SOURCE: AFI

India is intensifying its diplomatic campaign to bring attention to the issues of terrorism and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) on various international platforms. With Pakistan consistently raising the Kashmir issue at UN forums regardless of the agenda, India has prepared a comprehensive plan to counter Islamabad’s narrative. By strategically placing the issues of terrorism and PoK at the forefront, India aims to effectively challenge Pakistan’s agenda on Kashmir.

The government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, plans to gather evidence of human rights violations and garner public opinion condemning Pakistan’s actions in PoK to corner Pakistan whenever it raises the Kashmir issue.

SOURCE: PTI

India does not believe in partnering in military alliances but sees itself as an equal participant in all the mechanisms that it is a part of, Deputy National Security Adviser Vikram Misri said here on Saturday.
Addressing delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), Misri said equality is at the heart of many of these mechanisms.

“India does not believe in partnering in military alliances. We are, however, a partner for many countries including in the military and defence field,” he said. “Alliances are very different allusions to it and (have) a very different interpretation to it. We are not part of any military alliance. We see ourselves as equal participants in all of the mechanisms that we are part of,” he said at the event ‘Defence Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region’, which was attended by a high-level delegation from China.

SOURCE: IANS

The month-long violence that claimed around 100 lives and over 315 people injured in it has sharply divided Manipur on ethnic lines as Kuki tribals living on hills feel a separate state is the only solution while the Meiteis, who are seeking Scheduled Tribe category status and dominant in the valley, are strongly against any kind of division of the state or any separate arrangements.

The ethnic violence since May 3 caused large-scale displacement of people – both in the hills and the valley.

SOURCE: IANS

General officer commander in chief (GOC-in-C) of the Army’s northern command, Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi on Sunday visited forward and isolated posts in Ladakh’s Kargil sector to review operational preparedness.

A defence ministry statement said, “He complemented & commended the troops for maintaining high morale.

SOURCE: PTI

Six ultras of the banned People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a splinter group of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) were arrested with weapons in two separate operations in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Sunday.

Two PLFI members were arrested from Burju Rui Tola area on Friday evening, where they had come to collect levy, while four others were arrested from a forest area near Tuyu village, Khunti Superintendent of Police (SP) Aman Kumar said.

SOURCE: IANS

A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrived in Bhopal to interrogate the arrested members of the terror module Hizb-ul-Tahrir (HuT). According to sources in the NIA, they had recently lodged an FIR in this connection and have started an investigation. The NIA is working together with Madhya Pradesh Police ATS to probe the matter.

“We are trying to ascertain what was their possible future course of action and determine the number of states they have targeted,” said an NIA source.

SOURCE: PTI

At least four Naxalites were reportedly injured in an encounter with security personnel in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, but their colleagues managed to drag them away into a forest hideout, an official said.

The encounter took place this morning near Regadgatta village under Earrabor police station limits when a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) of police was out on an anti-naxal operation, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavhan said.

SOURCE: API

India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is set to embark on an ambitious mission to explore the Sun with the launch of Aditya L1 in August this year. The ISRO chief confirmed that the launch window for the mission opens in August, and preparations are underway to send the satellite outside of Earth.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave South 2023, the ISRO chief shared details about the upcoming space quest. “Aditya L1 is going to go in August. We have prepared the satellite,” he said, adding that it will be sent to the Lagrange-1 point, which is four times the distance from Earth to the Moon. This point in space is where the gravity between the Sun and Earth is neutralized, allowing objects to stay in a stable position.

SOURCE: PTI

There are sometimes “things bigger than politics” when one steps outside the country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi repeatedly attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government during his ongoing US visit.

Addressing Indian Americans in Santa Clara in the US earlier this week, Rahul Gandhi, a former Congress party president and an ex-MP, described Prime Minister Modi as a “specimen” and also attacked his government’s policies on various fronts.

SOURCE: ANI

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka ‘Prachanda’, on his arrival at Kathmandu, dubbed his four-day visit to India an “astounding success”. Speaking to media persons upon his arrival at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu, PM said, “This four-day visit has basically resulted in the fulfilment of promises I made before setting foot in India.

A slew of agreements of long-term importance was signed, which, in itself, is significant. With regard to the long-term power-sharing agreement, the supply of 10,000 MW of electricity over 10 years is something that we have pressed for long, I am happy that we could arrive at a deal during my visit. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi himself made the announcement and the signing of the power-sharing deal marks an important milestone in our bilateral ties.”

SOURCE: PTI

India is no longer “lumbering around at a relatively slow pace”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said as he concluded his three-day visit to South Africa for a conclave of the five-nation BRICS grouping.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the local diaspora and expatriate community in Cape Town in his honour Saturday evening, he also spoke about the special relationship between India and South Africa, which would celebrate 30 years of new diplomatic ties.

The minister was in the city with his counterparts from Brazil, Russia, China for the BRICS bloc meeting hosted by South Africa.

SOURCE: ARAB NEWS

 India’s navy chief said on Friday that training of Saudi naval personnel by Indian forces was testimony to the growing relationship between the two countries. Adm. R. Hari Kumar was speaking after welcoming Saudi cadets training on board two Indian naval vessels.

Fifty-five students and five instructors from the King Fahd Naval Academy have been in India since May 18 for a three-week course with the Southern Naval Command in Kochi, Kerala.

SOURCE: RT

Exports of Russian oil to India grew fourteenfold in the 2022-2023 fiscal year compared to the same period last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its annual report released on Wednesday. According to the Indian regulator, supplies surged from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $31.02 billion during the most recent fiscal year, which ended on March 31.

The share of Russian hydrocarbons imported by the South Asian country increased from 2% to 19.1%, the report said.

SOURCE: PTI

India is matching up its infrastructure to China’s projects at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and there is no need for concern, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) chief Lieutenant General Rajiv Chaudhry said on Saturday.

Chaudhry was here to review works on the routes of the Amarnath Yatra. The annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine, located at a height of 3,880 metres in the south Kashmir Himalayas, will begin on July 1 and end on August 31.

SOURCE: ANI

US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin is set to arrive in India on an official visit, on Sunday, starting the third leg of this four-nation tour. He will depart from Singapore and will reach New Delhi to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with an aim to expand defence-industrial partnership.

The visit holds particular significance considering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming state visit to the White House in June.