Latest news with #Bisaria
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
‘New Canada govt unlikely to allow pro-Khalistan lobby to hold ties with India hostage'
Toronto: People involved in ongoing exchanges between India and Canada have been left with the impression that the Government of Prime Minister Mark Carney will not allow the bilateral relationship to be held hostage by the pro-Khalistan lobby. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) meets Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 Summit at Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada, on June 18, 2025. (PTI) Among them is former High Commissioner to Ottawa Ajay Bisaria, who recently participated in two roundtables this month in the Canadian capital and in Toronto, which featured senior Indian and Canadian officials, as well as representatives of trade organisations and others. Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Bisaria said, 'The signal that the Indian side is getting is that Canada's new government will rise above diaspora politics, it will act in Canada's national interest.' While Bisaria did not directly name the pro-Khalistan groups, they had, in the past, proved influential when it came to Ottawa's stance towards India, particularly when Carney's predecessor as PM, Justin Trudeau, was leading the government. Despite protestations by these groups, Carney went ahead with inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, in June, which marked the beginning of a reset in the relationship. 'Both governments are now confirming the reset has started and this will be a step-by-step process,' Bisaria said. The readout issued by the Canadian government after the meeting in Kananaskis noted that the PMs 'reaffirmed the importance of Canada-India ties, based upon mutual respect, the rule of law, and a commitment to the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity'. They also 'discussed strong and historic ties between our peoples, partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, and significant commercial links between Canada and India – including partnerships in economic growth, supply chains, and the energy transformation' and 'opportunities to deepen engagement in areas such as technology, the digital transition, food security, and critical minerals'. They agreed to reinstate High Commissioners in the two capitals. The diplomatic agreements towards confirming those appointments are expected to be complete in August with the new envoys heading the missions soon after. The roundtables this month, organised by the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC), were closed-door dialogues on the 'evolving' India-Canada economic relationship. The special guests in Toronto included Sara Wilshaw, Canada's Chief Trade Commissioner and Assistant Deputy Minister at Global Affairs Canada, the country's foreign ministry, and India's Acting Consul General in Toronto Kapidhwaja Pratap Singh. A week earlier, a similar roundtable in Ottawa was attended by Global Affairs Canada or GAC's Director General for South Asia Marie-Louise Hannan and India's Acting High Commissioner Chinmoy Naik. These will be among a series of interactions that will occur in the months ahead, including resumption of existing dialogue mechanisms between the two countries.
NDTV
01-07-2025
- Health
- NDTV
Before Shefali Jariwala Death, How India First Heard Of Glutathione In Amazon Prime's Made In Heaven 2
The death of actor-model Shefali Jariwala has sparked several conversations and brought a number of issues in the spotlight. One such issue is the growing popularity of anti-ageing drugs that claim to make you look younger -- particularly glutathione. Over the past few years, glutathione has surged in popularity, especially after making a mark in Indian pop culture through the series Made In Heaven 2. What Is Glutathione? Dr Anupama Bisaria, a dermatologist based in Noida, explains that glutathione is an antioxidant made from the amino acids glycine, cysteine and glutamic acid. Naturally produced by the liver, it plays a vital role in several bodily functions. According to WebMD, glutathione helps in tissue repair, protein and chemical production, and supports the immune system. When it comes to skin brightening, liposomal glutathione (L-glutathione) and acetyl glutathione are commonly used. Dr Bisaria recalls that glutathione was once administered to chemotherapy patients during cancer treatment. Interestingly, one observed side effect was lighter skin -- something that later led to its repurposing as a skin-lightening agent. Today, glutathione is available in various forms. But according to Dr Bisaria, the most effective ones are sublingual tablets (which dissolve under the tongue) and intravenous infusions (drips or injections). That said, she makes it clear that neither she nor most dermatologists support its use for skin lightening. "As professionals, we don't support the notion of lightening one's skin to meet certain beauty standards, it's ethically problematic," she says. Dr Bisaria also adds that she refrains from recommending or administering IV glutathione. While some clinics do offer it, she warns that results are often inconsistent and, given the high cost, many users end up disappointed. On top of that, glutathione hasn't been approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for skin brightening. It comes with known side effects, including: Nausea Vomiting Abdominal cramps Diarrhoea Allergic reactions And since the compound hasn't been studied extensively, many of its potential side effects remain unknown. How Made In Heaven Brought Glutathione Into The Spotlight In India The obsession with fair and youthful-looking skin has long been embedded in Indian society. While glutathione was already known in the West, it wasn't as mainstream in India, until 2023. That year, the Amazon Prime series Made In Heaven released its second season, and in Episode 1, it introduced Indian audiences to glutathione in a context that sharply critiqued societal beauty norms. In the episode, bride-to-be Sarina (played by Zayn Marie Khan) prepares to marry Aman, an NRI. Her family and future in-laws openly criticise her skin tone. Under pressure, she secretly undergoes a skin treatment that leads to a facial rash just before her bachelorette. The treatment was glutathione shots - which trigger an allergic reaction. The show was praised online for shedding light on India's obsession with fairness. However, it also brought glutathione into the limelight. Since then, there's been a surge in glutathione-based supplements, powders, and treatments being promoted for glowing, brightened skin, especially by salons and cosmetic clinics ahead of weddings or major events. A Booming Market Let's look at some numbers to understand the sudden demand. By 2024, the glutathione market was valued at USD 13.39 million, almost double its size from just five years ago. That number is projected to jump to USD 243.8 million by 2029. The Asia-Pacific region, including India, is one of the fastest-growing markets for glutathione, driven by the rising demand in personal care and pharma sectors. However, while glutathione may be in vogue as a quick fix for bright skin, experts continue to advise caution - both for health reasons and the deeper social standards that drive its demand.
India Today
05-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Pausing Indus Waters Treaty huge step against cross-border terrorism: Ex-envoy
Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria said the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty by India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack was the most serious step taken to fight against terrorism. "The non-kinetic measures taken so far are perhaps the most serious steps India has taken against terrorism as compared to any terror episodes in the past. Suspending the Indus Waters Treaty is a huge step. It has affected Pakistan, which has called it an act of war," Bisaria said. He stressed that kinetic measures were essential to set up a credible deterrence so that cross-border terrorism doesn't happen again. "It is important to have kinetic action in the mix to ensure that the deterrence is credible, lasting and targets the Pakistan Army. The objective is to set up the deterrence to avoid a Pahalgam-like attack again," the former envoy said.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
India and Pakistan are in crisis again - here's how they de-escalated in the past
Last week's deadly militant attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, which claimed 26 civilian lives, has reignited a grim sense of déjà vu for India's security forces and diplomats. This is familiar ground. In 2016, after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in Uri, India launched "surgical strikes" across the Line of Control – the de facto border between India and Pakistan - targeting militant bases. In 2019, the Pulwama bombing, which left 40 Indian paramilitary personnel dead, prompted airstrikes deep into Balakot - the first such action inside Pakistan since 1971 - sparking retaliatory raids and an aerial dogfight. And before that, the horrific 2008 Mumbai attacks - a 60-hour siege on hotels, a railway station, and a Jewish centre - claimed 166 lives. Each time, India has held Pakistan-based militant groups responsible for the attacks, accusing Islamabad of tacitly supporting them - a charge Pakistan has consistently denied. Since 2016, and especially after the 2019 airstrikes, the threshold for escalation has shifted dramatically. Cross-border and aerial strikes by India have become the new norm, provoking retaliation from Pakistan. This has further intensified an already volatile situation. Once again, experts say, India finds itself walking the tightrope between escalation and restraint - a fragile balance of response and deterrence. One person who understands this recurring cycle is Ajay Bisaria, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan during the Pulwama attack, who captured its aftermath in his memoir, Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan. "There are striking parallels between the aftermath of the Pulwama bombing and the killings in Pahalgam," Mr Bisaria told me on Thursday, 10 days after the latest attack. Yet, he notes, Pahalgam marks a shift. Unlike Pulwama and Uri, which targeted security forces, this attack struck civilians - tourists from across India - evoking memories of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. "This attack carries elements of Pulwama, but much more of Mumbai," he explains. "We're once again in a conflict situation, and the story is unfolding in much the same way," Mr Bisaria says. A week after the latest attack, Delhi moved quickly with retaliatory measures: closing the main border crossing, suspending a key water-sharing treaty, expelling diplomats, and halting most visas for Pakistani nationals - who were given days to leave. Troops on both sides have exchanged intermittent small-arms fire across the border in recent days. Delhi also barred all Pakistani aircraft - commercial and military - from its airspace, mirroring Islamabad's earlier move. Pakistan retaliated with its own visa suspensions and suspended a 1972 peace treaty with India. (Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but administered in parts by each, has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed nations since their partition in 1947.) In his memoir, Mr Bisaria recounts India's response after the Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019. He was summoned to Delhi the morning after, as the government moved quickly to halt trade - revoking Pakistan's most-favoured-nation status, granted in 1996. In the following days, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) imposed a 200% customs duty on Pakistani goods, effectively ending imports, and suspended trade at the land border at Wagah. Mr Bisaria notes that a broader set of measures was also proposed to scale down engagement with Pakistan, most of which were subsequently implemented. They included suspending a cross-border train known as the Samjhauta Express, and a bus service linking Delhi and Lahore; deferring talks between border guards on both sides and negotiations over the historic Kartarpur corridor to one of Sikhism's holiest shrines, halting visa issuance, ceasing cross border, banning Indian travel to Pakistan, and suspending flights between the two countries. "How hard it was to build trust, I thought. And how easy was it to break it," Mr Bisaria writes. "All the confidence-building measures planned, negotiated, and implemented over years in this difficult relationship, could be slashed off on a yellow notepad in minutes." The strength of the Indian high commission in Islamabad was reduced from 110 to 55 after Pulwama. (It now stands at 30 after the Pahalgam attack.) India also launched a diplomatic offensive. A day after the attack, then foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed envoys from 25 countries - including the US, UK, China, Russia, and France - on the role of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the Pakistan-based militant group behind the bombing, and accused Pakistan of using terrorism as state policy. JeM, designated a terrorist organisation by India, the UN, the UK, and the US, had claimed responsibility for the bombing. India's diplomatic offensive continued on 25 February, 10 days after the attack, pushing for JeM chief Masood Azhar's designation as a terrorist by the UN sanctions committee and inclusion on the EU's "autonomous terror list". While there was pressure to abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty - a key river water sharing agreement - India opted instead to withhold any data beyond treaty obligations, Mr Bisaria writes. A total of 48 bilateral agreements were reviewed for possible suspension. An all-party meeting was convened in Delhi, resulting in a unanimous resolution. At the same time, communication channels remained open - including the hotline between the two countries' Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO), a key link for military-to-military contact, as well as both high commissions. In 2019, as now, Pakistan said the attack was a "false-flag operation". Much like this time a crackdown in Kashmir saw the arrest of over 80 "overground workers" - local supporters who may have provided logistical help, shelter, and intelligence to militants from the Pakistan-based group. Rajnath Singh, then Indian home minister, visited Jammu and Kashmir, and dossiers on the attack and suspected perpetrators were prepared. In a meeting with the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Mr Bisaria told her that "that India's diplomatic options in dealing with a terrorist attack of this nature was limited". "She gave me the impression that some tough action was round the corner, after which, I should expect the role of diplomacy to expand," Mr Bisaria writes. On 26 February, Indian airstrikes - its first across the international border since 1971 - targeted JeM's training camp in Balakot. Six hours later, the Indian foreign secretary announced the strikes had killed "a very large number" of militants and commanders. Pakistan swiftly denied the claim. More high-level meetings followed in Delhi. The crisis escalated dramatically the next morning, 27 February, when Pakistan launched retaliatory air raids. In the ensuing dogfight, an Indian fighter jet was shot down, and its pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, ejected and landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Captured by Pakistani forces, his detention in enemy territory triggered a wave of national concern and further heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Mr Bisaria writes India activated multiple diplomatic channels, with US and UK envoys pressing Islamabad. The Indian message was "any attempt by Pakistan to escalate situation further or to cause harm to the pilot would lead to escalation by India." Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan announced the pilot's release on 28 February, with the handover occurring on 1 March under prisoner of war protocol. Pakistan presented the move as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at de-escalating tensions. By 5 March, with the dust settling from Pulwama, Balakot, and the pilot's return, India's political temperature had cooled. The Cabinet Committee on Security decided to send India's high commissioner back to Pakistan, signalling a shift towards diplomacy. "I arrived in Islamabad on 10 March, 22 days after leaving in the wake of Pulwama. The most serious military exchange since Kargil had run its course in less than a month," Mr Bisaria writes, "India was willing to give old-fashioned diplomacy another chance.... This, with India having achieved a strategic and military objective and Pakistan having claimed a notion of victory for its domestic audience." Mr Bisaria described it as a "testing and fascinating time" to be a diplomat. This time, he notes, the key difference is that the targets were Indian civilians, and the attack occurred "ironically, when the situation in Kashmir had dramatically improved". He views escalation as inevitable, but notes there's also a "de-escalation instinct alongside the escalation instinct". When the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meets during such conflicts, he says, their decisions weigh the conflict's economic impact and seek measures that hurt Pakistan without triggering a backlash against India. "The body language and optics are similar [this time]," he says, but highlights what he sees as the most significant move: India's threat to annul the Indus Waters Treaty. "If India acts on this, it would have long-term, serious consequences for Pakistan." "Remember, we're still in the middle of a crisis," says Mr Bisaria. "We haven't yet seen any kinetic [military] action." The child who identified the Mumbai terror attacker
BBC News
03-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
India and Pakistan face conflict again - how did they de-escalate in the past?
Last week's deadly militant attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, which claimed 26 civilian lives, has reignited a grim sense of déjà vu for India's security forces and is familiar ground. In 2016, after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in Uri, India launched "surgical strikes" across the Line of Control – the de facto border between India and Pakistan - targeting militant 2019, the Pulwama bombing, which left 40 Indian paramilitary personnel dead, prompted airstrikes deep into Balakot - the first such action inside Pakistan since 1971 - sparking retaliatory raids and an aerial before that, the horrific 2008 Mumbai attacks - a 60-hour siege on hotels, a railway station, and a Jewish centre - claimed 166 time, India has held Pakistan-based militant groups responsible for the attacks, accusing Islamabad of tacitly supporting them - a charge Pakistan has consistently 2016, and especially after the 2019 airstrikes, the threshold for escalation has shifted dramatically. Cross-border and aerial strikes by India have become the new norm, provoking retaliation from Pakistan. This has further intensified an already volatile again, experts say, India finds itself walking the tightrope between escalation and restraint - a fragile balance of response and deterrence. One person who understands this recurring cycle is Ajay Bisaria, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan during the Pulwama attack, who captured its aftermath in his memoir, Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan. "There are striking parallels between the aftermath of the Pulwama bombing and the killings in Pahalgam," Mr Bisaria told me on Thursday, 10 days after the latest he notes, Pahalgam marks a shift. Unlike Pulwama and Uri, which targeted security forces, this attack struck civilians - tourists from across India - evoking memories of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. "This attack carries elements of Pulwama, but much more of Mumbai," he explains."We're once again in a conflict situation, and the story is unfolding in much the same way," Mr Bisaria says.A week after the latest attack, Delhi moved quickly with retaliatory measures: closing the main border crossing, suspending a key water-sharing treaty, expelling diplomats, and halting most visas for Pakistani nationals - who were given days to leave. Troops on both sides have exchanged intermittent small-arms fire across the border in recent also barred all Pakistani aircraft - commercial and military - from its airspace, mirroring Islamabad's earlier move. Pakistan retaliated with its own visa suspensions and suspended a 1972 peace treaty with India. (Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but administered in parts by each, has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed nations since their partition in 1947.) In his memoir, Mr Bisaria recounts India's response after the Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019. He was summoned to Delhi the morning after, as the government moved quickly to halt trade - revoking Pakistan's most-favoured-nation status, granted in 1996. In the following days, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) imposed a 200% customs duty on Pakistani goods, effectively ending imports, and suspended trade at the land border at Bisaria notes that a broader set of measures was also proposed to scale down engagement with Pakistan, most of which were subsequently included suspending a cross-border train known as the Samjhauta Express, and a bus service linking Delhi and Lahore; deferring talks between border guards on both sides and negotiations over the historic Kartarpur corridor to one of Sikhism's holiest shrines, halting visa issuance, ceasing cross border, banning Indian travel to Pakistan, and suspending flights between the two countries."How hard it was to build trust, I thought. And how easy was it to break it," Mr Bisaria writes."All the confidence-building measures planned, negotiated, and implemented over years in this difficult relationship, could be slashed off on a yellow notepad in minutes."The strength of the Indian high commission in Islamabad was reduced from 110 to 55 after Pulwama. (It now stands at 30 after the Pahalgam attack.) India also launched a diplomatic offensive. A day after the attack, then foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale briefed envoys from 25 countries - including the US, UK, China, Russia, and France - on the role of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the Pakistan-based militant group behind the bombing, and accused Pakistan of using terrorism as state policy. JeM, designated a terrorist organisation by India, the UN, the UK, and the US, had claimed responsibility for the bombing. India's diplomatic offensive continued on 25 February, 10 days after the attack, pushing for JeM chief Masood Azhar's designation as a terrorist by the UN sanctions committee and inclusion on the EU's "autonomous terror list".While there was pressure to abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty - a key river water sharing agreement - India opted instead to withhold any data beyond treaty obligations, Mr Bisaria writes. A total of 48 bilateral agreements were reviewed for possible suspension. An all-party meeting was convened in Delhi, resulting in a unanimous resolution. At the same time, communication channels remained open - including the hotline between the two countries' Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO), a key link for military-to-military contact, as well as both high commissions. In 2019, as now, Pakistan said the attack was a "false-flag operation".Much like this time a crackdown in Kashmir saw the arrest of over 80 "overground workers" - local supporters who may have provided logistical help, shelter, and intelligence to militants from the Pakistan-based group. Rajnath Singh, then Indian home minister, visited Jammu and Kashmir, and dossiers on the attack and suspected perpetrators were a meeting with the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Mr Bisaria told her that "that India's diplomatic options in dealing with a terrorist attack of this nature was limited"."She gave me the impression that some tough action was round the corner, after which, I should expect the role of diplomacy to expand," Mr Bisaria writes. On 26 February, Indian airstrikes - its first across the international border since 1971 - targeted JeM's training camp in hours later, the Indian foreign secretary announced the strikes had killed "a very large number" of militants and commanders. Pakistan swiftly denied the claim. More high-level meetings followed in Delhi. The crisis escalated dramatically the next morning, 27 February, when Pakistan launched retaliatory air the ensuing dogfight, an Indian fighter jet was shot down, and its pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, ejected and landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Captured by Pakistani forces, his detention in enemy territory triggered a wave of national concern and further heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed Bisaria writes India activated multiple diplomatic channels, with US and UK envoys pressing Islamabad. The Indian message was "any attempt by Pakistan to escalate situation further or to cause harm to the pilot would lead to escalation by India."Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan announced the pilot's release on 28 February, with the handover occurring on 1 March under prisoner of war protocol. Pakistan presented the move as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at de-escalating 5 March, with the dust settling from Pulwama, Balakot, and the pilot's return, India's political temperature had cooled. The Cabinet Committee on Security decided to send India's high commissioner back to Pakistan, signalling a shift towards diplomacy."I arrived in Islamabad on 10 March, 22 days after leaving in the wake of Pulwama. The most serious military exchange since Kargil had run its course in less than a month," Mr Bisaria writes,"India was willing to give old-fashioned diplomacy another chance.... This, with India having achieved a strategic and military objective and Pakistan having claimed a notion of victory for its domestic audience." Mr Bisaria described it as a "testing and fascinating time" to be a diplomat. This time, he notes, the key difference is that the targets were Indian civilians, and the attack occurred "ironically, when the situation in Kashmir had dramatically improved".He views escalation as inevitable, but notes there's also a "de-escalation instinct alongside the escalation instinct". When the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meets during such conflicts, he says, their decisions weigh the conflict's economic impact and seek measures that hurt Pakistan without triggering a backlash against India."The body language and optics are similar [this time]," he says, but highlights what he sees as the most significant move: India's threat to annul the Indus Waters Treaty. "If India acts on this, it would have long-term, serious consequences for Pakistan.""Remember, we're still in the middle of a crisis," says Mr Bisaria. "We haven't yet seen any kinetic [military] action."
