Tag Archives: Kashmir

India, Pakistan set to sign pilgrim corridor pact amid Kashmir tension

Pakistan

MNA International Desk: India and Pakistan are set to sign an agreement on Indian pilgrims visiting a Sikh shrine in Pakistan, rare cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbours at a time of tension that has brought exchanges of fire on their disputed border. The pact will introduce visa-free access from India to the Pakistani town of Kartarpur, home to a temple that marks the site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, died. India’s foreign ministry said in a statement late on Monday an understanding had been reached on most issues and India was prepared to sign the agreement on Wednesday. ...

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Modi cancels Turkey visit over Erdogan’s remarks on Kashmir

Modi

MNA International Desk: The Indian government has decided to call off a proposed visit by the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Turkey’s capital Ankara. The decision was taken as part of a number of measures showing the Indian government’s displeasure over Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last month. During the speech, Erdogan criticised India’s move to abrogate Article 370 of the constitution that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Supporting Pakistan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that it is imperative to solve the problem through “dialogue on the ...

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Modi assures Kashmir situation will normalise in four months

Kashmir

MNA Editorial Desk: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said it would take four months for Jammu and Kashmir to return to normal after his government stripped the state of its special status in August and imposed harsh restrictions. At a rally in the western state of Maharashtra on Sunday, Modi said that his government had taken necessary steps to maintain security in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state that is also claimed by neighboring Pakistan. Alongside the withdrawal on August 5 of constitutional provisions that gave Jammu and Kashmir more autonomy than any other Indian state, Modi’s government ...

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India urges Pakistan to reconsider decision to downgrade ties

Pakistan

MNA International Desk: India on Thursday urged Pakistan to review its decision to downgrade diplomatic ties over the withdrawal of special status to Kashmir, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Pakistan said it would expel India’s ambassador in Islamabad and that its envoy who was to start his assignment soon will not move to Delhi after India revoked the special privileges to Kashmir, Reuters reported. “The Government of India regrets the steps announced by Pakistan yesterday and would urge that country to review them so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved,” the Indian foreign ministry said.

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500 arrests made during clampdown in Indian-ruled Kashmir

Kashmir

MNA Editorial Desk: A petition was filed Thursday in India’s top court challenging the communications blackout and security clampdown in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where people remained holed up in their homes for a fourth day. State-run All India Radio said security agencies have arrested more than 500 people in the region apparently to prevent any outbreak of violence. It also reported cross-border firing by Indian and Pakistani troops in the Rajouri sector of the Indian-controlled Kashmir late Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the nation on Thursday to discuss Kashmir. India’s government this week revoked the special status ...

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China, Pakistan slam India’s move to change Kashmir’s special status

China

MNA International Desk: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to change the status of Kashmir ran into fierce opposition from China and its ally Pakistan on Tuesday as the disputed territory lay under a telecoms blackout to forestall protests for a second day. In a move to tighten its grip on Jammu and Kashmir, parts of which are claimed by Pakistan and China, India dropped a constitutional provision that allowed the country’s only Muslim-majority state to make its own laws. The changes imposed by Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government are the most sweeping in the nearly 30 years that India has ...

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Kashmir tensions hike, 7 killed in fighting

Kashmir

MNA International Desk: Four Indian soldiers, two suspected militants and a civilian were killed in a gunbattle in disputed Kashmir on Monday, officials said, further escalating tensions in the restive region. Another soldier was wounded in the gun battle, which came after a local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into a paramilitary bus on Thursday, killing at least 40 soldiers in the worst attack against Indian government forces in Kashmir’s history. The fighting erupted early Monday after government forces surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, security officials said. As ...

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Curfew in Kashmir after 4 killed by Indian troops

curfew

MNA International Desk: A curfew has been imposed on parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir to contain protests after Indian troops killed three young civilians and a rebel. Indian army Colonel Rajesh Kalia says militants fired at a checkpoint in southern Shopian area and a shootout with soldiers followed. The Associated Press reports citing the locals, that the three civilians were killed in cold blood. Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India with both nations claiming the region entirely. Rebel groups demand the region be united under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. Most people in the portion governed by India ...

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‘Winner takes Kashmir’

Kashmir

MNA Editorial Desk: Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir celebrated Pakistan’s victory over arch-rivals India in the Champions Trophy final with defiant pro-Pakistan chants and fireworks as shocked silence reverberated across Delhi following the historic upset. One spectator at the Oval in London was spotted wearing a T-shirt saying: “Winner takes Kashmir”. Joy was palpable in both old and uptown areas of Srinagar as youths came out of their homes to celebrate the victory of Pakistan. Kashmiris, who traditionally support Pakistan in cricket, especially against India, took to the streets after the win waving Pakistani flags and chanting “Jive Jive Pakistan ...

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Screening of Indian movies banned in Pakistan

Indian movies

MNA Culture & Entertainment Desk: A union representing Pakistan cinemas and film distributors has banned the screening of Indian movies across the country in the wake of growing pressures between the nuclear-armed neighbours in disputed Kashmir. The decision follows an earlier move by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) to prohibit Pakistani actors and technicians from working on Bollywood sets, reported news agency. The silver screen drama erupted after India claimed Thursday it had carried out “surgical strikes” across the heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in the disputed territory, on alleged “terrorist” targets inside ...

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India not for immediate revenge over Kashmir

Kashmir

MNA International Desk: As news agency reported, for all the harsh expression immediately following Sunday’s attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan, the threat of a sudden escalation in hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals has receded for now. Two days after 18 Indian soldiers were killed, in the biggest blow to security forces in the disputed Himalayan region for 14 years; some officials called for a measured response and plotted a diplomatic offensive to increase pressure on Pakistan. Military action was limited to skirmishes near the Line of Control separating the countries in ...

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17 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir army base attack

Indian soldiers

MNA Editorial Desk: Militants attacked an Indian army base headquarters near the de factor border with Pakistan on Sunday, killing 17 Indian soldiers in the most deadly such attack in the northern region of Kashmir in recent years. Four commando-style gunmen willing to fight to the death – were confirmed killed after penetrating the base in Uri near the Line of Control with Pakistan, an Indian army spokesman said. The number of Indian soldiers killed in the attack had risen to 17, making the toll far worse than a similar raid on an army base in Punjab state in January ...

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Two protesters killed in Indian Kashmir clashes

Two protesters

MNA International Desk: Two protesters were killed and at least 100 injured Saturday when anti-India demonstrators clashed with government forces in Indian-administered Kashmir as the region remained locked down for the 64th straight day, reported news agency. One young man was killed in southern Shopian district when his head was hit with a tear gas canister fired by police, a medical officer in the local hospital said. Another protester died of pellet injuries as government forces fired pump action shotguns to break up a public rally against Indian rule attended by thousands in Botengoo village in southern Kashmir valley, a ...

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Amnesty India closed offices after accused of sedition

Amnesty

MNA International Desk: Amnesty International India has closed its offices for a short time and suspended programs for increasing consciousness of rights abuses over safety concerns among its workers after the charity was accused of sedition by protesters. Political activists held protests against the group on Tuesday and Wednesday, accusing it of inciting hatred against the state during an event it arranged on abuses by Indian security forces in the distressed Kashmir area. Amnesty said the claims against the organization were unproven, but admitted that slogans calling for Kashmir’s independence were chanted by some people attending Saturday’s seminar in the ...

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Indian security personnel shot dead in Kashmir

Indian security personnel

MNA International Desk: Three Indian security personnel including two army soldiers and a policeman shot dead and four others wounded as militants attacked an army camp at Baramulla district in Kashmir. Former minister P Chidambaram said the condition in Jammu and Kashmir is “sliding into total chaos” and that a resolution to the crisis cannot be found by the state’s PDP-BJP ruling alliance. Chidambaram responsible the ruling PDP-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the situation in the state, where 65 people have been killed in clashes so far. “I am afraid the way out of the crisis cannot be found by ...

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11 killed in brutal clashes at Kashmir

Kashmir

MNA International Desk: At least 11 people were killed and scores wounded in brutal clashes at southern Kashmir on Saturday as violence exploded over the killing of top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, flashing fears of an upsurge in militancy in the region. Wani’s body was buried in his hometown Tral amid mass wailing and angry anti-India slogans, a day after security forces gunned down the 21-year-old militant who was the face of militancy in Kashmir over the last five years. Protesters hurled stones, looted police weapons and set fire to three police stations and two government buildings in towns ...

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