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PM Modi arrived in Washington to attend Quad summit, address UNGA ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday local time (at 3.15 am of Thu as per IST) arrived in Washington for his first-ever abroad since pandemic, a much-touted 3-day US visit on the recently-inducted custom-made Boeing 777 aircraft.

PM Modi calls for mutual recognition of vaccine certificates for easier international travel

At the Global COVID Summit hosted by US President Biden, Modi also talked about the Co-WIN app and said over 200 million Indians are now fully vaccinated.

US rules out adding India or Japan to security alliance-AUKUS

The trilateral security alliance will allow the US and the UK to provide Australia with the technology to develop nuclear-powered submarines for the first time.

Terror alert issued in J-K before festive season-ANI

Intelligence agencies have issued a terror alert regarding the cross-border movement of Afghan-origin terrorists along with Pakistan-based terrorists in the Jammu and Kashmir region to execute terror activities in the country during the upcoming festive season.

SC to set up an expert committee to probe Pegasus snooping case-ANI

The Supreme Court on Thu said it intends to set up a technical expert committee to probe into the reports of the government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists.

India likely to block Chinese investment in insurance giant LIC’s IPO: Sources

LIC is considered a strategic asset, commanding more than 60% of India’s life insurance market with assets of more than $500 billion. While the government is planning to allow foreign investors to participate in what is likely to be the country’s biggest-ever IPO worth a potential $12.2 billion, it is leery of Chinese ownership, the sources said.

India allows door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination for people with restricted mobility, guidelines issued

Door-to-door vaccination will now be allowed in India for people with restricted mobility, said Dr. VK Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog adding that guidelines have been issued by the Union govt. India reports 31923 new COVID cases, 31990 recoveries, and 282 deaths in the last 24 hrs

• Active cases: 3,01,604 (lowest in 187 days)
• Total recoveries: 3,28,15,731
• Death toll: 4,46,050
• Total vaccination: 833990049 (7138205 in last 24 hrs)

Government fixes Rs 50,000 ex-gratia for kin of Covid victims

Months after states took the lead in announcing financial assistance for the kin of Covid victims, and after being prodded by the Supreme Court, the Centre on Wednesday informed the SC that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has fixed an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to be paid by the states from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

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Special envoys of China, Russia, and Pakistan hold talks with Taliban officials in Kabul

Special envoys of China, Russia, and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban’s interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive govt, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wed.

United Nations Security Council extends Taliban’s travel ban waiver

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has decided to extend the waiver on travel ban imposed on several top Taliban officials. The exemption on the travel ban is sole to allow travel required to participate in the peace and reconciliation process, the UNSC announced.

Lift unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan, says Chinese FM Wang Yi

The Foreign Minister remarked at a virtual G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Afghanistan. In an attempt to deepen “friendly and cooperative” relations with the Taliban in the future, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi calls for the lifting of several unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan.

Speeches of Xi, Biden show different patterns of China, US: GT editorial

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a vital address by video on Tuesday at the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. As US President Joe Biden had made a speech to the UNGA just hours earlier, in comparison, Xi’s speech reflects the broad-mindedness of the Chinese top leader and his fairness and reason when he discussed issues and challenges. The two speeches demonstrated the different political thinking and working logic between China and the US, as well as the different values of the two countries’ foreign policies.

In the new ‘Kernel estimation’, Chinese scientists conclude coronavirus first appeared in the US

A paper published by Chinese scientists said the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States had a “high probability” of beginning to spread around September 2019.

‘Be more realistic’: FM Qureshi details a roadmap for Afghan Taliban’s recognition

Be realistic. Show patience. Engage. And above all, don’t isolate. Those are the pillars of an approach emerging in Pakistan to deal with the fledgling government that is suddenly running the country next door once again – Afghanistan’s resurgent, often-volatile Taliban. FM SM Qureshi outlined the idea on Wed in an interview with The Associated Press (AP) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s meeting of world leaders.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan warns of a civil war in Afghanistan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called on the Taliban to form an inclusive government and warned that failure to do so could see the country descend into civil war. “If they do not include all the factions, sooner or later they will have a civil war,” he told the BBC in an interview aired on Tuesday.

PM Modi arrived in Washington to attend Quad summit, address UNGA- ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wed local time (at 3.15 am of Thu as per IST) arrived in Washington for his first-ever abroad since pandemic, a much-touted three-day US visit on the recently-inducted custom-made Boeing 777 aircraft. PM Modi was received by US department of state officials including T. H. Brian McKeon, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources at Joint Base Andrews in Washington DC upon his arrival.

• During his visit, he will address the UN General Assembly and attend the Quad leaders Summit as well as hold a bilateral meet with US President Joe Biden at the White House.
• As PM Modi’s plane landed in Washington, exuberant members of the Indian diaspora started cheering. Despite the rain, the Indian diaspora waited patiently for PM Modi’s arrival.
• Biden will host PM Modi at the White House on Sept 24, this is going to be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President on Jan 20.
• Ahead of leaving for the US to participate in Quad Leaders’ Summit, PM Modi on Wed said his visit will be an occasion to strengthen the strategic partnership with the US, Japan, and Australia.

As per the statement issued by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, PM Modi and President Biden are expected to discuss ways to stem radicalization and combat terrorism, along with the ways to bolster defense, trade ties, security collaborations, and clean energy partnership.

• PM Modi and Biden will discuss the current regional security situation following the recent developments in Afghanistan. PM Modi will also hold business interactions during his US visit from Sept 22-25.
• PM Modi will attend the first in-person summit of the Quad hosted by the US President on Fri, which will be attended by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia.
• PM Modi will address the General Debate of the High-Level Segment of 76^th Session of the UNGA on Sept 25 in New York, and he will dwell on the important issues, including the regional situation, cross-border terrorism, global efforts to combat COVID-19 and climate change, and the need to reform multilateral institutions.

The theme for this year’s general debate is building resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainability, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people and revitalize the United Nations.

• Additionally, PM Modi will hold meetings with his Australian and Japanese counterparts Scott Morrison and Yoshina Suga.
• PM Modi is accompanied by a high-level delegation consisting of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and senior officials including Shringla.

On Thu: (Wed at the US)

PM Modi will interact with the Vice-President of the US, Kamala Harris at the Eisenhower Executive Office building.

The PM is also scheduled to hold one-to-one meetings with the top 5 American CEOs. Two of them are Indian Americans — Shantanu Narayen from Adobe and Vivek Lall from General Atomics, and the three others are Cristiano E Amon from Qualcomm, Mark Widmar from First Solar, and Stephen A Schwarzman from Blackstone.

PM Modi is scheduled to meet the head of armed drone manufacturer General Atomics in Washington on Sept 23, which comes against the backdrop of acquiring 30 Predator drones from the US.

It is quite evident from the line-up that PM Modi meetings with the CEOs are with the specific intention of India being a key part of a global resilient chain, a military power, which matches over the horizon capabilities in the Indo-Pacific and speeds up non-conventional energy needs to go beyond the climate change commitments for climate justice.-HT

PM Modi calls for mutual recognition of vaccine certificates for easier international travel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wed said international travel should be “made easier” through “mutual recognition of vaccine certificates”.

“We also need to focus on addressing the pandemic economic effects. To that end, international travel should be made easier, through mutual recognition of vaccine certificates,” Modi said at the Global COVID-19 Summit hosted by US President Biden in Washington DC.

• “India is now running the world’s largest vaccination campaign. Recently, we vaccinated about 25 million people on a single day. Our grassroots-level healthcare system has delivered over 800 million vaccine doses so far,” he said.
• “This has been enabled through the use of our innovative digital platform called Co-WIN. In the spirit of sharing, India has made Co-WIN and many other digital solutions available freely as open-source software,” he added.
• Modi’s statement comes after India Tue raised the issue with the UK over the latter not recognizing Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine as well as India’s vaccination certification process.
• India and the UK are presently holding technical-level talks between the makers of Co-WIN app and Britain’s NHS app administered by the UK’s state-run National Health Service (NHS).

The UK has an issue with India’s Co-Win certification, not the vaccine. Travel restrictions to remain

The United Kingdom’s decision to impose new Covid-related travel restrictions for Indians despite easing their rules is not because of which vaccines are being used, but the certification process on the CoWin website, ThePrint has reported.

Amid deadlock over COVID-19 vaccine certification, India and UK hold ‘excellent technical discussions’: Amid the ongoing deadlock over the COVID-19 vaccine certification process, India and the UK, on Thu held technical discussions over the matter. The British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, said the talks were “excellent” and a step forward in the bid to facilitate travel and also protect public health, after the talk with Dr. RS Sharma, CEO of the National Health Authority and also the chief of the CoWIN portal.

The envoy said “none of the sides raised any red flags” concerning the certification during the meeting.

Starting 4 Oct, the UK will not allow even fully vaccinated individuals to travel freely without quarantine from ‘red list’ countries.

At present India is on the ‘amber’ list of countries and is subjected to a few restrictions. But after 4 Oct, the UK will move to a new system and it’s not clear in which list will India come as there will be only two lists then — ‘red list’ and the rest of the world. India was shifted to the ‘amber’ list from the ‘red’ on 8 Aug.

But India has not been able to make it to the list of countries whose vaccinations will be accepted under the changed rules. The issue is that the UK has said it will not recognize those traveling from India as being fully vaccinated, even those inoculated with Covidshield, developed by UK’s Oxford University and British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

• The source also said that the UK is also facing issues with India in terms of obtaining ordinary tourist visas due to stringent Covid-related rules. The UK believes once it approves the certification process, a large number of Indians would want to travel to that country.
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his UK counterpart Elizabeth Truss on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York Tue and asked the country for an “early resolution” to the imbroglio,

Foreign secretary addresses issue: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla spoke about the issue in a media briefing in New Delhi Tue before leaving for the US with PM Narendra Modi.

“Here is a vaccine – Covishield – which is a licensed product of a UK company manufactured in India, of which we have supplied five million doses to the UK at the request of the UK govt. We understand that this has been used in their national health system. Therefore, non-recognition of Covishield is a discriminatory policy and does impact those of our citizens traveling to the UK,” Shringla said.

• The foreign secretary said that EAM Jaishankar has raised the matter “strongly” with his counterpart, and that “certain assurances have been given” that the issue will be resolved.
• “This issue should be resolved at mutual satisfaction,” Shringla said, adding that India is now also looking at a mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccine certificates to address issues of similar concern in the future.

ThePrint reported citing various sources:

• “The matter has been raised even at the level of high commissioners, but it seems this decision is unlikely to be altered any time soon, adding that New Delhi has also cautioned London of “reciprocal action”.
• The UK has nevertheless assured India that this is an ongoing matter and will be taken up for review in an ongoing manner, as it takes further steps to ease travel restrictions.
• The country has kept visa rules “under constant review” throughout the pandemic to keep borders open whilst gradually and safely restarting travel.
• Visa applications from Indian travelers for all categories continue to be processed and you do not need to be vaccinated to travel to the UK,” the source said.

‘Red list’ and rest of the world

The UK had announced last week that from 4 Oct, it will do away with the previous system of maintaining red, amber, and green lists of countries, based on which travel and quarantine rules differ.

From 4 October, the UK will only have two lists — the ‘red list’ and the rest of the world.

Travelers from ‘red’ countries, regardless of whether they are vaccinated, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, would have to take a pre-departure Covid test (no less than 3 days before date of arrival), spend 10 days in quarantine, undergo two Covid tests on the second and eighth day from arrival, and fill out a passenger locator form 48 hours before they reach the UK.

For India, which is currently on the ‘amber list’, this would mean greater restrictions for travelers, and also an additional cost.

Four vaccines are currently approved for use in the UK — the ones developed by Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Janssen, which will be available later this year.

In India, 3 vaccines are in use currently — Covidshield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, and the Russian-made Sputnik V.

The vaccination certificate available from the Co-Win website mentions the name of the shot administered. The bulk of the vaccinations in India have been done using the Serum Institute of India’s Covidshield, which is why the UK’s stance has left officials stumped.

US rules out adding India or Japan to security alliance-AUKUS

The United States has ruled out adding India or Japan to the recently created security partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom in the Indo-Pacific popular as AUKUS.

“The announcement of AUKUS last week was not meant to be an indication, and I think this is the message the President also sent to (French President Emmanuel) Macron, that there is no one else who will be involved in security in the Indo-Pacific,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Wed, responding to a question “if countries like India and Japan whose leaders would be in town this week for the Quad Summit would be made part of the security alliance”.

• On Sept 15, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and British PM Boris Johnson announced the trilateral security alliance AUKUS under which Australia would get a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
• France had criticized its exclusion from the alliance, saying it reflects a lack of coherence when common challenges are being faced in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Of course, it’s an important topic in conversations with the French, with a range of countries who have a direct interest in the region, she said.
• Psaki was responding to a question if countries like India and Japan whose leaders would be in town this week for the Quad Summit would be made part of the security alliance.
• The Quad comprises India, the US, Japan, and Australia. The US is hosting the in-person Quad summit in Washington on Sept 24.
• The trilateral security alliance, seen as an effort to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, will allow the US and the UK to provide Australia with the technology to develop nuclear-powered submarines for the first time.
• China has sharply criticized the trilateral alliance, saying such grouping has no future and will gravely undermine regional stability and aggravate the arms race and hurt international non-proliferation efforts.-PTI

Terror alert issued in J-K before festive season-ANI

Intelligence agencies have issued a terror alert regarding the cross-border movement of Afghan-origin terrorists along with Pakistan-based terrorists in the Jammu and Kashmir region to execute terror activities in the country during the upcoming festive season.

• According to Intelligence agencies, they have got the input regarding the movement of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat ul-Ansar (HuA), and Hizbul Mujahideen. The Pakistan-based terror organizations are helping Afghan-origin terrorists to enter India.
• Agencies have got the input that around 40 such terrorists are stationed at a terror camp in the Nakyal sector of Pakistan near the Line of Control (LoC). They have been trained to enter Indian by crossing the Poonch River. They are trained to cross the river through tubes and snorkeling, ANI reported citing an official.
• We have got the inputs that these terrorist are trained in making the Tiffin bomb, for which the raw material will be provided to them through sleeper cells active in India. The intel inputs have issues to all agencies concerned.
• The Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police, on Thu, eliminated 3 militants in the Rampur sector near Uri on the Line of Control (LoC).
• The terrorists had recently crossed over from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir into the Indian side.
• The forces have recovered a huge cache of arms including five AK-47 rifles, eight pistols, and 70 hand grenades from the terrorists killed in operation.
• In a media briefing, Lt General DP Pandey, the Corps Commander of Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said that one of the terrorists is Pakistani while the nationality of the other two is being established.
• On the night of Sept 18, there was an attempt to infiltrate from across the LoC. According to the Army, there were 6 terrorists and 3 were on the Indian side of the LoC while the other three were still on the Pakistani side of the fence. A massive search and combing operation was launched which continued for over 3 days.

Punjab Police claimed, big terror plot failed, 3 terrorists with arms, explosives arrested in Tarn Taran

All three car-borne terrorists – Kulwinder Singh, Kamalpreet Singh Mann, Kanwar pal Singh – are residents of the Moga district of Punjab, last night near village Bhagwanpura in the district. The police team recovered a 9mm pistol, 11 live bullets, a hang grenade, and other explosives from them.

• Sources said these terrorists were planning something big in the state.
• The Punjab Police has claimed that it foiled a big terror plot arresting 3 terrorists from Tarantaran district.
• A massive combing and search operation has been launched in the region to look for an accomplice of the arrested terrorists. 
• In Aug, a tiffin bomb packed with over 2 kg of RDX was recovered from a village in Amritsar, suspected to be dropped by a drone flying in from Pakistan.
• The Punjab Police had recovered tiffin bombs, grenades, and 100 pistol cartridges from the border area.
• The investigation was later transferred to National Investigation Agency (NIA), sources said.

SC to set up an expert committee to probe Pegasus snooping case-ANI

• The Supreme Court on Thu said it intends to set up a technical expert committee to probe into the reports of the government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists.
• A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said that it wanted to pass the order this week in the case but the matter is taking time as some experts they had in mind to be members of the committee expressed personal difficulties to be part of the same.
• The CJI said that the Court will finalize the members of the committee soon and will pass orders next week, told orally to senior Advocate Chander Uday Singh, who is one of the counsels in the Pegasus case.
• The apex court on Sept 13 had said it will pass an interim order in 2-3 days on pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping row.
• Several petitions are pending before the top court seeking a court-monitored probe into the reports of the govt allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists.
• The Centre had earlier told the apex court that it was willing to set up a committee of independent experts to examine all aspects of the alleged Pegasus snooping row.
• It had maintained that what software was used for an interception in the interest of national security can’t be open for public debate.
• The Centre had offered to set up a Committee comprising independent experts to inquire whether Pegasus was used to snoop on phones. It had said the matter can be inquired into by a committee of independent domain experts and the report can be filed before the top court.
• The govt had also contended that it is willing to place the details of surveillance before the expert committee proposed to be constituted by it to examine the issues and the committee can give a report to the SC.
• The petitioners’ lawyers had repeatedly told the Bench that the Central govt has evaded answering the question if it or any of its agencies have ever used the Pegasus spyware and urged the Court to direct the govt to come clean on this issue.
• The plea said that the targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19, and 21 by the Supreme Court in the KS Puttaswamy case (2017).

SC considers Central government’s guidelines recommending Rs 50,000 ex-gratia payment to kins of persons who died of Covid & will pass order on Oct 4. We’ve to take judicial notice of the fact that what India has done, no other country could do: Bench observed during the hearing

Special envoys of China, Russia, and Pakistan hold talks with Taliban officials in Kabul

Special envoys of China, Russia, and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban’s interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive govt, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wed.

The three special envoys visited Kabul from Sept 21 to 22 and held talks with acting Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi, Finance Minister, and other high-level officials of the interim govt, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here.

• Significantly, they also met with former president Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, President of the Council for National Reconciliation under the previous government.
• “They emphasized on the formation of an inclusive government acceptable to all, peace, stability, moderate policy, respecting women rights, the equal right of education for all Afghans & regional cooperation,” Abdullah Abdullah said.
• This is perhaps the first time that the foreign diplomats met Karzai and Abdullah who stayed put in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last month ahead of the withdrawal of the US and NATO troops.
• Their meeting also coincides with the Taliban’s letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nominating its spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan’s new ambassador to the UN.
• The Afghan militant group also asked Guterres to allow it to participate and speak in the 76^th session of the General Assembly currently underway in New York.
• All three countries kept their embassies open in Kabul while the US, India, and the EU countries have closed their missions after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.
• Besides coordinating closely with Russia on Afghanistan, Pakistan and China, which is playing a lead role after the Taliban seized Kabul, are trying to establish a new grouping of countries sharing borders with Afghanistan.