South Africa on Friday hailed the "dignified, peaceful and orderly" elections in the world's largest democracy India, where Italian-born opposition leader Sonia Gandhi is set to become the next prime minister.The foreign ministry said it looked forward to "continuing its longstanding close friendship ... and to cooperating with the new government in further enhancing bilateral relations as well as good cooperation on international and...
Speakers at the two-day Kashmir conference, which began in Brussels yesterday, have emphasized the imperative need for an early solution of the Kashmir issue. The speakers included former Pakistan Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan, British Member of Parliament Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, former Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan, and Barrister Sultan Mehmood, Executive Director of the Kashmiri-American Council Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of the Kashmir Centre in Brussels...
New Delhi (dpa) - Initial trends indicate heavy losses for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayees Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies as counting continues Thursday in India's parliamentary elections.Trends available for 471 of 539 parliamentary seats reveal the main opposition Congress Party and its allies to be leading in 201 seats, the BJP in 171 seats, the leftist parties in 49 seats and a mix of other regional parties in 50 seats.Counting of votes started at 8...
In this factory town south of Delhi, thousands huddle in the baking sun, rising en masse to cheer as Sonia Gandhi's helicopter lands in a hurricane of dust. Mrs. Gandhi runs to a rickety podium, gives a short speech, and takes off after leading the crowd in a roaring "Jai Hind!" (Hail India). If the Congress Party - now trailing in polls - wins five weeks of national elections that begin Sunday, it will be because rural laborers and farmers like those here...
In occupied Kashmir, All-Parties Hurriyat Conference [APHC] has rejected participation in polls under Indian constitution. However, it is ready to take part in unsupervised polls to elect Kashmiris' representative for taking part in Indo-Pak talks on Kashmir. This was stated by senior APHC leaders, including its Chairman Syed Ali Shah Gilani, during a meeting with British parliamentarian Lord Avebury in Srinagar last evening. The APHC leaders emphasized that Kashmiris have been...