Malé, Maldives — AFP Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu is a strong advocate of Chinese investment and his party’s landslide parliamentary election victory will help him deliver on a promise to return the atoll nation to Beijing’s orbit. The 45-year-old’s People’s National Congress decimated its pro-Indian rival to...
New Delhi, India — AFP India’s ruling party has pledged to introduce a new common civil code for the country, calling it a crucial step for gender equality, a week before a general election in the world’s most populous nation. Nearly a billion Indians will vote to elect a new government in six-week-long parliamentary polls [&...
Authorities in the Indian-administered Kashmir barred Eid prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid and the Eidgah in the capital city of Srinagar, where Eid prayers are traditionally and historically offered. The mosque’s gates were locked, with chief preacher Mirwaiz Umar Farooq being kept under house arrest. Authorities informed the house of wo...
Rampur, India — AFP More than half the voters in the Indian city of Rampur are Muslim, but its member of parliament is a staunch supporter of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Hindu-first’ agenda. It is a situation repeated across Hindu-majority India, where many consider victory for Modi’s ruling ...
New Delhi, India – AFP Living a precarious existence on odd jobs, manual labourer Virender Singh says he truly believes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s endeavours to make India great. Modi’s popularity remains constant a decade after he first swept to power. He has successfully cast himself as the custodian of both India...
Malé, Maldives – AFP India has begun withdrawing military personnel operating surveillance aircraft in the Maldives after the new pro-China president ordered them to leave, local media reported Tuesday. The Mihaaru newspaper reported that 25 Indian troops deployed in the southernmost atoll of Addu had left the archipelago ahead of March ...
NEW DELHI (AA) – An Indian national was killed by an anti-tank missile launched from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi has said. Southern Lebanon has been targeted by Israel several times over the past few weeks, leading to dozens of casualties. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, the Israeli [&he...
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Article 370, which granted the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region a special status in the Constitution, was like a wall that had blocked progress for decades and was dismantled for good by his party. “Because Article 370 is gone, I […]
NEW DELHI (AA) – The death toll in the violence over the demolition drive of “illegal structures” in a town of northern Indian state of Uttarakhand rose to five despite strict restrictions on a third consecutive day, officials said on Saturday. Authorities had imposed a curfew and shut down the internet in the Banbhoolpura area […...
Varanasi, India – AFP Hindu worshippers on Thursday began praying inside a mosque in the Indian city of Varanasi just hours after a court order gave them the go-ahead at the deeply sensitive site, media reported. The Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Prime […]
