KARACHI/BANGALORE: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Saturday that delay in resuming India-Pakistan talks will only help terrorists in achieving their nefarious designs.
Pakistan wants equity-based relations with India and resumption of the composite dialogue at the earliest, he said, while speaking to reporters in Karachi after inaugurating a housing scheme for low income people.
India had frozen the composite dialogue process in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that New Delhi has blamed on elements operating from Pakistan.
New Delhi has consistently maintained that the talks could resume only after Islamabad took tangible action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage that claimed the lives of over 170 people, including 26 foreigners.
India has also said it has provided Pakistan with adequate evidence of the involvement of its nationals in the Nov 26-29, 2008 attacks that held the city to ransom for over 60 hours.
India reiterated this Saturday, with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna saying Pakistan had been given "enough proof" to prosecute Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders for masterminding the Mumbai terror attacks.
"Our dossier(s) contain enough proof to nail the (Mumbai attack) accused," Krishna told reporters in Bangalore.
"We have the names (of terrorists) involved in the Mumbai attacks and have sent them to Pakistan and it is but natural that they should be arrested and punished accordingly," he maintained.
India has given six dossiers to Pakistan over the attacks. LeT chief Hafiz Saeed is viewed as the mastermind of the carnage.
Saeed had been placed under house arrest in December after the UN proscribed the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) that the LeT had morphed into after being banned after the Dec 13, 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament that was blamed on the terror group.
The Lahore High Court had freed him in June, citing insufficient evidence to warrant his continued detention.
The Pakistani Supreme Court has indefinitely put off a hearing of a plea against Saeed's release.
Pak is epicentre of terror in the region: Krishna
Bangalore: Accusing Pakistan of not being serious in punishing perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Saturday that India has provided enough evidence for their prosecution.
He also made it clear that Pakistan was to be blamed for the suspension of the composite dialogue after the 26/11 terror strikes and said it has to take the initiative for the resumption of the process.
"According to legal experts, the six dossiers which we have provided to Pakistan contain enough evidence against the conspirators, abettors and perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to get them punished in a court of law," he told reporters here.
"If Pakistan were to be serious about taking the logical steps to punish those responsible for the attack on India or Mumbai, this is an instance that they can show to the world and India that they are serious," he said.
The Minister said India has given to Pakistan the names and other details of those involved in the strikes in Mumbai.
"It is but natural that they should arrest all those and bring them to justice," he said.
Krishna said New Delhi will keep engaging Pakistan on the "logical follow up" that should be taken. "We expect that it will be done," he said.
Asked about Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's remarks that India is not coming forward for resumption of talks, Krishna said, "India was happily continuing with its composite dialogue till the Mumbai attacks which abruptly ended, temporarily, the composite dialogue."
India slams attack on Indian priests in Pashupatinath
Bangalore: Minister of External Affairs (MEA) SM Krishna on Saturday reacted strongly to the attack on two Indian priests of the famous Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, and asked Nepal Government to ensure safety and security of the priests.
Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Krishna said “The Government of India is in touch with the Nepal Government and asked it to ensure security to the priests of Pashupatinath Temple.”
Krishna said that the authorities of the Pashupatinath Area Development Board informed him that, the Board has also put security cover in and around the temple premises and also provided security to the priests.
Krishna also said, “India shares historical bond with Nepal, in Kashi the priest from Nepal perform the poojas and in Pashupatinath it is the Indian priests. It is a tradition being followed from centuries.”
Ads by Google
“The Maoist elements in that country are pressurizing the Nepalese Government and temple authorities against the continuing the tradition,” he added.
Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, taking a serious view of the incident, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood took the matter with Nepal Home Minister Bhim Bahadur Rawal and Culture Minister Sarat Singh Bhandari on Saturday.
The Nepal Ministers have assured Sood that steps will be taken to ensure safety of the priests.
Earlier, it was reported that, two priests –Girish Bhatt and Raghavendra Bhatt belonging to the Karnataka -- were severely thrashed and their clothes and sacred thread cut by dozens of Maoists on Thursday in Kathmandu. The priests were badly injured in the attack.
YSR chopper’s black box found
Hyderabad: The ''Black Box'' or the flight voice recorder of the Bell 430-chopper which crashed on Wednesday on the Pavurala Gutta of Nallamallah forest area, killing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy, had been found by the police.
The Black Box will be handed over to the five-member enquiry committee appointed by the Director General of Civil Aviation, which is likely to visit the crash site on Saturday.
The DGCA team has been asked to submit the report within two months. Meanwhile, a case of unnatural death has been registered at Atmakur police station following a complaint by a local revenue official. The police booked a case under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (IPC).
Reddy's Bell 430 chopper went missing on Wednesday morning at about 9.35 and could only be located on Thursday morning following a night long search operation by different units of security personnel including Army's Commandos, Air Force's Sukhoi-30, and 5,000 CRPF personnel.
Reddy's chopper wreckage was discovered atop a hill about 40 nautical miles from Kurnool town.
Along with YSR, four others-- Dr P Subramanium, the Special Secretary to the Chief Minister; ASC Wesley, Chief Security Officer and two pilots Group Captain SK Bhatia and Captain MS Reddy-died in the crash.
Air India fire scare: pilots ‘de-rostered’
Mumbai: The pilots of the Riyadh bound Air India flight (AI-829) whose engine caught fire in the Mumbai International Airport have been de-rostered on Saturday.
According to reports, Director General of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Nazeem Zaldi, has confirmed that the pilots have been de-rostered.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that preliminary reports of the four-member in-house committee, which has been set up to probe the incident, suggest that there have been lapses on part of the pilots.
Nearly 200 passengers were onboard the flight, when the aircraft's left engine caught fire while taking off.
Many passengers who had suffered bruises and cuts while sliding down from the chutes, who were immediately taken to the Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) casualty centre and given first aid.
Indian business News
New Delhi: The country's biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki India said it would shift some of its car production from its Gurgaon plant to the new facility at Manesar in a phased manner.
"The Gurgaon plant will be gradually changed to a base for engine assembly and machining, while automobile assembly will be integrated at Manesar plant," the company said in a statement.
It, however did not specify production of which of the models would be shifted from the plant.
The Gurgaon plant produces mainly M800, Omni, Versa and Gypsy. The company has a production capacity of 6.2 lakh units at its three plants in Gurgaon producing other models, including Alto, Wagon R, Estilo, Ritz, and Gypsy.
The Manesar facility of the company, which manufactures A-Star, SX4, Swift and Swift DZiRE, has a capacity of three lakh units a year.
The decision to shift production was taken during Suzuki Motor Corp's Chairman and Suzuki's CEO visit to India to attend MSI's annual general meeting, it said.
MSI had scaled up its overall production capacity to one million units this year from the two facilities at Gurgaon and Manesar.
The Gurgaon Plant was constructed in early 1970's and had been refurbished and modified before Maruti Udyog began production in 1983.
Manmohan meets WTO trade ministers
New Delhi:Visiting trade ministers of more than 30 countries including US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and WTO director general Pascal Lamy met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.
During the meeting, the ministers held a discussion regarding various vital issues. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Pascal Lamy said that that certain differences existed between rich countries and developing nations.
"They (differences between rich and developing countries) remain the tough nut to crack in the negotiations and we shouldn't underestimate this, what happened during last two days is the reality check. Do they (rich and developing countries) have the political will to conclude unanimously? The answer is yes and this ''yes'' was extremely clear from the least developed countries, African Union," Lamy added.
Lamy further said that new commitments were needed to solve various issues between developing and developed nations.
"A new layer of rules and market opening commitments is what this planet needs and the more we will go into the negotiations the more the views will share by developing countries," Lamy added.
Key trade ministers agreed to re-launch the stalled World Trade Organisation's Doha talks with intensified negotiations later this month.
The negotiators will hold the meeting for a week beginning September 14. Meanwhile, activists of various Left organizations staged a protest in Kolkata against the ongoing ministerial meeting of key WTO member.
Activist accused the WTO of following imperialistic policies. "Every time we are opposing the imperialist design of the WTO, they have taken steps against the sovereignty of our country and third world countries," said Rabin Deb, a communist leader.
Indian Sports News|Sports News
Sania out of doubles, Bhupathi in mixed doubles 2nd Rd
New York: Sania Mirza crashed out of the women's doubles event after losing a thriller but Mahesh Bhupathi ensured the smooth sailing of Indians in mixed doubles advancing to the second round of the US Open at the Flushing Meadows in New York.
Fourteenth seeds Sania and Francesca Schiavone of Italy made a smart recovery from a set down but failed to deliver at crucial points in the decider to lose 2-6, 6-1, 5-7 against the unseeded duo of Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Shahar Peer of Israel in a 125-minute second round match.
The opening set saw Dulko and Peer having the upper hand in service by firing three aces while Sania and Schiavone struggled with their serves as they dropped two of them to give away the first set 2-6 in 27 minutes.
The Indo-Italian pair staged a fine recovery in the second set as they tightened their service game and engaged their rivals in long rallies which they won most of the time.
Sania and Schiavone broke Dulko and Peer twice in the second set while giving them no chance to do the same. Both the pairs reserved their best for the decider which lasted 68 minutes. Sania and Schiavone smashed three aces but they still failed to win the crucial points.
With most of the games being stretched to deuces, breaks points changed sides and Dulko and Peer converted more of them than their Indo-American opponents. Dulko and Peer converted two of the nine break points, while Sania and Schiavone won one of the seven that came their way.
Australia win despite English lower order resistance
London: Two weeks after losing the Ashes, Australia beat England by four runs in the first of their seven one-day internationals on Friday night.
England's spinners did well to restrict Australia to 260-5 at The Oval but the tourists got an even firmer grip on the English run rate until a late flourish dragged the home side to 256-8.
England was jeered by the crowd for its slow scoring before a seventh-wicket blitz of 46 from 33 balls from Luke Wright and Adil Rashid made the score competitive.
Mitchell Johnson took three wickets in a 13-ball spell that cost just five runs to finish with 3-24. The target had looked attainable on a slow pitch but England quickly fell behind Australia's scoring rate as none of the top-order batsmen could build a game-changing score.
Only Wright, with 38 from 27 balls, Rashid and No. 10 batsman Ryan Sidebottom seemed to fully get to grips with the conditions and situation.
In a sign of the difficulty facing batsmen on both sides, the only six of the match came from Wright in the 41st over of England's innings.
Ravi Bopara was the home team's leading scorer with a sluggardly 49 off 88 balls but his miserable summer, which included just 105 runs in seven Ashes innings and omission from England's series-deciding victory, continued with a stumping off the bowling of Nathan Hauritz.
England had lost captain Andrew Strauss (12), only playing because of the injury sustained in training by Joe Denly, and dawdled to 83-1 when Johnson at point plucked a reverse sweep by Matthew Prior out of the air to get rid of the No. 3 for 28.
No comments:
Post a Comment