Veteran Congress leader and former Defence Minister A K Antony said on Tuesday that his son, Anil K Antony, who is contesting as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, should not win the election.
Sadiq, who was the Speaker of the National Assembly during the PML-N government, made a similar statement earlier on Wednesday in Parliament that Foreign Minister Qureshi had said in an important meeting that if Varthaman was not released, India would attack Pakistan 'at 9 pm that night (sic)' and 'for God's sake we should let him go'.
'Two points are not that important. Country is important, those 40 soldiers who lost their lives are far more important than a cricket match. If we let go of a World Cup final, the country should be ready for it. Certain section of society says that don't mix sports with politics but Jawans are far more important than a game of cricket.
On being asked about the Swaraj-Qureshi meeting, the MEA sources said the two leaders only exchanged pleasantries.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled central government alleging that there were attempts to suppress the cause of the train accident in Odisha.
Khan's remarks came a day after Modi in a rally in Rajasthan said, "There is consensus in the entire world against terrorism. We are moving ahead with strength to punish the perpetrators of terrorism..."
He said though the Bharatiya Janata Party wants to expand its influence in the Trinamool Congress-ruled state, its goal is to rid West Bengal of the 'environment of terror'. "Bengal is the only state in the entire country where the culture of political violence is flourishing," he told the BJP's virtual 'Jan Samvad' rally.
India has rejected any third party intervention in the Kashmir issue and has maintained that all outstanding matters in Indo-Pak ties should be resolved bilaterally.
"India rejects irresponsible statement by Pakistan foreign minister with objective of whipping up war hysteria in the region," the MEA said.
Siddharth Anand's artistry bespeaks an upbringing filled with GI Joes, plastic combat boots and plastic bayonets, fake punching noises and fake sounds of gunshots, rudely interrupted by an adult voice saying, 'Beta, all this is good, but try bringing in some feelings too', observes Sreehari Nair.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne also urged India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint" and engage in dialogue to ensure issues are resolved peacefully.
The red corner notice was issued on the request of the CBI against seven accused in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane from Kathmandu to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on December 24, 1999 -- Yousuf Azhar, Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhter, Sayed Shakir and Abdul Rauf, they said.
A day after he was shot dead by terrorists, Kashmiri Pandit bank guard Sanjay Sharma was cremated in his native village in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday, with his Muslim neighbours lending a helping hand to his grief-stricken family.
The bodies have been recovered from the encounter site where the search operation was still in progress
"This bunch of illiterate people cannot probably differentiate between 'shall' and 'consider'," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.
The pre-dawn operation, described as "non-military" and "preemptive" struck a five-star resort style camp on a hilltop forest and caught the terrorists in their sleep.
'National interests v/s Modiji's 'hugplomacy' breaking protocol, grand welcome to those who pledged USD 20 billion to Pakistan'
As per one of the arrested persons, the slain terrorists were Pashto-speaking either from a village in Pakistan bordering Afghanistan or from Afghanistan itself, the Jammu police chief told reporters in Jammu in the evening.
Srinagar Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Balwal, who has expertise in handling terror-related cases, has been "prematurely" repatriated to Manipur cadre where a fresh bout of violence has worsened the already tense situation.
The attack is the deadliest in the last 30 years in Jammu and Kashmir and there has been demands for India to refuse playing Pakistan in the World Cup which gets underway in England from May 30.
Despite the chill in bilateral ties, Pakistan's media on Thursday gave front-page coverage to India's historic moon landing while a former minister even called it a 'great moment' for Indian Space Research Organisation.
It is time the political leaderships in this country arrived at a common ground over issues of foreign and security policy concerns. There has to be a greater communication between the government and the Opposition leaderships for the nation to present a unified face against the rest of the world, advises N Sathiya Moorthy.
After attracting criticism on the social media for "taking credit", Khurshid on Sunday said that he had only "stated the truth".
He said China understands India's concerns over the issue.
'Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.'
Amid a raging debate over privacy offered by messaging platforms like WhatsApp, terrorist groups and their handlers from Pakistan are switching to new applications which include one developed by a Turkish company, officials in Srinagar said.
Experts of the NSG and investigators of the NIA are being sent to Jammu and Kashmir to join the probe into the terror attack.
The brutal killing of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan's Udaipur was a "terrorist incident", he said, alleging that Riyaz Attari, one of the main accused, was a BJP member since 2019.
'The opposition party was disappointed that the UN listing does not mention the Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives, and has no reference to Jammu and Kashmir'
The 94 constituencies which are going to poll on November 3 are in 17 districts: West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Samastipur, Begusarai, Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Nalanda and Patna.
Pak rejected the world body's move as a "victory for India and validation of its stance" as projected by the Indian media.
Seeking stringent action against the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack, India Inc said 'now we have to make sure that the world knows that they can't mess with us'.
The attack on Sub-Inspector Farooq Ahmad Mir took place at Samboora in Pampore area.
In his hard-hitting speech at a gathering of ex-servicemen, the prime minister referred to the Bofors scam, AgustaWestland chopper scam, Rafale issue and inordinate delays in procurement of critical military platforms and ammunition by previous government.
The terrorists attacked a police station in Handwara area of Kupwara by resorting to firing and also lobbed a grenade, a police officer said.
India has slammed Pakistan for stating that it had no role in the Pulwama attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group JeM, saying Islamabad could not claim that it was unaware of the presence of terror groups on its soil as the links of such outfits to the country were there for everyone to see.
'If you go by the essence of the Constitution of India, I don't see any problem in having a separate PM for J-K.'
Two cops were killed in a terrorist hit-and-run attack on the Jammu and Kashmir police outside the district court complex in south Kashmir Pulwama town on Monday afternoon.
According to the order, all security and vehicles provided to the separatists will stand withdrawn by Sunday evening. No security forces or cover will be provided, under any pretext, to them or any other separatists. If they have any other facilities provided by the government, they are to be withdrawn forthwith.
The unusual gift for a visiting foreign dignitary was presented to Mohammad during his first official visit to Islamabad.
