Indian | Pakistan

Indian police have arrested a man accused of stalking and inappropriately touching two Australian cricketers participating in the ICC Women’s World Cup in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Saturday. The incident happened in the central Indian city of Indore on Thursday morning when the two players left their hotel to go to a cafe, a day after Australia’s six-wicket victory over England in the group stage of the World Cup, when they were allegedly approached by a motorcyclist. “The security officers of the women’s Australian cricket team filed a complaint that two members of the team faced inappropriate behaviour,” additional deputy commissioner of police, Rajesh Dandotiya, told Indian news agency ANI. “A FIR (first information report) was registered, and the accused was identified and arrested following an intensive strategic operation.” He has been charged under sections 74 and 78 of the criminal code that deal with assault or using criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty and st...

Posts from pro-Pakistani accounts on social media platform X on Thursday circulated a video claiming to show Indian Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai publicly denouncing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and warning against the politicisation of the Indian Armed Forces. However, the video is doctored. A day ago, an X account, that appears to be anti-Indian based upon its previous posts and is known for repeatedly sharing AI-altered videos, posted a clip with the following caption: “Breaking News: Indian Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai comes out openly against BJP politics of Narendra Modi. Any politicisation or saffronisation of the armed forces will lead to a defeat in the morale of Indian Armed Forces. We will resist against all attempts to make Indian army subservient to Hindutva.” The post gained over 45,000 views. The transcript of the video is provided below: “As a senior officer who has devoted decades to the service of this uniform, I say this with deep concern. The growing influence of ...

The record remains unblemished, the streak grows more formidable. MMA fighter Rizwan “The Haider” Ali, reinforced his status as kryptonite for Indian adversaries, systematically dismantling Rana Rudra Pratap Singh “The Rajput” to secure a first-round technical knockout at the Absolute Championship Akhmat in Dubai’s Agenda Arena on Thursday. The victory marks his fourth win over an Indian opponent in two years — a perfect finishing rate he has maintained against all of them, keeping his pristine professional record intact at 11-0. The tension was palpable from the start, a fuse lit long before the first punch was thrown. It manifested in a telling moment during the fighter introductions: Rizwan and Rudra Pratap (12-3) refused a glove touch, a silent acknowledgment that this was more than sport. This was conflict. From the opening bell, the clash was charged with the weight of the cross-border rivalry. Rudra Pratap, a 28-year-old force from Lucknow, shot for an immediate takedown, aiming to ground the aerial as...

Only 269 to 290 adult Indian wolves remain in Pakistan, including 42 breeding pairs

Expressing grave concern over Indian military leadership’s irresponsible statements under immense political pressure, Pakistan Army on Wednesday warned that every act of ag-gression will be dealt with a swift, resolute and intense response that will be remembered by posterity.

• 42 battered Pakistanis reunite with their families at Edhi Centre • Six others still await government clearance in Lahore • Returnees say beatings, burn injuries and forced labour became routine after Pakistan-India conflict KARACHI: Some 42 of the 48 Pakistani fishermen released from Indian jails and handed over to Pakistani authorities through the Wagah Border reached Karachi on Monday after a long wait of over a month because of the uncertain situation in Lahore. There are still six of them awaiting government clearance in Lahore. The expected time of arrival of the fishermen reaching the city by road from Lahore, thanks to the Edhi Foundation, was 12 noon, though they reached the Edhi Centre at Kharadar after 2:30pm. Still, the media gathered there already felt like they knew each and every one of them, as they had heard so much about them from their family members waiting for them there since morning. What’s common is the story of the horrible torture they endured in custody after the May conflict betw...

The World Bank said on Tuesday that higher tariffs on Indian goods exported to the US would be a drag on South Asia’s economic growth rate in 2026, even as it remains shielded in the current year by government spending. The World Bank said growth in South Asia was expected to slow sharply to 5.8 per cent in 2026 from its projection of 6.6pc for 2025. Its forecast for the region comprises India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. “For 2026, the forecast has been downgraded, as some of these effects unwind and India continues to face higher-than-expected tariffs on goods exports to the United States,” the World Bank said in its report. The World Bank has raised its forecast for India’s growth in the current fiscal year ending March 2026 to 6.5pc from 6.3pc, while trimming its projection for the next fiscal year to 6.3pc from 6.5pc due to tariffs imposed by the United States. US President Donald Trump has imposed a 50pc tariff on most exports from India, among the highest for any US trading ...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday reacted to statements made by the Indian military and political leadership, terming them a “failed attempt” to restore their “lost reputation”. While he did not specify any particular statement that he was reacting to, his remarks follow recent aggressive comments from the Indian side, mentioning terrorism and warning of action. India has long accused Pakistan of cross-border terrorism, an allegation that Islamabad has repeatedly refuted and termed baseless. “The statements made by the Indian army and its political leadership are a failed attempt to restore its lost reputation,” Asif said on X. He also referred to a four-day escalation between India and Pakistan in May, during which Islamabad says it downed at least six Indian jets. Asif said India faced a “decisive defeat with a score of 6-0” in the escalation, and “if they try again [to go to fight], God willing, the score will be much better than the last time”. “The way the public opinion in India turned against the...

Indian Air Force Chief Amar Preet Singh on Friday claimed that his country “downed five Pakistani fighter jets of the F-16 and JF-17 class” during the intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May. “As far as air defence part is concerned, we have evidence of one long-range strike … along with that five fighters, high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF-17 class, our system tells us,” Singh told reporters at the Indian Air Force annual day press conference. However, he did not share the said evidence. The F-16 is a US-made fighter jet, while the JF-17 is of Chinese origin. Although Singh had previously too claimed without credible evidence that five Pakistani fighter jets and another military aircraft were shot down during the conflict, this is the first time New Delhi has mentioned the class of jets in public. He also refused to comment on Pakistan downing Indian jets in May. The first time the Indian air chief had claimed that Pakistan’s jets were downed during the four-day escalation, Defence ...

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Asia Cricket Council (ACC) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday refuted claims by Indian media that he had apologised to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the trophy handover issue at Sunday’s Asia Cup final. The closing ceremony of the men’s Asia Cup descended into farce on Sunday as the Indian cricket team refused to collect the winners’ trophy from the ACC chief, marking a historic low in cricketing relations between the two countries. Subsequently, Indian skipper Surya­ku­mar Yadav complained his side were denied the trophy after winning the Asia Cup. Later, Indian media alleged that Naqvi had himself refused to hand the trophy over to the Indian team. Today, several Indian outlets, including IndiaToday, Financial Express and Hindustan Times, reported that Naqvi had now apologised to the BCCI, but that he still refused to hand them the trophy. Responding to an India Today post about their report on social media platform X, Naqvi stated, “Indian media thri...

NEW YORK: An Indian intelligence agent not only allegedly hired an Indian citizen to carry out murders in Pakistan, Nepal, and the United States but also promised to provide him with a plane-load of weapons to execute the assassinations, documents filed in US federal court show. Documents filed in a US federal court reveal new charges against the alleged assassin, Nikhil Gupta, incl­uding money laund­ering, credit card fraud, drug and arms trafficking, and atte­mpted murder of a person in Nepal or Pakistan. According to fresh court documents, US gover­nment lawyers claim that the alleged murder-for-hire plot was not limited to New York but also included plans to kill another person in Nepal or Pakistan. US prosecutors allege that former Indian RAW officer Vikash Yadav promised to supply firearms and even arrange clearance for an aircraft to transport weapons from India. This was allegedly intended so that Gupta could sell the weapons to a man he believed was a trafficker, who would, in turn, help him hire a h...

The Foreign Office has strongly denounced the killing of protesters by Indian forces in Ladakh and Leh, areas of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian police on Friday detained prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk over violent protests in the Himalayan territory of Ladakh that left at least five people dead, a lawyer said. Demonstrations demanding greater political autonomy for the sparsely populated, high-altitude region bordering China and Pakistan turned deadly on Wednesday when security forces opened fire. New Delhi blamed the unrest on “provocative speeches” by Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike demanding either full federal statehood for Ladakh or constitutional protections for its tribal communities, land and fragile environment. Mustafa Haji, a lawyer for the Apex Body Leh — which is spearheading the protests — told AFP that Wangchuk was “picked up” by the police from his village of Uley Tokpo on Friday. “Charges against him are not known yet,” Haji said. An engineer by training, Wangchuk, 59, is best known for pioneering water conservation projects in the Himalayas. He received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018 for his enviro...

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi has sentenced an Indian spy, Saleem, to 114 years in prison on charges of possessing explosives and illegal weapons.

India romped home in style with a six-wicket win, chasing down the 172-run target with ease in their second high-intensity encounter against Pakistan in the men’s Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday. Abhishek Sharma was adjudicated player-of-the-match — scoring 74 runs of 39 balls as he led the Indian effort from the front after getting a reprieve in Shaheen’s second over. The bitterness between the players, which started with India’s refusal of customary handshakes in the first encounter, continued as Sharma at the post-match ceremony said: “Today it was very simple, the way they were coming (at) us for no reason, I didn’t like it at all, and this is the only way I could give [an answer] with my bat.” Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha, speaking after the match, said, “We are yet to play the perfect game. We batted really well — but I think when it came to the bowling, they took the game away in the powerplay.” He said they could have got 15 more runs after being 91 in the first 10 overs, but added that 171 was still ...

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav sidestepped the no-handshake issue ahead of the Asia Cup rematch against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, choosing to focus instead on the cricket. The Group A clash between the fierce rivals last Sunday ended on a bitter note when Indian players refused to shake hands with their opponents. It was the first meeting between the regional neighbours since a four-day conflict in May left more than 70 people dead. While the match itself passed without incident, there was no shaking of hands between the captains at the toss or among the players at the end. Then, at the post-match ceremony, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav seemingly ‘politicised’ the victory by bringing up the Pahalgam terrorist attack in India-occupied Kashmir, over which the two countries fought a four-day military conflict in May, saying the victory was “a perfect gift” for his country. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) called for match referee Andy Pycroft’s immediate removal for a code of conduct “violation” and consid...

Pakistan has decided to prolong the closure of its airspace for Indian flights by another month.

Pakistan on Friday extended the airspace ban for Indian aircraft till October 24, according to a statement by the Pakistan Aviation Authority (PAA). Last month, the government extended the closure of its airspace to Indian aircr­aft for another month, until September 25, according to a NOTAM (notice to airmen) issued on August 22. New Delhi had accused Islamabad, without evidence, of orchestrating April’s deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Pakistan had strongly denied the allegations and called for a neutral probe. As the situation turned into a military confrontation between the nuclear powers, it took American intervention for both sides to agree to a ceasefire. On April 24, Pakistan’s top brass had announced a series of measures, including the closure of its airspace to all India-owned or Indian-operated airlines with immediate effect, as it retaliated against New Delhi’s slew of aggressive measures against the country. PAA spokesperson Saifullah Khan confirmed to Dawn.com that the airspace clos...

ISLAMABAD: A top adviser to the country’s nuclear command and control body believes that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is what is keeping Indian military designs in check. Speaking at an event organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) on Tuesday, retired Lt Gen Khalid Ahmed Kidwai said that the country’s Full Spectrum Deterrence (FSD) — or minimum credible deterrence — was never compromised during the May standoff with India. Lt Gen Kidwai, an adviser to the country’s National Command Authority (NCA), also noted that the newly-formed Army Rocket Force Command (ARFC) will raise the nuclear threshold by providing an additional layer of strategic deterrence between conventional operations and the potential employment of nuclear forces. He explained that the ARFC has merely a response to modern battlefield needs, while the nuclear deterrent remains in place as the ultimate shield against India. A former head of the army’s Strategic Plans Division (SPD), Gen. Kidwai said that Pakistan’s FSD worked i...

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has dismissed the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) complaint seeking the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the ongoing Asia Cup over a dispute during the recent Pakistan-India match, Indian media outlets claimed on Tuesday. The PCB had yesterday lodged a complaint with the ICC against Pycroft over his alleged violations of rules pertaining to the “Spirit of Cricket“, with the board claiming that the referee had asked the Pakistan and India captains “not to shake hands at the time of the toss” for Sunday’s match. “Late last night, ICC had sent a reply to PCB stating that Pycroft won’t be removed and their plea has been rejected,” an unnamed ICC source told the Press Trust of India. However, Cricbuzz reported, “When contacted, the PCB has denied receiving any communication from the ICC.” The PCB has yet to issue an official statement on the development. The Times of India (TOI) reported it was “actually the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) officials on the ground who in...