak PM, said: “It is the same Prime Minister who compelled Pakistan to openly confess categorically that the perpetrators of the terrorists act in Mumbai last year belonged to Pakistan.”
Rahul appreciated Dr. Singh’s diplomatic efforts when he said that it was due to Dr. Singh’s diplomatic strategy that Pakistan was fully exposed before the world for harbouring and outsourcing terrorism and being a potent danger to the world.
Meanwhile, Rahul lampooned the tenure of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishan Advani during National Democratic Alliance’s rule under which hijacking of Indian Airlines aircr14 took place.
“During the tenure of so-called mighty and powerful L. K. Advani as Deputy Prime Minister in the NDA government, the country faced unprecedented humiliation when his foreign minister Jaswant Singh himself escorted the most dreaded terrorists to release them in a foreign land,” Rahul said.
The Congress general secretary said his party was committed to “ensuring progress and development of all sections of society, including the poor, down-trodden, farmers and toiling masses without discriminating on the grounds of caste, creed or religion.
Rahul was accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who enumerated the achievements of Congress during its four-and-half-years of rule in the State.
Hooda said that it was due to Rahul Gandhi’s efforts that the country’s “youth were being empowered to steer the ship of India’s destiny. (ANI)
New Delhi, Apr 28 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday welcomed Sri Lanka’s decision to call a ceasefire against the rebel Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and said the diplomatic efforts made by India paid off and combat operations came to an end.
“Thanks to international pressure, thanks to the diplomatic efforts made by India, the Sri Lankan government has now said two important things. First, that the combat operations have reached their conclusion, and the second the Sri Lankan security forces will confine themselves to rescuing civilians who are trapped in the conflict zone. Sri Lankan forces will no longer engage in a battle that will cause civilian casualties, death or injury. This is what we wanted and we’ve got that,” Chidambaram said in an exclusive interview with NDTV.
Chidambaram further said that Sri Lanka respected the sentiments of India and stopped the combat operations against the rebel LTTE.
“We told the Sri Lankan government that in this neighbourhood, India and Sri Lanka would have to remain as neighbours, forever and forever, and that Sri Lanka therefore, has an obligation to respect the sentiments of India, especially the people of Tamil Nadu, who are just about 20 miles to the north of Sri Lanka. We are a neighbour of Sri Lanka, that’s a sovereign country, yet we have an obligation to the Tamil people to ensure that they are safe and secure,” Chidambaram added.
When asked about the LTTE chief Prabhakaran, the Home Minister said India appeals to Prabhakaran and his cadres to lay down arms.
“We don’t wish Prabhakaran ill. Our concern in the immediate past and now is the welfare of the Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka, especially women and children and others who were trapped in the conflict zone. Over a hundred thousand have, fortunately been freed from the conflict zone. Our appeal to the LTTE is to lay down arms and come forward to the negotiating table. If they do so, there’s no reason to believe that their lives will be in danger. My appeal to Prabhakaran and his cadres would be to offer to lay down arms and offer to start negotiations,” he added.
Chidambaram claimed that most of the equipments used by the Sri Lankan army against the LTTE came from Pakistan and China.
“Some time ago we gave them some defensive radar equipment that would detect hostile aircraft. But then, much of the equipment that Sri Lanka has got, come from Pakistan and China. And somehow people are not focusing on that aspect. We have not given any kind of aid to Sri Lanka that can be used for offensive operations. That’s been the policy of successive Indian governments in which every Tamil Party was a member at some time or other- the AIADMK, the DMK, the PMK, the MDMK and how can they pretend that they don’t know what has been happening over the past several years. Every one of them was a member of one or ther government between 1998 and 2008,” he added. (ANI)
Jerusalem, Apr.28 (ANI): Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak has described Iran as the country posing the most central threat not only to the Jewish state, but also to the entire world.
“Iran was “a threat to the entire world, as it is interested in changing the entire international order and is a source of instability in the Middle East and throughout the world,” the Jerusalem Post quoted Barak, as saying.
When asked about overtures made by US President Barack Obama, Barak said that while Israel was “not in a position” to demand that the US not engage in talks with Iran, it was “certainly in a position to tell the international community to limit the diplomatic efforts within a set time frame and to have sanctions ready.”
The defense minister hinted that Israel was not ruling out a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities,saying that “Israel is prepared for all the options.”
Asked about his position regarding possible peace talks with Syria, Barak stated that while it may not yet be possible to reach a peace agreement with Assad, he believed that “Syria should be on the list of countries with which Israel engages in negotiations, not in war.” (ANI)
Washington, Apr.9 (ANI): The United States has said it would start negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
The decision is has being seen as a further step toward the direct engagement with Iran that US President Barack Obama has promised.
It followed an invitation to Iran to join in a new round of talks, which would include Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. It also coincided with an unusual expression of conciliation toward the United States by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, reports the New York Times.
Ahmadinejad said Wednesday in a speech in Isphahan that his government would welcome talks with the Obama administration, provided that the shift in American policy was “honest.”
The Obama administration’s decision is the latest in a series of gestures to Iran, ranging from Obama’s videotaped New Year’s greeting to the Iranian people three weeks ago to an impromptu encounter last week between an Iranian diplomat and a presidential envoy, Richard C. Holbrooke.
The decision to negotiate with Iran was presented Wednesday to the other countries at a meeting in London by William J. Burns, the State Department’s third-ranking diplomat, who represents the United States in these talks.
He also briefed them on the administration’s broader Iran policy review, which is nearing completion, the State Department said.
By showing a readiness to engage Iran, American officials said, the administration is trying to build support among allies like Germany and France, and more skeptical players, like Russia, so that if diplomatic efforts fail, it can marshal support for tougher sanctions against Tehran. (ANI)
Washington, Mar 27 (ANI): President Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan and Pakistan policy will not only step up the military offensive against the Taliban and al-Qaida in both Afghanistan and the tribal areas of north Pakistan, but will also make Islamabad accountable for appropriate action taken against militants.
The Obama Administration intends to focus new efforts on Pakistan, principally involving regular diplomatic engagement led by special envoy Richard Holbrooke and conduct bi-lateral talks with Islamabad every six-to-eight weeks and US-Pak-Afghan meetings once every three months.
“That’s a fundamental shift,” one senior official said, describing the new strategy as one that defines the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban as a two-nation conflict that requires intensive military and diplomatic efforts.
“We recognize Pakistan has a complex, complicated relationship with some of these terrorists groups. Some of these terrorists groups have grown up within the Pakistani system, but many of them have now become Frankensteins which threaten the freedom of Pakistan,” FOX News quoted the official, as saying.
The new strategy will also seek to increase US economic aid to Pakistan’s new civilian government. Obama tomorrow will ask Congress to commit 1.5 billion dollars a year for each of the next five years to economic development aid to Pakistan.
The US President will also seek to “increase Pakistan’s capabilities against insurgents, terrorists and militants.” As an example, one official said, Obama will try to increase Pakistan’s “air mobility capability to control their western border.”
Even with these new initiatives, senior officials admitted they are still not completely comfortable that some elements of Pakistan’s military or intelligence forces are not aligned with or sympathetic toward al Qaeda or the Taliban.
“All of this, of course, is going to have to be done in a way in which we are ensured that Pakistan will take the appropriate measures against militancy, terrorism, and insurgency,” one official said.
“We’ve made that very clear in our conversations with the Pakistanis,” the official added. (ANI)
New Delhi – India expects Pakistan to take action and punish terrorists who attacked the financial hub of Mumbai last November, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday.
Singh told reporters at the launch of the ruling Congress party’s election manifesto in New Delhi that diplomatic efforts had succeeded and Pakistan had for the first time admitted that its citizens were involved in the terrorist attacks.
“We expect Pakistan to take the next step and ensure justice is done and culprits are punished,” Singh said.
Asked whether India had any plans to attack Pakistan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, Singh said India believed that diplomacy should be given a chance and no purpose would be served by creating a war hysteria.
India has already handed over a dossier containing evidence linking Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to the November 26-29 assault that left at least 170 people dead and over 300 injured.
Pakistan last month announced the arrest of six suspects in connection with the Mumbai attack, which it said were “partially planned” on its soil. The detainees included Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, head of the LeT group. (dpa)
New Delhi, Mar 24 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday urged Pakistan to take concrete steps to fight terrorism and bring perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice.
“We expect Pakistan to bring all the culprits to justice. We have made important diplomatic efforts, which have succeeded so far. For the first time, Pakistan has admitted that its own citizens have been involved in these horrible acts. We expect Islamabad to take the next sequential steps and ensure that justice is done and the culprits are punished. I can’t say that I am fully satisfied with the way the process is moving, but we still believe that diplomacy should be given a chance. No purpose is served by promoting war hysteria,” Singh told reporters here.
Earlier in March, India replied to the 30 questions raised by Pakistan over last November’s Mumbai attacks. Pakistan raised the questions in response to a dossier of evidence provided by India. ndia said the dossier pointed to Pakistan-based militants being behind the attacks that killed 166 people in Mumbai. (ANI)
Beijing, Mar.20 (ANI): China’s standoff with the United States in the South China Sea appears to have ended through diplomatic efforts, defense sources said on condition of anonymity.
Top commanders do not have plans to increase the military presence in the South China Sea following a confrontation earlier this month between a US spy ship and five Chinese vessels, naval sources told China Daily, also on condition of anonymity.
The US defense chief said on Wednesday that diplomatic exchanges since the confrontation would prevent a similar incident to that of March 8.
Military analysts agreed that it is time to leave the dispute behind and move on with more important issues concerning Sino-US relations.
“It is time to call an end to it,” the paper quoted Li Jie, a senior naval researcher at the Chinese Navy’s Military Academy, as saying.
Zhang Tuosheng, director of the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, said that neither Beijing nor Washington wants to “blow it up (the confrontation)”.
“This is because both sides have so many areas they share interests in,” Zhang told China Daily. (ANI)
New York – The UN Security Council on Tuesday praised the European Union for a well-done mission in the region between Chad and the Central African Republic, where an estimated 500,000 refugees need protection and aid.
The EU mission ended its one-year mission on Sunday and was replaced by UN peacekeeping operation composed of 5,200 military troops, drawn mostly from the departing EU military components.
Following a discussion on the situation in the region, the council said it “commends” the EU for the successful mission in eastern Chad and northeastern CAR and making possible the delivery of humanitarian assistance, security and stability, for the refugees.
“Security Council members stress the importance of a further improvement of regional relations, in particular between Sudan and Chad,” the council said in a statement. It gave support to diplomatic efforts to resolve conflicts in the region launched in Dakar by co-chairmen Libya and Congo.
The military strength of the UN mission in Chad-CAR, known as MINURCAT, is provided by Albania, Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Ireland, Poland and Russia. Additional troops will be contributed by Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nepal, Norway, Togo and Uruguay. (dpa)
Washington, Mar.10 (ANI): The United States has once again asked Pakistan to act sincerely in its probe into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and bring the perpetrators to book.
Talking to media persons at a regular press briefing here, State Department Spokesman, Robert Wood said the Mumbai investigations was far from over, as more concrete evidences were required to put the perpetrators behind bars.
“I think overall our assessment has been that Pakistan has been providing some helpful information, but clearly, you know, more can be done,” The Nation quoted Wood, as saying.
He said the diplomatic efforts were on to bring the culprits out from their hiding and put them to justice.
“What is critical here is that we do everything in our power to try to bring the folks who are responsible for those attacks to justice,” Wood added.
Wood said the Mumbai issue may figure in the talks between the Indian Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“I cannot guarantee that it will come up. I certainly expect that it would, and we would be very interested to hearing how things are going on that front,” he added.
Interestingly, the US statement comes a day after the Interpol commended Islamabad’s work in the Mumbai investigations, and charged New Delhi of not co-operating over the issue. (ANI)
New Delhi, Feb.27 (ANI): The Union Home Minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, on Thursday said that the dossier provided to Pakistan by India is an authentic document and sound in its analysis.
Presenting his report on the security situation and other related issues in the country for February, the Home Minister said: “The highlight of the month was the charge sheet filed by the Mumbai Police on the terror attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. India’s case was summarized in the dossier that was prepared and given to the External Affairs Minister on January 1, 2009 and that was shared with many countries including Pakistan.”
“Even if I say so, the dossier was an irrefutable document, solid on its facts and sound in its analysis. After prevaricating for several weeks, Pakistan was forced to admit that its territory was used to plot and carry out the terrorist attacks. That admission was a signal victory for the UPA Government’s cerebral foreign policy and coercive diplomacy,” said P. Chidambaram.
“Pakistan appears to have made a start in investigating the origins of the terror attacks in Mumbai. We expect Pakistan to take the investigations to their logical conclusion and prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the crime,” he added.
The Home Minister informed that the government was preparing replies to the queries put forward by the Pakistan Government in the Mumbai terror attack case.
“On our part, we are formulating the answers to the questions raised by Pakistan. Many of the answers are contained in the charge sheet filed by the Mumbai Police which is a public document,” the Home Minister said.
“Countering cross-border terrorism is, to a large degree, a mind game. Our diplomacy has yielded results. I may add that we will back our diplomatic efforts with a high degree of preparedness to meet any terrorist threat or attack,” said Chidambaram, while presenting his third report and highlighting MHA’s role in it.
Also, the government is of the view to back its diplomatic efforts with a high degree of preparedness to meet any terrorist threat or attack in future.
“We will back our diplomatic efforts with a high degree of preparedness to meet any terrorist threat or attack,” Chidambaram said.
On security arrangement, ahead of upcoming General Elections, Chidambaram said that while the last three months had been difficult and presented a challenge, the next three months would be even more difficult and present greater challenges.
“Every day we receive information and intelligence on threats to our security. These will only multiply in the run up to the General Elections. The period up to the elections will witness mobilization of the people and greater activity on the part of political workers in every part of the country. They can help us by sharing information with the Government on any unusual or suspicious activity, and I appeal to them to do so. MHA and the security forces will remain vigilant. We have also asked the States to remain at a high degree of alertness during this period.”
On steps by government witnessing Bangldesh Rifles’ mutiny, Chidambaram informed that “security on the Indo-Bangladesh border and Indo-Pakistan border is being strengthened.”
Stating the government has approved enhancing the security at the Delhi’s Metro trains, the minister said: “An additional 1,633 posts were approved for security of Delhi Metro, doubling the total number of security personnel for Delhi Metro (to 3,266).” (ANI)
Washington, Feb.10 (ANI): In his first news conference after assuming office as the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama on Monday called for the rooting out of all safe havens for terrorists in Afghanistan and other states.
Laying stress on his concerns about a lack of progress on the political front in this respect, Obama said Afghanistan lags behind Iraq.
Emphasizing that a review of Washington’s policy towards Kabul is underway, he said: “We are going to need more effective coordination of our military with our diplomatic efforts, with development efforts, with more effective coordination with our allies.”
He emphatically said that there is a need to prevent terrorists in South Asia from plotting another attack on the United States.
He said al-Qaida cannot be allowed to operate and that there can be no safe havens for terrorists in Afghanistan or the mountainous border area of neighboring Pakistan.
“We have got to work in a regional fashion to root out those safe havens. It is not acceptable for Pakistan or for us to have folks that with impunity will kill innocent men, women and children,” the Voice of America quoted Obama, as saying.
Noting that his South Asia envoy, Richard Holbrooke, is now in the region, Obama said Holbrooke is carrying a message to Islamabad that Pakistan is also threatened by terrorists on its soil.
During the course of the press conference, Obama also pushed hard for his economic stimulus plan and hinted of possible future contacts with Iran.
The president went before reporters and the nation in an all out effort to win support for the stimulus package now before Congress.
“As long as I hold this office, I will do whatever it takes to put this economy back on track and put this country back to work,” he said.
He said that with a private sector weakened by recession, the government must step in to help. “If you delay acting on an economy of this severity, then you potentially create a negative spiral that becomes much more difficult for us to get out of,” the president said.
Although most of the questions dealt with the economy, Obama also talked about foreign policy.
The president indicated that diplomatic contacts with Iran could be in the offing.
“My expectation is in the coming months we will be looking for openings that could be created where we could start sitting across the table, face to face, with diplomatic overtures that will allow us to move our policy in a new direction,” Obama said.
He cautioned there have been decades of mistrust, and that things will not change overnight.
Obama stressed that Iran continues to back militant groups, seek nuclear weapons and foster instability in the Middle East.
“There are going to be a set of objectives that we have in these conversations. But I think there is the possibility at least of a relationship of mutual respect,” he said.(ANI)
New Delhi, Jan 23(ANI): Addressing a defense industry seminar at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis here today, Defense Minister A.K Antony urged the international community to cooperate in dismantling terror outfits supported by Pakistan, on Friday.
He asked the world community to take quick and effective action against terror groups responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Concerned over the free movement of terrorists across the border, he impelled for swift “action and results”.
Antony, however, expressed his contentment over the realisation of the dangers of terrorism in many parts of the world.
Earlier this week, the Defense Minister said that India would not lower its gaurd against Pakistan or any country that was allowing its soil to be used for terror related activities.
Antony then termed media reports about the non-preparedness of the Army as absolutely baseless, saying: “Our armed forces are prepared to meet any challenge, but at the moment the government is considering diplomatic efforts.”
He also denied that the US is dependent on Islamabad to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and therefore, was preventing India from exercising its military options against Pakistan. (ANI)
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