Month: April 2023

India dismissed as “baseless” reports in British media stating that it had halted talks for a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom over the attack on the Indian high commission in London last month, government sources said on Monday.

London-based newspaper The Times in its April 10 edition citing senior British government sources reported that the Indian government has “disengaged” from trade talks and made it clear that there would be no progress “without a public condemnation of the Khalistan movement.”
An Indian government source has “denied” the UK publication’s report and termed it as “baseless.”

The India-UK Free Trade Agreement talks were launched on June 17, 2022,

“Indians don’t want to talk about trade until they get a very public demonstration of the condemnation of Khalistan extremism in the UK,” The Times quoted a British official statement saying.

On March 19 this year, protesters holding Khalistan banners staged a demonstration outside the High Commission in London. One of the protestors climbed up its balcony and pulled down the Indian national flag of India. The protest was being held to denounce the recent police action in Punjab.

In a video of the incident, which has since gone viral on social media, a protestor is seen on the balcony attempting to bring down the Indian flag. At the end of the video, another man is seen reaching the balcony and wresting the Tricolour back from the Khalistan supporter.

The British High Commissioner Alex Ellis condemned the attack on the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom as “disgraceful acts” and called it totally unacceptable.

New Delhi also had summoned the senior-most British diplomat UK diplomat, deputy high commissioner Christina Scott, to lodge a protest.

“It is expected that the UK Government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in today’s incident, and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” according to an official press release by the Minstry of External Affairs (MEA).

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had recently said that India expects to see more action, than just assurance and hoped that foreign governments will act against and prosecute those involved in the incident.

“On the issues of security, whenever we feel there is an issue relating to the security of our missions abroad, high commissions and embassies, this issue is taken up. Whenever we have concerns where we feel that there will be some activities that may harm our interests, we do take it up,” he said while answering a media query on the vandalism.

Khalistan supporters also allegedly attacked Indian Consulate in San Francisco (SFO). Videos of supporters breaking the doors and barging into the office surfaced on social media.

Though visuals of the vandalism at the San Francisco consulate have been doing the rounds of social media, the incident is yet to be confirmed by Indian officials.

While the visuals confirmed that the incident happened at the consulate, the date could not be ascertained.

Visuals shared online show a sizeable mob brandishing Khalistan flags and mounted on wooden poles, using them to smash glass doors and windows of the consulate building. Raising pro-Khalistan slogans, they broke through makeshift security barriers raised by the city police and installed two Khalistani flags inside the premises.

Meanwhile, the FTA, which aims to double bilateral trade between Indian and the UK by the year 2030 was expected to conclude by Diwali last year but the deal did not go through because the meeting was postponed.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had in December 2022 met with UK Secretary of State for International Trade Kemi Badenoch in New Delhi to discuss India-UK FTA negotiations. Both Ministers had reaffirmed their commitment to the negotiations which would unlock the full potential of boosting jobs, investments and exports between the two countries.

India and UK concluded the eighth round of negotiations for a trade deal on March 31.

The last round of India-UK dialogue over the FTA had concluded on February 10. (ANI)

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Taiwan’s Defence Ministry detected 70 Chinese military aircraft and 11 naval ships around Taiwan by 6 am on Monday and its armed forces were monitoring the situation to respond to these activities.

“70 PLA aircraft and 11 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond these activities,” Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said in a tweet.
“35 of the detected aircraft(SU-308, J-114, J-106, J-168, TB-001 UCAV, Y-9EW, Y-8 ASW, J-15*4, CH-4 UCAV, KJ-500 AEW&C) had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwest and southeast ADIZ, flight paths as illustrated,” it added.

China entered the third day of the drills, which kickstarted on Saturday (April 8), right after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen returned from the US where she met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a meeting to which China strictly showed opposition.

Al Jazeera reported that the declaration was made on Sunday as Taiwan’s defence ministry said that it had discovered numerous Chinese air force sorties and was keeping an eye on Beijing’s missile forces.

Taiwan, on Sunday, tracked 71 Chinese military aircraft, and 9 naval ships by 6 am. “45 of the detected aircraft(SU-308, J-114, J-1016, J-1610, TB-001 UCAV, Y-9EW, Y-8 ASW, H-6K*2, Y-20, KJ-500) had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ, flight paths as illustrated,” the Ministry said.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, began three days of military exercises around the island on Saturday, the day after President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taipei from Los Angeles, where she met with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Meanwhile, Taiwan also lodged a protest against Chinese military drills around Taiwan, saying that the country would not yield to threats.

Taking to Twitter, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said, “#Taiwan is our homeland, and no matter where we go or what we encounter, she is always charming and beautiful. Every story on this land is etched in our memories. We, #ROCArmedForces, are fighting with all our heart to defend our homeland and to protect our home together.”

Tensions between China and Taiwan escalated after the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to the country in August last year. China raised objections to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

This time, Taiwan retaliated by sending aircraft, naval boats, and land-based missiles to observe PLA planes and ships. (ANI)

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An Air India’s London-bound flight returned to Delhi airport after a mid-air brawl in which a passenger caused “physical harm” to cabin crew members.

An Air India official told ANI, “AI-111 Delhi to London flight with 256 passengers landed safely at Delhi airport after an unruly behaviour of passenger created ruckus on board.”
The flight, which took off for Heathrow Airport (London) at around 6:30 am on Monday returned to Delhi airport at around 10 am after the crew reported to pilots about the physical altercation mid-flight.

In a statement, Air India said, “Air India flight AI 111 scheduled to operate Delhi-London Heathrow on April 10, 2023, returned to Delhi shortly after departure due to the serious unruly behaviour of a passenger on board. Not heeding verbal and written warnings, the passenger continued with unruly behaviour including causing physical harm to two of the cabin crew members.”

“The pilot in command decided to return to Delhi and the passenger was handed over to the security personnel upon landing. An FIR has also been lodged with the police. Safety, security and dignity of all on board are important to us at Air India. We are providing all possible support to the affected crew members. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers and have rescheduled the flight to depart for London this afternoon,” Air India said.

After the plane landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Air India filed a police complaint about the passenger’s “indecent behaviour” at the police station. Legal action is being taken against the said passenger.

The airline said it has also informed the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about the incident.

This is not the first time Air India witnessed such a ruckus on a flight. Earlier, in January, a man, identified as Shankar Mishra was arrested of allegedly urinating on a woman on board an AI flight on November 26 last year. The Delhi Police arrested him on January 6 this year.

In an inebriated condition, Mishra urinated on a 70-year-old woman on an Air India flight on November 26 last year.

Delhi Police had registered an FIR against him on January 4 on a complaint given by the woman to Air India.

The police registered an FIR under sections 354, 509, and 510 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 23 of the Indian Aircraft Act. Both the accused and the victim are from outside Delhi. (ANI)

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Hours after Sachin Pilot raised concerns regarding non-action against the alleged cases of corruption under the BJP government in Rajasthan, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday, in a statement said that the party has achieved landmark achievements under CM Ashok Gehlot’s tenure, based on which the party will seek a renewed mandate from the people later this year.

Jairam Ramesh, who is the party general secretary of Communications, said in a statement, “The Congress Government in Rajasthan with Ashok Gehlot as CM has implemented a large number of schemes and taken many new initiatives that have impacted the people profoundly. This has given the state a leadership position in governance in our country”
The Congress MP further added, “The Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan was an outstanding success made possible by the dedication and determination of the party organisation in the state. Later in the year, the Congress will seek a renewed mandate from the people on the strength of these landmark achievements and the collective efforts of our organisation”.

This came hours after Sachin Pilot reiterated his demand of investigating the alleged cases of corruption under the tenure of the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in Rajasthan.

He said that despite writing to the Chief Minister multiple times, he had not received any answer from him.

“I wrote to the Chief Minister on March 28 last year, and when I didn’t get a reply, I wrote to him again on November 2. I urged him to investigate all the issues, that we raised, both I and CM Gehlot. Land mafia, liquor mafia, mining mafia or other cases. I said that elections are coming and we must show the public that there is no difference between our promises and our work,” Pilot said at a press conference.

He further added, “We all know that the central government has been misusing CBI, ED, and Income Tax departments. 95 per cent of the ED investigation is against the Opposition parties. They (BJP) are trying to weaken the Opposition by putting false charges. While we are not misusing the agencies in the state, we are not even using them against the alleged corruption cases. Our workers and public should not think that we don’t fulfil our promises”. (ANI)

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