President poll: Bengal celebrates Pranab's nomination, Mamata remains defiant

June 16, 2012

Kolkata, June 16: As West Bengal celebrates one of its own becoming the first citizen of this country, the state's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remains defiant on opposing Pranab Mukherjee’s nomination as the President of India. An angry West Bengal Congress now wants the party to pull out of the TMC government in the state.

The son of Bengal Pranab has finally been anointed as the UPA's Presidential candidate, and sparks flew not just on the streets but also in the alliance between the Congress and the Trinamool in Bengal.

40 West Bengal Congress MLAs are threatening to snap ties with Mamata after her belligerent stand on Pranab.

State Congress President Pradip Bhattacharya said, "40 out of 42 MLAs have resoled that they are uncomfortable with the alliance with Mamata and they have condemned Mamata's behaviour."

But the wily Bengali Babu Pranab took the first step and reached out to Didi and said that Mamata is like his little sister and appealed to her to support him for the Presidential candidature.

Didi wasn't moved and the Pranab household was all ecstatic. A tough race and tall task as the first citizen of the country, no wonder then Mrs Suvra Mukherjee is counting calories.

It's the end of a bitter fight between two famous Bengalis, but one of them is still in no mood to give up.

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Taliban appoints Ikramuddin Kamil as acting consul in Mumbai as India-Afghan ties improve

News Network

November 12,2024

The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported.

It is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India.

There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on the appointment that came.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has announced the appointment of Kamil as the acting consul in Mumbai, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

"He is currently in Mumbai, where he is fulfilling his duties as a diplomat representing the Islamic Emirate," it said.

The appointment is part of Kabul's efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad, the media outlet said

Kamil holds a PhD degree in international law and previously served as the deputy director in the department of security cooperation and border affairs in the foreign ministry, it said.

He is expected to facilitate consular services and represent the interests of Afghanistan in India, the report added.

Kamil's appointment comes days after the external affairs ministry's point-person for Afghanistan held talks with the Taliban's acting defence minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in Kabul.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, also posted on X about Kamil's appointment.

The appointment of Kamil is seen as part of efforts to facilitate consular services to the Afghan population in Mumbai.

There has been almost negligible presence of diplomatic staff at the Afghan missions in India.

Most of the diplomats appointed by the Ashraf Ghani government have already left India.

In May, Zakia Wardak, the seniormost Afghan diplomat in India, resigned from her position after reports emerged that she was caught at the Mumbai airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore from Dubai.

Wardak had taken charge as the acting ambassador of Afghanistan to New Delhi late last year, after working as the Afghan consul general in Mumbai for more than two years.

She took charge of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi last November, after the mission helmed by then ambassador Farid Mamundzay announced its closure.

Mamundzay, who was an appointee of the Ghani government, had moved to the United Kingdom.

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