Category Archives: Narendra Modi

Delhi police search journalists’ homes in latest raids on media

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Search also carried out on office of news website under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from China

Police have carried out early morning raids on a news portal office and the homes of almost 50 journalists, activists and comedians across India under anti-terrorism laws, deepening concerns over a crackdown on freedom of expression in the country.

Delhi police carried out the searches on numerous locations on Tuesday morning. Several journalists were detained, with their phones and laptops confiscated, and some were taken in for questioning. Delhi police confirmed that two journalists had been arrested in the case.

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How should UK, US and Australia respond to Canada-India row?

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Justin Trudeau’s accusation that India may be behind Sikh separatist killing puts western leaders in awkward position

Canada’s accusation on Monday that India may have been behind the car park murder of the Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Najjar in June – which New Delhi rejects outright – comes at an uncomfortable and unwelcome time for Britain, the US and Australia.

London, Washington and Canberra have all been prioritising closer ties with New Delhi, seeing it not just as a strategic bulwark against the fast-rising China, but also as a partner in the economic isolation of Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

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Canada killing adds to suspicions of Indian crackdown on Sikh separatists

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Khalistani groups who want independence of Punjab accuse India of killings in UK and elsewhere

Months before Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in a car park in Canada, three other Indians associated with the Sikh separatist movement had died on foreign soil – in circumstances deemed, at least by some, as suspicious.

On Monday, Justin Trudeau alleged there was “credible evidence” that the Indian government was behind the assassination of Nijjar, an explosive accusation that torpedoed already frayed diplomatic relations between India and Canada. India called the allegation “absurd” and both sides expelled senior diplomats in response.

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‘Credible evidence’ India behind alleged assassination of Sikh leader, says Trudeau

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India rejects as ‘absurd’ allegation by PM that it was responsible for fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil

Justin Trudeau has said there is “credible evidence” India is responsible for the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh leader, a claim Delhi dismissed as “absurd”.

The Canadian prime minister told the House of Commons of Canada on Monday that, in recent weeks, national security authorities had been probing allegations that New Delhi was behind a state-sponsored assassination.

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Watered-down G20 statement on Ukraine is sign of India’s growing influence

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Joe Biden’s need to nurture alliances to contain China sees Ukraine perceptibly slipping down list of priorities

It took exhausted Indian diplomats 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings and 15 drafts, but in the end the G20 countries reached a consensus declaration on the war in Ukraine – one that largely retreated into generalised principles rather than the specific condemnation of Russia that the same group of leaders agreed when they met in Bali a year ago.

Moreover, no invitation was extended to Ukrainie’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to address the gathering, meaning the only direct combatant around the table was Russia, represented by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

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‘Warm and productive’: Sunak positive after talks with Modi at G20

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UK PM meets Indian counterpart on fringes of summit to discuss cooperation on trade, education, research and defence – but not Ukraine

Rishi Sunak and Narendra Modi met on Saturday for what the British prime minister called a “very warm and productive discussion” covering everything from trade to cooperation on education, research and defence.

Sunak met his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, saying afterwards he was confident they could “work through” the remaining hurdles standing in the way of a free trade agreement.

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Biden renews effort to woo India’s Modi in talks before G20 summit

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Meeting in Delhi overshadowed by press freedom questions as US journalists kept away

Joe Biden took fresh steps on Friday to lure India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, into an alliance designed to contain China, at a bilateral meeting in Delhi where the pair struck a series of commercial and defence deals covering remote-controlled aircraft, semiconductors and quantum computing.

However, the question of press freedom also dominated the agenda on the eve of the full G20 summit as journalists were blocked from covering the event. Before the bilateral at the prime minister’s residence, the US press corps, used to being given privileged access to the president, were told to remain outside in a van, out of eyesight of the two leaders.

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Mark Meadows loses bid to transfer Georgia election interference case to federal court – as it happened

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Meadows faces two felony charges, including racketeering and solicitation of a violation of oath by a public officer

Lindsey Graham’s name appeared early as Donald Trump’s attempts to stay in the White House began shortly after his re-election defeat in November 2020.

Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger told the press that the South Carolina senator had called him to ask if it was possible to throw away mail-in ballots in counties crucial to Joe Biden’s win in Georgia. From the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino’s report at the time:

Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, has said that Senator Lindsey Graham asked whether it was possible to invalidate legally cast ballots after Donald Trump was narrowly defeated in the state.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Raffensperger said that his fellow Republican, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, questioned him about the state’s signature-matching law and asked whether political bias might have played a role in counties where poll workers accepted higher rates of mismatched signatures. According to Raffensperger, Graham then asked whether he had the authority to toss out all mail-in ballots in these counties.

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Rishi Sunak to urge Narendra Modi to take stronger stance on Russia

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Two prime ministers to meet before G20 summit as India continues to import Russian oil and weapons

Rishi Sunak will use a meeting with Narendra Modi in Delhi to push the Indian prime minister to take a tougher stance towards Russia, Downing Street has said.

The two prime ministers will meet this weekend before the G20 summit in the Indian capital, where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be discussed in front of the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, told Modi a week ago he would not attend.

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Bharat G20 invitation fuels rumours India may change name

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World leaders attending summit in New Delhi at weekend asked to dinner with ‘president of Bharat’

India was buzzing with speculation over rumoured plans to scrap official use of the country’s English name, after a state-issued invitation to the G20 summit referred to it as Bharat.

The government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been working to remove lingering symbols of British rule from India’s urban landscape, political institutions and history books, but this could be the biggest move yet.

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Rishi Sunak rules out quick-fix trade deal with India

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Exclusive: Sources believe deal will not be struck before meeting with Narendra Modi at G20 summit

Rishi Sunak has ruled out a quick-fix trade deal with India, making it impossible to get an agreement over the line in time for this week’s G20 summit in Delhi – and possibly even by next year’s elections.

Multiple sources close to the negotiations told the Guardian the prime minister has rejected the idea of an “early harvest” deal, which could have lowered tariffs on goods such as whisky but would not have dealt with trickier subjects such as professional services.

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Rahul Gandhi demands Modi investigation into Adani Group

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Indian opposition leader brandishes Guardian article on alleged financial violations by Adani family

Rahul Gandhi has said India’s “global reputation is on the line” and demanded that the prime minister, Narendra Modi, opens a parliamentary investigation after the Guardian revealed years of alleged financial violations by the politically connected Adani family.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the most prominent figure in India’s opposition Congress party held aloft a copy of the Guardian article detailing how Adani family associates had appeared to use opaque offshore funds to secretly invest hundreds of millions of dollars into shares of their own Adani Group companies, one of the most powerful conglomerates in India.

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Modi-linked Adani family secretly invested in own shares, documents suggest

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Offshore records suggest associates of wealthy Indian family spent years acquiring stock during rise of founder to be worth $120bn

A billionaire Indian family with close ties to the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, secretly invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Indian stock market, buying its own shares, newly disclosed documents suggest.

According to offshore financial records seen by the Guardian, associates of the Adani family may have spent years discreetly acquiring stock in the Adani Group’s own companies during its meteoric rise to become one of India’s largest and most powerful businesses.

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India lands spacecraft near south pole of moon in historic first

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Vikram lander touches down at lunar south pole shortly after 6pm India time

India has become the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the south pole of the moon, in a historic moment that drew cheers at watching parties around the country.

“India is on the moon,” Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, the chair of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s Vikram lander touched down shortly after 6pm (1230 BST) near the little-explored lunar south pole in a world first for any space programme.

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Manipur conflict drags ‘messiah of the poor’ Narendra Modi down to earth

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Indian opposition hope to open voters’ minds to idea that PM is actually responsible for societal problems

During his near-decade in power, as India has convulsed with sectarian riots, mass protests at government policies, or popular rage at heinous crimes, Narendra Modi has hewed closely to playbook: say nothing, and stay above the fray.

The Indian prime minister has never taken questions at a press conference in the country, declines interviews with critical journalists, and leaves daily commentary to his lieutenants or an army of online trolls. The grubby cut-and-thrust of electoral politics is for others; Modi instead is cast in loftier terms as the “messiah of the poor”.

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Indian opposition walks out as Narendra Modi refuses to discuss Manipur conflict

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PM attacks opposition parties during no-confidence motion called to force him to address ethnic violence in far-east

Opposition parties have walked out of the Indian parliament in protest at the refusal of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to address ethnic violence in the state of Manipur – a situation that has been described as being close to civil war.

The opposition had tabled a no-confidence vote in Modi largely to force him to appear and speak about the three-month-long crisis, about which he had refused to say more than a few words.

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Australian government spent $42,000 on Sydney-themed Quad merchandise for event that didn’t go ahead

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Exclusive: Items included stationery, media banners and accreditation lanyards for summit that was cancelled with just one week’s notice

The Australian government spent more than $42,000 on Sydney-themed merchandise for the ill-fated 2023 Quad leaders’ summit before the event was hastily moved to Japan.

Guardian Australia can reveal the government’s planning taskforce also spent more than $6m in preparation for the event to be hosted at the Sydney Opera House.

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India’s supreme court suspends Rahul Gandhi’s two-year defamation jail term

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Ruling allows leader of Congress party to return to parliament and contest national elections

India’s supreme court has suspended Rahul Gandhi’s two-year prison sentence for defamation, paving the way for him to return as an MP and to run in next year’s general election.

Gandhi, the leading face of India’s opposition Congress party, was given a two-year jail sentence for defamation in March, in a case he alleged was politically motivated.

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Manipur: why is there conflict and how is the government responding?

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As violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities continues in north-east India, campaigners criticise the authorities’ reaction and both sides warn of civil war

Manipur is a state in north-east India with a population of more than three million. It has been embroiled in an ethnic conflict since early May, fought between the majority Meitei community and the minority Kuki tribe.

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Modi speaks out after video of sexual assault on women in Manipur emerges

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Indian PM had been criticised for failing to talk about deadly ethnic conflict taking place in north-eastern state

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has broken his months-long silence on the deadly ethnic conflict raging in the state of Manipur after a video emerged of women being stripped naked, paraded and assaulted before it is alleged they were gang raped.

Outrage erupted across India after footage was circulated from Manipur of two women from the minority Kuki tribe being forcibly stripped naked by a mob of the majority Meitei tribal group who can be heard shouting: “If you don’t take off your clothes, we’ll kill you.” The women are then publicly groped and dragged to a field, where it is alleged they were gang raped.

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