Category: World

In brewing Kashmir Crisis, India and Pakistan brace themselves for new turbulence

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India’s air strikes and Pakistan’s response are a major shift in the India-Pakistan conflict, says Priya Chacko, lecturer at the University of Adelaide. On Tuesday, India launched air strikes targeting what it claimed was the biggest training camp of the militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) near the town of Balakot in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The strikes were said to be aimed at preventing an imminent attack on India and succeeded in killing hundreds of militants. Earlier this month, the JeM claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 40…

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Kashmir Crisis is causing chaos for air travel across the ​globe

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Escalating tensions in and around Kashmir between Pakistan and India has led to chaos in the skies with passenger services to Europe cancelled and flights diverted. Numerous planes have been forced to avoid Pakistan following the closure of its airspace after two Indian military jets were shot down, meaning routes that would ordinarily take around two hours are now lasting longer than five. British Airways, Air India and Singapore Airlines are among those airlines forced to reroute services that would normally fly over northern India, with many forced to make…

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Ready to return IAF pilot if it leads to ‘De-escalation’; Pakistan, No deal on IAF pilot captured by Pak, return him immediately; India

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Pakistan would be prepared to return the captured Indian Air Force pilot if it helped ease the crisis with India, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told in an interview to Geo TV on Thursday. “If there is de-escalation with the return of this [Indian] pilot, Pakistan is willing to consider this. We are ready for all positive engagement,” Qureshi said in the interview. He said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is ready to talk to Indian PM Narendra Modi over telephone and “extend an invitation of peace”. (Follow live updates)…

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2 IAF Jets shot down by Pakistan, One pilot held

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Pakistan has said its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets on Wednesday morning and claims to have captured two Indian Air Force pilots. Pakistan’s military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said one of the pilots is in hospital. The Pakistan Army has also released a video that shows a blindfolded man, identifying himself as a Wing Commander-rank IAF officer and his service number. Then, he asks, “Am I with the Pakistani Army”. Indian officials have confirmed the possibility of pilots being held by Pakistan. The captured IAF pilot is…

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Post Pulwama​ fidayeen attack, Tensions on rising between India and Pakistan, but Washington seems least bothered

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Last week, 40 paramilitary police officers were killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan territory that both India and Pakistan claim in its entirety. The attack, the worst in the territory in decades, quickly spiraled into a major standoff between the two nuclear-armed rivals. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to avenge the fallen. “We will give a befitting reply, our neighbor will not be allowed to destabilize us,” Modi said. Jaish-e-Muhammad, a militant group based in Pakistan, asserted responsibility for the attack, but Pakistani Prime Minister…

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Pakistan will be very important in the future: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman

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Visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has expressed optimism about the economic future of Pakistan, saying his country had been waiting for a leadership like that of Prime Minister Imran Khan to partner with Islamabad in various areas. Addressing a reception dinner on Sunday night at the Prime Minister House hours after he landed in Islamabad, the Crown Prince said Pakistan was a “dear country” to all Saudis and that the two countries “have walked together in tough and good times”, Dawn news reported. “We believe that Pakistan is…

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‘No longer a symbol of hope’ Amnesty International strips Aung San Suu Kyi of highest honour

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Amnesty International on Monday stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of its highest honour over the de facto Myanmar leader’s “indifference” to the atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims. It was the latest in a string of awards the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner lost since Myanmar’s military drove 720,000 Rohingya out of the Buddhist majority country in what the United Nations has called an act of genocide. The London-based global human rights organisation said it was revoking the Ambassador of Conscience Award it gave Suu Kyi in 2009…

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Minutes after take-off from Jakarta, Lion Air plane with 188 on board crashes into sea

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Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said on Monday a Lion Air passenger flight from Jakarta, the capital, to the city of Pangkal Pinang off the island of Sumatra, had crashed into the sea. The flight was carrying 188 people, including crew, an Indonesia transport ministry official said. The debris, including plane seats, have been found near the offshore facility of Indonesia energy firm Pertamina in Java sea, a company official said. The plane lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff, the official said, adding that a tug boat leaving the capital’s…

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Will once again extend hand of friendship to India after 2019 polls: Imran Khan

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Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that he would once again extend a hand of friendship to India after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as he believed New Delhi rebuffed his offer of talks because Pakistan is an issue in the elections in the neighbouring country. Speaking at the high-profile Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh, Khan said Pakistan wants “peace with all our neighbours particularly India and Afghanistan for regional peace and stability.” “Peace with India would help the two countries to divert their resources towards human development…

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Over IWT Pakistan to launch aggressive campaign against India

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Pakistan will launch an aggressive campaign against India to highlight its concerns over the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) after New Delhi failed to let Pakistani officials visit two hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir, a media report said Tuesday. Pakistan’s Commissioner on Permanent Indus Water Commission Syed Mehr Ali Shah said the Indian water commissioner had promised on the conclusion of the August 29-30 annual meeting to arrange a visit to the 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai in Jammu and Kashmir in the last week of September.…

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