SOURCE: PTI

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Thursday met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi here and emphasised the need to ensure “full respect” for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and past agreements to stabilise the bilateral ties.

The two leaders, who met for the second time this month, also agreed on the need to give strong guidance to complete the disengagement process. “Met with CPC Politburo member and FM Wang Yi in Vientiane today. Continued our ongoing discussions about our bilateral relationship. The state of the border will necessarily be reflected on the state of our ties,” Ms Jaishankar said in a post on X after meeting with Wang on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Laos.

SOURCE: PTI

A sword-wielding man, who is out on bail in a criminal case, attacked a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable at the Jammu railway station on Thursday in a bid to snatch his weapon, officials said.

Constable Mohan Lal got injured in the attack but managed to prevent the assailant from snatching his rifle, they said. The incident occurred Wednesday evening when the attacker, identified as Kathua-resident Devendra Singh who currently resides in Jammu’s Nanak Nagar, alighted from the Jhelum Express and launched the assault. “Singh also attempted to snatch the constable’s service rifle before attempting to flee the scene,” a police official said.

SOURCE: PTI

Around 6,700 Indian students have returned from Bangladesh, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday as the neighbouring country witnessed weeks of anti-government protests against quotas in jobs that triggered deadly clashes between police and university students.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India was hopeful that the situation in the country would return to normal soon. Over 120 people have been killed in the clashes with protesting students demanding the Sheikh Hasina-led government to scrap a controversial job quota system.

SOURCE: PTI

China is making inroads into key choke points along the Indian Ocean and obstructing the right to freely navigate the waters, an influential American lawmaker has said, expressing concerns over increasing Chinese investment in South Asia.

Congresswoman Young Kim, who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Indo-Pacific in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said South Asia holds immense significance for the US foreign policy and national security interests.

SOURCE: UNI.

Union Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth on Wednesday said that Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) should aim to make the country a global leader in futuristic defence technologies. The Minister while addressing the officials during his visit to DRDO here, appreciated the commitment and dedication of DRDO scientists in making the country self-reliant, an official statement said.

He also appreciated the DRDO initiatives to promote the participation of academia and industry in defence technologies. Meanwhile, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Samir V Kamat gave him a detailed presentation on the recent achievements, major ongoing projects and the future roadmap.

SOURCE: AFP

Soaring high across a gorge in the rugged Himalayas, a newly finished bridge will soon help India entrench control of disputed Kashmir and meet a rising strategic threat from China. The Chenab Rail Bridge, the highest of its kind in the world, has been hailed as a feat of engineering linking the restive Kashmir valley to the vast Indian plains by train for the first time.

But its completion has sparked concern among some in a territory with a long history of opposing Indian rule, already home to a permanent garrison of more than 500,000 soldiers.

SOURCE: IANS

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval attended the state funeral of Nguyen Phu Trong, the General Secretary of Communist Party of Vietnam who passed away on July 19, in Hanoi on Thursday. NSA Doval conveyed India’s condolences personally to the Vietnamese President To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the bereaved family.

During their meeting on Wednesday, Vietnam’s PM Pham Minh Chinh expressed his “sincere thanks” to the government and people of India for their kind gesture towards late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong by sending high-ranking officials to attend the state funeral and also the Indian Parliament for taking time to commemorate the General Secretary on July 22.

SOURCE: ANI

The Indian Army contingent will participate in the 21st edition of the multinational joint military exercise Khaan Quest 2024, which is scheduled to be held in Mongolia later this week.

The joint military exercise will be held from July 27 to August 9. Khaan Quest 2024 will be aimed at enhancing the interoperability of the participating nations during peacekeeping missions in a multinational environment.

SOURCE: PTI

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday said the Modi government has not been able to change anything regarding negative travel advisories as Jammu and Kashmir remained a “target” of the US State Department travel advisories.

“So much for ‘naya J&K’. For all the talk of normalcy, peace, tourism & the G-20 tamasha in Srinagar, J&K continues to be the target of US state department travel advisories. The Modi government has been able to change nothing,” Abdullah posted on X.

SOURCE: PTI

The Punjab Police and Army personnel on Wednesday conducted a search operation after a woman spotted seven “suspicious” men in a village in Pathankot district. A sketch of one of the suspects has also been released, said a senior police official.

The woman informed the police that seven “suspicious” men came to her house in Fangtoli village and demanded water from her and left after some time. Pathankot Senior Superintendent of Police Suhail Qasim Mir said the search operation was conducted by police along with the Army in the area.
“We are maintaining high alert,” Mir told PTI.

SOURCE: IANS

Two over-ground workers (OGWs) of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) were arrested and legal action was taken against four people for supporting terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, said police on Thursday.

A police statement mentioned, “In a significant breakthrough in our ongoing efforts to counter terrorist activities, Kathua Police at police station Malhar have arrested two OGWs for supporting terror-related activities. These individuals were also found to have purposefully withheld crucial information by not disclosing it to police in time. Both individuals deliberately chose not to disclose vital information to the police, thereby obstructing efforts to prevent terrorist actions.”

SOURCE: PTI

India on Wednesday successfully flight-tested Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence System from off the Odisha coast, the government said in a statement.

The test demonstrated India’s indigenous capability to defend against ballistic missiles of 5,000 km class, it said. “The Target Missile was launched from LC-IV Dhamra at 1620 hrs mimicking adversary Ballistic Missile, which was detected by weapon system radars deployed on land and sea and activated the AD Interceptor system,” it said.

SOURCE: PTI

A prominent Canadian MP of Indian origin on Wednesday said the country was being “polluted” by Khalistani extremists who were “abusing” the freedoms guaranteed under the Charter of Rights, days after a Hindu temple was vandalised in Edmonton.

Amidst rising Hinduphobia in Canada, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir was vandalised with alleged hateful and anti-India graffiti on Monday morning in Edmonton in Alberta state, about 3,400 km west-northwest of Ottawa.

SOURCE: PTI

The government on Tuesday announced certain incentives as part of efforts to boost maintenance, repair and overhaul activities in the country’s aviation and shipping sectors. India is one of the fastest growing domestic aviation markets in the world. “To promote domestic aviation and boat & ship MRO, I propose to extend the period for export of goods imported for repairs from six months to one year. In the same vein, I propose to extend the time-limit for re-import of goods for repairs under warranty from three to five years,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, as she presented the Union Budget for 2024-25.

The government has been working on ways to boost the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) activities in the aviation sector as most of such works are currently done outside the country.

SOURCE: PTI

The India-UK relationship has enormous possibilities and realising them meaningfully is the task at hand, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday during talks with his British counterpart David Lammy that focused on galvanising the ties including to push for a free trade pact.

Mr Lammy is on a two-day visit to India primarily to reset the overall partnership between the two countries in crucial areas such as trade, defence and security, clean energy, new technologies, digital domain and mobility of people.