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Modi, Sharif to hold talks today; US wants to see tensions reduce

July 10, 2015

Ufa/Russia, Jul 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on the sidelines of a summit in the Russian city of Ufa on Friday, raising hopes of a thaw in frosty ties between the South Asian rivals.

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The external affairs ministry confirmed that the talks will take place at 9:15am.

“It is confirmed. The two prime ministers will have a bilateral meeting at 9:15am on Friday on the sidelines of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) summit,” said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

The two leaders met informally at a dinner hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

On the eve of the talks, Pakistan violated ceasefire again at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, in which one BSF jawan was killed.

Issuing a statement before the Modi-Sharif meet, a White House official said: "We want to see the tensions (between India and Pakistan) reduce. It's in nobody's interest for the tensions to rise... An awful lot of are kids living in that part of the world and everybody would want them to have a better future."

This will be the first structured meeting between the two leaders since Sharif attended Modi’s inauguration last May.

"We want good, friendly relations with neighbours, but conditions apply: the condition of peace being maintained in the region," said national security adviser Ajit Doval.

Ties between India and Pakistan nosedived after New Delhi called off talks between the foreign secretaries last August, incensed that Pakistan's envoy hosted Kashmiri separatists in the run-up to the talks.

The two leaders had a brief chat on the sidelines of the Saarc summit last November and have spoken on the phone several times.

But the ice-breaker was Modi’s recent telephone call to Sharif to greet him on Ramzan followed by a decision by the two countries to release fishermen in each other’s jails.

Indian sources, however, said red lines still existed, including an atmosphere free of violence and the absence of a third party (Hurriyat).

Sources said all issues of mutual concern will be raised at the meeting which was sought by the Indian side. But India’s concerns about Pakistan’s efforts to curb terrorism and bring the 2008 Mumbai attackers are key to taking the peace process forward.

Despite pressure from New Delhi, progress against the accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks has remained tardy, especially the release of Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi that continues to be an irritant in bilateral ties.

Pakistan said the meeting will see a "comprehensive exchange on all issues of common interest".

"It has always been Pakistan's policy to seek cordial and cooperative ties with all neighbours, including India," the Pakistani foreign office spokesperson said.

"It was in the pursuit of this objective that Pakistan prime minister would be meeting the Indian prime minister for a comprehensive exchange on all issues of common interest."

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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News Network
January 29,2020

New Delhi, Jan 29: The Janata Dal (United) today expelled its vice-president Prashant Kishor and senior leader Pavan Kumar accusing them of "anti-party" activities.

Both the leaders have been attacking the party leadership over its pro-CAA stand.

The spat between Nitish Kumar and Kishor was out in the open yesterday when the former reminded the political strategist that he was inducted into the party on the recommendation of Union home minister Amit Shah.

It all began when Nitish, while talking to the media here, said, “I don’t have any problem if he (Kishor) wants to leave the party. But if he wants to stay, then he will have to follow the basic structure of the party.”

Varma had also questioned the JDU's alliance with the BJP in Delhi Assembly polls while Kishor has more than once voiced his differences with the party known on the issue of CAA and NRC.
 

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News Network
January 28,2020

Jan 28: After Union minister Anurag Thakur, on Tuesday, BJP MP Parvesh Verma has stoked a controversy by saying that "Shaheen Bagh protesters will enter houses and rape sisters, daughters." The BJP MP even went on to say that if BJP is voted to power in Delhi, they "will clear Shaheen Bagh protest within an hour."

"If the BJP comes to power in Delhi on February 11, we will clear Shaheen Bagh of all protests and protesters within one hour. Not a single person will be visible," Parvesh Verma said during a meeting at Vikaspuri assembly constituency.

"Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. There's time today, Modi ji & Amit Shah won't come to save you tomorrow..." the BJP MP told news agency ANI.

"If our government is formed, then give me just a month after February 11, and I will remove all mosques built on government land in my Lok Sabha constituency," the BJP parliamentarian added.

Well, these statements didn't go down well with the netizens, who took to Twitter to express what they felt about the BJP leader's comments. A user wrote, "This is pure, unadulterated hate speech." While other user said, "Only when you thought BJP couldn't stoop any lower."

Earlier, on Monday, BJP leader and Union Minister Anurag Thakur triggered a row after he led the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan that "traitors should be shot". At the rally, Thakur, the Minister of State (MoS) for Finance, shouted: "desh ke gaddaron ko" to which the crowd responded, "goli maro saalo ko" (shoot down the traitors).

Addressing the meeting in support of BJP candidate from Rithala, Manish Chaudhary, Thakur raised the pitch of nationalism as he linked opposition parties with anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and with alleged anti-India slogans, and then asked the crowd to raise the controversial slogan.

For more than a month, over 200 women have been joined by hundreds of others every day at South East Delhi's Shaheen Bagh at a sit-in protest against the CAA which promises citizenship to only non-Muslim refugees from three neighbouring countries.

Protests have been ongoing in different parts of the country against the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

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