India abstained from a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution regarding Afghanistan, citing the need for a balanced approach that combines incentives and disincentives, and calling for new initiatives to address the humanitarian crisis.
China and Russia on Sunday strongly condemned the United States air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, with China calling it a serious violation of the United Nations Charter that heightens tensions in West Asia, and Russia terming the strikes 'irresponsible' and asserting that they grossly violate international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council resolutions.
The UN Security Council will hold closed consultations on Monday on the situation between India and Pakistan after Islamabad sought an emergency meeting on the issue. Pakistan, which currently sits as a non-permanent member of the council, requested the meeting in light of rising tensions between the two countries following a terror attack in India. The meeting comes after India's foreign minister spoke with all council members except China and Pakistan, emphasizing the need to bring perpetrators of the attack to justice. The Pakistani envoy has argued that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir poses a threat to regional and international peace and security, justifying the need for a council discussion.
A preliminary investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash in Ahmedabad reveals that both fuel switches were cut off before the crash, followed by pilot confusion. The report also indicates that fuel samples were satisfactory and no immediate action is recommended for Boeing 787-8 operators.
The post further read that "at a moment of heightened regional turbulence", President Trump "demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi," Dawn reported.
The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged UN member nations to extend cooperation for it.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Army, is the son of a nuclear scientist who was sanctioned by the United Nations and the US for providing information and expertise to al-Qaeda, according to Indian officials. Chaudhry's father, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, allegedly provided insights into nuclear weapons infrastructure and raised funds for a fundamentalist organization linked to the Taliban. Mahmood was arrested in 2001 after admitting to meeting Osama bin Laden but was later released.
UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres expressed concern over the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, calling for maximum restraint and urging both countries to step back from the brink. Guterres offered his "good offices" to both governments in the service of peace and condemned the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, emphasizing the need to bring those responsible to justice. He also stressed that a military confrontation would be detrimental and could easily spin out of control. His remarks came hours before a closed consultation of the UN Security Council on the matter, requested by Pakistan. The UN Secretary-General highlighted the need for de-escalation, diplomacy, and a renewed commitment to peace.
India has accused Pakistan of being a "rogue state" fueling global terrorism, following a confession by Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitting to his country's history of supporting and funding terrorist organisations. India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Yojna Patel, delivered a strong Right of Reply at a UN event, highlighting Asif's admission and condemning Pakistan's actions. Patel asserted that the world can no longer turn a blind eye to Pakistan's role in supporting terrorism.
Pakistan was waiting for an opportunity to bring the Jammu and Kashmir issue to the global agenda and resorted to the terrorism route to provoke India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Once bitten, twice shy, I didn't take up the challenge this time...' 'I realised I had failed to follow my karma because I feared failure.'
India's economic growth forecast for 2025 has been revised downward to 6.3 per cent, and despite a projected moderation, the country remains one of the fastest-growing large economies, supported by resilient consumption and government spending, the United Nations has said.
Reaffirming India's stand against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged leaders of the G7 to galvanise global action against terrorism and underscored the need for strict action against those who 'promote and support' it.
On average, Indian women are having fewer children than needed to maintain the population size from one generation to the next, without migration.
Some leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed have claimed that their outfit played a role in last year's mass anti-government protests in Bangladesh that led to the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh also questioned the authenticity of materials placed before it by petitioner Mohd Ismail and others and refused to stay any further deportation of Rohingyas saying similar relief was denied by the court.
This might help explain why our global outreach has received such a tepid response. We have chosen to be transactional with the world, as our UN votes reveal, points out Aakar Patel.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party over Operation Sindoor on Wednesday, saying this is the first time that Indian representatives have been sent abroad to convey about the country's victory in an armed conflict.
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.
About 57 per cent of Indian districts, home to 76 per cent of the country's population, are currently at high to very high risk from extreme heat.
Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has affirmed that Gaza's annexation was part of a military strategy and troops will remain in the security zones created in Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, Al Jazeera reported.
The United Nations Security Council held closed-door consultations on rising tensions between India and Pakistan, with envoys calling for restraint and dialogue. The consultations, requested by Pakistan, lasted for about an hour and a half. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the tensions, urging both countries to avoid a military confrontation. India's former Permanent Representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, said that no consequential outcome could be expected from the discussion.
The petitioner's counsel said his client was facing threats of arrest and torture in his country as he was a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam member, and that his wife and children had settled in India.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the recent confrontation between India and Pakistan was not just a mere conflict between two neighbours, but it was about combating terrorism, which will eventually come back to haunt the West.
At the end of the day, for many worldwide, the ongoing mutual attacks between Israel and Iran would seem a contest devoid of any moral high ground and only a bout between two ordinary adversaries, one that nevertheless risks spinning out of control into a larger conflagration, notes Shyam G Menon.
Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar has acknowledged that 10 members of his family and four close associates were killed in India's missile attack on the outfit's headquarters in Bahawalpur. The statement attributed to Azhar said those killed included his elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, another niece, and five children from his extended family. The attack also claimed the lives of one of Azhar's close associates and his mother, along with two other close companions.
At least 10 militants were killed in a gunfight with an Assam Rifles unit in Manipur's Chandel district on Wednesday, officials said. The operation is still in progress, they said.
Led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule, Group 7 will engage with key countries in Africa -- Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia -- and Qatar to present India's position on Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Leaders of Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan agreed to strengthen their ties for the mutual benefit of their peoples, as well as for regional peace and prosperity. The understanding was reached at the Pakistan-Turkey-Azerbaijan trilateral summit in Lachin, Azerbaijan, attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif alongside presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev. Azerbaijan announced a USD 2 billion investment in Pakistan's economy. Turkey expressed support for the ceasefire between Pakistan and India and hopes that it evolves into permanent peace.
In 2019, out of the 1,440 minutes in a day, Indian youth spent 148 minutes on employment-related activities, which increased to 158 minutes in 2024.
The government nominated Tharoor, who serves as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, to lead one of the seven multi-party delegations abroad for putting across India's stand against Pakistan for supporting terrorism.
More than twice as much global glacier mass will remain if countries restrict temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to the warming level of 2.7 degrees Celsius resulting from the current policies, says a new study released.
India carried out missile strikes on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke, after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. The Foreign Secretary said the actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, urging that those responsible be held accountable and brought to justice. The Council issued a press statement expressing its deepest sympathy to the victims' families and calling for all states to cooperate in combating terrorism. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expressed concern about the situation, urging India and Pakistan to exercise restraint.
In an interaction with naval warriors on board aircraft carrier INS Vikrant off Goa, Singh sent a stern warning to Islamabad saying India will not hesitate to use the methods to deal with terrorism that Pakistan cannot even think of.
The year 2024 was not only the hottest year on record but also the first to breach 1.5C above the 1850-1900 baseline.
On Jawaharlal Nehru's 61st death anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra recalls how India's first prime minister cultivated a unique role for the newly independent country on the world stage.
India has carried out strikes against nine terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday. The strikes were in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed. Singh said the strikes were precise and destroyed the targets set under Operation Sindoor.
Irrespective of how busy your schedule is, we should always take out some time for the family, away from the gadgets that distance us, says Dr Upneet Kaur.
'A few answers for the reason of the crash will be known -- whether it was a technical fault, design issue, human error etc.'
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