Zardari wants India in Friends of Democratic Pakistan group

September 25th, 2009 NEW YORK - President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan wants peaceful relations with India, and urged resolution of the Kashmir issue, as it is the key to peace in the region. He said the only way forward with India is the dialogue, saying Pakistan hails the resumption of dialogue with India and Pakistan wants friendly relations with its neighbour.

September 22nd, 2009 NEW YORK - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who is currently in New York to take part in the United Nations General Assembly, held separate talks with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former President Bill Clinton. Zardari said meetings with both the leaders were fruitful.

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.

July 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed to transform his country into a 'great nation', saying no one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the constitution. Speaking at a dinner party that he hosted for PPP parliamentarians here, Zardari said he would achieve what other leaders before him have failed to do.

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.

July 6th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari says targeting the Taliban rather than India does not rankle his army because the two nuclear armed countries no longer pose threats to each others territories. "It rankles the small mind," he told the Daily Telegraph in an interview published Monday.

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 22nd, 2009 NAUDERO - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed to make every sacrifice to counter terrorism and insurgency, which have been challenging the "very existence of Pakistan." "This is not a small challenge, this is not a small war. This is a war of ideologies with people who are against the very existence of Pakistan.

June 19th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday urged her to play a role for restoration of talks between Islamabad and New Delhi, a media report said. Apprising her of the ongoing military operation against the Taliban, Zardari said Pakistan wants peace and has continued its offensives against the terrorists, Geo TV said.

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 13th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday promised to improve his embattled country's ties with India under the terms of a new 'strategic dialogue' between Pakistan and Britain. The strategic dialogue, to be co-chaired by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Zardari, will rest on four 'fundamental principles', Brown said after the two leaders met at his Downing Street office in central London.

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.

March 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Saturday telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari and conveyed to him the US support for democracy in Pakistan. Clinton also discussed with Zardari the regional and bilateral issues and the forthcoming 'Friends of Democratic Pakistan' meeting to be held in Tokyo next month, according to the News Network International news agency.

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.