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If talks are held with Pakistan, it will now be on PoK: Rajnath Singh

Agencies
August 18, 2019

Kalka, Aug 18: Defence minister Rajnath Singh here on Sunday said there would be no talks with Pakistan unless it acts against terrorists and stops supporting terror activities.

He further said if talks were held with Pakistan in future, they would be only on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Singh said this while addressing a public rally ahead of the flagging off the BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra for the October assembly polls in Haryana.

On the scrapping of the provision granting a special status to Jammu and Kashmirunder Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, Singh said the decisions had sent jitters to Pakistan and it became a cause of concern for them.

"Now it (Pakistan) is knocking every door and approaching various countries for help. Have we committed any crime? And they are trying to threaten us. However, America, perceived to be the most powerful country in the world by people, has snubbed Pakistan, telling them to initiate a dialogue with India," he said.

On what issue should we have talks and why, the defence minister asked in the presence of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Krishan Pal Gurjar and Rattan Lal Kataria besides a number of cabinet ministers and BJP MLAs from the state.

Rajnath Singh said people in Pakistan say there should be talks between India and Pakistan.

"About what should we talk? What's the issue on which there should be talks? Why there should be a talk? If there would be any talk with Pakistan, it would happen only when Pakistan stops supporting terror from its soil," he asserted.

Singh said for the present government, India's respect, pride and prestige was above all and they were committed to this and it was not any election stunt.

He also accused Pakistan of wanting to destabilise and weaken India through terrorism.

"At times, Pakistan wants to break our country by using terrorism. But our Prime Minister has shown that he has a 56-inch chest. He took a decision to give a befitting reply after the Pulwama terror attack as our Air Force carried out the Balakot strike," he said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who remained in denial on Balakot strike, had recently said that India was planning a bigger strike than Balakot which meant he had admitted that the Balakot air strike took place and a large number of terrorists were eliminated, the defence minister said.

Hitting out at the Congress Party over the purchase of Rafale jets, Singh said, "Had we got Rafale, our Air Force need not have gone to Balakot. We could have eliminated those terrorists from our land itself."

He said the government would purchase the Rafale jets soon.

The defence minister also highlighted the development works undertaken by the government during its second term.

"We have carried out a number of development works, but we have not left issues which concern nation's pride. Whatever we had said in our election manifesto, we are committed to fulfil that, be that the revocation of Article 370," Rajnath said.

The Union minister further stressed that the opposition used to say if anybody touched Article 370, the country would be divided and the BJP won't be able to come to power.

"I want to say it clearly that the BJP does not do politics for forming government. We do politics of nation building. Under no circumstances, we will allow the prestige of our country be tarnished," he added.

On the promises made in their election manifesto, Singh said, "Our Prime Minister keeps telling us to remain committed to the promises made in the manifesto. 'Pran jaye par vachan na jaye'. We do not go back on what we have promised. We scrapped provisions of Article 370 and 35-A for J&K's interests, keeping in view the future of its youth …," he said.

Rajnath also said their party did not indulge in the politics of dividing Hindu and Muslims.

"Our thinking is that the two are brothers. Those who indulge in the vote-bank politics divide the communities in a bid to capture power," the BJP leader said while addressing the rally in Kalka.

Singh appealed to the people of Haryana to bring back the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government by helping the BJP realise its target of winning 75 seats in the 90-member state assembly.

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News Network
March 20,2020

New Delhi, Mar 20: The coronavirus pandemic will leave behind a global recession with small businesses, self-employed and daily wagers taking the worst hit, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said on thursday.

"The virus will eventually be conquered, but it will have left behind a global recession. The costs of that are incalculably high at this time. The most fearsome toll will be on small businesses, the self-employed & those whose lives depend on meagre daily wages," Mahindra said in a tweet.

Apart from the toll on lives, the legacy of Covid-19 may well be deaths due to stress, loss of livelihoods, a rise in homelessness and in extreme situations, civil unrest, he added.

"The only global experience that has lessons for us in the current situation is the last world war. In the aftermath of WW2, the US came up with the Marshall plan to revive Europe, effectively a giant fiscal pump-priming," Mahindra said.

In the US, the government dramatically dismantled regulations and opened up the economy to trade and these actions led to a boom-cycle that stretched to 1975, he added.

"This time, there will be no victors, only the vanquished. So every country will have to create its own post ‘virus war” marshall plan & take care of those in society who are hit the hardest. Perhaps we too can build the foundations of a sustained global growth cycle," Mahindra said.

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News Network
February 9,2020

New Delhi, Feb 9: Calling India a "long-standing friend", Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting his country in the aftermath of last year's Easter Sunday terror attacks and outlined that New Delhi has always helped Colombo in its fight against terrorism.

In a joint press briefing with PM Modi, Mahinda Rajapaksa said he hopes that India will continue to help Sri Lanka fight terrorism.

Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for the neighbourhood first policy and the priority India gives to Sri Lanka.

"We had agreed that our cooperation is multifaceted and priority is given to a number of areas including security, economy, culture and social sectors. Part of our discussions centered on cooperation with regard to the security of the two countries. India has always assisted Sri Lanka to enhance our capacity, capabilities in intelligence and counter-terrorism. We look forward to getting continued support in this regard," he said.

"I thank the Prime Minister for visiting Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks that provided us with immense strength to come to terms with the tragedy. We also appreciate Prime Minister Modi's $400 million line of credit to enhance the economy of Sri Lanka and another $50 million line of credit for fighting terrorism," he added.

The Sri Lankan president urged PM Modi to consider further assistance to expand housing projectS all over Sri Lanka to benefit people from rural areas.

"The Prime Minister and I discussed how Sri Lanka and India can work together in the field of economy. India is among the world's fastest growing economies. I discussed with PM Modi how Sri Lanka could benefit from certain economic sectors where India is in a strong position," he said.

Concluding his statement, Mahinda Rajapaksa said, "India is our closest neighbour and a long-standing friend. The close historical links...provided a solid foundation to our ties."

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Mumbai, Aug 6: Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday that overly focusing on what sovereign rating agencies think can take one's eyes off what needs to be done for the economy.

"It is also important to convince both domestic and international investors that after the crisis associated with the pandemic is over, we will return to fiscal responsibility over the medium term, and the government should do more to convince them of that," Rajan told the Global Markets Forum.

India was placed under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in late March for more than two months to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but cases have continued to rise steadily since the government eased restrictions in June, stymieing hopes of an economic recovery.

The government has announced several initiatives to help the poor and small- and medium-size businesses, but actual cash outgo from the government's measures has been estimated at just about 1% of GDP.

Several attribute the fiscal prudence to fear of a downgrade after Moody's cut India's rating and outlook in early June followed closely by a change in outlook from Fitch.

The central bank on its part too has reduced the key lending rate by 115 basis points on top of the 135 bps last year and is widely expected to cut rates by another 25 bps later on Thursday.

"The RBI and government have certainly been cooperating, but it seems like it is elsewhere, the ball is in the government's court to do more," Rajan said.

He said the RBI needs to focus on whether credit is reaching the stressed areas of the economy and also if the viable firms were able to access credit and not the unviable ones.

"And I think that's where it has to focus its attentions, because resources, as you well know, are limited in India today."

Recently analysts, however, have cited the growing possibility the RBI may prefer to pause and cut rates only at its October meeting.

Government officials too have suggested the possibility of any more fiscal stimulus being announced, would only come in the second half of the fiscal year, once a recovery has taken root and coronavirus cases have peaked.

"What India should focus on at this point is protecting its economic capabilities, so that when it has dealt with the virus it can go resume activity in a reasonable way. That should be the focus," Rajan said.

"And if it does that, there is no reason why the rating agencies will not see that as an appropriate policy".

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