IMF may boost-up additional funding to Pakistan

October 13th, 2009 BEIJING - China and Pakistan Tuesday pledged to boost cooperation in trade and defence sectors, the Online news agency reported Tuesday. Visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held discussion with Chinese President Hu Jintao in this regard, the report said.

October 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The U.S.-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) has expressed deep concern that the United States Congress has passed a bill tripling U.S. aid to Pakistan without first establishing accountability and transparency of Pakistani expenditure of US aid funding, past and present.

October 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Britain will assist Pakistan to set up a counter-intelligence agency on the line of British secret service, MI5. BBC's Richard Watson quoted senior British and Pakistani counter-terrorism officials as saying that British training and funding will be made available to the new security authority.

September 28th, 2009 LAHORE - Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has admitted that his government's secret agreement with the Taliban had backfired. The Daily Times quoted Musharraf, as saying that the Taliban had misled his administration.

September 17th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United States has made it clear that it would maintain a tight vigil on the aid being given to Pakistan to ensure that the funds are being used exactly for the purpose they are meant for. US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson said the US would continue to maintain the various long standing accountability measures to ensure transparency in the distribution of the allocations.

September 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Amid the exodus of foreign officials from Pakistan due to security fears, China has rather increased its involvement in the strife torn country. According to an estimate the number of Chinese engineers has shot up dramatically to 10,000 in 2009 from 3000 in 2008.

August 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has rejected media reports regarding US' plans to send more Marines to its Islamabad embassy. Speaking at a weekly briefing, Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said US has not yet formally asked for expanding its embassy compound or deploying additional security staff.

July 20th, 2009 LAHORE - A gathering of religious scholars, mostly from the Barelvi school of thought, have demanded surprise raids on all seminaries in Pakistan and a ban on their funding from abroad. The religious scholars met on Sunday to to mark the chehlum of Dr Sarfraz Naeemi.

June 26th, 2009 BEIJING - In a step further to embolden their military relationship, Chinese Defence Minister, Liang Guanglie met Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, here on Friday. Guanglie met Air Chief Marshal Suleman, who is currently on a visit to China, and vowed to further strengthen friendship between both countries.

June 19th, 2009 BERLIN - Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and his German counterpart Gen Schneidrhan have pledged to boost defence cooperation and enhance strategic partnership, the Online news agency said Friday. During a meeting here, the two officials discussed the ongoing war on terrorism and the regional situation, among other issues, it said.

June 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has acceded to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, an official said. "With the accession to this convention, Pakistan is now party to 11 international conventions against terrorism.

May 31st, 2009 LAHORE - The Taliban is utilizing the funds generated from the opium trade to carry out its nefarious activities in Pakistan and other region of the world, American author Gretchen Peters has said. In an interview to the Voice of America, Peters said the Taliban gets more than 70 percent of their funds from opium.

May 14th, 2009 LAHORE - US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said there are certain benchmarks ready for Pakistan that would go together with the huge aid which the Obama administration is planning to provide. Responding to Senator Robert Menendez question over expanding funding for Pakistan's military, Holbrooke said : "We do have a comprehensive strategy and we do have benchmarks." Citing a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, that stated that the Bush administration had not met its national security 'goals' to destroy terrorist havens in Pakistan, Menendez expressed concerns over misuse of billion of dollars in aid, The Daily Times reported.

May 7th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Thursday sought additional information on the Mumbai attacks from the Government of India "as soon as possible" so that it could put up a "credible prosecution" of all persons arrested by it for their alleged involvement in the terrorist strikes. Pakistan would not be able to "put up a credible prosecution" of the persons arrested for alleged involvement in the terror attacks if New Delhi did not provide the additional information sought by Islamabad, said Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit on Thursday.

May 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan might be eagerly waiting for 1.4 billion dollars as aid which the United States has pledged, but according to an American lawmaker, the US Congress appears to be in no mood to pass the bill in a huff. Democratic Senator Richard Durbin said it is highly unlikely that the US Congress would pass an emergency aid package for Pakistan.