"Support India's Objectives, But Concerned About Kashmir Situation": US

Agencies
October 22, 2019

Washington, Oct 22: The US on Tuesday said while it supports India's development agenda behind scrapping special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, it was concerned over the current situation in the Valley.

It said it was closely monitoring the situation in Jammu and Kashmir following India's decision to scrap special status and divide the state into two Union Territories on August 5.

The Indian government has argued that its decision on Article 370 was driven by a desire to increase economic development, reduce corruption and uniformly apply all national laws in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in regard to women and minorities, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells told Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"While we support these objectives, the US State Department remains concerned about the situation in the Kashmir Valley, where daily life for the nearly eight million residents has been severely impacted since August 5," Ms Wells said in a statement submitted to the Congressional subcommittee a day before the hearing on "Human Rights in South Asia: Views from the State Department and the Region".

The US State Department, she said, has closely monitored the situation in Jammu and Kashmir following India's decision on August 5.

"While conditions in Jammu and Ladakh have improved, the Valley has not returned to normal," Ms Wells said, adding the State Department has raised concerns with the Indian government regarding detentions of residents and political leaders, including three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir.

"We have urged Indian authorities to respect human rights and restore full access to services, including internet and mobile networks," she said.

Postpaid mobile service has been restored in the Valley, but internet access remains intermittent, Ms Wells said.

She said both foreign and local journalists have extensively covered developments in Jammu and Kashmir, but many have faced challenges in access and reporting due to security restrictions.

"While exact figures are difficult to ascertain, we understand several thousand people have been detained over the past two months, although many have subsequently been released," the top US diplomat said.

According to government sources, hundreds remain in detention - many without charges - under the Public Safety Act, which allows for administrative detention of up to two years, Ms Wells said.

Welcoming actions by India to improve the situation and address local grievances, she said the Home Ministry recently said statehood will eventually be restored to Jammu and Kashmir, reaffirming what Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his Independence Day speech on August 15.

The US, she said, also encourages the Indian government to follow through on its commitment to hold assembly elections in the state at the earliest opportunity. Some local political leaders were released earlier this month, a trend Ms Wells said she hopes will continue.

Government offices, primary schools, and colleges are open, although student attendance remains low, she said.

The Indian Supreme Court, Ms Wells said, is planning to hear petitions related to Kashmir on November 14 and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court is reviewing cases.

"While these steps are positive, they are incremental, and we continue to press India to restore everyday services, including SMS and internet communications, as swiftly as possible," she said.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Washington, Aug 7: US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) signed executive orders halting all transactions with Chinese applications TikTok and WeChat within 45 days, citing national security concerns, further escalating the tensions between Beijing and Washington.

"WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owned by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States. Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. 

This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to Americans' personal and proprietary information," Trump said in a statement.

Citing reasons for the ban on WeChat, the US President said that the application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the US, thereby providing the CCP a mechanism to keep tabs on the Chinese citizens who may be "enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives".

"In March 2019, a researcher reportedly discovered a Chinese database containing billions of WeChat messages sent from users in not only China but also the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. WeChat, like TikTok, also reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive and may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP. 

These risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of WeChat. The US must take aggressive action against the owner of WeChat to protect our national security," he added.

Earlier, Trump had issued an order banning TikTok as it "reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China's treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. 

TikTok may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP."
US politicians have repeatedly criticised TikTok, owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance, of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.

The development comes as China and the US are at loggerheads on a variety of issues including Hong Kong national security law, the South China Sea, the novel coronavirus and trade.

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Agencies
February 18,2020

British lawmaker Debbie Abrahams' e-Business visa was revoked as she was involved in anti-India activities and the cancellation was conveyed to her on February 14, government sources said on Tuesday.

Asserting that the grant, rejection or revocation of a visa or electronic travel authorisation is the sovereign right of a country, the sources said Abrahams was issued an e-Business visa on October 7 last year which was valid till October 5, 2020 for attending business meetings.

"Her e-Business visa was revoked on February 14, 2020 on account of her indulging in activities which went against India's national interest. The rejection of the e-Business visa was intimated to her on February 14," a source said.

Abrahams, who chairs a British parliamentary group on Kashmir, was denied entry into India upon her arrival at the New Delhi airport on Monday.

Government officials had said on Monday also that she was informed in advance that her e-visa had been cancelled.

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News Network
June 25,2020

Ottawa, Jun 25: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took his son out for ice cream on Wednesday in his first family outing since Canada started easing out of its pandemic lockdown.

It was also Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Quebec province.

Wearing masks, the Canadian leader and his six-year-old son Hadrien were cheered at Chocolats Favoris in Gatineau, Quebec.

According to a pool report, Trudeau said the shop tapped into a federal emergency wage subsidy and business loan in order to weather the pandemic, and "avoid being frozen out of the frozen treat market."

Hadrien is said to have bounced with excitement, settling on a vanilla cone with a cookie topping while dad bought a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate for himself.

Father and son then headed out to the patio, where they doffed their masks to eat their cones.

Canada's provinces and territories declared states of emergency mid-March, closing schools and non-essential businesses in response to the pandemic.

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