New Delhi, Jun 23: India on Tuesday summoned Pakistan High Commission’s Charge d’ Affaires Syed Haidar Shah and informed him about the government’s decision to reduce the strength of staff by 50 per cent here as the officials have found to be involved in acts of espionage and maintained dealings with militant organisations.
India will also reduce its presence in Islamabad to the same proportion. The decision will be implemented in seven days. ‘Charge d’ Affaires of Pakistan was summoned today to the Ministry of External Affairs and informed that India had repeatedly expressed concern about the activities of officials of his High Commission,’ the Ministry said in a statement here.
On May 31, two officials of Pakistan High Commission were caught red-handed and expelled in espionage case. “While their officials indulged in actions that are not in conformity with their privileged status in the High Commission, Pakistan has in parallel engaged in a sustained campaign to intimidate the officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad from carrying on their legitimate diplomatic functions,” it added.
The Ministry also said that the recent abduction at gunpoint of two Indian officials and their severe ill-treatment underlines the extent to which Pakistan has gone in that direction. These officials, who have returned to India on June 22, have provided graphic details of the barbaric treatment that they experienced at the hands of Pakistani agencies.
The behaviour of Pakistan and its officials is not in conformity with the Vienna Convention and bilateral agreements on the treatment of diplomatic and consular officials. On the contrary, it is an intrinsic element of a larger policy of supporting cross-border violence and terrorism, it said.

New Delhi, June 23: India is looking at the prospect of establishing individual bilateral bubbles, India-US, India-France, India-Germany, India-UK and the final decisions pursuant to negotiations are expected to be taken soon.

In a statement the Civil Aviation Ministry said,”As we contemplate further opening up in response to demands, we are looking at the prospect of establishing individual bilateral bubbles, India-US, India-France, India-Germany, India-UK. These are all destinations where demand for travel has not diminished. Final decisions pursuant to negotiations are expected to be taken soon.”

The government said requests have been received from authorities concerned in several countries including the US, France, Germany among others requesting that their air carriers be allowed to participate in the transportation of passengers along the line being conducted by Air India under Vande Bharat Mission.

These requests are being examined, the ministry said.

”We have also had one round of negotiations with US on June 15 with representatives of US Department of Transportation and US Embassy on this issue. They were invited to submit precise proposals in this respect. A communication has now been received on June 19 detailing these requests,” it said.

As India moves from controlled and managed aviation evacuation of its citizens in different parts of the world and foreign nationals from India, the government was now looking at the possibility of establishing bilateral arrangements, according to the statement.

”These evacuation flights which were primarily meant for evacuation of our citizens from all over the world are now increasingly carrying Indians and citizens of other countries out bound to countries where they are normally resident,” it added.

New Delhi, June 23: Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Safoora Zargar, a pregnant Jamia Millia University student arrested in connection with Delhi violence case.
A member of the Jamia Coordination Committee Safoora Zargar was arrested on April 10 on conspiracy charges over the riots that broke out in February, 2020 during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Zargar was earlier granted bail but rearrested on severe charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Counsel for Zargar submitted before the court that she was in the delicate state and in a fairly advanced stage of pregnancy so bail may kindly be granted on humanitarian grounds.
It is submitted on behalf of Zargar that she was the student of M.Phil at Jamia University and is five months pregnant so she can be released on regular bail on humanitarian grounds.
Delhi Police had opposed the bail application of Zargar by submitting that the severity of her offence is in no manner mitigated by the fact of her pregnancy. It is further submitted on behalf of Police that a clear and cogent case had been made out against Zargar and she was accused of grave and serious offences meticulously and surreptitiously planned.
Government Counsel said 39 deliveries had taken place in Delhi prisons in the last 10 years and she had been kept in a separate cell so the chances of her contracting corona virus from any other person were low.
In this matter trial court had dismissed the bail application of Zargar and after that she has filed the bail application before Delhi High Court.

The Court had earlier granted the bail to Ms. Zargar but later she was again arrested and more serious charges were imposed against her for allegedly inciting people and bringing women and children to the streets in Jafrabad to cause riots.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher after hearing arguments on both the sides granted bail to Zargar with the condition to furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 10,000. The Court directed to Zargar to stay in touch with an Investigating Officer on the phone at least once in 15 days and not to hamper the investigation of the case. The Court further directed her to not to leave Delhi without the permission of the court.

Moscow, June 23: Russia said on Tuesday that it supports India’s candidacy for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), as it believes developing countries are under-represented in the body, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, following talks with his counterparts from India and China.

Earlier in June, India was elected as the non-permanent UNSC member for 2021-2022, after winning an overwhelming majority of votes.

‘We have said many times that India is a strong contender for permanent membership in the Security Council in the context of the reform of this body, and Russia supports India’s candidacy for permanent membership in the Security Council.

‘We believe that under-representation of developing countries – Asian, African and Latin American countries – is the main weakness of the current composition of this entity. And the significant over-representation of our Western colleagues is the flip side of the coin,’ Mr Lavrov said.

India participates in all of UN’s agencies and organisations. The 2021-2022 term will be its eighth term in the UNSC. New Delhi has long been seeking a permanent UNSC seat and calling for reforming the body.

New Delhi, June 23: This year Indian Muslims will not be performing Haj in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Minority Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday.

Naqvi informed that he received a phone call from Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten, Saudi Minister for Haj and Umrah, on Monday who advised against sending pilgrims from India.

Honouring the decision of the Saudi Arabia Government and keeping in mind the health and well-being of the people, it has been decided that Muslims from India will not go to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, he said.

Naqvi said that the entire world is facing challenges of Corona pandemic and Saudi Arabia has also been affected by it.

The process of refunding the full amount of money deposited by the applicants without any deduction has begun today. The money will be refunded through online DBT mode into bank accounts of the applicants, he said.

The Minister further said that around two lakh thirteen thousand applications had been received for Haj this year, including more than 2300 women, who had applied to perform Haj without Mehram.

These women will be allowed to go to Haj 2021 on the basis of their application for Haj 2020 and besides, women who file a new application, will also be allowed to go to Haj next year, the Minister added.

Late last night, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Haj and Umrah issued a statement which says “Due to Corona pandemic and the risks of Coronavirus spreading in crowded spaces and large gatherings, it has been decided that Haj for this year (1441 H/ 2020 AD) will be held whereby a very limited number of pilgrims from various nationalities who already reside in Saudi Arabia, would be able to perform it.

‘This decision is taken to ensure Haj is performed in a safe manner from a public health perspective while observing all preventative measures and the necessary social distancing protocols.”

New Delhi, June 22: Construction of 255-km Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road connecting Leh to the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh, including eight bridges and Doklam standoff by India made Chinese upset which subsequently led to violent clash between two Asian giants, wherein 20 Indian soldiers were killed while over 40 Chinese troops suffered casualties.
One of the bridges is connecting the Patrolling Point 14 in Galwan area with the territory across the Shyok river is also linked to the strategic road which is a contentious issue for China.
India is building this road as part of 61 strategic roads that the government has identified to construct. This will help in reducing the travel time between Leh and DBO to six hours. Earlier, the travel time between the two locations was two days.
“They got piqued because of the bridge we were constructing on our side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Clearly, their action was driven by revenge for Doklam. Drawing a parallel to Doklam is like comparing chalk and cheese,” sources in the government establishment said.
The construction of road was started two decades back but special focus was given after 2014 when Narendra Modi assumed charge as the Prime Minister in 2014.
The DBO is located only 9-km away from the LAC with China and the road will help in managing the border and the areas around Aksai Chin, Chip Chap River and Jiwan Nalla.
As per the sources, Galwan Valley is named after a local Indian explorer Ghulam Rasool Galwan. The same area was claimed by Chinese as Depsang plains earlier. Now, it becomes Galwan Nala. Tomorrow, it will be called as Changchenmo plains since Chinese are expert in changing goal post all the time.

New Delhi, June 22: As India and China held talks at Moldo on the Chinese side of Chushul to resume discussions on disengagement, the home ministry reviewed the progress of road construction in border areas.

Sanjeeva Kumar, Secretary (Border Management) reviewed infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border dividing India and China, for the second time in five days, underscoring the government’s determination to proceed with the plan after the Ladakh face-off.

India’s stress on developing the Ladakh region by building roads through the Galwan valley into Shyok is believed to be the main trigger for Chinese aggression in the area.

On June 15, after weeks of tension at various points along the LAC, a deadly brawl erupted between Indian and Chinese soldiers at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, in which 20 Indian soldiers laid down their lives. Army sources say 45 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured.

Most experts watching the India-China situation have said the government building roads and airfields to improve transport links and narrow the gap with China’s superior infrastructure on its side of the LAC is a big reason for the current escalation. India recently completed a road from Darbuk to Daulat Beg Oldie, a feeder road to improve its defence along the Galwan heights.

“The focus was to speed up ongoing projects as we are lagging behind in phase two,” a senior bureaucrat told NDTV.

“Phase 2”, which entails almost 32 strategic roads in the region, was to be completed by 2019. “There have been issues relating clearances so in the meeting focus was to ease these bottlenecks,” said the official.

Two strategic roads need to be completed in Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttrakhand.

The home ministry meeting was attended by officials of the Border Road Organisation, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

The home ministry also reviewed the progress of procurement of modern construction equipment. The centre fast-tracked the process between 2017 and 2020 and also started using Chinooks to airlift building material.

“India has completed construction of 4,764 km of strategic roads in last six years due to the policy of the centre. And this consistency along the border has changed the dynamics,” a source told NDTV.

According to home ministry data, the building of roads has doubled from 230 km per year between 2008 and 2017 to 470 km a year since then.

The surfacing of roads has also doubled; almost 380 km of roads are being surfaced every year, say sources. In 2008-14 only one tunnel was completed but in the last six years, six more are operational and 19 more are being planned.

Connectivity has been ramped up with the construction of bridges. In the last six years, India has managed to build 14,450 metres of bridges linking remote areas along the India-China border.

A massive budget has been assigned to these projects. The allocation for border development has been hiked to Rs 11,800 crore from Rs 8,050 crore last year.

The government emphasizes that road construction along the LAC will continue and India will not be bullied into stopping.

New Delhi: A Chinese commanding officer was among those killed in the June 15 clash in eastern Ladakh, China’s army confirmed during military talks with India at Galwan last week, according to sources.

This emerged at a time India and China held Lieutenant General-level talks at Moldo on the Chinese side of Chushul today to resume discussions on the disengagement process, which was stalled by the worst-ever border confrontation between the Indian and Chinese armies since 1967.

The first admission from China of any casualty has emerged a week after the clash in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action. Army sources have said 45 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured in the brawl that erupted near Galwan River 15,000 feet high in the Himalayas. However, Beijing has not given any casualty figure so far, claiming it does not want any escalation.

An Indian officer, Colonel BL Santosh Babu, was also killed in the line of duty. Seventy-six Indian soldiers were injured and are likely to rejoin duty within weeks, after recovery, army sources said.

Indian soldiers were assaulted brutally with crude but deadly weapons like spiked rods and rocks and clubs wrapped in barbed wire in the fight that last for hours.

Since the clash, there have been military talks between the two sides at Galwan to defuse tension. Ten Indian soldiers detained by the Chinese army after the clash were released after three days of negotiations between military commanders of India and China.