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India Gazette
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
ABVP demands action against Cochin University B Tech Alumni Association for hosting Pak cricketers in Dubai
Kochi (Kerala) [India], May 31 (ANI): The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has demanded strong action against the Cochin University B Tech Alumni Association (CUBAA) members for hosting Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul at a public event in Dubai last week. In an email memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ABVP Kerala State Secretary EU Eswaraprasad on Thursday called for immediate intervention, alleging that the event extended honour and hospitality to individuals known for anti-India rhetoric. In a letter to PM Modi, ABVP said, 'This is to bring to your attention an event that took place in the UAE, which is of anti-national interest. On 2025 May 25, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala alumni group named Cochin University BTech Alumni Association- CUBAA, mainly operating in UAE, has given a Kerala model reception to Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Omar Gul in a program being organised on the stage provided by the Pakistan embassy.' 'Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul, who are notorious for their frequent anti-Indian remarks, were given a warm reception. The Pahalgam attack against Innocent Indian civilians by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists and the counter terrorism attack, Operation Sindoor, have made the country stay united against terrorism and the people who support it. It was not just a coincidence, but a well-planned propaganda. Pakistani media gave maximum publicity that the 'Indian community gives warm welcome to Shahid Afridi in Dubai.' 'They are trying to portray that the Government of India and the Indian community have different stands towards Pakistan. In this context, we request you to investigate the propaganda behind this act and to take stringent action on this matter. We request you to suspend the passports of all who are behind this act, who organised this event which was against our national interest,' the letter read. In a diplomatic outreach following Operation Sindoor, the PM Modi government has formed seven multi-party delegations to inform nations about Pakistan's links to terrorism and India's strong message of zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Seven all-party delegations are taking part in various outreach programmes in the countries they are assigned to. The delegations aim to brief international partners on India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders in France, the UK, Germany, the EU, Italy, and Denmark. The seven delegations are visiting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, the UK, France, Germany, the EU, Italy, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Singapore, the UAE, Liberia, Congo, Sierra Leone, the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, Russia, Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 as a decisive military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack by Pak-sponsored terrorists in which 26 people were killed. Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the death of over 100 terrorists affiliated with terror outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen. (ANI)
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First Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
India rewrites its security doctrine: Terrorism is now first step on an escalatory ladder
The challenge before India is to raise global consciousness about Pakistani terrorism so that it is pressurised to control it read more India's foreign policy and strategic planners have to take note of Pakistan's persistent efforts at building an anti-Indian narrative both at home and abroad, especially in the Islamic countries. The main planks of their story are: India is engaged in fomenting terrorism in Pakistan through its proxies the Balochi insurgent groups and the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan. This is being emphasised especially by the Pakistan army. (More on this later in this article) India did not give any proof to Pakistan or the world about the links to Pakistan about those who undertook the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Despite that it launched unprovoked military action against Pakistan. (This is incorrect. India has named 'The Resistance Front' an outfit of the Lashkar-e-Toiba to be responsible for the attack). Pakistan's defence forces got the better of India in the military engagement; hence, India approached the US to intervene to end the conflict. Pakistan agreed to do so in the interests of peace. (This is false. It was Pakistan that sought the cessation of hostilities0. Any military confrontation between nuclear countries carries with it the extreme danger of escalation to the level of a nuclear war with all its unimaginable consequences. (More on this later in the article) India's holding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance is contrary to its treaty obligations and is unacceptable to Pakistan which is critically dependent on the waters of the Indus Rivers system. (Pakistan cannot have it both ways; take advantage of the IWT and seek to damage India continuously). Pakistan wishes to have a dialogue with India which will have to include the Jammu and Kashmir issue, the Indus Waters trade and terrorism. This is the line being taken by Pakistan's civilian leadership. (India has made it clear that the dialogue will be on terrorism and Pakistan's return of Indian territory under its illegal control0. India is in a grip of war hysteria which is being promoted by the anti-minorities (especially the Muslims) BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Behind the government is the BJP's parent organisation the RSS which has always been virulently hostile towards Muslims and Islam. (India has countered these allegations but more needs to be done on this account). The international community must compel India to address the root causes of India-Pakistan problems so that international peace and security is maintained. These points are surely being made by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on his ongoing visit to some Islamic states. He has already been to Turkey and Iran and Azerbaijan and will be in Tajikistan on May 28-29. The recently and farcically promoted Asim Munir to the Field Marshal rank is accompanying Sharif on this trip. The clear object of his accompanying Sharif (though in terms of Pakistani reality it should be said to be the other way around) is to show that the country's military and civilian leaderships are on the same page on India, even if there are some differences in focus of the two, on issues of war and peace with India. In accompanying Shahbaz Sharif, the newly minted Field Marshal is perhaps setting a precedent because Pakistani army chiefs do not accompany Prime Ministers during their visits abroad. These points will also be made by the Parliamentary delegations that Pakistan has announced it will send to major world capitals. While some of these points are oft repeated by Pakistan, India has to focus especially on the stress the Pakistani army has been giving to India's so-called involvement in terrorism. It is essential to turn to the joint the media briefing held by Pakistan's Interior Secretary and the Director General of the Inter Services Press Relations (DG ISPR) on May 23 after the Khuzdar attack in which some children died to understand Pakistani propaganda against India on terrorism. The actual briefer was DG ISPR though the Interior Secretary made some points to show that military and the civilian government hold the same views. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Interior Secretary said inter alia, 'Our initial findings confirm that this attack [Khuzdar] is in continuity of wider pattern of violence sponsored by India through the Fitna al Hindustan operation under the tutelage and patronage of Indian agency RAW.' There are two points that need to be made straightaway. First, the Pakistani allegation that India is behind the Baloch insurgency is sheer nonsense. This is fifth insurgency since Pakistan amalgamated the state of Kalat and, in doing so, merged Baluchistan with it in 1947. The majority of the Baloch people have never accepted Pakistan and view the Pakistani army as an occupying force which has facilitated the massive exploitation of Baluchistan's natural resources especially for the benefit of Pakistan's only province that matters—Punjab. Second, the use of new term for the Baloch insurgent groups that has been coined by Pakistan is 'Fitna al Hindustan'. The word Fitna is of Arabic origin and has different meanings. It has been used in the Koran in different contexts. One of the connotations of Fitna is rebellion against legitimate political authority, including by heretics. By using this term for the Baloch insurgent groups Pakistan is seeking to give a religious colour to what is essentially a political matter. It is seeking to convey that the Baloch insurgent groups are heretics (those who have abandoned Islam) and are acting at the behest of India which, as noted earlier, the Pakistanis are propagating, is under the control of an anti-Muslim government. Clearly, Pakistan wishes that the Baloch insurgents and India are discredited in the eyes of the Islamic ummah. The term Fitna al Hindustan is also directed at the Afghan Taliban for Pakistan accuses it of permitting the Baloch groups the use of Afghanistan's territory as sanctuaries. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In this context it can be mentioned that since last year Pakistan has begun to call the TTP as 'Fitna al Khawarij'. Most Muslims use the Khawarij as a pejorative for those who, according to them, have deviated from the path of true Islam, and have rebelled against legitimate state authority. Thus, the connotation again is that the TTP consists of heretics who are taking the help of India. At least till now the use of this term for the TTP has not made any change in the interim Afghan Taliban government towards it. The DG ISPR used the media briefing which stretched for more than an hour and a half to try to make the point that India, after being frustrated by the 'failure' of its Operation Sindoor, had activated its proxies to intensify terrorist attacks in Pakistan and it was now targeting innocent and small children too. He claimed that Pakistan had given irrefutable evidence of Indian involvement in Balochistan to the Indian government. All this is of course Pakistani propaganda but Indian policymakers have to devise methods to refute this propaganda if and when they feel that it is beginning to make some impact in the major powers and Islamic countries that are well disposed towards India. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The international community recognises that Pakistan is engaged in using terror. However, terrorism does not resonate in a world which is pre-occupied in dealing with the upheavals caused by President Donald Trump in global geo-politics and geo-economics since he assumed office on January 20 for the second time. The challenge before India is to raise global consciousness about Pakistani terrorism so that it is pressurised to control it. The point made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India will not be cowed down by Pakistan's nuclear blackmail has to be co-related to its terror activities so that nuclear doctrine begins to recognise that the first step on an escalatory ladder is a terrorist attack and not a kinetic response to it. India's strategic thinkers and diplomats must emphatically spread this idea. The writer is a former Indian diplomat who served as India's Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, and as secretary, the Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Import curbs on Bangladesh haven't hit local consumers yet in Tripura, traders say
Tripura is yet to feel the pinch of India's import restrictions on neighbouring Bangladesh, as items such as fish, LPG, edible oil, and crushed stone do not fall under the purview of the curbs. Traders who deal in Bangladeshi imported items, like stone chips, food products, or fish, said that there is no shortage of any item as of now. India on Saturday placed restrictions on Bangladeshi products being exported to North-East India and overseas, in a reciprocal move given that Dhaka had been imposing non-tariff barriers on Indian exports to Bangladesh. A local departmental store owner said that different Bangladeshi food products – toast biscuits, packeted puffed rice, including other FMCG items, mainly those produced by Pran Group, are in stock with the local distributors. The Pran Group has a production factory at Bodhjungnagar industrial estate in West Tripura district, the place where the state government provided land and other facilities to different industrial units, as part of efforts to boost investments in the state. The store-owner said that most of his customers questioned why they would procure Bangladeshi products when anti-Indian statements have been made by the incumbent administration in Bangladesh since last year. A construction material supplier said that though currently there is no crisis of construction materials from Bangladesh, including stone chips and cement, the distributors hinted at a slight price hike of cement as the availability of fresh supplies might be difficult. 'There is no crisis of products till now. Some of the distributors were telling us recently that the price of the goods might go up. We told them that any sudden price hike would make it tough for us to replenish our stocks with products of Bangladesh,' said a supplier on condition of anonymity. The crisis of fish is also not visible in Battala and Lake Chowmuhani markets, as fish and other products were exempted from the restriction, said local fishermen. Reliable sources placed in the Akhaura Integrated Check Post (ICP), close to Agartala, said that since the announcement of restrictions, the import of beverages, processed food, etc, was immediately suspended. Last year, the northeastern state imported Rs 453 crore worth goods through the Akhaura ICP. Three days ago, a high-level meeting chaired by the director of Tripura's Industries and Commerce Department Shailesh Kumar Yadav was organised at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Agartala to discuss the implementation of the Central Government's new restrictions. In the meeting, Yadav said that items, including edible oil, fish, LPG and crushed stones would not come under restriction. The Border Security Force, Customs, Immigration, and other officials also attended the meeting. Trade representatives welcomed the move and committed to comply with the restriction. The meeting highlighted the concerns related to operation and procedures based on the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) order that restricted import of items including garments, plastic goods, wooden furniture, fruit drinks, processed food items through any LCSs/ICPs in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura and at Changrabandha and Fulbari in West Bengal. Reacting to the import restrictions, Opposition leader and CPI(M) politburo member Jitendra Chaudhury said the import restrictions through land ports would lead to loss for both countries in terms of bilateral economic transactions and employment. A report from the Industries and Commerce department released in the state Assembly this year stated that the volume of bilateral trade between Tripura and Bangladesh reduced from Rs 1008.40 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 715.98 crore in 2023-24. Of the Rs 1008.40 crore, the northeastern state imported Rs 767.00 crore goods that included different varieties of fish, LPG, cement, PVC door, PVC pipe, different types of drinks, wood, plastic materials, cotton waste etc., while the state exported Rs 241.40 worth goods including chips, lentils, dry chilly, ginger, cumin seeds etc. At present, the state has a total of nine Land Customs Stations to facilitate bilateral trade with Bangladesh. The overall trade volume has declined to Rs 758.09 crores in 2022-23 with Tripura imported Rs. 636.72 crores goods and exported goods worth Rs. 121.37 crores to the neighbouring country. The trade volume again declined to Rs. 715.98 crores in 2023-24 with the state imported Rs. 703.67 crores goods and exported Rs. 12.31 crores goods. Back in 2022, Tripura's trade volume with Bangladesh had increased by 158 per cent in the previous three years, amounting to a total of Rs 1,008.4 crore Indo-Bangla border trade, including export-import business conducted through all the LCS and ICPs. However, the bilateral trade relation was still uneven as only 30 per cent of the trade volume involved exports to Bangladesh and 70 per cent of the trade comes from goods imported from the country due to port restrictions — an issue Prime Minister Narendra Modi later took up with former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina. All Land Customs Stations with Bangladesh in Tripura suffered from trade deficit due to heavy export duty – even as high as 80 per cent export duty, for example, tea, which made many Indian products exported from Tripura uncompetitive in Bangladesh. In terms of volume, Indo-Bangla trade through six LCS and ICPs in Tripura increased by Rs 14.65 crore in 2018-19, by Rs 30.34 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 16.39 crore in 2020-21. Tripura shares 856 km-long international border with Bangladesh, parts of which are still unfenced.
India Gazette
13-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
India-Bangladesh relations should be based on mutual respect
Dhaka [Bangladesh], May 12 (ANI): India-Bangladesh relations should be based on mutually respectful, beneficial, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, a senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader said on Monday. 'India is our neighbor. Obviously, we all expect the bilateral relation should be a neighborly one relationship. Mutually respectful, mutually beneficial, one of non-interference - these are the basis for any relation. We want the relationship to last and flourish. This is how we look at the India-Bangladesh relationship. Both sides should pursue, try, and work towards that. So that this relationship sustains through the basis that I just mentioned', Amir Khosru M Chowdhury, a member of the Standing Committee of BNP, told ANI in an interview. 'There have been concerns from both sides. We have to bring it to the table - some will be short-term, some will the mid-term term and some will be long-term. But the foundation of any relationship should be based on what I have just mentioned', he added. The Standing Committee is the highest policy-making body of BNP. Chowdhury, also the former Minister of Commerce, assured that if BNP goes to power, they will address India's security concerns. 'I don't think there is any reason for concern. Bangladesh's priority is prosperous, developed country. BNP has made it absolutely clear that this land will never be used springboard for any insurgents or terrorists. Of course, it is expected that both sides mutually respect such a situation. Everything is mutual. No sides should be used as a springboard for terrorists and activists who harm the neighborly relationship', he said. The BNP leader also spoke about India's concern about the minority situation in Bangladesh. 'Why should it be an Indian concern, I don't understand. It is a concern of the Bangladesh government and the people of Bangladesh. I think Bangladeshis are quite aware of it. Bangladesh is one of the best harmonious. We have a wonderful coexistence across minorities, linguistic differences, and cultural differences, and that comes under the umbrella of Bangladeshi nationalism. Whoever lives in the territory of Bangladesh is an equal citizen. We never discriminate - religion, culture, or linguistic differences between each other. It is the concern of Bangladesh. Why should India be concerned of it. We are not going to be concerned, what happens with Indian minorities because it is the job of the Indian government and Indian politicians to take care of the minorities', he said. Replying to a question about anti-Indian rhetoric in Bangladesh, Chowdhury said, 'In politics, rhetoric is not uncommon. Rhetorics are on both sides. Politician tend to go for rhetoric to ... their own constituency. It happens on both sides. Rhetorics are rhetorics. Policy is more important. But the rhetoric is not good for either side. We should respect each other's relationships. Non-interference is the key issue', he said. The BNP leader stressed to improve overall bilateral relations for good trade relations between India and Bangladesh. 'If you have a really good bilateral relationship, that encourages all sorts of relationships to be improved and go forward. Our bilateral relationship also should be improved', he said. Bangladesh's interim government has banned the activities of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party. BNP leader said that the ban on the Awami League was a legal matter. 'It is going through a legal process. It is a pending matter. It is a sub-judice matter. The legal process has not yet started. Let the legal process go through the judicial process. Whatever the outcome, we have to go by. We believe in an independent judiciary. So leave it to the judiciary', Chowdhury said. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in a student-led uprising on August 5 last year. Hasina fled to India. An interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed. Chowdhury further said, 'Stability in South Asia is very important. Stability should get top priority in South Asia to prosper, lift the people of the countries out of poverty. To bring change in their life. War is the last thing any of the South Asians want. Any escalation affects the whole region. It is not good for any country.' (ANI)
India Gazette
08-05-2025
- Sport
- India Gazette
IPL 2025: PBKS-MI clash shifted to Ahmedabad from Dharamshala
New Delhi [India], May 8 (ANI): The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) on May 11 has officially been shifted to to the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala after Indian Army successfully conducted the execution of 'Operation Sindoor', which targeted nine anti-Indian terror infrastructures in both Pakistan and the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack. 'IPL Match No. 61 between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians, originally scheduled to be played in Dharamshala on Sunday, May 11, has been relocated to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad,' as per the IPL Media Advisory The venue change has been necessitated due to logistical challenges. The match will begin at 3:30 PM IST as per the original schedule. The match has been shifted as Dharamshala is located near the India-Pakistan border, so there might be a threat at this venue, so there is a chance that the Punjab-based franchise will play their remaining home matches at a different place. Earlier on Wednesday, according to the BCCI sources, the PBKS-MI clash was set to take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as the Airport in Dharmshala has been closed. 'The match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings shifted to Mumbai from Dharmshala, as the Airport of Dharmshala has been closed, and the match was scheduled on May 11,' a BCCI source told ANI. On Wednesday, the Indian Armed Forces successfully struck nine terror targets using special precision munitions in a coordinated operation called Operation Sindoor, destroying four in Pakistan, including Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sarjal, and Mehmoona Joya, and five in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, with the mobilisation of assets and troops. The strikes on all nine targets were successful, sources further revealed. The Indian forces selected the locations to target top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leaders involved in sponsoring terrorist activities in India. This was India's deepest strike inside Pakistan's undisputed territory since 1971. This marks New Delhi's most significant military action within Pakistani territory in over five decades. (ANI)
