South East Asia

The French and Indian defence ministers agreed on Monday to overcome any differences and finalise the sale of 126 fighter jets to India in a deal worth an estimated $15 billion, the Indian defence ministry said. France’s Dassault Aviation has been trying to clinch a deal to sell India its …

The Pakistan government today decided to resume dialogue with Imran Khan, a day after he threatened to “shut down” the entire country by December 16 if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif failed to initiate an impartial probe into the alleged rigging in 2013 general elections. Official sources told Dawn that Sharif …

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will arrive in India on a three-day visit later this month to hold talks with his counterpart Manohar Parrikar during which the issue of the multi-billion dollar deal for Rafale combat aircraft is likely to come up. He will arrive in India on November …

US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, on Monday said that President Barack Obama was looking forward to attend the Republic Day function in New Delhi next year. “He is very much looking forward to it,” Biswal announced.

Pakistan and Russia on Thursday signed a military cooperation agreement to deepen their defence ties and vowed to translate their relationship in “tangible” terms during the first visit of a Russian Defence Minister in 45 years. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to Pakistan comes at a very critical juncture …

Ignoring India’s opposition, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said Pakistan would hold a dialogue with Kashmiri separatists to take them into confidence before engaging in peace talks with India. “It is our fundamental belief that the Kashmir issue should be resolved through dialogue. My government started dialogue with India …

Pakistan’s army chief General Raheel Sharif held talks with US officials at the Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Florida on a host of issues like the situation in North Waziristan and border security. Sharif, making his first visit to the US as chief of the army staff, has “been having …

Afghanistan has agreed to target militants attacking Pakistan from alleged sanctuaries on its soil, in a significant move which suggests a thaw in their frayed ties and anti-terror cooperation between them. Pakistan had demanded Afghanistan several times through official and unofficial channels to uproot the chief of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan …

With the aim of getting acquainted with each other’s operating procedures in counter-terrorism, Indian and Chinese armies began their fourth joint training exercise, Hand-in-Hand, in Pune on Monday. The objective of the training is to enhance the confidence and trust between the two armies, which may be called upon to …

19 militants including some top commanders were killed today and five of their hideouts were destroyed in aerial strikes by Pakistani military jets in volatile Khyber Agency