Chidambaram, who arrived in the north Kashmir town of Baramulla from Kargil in Ladakh region, took stock of the situation in Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara -- the three districts along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Valley which witnessed violent protests during the past four months.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday urged dialogue between the protesting farmers and the Centre while addressing a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearers, during which he also invoked the border clashes with China and the construction of the Ram temple.
Rubbishing reports that China has occupied Indian territory in Ladakh, Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday asserted that there is no question of ceding any part of the country and all steps are being taken to safeguard national security.
The team originally comprised 27 parliamentarians, mostly from extreme right or right wing parties, but four did not travel to Kashmir and have reportedly returned to their respective countries, officials said.
The Congress on Tuesday stepped up its attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party government for allowing European Union MPs to visit Kashmir while denying permission to Indian parliamentarians, and termed it a "national embarrassment".
'The decision of August will have to be taken back. This is our resolve. When it will happen, how it will happen, the judge of our case are the people of this country.'
The parties reiterated that they are bound, wholly, by the contents of the 'Gupkar Declaration', a resolution issued after an all-party meeting on August 4, 2019 at the Gupkar residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah.
Nepal's border guarding force on Saturday released the Indian national who was detained for allegedly trying to snatch a weapon from one of their personnel during an altercation which sparked tension on the Indo-Nepal border along Bihar's Sitamarhi district, an official said.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CMs placed under arrest as they were considered a threat to the law-and-order situation in the state.
The five-nation grouping BRICS on Tuesday resolved to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, and vowed to step up joint efforts in building support for an India-backed global framework to effectively deal with the menace.
'He spoke about 20 jawans in Ladakh, but he couldn't even name China.' 'He said the world had seen what had been achieved, even though we Indians don't know because Modi has himself said that nothing had happened and nobody had come,' points out Aakar Patel.
'The government's August 5 decision has impacted India-China relations, but it is not very significant or very different. Things like this have happened in the past.'
'The ideal thing that should be done in Kashmir is call for an election -- before the end of the year.'
Of the total 420 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 187 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 53, Gujarat 36, Delhi 32 and Telengana 18.
Various opposition parties like the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist raised vociferous protests in the upper house while opposing the resolution and the bill.
The reorganisation bill provides for formation of Union territory of Ladakh without legislature and a separate one for Jammu and Kashmir with legislature.
They said protests took place at around a dozen places in which several protesters were injured.
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
According to the ministry, Maharashtra remained at the top with the total cases at 1,985, including 217 patients who have recovered/discharged and 149 patients died.
'The Modi government's grandstanding has hardened the reflexes in Beijing, Islamabad and Kathmandu and complicated India's relations with these three countries, which were even otherwise highly problematic.' 'Whatever prospects existed for a fair and balanced resolution of the territorial disputes may also have receded,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Calls for boycotting Chinese products have intensified after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley clash on June 15. The Chinese have so far refused to share details of the casualties they suffered.
The transition from the state into two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh on Thursday was met with a complete shutdown in the the valley as shops and other business establishments were shut, and public transport were off the roads.
The poll process for the second tier of the Panchayati Raj system will be completed by November 5, he said.
Four Chinese soldiers were killed in the fierce clash with the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) acknowledged for the first time on Friday.
'General Secretary Xi Jinping has greenlighted a brutal campaign of repression against Chinese Muslims, a human rights violation on a scale we haven't seen since World War II. Now, the PLA has escalated border tensions with India'
'The general perspective -- certainly on Capitol Hill and Congress -- the love for India, the positive feeling for India still focuses on India as a democracy.' 'The more that Indian democracy and its pluralistic features is called into question by Indians, the more that same debate will replay back here.'
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
'As for tricky relations with China, India needs less of summitry type event management and more anticipatory analysis and management of events,' says Ambassador Jaimini Bhagwati.
When asked about implementation of the CAA in Maharashtra, Thackeray said that will be dependent upon the ruling of the supreme court.
China on Monday dodged a direct response to reports of presence of the People's Liberation Army's troops at a forward post in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said it "regretted" that the media keeps "popping up" stories of incursions into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control.
'Nobody can control Kashmir and what happens here.' 'Even a government with a full sweeping majority and strong mandate hasn't been able to control the state.'
A group of envoys including those from several Europe Union countries and a few Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) member states began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to take a first-hand account of the situation in newly-carved union territory, especially after the recently-concluded local body elections.
China plans to divert about 200 billion cubic metres of water annually from the Brahmaputra at its highest point, namely the Great Bend, where it turns into India. China's Brahmaputra dam will severely impact India, warns former senior RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
'Collateral damage during operations needs to be avoided.' 'Such an objective can be achieved more easily should stone throwers not gear up to en masse oppose security forces.' 'With the conditions being quite sensitive at this stage, the death of one of these boys could easily serve the terrorists in instigating violence,' notes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'Nehru's hegemonic politics has been responsible for many ills, which undoubtedly includes Kashmir'
'Today, the State is permanently going after politicians, but also civil society, academics and all those it is threatened by or irritated with.'
Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in Parliament House, she also attacked the governor of the state, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, saying he had acted in an "unprecedented and reprehensible manner".
If the apex court agrees to hear the petitions challenging the removal of Article 370, it would be interesting to see if there is an immediate status quo on further proceedings or if it will decide after hearing all the petitions, reports Aashish Aryan.
'J&K continues to have the highest concentration of military personnel anywhere in the world and the alienation of the Kashmiri has increased in the last ten years than ever before.'
On Tuesday, Pompeo and Esper will hold the 2+2 talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, covering the entire expanse of defence and security ties as well as key regional and global issues.
