From being billed as mother of "all confidence building measures" to derision as a "cosmetic step", Srinagar-Muzaffarabad cross-Line of Control bus service has survived tensions between India and Pakistan including Mumbai terror attacks and numerous ceasefire violations along the border to complete 10 years of its operation on Tuesday.
Considering Modi's style of practicing diplomacy, it is likely that a clear message would be conveyed to China that it is high time Beijing stops using its good relations with Pakistan as a pressure tactic against India. This is imperative not only for strengthening India-China relations at the bilateral level but also for maintaining stability at the regional level, says Sana Hashmi.
The video clips showed some terrorists being killed, besides destruction of bunkers and other military constructions.
China and Pakistan on Friday signed eight agreements, including a whopping $18 billion deal to build a 200 km-long strategic tunnel through the rugged PoK, as the two all-weather allies sought to boost economic ties and supply critical oil to the energy-hungry Communist giant.
This is for the first time the UNHRC has issued a report on the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir and PoK.
'Military operations demand the highest degree of secrecy.' 'Those who are demanding transparency in military operations must understand what military operations are all about.'
India is playing its South China Sea card by restarting oil exploration off Vietnam coast despite China's objections as a calculated geopolitical move to force Beijing to make "compromises" on border issue and its close ties with Pakistan, a state-run Chinese think-tank has said.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag besides other senior officials attended a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'I can snap my fingers and get 1,000 people overnight, but I can't guarantee that they will develop because there has been zero change in education in the country in the last nine years.'
In his latest response to his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry's fresh invitation of August 19 for talks, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar once again emphasised on the need for earliest possible vacation of Islamabad's illegal occupation of PoK and conveyed that not just India but the larger region is aware that Pakistan is actually a "prime perpetrator" of terrorism.
Exiled Kashmiri leader and spokesperson of the United Kashmir People's National Party Nasir Aziz Khan has alleged that Pakistan has been waging a proxy war in Kashmir since 1998 and had been using the religious sentiment of the Kashmiri people, adding that slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani was also part of that war.
'This is the first time that the Americans have agreed to refer to "cross-border terrorist attacks" in a joint statement.' 'No wonder Pakistan has called the joint statement "singularly unhelpful" and has blasted it, and its all-weather friend China has applauded Pakistan's frontline role in combating terrorism,' points out former foreign secretary Ambassador Kanwal Sibal.
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Throughout a quarter century of proxy war, India has shown tremendous restraint in the face of grave provocation. It is inconceivable that any other nation would have refrained from launching trans-LoC operations to eliminate terrorist training camps and interdict known routes of infiltration, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Top leaders of political parties were on Thursday briefed by the government about the surgical strike carried out by the army on terror launching pads across the Line of Control to foil plans of terrorists to target some Indian towns.
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A day after the National Investigation Agency filed a chargesheet against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar in the Pathankot attack, India took on Pakistan at the United Nations and called on the hostile neighbour to leave behind its ways of terrorism, with the warning saying that, "what you sow will bear fruit".
Striking a conciliatory note amid rising tension in ties, Pakistan today said it does not want to live in "perpetual hostility" with India, noting time has come for the two neighbours to decide whether status quo should continue or a new beginning be made.
Shah also mocked the Congress vice-president for "going to a bank in a Rs-4 crore car to exchange Rs 4,000".
Congress leaders feel party President Sonia Gandhi is withdrawing from centre-stage, but without her son filling that void, it could be continued chaos for her party.
'Will this surgical strike of ours put an end to Pakistani terror?' 'And if not, what will we do when the next terror strike happens?' 'Will there be another surgical strike or will we have to do something bigger?' 'How big does it have to be to get Pakistan to totally stop?'
A 150 metre-long tunnel, which was recently discovered near a forward post along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu region's sensitive Pallanwala sector, was apparently aimed at infiltrating terrorists, Defence spokesperson said in Jammu on Tuesday.
'I feel that any terror strike at this juncture is not on the cards.' 'The reaction would most likely be military in nature and possibly using their special forces or attack helicopters,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd), who spent four years at our embassy in Islamabad.
Modi held Pakistan directly responsible for the Uri attack.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Islamabad on Monday on his first visit to Pakistan where he is expected to sign a deal for an economic corridor worth $46 billion and other agreement.
Modi said his government's focus was on adopting the strategy of 'Reform, Perform and Transform'.
Attired in his trademark half sleeves kurta and sporting a Rajasthani turban, Prime Minister Narendra Modi devoted a bulk of his 90-minute address on the occasion of the 70th Independence Day to presenting in effect a report card of his government's work particularly in boosting economic growth, ease of doing business and welfare schemes for the poor and farmers.
Noisy protests by the members of the Congress and other opposition parties seeking an apology from the prime minister continued unabated throughout the day since the proceedings began.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed's detention may help ease India-Pakistan tension, media reports in Islamabad said on Tuesday even as supporters of the Mumbai attack mastermind launched protests across major cities against the government's decision which they say was taken under pressure from the US and India.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in political exploitation of the sacrifices of soldiers in remarks that come in the wake of cross-LoC surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
After visiting two Central Asian countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ufa on Wednesday on a three-day trip during which he will attend the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits.
'If only Cariappa/Thimayya/Chaudhari/Manekshaw were given a free hand, there'll be no PoK, the Chinese would have been taught a lesson, 1965 would have slain the Pak demon and in 1971 just another fortnight's fighting after Bangladesh and West Pakistan would have been occupied.' 'No authoritative military account suggests anything remotely like any of these...' '...Chronologies, names, even periods get mixed up, but, never mind, because the point -- strong Army denied by cowardly Congress -- is made.' 'This is where Modi is coming from,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
'Gwadar has the potential to facilitate PLAN's operations in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.' 'Reports of China setting up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar to monitor US and Indian naval activity and shipping traffic through the Straits of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea lend credence to this,' says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
In the city to lead India's 70th Independence Day celebrations, M J Akbar called terrorism a major threat to human rights.
He stressed the need for strengthening mutual trust and confidence while seeking solutions to outstanding issues.
Amid questions over what happened during the long intrusion by infiltrators from Pakistan in Keran sector, the Union government has refused to accept claims of Army, saying there was no evidence on ground to suggest any infiltration bid.
'Modi's decision to hold out an olive branch to Sharif within 48 hours of the 'surgical strikes' has been a timely move as it helps tensions to 'de-escalate',' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Putin, 62, who holds an 8th dan black belt in Karate, said, "I do not know how to do yoga. When you people do it, it looks difficult. That is why I have not tried it."
In a rare public admission of Pakistani links to militancy in China's Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, the official media in Beijing said the co-founder of the Al Qaeda linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement was indoctrinated in a madarasa in that country.
Former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government of India would not file formal charges against Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley until Ajmal Kasab's trial was over. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The video shows 21-year-old Bahadur Ali, a resident of Raiwind in Lahore, spilling beans about LeT's role in the disturbances.
