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New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has said Pakistan "needs to do much more" to address India's concerns over continuing cross-border terror before dialogue can resume between the two neighbours.

When asked about the recent spate of terrorist attacks, rockets attacks and repeated firing across the international border in Kashmir from the Pakistan side, Rao said that Pakistani groups are involved, possibly with support from the Pakistani authorities.

"Terrorism directed against India continues from territory under Pakistan control and from Pakistan," Rao told Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN’s show Devil's Advocate.

"All the events you have seen over the last few days basically point to the basic and undeniable fact that the infrastructure of terrorism which operates out of Pakistan and territory under Pakistan control has not been dismantled...," she said.

"...and it continues to be directed against the Indian people. It affects ordinary people," she added.

"Look at what has been happening in Srinagar over the last few weeks. Look at the incidents of infiltration that have gone up despite the fact that this is cold weather," she said.

"In winter traditionally we have not had so many incidents of infiltration, but those continue. They clearly point to the continuation of efforts directed against our territory, directed in order to foment violence in Kashmir and terrorist incidents," Rao said.

She indicated that the recent attack at Lal Chowk in Srinagar and increased cross-border incursions are being directed with support from elements in Pakistan.

"Let me put it this way. I think the experience over the last two decades would make it very clear to us that this has been an instrument of state policy which has been pursued by agencies within Pakistan," she replied when asked about the involvement of Pakistani agencies in these attacks.

"We have very little or no evidence to suggest otherwise," she added.

Critical of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's assertion that his government is committed to fulfilling his father-in-law Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's pledge for a thousand-year war to "liberate" Kashmir, Rao said militancy and violence in Kashmir has been accompanied by rhetoric directed against India and all forms and means of propaganda that comes across from the Pakistan side.

"So, rhetoric, militancy and violence, together they make a very combustible combination," she said, adding that it poisons people's minds.

Asserting that India has never turned its back on dialogue, Rao said that terrorism affects the climate of dialogue and the progress of this dialogue. "And when Pakistan refers to the need to resume composite dialogue, we say you have to create the right atmosphere for that dialogue to move forward," she said.

"We wait and we hope Pakistan can do more," Rao replied when asked whether Pakistan is effectively responding to the terror India faces which emanates out of Pakistani soil.

Rao's comments come close on the heels of a telephonic conversation during which External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to expedite probe into the Mumbai attacks and bring terrorists linked to the carnage to justice.
source-ibnlive.in.com

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WASHINGTON: The wheels seem to be coming off US-Pakistan relations with the once close allies squabbling publicly even as Islamabad is whipping
up hysteria over the so-called Indian threats and American machinations to weasel out of its obligation to combat home-grown terrorism.

The simmering discord between Washington and Islamabad came to a boil this week when the US ambassador to Pakistan publicly complained about harassment of American diplomatic personnel by Pakistani authorities and obliquely hinted that Islamabad risked losing US aid and projects if they continued to deny visas to US officials and space for the US mission to fulfill its multi-billion assistance program.

Ambassador Anne Patterson’s warning at a business meeting in Karachi was followed up by a rare public admonition of Pakistan from the US mission in Islamabad in which it expressed concern about the ''continued provocative actions and false allegations against US personnel working to implement the new partnership between the leaders of Pakistan and the United States.''

The wording of the statement suggested that the US believes there is a growing militaristic constituency in Pakistan that is now operating independently of the civilian government. The blog Politico put it rather more
bluntly under the headline, "Pakistan’s ISI steps up harassment of US Embassy," reporting that the ISI had even been putting pictures (with addresses) of US diplomatic personnel in Urdu newspapers" putting their lives in danger.

"Several times recently the RSO (Regional Security officer) at the Embassy has had to contact folks in their offices during the day, and tell them that they can’t go home to their house tonight because of the unwanted attention caused by the ISI/Journalist provocations. Station and Embassy have complained to ISI - but no acknowlegement (not surprising) and no abatement of the activity (worrisome)," it quoted an Af-Pak hand as saying.

Egged on by a hysterical section of the media promoting wild conspiracy theories, hard-line elements in the police and military have been detaining US vehicles and personnel, often accusing them of not carry proper
diplomatic papers and registration and carrying weapons. US vehicles and personnel typically do not display diplomatic registration or identity so they cannot be identified by terrorist hit squads. One Pakistani newspaper called "Nation," which specializes in rabid conspiracy theories, ran a Wall Street Journal
correspondent out of the country recently by alleging he was a CIA agent, recalling the horrible tragedy which befell his predecessor Daniel Pearl. The same paper has carried many stories about the alleged suspicious activity of US diplomats.

In a stern warning to Pakistan, the US Embassy called for ''immediate action'' by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which it said ''has responsibility to facilitate proper arrangements under which a foreign mission
may operate with full security.'' The mission also asked Pakistani officials ''to implement immediately the mutually agreed upon procedures for the issuance of license plates to US. Mission vehicles and to cease these contrived incidents involving US Mission vehicles and personnel.''

In the same toxic spirit, hard-line sections in Pakistan have also willfully contrived to distort remarks by the Indian Army chief Deepak Kapoor to drum up hysteria over the alleged Indian threat. Familiar policy formulations by the Indian general that New Delhi has to prepare for a war under a nuclear overhang because of Pakistani provocation under nuclear cover, has been conflated to ''Indian General threatens Pakistan with nuclear war'' (despite India’s professed policy no-first-use of nuclear weapons).

In the most recent instance, Kapoor’s remarks about the need for India developing capability to fight a two-front war has been translated to ''Indian General threatens Pakistan and China with war.'' While a few Pakistani analysts have responded soberly to the new doctrines being discussed in New Delhi, most commentators, including current and former generals, diplomats, and military frontmen, have reacted hysterically to what would be considered doctrinal deliberations in any mature society.

The idea behind the whipping up of mass hysteria against US and India in what is now being dubbed ''Paranoidistan'' appears to be a ploy by hard-line elements in Islamabad to disengage from fulfilling its bilateral and international obligations to tackle terrorist elements. With each terrorist incident, Pakistan is coming under increasing pressure from US to give up its obsession with the non-existent threat from India and focus on confronting its home-grown threats eating away at the country.

The Pakistani military has signaled clearly that it does not subscribe to the US prescription, and General Kapoor’s outline of new Indian doctrines has come in handy for this escape act. After distorting Gen Kapoor’s remarks and generating a sulfurous discourse in the media, the Pakistani military high command and the civilian cabinet defense committee both met last week to assert that ''Pakistan would never allow its security to be jeopardized.'' Pakistan’s beleaguered president Asif Ali Zardari, under pressure from the army, also joined this military-ISI generated hysteria by promising a 1000-year confrontation with India over Kashmir.

None of this has escaped the attention of Washington, which this week dispatched yet another high-powered Congressional delegation led by former presidential candidate John McCain to talk sense to Pakistan. McCain was unrelenting in response to the familiar Pakistani protests against drone attacks, bluntly insisting that the ''(drone) attacks are imperative to defeat the enemy,'' and ''with an improved decision making process the civilian causalities are totally minimized.''

The US delegation also heard protests from the Pakistani leadership about security measures introduced by Washington for screening Pakistani nationals among citizens of 13 other state sponsors of terrorism and
''countries of interest.'' But with new arrests in the Najibullah Zazi case and developments in the CIA forward base bombing case both revealing links to Pakistan, US threshold for Islamabad’s antics is diminishing all the time even as Pakistan is seen as a state sponsor of terrorism in all but formal designation.

In fact, Pakistan – or Paranoidistan, as some officials refer to it in private – becomes the immediate focus of attention after any terrorist attack, including ones like the Christmas Day bombing attempt of an airplane in Detroit, where there was no immediate Pakistani link. ''The fact that this particular person was not trained in Pakistan does not change the fact that the inspiration for all of this comes from al-Qaida, and al-Qaida's
leadership is based in the remotest areas on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,'' US special representative to Af-Pak Richard Holbrooke, who will head to Islamabad next week, said at a meeting on Thursday.

Separately, John Brennan, President Obama’s assistant for counterterrorism, said al-Qaida in Yemen, which trained the Christmas Day Nigerian bomber, ''is an extension of the terror outfit's core coming out of Pakistan.''
source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir police commandos fought their way into a Srinagar hotel at the crack of dawn on Thursday, killing two heavily-armed
terrorists who took positions there after lobbing grenades and shooting at security forces on Wednesday.

Two people, including a constable, were killed, and 10 others injured in the protracted gunbattle — the first such attack on Srinagar’s business hub of Lal Chowk in more than three years. Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital sources said a civilian, Mohammed Akbar Lone, died because of his wounds on Thursday.

Punjab Hotel, where the two suspected LeT terrorists had holed up, was in flames when police announced the end of the 22-hour siege. Hours after the encounter ended, soldiers were still searching the area for leftover explosives.

Home ministry sources in New Delhi said the terror duo was in constant touch with their Pakistani handlers during the siege. ‘‘Their communication with their handlers revealed that more attacks are in offing,’’ a source said. ‘‘The shifting focus of security forces on Jammu resulted in the attack.’’

J&K police chief Kuldeep Khoda said the hotel’s top floor was first cleared by commandos, who then nailed the first terrorist. ‘‘The other terrorist tried to set the building on afire,’’ he said. ‘‘He was looking to escape but was shot down.’’

Khoda said the attack was planned in Pakistan and LeT was instructed not to own it up. ‘‘That’s why Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack,’’ he said. He identified the two terrorists as Abu Qari, a Pakistani national, and Manzoor Ahmad, from Sopore.

Earlier, darkness forced suspension of the operation on Wednesday evening. ‘‘The operation resumed at 7pm, but the terrorists kept firing at security forces through out the night,’’ Khoda said.

Joginder Singh, owner of another hotel in Lal Chowk, said the assault was a scary experience. ‘‘Heavy firing was on and my staff and I were unable to come out,’’ he said. ‘‘We thought we could die any moment.’’ He said a stray bullet hit one of his employees.

Cops said the two terrorists were planning a suicide attack, which was thwarted when police prevented them from approaching a CRPF camp. The two were stopped during a routine check. The ultras panicked when stopped and began firing indiscriminately besides hurling three grenades. They then took positions and fired at the security forces from the hotel.
source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan exchanged the lists of their nuclear installations for the 19th consecutive time under an agreement which prohibits
any kind of attack on such facilities.

The lists were exchanged through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities, a statement by the External Affairs Ministry said here.

Under the agreement signed on December 31, 1988, which came into force on January 27, 1991, the two countries share details of their nuclear installations with each other on the first day of every year.

 source-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

ISLAMABAD: A deadly suicide attack on the main Ashura procession in Karachi on Monday killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 60 people, triggering violence and arson in some parts of Pakistan’s biggest city and its economic nerve-centre.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed that it was carried out by a suicide bomber.
Wearing the black clothes of a Shia mourner at Muharram, the bomber joined the tail-end of a slow-moving procession of thousands on Karachi’s main M.A. Jinnah Road as it made its way to the Hussainian-e-Iranian Imambargah.
Television footage showed scenes of panic and chaos in the procession in the minutes after the bomber blew himself up. A cloud of thick black smoke rose from the site of the bombing as angry mourners attacked security personnel and journalists. Violence was reported from several other parts of the city in the hours after the bombing.
Mobs set fire to vehicles and shops and homes in parts of the city, even as President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other political leaders joined clerics in appealing for calm.
In a message, Mr. Zardari said “a deliberate attempt seems to be afoot to turn the fight against militants into a sectarian clash and make the people fight against one another” and asked people not to fall into the trap.
This was the third bombing in Karachi in as many days. Despite the security measures in force in the city for Muharram, a car bomb explosion wounded more than 20 people on Saturday, while another explosion on Sunday injured 30 people and sparked rioting in that area.
Farooq Sattar, a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement which runs the city government of Karachi and is also a member of the ruling coalition in Sindh province and the centre, said the attack was caused by a security lapse despite the best efforts of the administration to secure the procession.
He described it as an attack to “derail the peace of Karachi, to destabilise Karachi which is the jugular vein of Pakistan, the economic centre of Pakistan”.
In the last few years, the month of Muharram has passed without any major incident in Karachi. Dr. Sattar said Monday’s attack was a “deliberate attempt” to unleash sectarian violence between the Shia and Sunni communities of the city.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni militant groups that target the Shia community have a significant presence in Karachi despite a ban on them since 2002.
Also, over the last two years, the MQM has repeatedly warned of the “Talibanisation of Karachi”, and Dr. Sattar said in the last two years, at least 30 “terrorist networks” had been unearthed by the city police and more than a dozen would-be suicide attackers detained


 SOURCE-http://www.hindu.com