Bharat Rakshak

70 per cent Pakistanis in 2008 believed they were in “good personal economic situation.It reduced to 51 per cent 2012, a 19 per cent decline in four years.

About 10 per cent blame banks and financial institutions, 32 per cent blame the world’s biggest scapegoat, the United States, while two per cent also blame the European Union.A large minority, 33 per cent, blame themselves for the situation they are in.

Only nine per cent Pakistani say their personal economic condition is better than the country’s.

AbhiJ wrote:

In what could be a major boost to Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)’s railway business, the state-run power equipment firm is close to winning a contract worth Rs 1,000 crore from Pakistan to manufacture railway locomotives.

How BHEL How?

Though the financing arrangement for the contract was yet to be finalised, it could come as a soft loan from the Indian to the Pakistani government and could be worth over Rs 1,000 crore, Rao said.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... an/480187/

Altair wrote:

Kanishka wrote:I must admit, I am at a complete loss to comprehend current GOI policy wrt Pakistan.

You are wrongly assuming there is one.

So I took the PIA flight LHE-KHI. The plane comes from New York (making it JFK-LHE-KHI) so the flight has a few passengers who carry on their journey to KHI. Those passengers stay in the plane. So when the plane reaches Karachi, local passengers are told to disembark from the rear. Now, they never check who disembarks from there and you can simply walk out and enter the country without passing immigration. Sometimes the stupidity amazes me. It would probably make us the only country in the world where you can just simply bypass immigration! Now nobody's lining up to come to Pakistan (moreso from JFK), but still.

Altair wrote:CRS
Is "No policy" any day better than a "bad policy" or worse? Please articulate clearly.

CRamS wrote:

Altair wrote:CRS
Is "No policy" any day better than a "bad policy" or worse? Please articulate clearly.

Semantics aside, at the core, current MMS policy is that it has accepted and cast in stone, TSP's pre-condition that India's terrorism concerns are as legitimate as TSP demands on the "core issue" (and add to that water, and whatever other delusions that TSP has). Thats exactly the reason why there have been relatively few Paki-army-LeT terrorist attacks since 26/11. India has been negotiating with a gun pointed at its head. TSP is calibrating the use of its terror assets to get its demands met. This policy is such a sell out and so diabolical that if any future India govt, especially if its a BJP-led govt were to reverse this course, it would be cast as a villain, particularly by the silent choreographer of this this evil dance: USA. At that point even nuke war against India will be justified in the halls of power in Washington . And you and I both know that TSP is waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Dawn.com brings you the Social Media Mela 2012 – a gathering of some of the finest minds in social media for a two-day extravaganza nurturing dialogue, thought leadership, and critical engagement with entrepreneurs, journalists, activists, and creative professionals from Pakistan, India and beyond.

Say: O Allah! Owner of Sovereignty! Thou givest sovereignty unto whom Thou wilt, and Thou withdrawest sovereignty from whom Thou wilt. Thou exaltest whom Thou wilt, and Thou abasest whom Thou wilt. In Thy hand is the good. Lo! Thou art Able to do all things.

Many of the Pakistan-based militant organisations, which have already been proscribed by the international community after being declared terrorist groups, keep operating freely all over the country without risking the ire of the law enforcement agencies that are apparently toeing the line of the Pakistani military establishment.

The Al-Badr Mujahideen is one of the four terrorist groups active in the Kashmir Valley, which have already been banned by the United States.

The outfit is a splinter group of the Hizbul Mujahideen, which is led by Syed Salahuddin.

The other three banned jihadi groups include the Hizbul Mujahideen, the Harkatul Jehadul Islami and the Jamiat ul Mujahideen.

The recruitment and training activities of the Al-Badr Mujahideen, led by Commander Bakht Zameen, have now come under Pakistan media's spotlight.
..
Al-Badr Mujahideen, a breakaway faction of Hizbul Mujahideen group, organised a 'Shuada Conference' in the Swan Adda area of the garrison town of Rawalpindi on Sunday (July 9, 2012) to seek fresh recruits and raise funds. The group's chief commander Bakht Zameen Khan told 1,000-plus supporters at the conference that his commanders have sought resources to keep the jihad going in Jammu & Kashmir and Afghanistan
..
The group's supporters from Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir attended the conference where Gulbaddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan and Al Badr Mujahideen had set up stalls to sell anti-India and anti-America propaganda CDs and jihadi literature.
..
Key leaders from the Hizbul Mujhiadeen led by Syed Salahuddin, Hizbe-e-Islami Afghanistan led by Gulbaddin Hekmatyar and Jamaatul Daawa led by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and other terror groups spoke at the two-day a 'Shuada Conference'.
..
We are fighting in Kashmir. It doesn't matter to us if we are labelled terrorists. We are proud to be called terrorists for fighting the Indian security forces..
..
Syed Salahuddin, whose real name is Mohammed Yusuf Shah, is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council -- an alliance of 16 terrorist groups that are fighting in Jammu and Kashmir. The United Jihad Council is supported by the Pakistani military and its all-powerful Inter Services Intelligence.
..
Al Badr Mujahideen, which is the oldest of the existing jihadi terrorist organisations of Pakistan and is considered as close to the ISI and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, is known in the jihadi circles as one of the richest of the terrorist organisations.

Like the LeT, it is Wahabi in orientation, and, again like the LeT, has not come to notice for any anti-Shia acts of terrorism.
..

Such Gup

Rising stress levels

It all seems to be getting too much for Hubby whose stress level seems to be rising. Our mole reports that he let his adopted sibling have it the other day when he discovered that Bro was up to no good, issuing orders over and above the heads of Sindh government officials. We also hear that Hubby occasionally takes an unscheduled flight to his home away from home in a Gulf Emirate and returns in time for meetings. This he usually does in the dead of night. With paranoia rising, there are stories of fear of poisoning. Insiders say he has every right to be anxious because he survived a poisoning attempt some time ago. Hubby has his own cooks, and grows his own vegetables. He also has dairy animals, preferring goat's milk to that of cows or buffalos. He has a regular zoo at the Presidency, they say, with horses, hens, roosters, peacocks, cows, buffalos, goats and a variety of fowl.


Turning ugly

The Man of Steel 's party meeting in Frankfurt turned ugly and rapidly descended into chaos under his very nose. Shocked, he saw his party men, normally law-abiding citizens of the European Union, brawling like street urchins in a Punjabi backwater. Choice abuse was hurled before the men began a fist fight, soon pummeling each other with their shoes and finally picking up chairs to throw at one another. This went on for some time before calm was restored. Thereafter, The Man of Steel remained out of sorts and became distinctly uncomfortable every time slogans were raised in his honour. He must have thought, "oh no, here we go again!" At the conclusion of the unpleasant meeting, a party stalwart suggested some rest and recreation. Our mole reports he had hired a private aircraft at a cost of 25,000 Euros to take The Man of Steel to a town on the Spanish border to watch a famous bull fight. The Man was tempted but better sense prevailed when he thought of how badly it would go down in his cash-strapped homeland. Instead, he took a quiet break in Switzerland and returned to London after three days.

vishvak wrote: It is clear that pakis and selective heart bleeders ignore terrorism and terrorists against India. This inhuman ignorance provides cover of ignorance to terrorists and active and passive backers of terrorists.

In a bid to give a big push to trade in petroleum products, India and Pakistan have decided to have focussed approach to identify possible supply routes, source and point of supply, regulatory framework and enhancement of direct banking and postal services.

The meeting also discussed the possibility of import of petroleum, oil and lubricant (POL) products from India and specifications for furnace oil, diesel, Jet-I and petro.

India has a refining capacity of 213 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). While the domestic requirement is 148 MTPA, the exportable capacity is around 65 MTPA. India plans to improve 310 MTPA by the end of March 2017, when consumption is expected to be around 186 MTPA with an increased export surplus of 124 MTPA.

An official with the Consulate General of Pakistan in Toronto has been recalled following an inquiry into a sexual assault allegation.

"Inquiry officers were told to type notes themselves to keep the inquiry confined within the four walls of the office," reads the report, signed by acting consul general Imran Ali.

the woman "did not go to Toronto law enforcement authorities on our assurances that we would hold an impartial inquiry and the culprit would be brought to justice." {The punishment included writing an angry letter to the man who assaulted her and sending him to some other foreign country for a cushy job}

The report also detailed parts of the man's defence, noting he accused the woman of "being a liberal and a model"

A website which acts as watchdog for murder of Shias, motivated by sectarian differences, Shiakilling.com, was apparently blocked on Saturday night.

ISLAMABAD: An informal meeting of the top military and political leadership was held at the President’s House in Islamabad late on Saturday night to discuss the resumption of Nato supplies and the overall scenario of the country, DawnNews reported.The meeting headed by President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari was attended by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman and officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The meeting discussed the resumption of Nato supplies, Memorandum of Understandings (MoU)s signed between the US and Pakistan, Pakistan-US relations and the overall political situation of the country

KARACHI: Fifteen people lost their lives in Karachi whereas police claimed to have arrested 37 suspects in separate actions during the past 24 hours.A person was killed in Jaffar Tayyar Society in the early hours of Sunday.A person belonging to a sensitive security agency died of gunshot wounds during a police raid conducted in Natha Khan Goth area. Fear and panic gripped the area after the killing and enraged residents forced shops in the surrounding vicinity and Drig Cant market area.Some eye witnesses claimed that some the attackers who had arrived with the police were dressed in civilian clothing and had their faces hidden.A policeman was also reportedly killed in the incident.Relatives of the deceased demanded the arrest of all personnel involved in the police raid.A heavy contingent of police and rangers was deployed in the area keeping in view the tensions prevailing in the area.Three persons died of gunshot wounds in Orangi Town’s Pathan colony area, Naziabad No 2 and in Dawood Goth near Baldia Town.The body of a man who had been shot dead was recovered from Malir Town’s Aansu Goth area.Moreover, a man’s body bearing torture marks was recovered from an area near Sohrab Goth’s Al-Asif Square. The body was shifted to a nearby hospital.Three men were shot dead in Karachi’s Orangi Town, in separate incidents.Another person was shot dead near Safoorah Chowk.Moreover, assailants shot dead a man and a woman in the city’s Khokhrapar area.On Jamshed Road in the city’s Jamshed Town, unknown gunmen attacked a trader who was shot dead.In the city’s Landhi Town, assailants opened fire on a truck which led to the death of its driver.olice claimed to have arrested six suspected target killers and the recovery of arms from them, in Quaidabad area.

A bill aimed at making the ISI more accountable to parliament and government has been withdrawn from the senate by the presidential spokesman, who had submitted it in his private capacity.

Farhatullah Babar, the spokesman of President Asif Ali Zardari, had submitted the bill last week. It is believed that the move had the backing of the presidency. The bill was reportedly withdrawn because Babar did not get it approved by a special committee of the ruling Pakistan People's Party headed by law minister Farook H Naek. This committee approves all private members' bills.

Sources said opposition from the security establishment could also have contributed to Babar's decision to withdraw the bill. {Oh, really ?}

Jhujar wrote:Top level meeting held at presidency
Whats Up Doc? I think he saw the Djinn of Qadri

SSridhar wrote:India looking to reverse ban on Pakistani TV channels

Kanishka wrote:The rise of Pakistan's televangelists

Sridhar.E wrote:Has UPA gone mad ?? Why are they in such a hurry to sink India?? Is someone getting desparate ??

arun wrote:Belief in the Mohammadden religious superstition regards procession by Jinns / Djinns / Genies , results in in a family originating in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan murdering a pregnant woman.

Regrettable living in a more rational society than Pakistan like the UK and a University education was not sufficient to erase religious conditioning:

Husband and his family convicted of killing "possessed" pregnant Birmingham woman

arun wrote:

SSridhar wrote:India looking to reverse ban on Pakistani TV channels

Venky Vembu in First Post on the Congress Party led UPA’s harebrained scheme to permit broadcast of TV channels from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in India:
It’s sheer lunacy to give free airtime to Pak hate-mongersThe troublesome potential of Islamic supremacist hate mongers from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for inciting violence in India is well laid out in this BBC article:

Kanishka wrote:The rise of Pakistan's televangelists

Altair wrote:

SSridhar wrote:India looking to reverse ban on Pakistani TV channels

On second thoughts I think it is good. Until today many had no idea about Paki mindset.
This move will polarize the closet Pakis in India and Paki haters to the point it will create open conflicts.
This move is actually good for Nationalists in the long run. I am for Paki Channels in India. Bring it on!

Altair wrote:SSgaru
I want more Indian public to see lal topi types going bonkers on TV shouting how Pakistan ruled India for 1200 years and how desperately they would want to nuke Mumbai and New Delhi.
I want Paki mullahs yelling pindliyo ga gooda on TV how nymphos wearing transparent dresses with nipples popping waiting to get laid are described on TV. Yes, let the Indian public see those news.
How long do you count before they get banned? How long before people will get pissed off?
Altair

Pakistani police have arrested a man accused of burying his newborn daughter alive because she was physically deformed.
Mohammed Anwar, a police officer in the city of Khanewal in the eastern Punjab province, said the child was born on Thursday at a hospital in the nearby town of Kacha Khuh.
But after seeing his little girl, father Chand Khan is said to have been shocked that she had 'abnormal features'

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A stray mortar bomb smashed through a house in a village in northwestern Pakistan early Sunday, killing three children and their mother and injuring their father, police said.

The pre-dawn incident took place in Shaikhan village, a suburb of Peshawar close to the Khyber tribal district, where the military is fighting against local warlord Mangal Bagh and his Lashkar-e-Islam faction.

"The victims were asleep. A mother and her three children died on the spot," Shafiullah Khan, a senior police officer told AFP.

The two sisters and their brother were aged between two and nine years, Khan said.

The officer said it was not yet clear who fired the mortar bomb but Pakistani troops and Mangal Bagh's fighters exchange fire on a daily basis.

More than 250,000 people have fled the fighting in Khyber since January, according to Pakistani officials.

Khyber is part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border, considered to be the world's premier Al-Qaeda hub despite the killing of Osama bin Laden by United States troops last year.

Separately, Taliban militants on Sunday bombed a government-run high school for boys in the outskirts of Peshawar, partly destroying the building.

The remote-controlled bomb was planted on the outer wall of the school.

Islamist militants oppose girls education and have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly for girls, in northwest Pakistan in recent years.

Full Transcript of Pakistan High Commissioner's interview to CNN-IBN

Devil's Advocate- No Embargo- can be used immediately

Karan Thapar: Hello and welcome to Devil's Advocate. What is the present state of India-Pakistan relations? That is the key issue I shall discuss today with Pakistan's new high commissioner to India, the country's former foreign secretary Salman Bashir. Hi, commissioner, let's start with terror and Abu Jundal. India has shared with Pakistan some of Abu Jundal's testimony – how do you respond to what you have been told?

Salman Bashir: Karan, first of all thank you for giving me an opportunity to be on your program, the first day after presentation of my credentials. I am so happy to be privileged. I think, let's take this important conversation at 6000 feet and look at the state of relation. Of course, answering your question directly, Abu Jundal and all we have said we really believe it that we ought to be in a cooperative board and to work all these, what relates to terror that deflects both India and Pakistan together.

Karan Thapar: Let me ask you two specific questions. How do you account for the fact that Abu Jundal had a Pakistani passport, two Pakistani identity cards and he was assisted by Pakistan in going to Saudi Arabia?

Salman Bashir: The same night, when there was this disclosure in media about Abu Jundal's arrest, we had offered to the Home Ministry, to the Government of India, our readiness to work on this together. And the Foreign Secretary repeated that, I think, really the way forward on Abu Jundal, and whatever pertains to all these domain, is to interact more to cooperate more, because I think the objective is the same.

Karan Thapar: The second critical question is, how do you account for that fact that Pakistan lobbied with Saudi Arabia to have Abu Jundal deported to Islamabad and not sent to Delhi despite the fact that Rehman Malik has publicly accepted that Abu Jundal is an Indian citizen.

Salman Bashir: I have seen media reports to that effect. I'm not in a position to corroborate that…

Karan Thapar: Which bit you can't corroborate.

Salman Bashir: About Pakistan lobbying Saudi not to let him come to India. I have seen nothing to that effect.

Karan Thapar: So it may be true, it may not be true.

Salman Bashir: Absolutely.

Karan Thapar: But the interesting thing is that you are not denying that Pakistan didn't lobby.

Salman Bashir: No, my point here is that on these matters we ought to have a degree of objectivity and that degree of objectivity, and I believe both of us are serious, can come when concerned people meet and, you know, deal with these matters.

Karan Thapar: Third, Abu Jundal has made it clear that elements of Pakistan's officialdom who are involved in 26/11, thus corroborating what David Headly had said earlier – how do you respond to that?

Salman Bashir: Elements of Pakistan and state that's what the media has been saying, attributing to Abu Jundal. We have taken note of all what has been said. And my answer again is the same - let the two sides get together to work through this and I think you can't take the word of an individual or you know, what is being said out in the public domain and give it more credence than the actual conversations that the officials track.

Karan Thapar: Last week when your new Foreign Secretary, your successor Jalil Abbas Jilani was in Delhi, he rejected any claim that elements of Pakistan's state were involved in 26/11. But at the same time he also said that Pakistan would investigate information given by Abu Jundal. So let me ask you, will you investigate, check and conform that members of the Pakistani state were not involved or do you reject that out of hand?

Salman Bashir: Well first of all, I think, there is a prospective of the context got…it's important to get it right. Pakistan has been affected with terror much more than any other country in the world. Our GHQ has been attacked, our public places have been attacked, closed to 40,000 people have been killed. So terror is enemy number one in Pakistan.

Karan Thapar: Absolutely and no one in India will deny it accept it think they would point out, as you must have heard, that the terror Pakistan faces is inflicted on Pakistan by Pakistani sources. We in India are a victim of terror inflected by Pakistani sources on us that people say is a critical difference.

Salman Bashir: I think, everybody knows and everybody sort of believes that this is a global phenomenon and it is a virus which afflicts perhaps many societies.

Karan Thapar: Might not the epicenter of that virus be Pakistan?

Salman Bashir: Well that is blind imitations sometimes of the detracts that behaved from time to time. But I don't think that is a fair assessment.

Karan Thapar: Let me bring you back to my question. Given that your Foreign Secretary has said that Pakistan will investigate all the information made available by Abu Jundal, will you investigate and check that Pakistani state actors were or were not involved or would you reject that out of hand?

Salman Bashir: I would say that we have asked on the official track for information and of course we have many time said that we are ready to cooperate. We have the Home Secretary, Interior Secretary talks going on. Our Home Minister is quite prepared to take up these himself with the Home Minister of India. So I think on the Pakistani side I can assure you that we are mind full of responsibilities….

Karan Thapar: I hear your answer very clearly High commissioner, you repeatedly have said in this interview that you want to cooperate. Does that mean that you will in fact check and investigate to conform that state actors are involved or is that one aspect of Adu Jundal's testimony which you reject out of hand ab initio.

Salman Bashir: As I said if our own Army headquarters are attacked, if ISI offices are attacked then I think it is really unbelievable, incredible to allege that Pakistani state, institutes have been involved in this. We ought to look at the situation very objectively in our respect of national interests.

Karan Thapar: I understand and I'm concluding from your answer that you will investigate every bit of information provided by Abu Jundal but not the clam that Pakistani state actors were involved. Have I understood you correctly?

Salman Bashir: Anybody, whether it is state-non state, terrorism is something that is apparent to our ethos, our values, to nationally, to Pakistan. So let's not reach prematurely to conclusions that are not warranted.

Karan Thapar: Now you have repeatedly said that Pakistan wishes to cooperate with India on the issue of terror that was the point made specifically by your new Foreign Secretary as well. Pakistan has offered a joint investigation into Adu Jundal's testimony –what response did you get from India?

Salman Bashir: Well let me make that clear. I think the two foreign secretaries had a very good conversation, good dialogue, which also included points raised by India pertaining to Abu Jundal specifically and other matters pertaining to terror. And I would expect that this would be followed up by officially sharing of information if India so wants, with the relevant Pakistani authorities. Because what we are seeing is a lot of press coverage of what is being attributed to Abu Jundal but nothing has been given to us.

Karan Thapar: But was India receptive to the offer or suggestion of a joint investigation?

Salman Bashir: I think this point was not specifically addressed by the Indian side.

Karan Thapar: So you are still awaiting a formal reply to this offer?

Salman Bashir: I would say so.

Karan Thapar: Let me finally come to two other aspects connected to terror. First, India feel deeply frustrated by the slow 26/11 trials in Pakistan. In under three years the judge has changed five times and American intelligence believes that Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi has accessed mobile phone in jail so he can stay in contact with LeT cardres. Is Pakistan serious about this trial or is it a sham?

Salman Bashir: Pakistan is very serious about this trial and anything that has got to do with terror. But we also are very serious about judicial processes. And as you know Pakistan has a very independent judiciary, number one. Number two, I think, I ought to mention, you know, if we get to cooperate like this particular issue at least 25 plus documents have been exchanged by both sides, 12 dossiers from India, 13 from Pakistan. That's the real stuff that is how we should proceed. Now judiciary has its own parameters and the fact is that the prosecution that is the government has done its best and will continue to persist to ensure that justice finally prevails.

Karan Thapar: You know, your judicial commission visited India few months ago, your were able to meet some of the people, get witness, evidence from them. The belief in India is that in fact your government is not pushing as hard, as fast as it could.

Salman Bashir: Well, I think, I would not like to say anything regarding subjective assessments. But the point is that some of these thinks like the Samjhauta thing that took place in 2007 is yet under investigation. And I think we ought to look at the spirit, we ought to be fixated on the objects that we need to achieve and not get into forensics of a particular situation.

Karan Thapar: The second critical point that worries people in India is Hafiz Saeed. I accept that at least on two occasions you have detained him and the courts have released him. But the truth is he is back again spewing venom, threatening jihad against India. Given that in January 2004 Pakistan committed itself to ensuring that there would be no anti-India activity from Pakistani soil. Can you not restrain Hafiz Saeed?

Salman Bashir: We was under preventive detention, maintenance of public order and it continued for sometime till he was actually released on the orders of the Lahore High Court.

Karan Thapar: But you know why the Lahore court released him on September 2009 when he had actually been arrested under the antiterrorist act because his organisation Jamata-ul-Dawa was not banned under the act. That was the lacuna that permitted the Lahor court. And the said party is even today, the JuD is not banned under the act, so that lacuna continues.

Salman Bashir: On that aspect, I think, I ought to be explicit both the LeT and the JUD are restricted and prohibited under law.

Karan Thapar: Well they are under, what Rehman Malik calls, a special watch list, but he concedes that the JUD is not banned under the antiterrorist act.

Salman Bashir: The JUD's activities are sort of restricted under the Pakistani act of law that pertains to international, you know, this 1-2-6-7 Security Council resolution.

Karan Thapar: So once again you are saying that Pakistan is doing everything it can to restrain Hafiz Saeed but you have to operate within your laws.

Salman Bashir: That is unfortunately the dilemma. The civil societies have to operate with in the limits of law.

Karan Thapar: High Commissioner let's now talk about the wider India-Pakistan relationship. In February 2010 when you came to India as foreign secretary, you dismissed India's evidence on terror as a piece of literature. Last month your successor Jalil Jilani said and I quote, "Pakistan will support India in its fight against terrorism," that's the line you have taken very eloquently right through part I of this interview. So let me ask you, is this just a softer kind of language or is this indicate a change in attitude?

Salman Bashir: Well Karan first of all let me clarify on the literature, it was just in a manner of speech and I had sort of explained that.

Karan Thapar: I fully accept that.

Salman Bashir: But it doesn't mean in any sense to denigrate what we have to say and we have to take seriously and we take it seriously. Number two, well this is the most interesting side in our conversation today, I would say there has been a sea change in Pakistan-India relationship scenario. I think, if you would permit, I can say for Pakistan with great degree of certainty that at all levels, the leadership, state institution, the people of Pakistan, they realised that it is in the self interest of Pakistan to have the best of relationships.

Karan Thapar: You really mean it when you say sea change? That's dramatic language.

Salman Bashir: That's the atmosphere. I think the atmospherics have witnessed a sea change. Let me say that it was in Thimpu when both our Prime Ministers met and had a plus one hour conversation and then later they called us and briefed us. And it was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who said that we should invest in building trusts by having frequent visits, exchanges at all levels. I think that is happening and that is huge in terms of where we were.

Karan Thapar: High Commissioner you mentioned how the leadership in Pakistan is keen to improve the relationship with India. I noticed in April when President Zardari came to India he was reported to have said Manmohan Singh that India and Pakistan should emulate India and China and boost trade. Just 10 days later foreign minister Khar in her interview to Hindustan Times said our intention is to solve the Kashmir problem but let us start with less complicated problems. And in a mere next five days General Kayani publicly said that it was important for India and Pakistan to invest in peaceful co-existence. Does any of this suggest that there is a shift in how Pakistan perceives its relationship with India?

Salman Bashir: You mentioned India-China model, there is also the Pakistan-China model, there is also the China-Japan model, you know we have models in the present day and age. I think the world has changed, changing fast, the region is changing fast. There are lot of opportunities between Pakistan and India.

Karan Thapar: But to be specific, is Pakistan looking for a new way of conducting this relationship? Is that what I should understand from President Zardari's comments, Foreign Minister Khar's comments?

Salman Bashir: That's certainly I would say is a sincere intent but of course it takes two to tango.

Karan Thapar: But there is sincere intent on Pakistan's part to look for a new approach for relationship with India?

Salman Bashir: I think we are well on the way in terms of looking at the new approach, the two Prime Ministers met several times, President Zardari was here, they have had very good conversations. So I think on the drawing board the theoretical construct is almost there. Now it is for people like us who are in this business to give it more form, shape, meaning…

Karan Thapar: You said a very important thing. You are saying not just in forms of rhetoric and atmospherics but also in form the theoretical constructs on the drawing board, the fundamentals of the new changed relationship already there, it's now for the diplomats to take it further.

Salman Bashir:Absolutely.

Karan Thapar: I have understood you correctly?

Salman Bashir: Yes.

Karan Thapar: In this contest I want to put something, which I noticed about Kashmir which has been a flash point in the relationship between India and Pakistan. Again going back to February 2010, when you came as the foreign secretary you said and I quote, "Kashmir was discussed extensively, one cannot be dismissive about the issue of Kashmir." In contrast, earlier this month when Jalil Jilani came, he was much more relaxed about Kashmir, in fact the phrase 'core issue' wasn't heard once in public. Many Indians looked at the joint statement that was issued and saw Kashmir was point number six under terror. The question I want to ask is all this, is all of these misleading, or is this a suggestion that both countries are learning to handle Kashmir with less acrimony and more accommodation?

Salman Bashir: I agree with you, I think yes.

Karan Thapar: You are absolutely certain about it?

Salman Bashir: Yes.

Karan Thapar: Now, would an early visit by the Indian Prime Minister to Pakistan help cement the change in mood rhetoric that you talked about?
Salman Bashir: I think there is an in principal understanding, agreement, acceptance of the invitation extended by Pakistan to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit. I certainly agree that a visit by the Prime Minister of India would go a long way in not only cementing, but also taking the relationship forward.

Karan Thapar:High Commissioner, a pleasure talking to you.

Salman Bashir: Thank you.

While citing reservations over Pakistani’s wheat quality, Iran has finally rebuffed to import one million tonnes wheat from Pakistan under a barter trade deal, said reliable sources.
According to sources familiar with the development told that Iran has conveyed to Pakistani authorities that it can only buy wheat with zero per cent karnal bunt content while Pakistani wheat is of 3 per cent content which is not acceptable for Iran.
“Iran has not officially conveyed Pakistani authorities so far about its refusal to import one million tonnes wheat under barter trade arrangements,” said an official working in Ministry of National Food Security and Research.