1. ‘Leave Within 5 Days’: India Ousts Senior Canada Diplomat in Tit-For-Tat Move
2. Indian politician killed in Punjab, Canada-based terrorist who has ties with Khalistan, claims responsibility
3. Led by PM Modi, parliamentarians walk to new Parliament Building,
4. Parliament: Women’s Quota Bill Tabled In Lok Sabha; 33% Reservation Proposed
5. Lashkar commander Uzair Khan killed, week-long Anantnag encounter ends

What Else

6. Nijjar death: Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun threatens Hindus in Canada
7. U.S. helped Pakistan Get IMF Bailout with Secret Arms Deal for Ukraine, Leaked Documents reveal
8. Pakistan’s IT, banking sectors ‘using’ Indian products
9. A Chinese military blockade of Taiwan would likely fail and nothing easy about an invasion: Pentagon
10. G7 ministers call on China to press Russia to stop aggression in Ukraine

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‘Leave Within 5 Days’: India Ousts Senior Canada Diplomat in Tit-For-Tat Move

• A senior Canadian diplomat has been expelled in a tit-for-tat move after Canadian PM Trudeau claimed “foreign powers” were behind the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Nijjar, the chief of the KTF terrorist group, and sacked an Indian diplomat.
• High Commissioner to India Cameron MacKay was summoned by MEA HQ on Tue amid India-Canada fireworks over the Khalitsani terrorist’s death.
• The diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next 5 days MEA statement read
• MEA stated that the decision reflects GoI’s growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities
• Soon after the expulsion, MEA sources told News18 that the ministry’s grounds of diplomat expulsions are “strong and was in mind for long”.
• “Canadian diplomat was involved in identifying many things possibly, including targets and workers for top gangsters sitting in Canada,” the source added.
• The MEA sources added that charges against diplomats are serious in nature. (here)
• India has expelled the station head of the Canadian Intel Service, Olivier Sylvester.
• He has been asked to pack his bags & leave within 5 days.
• The original time given was 3 days but 2 additional days were given in case their plane stopped functioning on time.
• In a video, the Canadian High Commissioner can be seen storming out of the Ministry of External Affairs Headquarters.
• The Commissioner can be seen dodging a few reporters and boarding the car without interacting with anyone. (here)
• The Canadian foreign office identified the expelled Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India’s foreign intelligence agency in Canada. (here)
• Exercise high degree of caution: Canada updates travel advisory for India amid diplomatic standoff (here)
• Canada Media via Sources said that Canadian PM Trudeau raised pro-Nijjar’s killing with UK PM Sunak, French President Macron, and US President Biden, but not much success was achieved.
• Justin Trudeau says ‘not trying to provoke India, but…’ Trudeau on Tue claimed that his country was not trying to provoke India by suggesting its agents were linked to the murder of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but Ottawa wanted New Delhi to address the issue properly. (here)
• “Deeply concerned”: US State Department reacts to Trudeau’s allegations against India: The US Department of State has expressed concern over the allegations leveled by Trudeau against India over the killing of Khalistani leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
• “We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by PM Trudeau yesterday. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada’s investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice,” a spox told ANI (here)

Indian politician killed in Punjab, Canada-based terrorist who has ties with Khalistan, claims responsibility

• A local politician from Punjab belonging to the Congress party was shot and killed in Dala village of Moga allegedly by a terrorist who has ties with a Khalistan radical outfit.
• The deceased, Baljinder Singh Balli (45) was shot twice after some assailants barged into his house later Mon.
• While one bullet pierced his chest, the other hit his thigh.
• Police said that the assailants came on a bike while one entered the house, and the other kept waiting outside.
• He was the Congress block president in Ajitwal.
• Revenge killing: Hours later, a gangster and a designated terrorist, Arshdeep Singh Gill, alias Dalla, took responsibility for the murder in a Meta post supposedly from his account. He is currently a permanent resident of Canada.
• Dalla said he killed Balli to exact revenge for keeping his mother in police custody and getting his friends arrested.
• In Jan this year, the Indian govt declared Arsh Dalla as an ‘individual terrorist’. (here)
• During the G-20 summit, NSA Ajit Doval engaged his Australian, UK, and Canadian counterparts over the rise of Sikh fundamentalism and violence against Indian assets in their respective countries.
• It is understood that the Australian and the UK NSA reacted positively to Indian concerns but the Canadian NSA was unfazed as the NDP supporter Jagmeet Singh supports the minority Justin Trudeau govt.
• It was quite evident from the NSA-level meetings that the Canadian govt was under pressure from Khalistan supporters and would do little to help the Indian cause. (here)

Led by PM Modi, parliamentarians walk to new Parliament Building,

• Members of Parliament on Tue proceeded to the new Parliament building after bidding farewell to the old building.
• PM Modi addressed members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the Central Hall of the Old Parliament building after which he proceeded outside.
• He also proposed that the [old] building be called ‘Samvidhan Sadan’.
• The MPs raised slogans of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ as they walked.
• Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was seen holding a copy of the Constitution of India in his hand as Congress MPs entered the new building.
• Proceedings resumed in Lok Sabha in the new building, with an address by PM.
• “…. This occasion is unprecedented in several ways. This is the dawn of Azadi ka Amrit Kaal…,” PM Modi said. (here)

Parliament: Women’s Quota Bill Tabled In Lok Sabha; 33% Reservation Proposed

• Proceedings of the Indian Parliament shifted to the new building on Tue with both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha holding their sittings in the new complex for the first time.
• In a move signifying shift, PM Narendra Modi let the MPs from the old to the new Parliament complex.
• The MPs also took a pledge to make India a developed country by 2047.
• Before that, a photo session was organized outside the old complex.
• A special program focused on the old building’s legacy was also held
• Union Minister of Law Arjun Meghwal tables Nari Shakti Vandana Adhiniyam (Women Reservation Bill), as per which 33% of Seats to be reserved for women in Lok Sabha
• Old Parliament Building to be known as ‘Samvidhan Sadan’, Says PM Modi (here)

Lashkar commander Uzair Khan killed, week-long Anantnag encounter ends

• LeT cmdr Uzair Khan was killed along with another terrorist on Tue, the 7^th day of the Anantnag encounter, an official said.
• Officials suspect the death of a 3^rd terrorist, as the search for his body continues.
• Security officials also recovered a weapon from Khan’s body, ADGP Kashmir said. (here)
• A 7 days long operation costs one CO, one Major, one DySP, and a sepoy, while 3 terrorists were neutralized.

Nijjar death: Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun threatens Hindus in Canada

• Gurpatwant Pannun, a designated terrorist and leader of banned SFJ, has threatened the Hindus living in Canada to leave the country
• He announced a fresh referendum and vote if the Indian high commissioner was responsible for the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. [nonsense]
• In a video that is going viral on social media, the Pannun said that they want to avenge Nijjar, whose death has sparked a diplomatic row between India and Canada.
• Meanwhile, the SFJ radical outfit has announced to hold protests and shut down Indian consulate offices in Canada in the coming week, Canadian media Global News reported.
• “He has been assassinated outside the gurdwara — that was being done to give a very strong message to pro-Khalistan Sikhs that they will be hunted, even in the Western world,” he added. (here)
• Pannun releases a fresh 2-minute video from Canada threatening to attack Indian missions in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Toronto on Sept 25^th calling for “Death to India” and “Balkanisation of India”.

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

U.S. helped Pakistan Get IMF Bailout with Secret Arms Deal for Ukraine, Leaked Documents reveal

• Secret Pakistan armssales to the US helped to facilitate a controversial bailout from the IMF earlier this year, (2 sources), with confirmation from internal govt documents.
• The arms sales were made to supply the Ukrainian military — marking Pakistani involvement in a conflict it had faced U.S. pressure to take sides on.
• The revelation is a window into the kind of behind-the-scenes maneuvering between financial and political elites that rarely is exposed to the public, even as the public pays the price.
• Harsh structural policy reforms demanded by the IMF as terms for its recent bailout kicked off an ongoing round of protests in the country.
• Major strikes have taken place throughout Pakistan in recent weeks in response to the measures.
• The protests are the latest chapter in a year-and-a-half-long political crisis roiling the country.
• In April 2022, the Pakistani military, with the encouragement of the U.S., helped organize a no-confidence vote to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan. (here)
• Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the report claiming that the country sold its weapons to Ukraine to secure an emergency bailout package from the IMF. (here)

Pakistan’s IT, banking sectors ‘using’ Indian products

• The federal govt has cautioned the ministries, and divisions after it emerged that Pakistan’s IT sector, fintech, and banking sector are using Indian-made products, ARY News reported on Tue.
• The use of Indian-made products is posing a direct threat of Indian interference in Pakistan’s IT sector.
• After the revelation, the caretaker federal govt dispatched letters to federal ministries, divisions, and provinces, recommending the discontinuation of the use.
• The use of Indian products poses a threat to vital information in the Pakistani banking sector, the sources said, and added there is a concern about the misuse of data and personal information due to the presence of malware. (here)

A Chinese military blockade of Taiwan would likely fail and nothing easy about an invasion: Pentagon

• Pentagon officials have testified that China’s military is likely to fail if it sought to blockade Taiwan and that there was nothing easy about invading the self-ruled island.
• Ely Ratner, the US asstt secy of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said during a congressional hearing on Tue it would be a “huge miscalculation” for Beijing to try to cut off the island.
• The comment signified the Pentagon’s latest public assessment of Beijing’s capabilities in imposing a blockade and of how the international reaction might play out
• Military observers widely believe that a blockade is an option the PLA has rehearsed over the past year through its large-scale exercises conducted near the island. (here)

G7 ministers call on China to press Russia to stop aggression in Ukraine

• The G7 on Tue called on China to press Russia to stop its aggression in Ukraine after FMs of the bloc met on the sidelines of the UNGA and released a joint statement.
• The statement said the members hoped China would push for the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
• The statement comes as China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, visits Russia for a 4-day trip during which both nations are expected to pledge deeper political ties, with a possible visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing on the horizon.
• Kim Jong-un returns home with gifts of drones and a bulletproof vest after a week-long Russia tour
• The G7 members also welcomed China’s participation in the Ukraine-led meeting in Jeddah and “further encouraged China to support a just and lasting peace, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine,” the statement said. (here)