India Pakistan Relations

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said India will soon create a comprehensive anti-drone unit to secure its borders as the "menace" of unmanned aerial vehicles is going to get serious in the coming days. Addressing BSF troops at the 60th Raising Day event of the force here at its training camp, about 300 km from the India-Pakistan border, Shah said the initial results of a "laser equipped anti-drone gun-mounted" mechanism have been encouraging. This has led to an increase in drone neutralisation and detection cases, up from 3 per cent to 55 per cent, along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, he said. "The drone menace is going to get more serious in the coming days... We are tackling this issue with a 'whole of government' approach with the defence and research organisations and the DRDO joining hands. "We are going to create a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the country in the coming time," Shah said. According to official data, more than 260 drones have been downed or .

Northeast extremist groups have a history of launching hit-and-run attacks in India from bases in Bangladesh, allegedly with support from Pakistan's ISI and Bangladeshi intelligence agencies

In her book, Ms Ghanashyam provides a first-hand perspective of her experiences in these three years as an Indian woman living in "enemy country"

Amid rising violence and militant attacks, November emerged as the deadliest month this year for Pakistani security personnel, with 68 casualties

PTI convoys, travelling across the country since Sunday, have converged in Islamabad for a high-profile power show, demanding the release of their founder, Imran Khan, among other things

The Indian blind cricket team will not compete in the T20 World Cup as the government has denied it permission to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns, the national federation said on Tuesday. The Indian team was supposed to cross the Wagah border on Wednesday for the event, scheduled to be held from November 23 to December 3. The Indian blind cricket team had got a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the sports ministry for participation but apparently couldn't get clearance from the MEA. "We have been told unofficially that the blind team will not be permitted to travel to Pakistan. We were scheduled to travel to Wagah border tomorrow. But as of now no clearance has come from the ministry officials. So, we are a bit disappointed," Shailendra Yadav, General Secretary of the Indian Blind Cricket Association (IBCA), told PTI. "They are saying when the mainstream cricket team is not safe how can you be safe there. Of course, we will accept the decision, but why hold the decisi

Facing China's mounting demands for better security after attacks on its citizens and CPEC delays, Pakistan is under intense pressure to safeguard Beijing's interests

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnesses fierce gunfights, a suicide bombing, and mortar fire as militants attack, leaving widespread damage and sparking calls for peace

Pakistan may no longer be a US foreign policy priority, but policymakers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi are reportedly monitoring President-elect Donald Trump's key nominations closely

In a strong retort, India slammed Pakistan for peddling falsehood after it referred to Jammu and Kashmir during a debate on peacekeeping operations in the UN. India chooses its right to reply in response to the comments made by Pakistan that has yet again made an attempt to divert this august body from its agenda, Member of the Rajya Sabha and National Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sudhanshu Trivedi said. His remarks came during a debate on peacekeeping operations at the Special Political and Decolonization (Fourth Committee) of the UN General Assembly here Friday. Trivedi asserted that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was, is and will remain an integral part of India. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have recently exercised their democratic and electoral rights and elected a new government. Pakistan must desist from such rhetoric and falsehood because it will not alter the facts, Trivedi said. He added that out of respect for the august members of the UN for

Seeking to address infrastructure gaps, the Panchayati Raj Ministry has approved a series of proposals for building new panchayat buildings and resource centres and upgrading existing ones across the country. These include a proposal for building around 400 Gram Panchayat buildings in border areas of Arunachal Pradesh, ministry sources said. According to a source, a number of proposals were put forth in the meeting of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on the revamped Gram Swaraj Abhiyan earlier this month and were recently approved by the ministry. In the CEC meeting chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Vivek Bharadwaj, issues of infrastructure and training for panchayats were in focus. "In a bid to boost Panchayat Infrastructure in the 'Vibrant Villages' in the border areas, the construction of 400 Panchayat Bhawans-cum-Common Service Centres in Arunachal Pradesh has been approved by the Ministry," the source said. Under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

Remarks came after Pakistan's representative in his remarks during the UNSC debate made references to Jammu and Kashmir

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday said attacks like the one in Gulmarg would continue to occur until India and Pakistan found a way to be friends and that would end Jammu and Kashmir's troubles. Two soldiers and two Army porters were killed on Thursday after terrorists ambushed a force vehicle near Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district. Another soldier and a porter were injured in the attack. "Such attacks will continue to take place in this state. You know where they come from and it will not stop until some way is found to get out of this trouble. I have been witnessing it for the last 30 years, innocent people are getting killed," Abdullah told reporters. "We are not going to become a part of Pakistan. So, why are they doing this? To disrupt our future? To make us poorer?" he asked. The former chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state said rather than fomenting trouble in the Union Territory, Pakistan should look towards its own plight

Pakistan on Thursday said no formal meeting took place between Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here last week. "It is customary for delegations in multilateral settings to exchange pleasantries and hold informal conversations over lunch and dinner, especially between the host and the guests who are participating," Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said. "There has been no formal meeting between Pakistan and India at the foreign ministers level, including at the SCO," she said in response to a question at her weekly press briefing here. Jaishankar travelled to Pakistan last week to attend the SCO meeting, becoming the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in nearly a decade. During his visit, Jaishankar and Dar held casual conversations on two occasions, but there was no indication of any thaw in the frosty bilateral relations, according to ...

India and Pakistan have extended agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for another five years, amid some initial signs of a thaw in relations

India and Pakistan have renewed the agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for the next five years, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Tuesday. In view of the continued requests of the pilgrims regarding the removal of USD 20 service charge levied by Pakistan per pilgrim per visit, India has once again urged Pakistan to not levy any fee or charges on the pilgrims, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. "It has been agreed between India and Pakistan through diplomatic channels to extend the validity of the Agreement on Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for a further period of five years," the MEA said. The agreement, signed on October 24, 2019 to facilitate the visit of pilgrims from India to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal in Pakistan through the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, was valid for a period of five years. "Extension of the validity of this agreement will ensure uninterrupted operation of the Corridor for use by the pilgrims from India to .

India and Pakistan should "bury" the past and look at the future to live like good neighbours, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday, in remarks seen as an attempt to reach out to New Delhi following Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar's trip to Islamabad this week. In an interaction with a group of Indian journalists, the three-time prime minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) described Jaishankar's visit as a "good opening" and said both sides should now engage and move forward. Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise trip to Lahore in December 2015, Sharif said he was not happy with the "long-pause" in the ties between the two countries and hoped that both sides should look ahead with a positive approach. "We can't change our neighbours, neither can Pakistan nor can India. We should live like good neighbours," the 74 year-old leader said. When asked whether a bridge builder between the two countries was required, he said .

India and Pakistan should "bury" the past and look ahead to live like good neighbours, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday, describing the Indian foreign minister's trip to Islamabad this week to attend a conclave of the SCO bloc as an "opening". In an interaction with a group of Indian journalists, the three-time former prime minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) said he was not happy with the "long pause" in the ties and hoped that both sides would look ahead with a positive approach. Jaishankar travelled to Islamabad on Tuesday for a nearly 24-hour trip to attend the conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), becoming the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in the last nine years amid continuing strain in ties. "This is how things should go ahead. We would have liked PM Modi to come but it was good that the Indian foreign minister came. I have said before that we must pick up the threads of our ...

Govt reportedly views S Jaishankar's visit, the first by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly nine years, as a positive development

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar held casual conversations on two occasions in the last two days, but there was no indication of any thaw in the frosty relations between the two countries, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday. The conversations took place on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Islamabad. Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad as an "ice breaker". A brief pull-aside took place between Jaishankar and Dar at a dinner reception hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at his residence for the SCO delegates last evening, the sources said. It was joined by Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and the brief exchanges figured improving cricketing ties, they said. Naqvi is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). On Wednesday, Jaishankar and Dar sat next to each other at the official lunch following the SCO con