India, Ethiopia discuss ways to strengthen defence cooperation

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) India and Ethiopia on Wednesday discussed ways to further strengthen defence cooperation, including training, defence industry collaboration and UN Peacekeeping operations.

The discussions were held during a meeting between the Charge d’Affaires at the Ethiopian Embassy in New Delhi, Nebiyu Tedla and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Amitabh Prasad, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

“They discussed avenues to further strengthen India-Ethiopia defence cooperation, including training, defence industry collaboration and UN Peacekeeping, with focus on new and emerging areas,” the Ministry of Defence posted on X.

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali and his Prosperity Party on their decisive victory in Ethiopia’s parliamentary elections.

“Heartiest congratulations to my friend, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the Prosperity Party for a decisive victory in the Ethiopian parliamentary elections,” PM Modi wrote on X.

“India greatly cherishes its historic, multifaceted and deep-rooted ties with Ethiopia. I fondly recall my visit to Ethiopia last year and look forward to working closely together to further strengthen our Strategic Partnership and the bonds of friendship between our peoples,” he added.

In response, Abiy Ahmed Ali thanked PM Modi for his wishes on his election triumph and stated that he looked forward to building on the Strategic Partnership.

Describing the Prime Minister as a “trusted friend and elder brother”, PM Abiy Ahmed Ali said PM Modi’s historic mandate speaks to the enduring democratic strength of the world’s largest democracy.

“Thank you, Your Excellency Prime Minister Narendra Modi, trusted friend and elder brother whose historic mandate speaks to the enduring democratic strength of the world’s largest democracy. Ethiopia and India share bonds rooted in history, partnership, and shared ambition for our peoples. We look forward to building on our Strategic Partnership and continuing this journey together! Namaste,” Abiy Ahmed Ali posted on X.

In December last year, PM Modi was on a two-day visit to Ethiopia. During the visit, PM Modi held talks with Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali, addressed the joint session of Parliament and visited the Adwa Museum. PM Modi was also conferred with Ethiopia’s highest civilian honour, the ‘Great Honour Nishan of Ethiopia’.

–IANS

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BJP hits back, calls charges ‘baseless’ as Rahul Gandhi alleges massive voter fraud in Haryana

New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) The BJP on Thursday dismissed as “baseless” the accusations levelled by Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who launched a fierce attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the ruling party, alleging massive voter fraud in the Haryana Assembly elections.

BJP General Secretary Tarun Chugh lashed out at the Congress leader, saying, “Every time he talks about a hydrogen bomb explosion, who does he want to target? His so-called ‘bomb’ turned out to be smaller than a children’s Diwali firecracker.”

“Rahul Gandhi seemed to be rehearsing a press conference in advance over Bihar’s expected defeat. Earlier, he used to blame the EVMs, but when technicians, experts, and even the Supreme Court cleared them, he had no ground left to complain,” he added.

Backing Chugh’s stance, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma defended the electoral process and highlighted the importance of the Systematic Intensive Revision (SIR) mechanism. “This is precisely why the SIR exists. Why does Rahul Gandhi oppose the SIR? It is meant to ensure the purification of the voter list. There should be no opposition to it,” Sharma said.

Earlier on Wednesday, while addressing the media at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi, Gandhi unveiled what he termed “The H Files”, claiming his team had uncovered evidence of a “centrally coordinated operation” to manipulate voter lists and “subvert democracy.”

“This is not an accident. This is not about one booth or one constituency. It is a centralised operation to steal elections,” Gandhi declared. He claimed that over 25 lakh fake or duplicate voters were fraudulently inserted into Haryana’s electoral rolls to turn a “Congress landslide victory into a BJP win.”

The Congress leader alleged that the manipulation was part of a larger pattern aimed at undermining free and fair elections across India. “The data we have gathered over months shows systematic interference,” Gandhi said, demanding an independent investigation into the alleged fraud.

–IANS

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MEA refutes Rahul Gandhi’s claim on Op-Sindoor: ‘EAM was misquoted, no prior warning to Pak’

New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement on Saturday refuting claims that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had asserted India informed Pakistan in advance about Operation Sindoor. The ministry denounced such assertions as a blatant distortion of facts.

The MEA external publicity division said that S. Jaishankar had stated that “we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement”.

“This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, levelled accusations against the Narendra Modi-led government, alleging that it had notified Pakistan about impending strikes on terror infrastructure under Operation Sindoor.

The senior Congress leader characterised this act as a serious transgression and demanded clarity on who sanctioned the move.

On his X handle he wrote, “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI (government of India) did it. 1. Who authorised it? 2. ⁠How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result?”

Responding to these allegations, the MEA firmly dismissed Gandhi’s assertions, emphasising that the EAM’s remarks had been misconstrued.

The ministry stressed that India had issued a warning to Pakistan during the initial phase of Operation Sindoor—post-commencement—not beforehand.

The MEA’s external publicity division reiterated this point, clarifying that Jaishankar had stated: “We warned Pakistan at the start, which is evidently within the early phase after Operation Sindoor commenced.”

The ministry condemned attempts to falsely represent this statement as evidence of prior notification.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vocally criticised EAM Jaishankar’s statement, calling the alleged notification to Pakistan a grave misstep.

He questioned the authorisation behind such an action and demanded accountability regarding potential losses incurred by the Indian Air Force as a consequence.

Adding to the controversy, the Kerala unit of the Congress party also circulated a video of S. Jaishankar’s statement, pressing the Central government for answers.

However, the Press Information Bureau’s fact-checking unit countered these claims, asserting that Jaishankar’s words had been misquoted.

The unit clarified: “A social media post falsely implies from External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar’s statement that India informed Pakistan before Operation Sindoor commenced. EAM has been misquoted — he did not make this statement.”

–IANS

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Delhi stone-pelting case: Police nab three more accused, total arrests 16

New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS) Three more accused have been arrested in the Turkman Gate stone-pelting case, bringing the total number of arrests to 16, Delhi Police said on Saturday.

The accused have been identified as Mohammad Naved, Mohammad Faiz and Mohammad Ubaidullah. All three are residents of Turkman Gate.

Earlier on Friday, two people were arrested in connection with the case.

The case dates back to January 7, when the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) carried out a demolition drive against the encroachments near the Faiz-e-Elahi Mosque in Turkman Gate. The authorities claimed that the demolition drive was carried out as per the orders of the court.

As the demolition got underway, a large number of residents gathered outside the mosque, raising slogans and protesting against the action. The situation soon turned volatile when some members of the crowd attempted to breach police barricades and began pelting stones at security personnel. Police responded by firing tear gas shells to disperse the protesters and prevent the unrest from spreading.

Earlier on Thursday, police said that at least 30 people had been identified for their involvement in the incident.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court remanded eight accused to judicial custody till January 21.

Additionally, the Delhi Police will soon issue a summons to Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Mohibbullah Nadvi, who is said to have been present at the stone-pelting site soon before the violent protest broke out.

According to the police officials, Nadvi remained at the site at the time of the incident, even though he was requested to leave several times.

Meanwhile, a considerable number of police and paramilitary units have been deployed to sensitive locations to maintain peace and order, while senior officers are supervising the preparations on the ground.

The police said that they are working to identify other accused in the case, and the investigation is underway.

Further details are awaited.

–IANS

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