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Not easy to get global support on Kashmir: Pak foreign minister Qureshi

Agencies
August 13, 2019

Islamabad, Aug 13: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has asked his countrymen not to live in a “fool’s paradise” as he highlighted that it will not be easy for Islamabad to get the support of the United Nation’s Security Council as well as from the Muslim world against India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing the media in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Monday, Mr. Qureshi asked Pakistanis to “wage a new struggle” to get the support of the UNSC members.

“You (people) should not in live fool’s paradise. Nobody will be standing there (in the UNSC) with garlands in hands...Nobody will be there waiting for you,” he said.

India has categorically told the international community that its move to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution removing the special status to Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and has also advised Pakistan to “accept the reality.”

Without naming any Muslim country, Mr. Qureshi also said the “guardians of Ummah (Islamic community)” might also not back Pakistan on the Kashmir issue due to their economic interest.

“Different people in the world have their own interests. India is a market of [over] billion people...A lot of people have invested there [India]. We often talks about Ummah and Islam but the guardians of Ummah have also made investments there [India] and they have their own interests,” he said.

Mr. Qureshi’s statement came two days after Russia became the first UNSC member to back India’s move on Jammu and Kashmir.

The US has also maintained a neutral stand on the issue, saying that there is no change in its policy on Kashmir as it called on India and Pakistan to maintain restraint and hold direct dialogue to resolve their differences.

China, the all-weather ally of Pakistan, objected to the formation of Ladakh as Union Territory. However Beijing has told Mr. Qureshi that it regarded both India and Pakistan as “friendly neighbours” and wants them to resolve the Kashmir issue through UN resolutions and the Simla agreement.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Colombo, Aug 7: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party and its allies won an overwhelming two-thirds majority in a parliament election, results showed on Friday, giving him the power to enact sweeping changes to the constitution.

The governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and its allies had won 150 seats in the 225-member parliament, according to the tally published by the election commission from Wednesday's vote.

Rajapaksa had sought a two-thirds majority in parliament to be able to restore full executive powers to the presidency, which he says are necessary to implement his agenda to make the tiny island economically and militarily secure.

He is likely to install his older brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the next prime minister. The brothers are best known for crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils during the elder Rajapaksa's presidency in 2009.

On a congratulatory phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, which is keen to check Chinese influence on its southern neighbour, Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to deepen ties between the two countries.

"With the strong support of the people of Sri Lanka, I look forward to working with you closely to further enhance the long-standing cooperation between our two countries," he told Modi. "Sri Lanka and India are friends and relations."

The tourism-dependent nation of 21 million people has been struggling economically since deadly Islamist militant attacks on hotels and churches last year followed by lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus infection and has been admitted to a hospital. 

Shah took to social media today to inform about his infection. “I have tested positive but my health is fine," he said, adding that he has been hospitalised on the assistance of doctors. 

The Union Home Minister also appealed to those who came into close contact with him in the last few days to get themselves tested for COVID-19.

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News Network
March 4,2020

London, Mar 4: The UK government has reiterated its concern over the potential impact of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said it is continuing to follow the events in India closely.

In response to an urgent question on “Recent Violence in India” tabled by Pakistani-origin Opposition Labour Party MP Khalid Mahmood in the House of Commons on Tuesday, UK’s Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Nigel Adams said the UK engages with India at all levels, including on human rights, and also referred to the country's "proud history" of inclusive government and religious tolerance.

"The UK government also have concerns about the potential impact of the legislation (CAA),” said Adams, the Minister for Asia who was standing in for UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is on a visit to Turkey.

"It is because of our close relationship with the government of India that we are able to discuss difficult issues with them and make clear our concerns where we have them, including on the rights of minorities. We will continue to follow events closely and to raise our concerns when we have with them,” said the minister.

While Mahmood, who had tabled the urgent question for an FCO statement, described the government response as “facile”, another Pakistani-origin MP Nusrat Ghani called on the government to relay the UK Parliament's concerns to the Indian authorities.

British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi said the violence had brought back “painful personal memories” from the 1984 Sikh riots while he was studying in India and fellow Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill also referenced 1984 in her intervention.

Other MPs sought to highlight the steps taken by the Indian authorities to restore “peace and tranquillity” in Delhi.

“He will be aware that it is not just Muslims who have been killed; Hindus have also been killed as part of the riots,” said Conservative Party MP Bob Blackman.

Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Alyn Smith sought the UK government’s intervention to share best practice around countering the online disinformation campaign being used in India to “inflame tensions”.

“We are in constant contact on these issues, and we know how important this is to Members of Parliament and their constituents, who may have family in the area,” said Adams, in his response.

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