India ready to contribute to peace process in Ukraine: Modi after talks with Scholz

News Network
February 25, 2023

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India has been pressing for resolving the Ukraine "dispute" through dialogue and diplomacy and is ready to contribute to any peace process, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday after holding talks with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who favoured a "clear stand" in the UN on the issue.

The one-year-old conflict and its consequences including on food and energy security figured in the Modi-Scholz dialogue besides ways to ramp up overall bilateral engagement including in areas of trade and investment, new technologies and climate change.

In his statement at a joint press event with Modi, the German Chancellor described the Russian "aggression" against UKraine as a "major catastrophe" that has negatively impacted the globe and said it is important to state "very clearly where we stand on this subject" including at the UN as international law governs international relations.

On Thursday, India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that underscored the need to reach "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" in Ukraine and called for Russia to end the hostilities.

"Since the beginning of the developments in Ukraine, India has insisted on resolving this dispute through dialogue and diplomacy. India is ready to contribute to any peace process," Modi said in his media statement.

The Prime Minister also said that there has been active cooperation between India and Germany in the fight against terrorism and separatism and countries agreed that concerted action is necessary to end cross-border terrorism, seen as an apparent reference to Pakistan.

The German Chancellor asserted that no one can change borders through use of violence.

"This war violates the fundamental principle to which we had all been agreed for such a long time and that is that you do not change borders through the use of violence," he said.

Scholz arrived here this morning on a two-day India visit, a day after the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that saw the US and its European allies renewing their resolve to strongly back Kyiv and mount pressure on Moscow including through fresh economic sanctions.

"A very important question is securing the supply of food and energy. We have to make sure that countries in Asia, Africa and America are not too strongly and negatively impacted by the terrible war of aggression that Russia started against Ukraine and that the impact is not too negative for them," the German leader said.

Modi said that "increasing cooperation between the two largest democratic economies of the world is not only beneficial for the people of both the countries, it also sends a positive message in today's tension-ridden world."

The Prime Minister said the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict have been felt across the world and they have had a particularly negative impact on developing countries.

"We expressed our shared concern about this. We agree that these problems can only be solved through joint efforts. We are stressing on this even during India's presidency of the G20," he said.

Scholz said Germany wants to deepen trade relations between India and Europe, asserting that two-way trade and investment would go up following the finalisation of the India-EU free trade pact.

The German Chancellor suggested that he would play a role in the early finalisation of the long-pending FTA and the investment protection pact between India and the EU.

"We need to join forces in that regard and make progress together. It is especially important for one area that in my eyes is of the greatest importance and that is the development of IT and software," Scholz said.

Noting that security and defense cooperation can become an important pillar of strategic partnership between the two countries, Modi said together we will continue to make efforts to fully realise our untapped potential in this area."

There is active cooperation between India and Germany in the fight against terrorism and separatism and both countries also agree that concerted action is necessary to end cross-border terrorism, he added.

The Prime Minister said that apart from being India's largest trading partner in Europe, Germany is also an important source of investment in the country.
"Today, due to the 'Make in India' and 'Self-reliant India' campaigns, new opportunities are opening up in all sectors in India. We are encouraged by the German interest in these opportunities," he said.

The Prime Minister also underlined the importance of reform of the multilateral institutions.

"We also reiterated the consensus that reform of multilateral institutions is necessary to better reflect global realities. This is evident in our active participation within the G4 to reform the UN Security Council," he said.

The G4 comprises India, Brazil, Japan and Germany and all of them are strong contenders for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

"India and Germany are increasing cooperation for the development of third countries under the triangular development cooperation," Modi said.

He said people-to-people relations between the two countries have also strengthened in the last few years with the inking of the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement in December last year and this relationship will be further deepened.

"In accordance with the requirements of the changing times, we are also adding new and modern aspects to our relations. Last year during my visit to Germany, we announced the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership," Modi said.

"Through this, we are expanding cooperation in the areas of climate action and sustainable development goals. We also decided to work together in areas like renewable energy, green hydrogen and biofuels," he added.

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News Network
November 10,2024

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The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 14,2024

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The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has slammed Israel’s parliament for passing a law authorizing the detention of Palestinian children, who are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” in Israeli custody.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in a Thursday post on X, characterized the experiences of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention as extreme and often inhumane.

The UN expert highlighted the grave impact of this policy, noting that up to 700 Palestinian minors are taken into custody each year, a practice she described as part of an unlawful occupation that views these children as potential threats.

Albanese said Palestinian minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” and that “generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass incarceration system.”

She further criticized the international community for its inaction, suggesting that ongoing diplomatic efforts, which often rely on the idea of resuming negotiations for peace, have contributed to normalizing such human rights violations against Palestinian children and the broader population.

The comments by Albanese came in response to Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passing a law on November 7 that authorizes the detention of Palestinian children under the age of 14 for “terrorism or terrorist activities.”

Under the legislation, a temporary five-year measure, once the individuals turn 14, they will be transferred to adult prison to continue serving their sentences.

Additionally, the law allows for a three-year clause that enables courts to incarcerate minors in adult prisons for up to 10 days if they are considered dangerous. Courts have the authority to extend this duration if necessary, according to the Knesset.

The legislation underscores a shift in the treatment of minors and raises alarms among human rights advocates regarding the legal and ethical ramifications of detaining children and the conditions under which they may be held.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently in Israeli jails—around one-third without charge or trial. Also, an unknown number are arbitrarily held following a wave of arrests in the wake of the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli regime, under the supervision of extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has turned prisons and detention centers into “death chambers,” the ministry of detainees and ex-detainees’ affairs in Gaza says.

Violence, extreme hunger, humiliation, and other forms of abuse of Palestinian prisoners have been normalized across Israel’s jail system, reports indicate.

Over 270 Palestinian minors are being detained by Israeli authorities, in violation of UN resolutions and international treaties that forbid the incarceration of children, as reported by Palestinian rights organizations.

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News Network
November 10,2024

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Mangaluru: A tragic accident took place on Saturday at Chembugudde near Thokkottu, claiming the life of a 47-year-old woman after a tanker lorry ran over her. The victim, identified as Rahmat H Rashid, was riding pillion with her husband, Abdul Rashid G, on their scooter. 

The couple was traveling from Yenepoya Hospital to Bajpe when the scooter skidded on the poorly maintained road. Rahmat fell onto the road and was fatally struck by a tanker lorry that was coming from behind. Despite being rushed to the hospital, doctors declared her dead upon arrival.

The incident prompted a swift response from the DYFI Ullal Taluk Committee, which staged a protest on Saturday night, condemning the unsafe condition of the road. Nithin Kuthar, president of the committee, criticized MLA and Legislative Assembly Speaker UT Khader for failing to ensure safe infrastructure, despite touting the road as toll-free. 

Kuthar demanded immediate repairs, warning that the committee would march to the MLA’s office with black flags if the road is not fixed within a week.

Former DYFI State President Sunil Kumar Bajal also voiced frustration over the deteriorating condition of Thokkottu market, highlighting the struggles people face while crossing roads riddled with dangerous potholes. In response to public outcry, temporary repairs were made to the road at Chembugudde on Sunday, though locals remain wary and demand a more permanent solution. 

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