Panama

India, Panama form 20-member inter-parliamentary group to boost ties

Earlier in September this year, on the sidelines of the UNGA Meeting, Panama President Jose Raul Mulino, underlined the importance of India-Panama ties

Panama Canal set to enter ports business as Trump-China feud simmers

Though China has no role in operating the canal, Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd has operated ports on the Atlantic and Pacific sides

Hong Kong's CK Hutchison seeks Chinese investor to join Panama Ports deal

A Hong Kong conglomerate that's selling ports at the Panama Canal said Monday it may seek a Chinese investor to join a consortium of buyers, a move that could please Beijing but bring more U.S. scrutiny to the geopolitically fraught deal. CK Hutchison Holdings' initial plan to sell its port assets to a group that includes U.S. investment firm BlackRock Inc. pleased President Donald Trump, who has alleged that China interferes with the critical shipping lane's operations in Panama. However, they apparently angered Beijing and drew a review from Chinese anti-monopoly authorities. A Beijing-backed newspaper posted scathing commentaries about the deal, with one describing it as a betrayal of all Chinese. Beijing's offices overseeing Hong Kong affairs have reposted some of these commentaries, widely seen as an indication of Chinese leaders' stance. A Hutchison subsidiary has operated ports at both ends of the Panama Canal since 1997. After months of uncertainty brought by tensions betwe

Panama's president turns to higher power as protests grip nation for months

Panama's Jos Ral Mulino appealed to a higher power on Friday, calling in an archbishop and a rabbi to deliver a message to striking banana workers after nearly two months of social protest that have roiled the country. Mulino has said he won't reverse controversial changes to Panama's social security system, courts have deemed the strike illegal and top banana Chiquita Brands fired nearly 5,000 striking workers last month in Panama's western Bocas del Toro province. But nothing has stopped the protests. So at his weekly news briefing Friday, Mulino said he had met with Archbishop Jos Domingo Ulloa and one of Panama's leading Jewish figures, Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, to enlist them as intermediaries. He gave Ulloa a personal letter to bring to Francisco Smith, leader of the striking banana workers' union. In the letter, Mulino said, he committed to send proposed legislation to the Congress that would be favourable for the country's banana sector, above all its workers. But he ...

Pawan Khera jabs Tharoor for surgical strikes comment, quotes from his book

Pawan Khera shared an excerpt from Shashi Tharoor's 2018 book, 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi and His India', to take a swipe at the latter's remarks on surgical strikes

Panama's foreign minister backs India's bid for permanent seat at UNSC

Panama's foreign minister in his address to the visiting Shashi Tharoor-led parliamentary delegation noted that India-Panama relations are rooted in mutual respect

Panama assures support as Indian MPs convey strong anti-terror message

Panama has assured India of its support for the "war against terror" as an all-party delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor met National Assembly President Dana Castaneda here to convey New Delhi's strong message of zero-tolerance for terrorism. The delegation reached the Central American country on Tuesday. It is one of the seven multi-party delegations India has tasked to visit 33 global capitals to reach out to the international community after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead. In an early Thursday morning post on X, Tharoor said the delegation called on Castaneda, who was accompanied by senior members of Parliament Edwin Vergara and Julio de la Guardia, and "explained our mission to her and received strong assurances of understanding and support for India's war against terror". During the meeting on Wednesday, the Congress MP presented the National Assembly President with a Kashmiri shawl, and she reciprocated with a warrior symbol. "After I ..

India's desire for peace not reciprocated by Pak: Tharoor in Panama

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in Panama urges global pressure on Pakistan over the Pahalgam attack, says India's patience is tested but national unity is firm

Will not renegotiate security deal with US, despite protests: Panama prez

Panama President Jos Ral Mulino has said he will not renegotiate an agreement with the United States to give US troops access to Panamanian facilities, despite protests charging that he compromised the country's sovereignty. On Tuesday, thousands of Panamanians marched in the capital in the largest protest yet against an agreement signed during last month's visit by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. The US embassy followed with a statement Wednesday saying that the agreement did not allow for establishing military bases in Panama. A US military presence in Panama is sensitive, since people still remember the US invasion in 1989 and US President Donald Trump has suggested that the US take back control of the Panama Canal. "Panama's sovereignty is not at stake, it's not handed over, it's not given," Mulino said during his weekly press conference on Thursday. He insisted the agreement would not lead to US bases in Panama. The locations where US troops and contractors will have access

Hegseth to travel to Panama for meetings after Trump's demands for canal

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Panama next week to meet with leaders of the Central American country following recent Trump administration allegations of Chinese interference in the operations of the critical Panama Canal shipping lane. President Donald Trump has complained about the US relinquishing control of the waterway to Panama more than 20 years ago and has threatened to retake it, arguing that the US was being overcharged for using it. Panama's government has denied Trump's assertion that China exerts influence over the canal. Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, said Friday that Hegseth will participate in the 2025 Central American Security Conference. He said Hegseth will take part in meetings that will drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere. He did not mention the canal, which was built by the US in the early 1900s as it look

US deportees run from one embassy to another in Panama to seek asylum

Migrants from Afghanistan, Russia, Iran and China deported from the United States and dropped into limbo in Panama hopped door-to-door at embassies and consulates this week in a desperate attempt to seek asylum in any country that would accept them. The focus of international humanitarian concern just weeks before, the deportees now say they're increasingly worried that with little legal and humanitarian assistance and no clear pathway forward offered by authorities, they may be forgotten. After this, we don't know what we'll do, said 29-year-old Hayatullah Omagh, who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban takeover. In February, the United States deported nearly 300 people from mostly Asian nations to Panama. The Central American ally was supposed to be a stopover for migrants from countries that were more challenging for the U.S. to deport to as the Trump administration tried to accelerate deportations. Some agreed to voluntarily return to their countries from Panama, but other

Panama frees many US deportees amid rights criticism, leaving them in limbo

After weeks of lawsuits and human rights criticism, Panama on Saturday released dozens of migrants who were held for weeks in a remote camp after being deported from the United States, telling them they have 30 days to leave the Central American nation. It thrust many like Hayatullah Omagh, a 29-year-old who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban took control, into a legal limbo, scrambling to find a path forward. We are refugees. We do not have money. We can not pay for a hotel in Panama City, we do not have relatives, Omagh told the Associated Press in an interview. I can't go back to Afghanistan under any circumstances ... It is under the control of the Taliban, and they want to kill me. How can I go back?" Authorities have said deportees will have the option of extending their stay by 60 days if they need it, but after that many like Omagh don't know what they will do. Omagh climbed off a bus in Panama City alongside 65 migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ir

Trump hails 'reclaiming' of Panama Canal after BlackRock deal to buy stake

The deal will give the US consortium control of key Panama Canal ports amid White House calls to remove them from what it says is Chinese ownership

Costa Rica, Honduras join Panama as stopovers for foreign deportees

A group of families and children hailing from Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan, Russia and more countries climbed down the stairs of an airplane in Costa Rica's capital Thursday, the first flight of deportees from other nations Costa Rica agreed to hold in detention facilities for the Trump administration while it organised the return back to their countries. The flight of 135 deportees, half of them minors, added Costa Rica to a growing list of Latin American nations to serve as a stopover for migrants as US President Donald Trump's administration seeks to step up deportations. While Costa Rica joins Panama in holding deportees from mostly Asian origin until their repatriation can be arranged or they can seek protection somewhere, Honduras on Thursday also facilitated a handoff of deportees between the US and Venezuela from a flight coming from Guantanamo Bay. The migrants arriving in Costa Rica will be bused to a rural holding facility near the Panama border, where they will be ...

'Please help us': Indians among 300 US deportees stranded in Panama

Nearly 300 US deportees, including Indians, stranded in Panama as the authorities scramble to send them home. Detainees plead for aid from hotel windows

Indian deportees from US arrive in Panama, embassy secures consular access

Panama has informed India about the safe arrival of a group of Indians deported from the US and the Indian mission in the country is working closely with the host government to ensure their wellbeing after obtaining consular access to them. The Embassy of India in Panama, Costa Rica & Nicaragua took to X on Thursday to share the information but did not provide data on the number of Indians arriving in Panama. The group of Indians is part of a larger group of 299 migrants sent to Panama by the US government. These people arrived in the country on three flights last week after President Jose Raul Mulino agreed that Panama would become a "bridge" country for deportees. The Trump administration has pledged to deport millions of people who crossed illegally into the US. "Panamanian authorities have informed us that a group of Indians have reached Panama from the US," the Embassy of India in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica posted on X. "They are safe and secure at a Hotel with all ...

Nearly 300 US deportees held in Panama as officials arrange their return

Panama is detaining in a hotel nearly 300 people from various countries deported under US President Donald Trump, not allowing them to leave while waiting for international authorities to organise a return to their countries. More than 40 per cent of the migrants, authorities say, won't voluntarily return to their homeland. Migrants in the hotel rooms held messages to the windows reading Help and We are not save (sic) in our country. The migrants hailed from 10 mostly Asian countries, including Iran, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and others. The US has difficulty deporting directly to some of those countries so Panama is being used as a stopover. Costa Rica was expected to receive a similar flight of third-country deportees on Wednesday. Panama's Security Minister Frank Abrego said Tuesday the migrants are receiving medical attention and food as part of a migration agreement between Panama and the US. The Panamanian government has now agreed to serve as a ..

US takes offer, deports 119 migrants from diverse nationalities to Panama

Panama has received the first US flight carrying deportees from other nations as the Trump administration takes Panama up on its offer to act as a stopover for expelled migrants, the Central American nation's president said Thursday. Yesterday a flight from the United States Air Force arrived with 119 people from diverse nationalities of the world, President Jos Ral Mulino said Thursday in his weekly press briefing. He said there were migrants from China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan aboard. The president said it was the first of three planned flights that were expected to total about 360 people. It's not something massive, he said. The migrants were expected to be moved to a shelter in Panama's Darien region before being returned to their countries, Mulino said. Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Mulino in Panama. While US President Donald Trump's demands to retake control of the Panama Canal dominated the visit, Mulino also discussed Panama's efforts to

Panama's prez denies making deal that US ships can transit canal for free

Panamanian President Jos Ral Mulino on Thursday denied the US State Department's claim that his country had reached a deal allowing US warships to transit the Panama Canal for free. Mulino said he had told US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the US State Department's statement suggesting otherwise late Wednesday. I completely reject that statement yesterday, Mulino said during his weekly press conference, adding that he had asked Panama's ambassador in Washington to dispute the State Department's statement. On Wednesday evening, the US State Department said via X that US government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the US government millions of dollars a year. The department had no immediate comment Thursday on Mulino's remarks. The differing versions came just days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Mulino a

Panama agrees to eliminate fees for US govt vessels transiting the canal

It further said the decision will save the US government millions of dollars each year