US President Barack Obama has taken up with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the vexed issue of Islamabad’s handling of terrorism, notably its export to other countries, as also the inordinate delay in proceeding with the trial of the Pakistani masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
In what had otherwise been projected as an American effort to reset its rocky relations with Pakistan, Obama held a two-hour meeting with Sharif at the White House on Wednesday, dealing with a variety of issues, but with its apparent focus on counter-terrorism.
“I know that the Prime Minister is very much committed to trying to reduce these incidents of terrorism inside of Pakistan’s borders, and the degree to which these activities may be exported to other countries,” Obama said, in apparent reference to the long-standing complaints on this score by India and Afghanistan.
Significantly, the joint statement issued after the meeting, included a line that would appear to be designed to hold Pakistan’s feet to the fire on the issue of cross-border terrorism. It said: “The two leaders emphasised that no country’s territory should be used to destabilise its neighbours.”
While promising to “do everything that we can to help” Sharif in his mission for a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan, Obama raised pointed questions on Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the front organization of the notorious lashkar-e-Tayyeba, both founded by Hafiz Saeed, the man with a $10 million US bounty on his head but is roaming freely across Pakistan.
Sharif himself told reporters after the meeting that Obama brought up matters such as the 26/11 trial in Pakistan, the JuD and cross-border movements. “He (Obama) asked why the trial of the (Mumbai) terrorist attack in India has not started yet… He spoke about cross-border movement. He also talked about Jamaat-ud-Dawa,” Sharif said.
Although Sharif claimed that the discussions also focused on Pakistan’s relationship with India, including Kashmir, Obama himself made no specific reference to Kashmir in his remarks to the media after the meeting, given Washington’s categorical rejection of Islamabad’s renewed bid for American intervention.
All that Obama said on the subject was, “We had an opportunity to discuss India, and the Prime Minister had the opportunity to meet with Indian Prime Minister Singh in New York.” He welcomed Sharif’s comments about exploring how decades of tension between India and Pakistan could be reduced by diverting precious resources from an arms race to developmental programmes.
On the issue of US drone strikes, Sharif, as expected, raised the issue prominently, but apparently drew a blank with no commitment on Obama’s part to wind down the operation that is regarded as central to the counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan’s terror sanctuaries close to the Afghan border.
While Obama made no explicit reference to drones in his remarks, the joint statement broadly stated that “our enduring partnership is based on the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Pakistan suffered an added setback as The Washington Post, armed with leaked CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos, reported that for all its overt denunciation of the drone campaign, top Pakistani officials have secretly endorsed the programme for several years. The files, exposing Pakistan’s perfidy and duplicity on this issue, relate to the 2007-2011 period, when General Pervez Musharraf and later Asif Ali Zardari were at the helm.
“Pakistan’s tacit approval of the drone programme has been one of the more poorly kept national security secrets in Washington and Islamabad. During the early years of the campaign, the CIA even used Pakistani airstrips for its Predator fleet,” the Post wrote, adding the files “expose the explicit nature of a secret arrangement struck between the two countries at a time when neither was willing to publicly acknowledge the existence of the drone programme”.
The leaked documents refer to at least 65 strikes in Pakistan that “occurred with such regularity that they became a matter of diplomatic routine”. The documents were marked “top secret”, but cleared for release to Pakistan.
g theaIJn IJ7IJfIJting of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature parties, the leader of the House and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the MlAs of both the parties to attend the meeting immediately after the session ends on Monday.
On the other hand, ClP leader and leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Sunil Jakhar has called a meeting of party MlAs in the assembly complex before the commencement of Vidhan Sabha session.
PaIJ rIJfIJ`IJ Rohit and Sk. Bilal from Cuttack and Rajat Nag from Bolangir are now being trained at TFA with a hope to pave path towards a prosperous future.
Tata Steel has been conferred with FICCI India Sports Awards 2013 for being adjudged as the best company in private towards promotion of sports in the country. Tata Football Academy also manages Feeder Centres at key locations for encouraging rural sports talent to join the international mainstream which has been a highly motivating factor for the aspiring talents and sports lovers from Odisha.
Pratap selected as hockey India manager
Bhubaneswar: Hockey Odisha general secretary and Hockey India vice-president Pratap Satapathy has been nominated as manager of Indian Hockey Team for the 3rd Men’s and Women’s Asian Champions Trophy to be held at Kakamigahara, Japan from November 2 to 10. In the men’s event India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, Chain and Oman are the six teams would fight for the top prize. Similarly, India, Japan, Malaysia and Chain are the four teams would participate. Pratap would fly to Japan along with the India Hockey team on October 29 from New Delhi.