From tackling terror to NSG inclusion, Modi - Obama make headway on a range of issues

From tackling terror to NSG inclusion, Modi - Obama make headway on a range of issues

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s discussion on Tuesday with US President Barack Obama in Washington, a joint statement described what it billed as their “third major bilateral summit”, after earlier meetings in September 2014 and January 2015.

The statement noted a new military logistics agreement, made common cause in the South China Sea, revealed growing American involvement in helping India build an indigenous aircraft carrier, and announced additional co-development projects for defence equipment. There is a new agreement for sharing terrorist-related information. India will be buying six 1,000 MW nuclear power plants from Toshiba-Westinghouse, with the contract to be signed in 2017. And Washington has thrown its full weight behind India’s candidature for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Asia-Pacific cooperation

US officials privately lament New Delhi’s poor follow-up of strategic agreements. This joint statement pins India down to specific action, announcing “a roadmap for cooperation under the 2015 US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, which will serve as a guide for collaboration in the years to come.”

In a subtly-worded statement that takes the US-India partnership beyond the 2014 Vision Statement and 2015 Declaration of Friendship, Modi and Obama “resolved that the United States and India should look to each other as priority partners in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region.”Read more.

Indian worker in Australia tells court his pro-ISIS post was 'sarcastic'

Indian worker in Australia tells court his pro-ISIS post was 'sarcastic'

An Indian-origin aviation worker in Australia who was sacked last year for posting pro-Islamic State messages on Facebook has told a court that his comments were "sarcastic".

Nirmal Singh was facing the 'Fair Work Commission' to argue that his dismissal was 'unfair' by his previous employer Aerocare and was seeking $7,000 in lost wages.

The Commission heard Singh had written "We All Support ISIS" above a shared post from HT (Hizb ut-Tahrir) Australia about the shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by Islamic youth Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in Sydney.

There were five posts in total that concerned Aerocare, two of which included pictures of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Under cross-examination by solicitor Stephen Hughes for Aerocare, Singh said he made the posts on Facebook under a different name and believed he was conversing with a "secret group".(more)

Taliban supremo Mansour killed in US drone attack in Pakistan

Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced today, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and a removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.

Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said.

The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants.

Afghanistan's main spy agency said Mansour, said to be in his early 50s, was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan.

"Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... Until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement today.Read more.

Does Dawood have gangrene, and will he escape being brought to justice?

Is India's most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim suffering from gangrene?

CNN-News18 reported on Monday that the dreaded Mumbai mafia boss-turned-terrorist has advancedgangrene at a stage where it is life-threatening, and that he might have to undergo an amputation.

Additionally, the report cites doctors, who are treating Dawood, as saying that the gangrene is at such an advanced stage that Dawood is immobile and an amputation might be required.

It adds that 

business-standard.com

Dawood Ibrahim is being treated at his residence in the "upscale Clifton neighbourhood of Karachi". According to the report, the doctors attending to him are from the Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, and the Combined Military Hospital, Karachi.

The report is specific on Dawood’s medical condition, quoting the doctors treating the don as saying that high blood pressure and blood sugar are the causes behind the gangrene.

The Times of India, on the other hand, on Tuesday reported that senior intelligence officials and the gangster's deputy Chhota Shakeel have confirmed that Dawood is "fit".

The ToI report quotes Shakeel saying that the reports of a gangrene infection are results of rumours being floated to hinder Dawood's business.

If Dawood is indeed suffering from gangrene, and if the condition is indeed life-threatening, then it will have serious consequences for India's pursuit of justice for the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993 that were exacted by Dawood and his gang in return for the communal riots in the city that followed the December 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Bringing Dawood back to India to stand trial for his role in the blasts has been a longstanding objective of Indian politicians and intelligence agencies, but one that has been met with little success, thanks to stonewalling by the Pakistani establishment.

In fact, the Pakistani government has consistently denied Dawood’s presence in that country, despite the fact that India claims it even knows the exact address of his residence in Karachi.

However, there have been reports of Indian intelligence having had at least four opportunities to nab Dawood in Pakistan, none of which worked out.

1) Dawood allegedly wanted to surrender in 1994:

According to a Hindustan Times report, a little over a year after the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Dawood was willing to surrender and "even spoke thrice to the then CBI DIG Neeraj Kumar".

According to the report, the agency, for unknown reasons, "didn’t take him (Dawood) up on his offer".

Speaking to HT, Kumar said: “I spoke to a jittery Dawood three times in June 1994… He seemed to be toying with the idea of surrendering but had one worry — his rival gangs could finish him off if he returned to India. I told him his safety would be the responsibility of the CBI.”

However, according to the report, Kumar's seniors abruptly ordered him to avoid any further contact with the gangster.Read More.

EgyptAir hijacker arrested; all hostages free

An Egyptian man who hijacked an EgyptAir flight to Cyprus was arrested on Tuesday after hours of negotiations during which most passengers were freed and the last of the seven on board escaped.
The Cyprus foreign ministry announced the arrest of the hijacker, who had taken charge of the Airbus 320 when it was on its way from Alexandria to Cairo saying he was armed with explosives. The plane was flown to Larnaca in southern Cyprus.
Larnaca airport, on the south coast of Cyprus, and officials opened negotiations with the man, who was identified as Seif El Din Mustafa. The man was mistakenly named earlier as Ibrahim Samaha, a passenger.
Hours after the plane landed in Larnaca, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said the hijacking was not linked to terrorism. Officials said the man appeared to be in love with a woman living in Cyprus.
BBC said Flight 181 carried 56 passengers -- 30 Egyptians and 26 foreigners -- and six crew members. Soon after it reached Cyprus, all but seven passengers and crew were let off.
EgyptAirHijack : They quickly boarded buses to reach the terminal. EgyptAir said a special plane will bring them back to Egypt.
The foreigners on board included eight Americans, four Britons and four Dutch citizens, two Belgians and two Greeks, a French national, an Italian and a Syrian. Three other foreigners could not be identified.
Before the hijack drama ended, President Anastasiades said Cyprus was doing all it could to ensure the safe release of the passengers and crew.
Asked if the hijacker was motivated by love, he laughed and said: "Always there is a woman involved."
An unidentified civil aviation official in Cyprus was quoted by the media as saying that the man handed negotiators an envelope which he asked to be given to a woman in Cyprus.
Earlier, Egypt's civil aviation minister Sherif Fathy said the seven still on board the jet included the pilot, the co-pilot, a female stewardess, a security officer and three passengers whose nationalities were not revealed.
Fathy said negotiations with the hijacker were continuing but it was not clear whether the man indeed had explosives or was lying.
The Egyptian aviation ministry had earlier said the hijacker had threatened to detonate an explosives belt, forcing the captain to divert the flight to Cyprus.

Brussels Attacks: From Beirut to Ankara, a tale of differing social media outrage

Nearly 34 people were killed in a terrorist attack on a national capital. Explosions rocked the city, leaving several people injured too.
Brussels Attacks:This may immediately make you think about the deadly attacks on Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, which saw explosions at the airport and a busy metro station on Tuesday.
However, the same piece of information can also be linked to another terror attack — explosions at Ankara — the Turkish capital — on March 13, 2016. As per media reports, the toll has risen to 36 now. In fact, this was a second such incident in Turkey in a span of one month, killing many people. In another attack on February 18, 2016, 28 people were killed and 61 injured in a car bomb explosion in Ankara. A vehicle, laden with explosives, targeted a convoy of buses carrying military personnel that were stopped at traffic lights, this ABC news report states.
Read more from our specialcoverage on "BRUSSELS"

• Blast at Brussels Metro station

Hours after the Brussels attacks took place, the world and social media reached out to the nation. Leaders across the world, ranging from US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande to British PM David Cameron expressed their condolences. Read More.

Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh on high terror alert for Shivratri

Delhi was today put on high alert after Police received inputs that 10 suspected LeT and JeM terrorists believed to have entered India from Pakistan through Gujarat may have sneaked into the national capital for an attack even as four elite NSG teams were rushed to the western state.

On the eve of 'Maha Shivratri' festival, Gujarat as well as other metros and Jammu and Kashmir were also on high alert with raids conducted at Kutch and other places, security being beefed up at vital installations, sensitive areas and at all main temples including the famous Somnath temple where a NSG team has been deployed.

**Pathankot terror attack: Pakistan lodges FIR in case**

Pakistani authorities have lodged an FIR into the Pathankot terror attack case, officials said today, after weeks of probe into the assault that led to the postponement of Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks.
The FIR was registered at Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) centre at Gujranwala in Punjab province yesterday.Read More.

26/11 attacks planned one year in advance, reveals Headley

Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley revealed in a Special Court that the dastardly 26/11 attacks in Mumbai was planned out over a year in advance by various groups and agencies of Pakistan, here on Tuesday.

Continuing his deposition via videoconferencing before Special Judge G. A. Sanap for the second consecutive day from a US jail, Headley said that in 2006, ISI official Major Pasha and LeT functionary Sajid Mir and others met to discuss plans to set up a business for (him) Headley in Mumbai.

Hope brightens for Indo-Pak Jan 15 talks after arrest of some Pathankot suspects

The January 15 India-Pakistan foreign secretary level talks seemed on track after Pakistan made some arrests related to the Pathankot air base terror attack.

The Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also ordered the setting up of a high-profile joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate the leads given by India that allegedly link the Pathankot air base attackers with Pakistan.

The decision to set up the JIT was set up at a meeting that Sharif chaired. Reports quoted unnamed sources in the Pakistan government who claimed that the Army was no board Sharif’s decision.

Pakistani security agencies raided places in Gujranwala, Jhelum and Bahawalpur districts and an unspecified number of people were arrested. The JIT comprises Intelligence Bureau, Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Federal Investigation Agency and Police.

BJP attacks Congress for trying to gain 'mileage' over terrorism

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed the Congress Party for criticising the ruling dispensation on the terror attack at Pathankot air base, saying the age old party needs to stop politicising terror.

"I think there are certain issues primarily issues like national security is a matter of concern to the whole country, so we feel that the Congress Party needs to stop politicising terror," BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Raosaid.

Rao further said that any party trying to derive political mileage by making such untimely comments was condemnable.

"They are making such comments even when an operation is going on the field and our security forces are fighting bravely and have given their life. It shows the Congress Party in utterly poor light," he added.