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Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
US has to have relationship with Pakistan, India: American general
General Michael Kurilla emphasized the necessity of the United States maintaining relationships with both Pakistan and India, dismissing the notion of an exclusive alliance. He highlighted Pakistan's crucial role in counterterrorism efforts, particularly against ISIS Khorasan, citing instances of intelligence sharing and the extradition of key ISIS-K operatives. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The United States has to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India, a top US general has said, noting that it cannot be a "binary switch" where Washington cannot have ties with Islamabad if it has relations with New Army General Michael Kurilla , Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), made the comments during a testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday."We have to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can't have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India," Kurilla said. "We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has." ISIS Khorasan (ISIS K) is perhaps one of the most active in trying to do external plots globally to include against the homeland. The Taliban is going after ISIS K - they hate each other, and have pushed a lot of them into the tribal areas on the Afghan-Pakistan border," he said at the full Committee Hearing on 'US Military Posture and National Security Challenges AFRICOM + CENTCOM.'"Through a phenomenal partnership with Pakistan, they have gone after ISIS Khorasan, killing dozens of them. Through a relationship we have with them providing intelligence, they have captured at least five ISIS Khorasan high value individuals."He said they extradited ISIS-K terrorist Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as "Jafar," to face charges for his role in the August 26, 2021 Abbey Gate bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul that killed 13 United States military service members and about 160 added that he was the first person Pakistan's then Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir had called and had said 'I've caught him. I'm willing to extradite him back to the United States. Please tell the Secretary of Defence and the President'.""So we are seeing Pakistan, with limited intelligence that we're providing them, go after them, using their means to do that, and we're seeing an effect on ISIS-K""The ISIS-K terrorists are continuing to move around and sometimes they'll try and go back into Afghanistan.... ... for the most part right now, they're hanging out right in that border area of Pakistan," he is "in an active counterterrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world," the top general comments came days after an all-party Indian Parliamentary delegation visited the US to convey India's strong resolve to combat terrorism emanating from Pakistan in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
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First Post
29-05-2025
- Business
- First Post
India-Pakistan ceasefire: Now US trumpets Trump's claim in court while defending his tariffs
Top officials of US President Donald Trump once again took the credit of India-Pakistan ceasefire as they presented defence to Trump's trade tariffs read more Students of an art school and their teacher carry a hand-drawn portrait of the US President Donald Trump as they celebrate the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, in Mumbai, May 10, 2025. AP While defending the sweeping trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, top officials in the White House told the US federal court that Trump tariffs helped broker a 'fragile ceasefire' between India and Pakistan . In a statement to the US Court of International Trade, White House officials argued that limiting the executive power of the President of the United States (POTUS) would jeopardise regional security. It is pertinent to note that India has maintained that New Delhi and Islamabad came to an understanding of a ceasefire only through bilateral means, acknowledging that the US delegations held talks with both nations and nothing more than that. In their argument, Trump's top aides said that blocking the trade tariffs would weaken Washington's ability to negotiate trade deals globally and undermine their strategic use as diplomatic tools. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD According to The Independent, trade representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio submitted statements to the court in support of the Trump tariffs last week. All of them argued that Trump imposed the tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The US once again takes credit for the India-Pakistan ceasefire The Trump officials were presenting these arguments in response to a lawsuit filed by small businesses, claiming losses from Trump's trade policies. In his statement to the court, Lutnick claimed that Trump tariffs helped the US mediate the conflict between India and Pakistan following four days of military escalation earlier this month. 'A ruling that narrows IEEPA would have ripple effects across every domain in which economic instruments are used for strategic effect,' Lutnick said in his statement as per the Friday court filing. 'This ceasefire was only achieved after President Trump interceded and offered both nations trading access with the United States to avert a full-scale war." 'An adverse ruling that constrains presidential power in this case could lead India and Pakistan to question the validity of President Trump's offer, threatening the security of an entire region and the lives of millions," he added. While Pakistan has acknowledged the US's role in mediating a ceasefire, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has maintained that both nations came to an understanding of a truce only after direct talks initiated by the Pakistani army. India has firmly rejected any form of international mediation. Tensions between the two nuclear-powered nations reached an all-time high following the Pahalgam terror attack that led to the deaths of 26 tourists in Kashmir. Two weeks after the attack, India launched Operation Sindoor , conducting precise strikes over nine terror camps in Pakistan. This eventually led to further military escalations between the two neighbouring nations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The China question In his statement, the commerce secretary also claimed that the Trump tariffs eventually persuaded China to lower levies on US goods , marking a diplomatic win. 'The increased tariff rate against China applied additional pressure to achieve the foreign policy objective of bringing China, the greatest contributor to the national emergency and a well-known strategic adversary, to the negotiating table,' he said. He insisted that the invalidation of the president's ability to use IEEPA would 'dismantle a cornerstone of his national security architecture," Lutnick noted that the ruling would 'irreparably harm the government's ability to respond to evolving foreign threats' and severely disrupt the commerce department 'coordination of foreign policy-related economic actions on behalf of the president'. 'The imposition of IEEPA tariffs signals to foreign governments that certain conduct, whether economic predation, trade manipulation, or narcotics trafficking, will incur serious consequences. Diluting this authority would not only unravel the current IEEPA actions but also would undermine future deterrence,' he averred. Lutnick closed his argument by stating that the Trump tariffs enabled the US to reach a trade deal with the UK and noted that similar deals are in the pipeline. All in vain Despite all these arguments, a federal court in New York blocked Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on Wednesday. The ruling was delivered by a three-judge panel, arguing that the tariffs left the American economy in chaos. 'The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation using tariffs,' the court wrote, referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The court does not pass upon the wisdom or likely effectiveness of the president's use of tariffs as leverage. That use is impermissible not because it is unwise or ineffective, but because [federal law] does not allow it,' a three-judge panel said in the decision. Following the judgment, reports are emerging that the Trump administration has filed a notice of appeal. Not only this, but White House officials also issued public statements challenging the court's authority.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Called Indira Ji Durga': Harivansh slams Rahul Gandhi for remarks over Operation Sindoor, cites Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 1971 example
NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh on Friday advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to exercise caution in his remarks questioning the Centre and the armed forces over Operation Sindoor. Harivansh cited the example of Atal Bihari Vajpayee , who did not protest against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the 1971 war with Pakistan. "There cannot be a more shocking, sad, and uninformative statement than this. This is the time when we all should stand together," Rajya Sabha deputy chairman said. "When the 1971 war took place, it was widely publicised that Atal Ji called Indira Ji 'Durga'. The reality was that Atal Ji did not say that, but he also did not protest at that time. Today, the situation is such that the whole country has to stand united... Pakistan's DGMO called our DGMO for a ceasefire. Pakistan's DGMO surrendered, and we are not ready to listen to our army. Former NSA Shivshankar Menon's book mentions that after the Mumbai attack in 2008, where 166 people were killed, there was silence—whose government was in power then?" he added. Harivansh also reminded Rahul that the UPA government allegedly hid the news of terrorists beheading a soldier near the Pakistan border, while then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama. "Brahma Chellaney wrote in 2013 that terrorists beheaded our soldiers in the Keran sector near the Pakistan border. At that time, the Prime Minister was in America and was to meet then US President Obama. This news was hidden from the country," Harivansh said. "Do not go into the past, otherwise I will mention 2,500 incidents from 2004 to 2014. There were thousands of such occasions when you should have taken action, but did not," he added. This comes after Rahul Gandhi, in a social media post, claimed that India's foreign policy has collapsed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to explain why India has been hyphenated with Pakistan, and who asked U.S. President Donald Trump to "mediate" between the two South Asian neighbours. This follows Rahul's claim that the Centre informed Pakistan "at the start" of Operation Sindoor and stated that this was not a "lapse" but a "crime." On May 17, Rahul shared an undated video of Jaishankar in which the minister is heard saying that "India had warned Pakistan before launching strikes" on terror infrastructure. The MEA clarified that the government had warned Pakistan during the "early phase after Operation Sindoor's commencement," not before it began. It noted that Jaishankar had said, "We had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor's commencement." "This is being falsely represented as a warning issued before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out," the ministry added. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, targeting terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
