India | Pakistan

At least 18 people were killed in eastern India on Tuesday after a bus ferrying Hindu pilgrims collided with a truck loaded with cooking gas cylinders, officials said. Visuals from the site in Jharkhand state showed the mangled wreckage of the bus, with its rear portion almost entirely burnt. Local lawmaker Nishikant Dubey said the pilgrims were travelling to a Hindu shrine to celebrate the sacred month of Shravan, coinciding with the onset of the monsoons in the subcontinent. “Eighteen devotees lost their lives due to a bus and truck accident,” Dubey said on social media. The pilgrims were carrying holy water from the Ganges to offer to the Hindu god of destruction, Lord Shiva. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his “deepest condolences to the families of the devotees who lost their lives”. “The road accident in Jharkhand’s Deoghar is extremely tragic,” his office said on social media. Tens of thousands of people die in road accidents in India every year, according to official data. More than 172,000 die...

Pakistani security sources said on Monday that India has once again begun “fake encounters” under the guise of countering terrorism, with an alleged plan to “use” detained Pakistanis in them, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. The statement came after the Indian Army’s Chinar Corps said they killed three alleged “terrorists” under ‘Operation Mahadev’ in occupied Kashmir’s Srinagar. While Indian media, citing sources, has been linking one of the dead to the Pahalgam attack, no official has stated that on record. The April 22 attack in held Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed 26 people and sparked heavy fighting between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, as New Delhi blamed the attack on Islamabad, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation. India had launched Operation Sindoor in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, which included the deadly strikes launched on Pakistan on May 7. “After the failure of Operation Sindoor, India has once again initiated fake encounters under the guise of Ope...

India’s enthralling series in England is going all the way to the finish after the resilient tourists drew the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Sunday. Record-breaking skipper Shubman Gill scored his fourth century of the campaign before Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar also made hundreds. England remain 2-1 up in this five-match contest ahead of a quick turnaround to Thursday’s start of an Oval finale, where an India victory in south London would ensure a share of the spoils for Gill’s men. A draw looked anything but likely when India collapsed to 0-2 in the opening over of their second innings on Saturday as Chris Woakes struck with successive deliveries after England had piled up a mammoth 669 in their first innings. But Gill, in on a hat-trick, went on to score 103 in a marathon innings of some seven hours as he turned the tide during a stand of 188 with KL Rahul that ended before lunch on Sunday’s last day. Jadeja, reprieved first ball when Joe Root dropped a tough slip chance, went on to make 107 not...

At least six people were crushed to death at a popular Hindu temple in northern India’s Uttarakhand state on Sunday, officials said, after a massive crowd surge. The stampede occurred on the stairway leading to the Mansa Devi temple in the Hindu holy city of Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganges River, and left many injured. “Six dead and more than 10 injured are admitted to the hospital,” senior city police official Parmendra Dobhal told AFP. Uttarkhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said relief and rescue operations were underway. “I am constantly in touch with the local administration regarding this matter, and continuous monitoring of the situation is being done,” he said in a statement. Deadly stampedes and crowd crushes are a common occurrence at Indian religious festivals. In June, a sudden crowd surge at a Hindu festival in the coastal state of Odisha triggered a stampede that killed at least three people and injured several others. The previous month, six people were crushed to death in the wester...

• Foreign minister says Pakistan-US mineral deal to be finalised soon • Ex-State Dept official Elizabeth Horst made acting envoy to Pakistan WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday and discussed trade, investment, counterterrorism cooperation and the clash between India and Pakistan in May, according to officials from both countries. The meeting — the first such engagement between the foreign ministers of the two countries in three years — is being considered a breakthrough in diplomacy between Pakistan and the US. On the same day, the US named an acting ambassador in Islamabad. In Washington, Mr Dar and Secretary Rubio held their first meeting since working together in May to negotiate a ceasefire that ended a dangerous military standoff between India and Pakistan. In a post shared after the meeting, Mr Dar said he discussed bilateral relations with Secretary Rubio. “We reaffirmed our commitment to the long-term Pakistan-US partnership, with renewed focus on eco...

At least seven children were killed and 26 others injured Friday after part of the roof and walls of a government-run school collapsed in western India, police said. “Seven children have lost their lives so far and 26 others are injured,” Nand Kishore, a police officer in the state of Rajasthan, told AFP. There were around 60 students, teachers and staff members in the single-storey building when the accident happened in Jhalawar district, some 322 kilometres (200 miles) from the state capital Jaipur. Kishore said the structure collapsed when students were attending their classes early on Friday. Villagers rushed to the site and rescued many injured children who were taken to the closest medical facilities. Local media reports said the building was in a dilapidated condition and several complaints had been previously been raised about it. It had also been raining heavily in the area over the past few days. According to local news outlets, the children who died were between eight and 11 years of age, while two...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan yesterday said it was ready for talks with India and reiterated that any misadventure or aggressive design by India would be met with a robust and resolute response.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett got England off to a flying start in their first innings of the fourth Test before India ensured both openers fell agonisingly short of centuries. England were 225-2 at stumps on the second day at Old Trafford, a deficit of 133 runs, after they dismissed India for 358, with captain […]

Britain and India signed a free trade agreement on Thursday during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sealing a deal to cut tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky and cars and allow more market access for businesses. The two countries concluded talks on the trade pact in May after three years of stop-start negotiations, with both sides hastening efforts to clinch a deal in the shadow of tariff turmoil unleashed by United States President Donald Trump. The agreement between the world’s fifth and sixth largest economies aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds ($34bn) by 2040. It is Britain’s biggest trade deal since it left the European Union in 2020, although its impact will be a fraction of the effect of leaving the orbit of its closest trading partner. For India, it represents its biggest strategic partnership with an advanced economy, and one which could provide a template for a long-mooted deal with the EU as well as talks with other regions. It will take effect aft...

Pakistan is ready to engage in dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, but the next move depends on New Delhi, said Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan during a weekly press briefing on Thursday.

India has pushed hundreds of ethnic Bengali-speaking Muslims into Bangladesh without due process, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, accusing the government of flouting rules and fuelling bias on religious lines. The Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long taken a hardline stance on immigration — particularly from Muslim-majority Bangladesh — with top authorities referring to them as “termites” and “infiltrators”. Critics also accuse the government of sparking fear among India’s estimated 200 million Muslims, especially among speakers of Bengali, which is widely spoken in both eastern India and Bangladesh. HRW, a New York-based nonprofit, said that India forcibly expelled more than 1,500 Muslim men, women, and children to Bangladesh between May 7 and June 15, quoting Bangladeshi authorities. “India’s ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is fuelling discrimination by arbitrarily expelling Bengali Muslims from the country, including Indian citizens,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director ...

Rishabh Pant’s retirement through injury slowed India’s progress on day one of the fourth Test against England, with the tourists closing on 264-4 in their first innings as they look to keep the thrilling five-match series alive. With England eyeing victory at Old Trafford that would seal a series win with one match to spare, […]

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reiterated Pakistan’s willingness for a “meaningful dialogue” with India on all outstanding issues, state media Radio Pakistan reported. The April 22 attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed 26 people, sparking a military confrontation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan as New Delhi blamed it on Islamabad, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation. A US-brokered ceasefire ended the war. Pakistan previously invited India to a comprehensive dialogue to address all contentious issues, including the Kashmir dispute and the water distribution. During a meeting with British High Commissioner Jane Marriott today, PM Shehbaz appreciated the UK’s role in de-escalating tensions during the Pakistan-India standoff and reiterated that Pakistan was ready for a meaningful dialogue with India on all outstanding issues. He welcomed the British government’s decision to resume PIA flights to the UK. He said, “This [decision] would go a lo...

India will resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24 this year, its embassy in China said on Wednesday, the first time in five years as both countries move to repair their rocky relationship. Tensions between the two countries escalated following a 2020 military clash along their disputed Himalayan border. In response, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investments, banned hundreds of popular Chinese apps and cut passenger routes. China suspended visas to Indian citizens and other foreigners around the same time due to the Covid-19 pandemic but lifted those restrictions in 2022, when it resumed issuing visas for students and business travellers. Tourist visas for Indian nationals remained restricted until March this year, when both countries agreed to resume direct air service. Relations have gradually improved, with several high-level meetings taking place last year, including talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia in October. China...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reaffirmed Pakistan’s willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue with India on all outstanding issues.

Rejecting Indian allegations of cross-border terrorism, Pakistan has asked India to change its behaviour, instead of resorting to its “tired narrative of victimhood and blame-shifting” during a UN Security Council debate on ‘Promoting International Peace and Security through Multilateralism and Peaceful Settlement of.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) will retire its remaining fleet of Russian MiG-21s, considered the IAF’s workhorse that showed its vulnerability when Pakistan shot down one of them and captured its pilot in a Feb 2019 showdown. According to the Indian Express, the fleet is scheduled to be retired in Septe­mber after serving the IAF for six decades. Inducted in 1963, at least four MiG-21 squadrons were number-plated or retired from service between 2017 and 2024, the newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources in the military. Its sources said the IAF is set to retire the remaining Russian-origin MiG-21 fleet in a ceremonial decom­m­issioning at Chan­digarh airbase on Sept 19. Two squadrons of MiG-21 Bisons are currently active. India procured more than 700 MiG-21 aircraft of different variants, such as the Type-77, Type-96, BIS and the Bison, since the aircraft’s induction in the IAF in 1963. The phasing out of the aging MiG-21 fleet was originally scheduled to be concluded by 2022, but was held up due to a ...

United States President Donald Trump’s lunch meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir prompted a private diplomatic protest from India in a warning to Washington about risks to their bilateral ties while New Delhi is recalibrating relations with China as a hedge, officials and analysts said. The meeting and other tensions in the US-India relationship, after decades of flourishing ties, have cast a shadow in trade negotiations, they said, as Trump’s administration weighs tariffs against one of its major partners in the Indo-Pacific. India blames Pakistan, especially the military establishment, for supporting what it alleges is cross-border terrorism and has told the US it is sending the wrong signals by wooing Field Marshal Munir, three senior Indian government officials directly aware of the matter told Reuters. It has created a sore spot that will hamper relations going forward, they said. Pakistan has denied accusations that it supports militants who carried out an attack in Ind...

In a shocking disclosure, Indian officials have arrested Abdul Kalam, a Bangladeshi national who had been living in India for 20 years under the fake transgender identity of a woman named Neha Kinnar. The arrest happened in Bhopal after confidential information that led to an undercover police operation. According to reports, Abdul Kalam came to […]

LAHORE - Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain has asserted that India neither has courage nor capability to block Pakistan’s water as the natural flow of rivers favors Pakistan.