Not ruling out investigation in Nijjar case if evidence is provided , says Jaishankar

Answering a question at Royal Observer League a London based think tank External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that govt is open to the idea of investigation into the killing of Canadian citizen and Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar .

Mr. Janishakar categorically denied that he had seen any evidence that implicated India in killing of Nijjar ,

He said that he had spoken to USA foreign. secretary Antony Blinken and NSA Jake Sullivan that Canada had a history of enabling extremists .

Canadian PM has said that agents of Indian govt were behind the killing of Nijjar .

Rijiju to attend Muizzu’s inaugural in Maldives

Minister of earth sciences Kiran Rijiju will represent India at the swearing in ceremony of Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzu to be held on Friday .

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed press persons .

Last time PM Narendra Modi had participated in the swearing in ceremony of Mohammad Salih

President Solih has adopted ” India first ” policy .

Mr. Muizzu election campaign was to move Indian forces out of Maldives . He is thought to be pro China and against India by many .

Second anti Piracy patrol in Gulf of Guinea over : Navy

The Indian Navy has completed its second anti Piracy petrol in Gulf of Guinea ( GoG ) in the Atlantic Ocean .

INS Sumedha took part in it from Indian side . The other navies that participated are Senegal , Togo , Algeria , Namibia and Angola .

Last year Gulf of Guinea anti Privacy patrol was participated by INS Tarkash .

Unimpeded freedom of Navigation vital : Rajnath

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh participated in ASEAN Defense Minister meeting plus ( ADMM plus ) in Indonesia and it’s dialogue partner was .

On this occassion defense minister Rajnath Singh said that India is committed to freedom of navigation under UN- CLOS ( United Nations Convention of Law on Seas ) .

He called for regional security initiatives that are consultatives . He expressed commitment for nurturing forward looking ,commitment under ADMM .plus

ADDM plus is a platform to strengthen security and defense cooperation for 10 ASEAN counties and eight dialogue partners which include India , Australia ,New Zealand ,  Japan , South Korea, China , Russia and USA .

TamilNadu assembly to readopt bills that governor returned

A special session of TamilNadu state assembly has been covered in wednesday to readopt certain bills returned to the government by Governor RN Ravi .

Though there is no clarity on number of bills , most of them pertain to various universities replacing governor as chancellor with Chief Minister .

Governor had long kept pending several bills .

TamilNadu recently moved to Supreme Court against governor sitting over the bill .

NewsClick case : ED summons Singham

The enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Shanghai based American Millionaire Naville Roy Singham , through the ministry of external Affairs .

Mr. Singham have been accused of violation of Foreign Contribution and Regulation Act ( FCRA ) . Among the other accused in this case is PPK NewsClick pvt Ltd director Prabir Purkayastha and Jason Fletcher .

World

UNSC seeks ‘ humanitarian pauses , corridors ‘ in Gaza

The UN security council has called for ” extended humanitarian pauses ”  in the Gaza strip , however indicated that such pauses will not be possible till the  hostages held by Hamas is released .

The resolution prepared by Malta was adopted by 12 out of 15 security council members . US, the UK , and Russia abstained from voting.

Period of pause

The text does not clarify the period of pause . ” It needs to be long enough for us to be able to mobilize the resources , once we have enough fuel , for people to get what they needed ” UN secretary general spokesperson Stephanie Djurraic said .

Hostages

The resolution also called for the ” immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages ” .

About 230 hostages are currently under held by Hamas .

The resolution calls all parties to abide with International law especially about protection of civilians and children .

Israel response :

Israel foreign ministry spokesperson called for ” ” unequivocal ” condemnation of Hamas . and told that there was no room ” for prolonged humanitarian pauses ” as long as hostages are not released .

US also criticized UN security council for not denouncing Hamas in its adopted statement .

US had been opposing  ” humanitarian ceasefire ” and was in support of ” humanitarian pauses ” .

UN seeks investigation into Israel Hamas war violations

The UN human rights chief  Volkar Turk on Thursday decried allegation of serious war violation in Israel Hamas war and suggested an international investigation was needed .

Volker Turk said ” extremely serious of multiple and profound breaches of international law , whoever commits them , demands rigorous investigation and full accountability ”

Volkar Turk was speaking after a visit last week to West Asia .

Israel signals expanding offensive in Gaza South

Israeli forces dropped leaflets warning Palestinians to leave part of southern Gaza , residents said on Thursday . Signaling a possible expansion of their offensive  to the areas where hundreds of thousands of civilians are sheltered in UN run shelters .

Meanwhile , Israeli soldiers continued searching Al Shifa hospital  . They displayed guns they told were hidden in one of the building  . But no evidence has been given that Al Shifa hospital was Hamas command center that Israel had claimed .

Myanmar military shells Rakhine town

Myanmar military shelled a town named Pauktaw in Rakhine state of Myanmar .

Earlier , Arakan Army ( AA ) fighters opened another front  against military , they took ” complete control ” over a part of town 25 km away from Rakhine capital Sittwe .

Resetting people fleeing clashes : China

China said on Thursday  said that it is resetting people from Nothern Myanmar who had crossed border because of fight between Myanmar military and ethnic minority.

Out of ” humanitarian and close friendship ” with Myanmar .” The  Chinese side has properly resettled the people from Myanmar side who entered China to avoid the war ”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson ” Mao Ning said .

Biden , Xi resource military ties but remain apart on wider flashpoint on Taiwan

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held 4 hour long talk on California , USA . This is their first meeting since Bali 2022 , G20 summit .

Decisions taken :

●     The two countries decided to restore military communication .China broke  Military communication between the two  countries after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last year .

●     The agreed that China would crack down on ingredients for production of Fentanyl , responsible for a deadly epidemic opioid abuse in US.

On Taiwan :

Chinese President told his US counterpart to stop arming Taiwan , and it’s integration with China is ” unstoppable ” . Beijing claims the sovereignty over self ruling democracy and has not ruled out seizing it by force .

Later during press conference during in reply to a question ,Joe Biden called Xi a dictator he told that Xi is a dictator , as he is running the country differently than US.

Editorial

Widening divide

Peace in Manipur cannot be restored by half measures

The editorial is about recent announcement by Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum ( ITLF ) a kuki Zo organization that they are going to establish ” self rule ”  in tribal dominated area of Manipur . ITLF said that it will have its own Chief Minister and other officers .

After six months of violence in Manipur started such move  shows that govt is losing ploy in Manipur . Such announcement may further aggravate the situation as it may anger Meities . The editorial says that BJP should have considered the demand of Kuki Zo tribals to remove the CM .

War in Myanmar

The Junta must hold talks with rebels and relinquish power

The editorial is about recent clashes in Manipur where ethnic minority has been clashing with military Junta army . In recent clashes on China border  many Junta military personnal surrendered before armed athnic rivals . Such incidences have grown even in Chin and Rakhine states at India Myanmar border .

Faced with battlefield setbacks the Junta relied on airstrikes causing heavy civilian casualties .

Myanmar Junta President has acknowledged the challenge in his recent statement .

Though Myanmar has faced Pro democracy ethnic minorities protest in past but that was mainly peaceful . It is only this time that they are using weaponized methods .

Its time that Myanmar conducts elections as soon as possible , and let democracy established in state .