The United States said it encourages 'direct communication' between India and Pakistan and commends Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for choosing the path of peace.
A hill with an altitude of 5,000 feet, once a hub of the Maoists along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, was reclaimed by the security forces after driving out the extremists following nine days of intense anti-Naxal operation, official sources said.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he "helped settle" the tensions between India and Pakistan and that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America would do a "lot of trade" with them if they stopped the conflict.
A nationwide strike called by trade unions to protest against the central government's labor policies had a mixed impact across India. While normal life remained largely unaffected in most parts of the country, some sectors like banking, transport, and insurance experienced disruptions. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in West Bengal.
'It is high time that the 'war on terror' is removed from our diplomatic toolbox.' 'Certainly, our parliamentarians have no role in it,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The 81-year-old ex-president returned from Thailand a month after his "secret departure" sparked protests in Bangladesh for being allowed to leave despite being accused of murder.
The lawmakers also hailed the strong strategic partnership between India and the US during a meeting with an all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who briefed them on the cross-border terrorism faced by India and the country's strong and resolute stance in the fight against terror.
'I don't know whether the top Gujarati leaders of Indian politics (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah) in Delhi realise that the narrative of HindiHinduHindustan will eventually destroy their own language too.'
The United States stands strong with India against terrorism and Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'has our full support', the State Department said underlining that Secretary of State Marco Rubio urges India and Pakistan to work towards a responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and regional stability in South Asia.
The tragedy struck the family on May 7 when they found themselves in the middle of intense Pakistani shelling at their rented accommodation in Poonch which was badly hit by the cross-border shelling.
China hopes both sides will remain restrained, move toward each other, and work together to de-escalate the situation.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
The one-year-old Himachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Tuesday with the induction of Rajesh Dharmani and Yadvinder Goma as cabinet ministers.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
While two bodies were recovered on Wednesday, the death toll climbed to four on Thursday after the recovery of two more bodies from the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric project site in Kangra district.
Tensions ran high in Gubbi taluk on Saturday as the farmers' protest against the Hemavati Link Canal project escalated into violence, prompting police to register FIRs. It is said that more FIRs are likely to follow.
Pakistan has halted the construction of contentious canals in Punjab province after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following a deadly terrorist attack in Kashmir. The decision to suspend the canals project was made after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and agreed to address the concerns of Sindh province, where the project had sparked protests. The canals project, aimed at irrigating the desert region in Punjab, was seen as a threat to water resources in Sindh. Both sides have agreed to seek consensus on the issue in the Council of Common Interests (CCI), a high-powered inter-provincial body. Meanwhile, Pakistan has reiterated the importance of the Indus Water Treaty for its water security and economy, and condemned India's move to suspend it.
'...without massive amounts of force.'
The year 2024 was not only the hottest year on record but also the first to breach 1.5C above the 1850-1900 baseline.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday slammed ally Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray's MP Sanjay Raut for his remarks on Haryana poll outcome, stressing that accusations against Congress won't be tolerated.
An Indian delegation led by the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad will tour key European capitals to expose Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism and State-sponsored extremism.
Maoists have admitted that 28 cadres, including their top leader Basavaraju, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region last week. The Naxals also claimed that some of their cadres had surrendered to police and provided information that led to the operation. Police have recovered a large cache of weapons, including an AK-47 looted by Basavaraju from security forces in a 2010 ambush.
A massive anti-Naxal operation involving around 10,000 security personnel along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border entered its fifth day on Friday, with the Maoists reportedly issuing a statement calling for a halt to the exercise and initiating "peace talks." The statement, circulating on social media, claims that the government is resorting to repression and violence despite the possibility of resolving the issue through dialogue. The operation, considered one of the largest counter-insurgency actions in the Bastar region, involves personnel from various units including the Chhattisgarh police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and its elite CoBRA unit. The operation, launched on Monday in the densely forested hills of Karregutta and Durgamgutta along the inter-state border, is aimed at targeting PLGA battalion No. 1, the strongest military formation of the Maoists.
In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals across the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2.
We have nothing to gain by raising our concerns internationally as our narrative has got entangled with several controversial concepts in the United Nations, asserts Ambassador T N Sreenivasan.
Top military officials from India and Pakistan highlighted their views at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum, amid heightened tensions between the two sides following last month's military confrontation.
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The controversy deepened after a video surfaced showing Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the wedding, personally handing over a Fortuner SUV and making a remark widely interpreted as normalising dowry.
Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
The Congress was fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and had fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party.
News of his election brought much cheer among his friends and family back in Mirzapur.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party which had emerged victorious on 29 seats have 28 Hindus and one Sikh member as none of its Muslim candidates, including two former ministers, managed to win.
He added, "You can never trust Pakistan as long as the Pakistani deep state, Pakistani ISI, Pakistani military's objective is to destabilise Bharat."
Bhutto, who served as the Foreign Minister earlier, addressed a briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York and sought reconciliation with India, making a plea for talks and Intel sharing between the two neighbours.
The city received about 104 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, inundating many low-lying areas and leading to traffic pile-up, prompting the BJP to launch a scathing attack on the ruling Congress.
'One good outcome of Operation Sindoor -- perhaps, its best outcome -- could be that India has resumed meaningful contact directly with Pakistan at the military-to-military level,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Merchandise plays a key role in creating buzz about a specific party.'
Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the US has called on both countries "not to escalate" the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow. The US State Department said Washington is reaching out to both India and Pakistan "regarding the Kashmir situation" and telling them "not to escalate the situation."
'The Election Commission is conducting the National Register of Citizens in Bihar through the backdoor.'
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are set to be a defining moment for several regional heavyweights, including Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, and deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The two Pawars, Shinde, and Thackeray are engaged in a fierce battle for political dominance, with the outcome potentially deciding the fate of their respective parties. The BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. In the opposition alliance, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and the NCP (SP) 86. The election is also marked by intense factional fights, with the two claimants of Shiv Sena's legacy competing in over 50 seats and the two Pawars facing each other in nearly 37 constituencies.
