Pakistan, Germany to boost defence ties: Report

September 19th, 2009 ABOHAR - Radio Pakistan in its recent Punjabi Darbar programme has suggested that India should spend less on defence and more on education and health. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal should thank the Punjabi Darbar programme of Radio Pakistan for its support to their causes.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Monday expressed concern over Pakistan illegally modifying US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles to hit land-based targets, saying this was "against India's national interest". "This is the danger of proliferation that we have been mentioning to America that whatever you have given to Pakistan will not be used in self defence.

August 30th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has rejected reports about purchase of submarines from France. Briefing Senate's Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, Defence Production Secretary, Israr Ghumman said an evaluation committee formed by the Naval Headquarters has recommended purchase of German submarines.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Thursday said the rapid enhancement in the defence capabilities of China as well as its hobnobbing with Pakistan and other countries in South Asia have military implications for India. Releasing its annual defence report, India said that it was carefully monitoring China's defence modernisation.

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 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has hiked its defence spending for fiscal 2009-10 to Rs.347 billion ($4 billion) in the budget presented in parliament Saturday. Of this, Rs.343 billion has been allocated for the armed forces, Rs.463 million for defence production and Rs.840 million for the defence division, Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar said while delivering the first budget speech by a woman in Pakistan's history.

June 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has no intensions to curtail its India-specific defence budget, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas has said. Major General Abbas rejected some international appeals that suggested that Pakistan should cut down its India specific defence expenditures, and focus more on the 'war on terror'.

June 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Government has decided to increase the defence budget by 15.5 percent for the upcoming financial year to 342 billion rupees. According to sources, the operational expenses of the Pakistani Army has increased manifold due to the ongoing war against the Taliban.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju Monday said India is concerned over Pakistan's growing nuclear arsenal and asked the world to exert pressure on Islamabad not to cross minimum deterrent threshold.

May 31st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan expects the military offensive against Taliban militants in the Swat valley to end within two or three days, Islamabad's Defence Secretary Syed Athar Ali said Sunday. "Only five to 10 percent of the job is remaining and hopefully within two to three days the pockets of resistance will be cleared," Ali said at a regional defence conference in Singapore, the Dawn newspaper reported.

May 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Advocating "eternal vigilance", A.K. Antony Monday expressed concern over the security scenario around India and spelt out priority areas in his second term as defence minister -- infrastructure development in northeast and border areas, modernisation of the armed forces and welfare of the troops.

January 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Continuing its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, India Friday welcomed the US remarks saying Pakistan in the 'epicentre of terrorism' and called upon the world to take action against terror from Pakistani soil. Defence minister A.K.

January 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Sri Lanka will enhance defence cooperation, including military training and intelligence sharing, officials said after a meeting of the representatives of the two countries Monday. The defence secretaries of the two countries discussed various cooperations during a meeting at the garrison city of Rawalpindi, the official Associated Press of Pakistan said.

January 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With Pakistan showing no sign of acting against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, a group of retired diplomats, including four former foreign secretaries, Thursday advised the Indian government to downgrade bilateral ties in the absence of positive action by Islamabad. 'The people of India want the government to take decisive action within a clear timeline to put an end to this menace,' said 10 retired diplomats after their meeting at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank.

January 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Defence Minister A.K. Antony Monday called a high-level meeting of the three Service chiefs to assess the security scenario as New Delhi handed over to Islamabad evidence of the complicity of Pakistan-based militants in the Mumbai terror attack, a senior official said.