International News
Lavrov meets Modi, apprises him of Ukraine crisis, bilateral initiatives
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Friday and apprised him about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Lavrov briefed the Prime Minister on the situation in Ukraine, including the ongoing peace negotiations.
Modi reiterated his call for an early cessation of violence, and conveyed India’s readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts, the statement said.
The meeting lasted for 40 minutes during which Lavrov also informed the Prime Minister about various bilateral initiatives.
He, thereafter, left the Prime Minister Office’s but got stuck slightly in a traffic jam for a few minutes on way to the IGI airport to fly back to Moscow.
Ahead of meeting Prime Minister Modi, Lavrov has said US pressure would not affect the India-Russia relationship and added if India wants to mediate for resolution to the Ukraine problem, such a process can be supported.
Lavrov was on a two-day visit to India where he held deliberations with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar over crude oil offer, rupee-ruble payment, ongoing arms deals, Ukraine crisis, and the situation in Afghanistan and Iran.
About India playing a bigger role in the Ukraine crisis, Lavrov said: “India is an important and serious country. If India plays that role that provides resolution, India as our common partner.. we are for the security guarantee of Ukraine.. West has ignored it’s responsibility…If India is with its position of just and rational approach to international problems.. can support such a process.”
On India’s view on the Ukraine crisis, he said that India’s foreign policy is guided by its independent position.
“I believe that Indian foreign policies are characterised by independence and the concentration on real national legitimate interests. The same policy is based in the Russian Federation and this makes us, as big countries, good friends and loyal partners.”
India has stayed neutral on seven Ukraine-related resolutions at the United Nations.
Lavrov categorically said Russia’s aim in Ukraine is to deprive the Kiev regime from building the capacity to present any threat to Russia.
During interaction with media persons here, Lavrov, talking about the Ukraine crisis said: “You called it a war, which is not true. It is a special operation, military infrastructure is being targeted. The aim is to deprive the Kiev regime from building the capacity to present any threat to Russia.”
In their meeting, Lavrov and Jaishankar assessed the overall state of cooperation and considered the implications of recent developments on trade and economic relations.
The two ministers discussed developments pertaining to Ukraine.
Lavrov briefed the Indian side on Russia’s perspective, including the ongoing talks. Jaishankar emphasised the importance of cessation of violence and ending hostilities. Differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and by respect for international law, UN Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, he added.
The ministers also discussed the situation in Afghanistan. Lavrov conveyed his assessment of the recent conference on Afghanistan in China. Jaishankar noted that UNSCR 2593 expressed the concerns of the international community and spoke of humanitarian support for the Afghan people. Iran and the JCPoA issue were also featured in the talks.
On the supply of crude and arms, Lavrov said Russia will be ready to supply to India any goods which India wants to buy from them. “We are ready to discuss. Russia and India have very good relations,” he said.
Asked whether the rouble-rupee system for bilateral trade is being worked out, Lavrov said: “We have to find ways to bypass impediments.”
International News
23 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza
Gaza, Dec 23: At least 23 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.
At least nine people, including three children and two women, were killed, and some others were injured as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Musa bin Nusayr School on Sunday, which houses displaced people in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City.
Four more people were killed when the Israeli army bombed a vehicle on the Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City, it added.
Five citizens, including four children, were killed on Sunday morning in Israel’s shelling of the Jabalia town, north of Gaza City, WAFA said in a separate report.
In the southern Gaza Strip, two people were killed when the Israeli army bombed their apartment west of Khan Yunis, and three others died in the Israeli bombing of the city of Rafah, WAFA said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Sunday that with the direction of intelligence, the air force conducted a “precise strike” on Hamas militants who were operating inside a command-and-control center in the Gaza Strip.
The command-and-control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as the Musa bin Nusayr School, was used by the militants to plan and execute attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel, it added.
Israel has been on a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 45,227, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.
Crime
At least 18 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
Gaza, Dec 21: At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the central and northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.
Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes targeted an apartment in the multi-story “Yaffa” tower in the al-Nuseirat camp, located in central Gaza.
A statement from Al-Awda Hospital in the camp confirmed that eight people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, in the attack.
In northern Gaza, Israeli shelling struck a house belonging to the “Khilla” family in Jabalia Al-Balad, killing 10 people and injuring several others, according to the Gaza Strip’s Civil Defence.
The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.
Also on Friday, the military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that one of its fighters had carried out a suicide attack targeting an Israeli force of six soldiers in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza.
The Israeli army has not issued a comment on this incident.
Earlier on Thursday at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombings in northern Gaza, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.
At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday night and some others injured when the Israeli aircraft bombed the house of the Al-Najjar family in the town of Jabalia, WAFA said.
Six more people were killed due to Israeli bombing on the house of the Al-Zaytouniya family near the Al-Tabi’in School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, it added.
The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages taken.
As of Friday, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 45,206, according to Gaza-based health authorities.
International News
Khalistani separatist Pannun’s threat to Indian ambassador ‘serious’ issue, taken up with US: MEA
New Delhi, Dec 20: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday revealed that New Delhi has taken “seriously” the latest threat issued by the US-based Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and raised it accordingly with the authorities in Washington.
In a recent video, Pannun threatened that Kwatra is on the radar of pro-Khalistani Sikhs in America for allegedly coordinating with Russian authorities, who in turn were providing inputs to Indian intelligence agencies on the Khalistani network in the United States.
“As and when such threats are issued, we take them very seriously and raise them with the US government. In this particular case also, we have raised it with the US government and it is our expectation that the United States government will take our security concerns seriously and act on it,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Friday.
A former Foreign Secretary, Kwatra took charge as India’s Ambassador to the United States in August this year, succeeding Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
His appointment came at a time when Khalistani separatists continue to target Hindu community in the country and also the Indian missions.
Khalistanis have been found to be involved in incidents of defacement of temples, including in California and New York, and also in acts of arson and vandalism at the Indian embassy in San Francisco.
Several lawmakers, including Shri Thanedar – a Democrat elected to the House of Representatives from Michigan state – have raised alarm over the “substantial increase” in attacks on Hindus and their places of worship in the United States.
The lawmaker had recently expressed frustration with the investigating agency for their failure to find the culprits behind the incidents at the temples and the consulate.
“It appears to be a very coordinated effort to attack these places of worship which has created a lot of fear in the community. And often what we have seen is that the law enforcement, the local law enforcement enters into these investigations and rarely any suspects have been identified, and that investigation goes nowhere.
“What that does is that it leaves the community feeling like nobody cares about them. Nobody reports back to them on what’s going on. And that means that the community continues to live in fear, the computing community continues to live in an adverse situation with essentially no help from law enforcement,” he said.
The lawmaker went on to state that he and his colleagues are asking the US Department of Justice for “coordinated efforts between the local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Department of Justice, and higher priority needs to be assigned to such hate crimes against this peaceful community”.
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