Zardari being unnecessarily targeted for his overture to India: Editorial

September 24th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - An editorial in one of the leading English dailies of Pakistan has raised questions over the apparent protection being provided to the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group which India says was behind the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, inside the country. The editorial also pointed out that despite the Pakistan government's claims that there is not enough evidence against LeT's founder leader Hafiz Mohammad Saeed to prove that he masterminded the 26/11 carnage, many Pakistanis are unconvinced of the view that both LeT and Saeed are entirely innocent.

September 17th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has reiterated that Islamabad is ready to cooperate with New Delhi to bring the Mumbai attack perpetrators to justice. In an interview with a British daily, Zardari said Pakistan would not allow its soil to be used against India.

September 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - With President Asif Ali Zardari disclosing that his predecessor General Pervez Musharraf was given a 'safe exit' from the country, it appears, Musharraf may have avoided a high treason trial for his unconstitutional actions, but according to an editorial there is hardly any possibility of the former general returning to Pakistan in the near future. The editorial in The Daily Times said Musharraf may be safe for the time being, but he would hardly be seen playing golf in Pakistan for years to come.

July 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - While Pakistan has reacted sharply to the launch of India's first nuclear-powered submarine INS-Arihant, saying such a step would only increase arms race in the region and that it is 'detrimental to regional peace and stability', an editorial in a leading Pakistan daily said it was premature to say that New Delhi's big leap forward would really pose a threat. An editorial in the Dawn said Islamabad must not react to India joining the exclusive club of US, Russia, China, France and the UK.

July 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - An editorial published in a newspaper in Pakistan has predictably reacted with concern to India announcing the launch of its first indigenously built nuclear submarine - the INS Arihant. In its editorial, The Nation says that South Asia, being one of the poorest in the world, can ill afford an arms race.

July 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A massive 'trust deficit' would escort the proposed talks between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the XVth NAM summit later this week.

July 6th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who has the backing of top military commanders for his goodwill gestures towards India, has said that the army is united in dealing with the threat emanating from militants and are no more worried about the Indian threat. In Pakistan civil leaders always operate in the shadow of the military, but Zardari appears to have backing of the army high command for some controversial stances, a report in The Telegraph states.

June 24th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that India is no longer a military threat to Pakistan, rather it is the Taliban which is threatening peace in the region as well as in the whole world. Talking to a private television channel ahead of the first summit between the European Union (EU) and Pakistan here, Zardari said both India and Pakistan do not have any ill-feelings against each other, and both the countries have good intentions.

June 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has lost its Kashmir plank with India bringing on centre stage the need to counter terrorism, an editorial in a leading English daily said Thursday while welcoming the apparent subcontinental thaw after the meeting in Russia between President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There was a time when Pakistan wanted 'movement' on Kashmir from India.

May 23rd, 2009 LAHORE - Hinting that the military offensive against the Taliban and other extremist groups could be expanded into other regions than the Swat Valley, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said the Taliban would be hunted down everywhere inside the country's geographical territory. In an interview to a private television channel, Zardari refuted media reports that quoted him as saying that the government is planning to carry out military operations in Waziristan after Swat.

May 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Putting aside continuous US demands for shifting its troops from the eastern Indian border to the Western border along Afghanistan to focus more on the Taliban's surge, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the move is not possible. "Half of our army is deployed on Indo-Pak Eastern boarder and we cannot move army from there for their deployment on Western border," The News quoted Zardari, as saying.

May 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said he is eager to start talks with India soon to establish peace between both the nations. Zardari, who is in Washington to take part in a trilateral summit with his US and Afghanistan counterparts, said he was waiting for the Indian general elections to get over so that peace initiatives could be resumed, which was disrupted after the heightened tension in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

April 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan should stop blaming India for terror attacks and instead focus on its strategy for countering the scourge, an editorial in a leading English daily said Wednesday. 'It is no longer useful to keep insisting that the only strategy viable for Pakistan is an anti-India policy 'because India is funding the terrorists to kill Pakistanis',' Daily Times said in an editorial.

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.

January 10th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has appealed to the world powers to come forward and play their role towards easing tensions between Pakistan and India, GEO TV reported. Speaking at a dinner reception hosted in honour of the foreign ambassadors Saturday, President Zardari expressed concern that prevailing India-Pakistan tensions could sabotage efforts being made for bringing stability and peace in the region.