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Krishna meets Khar; terrorism high on agenda

[email protected] (PTI/IANS)
September 8, 2012

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Islamabad, September 8: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna began crucial talks with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar today to review the second round of resumed dialogue with issues like terrorism to be on top of the agenda.

The one-to-one meeting between Krishna and Khar was followed by delegation-level talks between the two sides. Indian officials earlier said that terrorism will form the core of New Delhi's discussions, particularly the slow pace of the Mumbai attack case trial.

Other issues include those concerning prisoners as well as trade and border issues.

The talks will culminate in inking of much-awaited new liberalised visa agreement to boost people-to-people contacts.

For the first time, group tourism will be part of the new pact which will also have other new categories, including multiple city one-year visas for businessmen and visa-on-arrival for people aged 65 years.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani were also present. Both Ministers will also co-chair the Joint Commission Meeting later this evening, which was revived in 2005 after a gap of 16 years. This is Krishna's second visit to Pakistan in over two years.

Ahead of today's meeting with Khar, Krishna yesterday called on President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and met a series of political leaders from MQM, ANP and PML-Q parties.

Also, Foreign Secretary-level talks were held yesterday here during which the two sides discussed all aspects of the resumed dialogue, apart from reviewing the entire expanse of the discussions held so far.

The two sides described their discussions as "positive" and "frank". They acknowledged that progress has been made in bilateral ties but agreed that "much more needs to be done".

Later today, the two sides will also ink an agreement on culture between Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and its Pakistani counterpart PNCS.

Earlier

India, Pakistan ease visa norms for visitors

Islamabad, September 8: The new visa policy between India and Pakistan, to be signed Saturday, has eased restrictions on visitors from both the countries.

There will be a single-entry visitor visa for a maximum period of six months but the stay cannot exceed three months at a time and for five places (currently limited to three places).

Also, business visa has been separated from visitor visa, a communique said.

Under a new category, a visitor visa for a maximum of five specified places may be issued for a longer period of up to two years with multiple entries to senior citizens (above 65); spouse of a national of one country married to person of another country and children below 12 accompanying parent(s).

Also, transit visa will now be issued within 36 hours instead of 72 hours.

Under the existing visa agreement, the single entry visa is issued for three months for meeting relatives, friends, business or other legitimate purposes. However, the visa can be issued for a longer period not exceeding a year owing to the nature of work or business.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik and India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will sign the agreement. Krishna is on a three-day visit to Pakistan.

Malik Friday said: "The biggest thing is that the visa agreement will be of benefit to the common people of both India and Pakistan. There is no loss for anyone in this."

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News Network
April 17,2020

Beijing, Apr 17: China denied Friday it had covered up the extent of its coronavirus outbreak, as it responded to growing questions from Western powers led by the United States.

A foreign ministry spokesman acknowledged that the virus's rapid spread had contributed to undercounting that resulted in China raising its death toll earlier Friday, but he added "there has never been any concealment, and we'll never allow any concealment."

The allegations China is too close to the World Health Organization (WHO), were an attempt at "smearing" Beijing, Zhao said.

US President Donald Trump has questioned China's handling of the pandemic and whether it had been completely transparent since the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed doubts about China's virus response.

These doubts were spotlighted again on Friday when authorities in Wuhan, which has borne the brunt of Chinese deaths, abruptly raised its death toll by 50 percent -- or 1,290 deaths -- to a new total of 3,869.

That also pushed the nationwide death toll up sharply to 4,632, based on official national data released earlier in the day.

Wuhan authorities cited several reasons for the missed cases, including that the city's medical staff were overwhelmed in the early days as infections climbed, leading to "late reporting, omissions or mis-reporting".

Zhao said such miscounting was to be expected in the initial stages of a major disease outbreak.

US President Donald Trump -- under fire himself for initially denying the seriousness of the pandemic -- has accused the WHO of doing the same and being too trusting of China's assurances over the outbreak.

On Tuesday he announced a suspension of US funding to the world body.

Asked about the US allegations, Zhao defended the WHO and China.

"I think they are all smearing China and cooking up stories about China," he said, without specifying which countries he was referring to.

China has largely brought the contagion under control domestically via tough measures including the unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and tens of millions of people in surrounding areas, but not before it spread worldwide.

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News Network
June 25,2020

Ottawa, Jun 25: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took his son out for ice cream on Wednesday in his first family outing since Canada started easing out of its pandemic lockdown.

It was also Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Quebec province.

Wearing masks, the Canadian leader and his six-year-old son Hadrien were cheered at Chocolats Favoris in Gatineau, Quebec.

According to a pool report, Trudeau said the shop tapped into a federal emergency wage subsidy and business loan in order to weather the pandemic, and "avoid being frozen out of the frozen treat market."

Hadrien is said to have bounced with excitement, settling on a vanilla cone with a cookie topping while dad bought a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate for himself.

Father and son then headed out to the patio, where they doffed their masks to eat their cones.

Canada's provinces and territories declared states of emergency mid-March, closing schools and non-essential businesses in response to the pandemic.

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News Network
May 2,2020
Seoul, May 2: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance since speculation about his health began last month, cutting the ribbon at the opening of a fertilizer factory, KCNA reported Saturday.
 
Kim attended the event on Friday in Sunchon, near the capital Pyongyang, after nearly three weeks of swirling rumours that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead.
 
The North Korean leader had not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers' Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the following day state media reported that he had inspected fighter jets.
 
At Friday's event, "all the participants broke into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!'" when Kim appeared, the Korean Central news agency reported.
 
He inspected the facility and was "briefed about the production processes," the report said.
 
Kim "said with deep emotion" that his grandfather Kim Il Sung and father Kim Jong Il "would be greatly pleased if they heard the news that the modern phosphatic fertilizer factory has been built," it added.
 
Also in attendance were other senior officials, including his sister and close adviser, Kim Yo Jong. Photos from the ceremony were not immediately released.
 
Conjecture over Kim's health had grown since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North's founder -- the most important day in the country's political calendar.
 
His absence unleashed a series of unconfirmed reports over his condition, triggering global fears over the North's nuclear arsenal -- and who would succeed Kim were he unable to lead.
 
A top security advisor to South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said less than a week ago that Kim was "alive and well," downplaying rumors that he was ill or incapacitated.
 
The advisor, Moon Chung-in, told CNN that Kim had been staying in Wonsan -- a resort town in the east of North Korea -- since April 13, adding: "No suspicious movements have so far been detected."
 
South Korea Reports Kim Jong Un Is 'Alive and Well' Amid Rumours of His Death
 
South Korea has told CNN that the rumours of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's death are untrue.
 
Rumours of ill health
 
Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, reported that Kim was undergoing treatment after a cardiovascular procedure last month.
 
Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim -- who is in his mid-30s -- had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.
 
Soon afterwards, CNN reported that Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in "grave danger" after undergoing surgery, quoting an anonymous US official.
 
US President Donald Trump appeared to confirm that Kim was alive earlier this week.
 
On Friday, Trump refused to comment on Kim's reported re-emergence.
 
Previous absences from the public eye on Kim's part have prompted speculation about his health.
 
The North is extremely secretive, and doubly so about its leadership.
 
Kim's father and predecessor had been dead for two days before anyone outside the innermost circles of North Korean leadership was any the wiser.
 
In 2014, Kim Jong Un dropped out of sight for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane.
 
Days later, the South's spy agency said he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle.

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