India has vehemently denied Pakistan's accusations of involvement in a bomb attack on a school bus in Balochistan's Khuzdar region, calling the allegations "baseless." The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that Pakistan consistently blames India for its internal issues to deflect attention from its reputation as a global terrorism hub. The MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, asserted that this attempt to deceive the world will ultimately fail. The suicide attack resulted in the tragic deaths of five people, including three children, and left several others injured. While India expressed condolences for the loss of life, it firmly rejected Pakistan's claims. The MEA highlighted Pakistan's tendency to scapegoat India for its internal problems, a tactic aimed at obscuring its own failings in combating terrorism. The blast, reportedly carried out through a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), was condemned by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of innocent children and teachers.
Insurgents opened fire on a passenger train in Pakistan's Balochistan province, injuring the driver and prompting security guards aboard the train to fire back. The attack occurred in the Bolan district on the Jaffar Express from Quetta to Peshawar. The train was stopped by armed men in Tunnel No 8, and efforts are being made to contact the passengers and staff. The Balochistan government has ordered emergency measures and all institutions remain active.
The attack occurred near the Gwadar police station in Balochistan when the convoy carrying 23 Chinese engineers was passing the police station and an IED blast took place.
The announcement on expansion of CPEC was made following a meeting among Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Beijing, according to a Pakistani readout.
At least 27 terrorists were killed and 155 passengers rescued by the security forces after Baloch militants hijacked a passenger train in a tunnel in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on Tuesday, security officials said.
'Pakistan's only concern has been while they were on the FATF watch list was to distance their State institutions and organs from any direct connection with the actual execution of militancy inside Kashmir.'
A 4.6 magnitude earthquake shook parts of Pakistan on Monday with the epicentre located close to a prominent faultline in its Punjab province, the director of the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.
'They started checking the identity cards of some people and separated some of them. Three militants were guarding the doors of our coach. They told the people that they would not say anything to civilians, women, old people and Baloch people'
He is the country's tenth NSA, but it is for the first time that a serving ISI chief has been given the task to serve concurrently in the two key positions.
In his address, Singh said there should be "no double standards" in combating terrorism and urged the SCO member nations to condemn the menace with unity.
Soon after the explosion, the BLA militants started firing at the train indiscriminately.
Last week, Information Minister Atta Tarar had said that 24-36 hours were important, fearing a possible strike by India. However, the time passed and there was no action by India.
'India won't take anything from Pakistan lying down.'
India has no intention to escalate tensions with Pakistan, but any military attacks on its soil will be met with a "very" firm response, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. Jaishankar made the remarks at a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, emphasizing that the "barbaric" Pahalgam terror attack compelled India to carry out strikes on "cross-border" terror infrastructure on Wednesday. He reiterated that India's response was targeted and measured, but stressed that any further military attacks would be met with a firm response. The Iranian foreign minister, who landed in New Delhi amidst escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, called for de-escalation of the situation and stressed the need for regional cooperation to eradicate terrorism. The meeting also focused on boosting ties in areas of trade and investment, including the Chabahar port project.
'A terrorist has no religion -- they are nothing but the face of evil. When you offer namaz for a terrorist, attend their funeral, or give them a grave, you affirm that they belong to a religion. That must stop'
Reddy alleged that contracts worth thousands of crores were awarded to people close to Modi, who then purchased Rafale aircraft.
'Munir is clearly insecure and hence he needs the prop of a field marshal.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asserted that the third battle of Panipat, fought in 1761, was a symbol of the bravery of Marathas and not their defeat. He said the state government is building a memorial to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Agra and acquiring land for another memorial in Panipat, where the battle was fought between Marathas and Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali.
'We've moved from thousands killed yearly in Jammu and Kashmir to 127 last year.' 'Cross-border terrorism in Kashmir is being solved. We are winning it.'
The explosion ripped through the provincial capital Quetta's railway station as passengers gathered on the platform before the scheduled departure of the Jaffar Express to Peshawar.
'The Pakistani State has to realise that the pigeons have come home to roost.'
'It is important India to stay focussed on its primary national objectives: Combating terrorism; not losing sight of other security and strategic concerns (on the Sino-Indian front for instance); ensuring a strong economy and registering growth which includes improving the lot of common people; and finally making certain that the social fabric remains intact and harmony among people is not jeopardised, at least any further,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
A 15-year-old girl born and raised in the US was killed by her father and uncle in Pakistan's Balochistan province for making TikTok videos. The police have arrested both accused, who confessed to the "honour killing." The family had recently arrived in Quetta from the US, where they had been living for 28 years. This was the girl's first visit to her ancestral home.
'The struggle of insurgents and pro-independence political activists is fuelled by a deep conviction that not only is a free Balochistan possible, but they also believe that Pakistan will inevitably break apart, leading to Balochistan's independence.'
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
'Whatever we do, the purpose will be to re-establish deterrence.'
'Even known names and social media handles went berserk by stating that Karachi has been attacked and an F-16 was shot down.'
'I am worried that Pakistan will still feel compelled to take substantive military action beyond this apparent drone activity.' 'If so, the crisis could persist for a while more and dangerous days are still ahead.'
'It has been 14 years since I began living in exile and it's shocking that the situation in Balochistan has only worsened rather than improved.'
At least 12 persons, including four children, were killed and 30 injured as two explosive-laden vehicles rammed into the boundary wall of the main cantonment in Bannu in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday while the army personnel neutralised at least six terrorists.
China has delivered a second advanced submarine to Pakistan, part of a larger deal to bolster the South Asian nation's naval capabilities in the Indian Ocean. The move underscores China's growing influence in the region and its strategic partnership with Pakistan.
'If the government sincerely addressed the issue of missing persons, it would alleviate 80% of the grievances in Balochistan.' 'No matter how many development projects Islamabad announces for the region, the people will remain upset as long as their loved ones are missing.'
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, is facing deportation after US authorities accused him of "spreading Hamas propaganda" and having "close connections to a suspected terrorist." The Department of Homeland Security claims Suri has been actively promoting antisemitism on social media and is connected to a senior Hamas advisor. Suri's lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, argues that his client is being targeted due to his wife's Palestinian heritage and their opposition to US foreign policy towards Israel. The incident follows the self-deportation of another Indian student from Columbia University who was also accused of supporting Hamas.
A powerful 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted a mountainous part of Pakistan's Balochistan province early on Thursday, resulting in collapse of several houses that left at least 22 people dead and over 300 others injured, officials said.
In his petition, Suri's lawyer said that he is being punished as his wife, who is a US citizen, is of Palestinian heritage and because the government suspects that he and his wife are against the US foreign policy towards Israel.
The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the blast was a suicide attack targeting a convoy of Chinese engineers and investors leaving the Jinnah International Airport.
The attack is the latest in a string of violence in Pakistan. It comes less ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's summit to be held in the national capital.
It will be interesting to see what shifts have been recorded in the last decade-and-a-half -- from the effects of demonetisation and Covid's second wave to the drop in fertility and increase in farm workers -- but we will only know this if and when the Census is conducted, points out Aakar Patel.
In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
Small aircrafts towing political messages continued to embarrass the host country after a plane with a message in support of Balochistan flew over the Edgbaston cricket stadium in Birmingham on Thursday.