News and Analysis 6 October

Todays main stories with analysis

• US Hopes for Quick Reopening of Routes (Dawn)   After a high-level meeting in Washington between US and Pakistani diplomats, the White House said on Monday that the two countries were close to resolving their dispute over Islamabad’s decision to close a supply route for US-led forces in Afghanistan.

• Pak Trained Terrorists  to Fight India: Musharraf (TOI)    Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf admitted what India and the world have known for a while now — that the Pakistan government trained terrorists against India and pushed them into Jammu and Kashmir.

• We did train militant groups to fight against India: Musharraf (topinews.com)

• India and Pakistan are stronger together | Beena Sarwar (guardian.co.uk)

• Militants ‘trained in Pakistan’ (bbc.co.uk)

• What did Musharraf say about mlitant groups in Kashmir (teabreak.pk)

• Musharraf should be tried, says provincial assembly in Pakistan (topinews.com)

• Shahzad, the Time Square Bomber gets Life (Dawn)   Had to happen.

• Ram Temple in Ayodhya Inevitable (HT)    Seeds of furthering more tension afresh

• German Militants New Global Threat (HT)  German police and security experts believe radical Muslim communities like a Hamburg mosque linked to the 2001 attacks on the United States have produced up to 100 trained militants who now pose a major security threat. Reports of eight German militants killed in a suspected US Drone attack in Pakistan…Terrorist cells have reportedly been sent to Britain and Germany to launch Mumbai-style terror attacks.

• Twin blasts kill 8 in Kandahar (TOI)   Control of Kandahar, the Taliban movement’s birthplace, is seen as key to the Afghan conflict. Afghan and NATO forces are engaged in a major operation to push militants out of strongholds there.

• The Taliban Menace (HT)   A backgrounder on Taliban

• Eric Margolis: The Afghan War Moves South (huffingtonpost.com)

• Commonwealth Games 2010 live blog: 5 October | Steve Busfield (guardian.co.uk)

• Half of IAF equipment Obsolete (Dawn) Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, pointing to investment by the government in defence, said half of the existing fighter jets, radars, transport aircraft and air defence weapons will be upgraded by 2014-15. India is reportedly negotiating a 3.5-billion-dollar aircraft defence deal with the United States that will be signed in November when President Barack Obama visits the Indian capital.

• No UN role between India and Pakistan: Ban Ki Moon The United Nations will not intervene in Jammu & Kashmir until requested by India andPakistan, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has said. In an exclusive interview to Headlines Today Foreign Affairs Editor Saurabh Shukla, the UN secretary general talked about India’s aspiration for a permanent seat in the Security Council and its relationship with Pakistan vis-a -vis Kashmir dispute.