India hopes Pakistan won’t backtrack on Kasab

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD - A day after Pakistan officially owned up to the nationality of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Mumbai attacker in Indian custody, New Delhi Thursday hoped Islamabad would not backtrack on this and asked it to fulfil its anti-terror pledge.

Iran looms huge for Obama amidst tension with Berlin

WASHINGTON - US election euphoria, the financial crisis and the Middle East crisis have upstaged the issue of Iran’s nuclear activities which are viewed as a growing threat in 2009 to world security.

No peace with terrorists who burnt my Mumbai: Rushdie

LONDON - Indian-origin writer Salman Rushdie says he is ‘desperately upset’ by the terrorist attacks on Mumbai - his place of birth - and strongly disagrees with the view that peace ought to be made with Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

Spain rules out more troops for Afghanistan

MADRID - Spain has ruled out more troops for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) fighting the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan but said it was considering sending peacekeepers to war-ravaged Somalia.

Stop all travel between India and Pakistan, BJP tells government

NEW DELHI - India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday asked the government to stop individuals from travelling between this country and Pakistan and also sought the recall of the Indian high commissioner from Pakistan.

Hasty military action will jeopardize long-term national interest (Comment)

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s pithy observation that ‘nobody wants war’ should serve as an appropriate response to the acerbic comment made earlier by Pakistani Army Chief, General Pervez Kayani, that Islamabad could retaliate within minutes of any Indian pre-emptive strike on Pakistani territory.