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Howdy Modi: Trump says Modi was ‘very aggressive’, asks to mediate on Kashmir

Agencies
September 24, 2019

New York, Sept 24: Mercurial US President Donald Trump has again inflamed a controversy over India and Pakistan just a day after participating in the Howdy Modi! rally with Prime Minister Narendra Modi by asserting that the Indian leader was "very aggressive" in his remarks about Pakistan there and that he had not expected him to make them.

In his speech at the Howdy Modi! rally, Trump had said to a standing ovation from the audience, "We are committed to protecting innocent civilians from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism." Modi had said that the same people who are bothered by India rescinding Kashmir's special constitutional status under Article 370 were the same ones who "shield terrorism and nurture it."

He did not name Pakistan, but added, "The whole world knows them very well. Their identity is in the sponsorship of terror and the world knows it." Trump, who again made pitch himself to be a mediator or arbitrator, said, "I'm sure there could be -- there's always a solution. And I really believe there's a solution for that."

He also made the claim that "India may come" around to him arbitrating on Kashmir.

But he made it a point of also saying that he could mediate only if both sides agreed to it.

India has refused to allow any third party involvement in disputes with Pakistan citing the 1972 Simla Agreement between the two nations that said they would resolve disputes bilaterally.

Trump said, "You have to have two parties that want to agree. When they come.. . and at some point India may come… I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister Khan." "And if at any time they say, you know, 'We have some points we think you can maybe iron out', I think I'd be an extremely good arbitrator," he added. "I think I'd be an extremely good arbitrator. I've done it before, believe it or not, and I've never failed as an arbitrator. I've been asked to arbitrate disputes -- pretty big ones."

This is the second time Trump found himself in a controversy over Kashmir. He made an off-the-cuff remark before a meeting with Khan at the White House in July that Modi had asked him to mediate or arbitrate the Kashmir issue.

India strongly denied that any such request had been made and administration officials concurred.

"If I can help I will always do that," Trump said and that it will, however, depend on the two sides agreeing to it. "I am ready willing and able," he said.

Asked if he trusted Pakistan given its terrorism problem, Trump said, "I trust this gentleman right here and I do trust Pakistan." He added, "I have a lot of Pakistani friends in New York. Great negotiators by the way." Trump said that in dealing with terrorism "I've heard they made great progress." When Khan spoke of the problems his country has with Iran, Afghanistan and India, Trump said light-heartedly, "He lives in a very friendly neighbourhood."

Khan said that he wanted to bring up the Kashmir problem in private with Trump.

He said, "It's a humanitarian issue. If you were to meet him (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) now I would have asked to at least lift the siege."

"I honestly feel that this crisis would get worse," he added.

He said that as the "most powerful country" the US can do something at the Security Council to bring Indian and Pakistan together to discuss Kashmir and end what he described as a "the humanitarian suffering" in Kashmir.

In dealing with Afghanistan, Trump said "Khan has been very helpful."

Trump had made an election promise to bring the troops home from Afghanistan and has been negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban.

He may need the help of the Taliban's patron Pakistan to get the deal with the Taliban and is, therefore, trying to mollify him.

A diplomatic source, who follows Trump's verbal somersaults, said that from his mangled prose it appeared that probably meant to say Modi was very "passionate" but instead said "aggressive".

The diplomat also said that with Trump's America it was more useful to look at the broader picture of India-US ties that are close and growing rather than trying to read into Trump's every statement knowing that he has misspoken about various countries, including close allies.

Speaking to reporters before his meeting with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, Trump said: "I heard a very aggressive statement yesterday. I don't have to say that. I was there. I didn't know I was going to hear that statement, I had said.

"But I was sitting there and I heard a very aggressive statement yesterday from India, from the Prime Minister, and I will say it was very well received within the rule -- you know, within in the room. The statement itself. That was a big room; there were 59,000 people."

The remark was off the cuff and poorly phrased with a stumble over "rule" and "room".

He repeated that it was a "very aggressive statement" and added, "I hope that they're going to be able to come together -- India and Pakistan -- and do something that's really smart and good for both."

Trump is scheduled to meet Modi on Wednesday at 12.15 p.m. New York Time (9.45 p.m. IST).

Asked about Trump's remark, External Affairs Ministry Secretary (West), Gitesh Sarma, declined to comment.

He said, "There is a meeting tomorrow (with Trump). Let us wait for it."

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Agencies
May 27,2020

Global health experts on Wednesday said novel coronavirus is here to stay for more than a year and called for aggressive testing to prevent its spread.

In an interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, health experts Professor Ashish Jha and Professor Johan Giesecke talked about the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the series being aired on Congress social media channels.

While Jha exuded confidence that a vaccine will be available in a year's time, Prof Giesecke said India should practice a lockdown that is as 'soft' as possible, as a severe lockdown will ruin its economy very quickly.

"When the economy is opened up after lockdown, you have to create confidence among people," Harvard health expert Ashish Jha told Gandhi.

Jha is a professor of Global Health at TH Chan School of Public Health and Director, Harvard Global Health institute.

He said coronavirus is a '12-18 months' problem and the world is not going to be free of this till 2021.

The expert also called for the need for aggressive testing strategy for high-risk areas.

Gandhi, while interacting with the experts, said life is going to change post COVID-19.

"If 9/11 was a new chapter, this will be a new book," he remarked.

Professor Johan Giesecke, former chief scientist, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said India should have a 'soft lockdown'.

"The situation that India is in, I think, you should have a soft lockdown, as soft as possible," he said.

"I think for India, you will ruin your economy very quickly if you have a severe lockdown. It is better, skip the lockdown, take care of the old and the frail...," he noted.

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News Network
May 4,2020

New Delhi, May 4: The country's manufacturing sector activity witnessed unprecedented contraction in April amid national lockdown restrictions, following which new business orders collapsed at a record pace and firms sharply reduced their staff numbers, a monthly survey said on Monday.

The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 27.4 in April, from 51.8 in March, reflecting the sharpest deterioration in business conditions across the sector since data collection began over 15 years ago.
The index slipped into contraction mode, after remaining in the growth territory for 32 consecutive months.

In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.

Amid widespread business closures, demand conditions were severely hampered in April. New orders fell for the first time in two-and-a-half years and at the sharpest rate in the survey's history, far outpacing that seen during the global financial crisis, the survey said.

"After making it through March relatively unscathed, the Indian manufacturing sector felt the full force of the coronavirus pandemic in April," said Eliot Kerr, Economist at IHS Markit.
Panellists attributed lower production to temporary factory closures that were triggered by restrictive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Export orders also witnessed a sharp decline. Following the first reduction since October 2017 during March, foreign sales fell at a quicker rate in April. "In fact, the rate of decline accelerated to the fastest since the series began over 15 years ago," the survey said.

On the employment front, deteriorating demand conditions saw manufacturers drastically cut back staff numbers in April. The reduction in employment was the quickest in the survey's history.

"In the latest survey period, record contractions in output, new orders and employment pointed to a severe deterioration in demand conditions.
“Meanwhile, there was evidence of unprecedented supply-side disruption, with input delivery times lengthening to the greatest extent since data collection began in March 2005," Kerr said.

On the prices front, both input costs and output prices were lowered markedly as suppliers and manufacturers themselves offered discounts in an attempt to secure orders.

Going ahead, sentiment regarding the 12-month outlook for production ticked up from March's recent low on hopes that demand will rebound once the COVID-19 threat has diminished and lockdown restrictions eased.

"There was a hint of positivity when looking at firms' 12-month outlooks, with sentiment towards future activity rebounding from March's record low. That said, the degree of optimism remained well below the historical average," Kerr said.

In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,373 and the number of cases climbed to 42,533 as on Monday, according to the health ministry.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus-induced lockdown has been extended beyond May 4, for another two weeks in the country.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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