Heena Sharma Blog

Pakistan has ordered consular access for Kulbhushan Jadhav , a former Indian naval commander condemned to death for spying, following a decision this week by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The United Nations court ruled on Wednesday in the Hague that Pakistan should undertake an “effective review” of the case, adding that a “continued stay of execution” was needed for that to happen. “ As a responsible state, Pakistan will grant consular access to Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav according to Pakistani laws for which modalities are being worked out,” the government said in a statement late on Thursday. Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan, the site of a long-running conflict between security forces and separatists. He was convicted of planning espionage and sabotage and sentenced to death. India says Jadhav is innocent and had asked the U.N. court to intervene, saying his trial had been unfair and Pakistan had denied hi...

As China again blocked a UN resolution to designate JeM chief a global terrorist, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday hit out at Prime Minster Narendra Modi, saying he was weak and scared of Chinese President Xi Jinping . The Congress chief attacked the prime minister and said he had not spoken on China blocking the resolution in the UN Security Council. The party accused the BJP of letting Masood off the hook again and also questioned Modi what was the use of "swinging" with Xi. "Weak Modi is scared of Xi. Not a word comes out of his mouth when China acts against India. NoMo's China diplomacy: 1. Swing with Xi in Gujarat. 2. Hug Xi in Delhi. 3. Bow to Xi in China," Gandhi said on Twitter. India's bid to designate the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief as a global terrorist suffered a setback with China on Wednesday putting a technical hold on a proposal to ban him following the Pulwama terror attack . The proposal ...

High-resolution satellite images reviewed by Reuters show that a religious school run by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in northeastern Pakistan appears to be still standing days after India claimed its warplanes had hit the Islamist group's training camp on the site and killed a large number of militants. The images produced by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator, show at least six buildings on the madrasa site on March 4, six days after the airstrike. Until now, no high-resolution satellite images were publicly available. But the images from Planet Labs, which show details as small as 72 cm (28 inches), offer a clearer look at the structures the Indian government said it attacked. The image is virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the facility. There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack. The images ca...

The daily Retreat ceremony held at the Attari-Wagah border front along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab has been "cancelled" for Friday, the BSF said. A senior official of the force said the martial ceremony has been called off due to administrative requirements in the wake of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman 's release post noon at this frontier. The public will not be allowed in the ceremony area that is located in the Attari of Punjab along the Indo-Pak border, the BSF official said. They said the decision has been taken in view of "military requirements" where Varthaman captured by Pakistani forces will be handed over to senior Indian Air Force officials. The Border Security Force (BSF) conducts the ceremony in coordination with their cross-border counterparts Pak Rangers. It involves lowering of the flags of the two countries along with foot stomping manoeuvres of the troops. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

It may have been after midnight when the Chennai-Delhi flight came to a stop at the tarmac but there was no scramble to get bags from the overhead bin or rush towards the exit because all eyes were focused on one couple -- the parents of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman . Air Marshal (retd) S Varthaman and Dr Shobha Varthaman were given a standing ovation as passengers made way for them in the early hours of Friday, ensuring that the couple gets off first. Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, is expected to be released on Friday. In photos and videos shared by passengers on social media platforms, the couple, who came to Delhi on their way to Amritsar to bring their son home, can can be seen acknowledging the clapping, cheers and thank yous with nods of their heads. The plane landed at the Delhi airport about an hour after midnight. The couple left for Amritsar soon after landing in Delhi. They are all set to receive their son most likely at the Wagah bor...

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has admitted that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan and is "unwell", but said the government can act against him only if India presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law. Qureshi's remarks came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the February 14 terror attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pulwama that left 40 CRPF personnel dead. India has handed over a dossier to Pakistan with "specific details of the JeM complicity in Pulwama terror attack and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan." India also expressed regret at the denial by Pakistan's political and military leadership at the presence of terrorist infrastructure in territories under its control. "He is in Pakistan, according to my information. He is unwell to the extent that he can't leave his hou...

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in Abu Dhabi to attend the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states where she is expected to raise the issue of terrorism, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour. India's engagement with the OIC comes in the midst of escalating tension between India and Pakistan. The ties strained further after Indian fighter jets bombed terror group Jaish-e - Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan early Tuesday. Pakistan carried out a retaliatory aerial raid on Wednesday. Pakistan, a member of the OIC, tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakis...

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday claimed that two Indian MIGs crossed the Line of Control and they were shot down, as he offered to defuse tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and resolve the issues through talks. "Our action was only intended to convey that if you can come into our country, we can do the same. Two of their MiGs were shot down (in the ensuing action)," Khan said in a live TV address. His comments came minutes after the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said that Pakistan Air Force targeted military installations in India in response to Indian counter-terrorism operations but their attempts were foiled successfully though one Indian pilot is "missing in action". Noting that all wars are miscalculated, and no one knows where they lead to, Khan said that better sense must prevail and the two sides should act with wisdom. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard