Page 1500 - Politics

Yechury terms IAF air strike on JeM camp in Pakistan 'effective'

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday termed the air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot as 'effective' and applauded the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the precise target."IAF carried out an effective strike, destroyed the largest camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad, that they claim, in Balakot. The government has called the opposition to provide more details and also what the government is thinking in the future," Yechury said."We will get to know in the meeting what the government is planning to do to ensure such things do not happen in the future," he added."India on Tuesday carried out air strikes at a massive Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province," Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said.The terror camp in a thick forest area atop a hill was led by Yusuf Azhar alias Ustad Gauri, brother-in-law of JeM chief Masood Azhar, Gokhale said, making a statement before the media, hours after the air strikes using Mirage 2000 were carried

India, Pakistan should exercise restraint: China

China on Tuesday urged India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint" in order to improve mutual relations in the wake of the Indian Air Force striking at Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

Parties in Karnataka welcome India's strike on terror camps in

Political leaders cutting across party lines in Karnataka Tuesday hailed India's pre-emptive strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy offering his "salute" to the Indian Air Force. "My Salute to the Indian Airforce. Jai Jawan. Jai Hind. #IndiaStrikesBack #IndianAirForce," Kumaraswamy said in a tweet. India conducted a major preemptive strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said. India's action comes close to the Pulwama incident in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed in one of the deadliest terror strikes in decades in Jammu and Kashmir. Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara commended the efforts of the Indian Air Force pilots who risked their lives for the country. "Salute the @IAF_MCC for the massive show of strength. Commendable feat by Indian armed forces and our pilots who risked their lives for the ...

Six Punjab border districts on high alert after IAF strike

Punjab has its put its six border districts on high alert in the wake of the Indian Air Force's strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Pakistan, officials said. As part of the state's preparedness to deal with any contingency in view of the IAF strike, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh chaired a high-level law and order review meeting and ordered a spate of measures. The meeting arrived at the conclusion that there was no need to panic and decided against evacuating the border areas, an official spokesperson said. However, six districts -- Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Fazilka -- were put on high alert, the spokesperson said. They said the deputy commissioners and the police chiefs of the border districts have been asked to put in place all contingency plans to ensure the protection and safety of the citizens. As a confidence-building measure, the chief minister will himself visit the border areas from Pathankot to Ferozepur by road tomorrow, the ...

Pradyot Kishore Debburman appointed new TPCC president

The Congress high command has appointed Pradyot Kishore Debburman as the new president of Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), a party leader said here Tuesday. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal issued a statement on Monday evening stating that that Congress president Rahul Gandhi has appointed Pradyot Debburman as the new Tripura Congress president, TPCC vice president Tapas Dey said. The statement also said that Congress party appreciates the contribution of outgoing Tripura PCC president Birajit Sinha. Debburman at present is the working president of TPCC. He is a member of of Tripuras erstwhile royal family the Manikya's. Debburman thanked Rahul Gandhi for appointing him the new TPCC president. "Thank you @RahulGandhi! I hope to ensure that an era of clean and honest politics is brought about in Tripura," he tweeted. "There was misrule in CPI (M) led Left Front regime and there is misrule in BJP-led incumbent governments tenure as well. I want to bring ...

India testfires Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile

India successfully test-fired short-range Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) off Odisha coast on Tuesday.

Punjab Democratic Alliance inks seat sharing deal on 9 LS seat

ThePunjab Democratic Alliance has reached a consensus on fielding candidates on nine out of 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state to provide a "clean third alternative to the corrupt traditional parties", an alliance member said Tuesday. The PDA comprising Punjab Ekta Party, BSP, Lok Insaaf Party and Punjab Manch decided to field candidates on nine Lok Sabha seats at its meeting in Jalandhar late Monday, Punjab Ekta Party chief Sukhpal Singh Khaira said here. The meeting decided BSP will contest Anandpur Sahib, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seats, leaving Bathinda and Fardikot for Punjab Ekta Party, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Fatehgarh Sahib for Lok Insaaf Party and Patiala for suspended AAP MP Dharamvira Gandhi's Punjab Manch. The remaining four seats to be contested by the alliance would be decided shortly, Khaira said. Khaira said the alliance has been forged to "liberate" Punjab from the "clutches of corrupt traditional parties Congress, SAD and BJP which have looted the state by turn .

Air strikes against JeM a right step: Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday termed the air strikes against the biggest training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at Balakot in Pakistan as a right step. The government has given a free hand to the armed forces. It is a suitable example of necessary action.

ICJ advises Britain to return Diego Garcia to Mauritius

Mauritius has won a case against Britain at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) involving decolonisation of the strategically important island of Diego Garcia, which is home to a US military base. Britain must give Mauritius control of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the ICJ said on Monday.

Heated exchanges between BJP, Cong members in Hry Assembly

The Haryana Assembly on Tuesday witnessed acrimonious exchanges between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress benches over many issues including one related to incidents of violence during reservation agitation in the state in February 2016. There were heated exchanges between the treasury benches and Congress MLAs when BJP MLA Aseem Goel, who opened the Budget debate in the House, trained guns on the opposition members telling them they were responsible when "Haryana burnt" during incidents of violence which broke out during the Jat reservation agitation. "You are responsible for this, you hatched the conspiracy," Goel alleged during his one-hour speech on the Budget. Former Minister and Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal took a swipe at the ruling BJP MLAs, saying on every issue they put the blame on previous Congress government and make "baseless allegations". Pointing towards Congress benches, Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar said, "Rohtak, Jhajjar, Beri burnt (during the ...

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal postpones indefinite hunger strike in view of prevailing Indo-Pak situation

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday said he has postponed his indefinite hunger strike, scheduled from March 1 in "view of the prevailing Indo-Pak situation". His remarks came after India struck Jaish-e-Mohammed's(JeM) biggest camp in Pakistan early Tuesday in a major "preemptive" action killing a large number of terrorists and trainers of the Pak-based terror group preparing to carry out suicide attacks in this country. "In view of prevailing Indo Pak situation, I am postponing my upwas for full statehood of Delhi. We all stand as one nation today," he posted on Twitter. Earlier, Kejriwal saluted the pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) after it carried out the strikes in Pakistan. "I salute the bravery of Indian Air Force pilots who have made us proud by striking terror targets in Pakistan," Kejriwal said in a tweet.

Forged alliance with BSP to ensure 'netaji' wins LS polls with record votes: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has said he forged an alliance with the BSP so that his father Mulayam Singh Yadav can win with "record votes" from whichever seat in Uttar Pradesh he chooses to fight the Lok Sabha polls. His comment came days after SP patriarch Mulayam Yadav -- popularly known as 'netaji' -- expressed "displeasure" over his son's decision to enter into a tie-up with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). "I have made the alliance with the BSP so that 'netaji' can win with record votes in the state from wherever he contests the Lok Sabha polls," Akhilesh told PTI in an interview. Mayawati and Akhilesh had jointly announced the alliance in January, saying the BSP and the SP will contest 38 parliamentary seats each out of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh.However, when the parties released the list of seats shared between them, the SP got 37 seats and the BSP 38. When asked about Mulayam Yadav's statement last week in which he sought to know the basis for "giving ...

Tamil Nadu seeks Centre's intervention for release of 3 fishermen detained in Iran

The Tamil Nadu government Tuesday sought the Centre's intervention for the release of three fishermen from the state detained in Iran last month. Chief Minister K Palaniswami wrote to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, seeking her intervention in the matter. It was reported that the three fishermen from Kanniyakumari district were employed as fishing labourers in a mechanised fishing boat belonging to a Saudi Arabian national, he said. "They (fishermen) seemed to have ventured for fishing from Tharine fishing base of Saudi Arabia on January 2, 2019. While fishing in the sea, they were reportedly abducted by smugglers, who abandoned them off the coast of Busher in Iran on January 7," he said. The abandoned fishermen were rescued by the Iranian Coast Guard and 'detained' in Busher, he said. "I request you to direct the Embassies of India in Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to ensure the immediate release and repatriation of these poor innocent Indian fishermen to India," ...

Netanyahu says 'good riddance' as Iran FM tenders resignation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "good riddance" on Tuesday after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif abruptly announced his resignation. "Zarif is gone. Good riddance," Netanyahu said of the lead negotiator of Iran's landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with major powers that he had bitterly opposed. "As long as I am here, Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons," Netanyahu tweeted.

JeM was founded with Osama's help

Pakistan-based Islamist terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), whose training camps were hit on Tuesday by the IAF, was founded in 2000 with the help of then Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden with a virulent anti-India stance.

Modi attends Gandhi Peace Prize ceremony after early morning attack

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attended the presentation of the Gandhi Peace Prize at the Rashtrapati Bhavan soon after he presided over a CCS meeting following an early morning strike by the IAF on a JeM terror camp across the Line of Control (LoC).

Only PM Modi could deliver this: Adityanath on air strikes

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday praised the Indian Air Force's (IAF) action against terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that operates from Pakistan, adding that it was only under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership that this could be possible.

IAF strikes: J-K administration advises people to stay calm, not to believe in rumours

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday advised people in the state to stay calm and not to believe in rumours in the aftermath of the Indian Air Force's strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed's terror camp in Pakistan. Anxious residents of Srinagar and other major towns in the Kashmir valley could be seen discussing the latest developments amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. "We hope that it ends here and there is no more escalation. If there is escalation in hostilities, it will be the people on either side of the Line of Control who will suffer the most," Abdul Gani Dar (80), who has witnessed all wars between India and Pakistan, said. Many residents, including former chief minister Omar Abdullah, took to social media to express their fears about the possibility of a full blown confrontation between the two nuclear powers. "The problem now becomes PM Imran Khan's commitment to his ...

PM says country in safe hands after IAF strikes terror camps in Pak

In his first public address after air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said the country is in safe hands and that he will not let the country down. The prime minister stressed that nothing was above the nation. "Today is a day to pay homage to India's bravehearts. Today, from the land of Churu, I want to assure the people of the country that the country is in safe hands," he said at a public rally here. The prime minister, however, did not make a direct reference to the strikes. In a swift and precise air strike following the Pulwama attack, India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders. The operation, described as a non-military, preemptive strike, was welcomed by the entire political spectrum and military experts who had been advocating retribution after the February 14 suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama ...

Pakistan summons joint parliamentary session after IAF operation in Balakot

Pakistan has convened a joint parliamentary session after India Air Force carried out multiple aerial strikes at major terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC)."A joint parliamentary session will take place tomorrow," Geo TV quoted Ali Muhammad Khan, minister of state for parliamentary affairs, as saying."I have just come from the national security meeting and told the participants that the entire Parliament and nation are united," said Khan.Opposition parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and PPP demanded a joint session to decide the further step that Pakistan would take. "We are in a state of war. The Parliament should sit together and decide," Pakistan People Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah said."It is not the time for political point-scoring and we should put aside our differences and unite the entire nation," he added.The opposition leaders have also urged the Pakistan government to avoid the upcoming Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in which ...