Newsletter 17 February

Foreign envoys reached Srinagar for two-day UT JnK-HT

This is the 3^rd visit of a group of 20 foreign envoys and senior diplomat from various countries that India has organized since the revocation of Article 370 in Aug 2019, aimed at showcasing the “Govt’s efforts to restore normalcy and boost development in the union territory”.
The group includes European Union ambassador Ugo Astuto, and envoys of some 10 European countries, including French Amb Emmanuel Lenain.
Envoys and senior diplomats of Bangladesh, and countries in Africa, Central Asia and Central America are also part of the group.
Tight security arrangements were put in place for the visit, and the group headed to Magam in Badgam district, located on the outskirts of Srinagar, shortly after their arrival to meet with local residents, people familiar with developments.
In the afternoon, the diplomats will meet different groups and leaders of political parties at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre on the banks of the Dal Lake.
The group is also visited the Hazratbal shrine and meet a small group of local journalists in the evening, followed by a cultural event in the evening.
The first two groups visited JnK in Jan and Feb 2020, and plans to send a batch of envoys from EU states last year were put on hold because of the Covid-19.
As with the earlier groups, this batch of diplomats will interact with grassroots politicians, civil society organizations and businesspeople and visit key Govt projects and schemes.
The diplomats will travel to Jammu region on Thu for more meetings and interactions.
Ahead of the planned visit of the 3^rd batch of foreign envoys to JnK this week, Pakistan on Mon sought ‘to portray the move as an effort by India to mislead the world community’.
“Such guided tours are a smokescreen, aimed at diverting international attention from India’s egregious human rights violations in [JnK] and creating a false impression of ‘normalcy’,” the statement said.

India, Russia Agree To Work Closely On Key Issues At UN Security Council

“Both sides agreed to work closely together on key issues on the UNSC agenda, in keeping with the special and privileged strategic partnership,” the MEA said in a statement.
The Ministry of External Affairs said both sides held bilateral consultations in Moscow on Tuesday on issues which are on the agenda of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
It said the Indian delegation at the director general-level meeting briefed the Russian side on India’s priorities during its UN Security Council tenure.
India began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council on Jan 1.
In August, India is scheduled to serve as the President of the powerful UN body.

‘Whatever was done, was a sacred duty’: Kiran Bedi after being removed as Puducherry L-G

Kiran Bedi’s removal comes at a time when the ruling Congress Govt has lost its majority after four of its MLAs resigned from the Assembly.
A day after she was removedas the Lt-Governor of Puducherry, Kiran Bedi thanked the Govt for a “lifetime experience” and said that whatever she had done was a “sacred duty.”
Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, a former President of the Tamil Nadu BJP, was given additional charge of Puducherry.

'India not short of ideas, needs mentors': PM Modi on developing tier 2 cities

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wed said that India has lot of potential which needs to be utilized to make it a global leader. Addressing a NASSCOM event, PM Modi urged the IT industry veterans to look for talent in smaller cities of the country.
The PM then asked those present at the event to create world-class products “that will set the global benchmark on excellence”. “There can be no compromise on these goals. Without them, we will also be a follower and not a global leader,” said PM.

Farmer’s protests

Toolkit case: Bombay HC grants transit bail to Nikita Jacob

Bombay High Court on Wed granted Mumbai advocate Nikita Jacob transit anticipatory bail of days in connection with the alleged farmers’ protest ‘toolkit’ case in which an environmental activist Disha Ravi was arrested from Bengaluru last week. The relief is granted for 3 weeks to approach the court for further relief for Rs 25,000 bond.
Intensifying its probe in the toolkit case, the Delhi Police on Tue sought details from video conferencing platform Zoom on the participants of the Jan 11 meeting by a pro-Khalistan group, while investigators were also looking into the funding aspect: TOI.

Delhi Police probing Muluk’s presence in Tikri on R-Day

Police sources said they believe Shantanu Muluk came to Delhi to take videos and photos of the protest site and use it for the toolkit.
On Tue, Muluk, an engineer from Maharashtra’s Beed, was granted transit anticipatory bail in the case.
“With the help of call detail records and other technical surveillance, we have come to know that Shantanu was at the farmers’ protest site in Tikri on Jan 26. He was in Delhi for around a week,” a senior officer told The Indian Express.

'Most wanted' accused who swung swords at Red Fort held

Police said the accused, Maninder Singh, was the ‘most wanted’ after his videos and photos surfaced from Jan 26, where he was seen swinging swords at Red Fort during a tractor rally. The investigating team has recovered two swords (4 feet in size) from Singh’s house.

Plan to eliminate a farmer leader by Khalistani terrorist organization leaders from Belgium, UK tracked by Central intel agencies -ANI

A global conspiracy has been hatched by Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) to target farmers’ leader protesting at Delhi’s borders.
Central intelligence agencies– R&AW and Intelligence Bureau — are tracking such attempts of KCF, a terror outfit, and few days back a report has been prepared by the agencies on the same.
As per the report prepared by central intelligence agencies based on inputs, the conspirators are from Belgium and the United Kingdom who in coordinated manner have prepared a plan to eliminate a farmer leader protesting at Delhi’s border.
The KCF’s plan is also to settle score with the leader who was “alleged to have involvement in eliminating KCF cadres from Punjab in the past”.
The outfit has members based in various countries like Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium and Pakistan.
Khalistani separatists groups have been trying to gain ground through farmers’ protest.
Also, more than 400 Twitter handles run from Pakistan had been narrowed down by Indian agencies who were active to add fuel to the fire.
On Jan 26 when farmers assembled around Red Fort, members of Khalistani separatist groups staged a protest outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC.

UP STF ‘foils’ terror attack plan with arrest of PFI men with explosives

The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh police claimed to have foiled a terror attack in the state by arresting 2 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI), and recovering arms and explosives from their possession.
A team of STF arrested Asad Badruddin and Firoz Khan, PFI members, from near Gudamba area in Lucknow.
The duo are from Kerala and had planned to conduct explosions at Basant Panchami celebrations by Hindu organizations, and other strategic locations in UP.
Their aim was to create religious enmity in society by doing so,” said Additional Director General (ADG), law and order, Prashant Kumar.
He added that the STF recovered 16 high explosive devices with battery detonators, a pistol and live cartridges from the possession of the accused.
PFI, which claims to be a social youth organization based in Kerala, has been under the radar of police in several states.
Recently the Enforcement Directorate filed a charge-sheet against office-bearers of PFI and its students’ wing — Campus Front of India (CFI) — for allegedly conspiring to incite violence and disturb harmony in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, where a Dalit woman was gang-raped by four upper caste men last Sept.
ED claimed that more than ₹100 crore were deposited in the accounts of PFI over the years and a very large part of this money is feared to have come in from the Middle East. The organization is also being probed for its alleged role in Delhi riots last year.

ED attaches over Rs 17cr assets of Amnesty International India

The Enforcement Directorate on Tue said it has attached over Rs 17 crore bank deposits in under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), with its money laundering case against two entities of Amnesty International (India), the Global Human Rights Watchdog.
It said “both the entities have acquired the proceeds of crime and layered the same in the form of various movable properties.
The order involves attachment of movable properties worth of Rs 17.66 crore being proceeds of crime”.
This money laundering case of the ED is based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR filed against AIIPL, IAIT, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) and Amnesty International South Asia Foundation (AISAF) that was filed under various sections of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and the Indian Penal Code (120-B which denotes criminal conspiracy).
The agency has earlier attached some properties in this case and the total attachment value now stands at Rs 19.54 crore.

Cabinet approves Comprehensive Economic cooperation and Partnership Agreement between India and Mauritius

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between India and Mauritius. The India-Mauritius CECPA will be the first trade Agreement to be signed by India with a country in Africa.
The Agreement is a limited agreement, which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, Customs Procedures and Cooperation in other Areas.
Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Women and Child Dev to amend the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 to introduce measures for strengthening Child Protection set-up.
Cabinet approves the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Telecom and Networking Products.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to visit Dhaka on March 4 to meet with Bangladeshi counterpart. He will go to finalize PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka on Mar 26.

Punjab Municipal Election Results 2021: Amid farmers’ protests, Congress scores big in local body polls

The results of the Punjab local body elections are being declared today, three days after polls were held to over 117 civic bodies in the state.
The ruling Congress has won 6 of Punjab’s 8 municipal corporations so far, including Abohar, Bathinda, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Moha. The results of the elections to Batala and Mohali are awaited.
The results of the Punjab local body elections are being declared including eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils. A total of 9,222 candidates contested the polls.

NEIGHBORHOOD/ WORLD

US steps up challenges to Chinese-claimed islands in South China Sea

A US Navy warship sailed by islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Wed, the second such sailing in as many weeks, as the Biden administration steps up the US’ military presence in the disputed waters.
In a so-called freedom of navigation operation, the guided-missile destroyer USS Russell steamed within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly Islands in the southern portion of the 1.3 million square mile waterway, almost all of which China claims as its sovereign territory.
“This freedom of navigation operation (“FONOP”) upheld the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging unlawful restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan,” Lt. Joe Keiley, a spokesman for the US Navy’s 7^th Fleet, said in a statement.
The warship is deployed to the US 7^th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines also have claims in the Spratly chain, where China has transformed obscure reefs and sandbars into man-made artificial islands, fortified with missiles, runways and weapons systems.
The Russell’s FONOP followed a similar operation conducted by the USS John S McCain in the Paracel Islands in the northwestern area of the sea 12 days previous.
It also comes less than a week after two US aircraft carriers, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Nimitz, conducted rare dual-carrier drills in the SCS.
The US Navy operations come after US President Joe Biden described China as the US’ “most serious competitor” and outlined plans to confront Beijing’s “attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance.”
Biden also said Washington was in “extreme competition” with China.
China claims the US naval operations in the SCS inflame tensions and violate its sovereignty.
After the FONOP in the Paracels, a report on the People’s Liberation Army’s official English website said PLA naval and air forces tracked the US destroyer and warned it off.

China’s ambassador to Myanmar says situation ‘not what China wants to see’

In an interview with local media posted on the Chinese embassy Facebook page, Ambassador Chen Hai said China maintained “friendly relations” with both the army and the former ruling civilian Govt.
China’s ambassador to Myanmar said on Tue the current political situation was “absolutely not what China wants to see” and dismissed social media rumors of Chinese involvement in the Feb. 1 military coup as “completely nonsense”.
While Western countries have strongly condemned the Feb. 1 coup, China has been more cautious – emphasizing the importance of stability.
China nonetheless agreed to a U.N. Security Council statement that called for the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees and voiced concern over the state of emergency.
Some of the protests against the coup that have drawn hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets in recent days have taken place outside the Chinese embassy in Yangon, with protesters accusing Beijing of supporting the military junta.
He said China was “not informed in advance of the political change in Myanmar” and that it hoped “all things go well in Myanmar, rather than becoming unstable or even falling into chaos.”
“Many countries in transition are overcoming difficulties and challenges through their own efforts, and exploring development paths suitable for their own circumstances,” the ambassador said.
China has traditionally been viewed with suspicion in neighboring Myanmar, where it has significant economic and strategic interests and has often backed Myanmar’s position against Western criticism.

Pakistani Hindu girl abducted by cop, forced to convert

A policeman of Pakistan’s Sindh province is reported to have abducted a minor Hindu girl and converted her to Islam before marrying her. Intelligence sources in Amritsar have said that Neena Kumari, daughter of Ramesh Lal was abducted by policeman Ghulam Maroof Qadri. Neena went missing about 5 days ago. Qadri renamed her Maria before marrying her in Karachi.

India to join Iran-Russia joint naval drill in Indian Ocean: Iranian navy cmdr-IRNA

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi referring to the point that the overall goal of the joint Naval Drill in the north Indian Ocean region is to achieve collective security at the regional level, said that Indian navy will join naval drill in the northern Indian Ocean.
Regarding joint naval drill in the north Indian Ocean region, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said on Tue that the drill has taken place with the countries of the region and the world at the naval task, as it began today, the Russian navy joined the exercise and the Indian navy participated in the maritime naval drills.
The main purpose of drill is to achieve collective security at the regional level, which will help the North Pacific security of the Indian Ocean to continue in favor of all stakeholders, Khanzadi said.

India Condemns Deadly Blasts In Baghdad, Asks UNSC To Focus On Eliminating Terror In Iraq

Expressing serious concerns about the terrorist attacks that took place in Iraq’s capital last month, India called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to focus on eliminating every threat posed by terror groups such as the ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)’ in the country and around the world.
Speaking at the UNSC on Tue, TS Tirumurti, permanent representative of India to the UN, said the recent terrorist attacks are a “stark reminder” that the ISIL continues to pose a significant challenge to peace and stability in Baghdad.