SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan on Saturday announced that it has conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali Weapon System — a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 km, amid heightened tensions with India following the Pahalgam terror attack.

“The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced manoeuvrability features,” the army said in a statement.

SOURCE: PTI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to skip Russia’s Victory Day parade and his deputy Sanjay Seth is likely to represent India at the event in Moscow this week, official sources said on Saturday.

The move to send the Minister of State for Defence to the May 9 ceremony comes amid increasing tensions between India and Pakistan over the Pahalgam terror attack. Russia had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Victory Day parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Germany in the Second World War, but it was decided that Singh would attend the event.

SOURCE: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced a $200 million defence credit line for Angola and expressed commitment to act firmly and decisively against terrorists and their backers, an assertion that came days after the Pahalgam terror strike.

Modi made the remarks after holding wide-ranging talks with Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Laurenco that focused on ramping up overall bilateral ties, including in areas of digital public infrastructure.

SOURCE: PTI

“I am born to serve the Jammu and Kashmir Police and my country, India,” 45-year-old policeman Iftkhar Ali said on Saturday, just days after he and his eight siblings narrowly escaped deportation to Pakistan – a fate averted only through the timely intervention of the high court.

For Ali, who hails from Mendhar sub-division near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, the uniform is more than a job – it’s a calling. He has dedicated nearly half his life in the police force, serving its various wings with distinction and earning multiple commendations for his courage and unwavering commitment to duty.

SOURCE: PTI

India on Saturday suspended exchange of all categories of mail and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes amid escalating tensions between the two nations over the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

The order suspending the services was issued by the Department of Posts that operates under the Ministry of Communication.

SOURCE: ANI

The United States approved a potential USD 131 million foreign military sale to India aimed at enhancing maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region. Announced by the Defence Security Cooperation Agency on Wednesday, the deal includes advanced SeaVision software, training, and support services to bolster India’s maritime domain awareness and strengthen strategic ties between the two nations.

Sharing a post on X, the US Department of State said, “State Dept authorises a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) case for India to purchase Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness software and related equipment for an estimated cost of $131 million.”

SOURCE: ANI

In a continued wave of cyber offensives, Pakistan-sponsored hacker groups such as “Cyber Group HOAX1337” and “National Cyber Crew” made unsuccessful attempts to breach some websites yesterday. These hacking efforts were promptly identified and neutralised by cybersecurity agencies. Among the latest provocations, the websites of Army Public School Nagrota and Sunjuwan were targeted and attempted to be defaced with messages mocking the victims of the recent Pahalgam terror attack.

In another incident, a website catering to ex-servicemen’s healthcare services was defaced, signalling Pakistan’s growing frustration. There have been repeated attempts made by hackers operating from Pakistan to attack websites having linkages to children, old age veterans and other innocent people.

SOURCE: PTI

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad and exchanged views on the India-Pakistan tensions as Beijing kept abreast with the evolving situation. Official media here quoted a press release by the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan on Friday stating that Jiang met Sharif on Thursday and reiterated China’s earlier call for both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint.

China understands Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and supports its efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and security interests, the press release quoted Jiang as saying.

SOURCE: ANI

The Indian Air Force (IAF) showcased its operational readiness with an impressive flypast and landing exercise on the Ganga Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Friday. The exercise was conducted on a 3.5-kilometre-long airstrip at Shahjahanpur, part of the under-construction expressway.

The drill featured take-offs and landings by advanced fighter and transport aircraft, including the Rafale, Jaguar, and Mirage jets. This strategic operation aimed to assess the expressway’s potential as an alternative runway during wartime or national emergencies.

SOURCE: PTI

India will be asking global multilateral agencies, including the IMF, to have a relook at funds and loans provided to Pakistan, as New Delhi seeks to corner the neighbouring state diplomatically following the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam last month which killed 26 tourists. “We will be asking all multilateral agencies to review the loans and support to Pakistan,” a government source said.

The IMF Executive Board is scheduled to meet Pakistan officials on May 9 for first review of the extended funding facility, and request for an arrangement under the resilience and sustainability facility. The IMF Board will evaluate fresh USD 1.3 billion arrangement for Pakistan under its climate resilience loan programme. It will also assess an ongoing USD 7 billion bailout package.

SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan on Friday said it has a right to seek a meeting of the United Nations Security Council when appropriate as tensions heightened with India after the Pahalgam terror attack.

We see that all of this that is happening is in the context, in the backdrop of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad told a press conference here.

SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s YouTube channel was blocked in India on Friday amid ongoing tension between the two countries following the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

“The content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order. For more details about government removal requests, please visit the Google Transparency Report,” read a message on the blocked channel.

SOURCE: PTI

The Congress on Friday urged the Centre to act with firmness in the wake of the Pahalgam attack to “penalise” Pakistan for its continued export of terror and asserted this is a time for demonstrating our collective will as a nation to “teach Pakistan a lesson”.

Calling for national unity and resolve, the Congress also pressed for “time-bound accountability” into the “serious lapses” in security and intelligence in one of the most heavily-guarded regions of the country.
The opposition party made the assertions in a resolution passed by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at its meeting which was chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and general secretaries Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among others attended the meeting.

SOURCE: PTI

The UN Security Council could meet “sooner rather than later” to discuss the situation between India and Pakistan. This would be an opportunity to express views and help defuse tensions, the UNSC President said, voicing concern over rising tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.

“Of course, if a request comes for a meeting, then…I think this meeting should take place because, as we said, maybe it’s also an opportunity to have views expressed and this might help to defuse tensions a bit. We will see,” said Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris, Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of May, in response to a question by PTI.

SOURCE: NASA

NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are targeting June 2025 for launch of the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite mission. The first mission to carry both L-band and S-band radar, NISAR will scan nearly all of Earth’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days. The mission will measure changes in the planet’s terrestrial ecosystems, growth and retreat of its ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice, and deformation of its crust.

Launch services will be provided by ISRO, using the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark II rocket that will carry the spacecraft into low Earth orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast.