Category Archives: South and Central Asia

India and China hail warming ties amid Trump-induced geopolitical shake-up

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Countries agree to resume trade links and work to resolving border dispute after visit to Delhi by top diplomat Wang Yi

India’s prime minister and China’s foreign minister have hailed “steady” progress in their countries’ fractious relationship, agreeing to resume trade and other ties, as well as work towards resolving the long-running Himalayan border dispute, amid a global geopolitical shake-up instigated by Donald Trump’s tariff regime.

According to statements from China’s foreign ministry, the two sides agreed to resume direct flights – reiterating a pledge made in January – as well as issuing visas to journalists and facilitating business and cultural exchanges.

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Death toll after monsoon floods in Pakistan rises to more than 320

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Most of the dead were reported in the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with more rain forecast

The death toll from heavy monsoon rains that have triggered flash floods across northern Pakistan has risen to at least 321 people in the past 48 hours, the country’s disaster authority said on Saturday.

The majority of the deaths, 307, were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

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Men celebrate fourth anniversary of Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan

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Thousands gather for Kabul ‘flower showers’ while women stage protests

Thousands of men gathered across Kabul on Friday to watch flowers being scattered from helicopters to mark the fourth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power – a celebration that women were barred from attending.

Three of the six “flower shower” locations were already off-limits to women, who have been prohibited from entering parks and recreational areas since November 2022.

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Flash flood in Indian Kashmir leaves at least 56 dead and scores missing

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People on popular pilgrimage route were washed away by flood waters triggered by cloudburst, officials say

At least 56 people have died and 80 are missing after a sudden rainstorm in Indian Kashmir, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week.

The incident in the town of Chashoti, Kishtwar district, occurred at a stopover point on a pilgrimage route. Days earlier, a flood and mudslide engulfed a village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

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London museum tells forgotten story of African and Indian troops in second world war

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National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain’s colonies

The forgotten story of African and Indian troops who fought in south Asia against Japanese forces during the second world war and who have largely been omitted from the official history is to be brought to life in a London exhibition.

The National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies show includes rare items from Indian and African soldiers who toiled in some of the harshest conditions seen anywhere during the conflict.

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Myanmar army detaining two-year-olds as proxies for parents, witnesses tell UN

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Investigators warn in a report that ‘frequency and brutality’ of atrocities in the country are continuing to escalate

Children as young as two years old have been detained by Myanmar’s military, often as proxies for their parents, and held in prison facilities where there is systematic torture, UN investigators have warned.

The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, which was set up to document and share evidence of abuse with national, regional and international courts, said in a report that the “frequency and brutality” of atrocities inside the country had continued to escalate, more than four years after the military seized power in a coup in February 2021.

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Arundhati Roy works among dozens of books banned in Indian-administered Kashmir

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Censorship order accuses books of promoting ‘false narrative and secessionism’ in disputed territory

The government in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir has banned 25 books, including works by the Booker-prize winning author Arundhati Roy, accusing them of promoting a “false narrative and secessionism” in the disputed territory.

The censorship order was issued by Manoj Sinha, the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir, who was appointed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) under the prime minister, Narendra Modi. Sinha was previously a minister in Modi’s BJP government.

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About 100 people missing as flash flood tears through town in northern India

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Large-scale search and rescue operation under way after at least five people killed in Himalayan region

Dozens of people were missing after a fast-moving surge of water and mud smashed into a town in India’s Himalayan region on Tuesday, tearing down a mountain valley and demolishing buildings, killing at least five people.

Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying river of muddy water engulf the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state on Tuesday afternoon, sweeping away entire homes and apartment blocks. In footage recorded at the scene, people could been seen screaming in fear as they tried to escape the surging flood waters.

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Trump’s demand that India stop buying Russian oil puts Modi in tight spot

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Prime minister faces a choice between high tariffs or giving up cheap oil, putting New Delhi’s non-alignment policy under severe strain

The relationship between India and the US is facing one of its most significant challenges in decades, as the Trump administration doubles down on its demands that India stop buying Russian oil or face punitive tariffs.

The US president, Donald Trump, has refused to cut tariffs on Indian exports to the US, as he has for other countries, and on Monday said he would significantly raise them over its purchases of cheap Russian oil, which now account for one-third of its imported oil.

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Suspected gunmen go on trial in Moscow over concert hall terror attack

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Islamic State affiliate group have claimed responsibility, though Russian investigators have sought to blame Ukraine

Nineteen people, among them the four suspected gunmen, went on trial in Moscow on Monday over a concert hall attack that claimed 149 lives, one of the worst terrorist attacks in modern Russia.

Four armed men from the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan allegedly stormed the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow on 22 March last year, opening fire and then setting the building alight, injuring hundreds of people.

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India to still buy oil from Russia despite Trump threats, say officials

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No pause on Russian imports by Indian oil firms who base decisions on ‘price, grade of crude, logistics and economic factors’

Indian oil refineries will continue to buy oil from Russia, officials have said, before threatened US sanctions next week against Moscow’s trading partners over the war in Ukraine.

Media reports on Friday had suggested India, a big energy importer, would stop buying cheap Russian oil. Trump later told reporters that such a move would be “a good step” if true.

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India to still buy oil from Russia despite Trump threats, say officials

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No pause on Russian imports by Indian oil firms who base decisions on ‘price, grade of crude, logistics and economic factors’

Indian oil refineries will continue to buy oil from Russia, officials have said, before threatened US sanctions next week against Moscow’s trading partners over the war in Ukraine.

Media reports on Friday had suggested India, a big energy importer, would stop buying cheap Russian oil. Trump later told reporters that such a move would be “a good step” if true.

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India to still buy oil from Russia despite Trump threats, say officials

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No pause on Russian imports by Indian oil firms who base decisions on ‘price, grade of crude, logistics and economic factors’

Indian oil refineries will continue to buy oil from Russia, officials have said, before threatened US sanctions next week against Moscow’s trading partners over the war in Ukraine.

Media reports on Friday had suggested India, a big energy importer, would stop buying cheap Russian oil. Trump later told reporters that such a move would be “a good step” if true.

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Myanmar junta ends state of emergency as it prepares for elections

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Opposition groups have vowed to snub poll that has been dismissed as ‘a fraud’ designed to legitimise military’s rule

Myanmar’s junta has ended the country’s state of emergency, stepping up preparations for a December election that is being boycotted by opposition groups and criticised by international monitors.

The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a many-sided civil war that has claimed thousands of lives.

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‘A joyous day’: India celebrates return of ancient gems linked to the Buddha

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Culture ministry had threatened legal action over planned auction of Piprahwa precious stones

The Indian government has secured the repatriation of ancient gem relics linked to the Buddha’s remains, two months after it halted their auction in Hong Kong.

In a post on X, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, said the return of the Piprahwa gems after 127 years was “a joyous day for our cultural heritage”.

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Mother of British victim of Air India crash left ‘heartbroken’ by casket error

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Amanda Donaghey provided DNA to officials in Ahmedabad but wrong remains were flown to the UK

The mother of one of the British victims of the Air India crash says her family is “heartbroken” after the wrong remains were sent home in his casket.

Air India’s London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college hostel seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad on 12 June, killing 241 people onboard.

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Indian FA confirms job applications from Xavi and Guardiola were hoaxes

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  • Team director had previously announced Xavi interest

  • Statement reveals ‘email applications were not genuine’

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed on Saturday that a job application attributed to the former Barcelona manager and Spain midfielder, Xavi Hernández, for the India head coaching role was a hoax.

The Indian FA’s national team director told the Times of India on Thursday that Xavi’s name was on the list of applicants. The report also quoted an AIFF technical committee member saying that his candidacy was deemed too expensive to pursue.

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British families ‘sent wrong remains’ of loved ones killed in Air India crash

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Victims misidentified and ‘commingled’ parts of more than one person placed in same casket, says lawyer

British families grieving after the Air India disaster have discovered that the remains of their loved ones have been wrongly identified and repatriated, according to an aviation lawyer representing them.

Relatives of one victim had to abandon funeral plans after being informed that their coffin contained the body of an unknown passenger.

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At least 20 killed as military plane crashes into Bangladesh school campus

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Injured number almost 200 after training jet had technical problem once airborne, with pilot among the dead

At least 20 people were killed and nearly 200 injured – many of them children – when a Bangladeshi fighter jet on a routine training exercise crashed into a school in Dhaka in the country’s worst aviation disaster in decades.

The jet, a Chinese-made F-7BGI, hit the private Milestone school in the capital as students were ending or had left afternoon classes, witnesses said. It reportedly struck a five-storey academic building before crashing on to a two-storey structure on the campus, triggering a massive explosion and fire.

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Pakistan authorities arrest 13 suspects over ‘honour’ killing video

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Arrests made in Balochistan after video showing man and woman being fatally shot went viral

Thirteen suspects have been arrested in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province after a video emerged of a woman and a man being shot dead for marrying against the wishes of their families in an “honour” killing.

The footage caused uproar in the country, with activists demanding swift justice and a stop to the crime, which targets women who do not follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their choosing.

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