Factbox: What are the major issues between India and Pakistan?

The talks between S.M. Krishna of India and Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan are widely seen as the first step in trying to revive a peace process broken off in the wake of the attacks on India’s financial capital.

Here are some of the main issues between the neighbors:

SECURITY

For India, security is the top issue. It has refused to resume a series of talks known as the composite dialogue until Pakistan takes more action against Pakistan-based militant groups.

In particular, India wants Pakistan to show it is serious in reining in the militants behind the Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people were killed.

This is complicated by Indian suspicions that the Pakistan security establishment backed the militants in some way. On the eve of the talks, Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai escalated the charges and directly blamed Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency for the attacks.

“It was not just a peripheral role,” he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper. “They were literally controlling and coordinating it from the beginning till the end.”

For its part, Pakistan accuses India of backing separatists in its Baluchistan province and providing weapons and funding to Pakistan Taliban groups, charges India denies.

KASHMIR

The divided, mostly Muslim Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the heart of hostility between the neighbors and was the cause of two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. The third was over the founding of Bangladesh.

Separatists began an insurgency against Indian rule in 1989 — a movement almost immediately backed by Pakistan — and since then tens of thousands of people have been killed. Most fighters want all of Kashmir to become part of Pakistan but many ordinary Kashmiris want independence from both India and Pakistan.

Krishna and Qureshi will have to sidestep another danger — getting bogged down in a blame game over ongoing anti-government protests in a part of Kashmir held by India.

Violent anti-government protests have swept India-controlled Kashmir for almost a month. The region is under an army lockdown.

WATER

The two countries disagree over use of the water flowing down rivers that rise in Indian Kashmir and run into the Indus river basin in Pakistan.

The use of the water is governed by the 1960 Indus Water Treaty under which India was granted the use of water from three eastern rivers, and Pakistan the use of three western rivers.

Pakistan says India is unfairly diverting water with the upstream construction of barrages and dams. India denies the charge.

SIACHEN

Indian and Pakistani forces have faced off against each other in mountains above the Siachen glacier in the Karakoram range, the world’s highest battlefield, since 1984.

The two sides have been trying to find a solution that would allow them to withdraw troops, but India says it is unwilling to bring its forces down until Pakistan officially authenticates the positions they hold.

Pakistan has said it is willing to do so but on the condition that it is not a final endorsement of India’s claim over the glacier, a source of meltwater for Pakistan’s rivers.

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan has become a major source of friction, although Indian and Pakistani differences over Pakistan’s western neighbor have not been a part of their official talks.

The two countries have long competed for influence there and Pakistan is deeply suspicious of a rise in India’s presence after the fall of the Islamabad-backed Taliban government in 2001.

It accuses India of using Afghanistan as a base to create problems inside Pakistan, including backing separatists in its Baluchistan province. India denies the accusations, saying its focus is on development.

This rivalry is complicating U.S.-led efforts to end an intensifying Taliban insurgency and bring stability to Afghanistan more than eight years after the Taliban were ousted.

(Compiled by Chris Allbritton and Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

India as a rising power good for the US: Obama

Washington, June 4 (ANI): In witty and often rousing remarks at a Thursday reception hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her Indian counterpart S M Krishna at the State Department, US President Barack Obama reiterated how central and important India was to the US.

“It””s rising power and a responsible global power. That””s why I firmly believe that the relationship between the United States and India will be a defining partnership in the 21st century,” Obama said.

Obama described the India-United States relationship as “fundamentally unique” because of their common interests and common values,

Washington, he said valued the partnership “not because of where India is on a map, but because of what we share and where we can go together.”

“India is indispensable to the future that we seek – a future of security and prosperity for all nations,” Obama said.

The President was in a particularly jocular vein with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, subtly challenging her hold on the India portfolio and trumping her Mark Twain quote rhapsodizing about India with a Max Mueller observation he dug up about the glory of India.

“So when it comes to the sphere of our work — building a future of greater prosperity, opportunity and security for our people, there is no doubt: I have to go to India. But even more, I am proud to go to India,” Obama said.

Obama, when he makes the trip, will be the sixth American President to visit India after Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George Bush (43). (ANI)

Infiltration from Pak into India obstacle to relationship: US

The US has said that the continued infiltration of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other (Pakistani) Punjab-based terrorist groups into India is one of the most important obstacles to the Indo-Pak relationship and the dialogue between the two South Asian neighbours.

“One of the most important obstacles to expansion of those relations is the continuing infiltration from Pakistan to by Punjab-based groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM),” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said yesterday.

“The United States has consistently called for greater action on the part of Pakistan to stop the activities of these groups,” Blake asserted, thus putting on Pakistan the onus of success of the resumption of the dialogue between the two countries.

The State Department spokesman also refuted reports that the US is pressurising either India or Pakistan to continue with the dialogue process, as is being reported in the American and Indian media.

“We always have an interest in seeing our two friends have peaceful relations, but we are not pressurising either side,” Blake said.

The United States has consistently said that it is up to India and Pakistan to determine how to improve their relations and that the pace and the scope and the character of whatever talks they have is really up to those two countries to decide, he added.

“But we will always stand ready to help in any way that we can, because again, we see it very much in our interest to see improved ties between these two friends of ours,” Blake said.

Pakistan, he conceded, along with Afghanistan would be one of the major issues of discussions during the next week’s strategic dialogue between India and US; which would be co-chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. Blake said during the meeting the US will welcome the announcement that has been made by the Indians and the Pakistanis that their two foreign ministers will meet in Islamabad in mid-July.

“That meeting will be preceded by a very important meeting between the home ministers that will take place in late June.

Home Minister P Chidambaram of India will be, again,

visiting Islamabad. So those are very important opportunities to try to expand relations and to reduce some of the frictions between these two friends of the United States,” he said.

The State Department official said the US would like to see two of its friends — India and Pakistan — to get back on the days of 2004-2007, when Pakistan took actions against terrorists and that laid the basis for a very significant expansion in relations between the two countries.

“But one of the first things that has to happen is for there to be visible progress in stopping this,” he said.

“I think the point that the Secretary (of State) and(Defense) Secretary Gates and the (US) President himself has made is that increasingly, these groups are all operating together as a syndicate.

So it’s very much in Pakistan’s own interest to take on these groups as well,” Blake said.

Krishna’s US visit starts from June 1

With the Obama administration keen to elevate its dialogue with New Delhi, external affairs minister SM Krishna will leave for the US for the first ministerial-level strategic dialogue.

The three-day strategic dialogue from June 1, will be co-chaired by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton. The talks between Krishna and Clinton are also expected to lay the ground for US President Barack Obama’s visit to India later this year. Krishna will be accompanied by several senior ministers, including HRD minister Kapil Sibal, deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, and other senior officials.

While strategic talks between the two democracies have taken place, this will be the first ministerial-level dialogue. US administration is keen on transforming relations and expanding ties in key sectors such as education, agriculture and space. It has already completed strategic talks with China and Pakistan. While the focus of the talks will be bilateral, regional issues will also be high on the agenda. Terrorism and Af-Pak will be on the table. Clinton needs to reassure Krishna that the US is not tilting towards Pakistan because of its dependence on its Army.

Referring to the inaugural India-US strategic dialogue led by Krishna and Clinton, State Department spokesman P J Crowley said at a briefing, “I think the strategic dialogue speaks for itself. We have very strong cultural ties to India, so we look forward to the strategic dialogue.”

Don’t hear case against Adnan until June 10, HC to family court

Mumbai, May 29 — Pakistani singer-composer Adnan Sami has got a reprieve until June 10 in the domestic violence application filed by his estranged wife Saba Galadari before a family court. A vacation bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday restrained the family court from proceeding with the hearing in Galadari’s applications. The vacation bench of Justice S J Kathawala and Justice R G Ketkar gave Sami time so that he could either approach the Supreme Court or appear before the family court on June 7. While refusing to give him six weeks’ time, the high court observed: “No case is made out to place any sickness of appellate [Sami] prior to May 3.” However, the judges felt that Sami should be given time considering he had undergone a gall bladder surgery on May 23. Asking Sami to appear before family court on June 7, the HC has asked the family court not to proceed with the hearing before June 10 in his absence. The family court had last year held that Galadari’s divorce petition could not be entertained because her second marriage with Sami was invalid. The HC reversed this ruling in March, but gave Sami six weeks to file an appeal. However, Sami, who has been admitted to a hospital in Munich after suffering from severe abdominal pain, filed an application in the high court seeking extension of the deadline. His advocate Vibhav Krishna said they could not approach the Supreme Court as Sami fell ill. “He has been admitted in a hospital in Munich and a surgery was performed to remove five stones from his gall bladder,” said Krishna. He informed the court that his client will return to Mumbai by June 3.

Sami claimed his second marriage to Galadari was not valid because she had failed to comply with halala, in which she was required to have married another man before remarrying Sami.

Obama elevated dialogue with ‘emerging global power’ India

Washington, May 27 (IANS) The US says the Obama administration felt it important to elevate its dialogue with New Delhi as India is a ‘a great and emerging global power’ with which the US has a significant range of interests.

‘I think the strategic dialogue speaks for itself,’ State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley told reporters Wednesday when asked to give a sense of US-India relations in the first 17 months of Obama Administration.

‘India is a great and emerging global power. Our range of interests are significant in terms of the environment, in terms of regional security, in terms of counterterrorism, economic issues,’ he said.

‘We have very strong cultural ties to India, so we look forward to the strategic dialogue,’ he said referring to the June 3-4 inaugural India-US strategic dialogue led by Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

‘It’s something that the Secretary and the President (Barack Obama) felt important to elevate the level of our coordination and cooperation,’ he said. ‘So we look forward to the dialogue.

‘I think our relations with India have never been stronger. We are talking about the relations between the largest and oldest democracies in the world. We have a great deal in common and we look forward to the meetings next week,’ Crowley added.

Asked about a report that Pakistan has asked for US help in bridging the trust deficit with India, the US official said trust deficit was essentially a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, but US will continue to encourage both of its ‘friends’ to enhance their dialogue and cooperation.

‘Well, the trust deficit, as it’s been called, between India and Pakistan is most significantly a bilateral issue between Pakistan and India,’ he said.

The US, Crowley said, had ‘encouraged both Pakistan and India to enhance its dialogue in a cooperation’ as it was ‘friends with both countries’ and has ‘strong and strengthening relationships’ with both.

‘We are gratified that both countries seem to be moving in a direction that – to see that dialogue become deeper. So we will continue to encourage both countries to pursue the commitments that both have made and pledged publicly.’

Asked what role the US had played in India banning over 100 terrorist organizations and Pakistan arresting an army major in connection with the failed Times Square bombing, Crowley said: ‘First of all, these were steps taken by India and Pakistan.’

Security and counterterrorism were an ingredient of its dialogue in the US relationship with both countries, Crowley said describing it as ‘a shared challenge that the United States, India, Pakistan, other countries have.

‘It’s a global challenge. So we welcome the efforts of these countries to try to reduce the threat not only within the region, but more broadly.’

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)

Padma Lakshmi publicly expresses love for billionaire Teddy Forstman

New York, May 21 (ANI): Padma Lakshmi has finally made a public confession of her love for billionaire Teddy Forstman.

The venture capitalist helped the model-cum-TV presenter through her recent pregnancy.

And Lakshmi made an emotional speech thanking Forstman at The Endometriosis Foundation of America”s Blossom Ball last night at the New York Public Library.

“I am lucky to have someone who unwaveringly gave me love and manly support — and is also the person that I love. So thank you, Teddy,” the New York Post quoted her as saying.

Lakshmi, who suffers from endometriosis, which can cause fertility problems, gave birth to daughter Krishna three months ago. (ANI)

Krishna’s visit to Islamabad would help promote regional peace: Rehman

Peshawar, May 19 (ANI): The proposed visit of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Islamabad and talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on July 15 would certainly help both countries establish and promote peace in the region, Pakistan National Assembly’s Kashmir Committee chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said.

Interacting with reporters in Swabi, Rehman said meaningful dialogue was in the interest of both neighbouring nations.

“We will welcome Krishna in Pakistan as meaningful dialogues are in the interests of both the neighbours,” The Dawn quoted Rehman, as saying.

Earlier, during his meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, Rehman demanded the participation of the Kashmiri leadership in any upcoming India-Pakistan talks.

It is pertinent to mention here that Qureshi has already said that all issues would be discussed with Krishna, and Islamabad would not hesitate to present its stated positions on all issues bedevilling bilateral ties.

He has also made it clear that people should not expect any ‘miracle’ from the upcoming meeting.

“Don’t expect miracles overnight. It is an uphill task. The two foreign secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the SAARC conference to do the ground work for the foreign ministers meeting which will take place on July 15. I will be visiting New Delhi after the Islamabad meeting at a mutually convenient date for the next round of talks,” Qureshi had said earlier. (ANI)

Terrorism will be a key issue discussed with Qureshi: Krishna

Tehran, May 18 (ANI): Before emplaning for New Delhi after attending the Group of Fifteen Summit here, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna on Tuesday told ANI in an interview that during his visit to Pakistan from July 15, terrorism would be one of the important issues covered in talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi

Krishna”s comment assumes significance in the wake of reports that hundreds of militants are regrouping in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and waiting to cross the border into India.

He said that Pakistan should take serious note of terrorists regrouping under different names

He further claimed that terrorist groups regroup if one terrorist outfit is banned. Sometimes, a same group changes its name, but its intent remains constant and unchanged, he added.

He said that this should be taken serious note of by Pakistan because it is happening on their soil.

Last week, Krishna said he hoped his proposed visit to Islamabad would help reduce the trust deficit between the two nations.

“I hope that my visit, when I go there and then I certainly would be extending an invitation to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to visit India. So these high-level visits will only act as some kind of panacea to reduce the trust deficit,” he said.

“We can talk to each other with a little more confidence in each other, and that certainly would create the right kind of atmosphere for very productive talks between our two countries,” he added on his way to New Delhi after a three-day visit to Kazakhstan.

Relations between the two Asian neighbours went into a diplomatic freeze after India blamed Pakistan-based militants for the 26/11-Mumbai terror attacks.

The call for resuming talks at the foreign ministers level came from Qureshi on May 11.

Addressing the media then in Islamabad, Qureshi said all issues would be discussed with Krishna, and Islamabad would not hesitate to present its stated positions on all issues bedevilling bilateral ties.

“Don””t expect miracles overnight. It is an uphill task. The two foreign secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the SAARC conference to do the ground work for the foreign ministers meeting which will take place on July 15. I will be visiting New Delhi after the Islamabad meeting at a mutually convenient date for the next round of talks,” he said.

“Recognising that this is a very important engagement and step forward in our bilateral relations, I have decided to undertake a number of steps for preparation, consultations and national consensus building on some very sensitive issues that are outstanding between India and Pakistan,” he added. (ANI)

Call for including Kashmiri leadership in Indo-Pak talks

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): Welcoming the resumption of talks between India and Pakistan, Kashmir Committee chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that the Kashmir issue and the Kashmiri leadership should also feature in upcoming deliberations.

During a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal here, Rehman demanded the participation of the Kashmiri leadership in any upcoming India-Pakistan talks, The News reports.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is likely to visit Islamabad on July 15 for talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Qureshi has already said that all issues would be discussed with Krishna, and Islamabad would not hesitate to present its stated positions on all issues bedevilling bilateral ties.

He has also made it clear that people should not expect any ‘miracle’ from the upcoming meeting.

“Don’t expect miracles overnight. It is an uphill task. The two foreign secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the SAARC conference to do the ground work for the foreign ministers meeting which will take place on July 15. I will be visiting New Delhi after the Islamabad meeting at a mutually convenient date for the next round of talks,” Qureshi had said earlier. (ANI)

Krishna calls on Ahmadinejad

Tehran (Iran), May 18 (ANI): Visiting Indian External Affairs S.M.Krishna called upon Iran President Mehmood Ahmadinijad this morning, a day after the conclusion of the fourth Group of Fifteen (G-15) summit.

Preliminary reports quoted sources here, as saying that it was a customary courtesy call.

Both leaders are reported to have reviewed progress in bilateral ties and, exchanged views on issues of regional and multilateral interest to the two countries. Further details of the meeting are awaited.

On Sunday, Krishna had a meeting with the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Ali Larijani at the Majlis, where both discussed regional issues of common concern, including the prevailing situation in Afghanistan.

The meeting lasted for about 45-minutes. Krishna apprised Larijani about Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh”s recent meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu (Bhutan).

He also conveyed India”s desire to have more cooperative and cordial relations with Pakistan, but told Larijani that terrorism remains a core concern in bilateral ties between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Larijani noted that terrorism is a common challenge for both countries and there is a similarity of outlook.

Both also expressed happiness over New Delhi hosting the upcoming 16th India-Iran Joint Commission meeting, and added that it was the desire of the two nations to boost ties in all sectors, as bilateral trade has crossed the 14 billion dollar mark.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Fathallahi was also present. (ANI)

Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa to visit Indian on June 8

Tehran, May 16 (ANI): Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be visiting India in the second week of June on his first state visit to New Delhi after his re-election as the head of the state.

Rajapaksa will begin his three-day India visit from June 8 and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna confirmed this soon after his meeting with his Lankan counterpart GL Peiris in Tehran.

The two leaders who are here to take part in the G 15 summit discussed the contours and the agenda of Rajpaksa’s forthcoming visit.

During the bilateral talks, Krishna and Peiris reviewed the relationship between the two countries, the issue of resettlement of Tamils also came up for discussion and both sides expressed their desire to consolidate the peace process and accelerate the pace of reconstruction and rehabilitation of Tamils.

Krishna told ANI: “We have impressed upon them the desirability and urgency of settling the Sri Lankan Tamil minority issue so that once for and all they would concentrate on the future and the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister has assured that it is their effort.”

Peiris said that the resettlement of Tamils is the highest priority of the Sri Lankan Government.

“We started with about three hundred thousand IDP’s which is down to less that 50000 and even out of the fifty thousand, the IDP’s keep moving in and out so very considerable progress has been made with regard to that,’ he said.

Peiris also stressed that Colombo is developing the infrastructure and economy of those areas where displaced Tamils are temporarily settled in order to generate means of their livelihood so that they can lead their life with dignity.

He added that Rakpaksa Government is focusing on building infrastructure and generating jobs.

Indian and Sri Lankan foreign ministers last met in Thimpu on the sidelines of the SAARC summit. (ANI)

US sceptical about Iran changing its course

The US has expressed skepticism over Iran providing any ‘serious response’ to concerns raised by the international community about its controversial nuclear programme until the UN security Council imposes sanctions on it.

“I have told my counterparts in many capitals around the world that I believe that we will not get any serious response out of the Iranians until after the (UN) Security Council acts,” Clinton said at a joint news conference with visiting new British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Clinton said she is not expecting much progress in this weekend’s visit of the Turkish and Brazilian leaders to Tehran, as both the US and Britain believe Iran is determined to pursue its nuclear weapons programme.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is also scheduled to pay a visit to Iran.

State Department spokesman P J Crowley separately told reporters that he is not aware if the US has reached out to India on the Iranian issue.

In the past two days, Clinton has made personal telephone calls to the Foreign Ministers of the Turkey and Brazil to tell them that Iran is not meeting its international obligations.

Any attempt by the leaders of Turkey and Brazil to convince Iran to give up its nuclear weapons programme and come to the dialogue table, Clinton observed, would be just like climbing a hill.

“We are making progress every day. This is the highest priority, not only of the United States but of many of our partners and allies like the UK. We believe that the case is being made perhaps most effectively by the Iranians themselves,” she said.

Clinton also pointed out that the Iranians were not responding to the offers of engagement.

The Secretary of State said Brazilians are still hopeful that they would “climb the hill” to convince Iran to join the P5 Plus 1 (US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany) negotiation process.

“So the world leadership, as evidenced by the Security Council, has moved in the same direction — some perhaps more quickly than others — but in the direction of reaffirming the authority of the Security Council, of putting some real teeth into the sanctions, of uniting the world in a way that will send an unequivocal message to the Iranian leadership,” she said.

Hague, on his part, said that he had long advocated that the European Union should adopt financial sanctions of the kind the United States has implemented on this issue. “But, of course, we’ll have to get into the specifics of that once the Security Council resolution is passed.”

Observing that there is no magic to this approach, he said it requires persistence and determination and united strength in the international community to tackle this problem.

“And so we will buttress that as, indeed, our predecessors have tried to do. We have never ruled out supporting, in the future, military action, but we’re not calling for it,” Hague said in response to a question.

“It is precisely because we want to see this matter settled peacefully and rapidly that we call for the sanctions, that we support the idea of a Security Council resolution. That is our perspective on it,” he said supporting the US stand on Iran.

US closely watching Krishna visit to Iran

Washington, May 15 (IANS) The United States would be watching closely Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna’s visit to Iran over the weekend, but does not expect Tehran to change course on its nuclear programme.

So ‘We believe that it is time to apply more pressure to Iran and that, we think, is the best way to get them to engage more seriously,’ State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley told reporters Friday.

Asked if the US had reached out to India at any level on the issue as it did with the visiting British Foreign Secretary William Hague ‘on the need to send a strong and united signal about Iran’s nuclear programme,’ he said ‘Not to my knowledge.’

‘I mean, Iran did come up in the context of the discussion that we had this week with (Afghan) President (Hamid) Karzai since, obviously, Afghanistan is a neighbour of Iran. I mean, we are touching in a wide range of discussions with a wide range of countries,’ Crowley said.

‘And we’ll be watching closely to meetings that occur in Tehran this weekend,’ he said when asked to comment on Krishna’s visit to Tehran. ‘But as the Secretary (of State Hillary Clinton) said, we are sceptical that Iran is going to change course.’

Clinton, he recalled, had also said… ‘we believe that it is time to apply more pressure to Iran and that, we think, is the best way to get them to engage more seriously.’

Pak to approach talks with India with ‘positive’ and ‘constructive’ mindset: Qureshi

Islamabad, May 14 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said his country would approach the dialogue process with India with a ‘positive and ‘constructive’ mindset with a view to address all pending issues, including Kashmir.

Qureshi expressed these views during a joint meeting of the Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs of the Senate and the National Assembly here, The Daily Times reports.

He also briefed diplomats, officials and other present in the meeting about the telephonic conversation that he had with his India counterpart SM Krishna earlier this week, and said that he would stress on resolution of all issues on the basis of equality and mutual respect during the planned talks between the two leaders on July 15.

Qureshi also informed that a meeting of foreign secretaries of the both countries would be held in Islamabad in June to chalk out the agenda for the July 15 talks.

On Tuesday, May 11, Qureshi had a conversation with Krishna over the telephone, and invited him to visit Islamabad for follow up talks after the meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of the XVIth South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Thimpu last month. (ANI)

Home ministers to set stage for foreign minister talks: Qureshi

Islamabad, May 11 (IANS) The home ministers of India and Pakistan will meet here next month on the sidelines of the SAARC meet to lay the groundwork for talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries July 15, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Tuesday.

Chidambaram will visit Islamabad June 26 for the meeting of the home ministers of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Qureshi said after a nearly 30-minute telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna that ‘all outstanding issues of mutual concern’ will be discussed when the foreign ministers meet in Islamabad July 15.

Before that, the home ministers of the two countries will hold talks on the sidelines of the SAARC home ministers’ meeting to lay the groundwork for the foreign ministers-level talks.

‘We will not allow terrorism to impede the peace process,’ Qureshi said, adding that both sides should try to make the peace process irreversible.

During the telephonic conversation, Qureshi invited Krishna to visit Islamabad for talks July 15.

Srilanka”s leader of opposition meets Krishna

New Delhi, May 11 (ANI): Srilanka”s leader of opposition Ranil Wickramasinghe met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The two leaders discussed several bilateral issues, including the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Wickramasinghe, who is the leader of the United National Party, arrived here on Monday on a four-day visit to India.

India had earlier offered Sri Lanka 100 million dollars to help war refugees return home and rebuild the country”s ravaged north, as New Delhi is keen to be engaged in the island nation”s post-war reconstruction and retain influence.

Some 260,000 Tamil refugees who fled fighting in the waning months of the war are now being held in military-run camps in Sri Lanka.

Western countries, India and the United Nations are pressing the Srilanka government to send them home. (ANI)

Krishna confirms meeting with Qureshi in Islamabad on July 15

New Delhi/Islamabad, May 11 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday confirmed that he will be visiting Islamabad on July 15 for talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Addressing media ahead of his three-day visit to Kazakhstan, Krishna said: “I had a telephonic conversation with the foreign minister of Pakistan. This was a follow-up for the meeting of our two prime ministers”in Thimphu, where it was decided that the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries will work out a methodology as to how the dialogue between both the countries can be carried out, so that all outstanding issues can be discussed in an atmosphere of mutual trust.”

The call for resuming talks at the foreign ministers level came from Qureshi this morning.

Addressing the media in Islamabad, Qureshi said all issues would be discussed with Krishna, and Islamabad would not hesitate to present its stated positions on all issues bedevilling bilateral ties.

“Don”t expect miracles overnight. It is an uphill task. The two foreign secretaries will meet on the sidelines of the SAARC conference to do the ground work for the foreign ministers meeting which will take place on July 15. I will be visiting New Delhi after the Islamabad meeting at a mutually convenient date for the next round of talks,” he said.

“Recognising that this is a very important engagement and step forward in our bilateral relations, I have decided to undertake a number of steps for preparation, consultations and national consensus building on some very sensitive issues that are outstanding between India and Pakistan,” he added. (ANI)

Times Square bomber not Pakistani but naturalised American citizen: Qureshi

Karachi, May 10 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Faisal Shahzad, the man accused of plotting the botched Times Square bombing, is not a resident of his country but a ‘naturalised American citizen.’

Qureshi, however, said that Pakistan would provide all help to the United States concerning the probe into the failed New York bombing plot.

“I will have to check. I am not aware of that but I am aware that he is a naturalised American citizen, and the Government of Pakistan will cooperate with the United States and help them in whatever way we can,” he said while responding to a question on reports regarding the recovery of two Pakistani passports from Shahzad.

Qureshi reiterated that Islamabad is sincerely probing the Mumbai terror attacks, adding that the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JeM) chief Hafeez Muhammed Saeed, who India says had masterminded the 26/11 attacks, was released as there were no evidence against him.

“Pakistan wants cordial relations with India and we will not let any terrorist outfit sabotage the process of dialogue between the two countries,” The News quoted Qureshi, as saying.

Replying to a question during an interview, Qureshi said back channel diplomacy was of no use until front channel diplomacy between New Delhi and Islamabad succeeds, adding that he would soon invite his Indian counterpart S M Krishna to Pakistan for talks. (ANI)

Karnataka farmers take to Grape farming

Bangalore, May 8 (ANI): Karnataka farmers are making good profits out of grape farming, as in the last five years, the farming of grapes has increased manifold and high profits has encouraged more farmers into this trade.

The grape farming culture began in Karnataka in the early sixties; prior to sixties Karnataka had one traditional Bangalore Blue quality of grapes.

Karnataka still has monopoly in the Bangalore Blue quality of grapes, as it is the only State that grows the black grape used basically for brewing wine and spirit.

With the increase in demand, farmers started growing other qualities of grapes like Anobi, Sopi, Dilkhus, Red Globe, Sarad and Sarad Krishna.

“Bangalore Blue is a quality grape. Anobi and Dilkhus are main crops in Bilapur area, and Seelus in Bijapur area. We also produce Sarad Krishna, Red Globe, but in small quantity,” said Narayan Swamy a farmer in Bangalore.

“Our main production is of Bangalore Blue and Dilkhus, with Anobi we make juice out of it and with these grapes we prepare juices, wines, spirit,” he added.

The production of resins (Kishmish) is another profit making aspect of grape growing.

Karnataka Government is going all out to promoting grape farming in the State.

” Karnataka Government has set up a board to have the wine production; they are encouraging farmers to grow certain varieties that are set to be imported from France, said P.Venugopal, a former horticulture official.

“There are about 19 varieties, which have grown in a pocket of Bangalore and in some areas of Bijapur district,” he added.

The way grape farming is growing in Karnataka, it aims to trounce neighbouring Maharashtra as the largest grape producing state in the country. (ANI)