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Times of Oman
3 days ago
- Business
- Times of Oman
MEA refutes Bangladesh's allegation "Indian media delegitimises transitional leadership"
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday refuted Bangladesh's chief adviser Mohammad Yunus's claims that "Indian media delegitimises transitional leadership." Speaking in a weekly briefing on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed Bangladesh's accusations of Indian interference as an attempt to deflect attention from internal issues. "As far as the government there is concerned, the responsibility for law and order and governance issues lies entirely with that government," Jaiswal said. "When statements of this sort come, it seems like you want to deflect in another direction from your own challenges related to governance there -- and to blame others by saying that these extraneous issues caused by others are the reason for these problems -- does not solve the issue," he added. Bangladesh's Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus, alleged that external factors, including India, might be behind efforts to destabilise the country. Yunus stated that there were "relentless efforts to destabilise Bangladesh" both internally and externally, leading to a "war-like situation." Sharing some links of articles on X, Yunus wrote, "these articles are part of a coordinated disinformation campaign propagated by segments of the Indian right-wing media aiming to delegitimise Bangladesh's transitional leadership." The MEA spokesperson also urged Bangladesh to hold an inclusive, free, and fair election at an early date to ascertain the people's will and mandate. Jaiswal stated, "On Bangladesh, we have articulated our position very clearly, as far as elections in Bangladesh are concerned, and we have done so consistently. Bangladesh needs to ascertain the will and mandate of the people by holding an inclusive, fair and free election at an early date." Yunus has announced plans to hold elections between December 2025 and June 30, 2026, and has assured that he will not stay in power beyond that date. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has expressed unease over the continuation of the interim government and has demanded that elections be held by December this year. The political landscape in Bangladesh remains tense, with differing opinions on the election timeline and the role of the interim government. Local media reported on Thursday that Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman has expressed a desire that national elections be held by December this year, amidst ongoing political unrest and the interim government's failure to announce a clear roadmap for the next parliamentary elections. Several political parties, including Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have been demanding parliamentary elections by December. However, the National Citizens Party (NCP), a new party led by students who overthrew Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, wants fundamental reforms before the elections. Further, Jaiswal noted that India wants a "positive and constructive relationship" with Bangladesh. "I would like to underline once again that we have approached our issues and our relationship with Bangladesh. We want a positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh, one anchored in meeting the aspirations and the interests of the people of both sides," he said. Regarding recent developments in Bangladesh, including cancelling a USD 180 million defense deal, Jaiswal said, "India and Bangladesh have several defence cooperation initiatives under implementation. Regarding any specific example you asked, I will be glad to revert to you after ascertaining more details on this issue." On Bangladesh's efforts to build a humanitarian corridor with Myanmar, Jaiswal mentioned that "India follows such developments closely." Recently, the interim government in Bangladesh proposed the creation of a humanitarian corridor into Myanmar's Rakhine State. On April 27, Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said Bangladesh's interim government agrees in principle, subject to conditions, to the United Nations' proposal to create a humanitarian corridor through Bangladesh to send aid to Myanmar's Rakhine, Dhaka Tribune reported. While speaking to reporters at Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 27, Hossain said, "According to the United Nations' proposal, Bangladesh has agreed to allow a humanitarian corridor to Rakhine. It will be a humanitarian passage. However, we have certain conditions. I will not go into details. If the conditions are met, we will certainly assist." "A large population from Myanmar has taken refuge in our country, and we want to repatriate them. We must do whatever is necessary to facilitate their return," Dhaka Tribune quoted him. He said that the entire border is under the control of a non-state actor and there is no control of Myanmar's central government there. "The entire border is now under the control of a non-state actor. There is no control of Myanmar's central government there. Therefore, for our own interests, some form of communication is necessary-- although we cannot formally communicate with the non-state actor, it will not be possible for us to stay entirely disconnected even if we want to," he said.
Russia Today
4 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Bangladesh's interim leader accuses Indian media of spreading ‘disinformation'
The chief adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, has accused Indian media of 'spreading false and misleading propaganda' regarding an alleged rift between his administration and the military. In a social media post on Tuesday, Yunus called the media reports 'wholly inaccurate and irresponsible.' 'These articles are part of a coordinated disinformation campaign propagated by segments of the Indian right-wing media aiming to delegitimize Bangladesh's transitional leadership,' he wrote. Recently, several Indian mainstream media outlets have been persistently spreading false and misleading propaganda involving the Bangladesh Army and the Chief Advisor of the interim government. This disinformation campaign has also proliferated widely on social media platforms,… The interim government headed by Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, came to power in August last year after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign following weeks of violent protests. Hasina has resided in India since then. While Yunus accused Indian media of spreading 'disinformation,' speculation about a growing rift between him and the military, as well as political parties in the country, was initially published by Bangladeshi media and international outlets. The reports suggest there is discontent over a delay in holding elections. Yunus has repeatedly said that elections will be held in 2026, as the country needs reforms first. Tensions between the interim administration reportedly intensified last week. According to a report by the Daily Star, General Waker told a high-level gathering at Dhaka Cantonment that 'Bangladesh needs political stability. This is only possible through an elected government, not by unelected decision-makers.' The military also reportedly opposes the interim government's pursuit of a UN-backed initiative to facilitate a humanitarian corridor into Myanmar's Rakhine State before holding elections. 'There will be no corridor. The sovereignty of Bangladesh is not negotiable,' Waker was quoted by the newspaper as saying. 'Only a political government elected by the people can make such decisions,' he said. The project, according to Bangladeshi commentators, could undermine Bangladesh's security and sovereignty, and has been questioned by residents of regions bordering Myanmar. On April 27, Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain announced that Bangladesh had agreed in principle to support the corridor, contingent on certain conditions being met. The project was reportedly discussed by Yunus and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March, when Guterres visited Dhaka. This week, however, Yunus and the military leadership issued a series of statements refuting any 'conflict' between them. 'The government and the Bangladesh Army are working in close coordination and complementing each other. We follow the government's directives. There is no reason to interpret it otherwise,' the director of the Military Operations Directorate, Brig. Gen. Md Nazim-ud-Daula said on Monday, according to the Daily Star.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Old Turkey crash image falsely linked to South Asia conflict
"First photo of Pakistani fighter pilot captured by India," says an X post on May 9, 2025, which features a night time picture of a group of people standing in a field. "He was caught in Lathi near Jaisalmer. He is injured," the post adds, referring to a village in the northwestern Indian city. Around 70 people were killed during four days of intense fighting in May between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan, sparked by a deadly attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the assault, which Pakistan denies (archived link). A May 10 ceasefire ended the intense tit-for-tat drone, missile, aerial combat and artillery exchanges, and both sides have agreed to withdraw their troops back to peacetime positions by the end of the month. Similar claims appeared on X and Instagram, while several Indian news media articles featured the same image. However, there have been no official reports that a Pakistani military pilot was captured in Jaisalmer as of May 22. A reverse image search on Google found the picture published by photo agency Getty Images on December 12, 2016, credited to AFP (archived link). The photo's caption in AFP's archives reads: "Turkish military personnel arrive near a Turkish F16 war plane which crashed in Diyarbakir on December 12, 2016" (archived link). The country's military said the fighter jet crashed near an airport in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, but the pilot ejected safely, the caption also states. "The cause of the crash was not immediately known but the government said an investigation had been launched." The incident was also reported by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, which said the jet crashed during a training session (archived link). Pakistani media organisation Geo Fact Check debunked similar claims about the photo (archived link). AFP's fact-checks of misinformation triggered by the recent conflict between Pakistan and India can be found here.
Arab News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan rejects Indian media reports of radiation leak, warns against regional arms buildup
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's foreign office on Friday dismissed Indian media reports alleging radiation leaks during last week's conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors as 'preposterous,' while voicing concern over India's acquisition of advanced weaponry, calling it a threat to regional stability. The remarks came amid heightened tensions following a brief but intense military exchange that included missile and drone strikes. Some Indian media outlets speculated that Pakistani nuclear facilities were compromised during the hostilities, leading to potential radiation leaks. 'What I can say about radiation leakage in Pakistan is that these reports are absurd and preposterous,' foreign office spokesperson Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly news briefing. 'This is part of disinformation and fake news peddled by Indian media, which has distinguished itself recently with blatant lies and fabrication.' 'As a responsible nuclear weapon state,' he added, 'Pakistan categorically rejects this irresponsible reporting with the contempt it deserves. India will be well advised to check such manufactured falsehoods and stop the fall of its media to new low.' Some recent reports have also quoted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as saying 'no radiation leak or release from any nuclear facility in Pakistan' had occurred, dismissing the Indian media claims as unfounded. Ambassador Khan also criticized India's military posture during the news briefing, saying New Delhi's ambitions were destabilizing the region. 'India is pursuing aggressive, or rather hegemonic policy in the region, and its defense budget reflects that,' he said. 'We remain concerned about the acquisition and procurement of advanced weaponry by India which creates security imbalance in the region.' 'At the same time, we remain mindful of the threat,' he added. 'We are prepared and we are ready, and our forces remain ready to deal with the challenges.' The recent India-Pakistan standoff, which lasted several days, saw both nations engage in conventional military operations, including missile and drone strikes. A ceasefire was brokered and announced on May 10, though the potential for escalation between the two nuclear-armed nations persists.
Arab News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Indian state encouraging ‘disinformation' to create pretext for aggression against Pakistan — FO
ISLAMABAD: The foreign office on Friday accused the Indian state of encouraging 'disinformation' by its media to create a pretext for further aggression toward Pakistan and 'exploit misinformation for political and military ends.' As hostilities rose this week between India and Pakistan and they engaged in the worst fighting in decades, a wave of online disinformation on both sides is risking further inflaming passions and escalating the conflict in an electronic fog of war. On May 6, multiple Indian news channels uploaded a widely shared video from Gaza showing a series of massive explosions and people running helter-skelter, with captions claiming it was footage of Indian air strikes against Pakistani targets. Even India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party shared a collage of nine videos on May 7, claiming they were of India's strikes on Pakistan. Boom, an Indian fact-checking organization, found that the first clip was from Iran's October 2024 strikes on Israel and the third was from Israel's air strikes on Gaza from October 2023. Indian media outlets have over the past 24 hours claimed that Delhi has damaged or destroyed Pakistan's main port in Karachi, captured the Pakistani capital of Islamabad and militants had taken over the southwestern city of Quetta. India media has also said Pakistan attacked multiple locations in parts of Indian-administered Kashmir and mainland India, reports Islamabad has rejected as 'reckless.' 'The conduct of Indian media last night [Thursday] was extremely irresponsible and jingoistic, and frankly, disinformation is one thing, but the conduct of Indian media yesterday was indeed farcical, encouraged by the Indian state,' the foreign office spokesman said in a weekly press briefing. 'Repeated pattern of leveling accusations against Pakistan without any credible investigation reflects a deliberate strategy to manufacture a pretext for aggression and to further destabilize the region. Such actions not only further endanger regional peace but also reveal a disturbing willingness to exploit misinformation for political and military ends.' There has been misinformation on the Pakistani side too. After India said it had struck 'terror camps' at nine sites inside Pakistan, a years-old video resurfaced on social media that falsely claimed it depicted explosions at an Indian ammunition depot targeted by Pakistani forces. The footage has in fact appeared in news reports about a fire near an army garrison in the Pakistani city of Sialkot in March 2022. Social media users also shared an old clip falsely claiming it showed wreckage of an Indian warplane shot down by Pakistani troops. The video showed a fighter jet that crashed in western India after its pilots reported a technical snag. A division of the Pakistani Economy Ministry denied Friday that it had appealed to its international partners 'for more loans after heavy losses inflected by enemy' in a now-deleted post on X. Officials said the account had been hacked. Meanwhile, New Delhi ordered X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company's local employees. 'The orders include demands to block access in India to accounts belonging to international news organizations and prominent X users,' X's Global Government Affairs team said on its account, adding it was unable to publish the executive orders at this time due to 'legal restrictions.' 'The Indian government has not specified which posts from an account have violated India's local laws. For a significant number of accounts, we did not receive any evidence or justification to block the accounts.' The platform said it disagreed with the Indian government's demands, describing the blockade of accounts as 'contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.' 'X is exploring all possible legal avenues available to the company,' it said. 'We encourage all users who are impacted by these blocking orders to seek appropriate relief from the courts.' With inputs from AFP and Reuters.
