India | Pakistan

The United States has rejected India’s claim that Washington had no role in brokering the recent ceasefire between Pakistan and India, calling it "false and misleading.

New captain Shubman Gill was hailed on Monday for leading from the front after India recorded their maiden Test win at Edgbaston to level the series against England 1-1. Gill, who notched a century in a losing cause in the first Test at Headingley, hit new heights in scoring 269 and 161 to set up a crushing victory by 336 runs which leaves the five-match series finely poised. It was India’s first win in nine Tests at the Birmingham venue, following seven previous defeats and one draw. “New captain, new India”, The Indian Express newspaper splashed across its front page. Gill, 25, became the youngest Indian Test skipper to register an overseas win in just his second match in charge following the retirement of Rohit Sharma. He eclipsed Sunil Gavaskar, who was 26 when he led India to victory over New Zealand at Auckland in 1976. Gill came into the series with concerns over his batting average overseas, which had been less than 30, but he has shut down all the noise by stroking a remarkable 585 runs from four inn...

The Reuters News account on X was restored in India on Sunday, a day after the social media platform suspended it, citing a legal demand. “At this time, we are no longer withholding access in India to your account,” X said in an email to the Reuters social media team, without elaborating. Representatives for X, Reuters and the Indian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the restoration of the account. Earlier on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau told Reuters that no Indian government agency had required withholding the Reuters handle, adding that officials were working with X to resolve the problem. A Reuters spokesperson had said the agency was working with X to resolve this matter and get the Reuters account reinstated in India as soon as possible. Reuters World, another X account operated by the news agency, which was blocked in India, was also restored late on Sunday night. The main Reuters account, which has more than 25 million follo...

NEW DELHI, July 6: The Reuters News account on X has been inaccessible to users in India since Saturday, when the social media platform suspended it in response to what it described as a “legal demand”. A spokesperson for the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau, however, told Reuters there was no requirement from any agency […]

Akash Deep took 10 wickets in a Test match for the first time as India thrashed England by 336 runs at Edgbaston on Sunday for a series-levelling win. Deep was playing in the second Test of the five-match series after India rested outstanding quick Jasprit Bumrah. The 28-year-old took 6-99 as England, set a mammoth 608 runs to win, were dismissed for 271 on the fifth day. Deep’s match figures of 10-147 were far and away the best of his eight-Test career. Jamie Smith was the lone England batter to pass fifty in the second innings, with the wicketkeeper’s 88 following his brilliant 184 not out the first time around. A crushing victory gave India their maiden Test win in nine matches at Edgbaston following seven defeats and a draw at the Birmingham ground. This game was also a personal triumph for India captain Shubman Gill after he became the first batsman in Test cricket to post scores of 250 and 150 in the same match. The 25-year-old’s majestic 269 in the first innings was followed by a dashing 161 off 162 ba...

The Reuters news agency’s X account handles were “withheld” in India “in response to a legal demand”, Indian outlet The Print reported on Sunday. The accounts for both Reuters and Reuters World were inaccessible in India; however, users were still able to access 30 other Reuters accounts, The Print added. The Reuters news website is also accessible. X users in India have posted screenshots showing that they are unable to access the news agency’s accounts. Reuters has yet to issue a statement, while the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) told India Today that no order was given to restrict the accounts. “There is no requirement from the Government of India to withhold the Reuters handle. We are continuously working with X to resolve the problem,” an official spokesperson for the ministry told outlet India Today. The Print reported that in previous instances of X restricting access to accounts in India due to legal requirements, the platform issued statements through its Global Go...

India break Edgbaston curse, crush England by 336 runs to level series 1-1

Olympic javelin star Neeraj Chopra headlined what was billed as India’s inaugural world-class field competition on Saturday, living up to his goal of elevating domestic talent while also walking away with another gold medal. Chopra, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and silver at the 2024 Paris Games, triumphed with a throw of 86.18 metres at the 12-athlete javelin Neeraj Chopra Classic event. He finished ahead of former world champion Julius Yego (silver) and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage (bronze). “The biggest target of the competition was to uplift the Indian athletes alongside the international ones. We got the best javelin throwers to this competition,” Chopra told reporters after winning the competition. The event drew more than 14,500 spectators — a figure that delighted Chopra, who has long championed greater public support for track and field events. “We really wanted people to come and watch track and field,” said Chopra, who has single-handedly raised interest for athletics in India and has...

India’s six‑match white‑ball cricket tour of Bangladesh next month has been postponed to 2026, both cricket boards said on Saturday. The series, including three one-day and three T20 matches, had been due to start on August 17 in Dhaka. Political relations between India and Bangladesh have turned frosty since a mass uprising last year in Dhaka toppled the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have “mutually agreed to defer” the series, the statement read. It said the decision was made “taking into account the international cricketing commitments and scheduling convenience of both teams”, without giving further details. It added that Bangladesh’s BCB “looks forward to welcoming India in September 2026”, with exact fixtures to be released later. There is deep anger in Dhaka at the fate of Hasina, who escaped a student-led uprising by helicopter in August 2024 and flew to New Delhi. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and Au...

KARACHI: Despite a brief military conflict and the continued closure of borders, trade between Pakistan and India persisted in May, with official data showing that imports from India reached a three-year high during July-May FY25. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), imports from India totalled $211.5 million in the first 11 months of FY25 — surpassing $207m in FY24 and $190m in FY23. In May alone — when the four-day conflict broke out in the first week—imports stood at $15m, slightly down from $17m in the same month last year. However, Pakistan’s exports to India remained negligible. In May, they were recorded at just $1,000, while total exports during July-May FY25 were only $0.5m. In FY24 and FY23, exports stood at $3.44m and $0.33m, respectively—highlighting the highly one-sided nature of bilateral trade. Traders were reluctant to discuss the continuation of imports during the tense period. One trader suggested the goods might have arrived through third countries, with payments made prior to the...

Jamie Smith made the highest Test score by an England wicketkeeper of 184 not out and Harry Brook passed 150 yet again but India still ended Friday’s third day of the second India vs England at Edgbaston with a lead of over 200 runs. England were in dire straits at 84-5, more than 500 runs […]

PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said Pakistan had no objection to extraditing “individuals of concern” to India as a confidence-building measure, as long as New Delhi showed willingness to cooperate in the process. Ties between Pakistan and India have remained tense, further strained after New Delhi, without presenting evidence, blamed Pakistan for the deadly April attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. This led to a four-day military confrontation in May, with both sides dropping their guns after American intervention. The PPP chairman has repeatedly called for India and Pakistan to engage in a dialogue to establish peace. Speaking during an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, the PPP chief responded to a question about extraditing Laskhar-i-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-i-Muhammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as possible concessions and good-faith gestures to India. “As part of a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan, where terrorism is one of the issues that ...

Flash floods and landslides after torrential rain over the last two weeks killed at least 69 people and injured 110 others in India’s northern Himalayan regions, officials said on Friday. Scores of people die each year during the rainy season due to flash floods and landslides across India, a country of 1.4 billion people. Rivers swollen by lashing rain, including the mighty Beas, which starts from the region’s glacial peaks, disrupted several routes in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The “cumulative damage” includes 69 people dead, and 110 others injured in different incidents over the past two weeks, the state’s revenue department said in a statement. India’s meteorological department on Thursday issued a fresh alert for “heavy to very heavy rainfall” in Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring Uttarakhand, another picturesque Himalayan state popular with Indian tourists. India’s annual monsoon season from June to September offers respite from the intense summer heat and is crucial for replenishing water supplies, ...

India will launch a $234 million incentive programme for civil and military drone makers to reduce their reliance on imported components and counter rival Pakistan’s programme built on support from China and Turkiye, three sources told Reuters. The military confrontation between India and Pakistan came as the former blamed Islamabad for the Pahalgam attack. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan, resulting in civilian casualties. Both sides then exchanged missiles, which stretched over the week. It took American intervention for both sides to finally drop their guns. The nuclear-armed neighbours are now locked in a drones arms race. New Delhi will launch a 20 billion Indian rupees ($234m) programme for three years that will cover the manufacture of drones, components, software, counter-drone systems, and services, two government and one industry source, who did not want to be named, told Reuters. Details of the programme have not been previously reported and its planne...

The Pakistan Sports Board said on Thursday that the hockey team’s participation in the 2025 Men’s Hockey Asia Cup and the Federation of International Hockey (FIH) Junior Men’s Cup — both hosted by India — remained unconfirmed. Earlier today, Indian media outlets reported that Pakistan had been cleared to take part in both events, scheduled from August 27 to September 7, and from November 28 to December 10, respectively. In exclusive comments to Dawn.com, Pakistan Sports Board spokesperson Khurram Shahzad said that the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) issued a request about whether or not the national hockey team can travel to India to play in the Asia Cup, amid spiking tensions between the two nations. “On June 19, the Pakistan Sports Board sent this request to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, which forwarded it to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a final decision,” Shahzad said. “However, no decision has been taken on this yet.” Shahzad noted in his comments that...

Indian skipper surpasses Gavaskar's 221, India reach 564-7 at tea

Posts from multiple users on the social media platform X on Sunday claimed that Russia had officially signed the joint statement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in favour of Pakistan over India. However, no such development occurred. The SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping comprising members such as China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and Iran. Their defence ministers’ meeting was held on June 26 as a precursor to the annual summit of their leaders set for the autumn. The defence ministers attending the SCO meeting failed to reach a consensus on a joint statement due to India’s refusal because of what it said was “a lack of consensus on referring to ‘terrorism’”. Russia and India are close allies with significant military and defence interests, while the former’s relationship with Pakistan has seen significant growth in recent years. On Sunday, digital news outlet The Daily CPEC shared a post on X that read: “Breaking: Russia has officially signed the joint SCO statement, su...

Hindus began a vast month-long pilgrimage in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) on Thursday, with many of the faithful starting from near the site where a deadly April attack triggered conflict with Pakistan. Last year, half a million devotees took part in the Amarnath pilgrimage to a sacred ice pillar located in a cave in the forested Himalayan hills above the town of Pahalgam. India has ramped up security for the event, deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the gruelling trek to reach the high-altitude cave, dedicated to the Hindu deity of destruction Shiva. “We have multi-layered and in-depth security arrangements so that we can make the pilgrimage safe and smooth for the devotees,” said VK Birdi, police chief for the Muslim-majority territory. Pahalgam is the site where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation, triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplo...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday urged India to engage in dialogue with Pakistan and work towards lasting peace.

A recently developed railway overbridge in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, has been the centre of a national controversy because of a 90-degree bridge turn that has highlighted possible hazards and caused widespread public criticism. The project, located near Aishbagh Stadium, is worth ₹18 crore (approx. $2.1 million), was made to have a connection between Mahamai Ka […]