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India, China have reached new common understandings agreeing to conduct normalised management and control of the boundary during the just concluded visit of Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to New Delhi, Beijing said on Wednesday. Wang visited New Delhi on August 18-19 during which he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attended the 24th round of Special Representatives (SRs) talks with NSA Ajit Doval and held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Summing up the outcome of Wang's visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here that during his visit, the two sides also agreed on resuming dialogue mechanisms in various fields, deepening mutually beneficial cooperation, upholding multilateralism, jointly dealing with global challenges and opposing unilateral bullying acts. On the boundary question, the two sides reached new common understandings, agreeing to conduct normalised management and control, maintain peace and tranquility in the bord
China is set to build the most ambitious rail link connecting Xinjiang province with Tibet, part of which will run near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, according to a media report. Work is expected to get underway this year on one of the world's most ambitious rail projects with the launch of a state-owned company to oversee the construction and operations of a line that will link Hotan in Xinjiang and Lhasa in Tibet, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. The Xinjiang-Tibet Railway Company (XTRC) had been formally registered with 95 billion yuan (USD 13.2 billion) in capital and wholly owned by China State Railway Group to build the project, the report said, quoting the state-run Shanghai Securities News. "This ambitious project aims to establish a 5,000 km plateau rail framework centred on Lhasa by 2035, Hubei-based Huayuan Securities said in a research note on Friday. The project's registered capital represents initial funding, not total project cost
Thai and Cambodian soldiers fired at each other in contested border area Thursday after the nations downgraded their diplomatic relations in a rapidly escalating dispute. It was not immediately clear if the clash was ongoing. A livestream video from Thailand's side showed people running from their homes and hiding in a concrete bunker Thursday morning as explosions sounded periodically. The clash happened in an area where the ancient Prasat Ta Muen Thom temple stands along the border of Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia Oddar Meanchey province. Both Thailand and Cambodia accused each other of opening fire first. Earlier, Cambodia said it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their lowest level and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok. That was in response to Thailand closing its northeastern border crossings with Cambodia, withdrawing its ambassador and expelling the Cambodian ambassador to protest a land mine blast that wounded five Thai
Thailand said Wednesday it is closing northeastern border crossings with Cambodia, withdrawing its ambassador to the neighboring country and expelling the Cambodian ambassador to protest a landmine blast in which a Thai soldier lost a leg. A Thai Army statement said four other soldiers also were wounded Wednesday when one of them stepped on a land mine that Thailand blamed on Cambodia and said took place in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province. Cambodia disputed that account, saying the blast happened in its Preah Vihear province. It occurred in one of several small patches of land along the border that both lay claim to and which is treated as a no-man's land. The explosion drew a swift response from the Thai government. Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the Foreign Ministry would make an official protest to Cambodia, and further measures would be considered. The injuries Wednesday came a week after three other Thai soldiers were wounded when one of them stepped on a
Schools in five Punjab districts bordering Pakistan, as well as in Sangrur, will remain closed on Monday, officials said. However, academic institutions in the rest of the state will reopen, they said. The authorities in Pathankot, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran districts that lie on the border with Pakistan have ordered schools to remain shut. Punjab shares a 553-kilometre border with Pakistan, spanning these five districts as well Fazilka. Education Minister Harjot Bains said if any university already revised its examination schedule, those exams would follow the revised schedule. Deputy commissioners of border districts have also been authorised to take a call on opening or closing schools, based on local circumstances. Bains also directed the academic institutions to strictly adhere to the government's safety protocols and guidelines. Meanwhile, the authorities in Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Moga issued advisories, urging people to voluntarily switch o
The Global Naga Forum has criticised the Centre's decision to reduce the area of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and fencing of the Indo-Myanmar border in Nagaland. The government's revised border guidelines issued in December 2024, limit cross-border movement under FMR to just 10 km from the border and impose a "border pass" system. An eight-point resolution was adopted during an international hybrid seminar on FMR held under the aegis of Global Naga Forum on Monday and attended by representatives of Naga political parties, civil society organizations, student bodies, scholars, and concerned citizens from across Nagaland and abroad. The declaration, released by the Global Naga Forum (GNF) through its Convenor Chuba Ozukum and Co-Convenor Prof Rosemary Dzuvichu, warned that these measures infringe on indigenous rights, threaten Naga unity, and undermine the centuries-old kinship ties between communities divided by international border. They claimed that fencing of the Indo-Myanmar .
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government is deploying an electronic surveillance system to safeguard the country's borders and that technology will be used to detect and dismantle underground cross-border tunnels to thwart infiltration by terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing BSF personnel during a visit to Border Outpost Vinay' near the International Border in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district, Shah said more than 26 technology-related initiatives are currently being tested which also include anti-drone technology. The minister, who interacted with BSF personnel, lauded the contribution of the force and praised the troops for performing their duties in challenging circumstances. He asserted that the central government is fully committed to the welfare of security forces and their families. Jammu and Kashmir'Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Director of the Intelligence Bureau and ...
For more than 100 years, people in Stanstead, Quebec have been able to walk into Derby Line, Vermont to enter the border-straddling Haskell Free Library and Opera House no passport required. But municipal and library officials said on Friday that US authorities have unilaterally decided to end the century-old unwritten agreement. Coming at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries, the decision is prompting an outpouring of emotion in communities on both sides of the border, which in places has been marked simply by flower pots. Inside the library celebrated as a symbol of international friendship, Pauline Lussier and Chris Blais put their arms around each other's shoulders Friday as they stood on either side of the line taped down the floor marking the border. Lussier, a Canadian, and Blais, an American met for the first time that day. A line doesn't separate us, it never has, said Blais, who held an American flag in her hands while Lussier held a Canadian one. Our
US officials on Tuesday announced the latest border data, and it suggests the Biden administration is poised to end its term without an expected bump in illegal border crossings. In December, Customs and Border Protection reported 47,300 illegal border crossings -- a slight elevation from November, when it reported 46,612, approaching the lowest level since July 2020. The first two weeks of January also indicate activity has dropped, with about 45 per cent fewer crossings than in December, according to senior CBP officials who spoke with reporters during a virtual press conference. Border crossing activity peaked in South Texas, doubling from about 5,000 in November to slightly above 10,000 arrests in December across the Rio Grande Valley region, despite Republican-led efforts to heighten border security through Operation Lonestar. The number of border arrests in December exceeded the number of people processed for asylum at ports of entry through the CBP One app, which allows ...