India | Pakistan

Separatist militants in northeastern India said the Indian army carried out cross-border drone strikes on the group’s camps in neighbouring Myanmar on Sunday, killing three of its leaders. Some separatist groups in northeastern India have ethnic, linguistic and cultural ties with minorities across the border in Myanmar and maintain a presence there. Three commanders of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) were killed and 19 others wounded in a drone attack in Myanmar near the border, the separatist group said in a series of statements. According to Indian outlet The Hindustan Times, the ULFA-I claimed that three of its members were killed in the attack that used over 150 Israeli-made drones. In a statement, the ULFA-I claimed that the attack by “Indian occupational forces” took place at several camps from the border with Myanmar near Longwa in Nagaland till Pangsai Pass in Arunachal Pradesh between 2am (1:30am PKT) and 4am (3:30am PKT) on Sunday. The outfit claimed that nearly 150-plus dro...

The succession of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is a thorn in China-India relations, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said on Sunday, as India’s foreign minister prepares to visit China for the first time since deadly border clashes in 2020. Ahead of celebrations this month for his 90th birthday that were attended by senior Indian ministers, the head of Tibetan Buddhists riled China again by saying it had no role in his succession. Tibetans believe the soul of any senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated after his death, but China says the Dalai Lama’s succession will also have to be approved by its leaders. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say his presence gives New Delhi leverage against China. Yu Jing, a Chinese embassy spokesperson, said on X that some people from strategic and academic communities in India had made “improper remarks” on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Yu...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that former US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute opened a window for peace, but India shut it by refusing to engage.

Tailender Carse frustrates India with 56; Archer strikes

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that the defeat inflicted by Pakistan has been difficult for the Indian political leadership to digest, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. As New Delhi launched deadly air strikes on Pakistan in early May over allegations about the Pahalgam attack, which Islamabad denied, PAF downed six Indian jets in its response. After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire. According to the Foreign Office, Deputy PM Dar is leading the Pakistan delegation at the 32nd ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Regional Forum (ARF), being held today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Addressing the Pakistani community in Kuala Lumpur, Dar said on the military side of matters, there was no issue between Pakistan and India as the armed forces had gone back to the mutually decided positions. However, he added that the defeat inflicted by Pakistan has...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday said that India’s political leadership is struggling to come to terms with its defeat during the recent military escalation with Pakistan.

Tesla will open its first India showroom in Mumbai next week, having imported $1 million worth of cars and merchandise, marking its entry into the world’s third-largest car market despite CEO Elon Musk’s complaints about high import tariffs. In an invitation to the media on Thursday, the carmaker said the July 15 event was the “launch of Tesla in India through the opening of the Tesla experience centre at Bandra Kurla Complex,” located in the city’s leading commercial business district. Grappling with excess manufacturing capacity at its other factories and falling sales, Tesla has pivoted to selling imported cars in India, on which it will need to pay about 70 per cent import duty and other levies. Commercially available custom records from January to June showed Tesla imported vehicles, chargers and accessories into India worth close to $1m, mainly from China and the United States. The vehicles included six of Tesla’s best-selling Model Y at a shipment value of $32,500 each for five cars, and $46,000 for th...

Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir said on Thursday that India was doubling down on its “nefarious agenda” against Pakistan through the use of proxies after facing a “manifest defeat” in the recent military conflict between the two countries. India blamed Pakistan for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence, triggering a military escalation. On May 6–7, New Delhi launched air strikes that killed civilians, followed by a week-long missile exchange. A US-brokered ceasefire ended the war. A day earlier, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval of masterminding terrorism in Pakistan, alleging Indian support for terrorist groups. Echoing similar sentiments, Field Marshal Munir said, while chairing the 271st Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC) at the General Headquarters (GHQ), said today: “Following its manifest defeat in direct aggression against Pakistan, post-Pahalgam incident, India is now doubling do...

Indian election officials have given voters in Bihar state just weeks to prove their citizenship, requiring documents that few possess in a registration revamp set to be applied nationwide, triggering disenfranchisement fears. The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the revision of the voter rolls in June ahead of upcoming polls in the eastern state. It said the exercise will later be replicated across the nation of 1.4 billion people. According to the ECI, the “intensive revision” was needed in part to avoid the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants”. Members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India’s electoral rolls. Critics say the overhaul could render vast numbers of Indian citizens unable to vote. “You are being asked to produce documents that very few people have,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim lawm...

Pakistan has issued a stern warning against the weaponisation of water by India, cautioning that turning water into a tool of political conflict could have grave regional and global implications.

India’s space regulator on Wednesday granted Starlink a licence to launch commercial operations in the country, clearing the only remaining regulatory hurdle for the satellite provider to enter the market. The Elon Musk-led firm has been waiting since 2022 for licences to operate commercially in India. Last month, it received a key licence from India’s telecom ministry to launch, but has been waiting for a go-ahead from India’s space regulator. Starlink’s licence is valid for five years, the country’s space regulator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) said. Reuters reported earlier in the day, citing sources, that Starlink had secured the licence from IN-SPACe. Starlink would be the third company to receive India’s nod to enter the space, with India previously approving applications by Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio to provide services in the country. Starlink will now need to secure spectrum from the government, set up ground infrastructure and also demonstrate through te...

PAF, PLAAF chiefs discuss regional security dynamics Lt-Gen Wang Gang describes PAF performance during recent conflict with India as textbook example Pakistan and China enjoy historic and time-tested ties: Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu.

The United States has rejected India’s claim that Washington had no role in brokering the recent ceasefire between Pakistan and India, calling it "false and misleading.

New captain Shubman Gill was hailed on Monday for leading from the front after India recorded their maiden Test win at Edgbaston to level the series against England 1-1. Gill, who notched a century in a losing cause in the first Test at Headingley, hit new heights in scoring 269 and 161 to set up a crushing victory by 336 runs which leaves the five-match series finely poised. It was India’s first win in nine Tests at the Birmingham venue, following seven previous defeats and one draw. “New captain, new India”, The Indian Express newspaper splashed across its front page. Gill, 25, became the youngest Indian Test skipper to register an overseas win in just his second match in charge following the retirement of Rohit Sharma. He eclipsed Sunil Gavaskar, who was 26 when he led India to victory over New Zealand at Auckland in 1976. Gill came into the series with concerns over his batting average overseas, which had been less than 30, but he has shut down all the noise by stroking a remarkable 585 runs from four inn...

The Reuters News account on X was restored in India on Sunday, a day after the social media platform suspended it, citing a legal demand. “At this time, we are no longer withholding access in India to your account,” X said in an email to the Reuters social media team, without elaborating. Representatives for X, Reuters and the Indian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the restoration of the account. Earlier on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau told Reuters that no Indian government agency had required withholding the Reuters handle, adding that officials were working with X to resolve the problem. A Reuters spokesperson had said the agency was working with X to resolve this matter and get the Reuters account reinstated in India as soon as possible. Reuters World, another X account operated by the news agency, which was blocked in India, was also restored late on Sunday night. The main Reuters account, which has more than 25 million follo...

NEW DELHI, July 6: The Reuters News account on X has been inaccessible to users in India since Saturday, when the social media platform suspended it in response to what it described as a “legal demand”. A spokesperson for the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau, however, told Reuters there was no requirement from any agency […]

Akash Deep took 10 wickets in a Test match for the first time as India thrashed England by 336 runs at Edgbaston on Sunday for a series-levelling win. Deep was playing in the second Test of the five-match series after India rested outstanding quick Jasprit Bumrah. The 28-year-old took 6-99 as England, set a mammoth 608 runs to win, were dismissed for 271 on the fifth day. Deep’s match figures of 10-147 were far and away the best of his eight-Test career. Jamie Smith was the lone England batter to pass fifty in the second innings, with the wicketkeeper’s 88 following his brilliant 184 not out the first time around. A crushing victory gave India their maiden Test win in nine matches at Edgbaston following seven defeats and a draw at the Birmingham ground. This game was also a personal triumph for India captain Shubman Gill after he became the first batsman in Test cricket to post scores of 250 and 150 in the same match. The 25-year-old’s majestic 269 in the first innings was followed by a dashing 161 off 162 ba...

The Reuters news agency’s X account handles were “withheld” in India “in response to a legal demand”, Indian outlet The Print reported on Sunday. The accounts for both Reuters and Reuters World were inaccessible in India; however, users were still able to access 30 other Reuters accounts, The Print added. The Reuters news website is also accessible. X users in India have posted screenshots showing that they are unable to access the news agency’s accounts. Reuters has yet to issue a statement, while the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) told India Today that no order was given to restrict the accounts. “There is no requirement from the Government of India to withhold the Reuters handle. We are continuously working with X to resolve the problem,” an official spokesperson for the ministry told outlet India Today. The Print reported that in previous instances of X restricting access to accounts in India due to legal requirements, the platform issued statements through its Global Go...

India break Edgbaston curse, crush England by 336 runs to level series 1-1

Olympic javelin star Neeraj Chopra headlined what was billed as India’s inaugural world-class field competition on Saturday, living up to his goal of elevating domestic talent while also walking away with another gold medal. Chopra, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and silver at the 2024 Paris Games, triumphed with a throw of 86.18 metres at the 12-athlete javelin Neeraj Chopra Classic event. He finished ahead of former world champion Julius Yego (silver) and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage (bronze). “The biggest target of the competition was to uplift the Indian athletes alongside the international ones. We got the best javelin throwers to this competition,” Chopra told reporters after winning the competition. The event drew more than 14,500 spectators — a figure that delighted Chopra, who has long championed greater public support for track and field events. “We really wanted people to come and watch track and field,” said Chopra, who has single-handedly raised interest for athletics in India and has...