Latest news with #PahalgamAttack
Times of Oman
a day ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
"No yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists...": Jaishankar reiterates India's stance on terrorism
Washington, DC: Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that India is not going to yield to nuclear blackmail, stating that New Delhi will no longer accept that terrorists are proxies and spare the government that supports and finances them. He said terrorists will be treated with "no impunity" and India will do what needs to be done to defend its people. "We are not going to yield to nuclear blackmail that you know there could be escalation, and therefore we should not do anything," Jaishankar said in an interview to Newsweek in Manhattan. The External Affairs minister's remarks come nearly two months after the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed. Jaishankar called it an "act of warfare" aimed at destroying tourism in Kashmir, which he said was the mainstay of the economy. He stated that India, after the Pahalgam attack, decided that it could not allow terrorists to function with impunity. In his Newsweek interview, Jaishankar stated that India's message to the world is that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism and there should be no circumstances under which terrorists' acts should be allowed, supported or financed. He said that India has been a victim of terrorism for the past four decades, and recalled various terrorist attacks, like the 26/11 Mumbai attack and the Parliament attack. Asked about India's message to global powers and international institutions on cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, he said, "This morning, I was at an exhibition on terrorism at the United Nations, and this was something which our embassy, our mission to the UN, had organised and the reason we did that, we had a number of ambassadors from other countries who were there as well is because we believe that terrorism is actually a threat to everybody, that no country should use it as an instrument to further its policies because at the end of the day it comes back to bite everyone." "If we take the view that one terrorist act or one terrorist organization or one sponsor of terrorism is justified here or you give them a free pass or you underplay it, it can easily happen, in fact, it does happen in other situations. The message to the world has to be that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism, that there should be no circumstances, no excuse, no justification, under which you would allow, support, finance, sponsor terrorist acts." "Now in our particular case, we've unfortunately had an experience of this. The experience has been very very intense for the last four decades but actually started from the time of our independence. If you see within a few months of our independence, terrorists were sent into Kashmir again with this idea that they are proxies and they are tribal invaders and then soon enough the Pakistani army followed," Jaishankar said. "We have battled terrorism really intensively for the last four decades and and we've had some horrific cases. Everybody would remember the Mumbai attack and where really a major global metropolis was for a few days really sort of brought to a standstill with attacks on a scale which could not be contemplated and with particularly targeted foreigners especially of this country. And we've had an attack on our parliament, our parliament meeting in session, with the intent of taking lawmakers and the people governing India hostage at that time. That it was foiled was a different matter but do look at the dangerous intent and the risks inherent in this," the External Affairs Minister said. He said, "We have had a string of these attacks and we've now reached a point, and I think in many ways the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22nd, this sentiment in India that look enough is enough that we are because you know the Pahalgam was meant, I mean it was an act of economic warfare. It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir which was the mainstay of the economy. It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed. We decided that we cannot let terrorists function with impunity, the idea that they're on that side of the border and that therefore sort of prevents retribution, I think is a proposition that needs to be challenged and that is what we did." "So, now bear in mind these are not people you know who operate in secret, I mean these are terrorist organizations who have the equivalent of the corporate headquarters in the populated towns of Pakistan everybody knows what what is the headquarters of organization A and organization B and those are actually the buildings, the headquarters that we destroyed," he told Newsweek. Emphasising India's stance on dealing with terrorism, Jaishankar said, "We are very clear, there will be no impunity for terrorists that we will not deal with them any longer as proxies and spare the government which supports and finances and in many ways motivates them." Jaishankar emphasized that India will not be deterred by the threat of nuclear weapons when it comes to responding to cross-border attacks. "We will not allow nuclear blackmail to prevent us from responding because we've also heard this for too long that you know you are both nuclear countries therefore the other guy will come and do horrible things but you mustn't do anything because it gets the world worried. Now we're not going to fall for that you know if he's going to come and do things we are going to go there and also you know hit the people who did this. So, no yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, no more free pass that they are proxies and we will do what we have to do to defend our people," Jaishankar said. On April 22, terrorists attacked tourists at the Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam and killed 25 Indian nationals and one from Nepal, leaving several others injured. In response to the Pahalgam attack, the Indian Armed Forces carried out targeted strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of over 100 terrorists linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. On April 24, India also announced a series of measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, the shutdown of the only operational land border crossing at Attari and the downgrading of diplomatic ties. Meanwhile, before arriving in Washington, DC on Tuesday (local time), Jaishankar was in New York, where he inaugurated an exhibition at the United Nations on 'The Human Cost of Terrorism,' highlighting the need to expose state sponsorship of terrorism.
India.com
3 days ago
- Sport
- India.com
Months after the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, India vs Pakistan may play in...
Pahalgam Attack, Operation Sindoor, India vs Pakistan match, Ind vs Pak, Asia Cup, Cricket, cricket news, latest cricket news, New Delhi: Despite calls by several former cricketers and stakeholders to break cricketing ties between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack in April, the cricketing relationship between the two countries can continue in multilateral tournaments. According to a report by Cricbuzz, there seems to be growing confidence in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) that the 2025 Asia Cup will go ahead as scheduled. The tournament is likely to begin on September 10. Where and in what format will the tournament be held? What is the status of hosting? India is the official host of the 2025 Asia Cup. However, according to the pre-determined agreement between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the tournaments hosted by them will be held at neutral or hybrid venues. For this reason, the UAE is being considered the most likely venue for the tournament. Last time the 50-over Asia Cup was jointly held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka was in 2023. Popularity and controversy of Indo-Pak matches India and Pakistan teams faced each other two times in the 2023 Asia Cup. At that time, the ACC was accused of deliberately scheduling the tournament in such a way that as many matches as possible could be held between the two teams. Indo-Pak matches are one of the most watched sporting events in the world, which also generate significant revenue for the cricket boards. Gautam Gambhir's strong opinion about Pakistan Gautam Gambhir, the current head coach of Team India, had advocated a complete end to Indo-Pak cricket relations. 'My personal opinion is that until cross-border terrorism stops, there should be no relations between India and Pakistan — be it sports, Bollywood or art. The lives of our citizens and soldiers are most important,' he said in an interview to CNN-News18 in May. Next India-Pak clash after Asia Cup After Asia Cup 2025, the women's cricket teams of India and Pakistan will also face each other. This match will be in the ICC Women's ODI World Cup to be jointly hosted in India and Sri Lanka in October. The two teams will face each other on October 5 in Colombo.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
SCO: India refuses to sign joint statement at the summit
India has refused to sign a joint statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China as it did not reflect the country's concerns on terrorism, India's foreign ministry has Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that India's desire for its concerns to be reflected was "not acceptable to one particular country".While he did not share more details, Indian media reported that Delhi refused to sign the statement after it omitted the Pahalgam attack, a deadly militant attack that killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered has blamed its neighbour Pakistan for sheltering a militant group it blames for the attack. Pakistan has rejected the allegations. China, Russia and four Central Asian countries formed the SCO in 2001 as a countermeasure to limit the influence of the West in the region. India and Pakistan joined in 2017. The latest signing ceremony took place during the SCO defence ministers' meeting in China, held ahead of the leaders' annual summit this to media reports, India perceived the joint statement as being "pro-Pakistan" after it omitted the Pahalgam attack but mentioned militant activities in has accused India of backing the Balochistan freedom movement, which India the meeting, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urged the SCO to hold the perpetrators of cross-border terrorism accountable, though he didn't explicitly mention Pakistan."Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter to terrorists. There should be no place for such double standards. SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations," he said in a and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir, which they claim to own in full but administer in Pahalgam attack in April brought the two nuclear-armed countries to the brink of another war. In May, India launched a series of airstrikes, targeting sites it called "terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir".Pakistan denied the claim that these were terror camps and also responded by firing missiles and deploying drones into Indian hostilities between the two countries continued until 10 May when US President Donald Trump announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a "full and immediate ceasefire", brokered by the has, however, consistently denied any intervention by the US.
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Concern grows as India ramps up deportation of alleged migrants to Bangladesh
India has forcibly deported over 2,500 alleged Bangladeshi nationals since early May in an intensified nationwide campaign, raising concerns about violations of human rights, legal procedures and international norms. The campaign, launched on 7 May, involves mass detention of suspected illegal immigrants across several states, including Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam and Rajasthan, followed by their transfer to border states such as Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya, The Indian Express reported. There, they are handed over to the Border Security Force and 'pushed back' into Bangladesh. In a striking shift from earlier, the detainees are reportedly transported to the border in air force aircraft. Authorities claim the crackdown is driven by national security concerns sparked in particular by a terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on 22 April left 26 civilians dead and led to a military conflict with Pakistan. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed the northeastern state had detained almost 1,000 alleged Bangladeshis in recent months and expelled 303, IANS news agency reported. A digital identification system has become key to the deportation campaign. The Foreigners Identification Portal – originally designed in 2018 to track Rohingya refugees from Myanmar – has been expanded to store biometric and demographic data of suspected migrants from Bangladesh, according to The Indian Express. State governments, union territories, and the foreign ministry now have access to the portal, enabling deportation when identity can't be verified. Additionally, applicants for national identity documents such as biometric-based Aadhaar card, voter IDs and ration cards are being screened against this database. The home ministry has given states a 30-day deadline to verify the status of suspected undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar. This drive is supported by a centralised server integrating data from border and immigration agencies. The campaign is also targeting Rohingya refugees and convicted foreign nationals in detention facilities. Mr Sarma said even individuals who had received temporary protection from deportation by India 's Supreme Court and various high courts had been expelled – though later re-admitted to India through diplomatic intervention. The chief minister cited the Supreme Court ruling upholding Section 6A of the 1955 Citizenship Act to justify bypassing Foreigners Tribunals, a quasi-judicial process for determining citizenship. Section 6A allows those who entered Assam between 1966 and 1971 to apply for Indian citizenship, but it has long been opposed by Assamese groups who argue it legitimises migration from Bangladesh. State authorities refer a person suspected to be a foreigner to a tribunal, which looks at documentary evidence to decide whether the person is Indian or not. The efficacy of the system has been criticised, however. In an egregious case, a tribunal declared Assam resident Rahim Ali a foreigner, forcing him to wage a 12-year legal fight to prove his citizenship. By the time he was recognised as an Indian citizen by the Supreme Court, Ali had died. Delivering its ruling in July last year, the court called the tribunal's order a 'grave miscarriage of justice'. Bangladesh has formally protested the deportations. On 8 May, Dhaka lodged a diplomatic complaint with India and foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain confirmed that another protest note was forthcoming. 'We see it's happening. It's not feasible to resist physically,' Mr Hossain said. He urged both countries to resolve the issue through legal and diplomatic channels. Despite India's assertion that migration from Bangladesh was rising, Bangladesh's Border Guard previously said that such flows had declined due to economic gains in their country. In 2020-21, Bangladesh's per capita income briefly surpassed India's, complicating the narrative of economic desperation as a primary driver of migration. Still, Indian officials continue to press for faster nationality verification from Bangladesh. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said over 2,360 people were awaiting deportation pending confirmation of their Bangladeshi citizenship, with some cases stalled since 2020. In the capital Delhi, police have arrested 66 alleged Bangladeshi immigrants, PTI news agency reported, quoting officials. The expulsion campaign has sparked condemnation from rights groups as many of the deported people claim to be Indian nationals wrongfully identified as Bangladeshis. Khairul Islam, 51, a former government schoolteacher in Assam's Morigaon, is one of them. He was picked up from his home by Assam police on 23 May and thrown across the border four days later. In a video posted by a Bangladeshi journalist, Mr Islam was seen standing in a field between Assam and Bangladesh's Kurigram district. 'My hands were tied like I was a thief and I was made to sit in the bus,' he said, recounting his ordeal. Mr Islam had been declared a foreigner by a tribunal in 2016, a decision upheld by the Gauhati High Court in 2018. He spent two years in a detention centre before being released on bail. His appeal to the Supreme Court is still pending. After being stranded in no man's land between the two countries for two days, he was taken to a camp run by Bangladesh's Border Guard. A few days later, the group was escorted to the Indian border, where he was taken into police custody again and finally released on Thursday. 'I am an Indian, so why would I go to Bangladesh?' Mr Islam said, adding that he was beaten at the Matia Detention Centre when he resisted deportation. His family had submitted documents proving his Indian citizenship to local authorities but to no avail. 'This is injustice and there will be judgement for this one day,' Mr Islam was quoted as saying by the Indian news outlet Scroll. 'We are not Bangladeshi. We are swadesi [native-born]. They should check and verify this before doing such acts.' Human rights campaigners, academics and lawyers have condemned the deportation of people to Bangladesh, calling it a violation of protections granted by the Indian constitution and the right to due process. Demanding an end to all 'pushbacks', 125 academics and activists called on the Indian government to 'allow the return of those citizens who have already been forcibly deported to Bangladesh'. 'This is not just a legal failure,' they said in a statement, 'it is a humanitarian crisis that strikes at the core of India's constitutional democracy.' The concern followed Indian media reports that at least 40 Rohingya refugees had been flown from Delhi to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, then allegedly abandoned in the sea off southeastern Myanmar, handcuffed and blindfolded. Bangladeshi media reported that some 300 individuals, including Rohingyas, were forced back into the country from India between 7 and 9 May, often through isolated and remote border points.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Pak Says Simla Pact Is 'DEAD'; Says Kashmir No More Bilateral With India, LOC Now 'Ceasefire Line'
/ Jun 06, 2025, 08:33AM IST In a major policy shift, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declared the 1972 Simla Agreement 'dead,' asserting that the Line of Control is now a ceasefire line per the 1948 UN stance. He added that Kashmir should now be addressed as an international issue, abandoning the long-held bilateral framework. Watch#SimlaAgreement #KashmirIssue #IndiaPakistan #LoC #KhawajaAsif #PahalgamAttack
