Talks only with Centre's representative or Manmohan: Team Anna!

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Gargi Parsai, The Hindu / NEW DELHI, August 22, 2011.

Policemen removing supporters of Anna Hazare, who were sitting at a protest outside the residence of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Monday. Photo:R.V. Moorthy - The HIndu.

As Anna Hazare's fast enters the seventh day, his aides said they ‘cannot leave the government free to help corrupt people.' Anna rejects note brought by Maharashtra bureaucrat.

Scotching rumours that social activist Anna Hazare would talk only to the Prime Minister or Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Team Anna members said they were open to dialogue with any authorised representative of the government or the Prime Minister.

“The Prime Minister has said there could be discussions but so far we have not received any concrete proposal from the government, nor has any initiative been taken by him or anybody else. There have been some informal feelers but nothing concrete has emerged,'' core member of Mr. Hazare's team, Arvind Kejriwal, told The Hindu.

As Mr. Hazare's indefinite fast entered the seventh day on Monday, his supporters courted arrest outside the house of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and other political leaders to press their demand for an amended Lokpal Bill in Parliament by August 30.

Decrying the arrests, Team Anna said the protesters, who were carrying flowers, should have been heard out instead of being arrested.

There were concerns at Mr. Hazare's health on Monday as he did not address even once the multitude of people who poured into Ramlila grounds, the venue of his protest. The anti-corruption crusader was seen lying down through the better part of the day.

On Monday Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar offered to mediate with the government. Earlier Maharashtra bureaucrat U.C. Sarangi had brought a note from the government, which was promptly rejected by Team Anna as it was “nothing new.''

    

“The note brought by Mr. Sarangi was nothing but a repeat of the provisions of the Lokpal Bill,'' said Mr. Kejriwal.

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Govt attempting back channel talks with Anna Hazare - sources!

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CNN-IBN / Updated Aug 19, 2011 at 11:08am IST.

New Delhi: The Congress is still figuring out a strategy for a breakthrough with Team Anna. At the moment, the sticking points are on lower bureaucracy and the CBI being under the Lokpal ambit. Sources say neither the govt nor team Anna are willing to budge on it.

But the government is attempting back channel talks by roping in politicians and NGOs from Maharashtra into negotiations.

For now though the government is adopting a wait and watch policy but they are eventually willing to break the deadlock on contentious issues.

When contacted by CNN-IBN, team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan say they have not been contacted by anyone from the government's side.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media on Thursday, former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde had hinted at a compromise between the government and Team Anna.

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HINA RABBANI KHAR: Pakistan for uninterrupted, uninterruptible dialogue!

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Anita Joshua, The Hindu / ISLAMABAD, August 10, 2011.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. File Photo - The Hindu.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday termed her recent India visit as extremely successful and said Islamabad was keen on building a new relationship with not just New Delhi but also Kabul. “We believe that peace, security and prosperity in South Asia as a whole is indivisible,'' she said, while briefing the National Assembly about her India visit in July-end.

Pakistan, according to Ms. Khar, wants to make the dialogue process uninterrupted and uninterruptible to create an atmosphere that would be conducive to address all issues of concern to both sides.

In this connection, she referred to the breaks that have come in the process whenever dialogue between India and Pakistan gained momentum.

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INDO-PAK TALKS: Joint Statement full text!

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NDTV Correspondent, Updated: July 27, 2011 15:48 IST.

1. The Minister of External Affairs of India, H.E. S.M. Krishna and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, H.E. Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar met in New Delhi on July 27, 2011. 

2. The Ministerial level talks were preceded by a meeting between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan on July 26, 2011. 

3. The talks were held in a candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere. 

4. The Ministers reviewed the status of bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction on the holding of meetings on the issues of Counter-Terrorism (including progress on Mumbai trial) and Narcotics Control; Humanitarian issues; Commercial & Economic cooperation; Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project; Sir Creek; Siachen; Peace & Security including CBMs; Jammu & Kashmir; and promotion of friendly exchanges. 

5. The Ministers affirmed the importance of carrying forward the dialogue process with a view to resolving peacefully all outstanding issues through constructive and result oriented engagement, and to establish friendly, cooperative and good neighbourly relations between Pakistan and India. 

6. The Ministers underlined the need for sustained effort by both countries to build a relationship of trust and mutually beneficial cooperation in conformity with the determination of the people of both countries to see an end to terrorism and violence and to realise their aspirations for peace and development. 

7. The Ministers agreed that terrorism poses a continuing threat to peace and security and reiterated the firm and undiluted commitment of the two countries to fight and eliminate this scourge in all its forms and manifestations. Both sides agreed on the need to strengthen cooperation on counter-terrorism including among relevant departments as well as agencies to bring those responsible for terror crimes to justice.

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HINA RABBANI KHAR: Looking forward to result-oriented engagement with India!

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July 26, 2011 / PTI, Islamabad / DC.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar speaks to the press as she arrives at Air Force station in New Delhi - AFP.

On the eve of Indo-Pak talks, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar today said Pakistan is looking forward to a 'pro-active, productive and result- oriented' engagement with India on all issues, including Kashmir on which 'we should not be held hostage to history'.

The 34-year-old minister however said both countries have committed themselves to an 'uninterrupted and uninterruptible' peace process since they began their re-engagement earlier this year.

"We are looking forward to a pro-active, productive and result-oriented engagement in India and the signals we're getting is that we should be expecting the same from them," Khar said during a brief interaction with journalists in Lahore this afternoon before her departure.

"Both the countries are looking forward to, and are committed to, an uninterrupted and uninterruptible process as has been proven in the last few months and (this) relates to peace and development in the region," she said.

The peace process was resumed 'within the Thimphu spirit', Khar said, referring to a meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan in the Bhutanese capital, where they agreed that the 'only way forward is that of engagement'.

Pakistan should have 'realistic and pragmatic expectations' from the ministerial talks to be held in New Delhi tomorrow. The two Foreign Ministers will review the talks held under the peace process this year and set the 'forward direction', she said.

Noting that 're-engagement is better than no engagement', Khar said there had been 'forward movement' between the two sides in some area over the past few months.

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LIBYAN RESISTANCE: US and Libya in face-to-face talks!

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Ewen MacAskill in Washington / The Guardian,Tuesday 19 July 2011.

Libyan officials have been told that Muammar Gaddafi must step down in face-to-face talks held in Tunisia. Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters.

Officials confirm talks lasting three hours took place in Tunisia – but Washington and Tripoli disagreed on what comes next.

The US and Libya on Saturday held their first face-to-face talks since the conflict in Libya began four months ago, officials from both governments have confirmed.

But the two sides disagreed about what was discussed – and what happens next.

The three-hour talks were held on neutral ground in Tunisia.

A US state department official said Washington agreed to the meeting, after several requests from Tripoli, in order to deliver a message to the Libyan government that its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, had to step down.

It was not the start of negotiations and no further talks were planned, the official said.

But the Libyan government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, speaking in Tripoli, described it as a first step.

"We support any dialogue, any peace initiative, as long as they don't decide Libya's future from outside," Ibrahim told journalists in Tripoli.

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INDO-US TALKS: US pushes India on nuclear liability!

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NDTV Correspondent, Updated: July 19, 2011 16:33 IST.

New Delhi:  The recent serial blasts in Mumbai and counter-terrorism dominated the agenda this morning as Foreign Affairs Minister SM Krishna met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. These talks form Round 2 of the India-US strategic partnership dialogue; the first was held two years ago.

However, both countries have major differences on the civilian nuclear deal. 

Mr Krishna and Ms Clinton spoke at length about Pakistan. Ms Clinton said that America has repeatedly told Pakistan that the perpetrators of 26/11 have to be brought to justice. "We have made it forcefully clear to Pakistan that it has a special obligation to act transparently, fully and urgently." She added, "There is a limit to what the US and India can do. But we will press as hard as possible."   

Mr Krishna, for his part, mentioned "the importance of elimination of terror sanctuaries in Pakistan for regional stability and Pakistan's future."

In a reference to the US raid that found and killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Ms Clinton said, "We want mutual recognition that we cannot tolerate a safe haven for terrorists anywhere. When we know the location of terrorists whose intentions are clear, we need to work together. We do not believe there are any terrorists who should be given a safe haven or free pass by any government."

U.S. pushing Pak for 26/11 attackers and all are ritualistic pleasantries; her main objective is to dangle to Full Nuclear Cooperation and to get waiver of India's tough Nuclear Suppliers' Liability, for American suppliers!

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AFGHAN BOILER: Mullah Omar, headscarves and bizarre Afghan peace talks!

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July 15, 2011 / Reuters / Dawn.com.

A man from an aid-distribution team uses a stick to control a crowd of Afghan women who gather to get relief in Kabul 01 March 2002. – AFP Photo.

KABUL: Afghanistan’s complex and often confusing business of talks with the Taliban took a surprisingly dramatic turn this week when a female lawmaker told a news conference she had recently met the militant group’s leader, Mullah Omar, who agreed to make peace.


Despite questions of credibility, the large turnout to Thursday’s unusual event, which included representatives from Western embassies, highlights the somewhat desperate nature of peace talks as foreign powers look for an exit from the war.


Homa Sultani, a former rights activist and now an MP from Ghazni, a volatile province southwest of Kabul, said she had met the reclusive Omar some 150 km from the capital and that they had wept together after deliberating the country’s plight.


Omar then sat down on Sultani’s headscarf which she had placed on the floor in front of him, she said, before the one-eyed fugitive leader accepted her proposal to act as his lone mediator for peace.


“It wasn’t that Mullah Omar had fallen in love with my eyes or my eyebrows, we seriously engaged in peace talks,” Sultani told the news conference in Kabul on Thursday. Another male MP, Haji Abdul Basir, who was also at the news conference, had witnessed the meeting, Sultani said.

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13/7 MUMBAI TERROR ATTACKS: a ploy to derail India-Pakistan talks?

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• July 14, 2011 
• IANS 
• New Delhi / DC.

India has scrupulously avoided pointing a finger at Pakistan for the serial blasts in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, but the terror attack which occurred barely a fortnight before the meeting of foreign ministers of the two countries here has raised suspicions about whether some right-wing elements were trying to derail the revived peace process.

After cold-shouldering Pakistan's overtures for talks for over two years following the 26/11 Mumbai terror spree, India decided to revive the peace process with its estranged neighbour in February.

Since then, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan held talks in Islamabad last month and agreed on some cross-Kashmir and nuclear confidence-building measures to bridge the post-26/11 trust deficit.

The Islamabad meeting set the stage for the talks between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on July 26-27. As the blasts took place barely a fortnight before Pakistan's foreign minister comes here for talks, some analysts, speaking on condition of anonymity, speculated whether it was a handiwork of those trying to derail the peace process between the two neighbnours.

In his condemnation of the attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scrupulously avoided even the vaguest insinuation about the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the attacks. When contacted, officials of the external affairs ministry also declined to speculate.

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INDO-PAK TIES: Kashmir step by step: the next round of talks!

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SUHASINI HAIDAR / The Hindu / June 23, 2011.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir during a meeting in New Delhi. File Photo - The Hindu.

India needs to understand that the absence of violence in the Kashmir Valley is not peace, and that development and dignity for all Kashmiris go hand in hand. Pakistan must recognise that violence will never bring peace for Kashmiris, and will imperil all Pakistanis.

On the face of it, this summer in India-Pakistan engagement has been defined by the discovery of Osama bin Laden, the revelations of David Headley and Tahawwur Rana, and the intense turmoil inside Pakistan that has unleashed another round of deadly attacks there.

Even so, as the Foreign Secretaries prepare for their next engagement in Islamabad at the end of June, it isn't these events but three significant processes that will define their immediate agenda, particularly on Kashmir.

The first is the successful conduct of panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir that were completed on June 18. Despite some violence in the initial phases, even the killing of a woman candidate by gunmen in Budgam, the voter turnout was between 70-80 per cent. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called it a “smooth ride” beyond his expectations, marking the first such election in 33 years not overrun by militant attacks, or “interference” from across the Line of Control (LoC).

In Pakistan's Kashmir (PoK) too, this weekend (June 26) will see Assembly elections and the selection of the next Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan's name for it). What has marked these elections from the previous ones is the intense involvement of national parties like the PPP and the PML (Nawaz), with senior leaders as part of the campaign, as well as the participation of the Sindh-based MQM, which for the first time is contesting each of the 41 seats.

While elections on both sides of the LoC are strengthening the processes on the ground, it is the talks between India and Pakistan that have been building bilateral engagement, with all three processes in significant, albeit coincidental, tandem. Since April this year, the Home, Commerce and Defence Secretaries have all met to discuss issues like Sir Creek and the Tulbul navigation project. As the Foreign Secretaries prepare to review the progress, they will have some cause for satisfaction. While no movement may have been made on Siachen, the blueprint for visa liberalisation, and one of their most expansive economic agreements ever, with Pakistan committing itself in print to granting India MFN status, are welcome. The two sides have agreed to move from the current “positive list” of items for trade to a “negative list,” as well as new investments in the fields of energy and fuel. Most importantly, each meeting has ended with a clear timeline of the next meeting to resolve issues. An optimistic view of India-Pakistan engagement would even be that these bilateral issues need no longer occupy centre stage, as their resolution is in sight — freeing up interlocutors to focus on the two intractable issues: Kashmir and terrorism.

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INDO-PAK TIES: War not the solution to India-Pak problems: Gilani!

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Pakistan wants good relations with all its neighbours and all outstanding issues can be resolved through talks, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said ahead of the India-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks. File photo -AP.

Ahead of India-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks, Pakistan has said that it wants to resolve all outstanding issues with India, including Kashmir, through dialogue as war is not the solution to any problem.

“We do not want to resolve any problems through war. The solution of all problems is dialogue and we believe in dialogue,” Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday while addressing a public meeting at Shakargarh in Punjab province.

“I’ve met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh several times and I told him we should sit at the table and discuss all problems and core issues, including Kashmir. I convinced him to resume the dialogue (with Pakistan),” he said.

Mr. Gilani, we all know that was could decimate nations, destroy economies and tramatise people; why talk war, in the first place, talk peace!

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INDO-PAK TIES:India, Pak differ on core issue but put faith in dialogue!

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SANDEEP DIKSHIT / THE HINDU.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir during a meeting in New Delhi. File Photo - The Hindu.

India and Pakistan are set to review nuclear related confidence building measures (CBMs) at the Foreign Office and Foreign Secretary-level talks in Islamabad. And though both sides do not expect major results and disagree on the core issue at the talks – Kashmir or terrorism -- Government sources here reposed faith in a sustained dialogue process to narrow the trust deficit and build understanding for the eventual resolution of issues of discord between the two nations.

India wants the expectations from the Foreign Secretary talks to be "realistic’’ given the history and complexity of Indo-Pak ties. "Dialogue is a process. We should not expect a decision. We should go step by step," said the sources.

On the recent face off between warships of India and Pakistan clouding the talks, the sources cautioned against whipping up a frenzy though they claimed the Pakistani warship had displayed aggressive behaviour in the past as well.

Will something comes out of this one of the several many meetings?

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