India | Pakistan

Key developments Interior minister says India behind the attacks; accuses country of providing support to terrorists ISPR says 92 terrorists killed; 18 civilians, 15 security personnel martyred ISPR says attacks were orchestrated and directed by terrorist ring leaders operating from outside Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday held India responsible for a spate of attacks in Balochistan, while the military’s media affairs said that 92 terrorists were killed as security forces responded to the onslaught. Speaking to the media alongside Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Saturday night, he said, “These were not normal terrorists. India is behind these attacks. I can tell you for sure that India planned these attacks along with these terrorists.” He said that authorities would go after every single one of those involved and the “masters behind them”. “We will expose them in the world — the face with which they meet the world and the face with which they support terrorists,” he said. Naqvi...

At an Indian gourmet food store, Avanti Mehta is organising a blind tasting of drinks sourced from France, Italy and India. No, this isn’t wine, it’s water. Participants use tiny shot glasses to check the minerality, carbonation and salinity in samples of Evian from the French Alps, Perrier from southern France, San Pellegrino from Italy and India’s Aava from the foothills of the Aravalli mountains. “They will all taste different … you should be choosing a water that can give you some sort of nutritional value,” said Mehta, who is 32 and calls herself India’s youngest water sommelier, a term usually associated with premium wine. Her family owns the Aava mineral water brand. Premium water is a $400 million business in the world’s most populous nation and is growing bigger as its wealthy see it as a new status symbol that fits in with a spreading wellness craze. Avanti Mehta, 32, India’s youngest water sommelier, talks about different brands of packaged water at “Sip and Sense”, a water tasting event in Hyderab...

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague has directed India to submit detailed operational records of its hydropower projects on rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), in a significant development in the long-running water dispute between the two countries.

There is a low risk of the deadly Nipah virus spreading from India, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday, adding that it did not recommend travel or trade curbs after two infections were reported by the South Asian nation. Pakistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are among the Asian locations that tightened airport screening checks this week to guard against such a spread after India confirmed infections. “The WHO considers the risk of further spread of infection from these two cases is low,” the agency told Reuters in an email on Friday, adding that India had the capacity to contain such outbreaks. “There is no evidence yet of increased human-to-human transmission,” it said, adding that it has coordinated with Indian health authorities. But it did not rule out further exposure to the virus, which circulates in the bat population in parts of India and neighbouring Bangladesh. Carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, the virus can cause fever and brain inflammation. I...

India’s chief economic adviser proposed age-based limits on access to social media platforms he said were “predatory” in their approach to keeping users online, signalling a potential blow to Meta and YouTube in their largest user market. Such a shift would pull India in line with a growing global trend, after Australia became the first nation last year to ban social media for children younger than 16. On Monday, France’s National Assembly backed legislation to ban children under 15 from social media and Britain, Denmark and Greece are studying the issue. The adviser, V. Anantha Nageswaran, recommended in India’s annual economic survey that families promote screen-time limits, device-free hours and shared offline activities. “Policies on age-based access limits may be considered, as younger users are more vulnerable to compulsive use and harmful content,” he wrote in the survey, which was published on Thursday. “Platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification and age-appropriate defaults.”...

The deputy chief minister of India’s wealthiest state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, was killed on Wednesday, along with four people on board his charter aircraft that went down in flames, the aviation regulator said. Pawar, who hailed from a top political family, was en route to his home region to canvass in local body elections, media said. Two of his staff and two crew were also aboard the aircraft, the directorate general of civil aviation said. “No person on board has survived,” it added in an initial statement. Pawar backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the state government, leading a faction that split in 2023 from the opposition Nationalist Congress Party. Video showed billows of smoke rising from some of the burning wreckage of the plane, scattered across an open field. Media said Pawar’s aircraft, travelling from the financial capital of Mumbai, tried to make an emergency landing in the family stronghold of Baramati, 250 km away, where he was set to canvass in the elections. ...

Indian authorities said they had ensured “timely containment” of the deadly Nipah virus after two cases were confirmed in West Bengal state. Nipah, spreads from animals to humans, has no vaccine and a fatality rate ranging from 40 to 75 per cent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “Enhanced surveillance, laboratory testing, and field investigations were undertaken… which ensured timely containment of the cases,” India’s health ministry said in a statement late Tuesday. It did not give further details on the two infected patients. “The situation is under constant monitoring, and all necessary public health measures are in place”, it added, saying 196 contacts linked to the cases had been traced, and all were negative. Nipah was first identified in 1998 after it spread among pig farmers in Malaysia. In India, the first Nipah outbreak was reported in West Bengal in 2001. In 2018, at least 17 people died from Nipah in Kerala, and in 2023, two people died from the virus, also in the southern state. ...

India and the European Union have finalised a long-pending landmark trade deal, both sides said on Tuesday, as they seek to hedge against fickle ties with the United States. The deal is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs in 96.6 per cent of traded goods by value, and will lead to savings of 4 billion euros ($4.75 billion) in duties for European companies, the EU said. The EU will cut tariffs on 99.5pc goods traded over seven years, with tariffs to be cut to zero on Indian marine goods, leather and textile products, chemicals, rubber, base metals and gems and jewellery, India’s trade ministry said in a statement. “Yesterday, a big agreement was signed between the European Union and India,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier. “People around the world are calling this the mother of all deals. This agreement will bring major opportunities for the 1.4bn people of India and the millions of people in Europe,” he said. The accord would open up India’s vast ...

• Diplomats, press divided over New Delhi’s perceived reluctance to join Trump-led body • Given his propensity to paint himself as a global peacemaker, The Hindu warns US president may offer to mediate Kashmir dispute DESPITE being invited to join the ‘Board of Peace’ by President Donald Trump, India has yet to formally get involved in the process. Conspicuous by its absence from the Davos ceremony where 20 world leaders — including Trump and Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif — signed the board’s charter, some in India are viewing New Delhi’s reluctance through the lens of the Kashmir dispute. President Trump says the board’s goal is to make the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza permanent and oversee an interim government in the Palestinian territory. “This is not just for America, but for the whole world. I think we can spread it to other places. Like we did successfully in Gaza,” he had said at the time. But there seems to be concern among some circles that if India signs up for the board — which Trump ...

China’s President Xi Jinping said Beijing and New Delhi were “good neighbours, friends and partners” as he wished Indian President Droupadi Murmu congratulations on the South Asian nation’s Republic Day, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. Xi said that over the past year, China-India relations have continued to improve and develop and are of “great significance for maintaining and promoting world peace and prosperity,” according to Xinhua. Xi said China has always believed that being “good neighbours, friends and partners” is the right choice for both China and India. He referred to China and India as the “dragon and the elephant dancing together,” Xinhua said. Xi said he hoped that both sides would expand exchanges and cooperation and address each other’s concerns to promote healthy and stable relations. The nuclear-armed Asian neighbours share a 3,800 km border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s. Ties between the countries were shaken by a 2020 clash in which 20 ...

European Council president Antonio Costa arrived in India on Sunday, as the EU and New Delhi seek to seal a free trade pact, capping nearly two decades of negotiations between the economic behemoths. Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are chief guests for this year’s Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Monday before an EU-India summit on Tuesday, where they hope to shake hands on the accord, described as the “mother of all deals”. “President Costa is in New Delhi for the 16th EU-India summit taking place on Tuesday,” the EU Council said on X. “The summit will be an opportunity to build on the EU-India strategic partnership and further strengthen collaboration across key policy areas.” India, the world’s most populous nation, is on track to become the world’s fourth-largest economy this year, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections. While the EU eyes India as an important market for the future, New Delhi sees the European bloc as an important source of much-ne...

India and Europe hope to strike the “mother of all deals” when European Union (EU) chiefs meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi next week, as the two economic behemoths seek to forge closer ties. Facing challenges from China and the United States, India and the European Union have been negotiating a massive free trade pact — and talks, first launched about two decades ago, are nearing the finishing line. “We are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this week. Von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa will attend Republic Day celebrations on Monday before an EU-India summit on Tuesday, where they hope to shake hands on the accord. Securing a pact, described by India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal as “the mother of all deals”, would be a major win for Brussels and New Delhi as both seek to open up new markets in the face of US tariffs and Chinese export controls. But officials have been eager to stress there is more to it...

India on Thursday condemned an alleged act of vandalism at its embassy in Zagreb as Croatia promised to prosecute the offenders. The Indian foreign ministry said that an act of “trespassing and vandalism” at its embassy in the Croatian capital was committed by “anti-India elements” without providing further details of the incident. “We have taken up the matter strongly with Croatian authorities and asked them to hold the perpetrators accountable for their reprehensible and illegal actions,” a ministry statement said. Indian media reported that a video had been posted online, purporting to show Khalistan activists removing the Indian flag and replacing it with the yellow flag representing the Sikh separatist movement. AFP could not verify the video, while police and the embassy did not immediately respond to questions. The Khalistan movement seeks an independent state for the religious minority carved out of Indian territory. The Croatian foreign ministry strongly condemned the incident and added that the inte...

Bangladesh will not travel to India to play in next month’s T20 World Cup, its cricket board said on Thursday, effectively ruling the country out of the tournament. According to ESPN Cricinfo, the decision was announced after a meeting in Dhaka between Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam Bulbul, CEO Nizamuddin, Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul and several national team players. “Our only demand is to play the World Cup – but not in India,” the BCB president told reporters. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that it would not be making any changes to the World Cup schedule or groups, days after Bangladesh requested that its matches be moved to Sri Lanka after refusing to play in India. “We will go back to the ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka,” the BCB president said. “They did give us a 24-hour ultimatum but a global body can’t really do that. ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup (if Bangladesh is axed). It will be their loss…” “Bangladesh is a cricket...

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced that it would not be making any changes to the Men’s T20 World Cup schedule or groups, days after Bangladesh requested that its matches be moved to Sri Lanka after refusing to play in India. Bangladesh announced on Jan 4 that it would not play its T20 World Cup matches in India after its player Mustafizur Rahman was released by his Indian Premier League (IPL) team amid growing tensions between the two countries. Subsequently, Bangladesh had “formally requested” the ICC to shift their games to Sri Lanka. The T20 World Cup begins on February 7 with Bangladesh in England’s Group C. The team is scheduled to play all of their group matches in Kolkata and Mumbai. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ICC said the decision was reached after “considering all security assessments conducted, including independent reviews, all of which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans at any tournament venues in the cou...

Pakistan has warned that India’s unilateral decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance has triggered an unprecedented crisis for the country’s water security and poses serious risks to regional stability.

India will withdraw its diplomats’ families and dependents from Bangladesh in the face of security threats as tension rises ahead of a February 12 general election, an Indian official said on Wednesday. Campaigning begins on Thursday for Bangladesh’s election, which has sparked protests and counter-protests. Ties between the South Asian neighbours soured after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India in 2024, following deadly protests. India’s past support for Hasina has frayed relations between the two neighbours since her overthrow. India’s withdrawal move was part of “internal readjustments”, the official said, without elaborating. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed to Indian media reports of New Delhi’s decision. It was not immediately clear when the families would return. The foreign ministries of India and Bangladesh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In December, India summoned Bangladesh’s high commissioner, or ambassador to voice its concern over wha...

Pakistan has warned that India’s unilateral decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance has created an unprecedented crisis for Pakistan’s water security and regional stability. Calling the move a deliberate “weaponisation of water,” Pakistan’s representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Jadoon, said India’s actions amounted to material breaches of the landmark 1960 treaty. Speaking at the Global Water Bankruptcy Policy Roundtable hosted by Canada and the United Nations University on Tuesday, Ambassador Jadoon said that since April last year, India had committed several serious violations of the treaty, including unannounced disruptions of downstream water flows and the withholding of critical hydrological data. “Pakistan’s position is unequivocal; the treaty remains legally intact and permits no unilateral suspension or modification,” he said. He stressed that for more than six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty had provided a time-tested framework for the equitable and predictable ma...

India signed a $3 billion deal on Monday to buy liquefied natural gas from the United Arab Emirates, making it the UAE’s top customer, as the leaders of both countries held talks to strengthen trade and defence ties. The agreement was signed during a very brief two-hour visit to India by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They pledged to double bilateral trade to $200bn in six years and form a strategic defence partnership. Abu Dhabi state firm ADNOC Gas will supply 0.5 million metric tons of LNG a year to India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp for 10 years, the companies said. ADNOC Gas said the agreement brings the total value of its contracts with India to over $20bn. “India is now the UAE’s largest customer and a very important part of ADNOC Gas’ LNG strategy,” the company said. The UAE is India’s third largest trading partner and Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by a government delegation that included his defence and foreign ministers. The two ...

The captains of India and Bangladesh skipped the customary handshake during the toss of their U-19 World Cup match but the two sides did shake hands at the end of the game, which the former won. At the toss, Bangladesh’s acting captain Zawad Abrar and India’s captain Ayush Mhatre did not do the customary handshake at the pre-match toss, which the former won. “There were, however, handshakes between the teams at the end of the game, which India won by 18 runs (DLS method),” ESPN Cricinfo reported. The report also quoted a statement from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) as saying that the “absence of a handshake with the opposition captain was completely unintentional and resulted from a momentary lapse in concentration”. “There was no intent whatsoever to show discourtesy or disregard towards the opposition,” the report quoted the BCB as saying in a statement. “The board has viewed the matter with due seriousness, as upholding the spirit of cricket and respect for opponents is a fundamental prerequisite for ...