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India Gazette
a day ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
China optimistic on diplomatic relations with India Ambassador
Beijings envoy has expressed confidence in revitalizing bilateral ties with New Delhi Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong has expressed optimism for strong diplomatic relations between the two nations. Speaking to reporters on Sunday in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, Xu noted that the millennia of shared history between the two nations brings them beyond simple neighbourly relations. "China and India have been civilisations for so long. We have such close cultural and historical interactions. So, why shouldn't we have good relations in the coming years," Xu said. Though tensions and mistrust remain, he emphasized that genuine progress necessitates more than high-level diplomacy. "It's not only up to the governments," he was quoted by the Times of India as saying. Ambassador Xu's statements come against the backdrop of Beijing's recent overtures to New Delhi, to open up economic and people-to-people relations. The Asian giants have made efforts to reset ties Oover the last year, after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash along their disputed Himalayan border, in which soldiers from both sides were killed. After extended military and diplomatic discussions, New Delhi and Beijing announced in October last year that they had reached an agreement on disengagement from areas of tension and would work towards normalizing their relations. Theannouncementwas made on the eve of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, where Chinese President Xi Jingping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a comprehensive bilateral meeting, marking their first such engagement in almost five years. In Kolkata on Sunday, Xu emphasized the importance of various groups, including think-tanks, universities, and students, as well as ordinary citizens from both sides, in fostering a positive relationship. He also highlighted the crucial understanding between Xi and Modi, which focuses on strengthening ties and keeping lines of communication open. In April, Xi pointed out that China and India are both ancient civilizations, major developing countries, and key members of the Global South, with both currently at a crucial stage in their modernization efforts. As a step towards the normalization of relations, Indian pilgrims will be allowed to visit a pilgrimage sites of religious significance to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists at Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet, after a gap of five years. Beijing has also called on New Delhi to restart direct flights between mainland India and China, as well as to ease visa procedures for Chinese nationals. (
India Gazette
4 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Modi inaugurates worlds highest rail bridge in Kashmir
The crossing is part of a new train line connecting the region to the rest of India for the first time Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated two railway bridges that are a part of a new link connecting the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. It is the first time he has been to the region since the deadly Pahalgam attack on tourists, which triggered a diplomatic and military clash between New Delhi and Islamabad. During his speech on Friday, Modi highlighted the importance of developing Kashmir's infrastructure. The region has been a point of contention between India and Pakistan for decades. The prime minister opened the Chenab bridge - labeled by Indian authorities the world's highest railway bridge - and Anji bridge, India's first cable-stayed rail bridge. Both are parts of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Line project, a 272-kilometer long railway link that Modi hailed as Jammu and Kashmir's "new strength" and a "testament to India's growing capabilities." The Chenab bridge, built over the river of the same name, towers 359 meters above the riverbed and rises 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower. It was constructed at an estimated cost of approximately $173 million, according to the official statement. The Anji bridge, a cable-stayed railway bridge constructed in a difficult Himalayan terrain, is 331 meters high and is anchored by 96 high tensile cables. The total length of the cables used in the bridge is 653 kilometers, the statement noted. Modi also announced new trains would run between Jammu's capital Srinagar, and Katra, where Vaishno Devi temple, one of the most visited and revered Hindu pilgrimage sites in India, is located. It marks the completion of a 42-year-old project to link Kashmir with the rest of the country via railway. A test run on his route was carried out by the railway authorities in December last year. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link running through the rugged Himalayas was built at a cost of nearly $5 billion. It includes 36 tunnels spanning 119 kilometers and 943 bridges that allow travel through valleys and mountain passes by train, while previously connectivity in the region was only possible using dangerous roads or by air. The dedication of the rail link "marks a new chapter in mobility, trade and tourism for Jammu and Kashmir," New Delhi said. (
India Gazette
4 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Trump threatens to sanction both Russia and Ukraine
The US president has said he would act if a peace deal proves impossible, adding that the deadline is in his brain US President Donald Trump has signaled that Washington could impose sanctions on both Russia and Ukraine if the conflict between the two nations does not come to an end. Trump has thus far declined to commit to new sanctions on Russia, despite weeks of pressure from European leaders, saying only that he would act when the time felt right - and that moment had not yet come. He has also expressed concern that levying new restrictions could jeopardize peace talks between Moscow and Kiev. During a meeting at the White House with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, Trump said he would decide when to act if it became clear that a peace deal could not be reached, noting that "it's in my brain, the deadline." He suggested he'd be willing to apply restrictions on both Russia and Ukraine, warning that "we'll be very, very, very tough, and it could be on both countries to be honest." READ MORE: Lavrov and Rubio discuss Ukrainian attacks on Russia "You know, it takes two to tango," the US president added. Trump likened the Ukraine conflict to "two children fighting in a park." He also said a sanctions bill moving through the US Senate would be "guided by me," but suggested it might be better to let Russia and Ukraine continue fighting "for a while" before "pulling them apart." The US president was referring to legislation backed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime Russia hawk and Trump ally, that would impose a 500% tariff on countries that buy Russian energy, uranium, and other raw materials - measures aimed chiefly at India and China. Trump's statement comes as Kiev has ramped up attacks on Russian territory, including a UAV strike on several Russian airbases and recent acts of railway sabotage in Bryansk and Kursk regions, which claimed the lives of seven people and left scores injured. Moscow has accused Kiev of orchestrating a series of violent incidents aimed at undermining peace talks. Russia has also claimed that Trump is receiving "filtered" information about the Ukraine conflict from those pushing Washington toward supporting Kiev. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it is carrying out strikes on Ukrainian military-linked installations in response to Kiev's increased drone attacks on Russian civilian targets. In a previously unannounced phone conversation on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed his US counterpart that Kiev's recent attacks were intended to derail direct talks with Moscow, the second round of which took place in Istanbul on Monday. Revealing details of the phone call, which he described as "a good conversation," Trump said that the Russian president "did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields." (
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Pakistan has lost thousands of lives to terrorists official
Over the past decade and half, the country has suffered from extremism, the PMs adviser on foreign affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi told RT Pakistan has lost 90,000 people to terrorists over the past 15 years, Syed Tariq Fatemi, special assistant on foreign affairs to the country's prime minister, has told RT. Fatemi emphasized that the Pakistani government is determined to counter terrorism and has made it clear to its neighbors that they must prevent such extremists from entering the country. "We have lost over a billion and a half US dollars in terms of the damage that they have done," he told RT in an exclusive interview. The diplomat was in Moscow earlier this week to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and brief him on Islamabad's view of the current situation in Indo-Pakistan relations. Speaking about theApril 22 attackin Pahalgam, Kashmir, that killed 26 people, mainly tourists, Fatemi re-iterated that Pakistan denies having any involvement in the attack, refuting New Delhi's claim. The region has been the epicenter of a long-standing dispute between the two neighboring countries since their independence from Britain. The terrorist attack prompted a military response from India, which conducted air strikes on what it alleged wereterrorist basesin Pakistan. After a four-day escalation, the two nuclear-armed nations announced aceasefire on May 10. Fatemi claimed that it would be impossible for terrorists to cross from Pakistan into Indian-administered Kashmir without being detected, given the heavy presence of the Indian military in the area. "They would need to be superhumans," he noted. READ MORE: As India and Pakistan eye each other, this superpower eyes the whole map The political adviser drew parallels to a similar incident that occurred in the 1990s, when Pakistan was accused of collusion in a terrorist attack during the administration of former US President Bill Clinton, before his scheduled visit to India. "From past experience, whenever a very prominent foreign leader would visit India, something like this would take place," he said, adding that former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright later hinted in her book that the attack had been a false flag operation and that Pakistan had had nothing to do with it. The senior adviser also expressed appreciation for theWhite House's effortsto broker a ceasefire between the two countries, citing US President Donald Trump's directive to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to speak with leaders in both New Delhi and Islamabad. "The US Secretary of State suggested that Pakistan should agree to a ceasefire, which is what the Indians wanted. So we said, 'fine'," he explained. Notably, India denied Washington's role in the ceasefire, maintaining that the decision was achieved bilaterally - at the initiative of Pakistan. width="560" height="315" src=" frameborder="0" > (
India Gazette
27-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
US senator pushes mega-tariffs on Russias partners
Sanctions helping Ukraine would restore Americas global standing, Lindsey Graham has claimed US Senator Lindsey Graham has claimed that his plan to hit Russia's trade partners with 500% tariffs would help President Donald Trump push Moscow towards a peace deal with Ukraine. At the same time, this would rebuild America's reputation after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan under Joe Biden, Graham said. Graham, a longtime foreign policy hawk and Trump ally, is backing legislation that would impose a 500% tariff on countries that buy Russian energy, uranium, and other raw materials - measures aimed chiefly at India and China. The senator linked the situation to Afghanistan in an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal on Monday, described as "a message" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "America's shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan didn't merely damage our reputation; it set in motion aggression across the world," the South Carolina Republican wrote. "If the US continues to lead decisively on bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to an end, that could change. Mr. Trump can restore our reputation - and end the bloodbath." Biden's handling of the 2021 exit from Afghanistan, which included the swift collapse of American-trained local forces and the Taliban's return to power in Kabul, has remained a frequent line of attack from Republicans. Critics have warned that Trump could make a similar blunder as he seeks to mediate an agreement between Moscow and Kiev. The president has claimed that the Ukraine conflict would not have broken out had he been in office instead of Biden. Graham's commentary responded to a recent editorial from the Wall Street Journal's board, which urged Trump not to distance himself from the conflict. "It's pure fantasy to imagine that Mr. Trump can 'walk away' and let Mr. Putin win without damaging consequences," the newspaper wrote, accusing Trump of "acting like the war is someone else's problem." READ MORE: Everything out of Zelenskys mouth causes problems Trump Kiev and its European backers have called for additional sanctions after Moscow rejected a Ukrainian demand for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire - an idea viewed in Russia as an attempt by Kiev to gain unilateral military advantage. Russian officials are currently working on a peace framework that could set the stage for an eventual halt in fighting. (
