Modi spoke to Sharif and conveyed best wishes for the showpiece event.
Rao's history includes arrests in 2000 by Sahadha police of Nandurbar district and subsequent releases, as well as an underground stint in 2002, leading to his arrest by Malkanoor PS police of Karnataka in 2005.
In a strong message to Pakistan, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday asserted that Indian armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any ceasefire violation by it.
'The so-called separatists are representatives of Pakistan. They get paid from Islamabad for propagating that country's policy and conniving in her ploy of accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.'
Reeling under strict restrictions with no access to communication since August 5 when the Centre announced its decision to end Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two union territories, the people in the Valley have been facing a hair-raising challenge of finding a hairdresser to have their unkempt beards trimmed and unruly locks chopped.
'That cannot be done till they roam around free, get money from Pakistan and seek attention.' 'The cycle of violence was very cleverly generated.' 'During night patrolling when it was discovered that dumper trucks were unloading heaps of stones in various places, it was the first indicator that there would be trouble.' 'Wherever stones were dumped, the stones were taken by the police to construction sites.' 'It was a laborious task, but we did it rigorously.' 'We had to use some smart tactics and soft skills to defeat the cycle of violence.''
A senior official in the central probe agency said Wani was arrested from Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar by the Enforcement Directorate with the help of the state police.
Lashing out at the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party for opposing the proposed meeting of separatist leaders with the Pakistan high commissioner, both moderate and hardline factions of the Hurriyat Conference on Monday said their reaction was unwarranted and demonstrated political immaturity.
Sushma Swaraj called on Pakistan PM Sharif, amid efforts by both countries to revive the stalled dialogue process to improve ties.
Separatists dismiss breakthrough in dialogue between the neighbours in Russia, says talks shouldn't be for time pass
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed readiness to engage with India and Pakistan in resolving the Kashmir issue if requested by both and asked them to resume talks to reach an agreement that would serve their security interests as well as that of the region.
Defending the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed an "unprecedented" era of peace, progress and prosperity, with street violence, orchestrated by terrorists and secessionist networks, becoming "a thing of the past."
For the last four years since abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir-based political parties have been struggling to forge an alternate narrative to the one forcibly snatched from them. The BJP is bound to go hammer and tongs at them now that their armoury is reinforced with the Supreme Court judgment, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Amid continued strain in ties, Pakistan on Wednesday said it does not see any prospect of having structured talks with India in the near future and made it clear that the ball is in India's court to initiate dialogue.
Disapproving of Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor's meeting with Hurriyat leaders, India on Tuesday said for meaningful dialogue for sustainable peace it is necessary that its "sentiments and sensitivities" are respected and termed the recent ceasefire violations by Pakistani army along LoC as "counterproductive".
Pakistan's permanent representative at the UN Maleeha Lodhi was instructed to contact the UN leadership to discuss the rejection of dialogue by India.
Weakened by two fierce political opponents and the army in Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's United Nations speech was to address his domestic audience.
'It's a matter of great pride that no student of Army Goodwill Schools has ever joined terrorism.'
'We deeply apologise for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride,' according to a message on KFC India official account on Twitter.
In his first public appearance following his release from four-year house arrest on Friday, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq reiterated the stand of his separatist amalgam that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir has to be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means.
India on Tuesday lashed out at Pakistan for "lecturing" it on pluralism after Islamabad expressed concern over attempts to disrupt functions of its prominent personalities, and asserted that non-practice of terrorism was central to the betterment of the Indo-Pak relationship.
Since January, at least 190 cases of ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army have been reported from the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
'Media reports have highlighted that hawala money is coming from Arab countries. And this money is used to create disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir.'
'If democracy does not exist, if there are no political spaces, there is no media, there is no civil society, what do we rejoice?'
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh on Monday night said he was asked by the government to represent it at the Pakistan National Day reception at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi.
Faktoo, who is in jail since 1993, is the husband of Asiya Andrabi, also a separatist leader and chairperson of Islamist organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat.
PM Modi spoke to Pak PM Nawaz Sharif in an effort to revive suspended diplomatic dialogue.
Rejecting Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's offer of talks, pro-Pakistani hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Wednesday said that the solution to the Kashmir issue lies in tripartite talks, aimed at giving the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Commenting on the statement by Chidambaram that the Centre is ready for talks with all shades of political opinion in the state, the hardline separatist leader said, "There is nothing new."
'Just this week, the Indians killed a Kashmiri terrorist, who is a member of Hizbul Mujahideen.' 'This is a nasty terrorist organisation, and did Pakistan welcome this killing?' 'No, in fact, they denounced it and referred to him as a Kashmiri separatist.' 'These Kashmiri terrorist groups have been aided by the Pakistani State.'
The magisterial probe, ordered by the Delhi government, had found that out of seven videos sent to a Hydrabad-based forensic lab, three were doctored, including one clipping of a news channel.
The Kashmir issue was raised by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his first meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, a top Pakistani advisor said on Wednesday, discounting reports that the issue was sidelined during the talks.
The strike affected attendance in government offices and banks, the officials said.
Jaitley said security forces need not use force if the protests are peaceful.
India is likely to send a high-level delegation, headed by the minister, given the conference's importance.
he Centre on this day in 2019 had revoked Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The upcoming Indo-Pak National Security Adviser-level talks appeared to be on the verge of being aborted with both sides locked in a confrontation over Kashmiri separatist leaders.
Groups of youth took to the streets at Press Colony and Khanyar in support of Naik.
All leading newspapers carried the story about cancellation of NSA-level talks on the front page, highlighting the Indian "pre-conditions" which, according to local media, led to the breakdown of parleys.
Pakistan tonight said it was "deeply disappointed" at India putting forth "pre-conditions" for National Security Advisors-level talks, accusing it of going back on the decision mutually agreed at the highest level by coming up with "frivolous pretexts".
A pictorial exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi in the park in front of the Indian Embassy drew a large number of crowd.
