New Delhi, Oct 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conveyed to Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand that her India visit would contribute to ongoing efforts to impart new momentum to the India–Canada bilateral partnership.

PM Modi hails ‘new momentum’ in bilateral ties during meeting with Canadian FM

Anand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, called on PM Modi on Monday morning before holding discussions with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar.

Welcoming Anand, Prime Minister Modi recalled his visit to Canada in June this year for the G7 Summit during which he held an “extremely productive” meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“Prime Minister noted the significance of enhanced cooperation between the two countries in trade, energy, technology, agriculture and people-to-people ties. Prime Minister conveyed his warm wishes to Prime Minister Mark Carney and said that he looked forward to their upcoming engagements,” read a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“I met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning in New Delhi. Building on the momentum of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s meeting with PM Modi this summer at the G7 Summit, Canada and India are elevating the relationship between our countries, while maintaining our law enforcement and security dialogue and expanding our economic relationship,” Anand posted on X after the meeting with PM Modi.

Earlier, EAM Jaishankar said that the ties between India and Canada have been steadily progressing in the past few months, and the two nations are working to restore the mechanisms necessary to advance the partnership.

Welcoming Anand on her first visit to India as Canada’s Foreign Minister, EAM Jaishankar said, “India-Canada bilateral relations have been steadily progressing in the last few months. We are working to restore and reinvigorate the mechanisms necessary to advance our partnership.”

“As Prime Minister Modi noted during his meeting with Prime Minister Carney in Kananaskis, India’s approach is to move forward with a positive mindset. This morning, you met the Prime Minister. You have heard from him personally about our vision of cooperation and how best to realise it,” he added.

He also recalled the “productive” meeting between National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Canadian NSA Nathalie G. Drouin, calling it “an important first step towards enhancing our security cooperation.”

“Our foreign ministries at the level of the secretary of the deputy minister also met on September 19 to review the overall relationship. Our trade ministers spoke recently on October 11. So, when we look at Canada, we see a complementary economy, we see another open society, we see diversity and pluralism, and we believe that that is the basis for a close, sustainable and long-term cooperative framework,” EAM Jaishankar added.

He noted that India and Canada have prepared an ambitious roadmap to advance cooperation in various sectors, including science and technology, civil nuclear collaboration, AI, trade and agriculture.

“I’m glad that the two high commissioners have assumed their responsibilities in our respective capitals and are part of today’s meeting. This is our high commissioner with whom you have spoken,” the EAM added.

“Our responsibility as foreign ministers is to shepherd the process of rebuilding our cooperation and to ensure that it delivers on the expectations of our prime ministers and the interests of our people. It means not only taking initiatives in our particular jurisdiction, but also monitoring and integrating interactions across the entire breadth of the government. I look forward to doing so, working closely with you, Minister,” he added.

Washington, Oct 13: US President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to mediate the border conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan, claiming that he can bring an end to the dispute, referring to the other wars that he has “resolved”.

He made these statements as he was heading to Egypt for a summit on the Gaza peace process, which will officially mark the end of the two-year-long conflict in the Middle East, claiming it to be the eighth war he has resolved.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said, “This will be my eighth war that I have solved, and I hear there is a war now going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

“I said, I’ll have to wait till I get back. I am doing another one. Because I am good at solving wars,” he said, adding that conflicts that lasted for decades were solved ‘relatively quickly’ during his tenure as the US President.

“Think about India, Pakistan. Think about some of the wars that were going on for years… We had one going for 31, one going for 32, one going for 37 years, with millions of people being killed in every country, and I got every one of those done, for the most part, within a day. It’s pretty good,” Trump said.

Speaking about the Nobel Peace Prize, which was accorded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Trump said, “I did not do this for the Nobel. I did this for saving lives.”

“The person who got the Nobel Prize called me today and said, ‘I am accepting this in honour of you, because you really deserved it’. I’ve been helping her along the way,” he added.

Trump outlined several international disputes that he asserted were resolved during his leadership, including those between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Rwanda and the Congo.

Jerusalem, Oct 13: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country’s military campaign “is not over,” on the eve of the planned release of all living Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian detainees under the next stage of the newly implemented Gaza ceasefire with Hamas.

In a televised address, Netanyahu hailed the planned release of the 20 remaining living hostages as a “historic event,” Xinhua news agency reported.

“Wherever we fought, we won,” he said. “But the campaign is not over yet,” he added, without giving further details.

He said Israel still faces “very big security challenges” ahead. “Some of our enemies are trying to regroup,” he warned, vowing to ensure Israel’s security.

Earlier in the day, Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir said that the country had achieved a “victory over Hamas.” In a broadcast statement, Zamir said the victory came through a combination of sustained military pressure and diplomatic efforts.

Zamir added that Israel remains “in the midst of a multi-front war.” He said the military “will continue to act in order to shape a security reality that ensures the Gaza Strip no longer poses a threat to the State of Israel and its civilians. Through our operations, we are reshaping the Middle East and our security strategy for the years ahead.”

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect on Friday, following more than two years of Israeli bombardments that devastated the Gaza Strip and caused famine.