‘Pakistan to review options if Obama not positive’

October 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that he received 'positive vibes' during his meeting with Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna last month.

September 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Shocked and concerned by former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's recent disclosure that the military aid provided to Pakistan by the US was diverted to strengthen its defence against India, Washington has now sent a team to Islamabad to review the whole process through which the aid is being channelised. In a written reply to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said the team was sent to review the Coalition Support Funds (CSF), which provides reimbursement to Pakistan for expenses incurred during the war on terror.

July 30th, 2009 US mulling European missile defense alternativesWASHINGTON — A senior Defense Department official said Thursday that the United States is considering options for European missile defense other than current plans for a system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told lawmakers in the House of Representatives at a hearing on relations with Russia that the Obama administration is looking at various configurations as part of its review of missile defense plans.

May 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has said that all options are open regarding the safeguarding of Pakistan's nuclear assets, which may fall into the Taliban's hand. In an interview with Newsweek, Obama appeared assured about the safety Pakistan's nuclear weapons, but also made it clear that United States would not hesitate to take emergency steps if the situation demanded.

March 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will have his first meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London on April 3 and they are expected to discuss the situation in Pakistan.

March 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The new policy of Afghanistan and Pakistan may well see a surge in US troops in the region to facilitate the 'war on terror', but President Barack Obama has also clarified that Pakistan would be made accountable for all the financial aid it receives from now on. "The era of the blank cheque is over," Obama told Congressional leaders at a meeting here.

March 27th, 2009 MOSCOW - Pakistan Friday promised to cooperate with the US after President Barack Obama announced a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, news agencies reported. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in Moscow on a visit, welcomed the new US strategy, saying the Obama administration's approach was 'very positive'.

March 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States President Barack Obama, while unveiling his new Pak-Afghan strategy on Friday, has said that Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to root out Al-Qaida. "We cannot and we will not give a blank cheque to Pakistan," said Obama, adding: "extremists are a cancer that is killing Pakistan from within" "We will pursue constructive diplomacy with both India and Pakistan," Obama added.

March 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has said that his country faced a terror threat from Pakistan. Speaking at the dedication of Abraham Lincoln Hall at the National Defence University, Obama said on Thursday that the 9/11 terror attacks "signalled the new dangers of the 21st century." "We're still at war with terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan who are plotting to do us harm," the Daily Times quoted Obama, as saying.

March 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has expressed deep concern about an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan, saying the country's frontier regions still remain safe havens for Al Qaeda terrorists and his government was reviewing policies towards that region. The US State Department too called Tuesday's attack in Lahore that left six players and a British coach wounded and killed at least eight Pakistanis as a 'vicious attack on innocent civilians.' 'The details are still coming in, and so I don't want to be too specific,' Obama told reporters Tuesday after meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

February 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Citing a 'convergence of interests' between Washington and Islamabad and a 'willingness to work together,' Pakistan has expressed the hope that Obama administration's regional approach will help root out extremism within its borders. 'I see a lot of hope in the new administration, the new leadership, and Pakistan is willing to work with the American administration to fight extremism and terrorism,' Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said after a meeting Tuesday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

February 14th, 2009 KABUL - US President Barack Obama has accepted Kabul's request to be part of a major review of the US strategy in the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan, Geo TV reported Sunday. President Hamid Karzai said he had urged Obama to participate in the review process, amid concerns about the worsening security situation in the country, seven years after the US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime.

February 8th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan is the one country that really 'scares' Barack Obama, according to the US President's aides, a newspaper reported Monday. The Guardian said in a report from Islamabad that Pakistan - 'a nuclear-armed country hurtling towards chaos' - may turn out to be the biggest foreign policy challenge for the Obama administration.

January 18th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a committee to review the list of players given central contracts last month. A meeting of the PCB governing board Monday decided that a high-profile four-man committee will review the list and suggest adding or subtracting players from it.

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A war with Pakistan was the last resort but India was keeping all options open given its view that the 'perpetrators of 26/11' were from that country, Indian Army chief Deepak Kapoor said Wednesday. Stressing that Indian troops were ready, he said: 'We do feel that the perpetrators of 26/11 were from Pakistan.