EU plans its first summit with Pakistan

May 23rd, 2009 NEW YORK - The UN General Assembly decided Friday to postpone a much publicised summit on the world financial and economic crisis because several government leaders could not attend. The decision to postpone the June 1-3 "summit of world leaders" on the global recession was also due to the conflict with other important events in the world taking place simultaneously in the early part of June, said Enrique Yeves, the spokesman of assembly president Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann.

May 18th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran has postponed a security meeting scheduled for Tuesday with the presidents of neighbours Afghanistan and Pakistan, ISNA news agency reported Sunday. The presidential office Saturday had announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was to host his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts, Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari respectively, on Tuesday in Tehran.

May 10th, 2009 PRAGUE - The European Union (EU) is planning to hold its first ever summit with Pakistan in June this year. According to the sources privy to the Czech presidency, the EU wants to help strengthen the civilian government in Pakistan by showing strong support on the highest level.

May 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan has asked the US for more arms, including helicopters, saying what they've got isn't enough to fight the Al Qaeda and Taliban forces threatening Pakistan's stability as also Afghanistan, a media report said. The new demand comes ahead of a trilateral summit the President Barack Obama is hosting Wednesday with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, The Hill focusing on politics on the Capitol Hill reported Sunday.

May 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will host a summit with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan Wednesday to 'accelerate the process of cooperation between the two countries' to take on a resurgent Taliban in the region. Obama will hold separate meetings and a joint summit with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan at the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced Friday.

April 11th, 2009 PATTAYA - Thai officials decided to cancel a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Saturday after anti-government protesters broke into the summit venue at Pattaya, a resort town 100 km south of Bangkok. The Thai government said the summit between ASEAN members and six dialogue partners, including China, Japan and India, was postponed and would be held in about two months.

April 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The US Wednesday sought a greater role for India in Afghanistan, at the same time saying it wouldn't pressurise New Delhi on its ties with Pakistan. 'What happens in Afghanistan depends on Pakistan.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh Wednesday that most of the terrorist attacks in Britain have their origins in Pakistan. The British premier made the comments at the fag-end of a meeting lasting over an hour at his office at 10 Downing Street, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters.

April 1st, 2009 ANKARA - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai Wednesday recommitted themselves to cooperate on fighting terrorism and drug trafficking. At a trilateral summit hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Karzai and Zardari agreed to step up cooperation and to formalize their meetings.

March 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Apart from the global financial crisis, India and the US will discuss the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London Thursday. 'The situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan will figure in the discussions,' Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters here Monday while referring to the first meeting between Manmohan Singh and Obama.

March 29th, 2009 LONDON - The up-coming G20 summit will not come up with any quick fix for the economy, a senior British minister has said. As thousands prepare to protest over the financial crisis, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson insisted the success of the talks cannot be judged for at least another 12 months.

March 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama plans to increase troop levels in Afghanistan by an additional 4,000 soldiers in a move to expand the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, US news reports said. Ahead of the White House unveiling its new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy Friday, the Washington Post and CNN reported that on top of the 17,000 additional combat troops already authorised, 4,000 more would be deployed later this year to serve as advisers to the Afghan army.

March 25th, 2009 STRASBOURG - The US decision to pump ever-larger sums into its economy is 'road to hell', Czech republic's Prime Minister and holder of the European Union's rotating presidency Mirek Topolanek said Wednesday. The US is repeating the mistakes of the 1930s and has chosen the 'road to hell' in the process, said the Czech prime minister, the morning after his government lost a vote of confidence by a narrow margin.

March 11th, 2009 TEHRAN - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Tehran Tuesday to attend the 10th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and discuss plans for a gas pipeline linking the two countries with India. Zardari and his Iranian and Afghan counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Karzai are scheduled to have a trilateral meeting prior to the summit Wednesday on security in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

March 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will go ahead with the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project even without India's participation, President Asif Ali Zardari said Monday, adding he will discuss the issue during his visit to Tehran beginning Tuesday. Zardari leaves for Tehran to represent Pakistan at the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation being held in Iranian capital Wednesday, Geo TV reports.