Pakistan is expected to seek a bigger role for the United Nations military observers deployed along the Line of Control when the Director Generals Military Operations of India and Pakistan meet for the first time in 14 years on Tuesday.
Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday issued a formal address and said that the event is a moment of profound religious and historical consequence.
Every UN secretary-general has flagged the financial situation, but Antonio Guterres has issued the direst warning yet, calling it a 'race to bankruptcy and of imminent financial collapse, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The United States' historical strategic alignment with Pakistan, dating back to the Cold War, has consistently aimed to create a political and military parity with India, despite India's significantly larger size and resources. This long-standing relationship continues to influence regional dynamics, particularly in West Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
Sri Lanka's response to the Easter attacks has been slow and politically contested, unlike India's swift institutional reforms after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, observes Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
The two policemen were injured by "hard and blunt instruments", while "two protesters with firearm injuries" were also brought to JPMC, the surgeon told Dawn.
Following reports of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death, widespread protests erupted in Kashmir, with demonstrators expressing strong anti-US and anti-Israel sentiments.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
By all available indications, the White House drafted a face-saving note and handed it, ready-made, to Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to then post it in the guise of a plea urging Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks 'to allow diplomacy to run its course'. Trump would then graciously accept Pakistan's 'request' and declare a ceasefire. Sharif dutifully posted the message on X. Except that he, or whoever was handling the account, forgot to delete the tell-tale first line visible in the edit history: 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X'. Prem Panicker's must read blog on the Iran War.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
The recent decision of the Union government asking United Nations Military Observer Group on Kashmir to vacate a government-provided bungalow in New Delhi, is garnering mixed reactions in Kashmir. While many feel there would be no real impact if the UNMOGIP was to close its main offices in Srinagar, there are others who believe that the UN would continue to have a critical role till the Kashmir issue is resolved.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'Trump does have a master plan in mind to put pressure on India with the additional tariff of 25 per cent to get Modi to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the Ukraine war.' 'It has not worked so far. By end-September only we'll know for sure the future trajectory of India's oil purchases from Russia,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
For the second day in a row, India and Pakistan sparred over Kashmir at the United Nations after Islamabad made "gratuitous references" to it at the world body.
Maj Gen Lodin succeeds Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who completes his two-year assignment as chief military observer and head of mission for the UNMOGIP on July 2.
As India and Pakistan clashed in the Security Council over relevance of the United Nations observer group at the Line of Control, a spokesperson for UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the force can be terminated only by a decision of the 15-nation body.
Years of repression and disappearances have taught Venezuelans, the hard way, not to voice either their anger or their joy, observes Radha Roy Biswas who spent her formative years in Venezuela.
Pakistan approached the United Nations military observer group over the Line of Control situation on Tuesday. This comes a day after the Pakistan government lodged a protest with India on alleged ceasefire violations along the Indo-Pak border.
In a composed and clear presentation, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi announced that nine terrorist facilities had been destroyed in the tri-services operation.
India and Japan have unveiled a comprehensive framework to boost their defence cooperation in response to security challenges, particularly concerning China's increasing military presence in the East and South China Seas.
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
The Pakistan foreign minister has called for the expansion of the UN peacekeepers' role in Kashmir.
The officials said the situation remained peaceful on Friday and there were no reports of any untoward incident.
The UN observer force in Kashmir will probe a Pakistani complaint of alleged ceasefire violation by Indian troops along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in which it claims a Pakistani soldier was killed.
The JKSM activists might have drawn inspiration from the mashaal (torch) rally of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front as part of its safar-e-azadi (journey to freedom).
Human Rights Forum chairman Mohammad Ahsan Untoo and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Vice-Chairman Javed Ahmed Mir were trying to take out a procession against the death sentence given to three persons in the Parliament attack case.
The United Nations has asked India and Pakistan to de-escalate tension through dialogue and respect the ceasefire along the Line of Control, in the wake of the killing of two Indian soldiers during an attack by Pakistani troops.
the UN Secretary General's spokesperson stressed that the UN chief would welcome any proposals to de-escalate the tensions between the nuclear-armed neigbours.
'Neither are Baloch insurgents capable of breaking up Pakistan, nor has Pakistan learned any lessons from the 1971 debacle that led to the country's dismemberment.'
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
In a set of recent tweets, Khan said that "Kashmiris must be allowed to decide their future".
'There is no independently verified imagery or battlefield evidence to support Pakistan's claim.'
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
He said the Centre was creating an environment in the Valley which gives people a chance to raise questions.
Amid escalation of ceasefire violations along the LoC, Pakistan has accused India of rejecting its efforts to preserve tranquility at the border and asked India to give peace a chance by "restraining" its forces.
Pak asks the UN to act before the situation snowballs into a 'full-fledged crisis'.
The Indian troops guarding the nearly 3,500-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) maintained an assertive approach in sync with the broader national security doctrine and procured a variety of military platforms and weapons to enhance their combat capabilities.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
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