ISLAMABAD: Defence analysts are not prepared to buy the idea that the meeting between Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Sharif brothers in Lahore on Saturday was for the briefing purposes alone. The Sharif brothers have yet to take oath and as long as they don’t come under an oath no government official or the army chief is supposed to brief them about the sensitive matters, leave alone security and other related subjects.

Ahead of its President's visit here from May 20, Afghanistan on Thursday said it was looking for enhanced defence cooperation with India, from where it was expecting supply of lethal and non-lethal military equipment. Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit India on May 20-22 during which he will apprise the Indian leadership of the recent developments in the war-torn country, Afghanistan Ambassador to India Shaida M Abdali told reporters here.

Today, the people of Pakistan are going to take an important political decision for its leadership for the next five years.  Today’s elections seem to be the most interesting one in the recent history of Pakistan in particular after two long tenures of the army rule.

Polling has begun in historic Pakistan elections to decide the fate of 23,000 candidates who stayed on despite a volatile run-up that saw more than 130 people being killed in a series of terror attacks and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son being abducted.

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban on Saturday to fight Afghanistan’s enemies in what was widely seen as a swipe against Pakistan days after the neighbours’ security forces clashed on their border. Karzai’s remarks are likely to unsettle already shaky ties with Pakistan and come as the United States wants Pakistan to help Afghanistan persuade the Taliban to engage in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year.

Islamabad: Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, who has returned home after over four years in self-exile, may be kidnapped, the Interior Ministry fears. The ministry has said that Musharraf should not be taken anywhere, Geo News reported, citing a notification.

UCPN (Maoist) chief Puspha Kamal Dahal, who is currently on a three-day-long India, has intensified high-level political parleys in New Delhi from Sunday morning.

New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) India's nuclear deterrent is based on a credible nuclear doctrine and is sustained by a "systematic drive to operationalize" its various delivery components, including a sea-based one by 2015-16, Shyam Saran, chairman of the National Security Advisory Board, said here Wednesday.