India | Pakistan

India’s coastguard raced on Monday to contain an oil spill from a container ship with hazardous cargo that sank off the southern coast a day earlier, Kerala’s state government said. The Liberian-flagged MSC ELSA 3, listed as a 184 meter freight ship, went down off the coast of Kerala on Sunday, with all 24 crew members rescued. It was carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide, a chemical used for fertiliser production and steelmaking. The vessel also contained some 370 tonnes of fuel and oil. “The Coast Guard is taking action to prevent the spread of oil using two ships,” Kerala’s government said in a statement. “The work of spraying dust to destroy the oil is in progress using a Dornier aircraft”. Crew members of a Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 sit after they were rescued off Kerala Coast, India on May 24, 2025. — Reuters India’s defence ministry said the ship sank “due to flooding” some 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi, raising concerns f...

India has initiated work on a series of hydropower projects in the disputed Ladakh region, sparking serious concerns over violations of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and escalating regional tensions.

DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry says India’s face is visible behind every terror activity in Pakistan Asks Afghan elites not to become stooges of India against Pakistan Time has come for IIOJK to become part of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed gratitude to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his nation’s support during a brief military confrontation with India. The PM is visiting Turkiye for two days as part of his four-nation tour to friendly countries, where he will express his gratitude for supporting Pakistan during the recent conflict. Earlier, state broadcaster PTV News reported that the PM and Erdogan had a delegation-level meeting in which Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar took part. According to PTV News, the meeting was “warm and most cordial” and both nations “reaffirmed the deep-rooted, historic, and brotherly ties between Pakistan and Türkiye, anchored in shared values, mutual respect, and a common vision for progress and prosperity”. A video posted by the broadcaster showed PM Shehbaz embracing President Erdogan before boarding a car and leaving Dolmabahce Pal...

Pakistan Army spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has accused India of using Afghan soil to wage terrorism against Pakistan and urged the Afghan people not to allow their land to be used for such activities.

A Liberian-flagged container ship with hazardous cargo has sunk off the coast of Kerala in India’s south, the navy said on Sunday after rescuing all 24 crew members safely. India’s navy said the MSC ELSA 3, listed as a 184-metre-long freight ship, which was sailing from the Indian port of Vizhinjam to Kochi, ran into trouble on Saturday and issued a distress call. Navy aircraft scrambled to the area and spotted two life rafts, with the container ship listing at a dangerous angle, some 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi. “All 24 crew members on board were rescued,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement, with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and a navy patrol boat collecting the sailors, who were from Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, and the Philippines. “The vessel went down with 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo and 12 containing calcium carbide,” the statement said. The Defence Ministry did not specify what was inside the containers it said were hazardous. Calcium carbide is used in the chemical...

KARACHI: The Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) organised an interactive session on ‘The Pakistan-India conflict’ in the institute library on Saturday. It was explained by PIIA chairperson Dr Masuma Hasan there was a need to hear different voices, especially the voices of the youth, regarding the recent conflict. Therefore, they decided to call on their research assistants to talk about the different themes of the conflict, as identified by them, for the audience to then take it from there. Taking the audience through the events of the past month or so, she also reminded how India, out of the blue, with no credible evidence, held Pakistan responsible for April 22’s Pahalgam attack, which was an intelligence failure on the part of India. “Then India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 and Pakistan suspended the Simla Agreement of 1972,” she said. “Then on May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. While defending the country very well, Pakistan retaliated on May 10, which w...

• Pakistan terms IWT suspension ‘dangerous escalation’ • Officials spar over India’s targeting of civilian areas UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has warned the United Nations that India’s unilateral decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) represents a dangerous escalation that violates international law and threatens the survival of more than 240 million people. Speaking at a UN meeting on protecting water in armed conflict on Friday evening, Pakistan urged the world community to act before such actions triggered a humanitarian catastrophe or destabilised the region. “This is a grave violation of international law, including human rights law, the treaty law and customary international law,” said Ambassador Usman Jadoon, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Arria Formula meeting convened by Slovenia. “We strongly condemn India’s unlawful announcement to hold the Treaty in abeyance and call upon India to strictly abide by its legal obligations and refrain from stopping, diverting or r...

THE government of Bangladesh has cancelled a $21 million contract awarded to Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), an Indian public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, for the construction of an advanced ocean-going tug, The Hindu reported. According to the Indian publication, the cancellation closely follows India’s recent move to withdraw the transhipment facility previously extended to Bangladesh to export its cargo to third countries — a development that analysts interpret as signalling strain in bilateral relations. In a regulatory disclosure submitted to the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd and BSE Ltd under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Require­ments) Regulations, 2015, GRSE confirmed that the government of Bangladesh had cancelled the order, originally placed in July 2024. The cancellation adds to a series of geopolitical developments since the change in political leadership in Bangladesh following the fall of prime minis...

Monsoon rains hit the coast of India’s southernmost state of Kerala on Saturday, eight days earlier than usual, marking the earliest arrival in 16 years and providing the promise of a bumper harvest and relief from a gruelling heatwave. The monsoon, the lifeblood of the country’s $4 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70 per cent of the rain that India needs to water farms and replenish aquifers and reservoirs. Nearly half of India’s farmland, without any irrigation cover, depends on the annual June-September rains to grow a number of crops. Summer rains usually begin to lash Kerala around June 1 before spreading nationwide by mid-July, allowing farmers to plant crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane. The onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala on May 24 is its earliest onset since May 23, 2009, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday. The monsoon has covered Kerala and parts of neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as well as parts of the northeastern state of Mizoram, ...

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday defended its decision to release a $1 billion tranche to Pakistan, despite India’s objection, by pointing out the country had met all requisite targets under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday warned India against any aggression and reaffirmed commitment to peace and ceasefire.

• Warn any unilateral move to be treated as act of war • Zafar says ‘ticking water bomb must be defused before it goes off’ • Caution advised when ministers discuss water issue • Shibli decries ‘tyranny of majority’ in Senate ISLAMABAD: Senators on Friday made it clear that India would not be allowed to suspend or amend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) warning that any unilateral move to this effect would be treated as an act of war. They said the treaty was a settled matter and international law would justify Pakistan’s military response if India blocked the water. Speaking on a motion on the unilateral suspension of IWT by India, PTI parliamentary leader Ali Zafar said the impending water crisis was as serious a threat as terrorism. “This is also a war thrust on us. The ticking water bomb must be defused before it goes off,” he remarked. The PTI lawmaker said international law and UN resolutions have called water a fundamental human right for the lower riparian regions. Noting that India was violating internat...

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday to discuss the prevailing political, regional, and economic landscape amid growing tensions with India.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asserted that Pakistan has delivered a historic response to India, claiming the country has finally avenged the 1971 war and warning the Modi government to think carefully before initiating any future attacks.

In a bold statement during an interview with Al Jazeera TV, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, warned India of severe consequences, including potential control over all six rivers flowing from Kashmir, if New Delhi breaches the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

The National Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution strongly condemning India’s unilateral decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), terming it a blatant violation of international law and an act of war.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday strongly condemned the recent attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, calling it “intolerable” and warning India to refrain from hostile activities.

In a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty, India has reportedly stopped the flow of water into the Neelum River after it passes through the Kishanganga Dam.

• Observes things are calming down following contacts between DGMOs; NSA to lead Pakistan side during dialogue • Says Nawaz was consulted before army chief’s elevation to field marshal ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said Saudi Arabia could be the “neutral” venue for much-needed talks between Pakistan and India on critical issues. The premier also said that he had consulted PML-N President Nawaz Sharif on his decision to elevate Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir to field marshal. Talking to a group of TV anchors at the PM House, he said that Kashmir, water, trade and terrorism will be the key points during the dialogue with India. In response to a question if there was a possibility of a third venue for talks in light of the mediation offered by US President Donald Trump, the premier ruled out the possibility of China as a neutral venue, saying India would never agree to that. However, a participant told Dawn, the PM expressed the hope that Saudi Arabia could be the third country w...