&w=3840&q=100)
Pak violates ceasefire for 7th night in Uri, Kupwara; India retaliates
On the intervening night of April 30 and May 1, Pakistani troops engaged in violating the ceasefire once again at the Line of Control (LoC). The Indian Army retaliated against the Pakistani troops, who initiated an unprovoked small-arms fire across the LoC.
According to a statement from the Indian Army, the ceasefire violation was carried out opposite areas of Kupwara, Uri, and Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir. This latest development comes after tensions escalated between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack, which occurred on April 22 and claimed the lives of 26 civilians, mostly tourists.
Previously, the Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire in several areas, including Poonch, Baramulla, Naushera, and Sunderbani.
India-Pakistan ties worsen
On Wednesday, the Centre blocked access to the Instagram accounts of several Pakistani celebrities, including Hania Amir, Mahira Khan, and Ali Zafar. This comes after the government also blocked over 15 Pakistani YouTube channels for spreading misinformation, false, and provocative content.
Following the attack on tourists in Pahalgam's Baisaran Valley, India and Pakistan have announced several actions against one another. After India shut the key Attari border for movement and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty Agreement, Pakistan retaliated and closed its airspace for Indian flights and suspended the Simla Agreement of 1972.
On Tuesday, a high-level meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was attended by three service chiefs, including Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
How did the world react?
US State Secretary Marco Rubio spoke with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging both neighbouring countries to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security.
Several world leaders called PM Modi following the attack and condemned the loss of lives. They also expressed support for India's fight against terrorism.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed concerns over the rising tensions and underscored the need to avoid a confrontation between the two neighbours.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
39 minutes ago
- The Print
16 Indians still missing after joining Russian army, families to travel to Moscow for answers
Around 126 Indians joined the Russian Army to fight the war in Ukraine between the end of 2023 and early 2024. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 96 of them have returned to India, while 12 were killed on the frontlines. Russian authorities have been unable to ascertain the location of 16 Indians for over a year. In February, the government informed the Lok Sabha that 18 Indians were in Russia, of which 16 are missing. Of the remaining two, Jain T.K from Kerala, who was injured on the frontlines, returned in April. The other Indian has acquired Russian citizenship, said a person familiar with the matter. New Delhi: At least 16 Indians remain missing in Russia for over a year, after being forced to join the military there last year. Some of the family members of those missing are set to travel to Moscow later this month to further inquire about the case. The issue of Indians in the Russian armed forces has been raised at the highest levels, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting Russian President Vladimir V. Putin twice in 2024—at the annual India-Russia Summit in July and on the margins of the BRICS Summit at Kazan in October. Now, four family members of at least 14 of the missing Indians are set to travel to Moscow at the end of June for a month. They will be working with a local foundation and meet with Russian authorities to find out more about the status of the missing Indians. 'Four of us will be travelling to Moscow, along with the power of attorney for 10 of the other families. For the one and a half years, all we have been told is that our family members remain missing,' Jagdeep Kumar, one of the family members set to travel, told ThePrint. His brother Mandeep Kumar from Phillaur in Punjab was promised a visa to Italy before he departed India in December 2023. The family paid Rs 31.40 lakh to an agent for Mandeep's travel to Italy. However, rather than Italy, Mandeep landed up in Moscow and was signed up by the Russian Army. The family last spoke to him on 3 March, 2024. 'He was given 15 days of training to become a sniper in the Russian Army, before being sent to the frontlines. Mandeep has a handicap, which does not allow him to run, but he was sent to the frontlines,' Jagdeep told ThePrint. Also Read: 3 Indians missing after travelling to Iran, embassy 'strongly takes up matter' with Tehran From UP, Punjab to J&K & Maharashtra Families of at least 14 Indians held a protest at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar in the last week of May. Nine of them are from Uttar Pradesh, with the majority from Azamgarh district. Three are from Punjab, while one each is from Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra. One of the missing from Punjab, according to a list curated by the families and seen by ThePrint, is Tejpal Singh, from Amritsar. Singh's family also last spoke with him on 3 March last year, before he was taken to Tokmak city, in the Ukrainian province of Zaporizhzhia. Russia has sought to annex Zaporizhzhia, along with the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Crimea since the current phase of open warfare began a little over three years ago. Mandeep, on the other hand, was sent to Donetsk, after which his family lost all connection with him. The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed last month that Arvind Kumar from Azamgarh district, one of the missing Indians, signed a contract on 17 January, 2024 to join the military in the Leningrad region. However, the military selection point for Leningrad region denied that other Indians, including Mandeep, signed contracts in the region for military service. New Delhi has pushed Moscow to ensure that no other Indians are allowed to join the Russian armed forces. The number of Indians signing up to the Russian military has since been curbed. There have been no new cases of Indians intimating either the Embassy in Moscow or the MEA of their service in the Russian armed forces. The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing since February 2022. In recent weeks, it has intensified, especially after Kyiv was able to destroy Russian strategic bombers through Operation Spiderweb. On Sunday, Russia is reported to have launched nearly 500 loitering munitions and missiles at Western Ukraine, in one of its largest such aerial attacks till date. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Another Indian recruit in Russian army dies on warfront, some yet to be released
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
'Inconvenient data brushed aside': Congress slams Centre over World Bank's extreme poverty data
NEW DELHI: The Modi government is celebrating a drop in extreme poverty to 5.3% but this is based on a poverty line of USD 3 per day which is certainly not enough to live with dignity, the Congress said on Tuesday and accused the Centre of brushing aside "inconvenient data." The opposition party's assertion came after the World Bank said India's extreme poverty rate declined sharply to 5.3 percent over a decade from 27.1 percent in 2011-12. The World Bank revised upwards its threshold poverty line to USD 3 per day. Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "The Modi government is celebrating a drop in extreme poverty to 5.3%. But this is based on a poverty line of USD 3 (Rs 250) per day - just enough to avoid starvation, but certainly not enough to live with dignity." The 2022-23 Consumption Expenditure Survey, conducted after an 11-year gap, came with a revised methodology – making direct comparisons with the UPA-era data appear favourable, but statistically invalid, Khera said. "The 2017-18 survey was buried, likely to hide the fallout of demonetisation and GST. COVID-era poverty? Ignored," he said. Meanwhile, the Modi government evaded Parliament on defining an official poverty line and ignored over 15 questions related to it, Khera claimed. "Their claim of lifting over 25 crore people out of poverty is based on a manipulated index. CMIE data shows 621 million Indians (44%) still live in poverty. On the Global Hunger Index, India ranks 105th, with 18.7% child wasting and 35.5% stunting," Khera said. He pointed out that on the World Happiness Report, India sits at 118th, and on the Human Development Index, India loses over 30% of its score due to inequality. "All this is inconvenient data. So, it is brushed aside. In the end, the poor are left to endure inflation, unemployment, a steady collapse of public services and declining quality of life while the ruling party's crony capitalist friends loot thousands of crores with absolute impunity," Khera said. "This is the story of two India: One that suffers, and the other that cashes in," he added. The World Bank, in a report, said given India's inflation rate between 2017 and 2021, a revised extreme poverty line of USD 3 would constitute a 15 percent higher threshold than USD 2.15 expressed in 2021 prices and result in a 5.3 percent poverty rate in 2022-23. As against 34 crore people below poverty line (USD 3/per day) in 2011-12, the numbers have come down to 7.5 crore in 2022-23 in absolute numbers. The World Bank has announced a major revision to global poverty estimates, raising the International Poverty Line (IPL) from USD 2.15/day (2017 PPP) to USD 3/day (2021 PPP), according to a factsheet issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on the report. "While the change led to a global increase in the count of extreme poverty by 125 million, India emerged as a statistical outlier in a positive direction. Using more refined data and updated survey methods, India not only withstood the raised threshold but also demonstrated a massive reduction in poverty," the PIB said in its factsheet details issued on Saturday.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Pakistan to give its military more money, ignoring its real tension: Economy, not India
Despite facing record-high debt and a struggling economy, Pakistan plans to raise its defence budget by nearly 18 per cent in 2025–26, taking it over Rs 2.5 trillion (around $14 billion). The move comes after its military setback in a recent four-day conflict with India read more Pakistan has never come out of the notion that by spending more on military, it can eventually be able to counter India in the battlefield. Reports from Pakistani media say that the country is set to increase its defence budget by nearly 18 per cent in the upcoming 2025-26 fiscal year. This would raise its defence spending to over Rs 2.5 trillion (about $14 billion), despite facing its highest-ever public debt and deepening economic challenges. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The decision to hike military funding comes against the backdrop of the battering the Pakistani forces received during the f our-day conflict with India in May in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were massacred by Pakistan-backed terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir in April. The decision also follows multiple bailout fundings by international loan agencies to aid Pakistan in dealing with its fiscal and economic challenges. That came under stringent conditions. And those agencies would be monitoring Pakistan's military budget hike as historically such moves have meant more funding to terror outfits. Budget increase and security context Media reports from Pakistan say that the coalition government, led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has agreed on the significant defence outlay increase. They cite a 'war-like situation' with India. The 2024-25 defence budget stood at Rs 2,122 billion, already up nearly 15 per cent from the previous year. This year's budget hike would mean close to 35 per cent incremental hike in two years. Reports quoting sources also said the actual defence spending may rise even higher in the final quarter of the current fiscal year due to heightened military activity. Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal confirmed the hike, linking it to India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and 'water aggression' through upstream dam projects. He also said work on the $14 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam — a strategic infrastructure project with the help from China — would be expedited. Soaring debt and fiscal risks This comes against a ballooning public debt that reached a record level of PKR 76 trillion — the highest for Pakistan — as of March, according to its Economic Survey. It has nearly doubled from Rs 39.8 trillion in 2020-21 and increased five-fold over the past decade. The debt includes PKR 51.5 trillion in domestic liabilities and Rs 24.5 trillion in external borrowings. The Economic Survey warns that excessive debt and poor management pose serious risks to fiscal sustainability and economic security. Despite securing a $3.5 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this year, Pakistan faces skepticism from international observers, including India, which questions whether IMF funds might indirectly support military spending rather than economic recovery. Pakistan's finance ministry officials argue that the defence budget increase was communicated to the IMF and Asian Development Bank (ADB) before the bailout and that the government is balancing security needs with fiscal responsibility. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan's real tension: Economic and social challenges Economists warn that the rising defence expenditure, combined with ambitious infrastructure projects like Diamer-Bhasha, could crowd out social spending and derail economic reforms. Inflation remains high, threatening to touch 40 per cent (over 38 per cent), and Pakistan continues to struggle with unemployment and poverty. Pakistan observers have been cautioning against diversion of funds for defence establishment. They argue that diverting funds to defence and megaprojects risks leaving ordinary citizens to bear the economic burden, potentially exacerbating social inequalities. Pakistan's upcoming 2025-26 budget clearly reflects a mis-prioritisation of the military establishment in the name of security while leaving concerns about fiscal prudence and long-term economic stability unaddressed. India and international financial institutions will closely monitor Pakistan's budget execution and debt management in the coming months. Pakistan's argument has been that its security threat emerges from India, a narrative that suits its military establishment to corner a huge chunk of the country's national budget while keeping the population in abject poverty. But if Pakistan's narrative is accepted, its defence spending would still be no match to India's. While Pakistan is pushing more money into its military establishment, the core backer of terrorism for decades, India remains the world's fifth-largest military spender at around $86 billion annually — nearly nine times Pakistan's outlay. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pakistan's defence spending surge is bound to cause more economic strain on its social welfare programmes and fuel regional tensions as India would definitely take into account the growing military push in its neighbourhood, which is also the source of terrorism on its land.
