Talking to journalists in Manchester on his return from the US, Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani made it clear that the incidents of firing on the Indo-Pak border will not be allowed to disturb the ongoing peace process, says The Nation (August 1).Pakistan Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart met on Thursday in Colombo to discuss the agenda for Saturday’s meeting between the prime ministers of both countries. Dawn reports, “The talks between Mr. Gilani and Mr. Singh will mark the highest-level interaction between the two countries in 15 months”. The talks between India and Pakistan are also significant because they are taking place after a string of bomb blasts in India and firing along the Line of Control. The Nation (July 31) quotes Qureshi: “the ceasefire is in operation for around five years and it is in the mutual interest of Pakistan and India to protect it...”

Claims and counter claims

Pakistan has rubbished the claims of a news report in The New York Times ( July 29) which stated that the CIA recently confronted the ISI claiming that some members of the latter organisation had very clear militant links. The Nation quotes the Pakistani PM as having said: “...we will not allow that, because the ISI is directly working under the prime minister,” while speaking on the popular PBS programme, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. The Nation reports that the PM gave a clean chit once again to the ISI during his conversation with the Manchester press. The report says, “rejecting Afghan and Indian allegations, he said that ISI is a disciplined organisation and a national asset responsible for the security of the country...”

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