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Pak says Kartarpur corridor to open irrespective of ties with India

Agencies
August 25, 2019

Islamabad, Aug 25: The opening of Kartarpur corridor will remain on track irrespective of Pakistan's ties with India over the Kashmir crisis, has said Firdous Ashiq Awan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, Awan rejected rumours that Pakistan had stalled the work on Kartarpur corridor after the country's relations with its neighbour strained in the aftermath of India's decision to change the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, Geo News reported.

Awan further assured that doors will remain open to Sikh pilgrims visiting Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan in connection with the upcoming 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.

The historic corridor will be inaugurated in November this year, she was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Office (PFO) had stated that it remains committed to opening the Kartarpur corridor in November on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

"Pakistan is sticking with its plan to open the first visa-free border crossing with India to facilitate Sikh pilgrims despite brewing tensions between the two neighbours over the longstanding Kashmir issue," the office stated.

However, India is yet to receive a response from Pakistan over its proposal to hold technical level meetings in the first week of August to finalise the alignment of the interim approach path for the Kartarpur Corridor, sources had said on August 10.

They said India had proposed to Pakistan to hold technical level meetings in the first week of August to work out arrangements and finalise the alignment of the interim approach path for the Kartarpur corridor, develop mechanism to share information about pilgrims between nodal points, develop mechanism to deal with exigencies that may arise in the use of the corridor.

Sources said Pakistan is yet to respond and a reminder has also been issued to them. India had also shared proposals for finalising the agreement on the modalities to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor.

Previously, India and Pakistan had held the second round of bilateral talks on July 14 to narrow down their differences on the corridor for travel of Sikh pilgrims from Dera Baba Nanak Sahib in Punjab to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan. Both sides said that they had agreed to a majority of modalities for the smooth passage of the pilgrims.

Pakistan, which had made a unilateral decision to downgrade diplomatic ties with India in the wake of Narendra Modi government abrogating Article 370, had said that the work on the Kartarpur corridor would continue as planned.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Kabul, May 11: Four back-to-back roadside bombs exploded in a northern district of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, wounding four civilians including a child, police said. Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said a clearance team was at the site of the attacks.

Militants have carried out several roadside bombings and rocket attacks in Kabul and other parts of the country in recent weeks, but Monday's four consecutive explosions appeared to be the first coordinated effort for some months.

The Taliban has not carried out any large attacks in the city since they signed a landmark withdrawal deal with the US in February, meant to pave the way for peace in the country. No group has claimed the attacks. The explosions come as authorities are trying to impose a lockdown in the capital to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Madrid, Apr 4: Spain recorded a second successive daily drop in coronavirus-related deaths with 809 fatalities, official figures showed Saturday.

The total number of deaths in Spain now stands at 11,744, second only to Italy. A record 950 people died on Thursday.

The number of new cases also slowed at 7,026, taking the total to 124,736.

Recoveries over the last 24 hours stood at 3,706, taking that total to 34,219.

The Madrid region was the worst affected accounting for 40 percent of the deaths, 4,723, and 29 percent of the cases at 36,249. The northeastern region of Catalonia was in second place with 2,508 deaths.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is due to decide whether to prolong the emergency measures and confinement declared on March 14 for another two weeks in order to get on top of the outbreak.

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Agencies
July 24,2020

Chengdu, Jul 24: China on Friday asked the US to close down its Consulate in Chengdu in retaliation to Washington's decision to shut the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

A statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China has informed the US Embassy of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu.

This was in response to "unilateral" decision by the US to shut the Houston Consulate. China's decision is legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions of the US, it said.

The US on Wednesday ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, a move it said was aimed "to protect American intellectual property and private information."

Reacting strongly to the US move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin termed it as an "unprecedented escalation and warned retaliatory measures.

China on Thursday said that "malicious slander" is behind an order by the US government to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, and maintained that its officials have never operated outside ordinary diplomatic norms.

Wang said the order to close the consulate violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, and seriously undermines China-US relations.

This is breaking down the bridge of friendship between the Chinese and American people, Wang said.

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