MOHALI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday that “permanent reconciliation” was required with Pakistan, after he met his counterpart at the nations’ cricket World Cup semi-final.

Singh and Yousaf Raza Gilani held brief talks during the match, which India won, as the two leaders used the fixture to promote better ties between their rival countries.

India and Pakistan “should be working together to find cooperative solutions and need permanent reconciliation to live together in dignity and honour,” Singh said in a speech during the talks.

“We should put our ancient animosities behind us to attend to the problems of our nations,” he said.

India’s foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said that the match had “provided impetus” to efforts to re-build cross-border relations.

India broke off official contacts with Islamabad in 2008 after the Mumbai attacks.
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JAKARTA (Reuters) – President Barack Obama held up his boyhood home of Indonesia as an example to the Muslim world in a speech on Wednesday in which he said America was not at war with Islam but acknowledged it was hard to eradicate years of mistrust.

Relations between the United States and Muslim communities have frayed over many years ... I have made it a priority to begin to repair these relations, he told a crowd of thousands in Jakarta, capital of the world's most populous Muslim nation.

I have made it clear that America is not, and never will be, at war with Islam. Instead, all of us must defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion -- certainly not a great, world religion like Islam.

Obama said Indonesia served as a powerful example as an emerging democracy working to develop its economy and a Muslim nation that is tolerant of other religions.

Your achievements demonstrate that democracy and development reinforce one another, he said.
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Saturday, October 23, 2010
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton termed 3rd round of Pak-US strategic dialogue ‘useful’, however, she was of the view that settlement to all issues could not be reached, Geo News reported.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi warned the world against being influenced by concocted messages sent through media over Pak-US relationships.

Meanwhile, stressing that recent violence against people in the Indian occupied Kashmir that has threatened South Asian peace prospects, Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked US President Barack Obama to take up the longstanding dispute with India during his upcoming visit to the country in November.

“President Obama has always understood the importance of a Kashmir solution, his coming visit to the region, is the time to begin to redeem the pledge that he made earlier,” Qureshi said,...

HANOI: Former war enemies Australia and Vietnam on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding that foresees stepped-up joint military training and exercises, Australia said.

Canberra's Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, and his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh signed the document ahead of an inaugural Asia-wide defence forum being held in the Vietnamese capital on Tuesday.

It will provide the framework for enhanced practical cooperation between Australia and Vietnam in areas including strategic level policy dialogue, military training and exercises, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, a statement from the Australian embassy in Hanoi said.

Vietnam and Australia last year established a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement covering trade, development assistance, security and defence.

Australia's Smith is among eight regional defence ministers, including from the United States, who will meet Tuesday with their counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),...