Tag: Narendra Modi

  • ‘Help me’: Altaf Hussain looks towards Modi for support

    ‘Help me’: Altaf Hussain looks towards Modi for support

    Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has reportedly requested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help him by giving him and his companions asylum and financial help.

    According to a report in The News, Hussain made his request in his first ever public speech after the police relaxed his bail conditions.

    In the speech, watched online by thousands of people, the MQM leader said he would like to travel to India because his forefathers are buried there.

    “If India’s Prime Minister Mr Modi allows me to come to India and provides me asylum with my colleagues, I am ready to come to India along with my colleagues because my grandfather is buried there. My grandmother is buried there and thousands of my relatives are buried there in India. I want to go to India to their graves.”

    Hussain, in his speech, alleged that his assets, house and offices were taken over in Karachi after August 22, 2017. He asked the Indian PM to help him with money if he could not provide him asylum.

    In fact, Altaf even supported the decision of the Indian Supreme Court in the disputed Babri Mosque case saying that Modi’s government has the “right to establish Hindu Raaj (rule)” and if Indian politician Asaduddin Owaisi and others did not like India, they should migrate to Pakistan.

    On October 10, Hussain was charged by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Services with the terrorism offence in a case related to his incendiary speech relayed from the UK to his followers in Pakistan in 2016.

    He is due to stand trial in June 2020 and passport remains with the UK police as part of his bail conditions and he is not allowed to apply for any travel document unless permitted by the court.

    Lawyers were now assessing whether Hussain has breached his bail conditions by asking Modi to let him stay in India while he awaits the trial of his case.

  • Modi cancels Turkey visit after President Erdogan supports Pakistan on Kashmir

    Modi cancels Turkey visit after President Erdogan supports Pakistan on Kashmir

    With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly raising Indian atrocities in Kashmir at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and his country backing Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting in Paris, India has decided to give the cold shoulder to its ties with Turkey.

    According to Khaleej Times, New Delhi has cancelled a two-day official visit to Ankara by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi at the end of this month, which would have been his first stand-alone visit to the country.

    He was to have proceeded to Turkey from Saudi Arabia, where he is going on October 27-28 to attend a mega-investment summit.

    The decision to cancel the visit to Turkey marks a low in relations between New Delhi and Ankara, which have never been very warm. Trade and defence cooperation were among the issues that were to be on the table during Modi’s Ankara visit, which had been agreed to in principle.

    The Ministry of External Affairs was non-committal over the development. “The visit was never finalised so there is no question of cancellation,” reports an official as saying.

    Modi had last visited Turkey during the G20 in Antalya in 2015. He had held a bilateral with Erdogan in Osaka, on the sidelines of the G20 in June this year. The Turkish leader had paid a two-day visit to India in July 2018.

    However, Erdogan’s strong backing of Pakistan’s position on Kashmir and alleging widespread human rights violations by India during his speech at the UNGA last month has not gone down well with India.

    In his speech, Erdogan had raised the issue of UN resolutions on Kashmir and alleged that “eight million people are stuck” in Kashmir due to revocation of special status. He had criticised the international community for failing to pay attention to the Kashmir issue.

    At the end of September, at an event in Turkey to mark the building of a warship for Pakistan, Erdogan also said he would continue to flag the Kashmir issue on the world stage.

    India is known to have cancelled an order for two naval ships it had inked with Turkey, in retaliation of Erdogan’s Kashmir comments.

    At the FATF meeting too, Turkey and Malaysia, along with China, openly backed Pakistan last week, which was invaluable in getting Islamabad a lifeline of four months till February 2020 to “eliminate” money laundering and terrorist financing.

  • ‘Imran Bhai se rishta kya, La Ilaha Illallah’: Held Kashmir abuzz with pro-Imran chants

    ‘Imran Bhai se rishta kya, La Ilaha Illallah’: Held Kashmir abuzz with pro-Imran chants

    Kashmiris’ struggle for independence from the clutches of Indian occupying forces has been reinvigorated ever since Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, being their “ambassador to the world”, highlighted the crisis at the United Nations (UN).

    With his address to the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) sweeping the troubled valley, an unprecedented wave of hope has compelled the people of the Muslim-majority region to leave their homes regardless of the restrictions imposed by India.

    According to media reports, within less than a week of PM Imran’s speech, Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) has witnessed over 50 street protests in different districts.

    As part of other protests being held since PM Imran kicked off his Kashmir campaign in the United States (US) last month, a report by BBC Urdu revealed, scores of Kashmiri protestors have taken to streets, raising slogans for freedom and demanding India to “Go back!”

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The streets of IoK are abuzz with chants of “We’re Pakistanis, Pakistan is ours!” and “What do we want? Freedom!” Among other popular slogans that hail PM Imran as a hero are, “Your brother and mine, Imran Khan!”, and “What’s our relation with Imran Khan? La Ilaha Illallah.”

    KASHMIR & IMRAN:

    The long-pending Kashmir dispute on August 5 worsened when PM Narendra Modi-led government abrogated Article 370 of the Indian constitution and robbed the region of its autonomy.

    With Pakistan fearing ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the valley as a result of the move, PM Imran announced becoming the “ambassador of the people of Kashmir to the world”.

    As part of his campaign, the premier has been highlighting Indian atrocities in IoK on different forums, including the UN.

    His entire US trip was dedicated to raising voice for innocent Kashmiris, while the highlight of his maiden UNGA address also remained intense criticism of India for the annexation of IoK and the restrictions imposed on the region under Modi’s rule.

  • Experts question Modi’s claims as millions still relieve themselves in public

    Experts question Modi’s claims as millions still relieve themselves in public

    India is to be declared “open-defecation free” by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Wednesday evening, although experts question his bold claim that all 1.3 billion people in the country have access to a toilet, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported.

    Modi made his “latrines for all” pledge when he first assumed office in 2014 and is hailing the project’s success as India celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, a sanitation champion.

    Since being elected, Modi’s government says it has built almost 100 million toilets, winning the leader plaudits abroad, including an award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation last week.

    In March, the government had said fewer than 50 million people relieved themselves outside, down from 550 million in 2014, with more than 550,000 villages declared open-defecation free.

    However, experts are sceptical over his claims, citing data from rural as well as urban areas.

    “A lot of latrines have been constructed from 2014 to 2018. Latrine ownership increased from about 35 per cent to about 70 per cent,” said Sangita Vyas from the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE).

    “That increase did accelerate the reduction of open defecation but in December 2018 we estimated about half of the people in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan still defecated in the open,” she told AFP, doubting that the shortfall has been made up since.

    Many of the toilets that have been constructed are without a water connection and even when they are connected, cultural barriers stop many Indians from using them, experts say.

    Modi, 69, was set to make the grand announcement in his western home state of Gujarat today evening in front of 20,000 village chiefs.

    He was also due to visit the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, where Gandhi based himself for many years, and where 10,000 jars of treated human faecal matter were to be handed to guests, the Indian Express daily reported.

    The nutrient-rich matter — sun-dried, sieved into a tea leaf-like consistency and packed into the glass jars together with seeds — will then sprout upon watering.

    Before that, Modi early on Wednesday paid his respects to Gandhi, who was assassinated the year after India gained independence from Britain in 1947, at the Raj Ghat memorial in New Delhi.

    He said on Twitter that India was expressing “gratitude to Mahatma Gandhi for his everlasting contribution to humanity. We pledge to continue working hard to realise his dreams and create a better planet”.

    Other events also took place nationwide including in a hospital room in Pune where Gandhi was operated on for appendicitis in 1924.

    As many as 600 prisoners were also set to be released in an amnesty, media reports said.

    Later on Wednesday, a year-long, 14,000-kilometre (8,700-mile) “global peace” march was due to leave Delhi bound for Switzerland and taking in 10 countries.

  • PM Imran second most searched leader at UN General Assembly

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has become the second most searched personality among the leaders currently in the United States (US) for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

    According to Google Trends, PM Imran has secured the second slot in the list of most searched UNGA leaders on Google, while Indian PM Narendra Modi stands fifth and United States (US) President Donald Trump has topped the list.

    Among other most searched UNGA leaders are British PM Boris Johnson at the third place and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on the fourth. The Brazilian president had recently made headlines after severe criticism over his lack of efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest.

  • Modi expresses grief over Pakistan earthquake

    Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the loss of lives and damage to property after an earthquake in Pakistan killed at least 40 and left more than 500 people injured.

    The Twitter handle “PMO India” wrote, “PM has expressed grief on the loss of lives and damage to property due to an earthquake in parts of India and Pakistan”.

    “PM expresses condolences to the families of the deceased and prays for the speedy recovery of those injured”, said the Tweet.

    A powerful 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted several parts of Pakistan on Tuesday, particularly areas of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    According to the geological wing of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the epicenter of the quake was stated to be one kilometer (km) southeast of Mirpur, 10 km beneath the earth’s surface.

  • India requests Pakistan to let Modi fly through its airspace

    India requests Pakistan to let Modi fly through its airspace

    India has requested Pakistan to let Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s aircraft fly through its airspace to New York for his week-long trip to the United States (US) from September 21 to 27.

    India has formally requested Pakistan to allow use of its air space for PM Modi’s flight, ANI reported.

    On September 22, Modi will address the Indian community as part of the ‘Howdy Modi!’ event in Houston, Texas. The event will be his third major address to the Indian-American community after he became the prime minister in 2014 and the first after his re-election in May.

    The previous two were at the Madison Square Garden in New York in 2014 and the Silicon Valley in 2016.

    Modi will then visit New York from September 23, where he will address the 2019 Climate Action Summit hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He is also expected to meet US President Donald Trump.

    Modi had in August used Pakistani airspace for the first time after February’s botched Balakot strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

    The flight carrying Modi, callsign Air India One (AI-1), used Pakistani airspace while en route to France from New Delhi.

    Pakistan closed its airspace in February this year after a standoff with India in the wake of an attack on a police convoy in occupied Kashmir that killed 40 paramilitary police.

    In the aftermath, two Indian fighter jets’ were downed. Pakistan also captured one of the Indian pilots who was later released.

    In June, Modi avoided flying over Pakistan during a trip to Central Asia, even though its airspace was opened as a goodwill gesture.

    Islamabad had fully reopened its airspace to civilian flights a month later.

  • Supreme Court orders Modi govt to restore normalcy in Kashmir

    Supreme Court orders Modi govt to restore normalcy in Kashmir

    The Supreme Court of India (SCI) on Monday ordered the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led government to restore normalcy in occupied Kashmir “as soon as possible while keeping in mind national safety and security.”

    “Schools, hospitals, public transport should function properly,” said the ruling of a three-member bench of India’s apex court.

    According to Dunya News, the ruling came as the SCI took up multiple pleas against the Indian premier’s August 5 decision of revoking the special autonomy of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK).

    The court has ordered the government to submit a report mentioning the actual situation in the region that has been lockdown for 43 days with communication blackout.

    During the hearing of petitions, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi remarked that if “requirement arises”, he would himself visit Jammu and Kashmir and expressed concerns over reports of inaccessibility of Kashmiris to the high court.

  • Consult Indian Air Force before ‘invading’ Azad Kashmir, ISPR chief trolls Indian minister

    Consult Indian Air Force before ‘invading’ Azad Kashmir, ISPR chief trolls Indian minister

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor has trolled Indian Union Minister Jitendra Singh by asking him “to consult Indian Air Force (IAF) before invading Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)”.

    “After Article 370, Pakistan occupied Kashmir is our next agenda,” the Modi-led Hindu nationalist government’s minister had been quoted as saying.

    Taking to Twitter to ridicule Singh while mentioning failed Indian airstrikes from February 2019 — which resulted in two IAF jets being shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and capture of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman — the ISPR chief wrote:

    https://twitter.com/peaceforchange/status/1171493626024587270

    “Please always consult IAF before talking about such agenda. As regard 370…. and siege, what you couldn’t suppress through overt & covert physical efforts for 72 years, this paper work can’t do that either. You shall see the just struggle succeeding. IA [sic].”

  • VIDEO: Modi consoles ISRO chief after moon landing fails

    VIDEO: Modi consoles ISRO chief after moon landing fails

    A video showing Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi consoling Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan as he broke down following the failure of India’s lunar moon mission, has gone viral over the internet.

    Modi was seen hugging and consoling K Sivan shortly after ISRO’s plan to soft-land Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module failed during the wee hours on Saturday. The lander lost communication with ground stations during its final descent towards the moon.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The Indian premier also gave a speech after the briefing where he told ISRO scientists to “not get disheartened by the hurdles in the moon mission” and asserted that there “will be new dawn”.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has taken a jibe at the failed Indian moon mission, terming the Indian spacecraft a “toy”, adding that “it must have landed in Mumbai”.

    Taking to Twitter, the minister advised Indians to “sleep instead of waiting for an announcement from ISRO” about the moon mission.

    “Modi is giving a speech on satellite communication as though he was actually an astronaut, not a politician,” Chaudhry said in a subsequent tweet.