Former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri’s startling disclosure that a solution to the Kashmir problem had been worked out under the Musharraf government and that all that was required was a signature on the relevant documents is rather unexpected and opens up all kinds of new possibilities. While there had been talks on the issue that contributes most to continued tensions between India and Pakistan, we had not known a solution was so tantalisingly close. The information offered up by Kasuri, at a seminar organised as part of the Jang …

By Babar Dogar & Ranjan Roy in The News, Apr 24
LAHORE: Former foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri has said the solution to the Kashmir dispute is just a signature away once India and Pakistan decide to pull the file from the rack.
While addressing the concluding session of the two-day seminar — held as part of the ongoing Aman ki Asha campaign, launched by the Jang Group and Times of India — and later talking to The News and the Times of India here on Friday, the former foreign minister revealed …

By Usman Manzoor in The News, Apr 16
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has unanimously recommended removal of deposed chief justice of AJK Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry on the charge of blasphemy, transgression of powers and subversion of the constitution.
The 86-page recommendations of the AJK SJC, a copy of which is available with The News, clearly state that the deposed CJ violated the constitution, committed blasphemy and was found guilty of gross misconduct.
These recommendations have been sent to the AJK Council chairman who happens to be …

The News International
While some of the events seen recently in Azad Kashmir parallel those seen in the Federation of Pakistan, the situation in the territory has quickly become even more chaotic. We have two chief justices presiding over cases, a deadlock between the president and the prime minister on the issue and an infuriated judiciary which says the CJ deposed by the acting president on the advice of the PM can only be restored by the Supreme Judicial Council. In the meanwhile the acting CJ too continues to perform …

NEW DELHI: Dismissing demands by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that Delhi provide more water to Pakistan, Indian Home Secretary GK Pillai on Wednesday said Pakistan was getting more water than it was entitled to under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
Calling the charges of water terrorism against Islamabad “absurd”, the home secretary said, “There have been 200 joint inspections since Independence, to which Pakistan too has signed and has had no complaints. They are getting more water than they are entitled to.”
Speaking at a seminar, he called for a more pro-active …

The writer is an advocate of the high court
Mangla Dam was built between 1961 and 1967 primarily to increase the amount of water that could be used for irrigation from the flow of the Jhelum and its tributaries. It was constructed pursuant to the Indus Water Treaty and with funding from the World Bank.
The core trench of Mangla Dam is 10,300 feet long and 454 feet high with a reservoir of 253 square kilometres. On its impounding in 1967, the Mangla Dam had an original gross storage capacity of 5.88 …

The reviewer is a staff member of the daily
Book Title:Hijacking From the Ground: The Bizarre Story of PK 805
By Aminullah Chaudry Authorhouse; Pp 350
Aminullah Chaudry’s book begins as an oxymoron. We are all accustomed to hearing about hijackings that, as a rule, take place in mid-air but not this one, one orchestrated from the ground; when conventions are defied and the norm is challenged, the aftermath is talked about for days to come. Exactly what happened aboard PK 805, probably the most hotly debated flight in Pakistan’s recent aviation history, …

ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday announced to start work on the proposed Diamer-Bhasha Dam in July-August this year, as it has formed a ministerial committee to settle the victims’ compensation issue by March 1.
Briefing media persons after chairing a meeting here, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo said a sub-committee had been formed under Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Mehdi Shah to prepare a compensation package in consultation with the representatives of the victims of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam.
The panel’s recommendations would be presented to the ministerial body …

NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s zeal to insert the “water issue” in the bilateral talks is being seen here as an attempt to divert popular attention back home from the mismanagement of its water resources and the growing discontent in Sindh and Balochistan over the denial of their share of Indus waters.
Analysts here have been struck by the way Pakistan’s political class and the jehadi establishment have teamed up to unleash a propaganda offensive against India’s “machinations” to rob the neighbouring country of its legitimate share of Indus waters.
With leading jehadis Hafiz …

NEW DELHI: Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday ‘Azad’ Kashmir is an Indian territory and “we should facilitate the return of Kashmiris who have crossed over the Line of Control (LoC) for some reasons”.
Talking to reporters, he confirmed an amnesty scheme for militants who had gone to ‘Azad’ Kashmir and said India was ready to “welcome” them if they are ready to return after giving up militancy.
“The idea is accepted… This idea must now be translated into a scheme,” he said.
Sources in the Indian Home …