PM Justin Trudeau, PM Narendra Modi discuss terror; India, Canada ink six pacts

Agencies
February 23, 2018

New Delhi, Feb 23: Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the two sides held a high-level discussion to boost trade and bilateral ties.

The two sides held extensive talks, exploring ways to boost ties in several key areas, including trade and energy.

India and Canada also inked six pacts including, including one on energy cooperation.

Addressing a joint press briefing with Trudeau, PM Narendra Modi said, ''Your visit was long awaited, we are happy that you visited along with your family.''

''We discussed many issues including deference operation. Terrorism and extremism are a threat to countries like ours and to fight these elements it is important for us to come together,'' PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister also called on the need to combat the menace of terrorism together.

''It is important that we work together to fight terrorism,'' PM Narendra Modi said after holding talks with Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.

''Those who challenge our sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be tolerated,'' PM Modi said at a joint press meet with Trudeau, adding, ''There should no place for those who misuse religion for political goals.''.

Hailing Canada, the Prime Minister said, ''Canada is an important destination for Indian students when it comes to higher education, more than 1 lakh 20 thousand of our students are there. We renewed our MoU on higher education which will enhance the exchange in terms of higher education.''

''Canada is an energy super-power, it can fulfill our increasing energy demands,'' PM Modi said.

On his turn, Trudeau said, '' We share not only rich a history but a set of values that encourage a natural friendship between our two countries.''

As Canada looks to diversify its own economy and looks for new opportunities to do business beyond its boundaries, India is a natural partner and a trusted friend for commercial cooperation,'' Trudeau said.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had called on the Canadian Prime Minister and discussed various issues of mutual interest.

"Picture speaks for itself! EAM @SushmaSwaraj had a warm meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada @JustinTrudeau and discussed ways to strengthen and deepen our partnership," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted and posted a picture of the two leaders.

Earlier, Trudeau was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had welcomed his Canadian counterpart with a hug ahead of a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, putting to rest speculations about the government cold-shouldering the visiting dignitary.

After Trudeau, his wife Sophie, and children Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien, alighted from a car on the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Modi shook hands with Trudeau and then hugged him.

On Thursday evening breaking his silence since the Canadian Prime Minister`s arrival in India on February 17, Modi said that he looked forward to the bilateral meeting on Friday.

"I appreciate his (Trudeau`s) deep commitment to ties between our two countries," Modi tweeted.

At the Rashtrapati Bhavan, while Modi shook hands with Sophie Trudeau, Xavier and little Hadrien, he had a special hug reserved for Elle-Grace.

On Thursday, the Indian leader had posted a picture of him playfully tweaking Elle-Grace`s ears with Trudeau smilingly looking on during a visit to Canada in 2015.

"I particularly look forward to meeting his children Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien," Modi said in his tweet.

Hadrien, who will turn four this month, was the cynosure of all eyes at the Rashtrapati Bhavan as he stumbled and struggled to hold on to his hat as Modi playfully stroked his cheeks.

The ceremonial reception optics came after much speculation that Modi and his government was cold-shouldering Trudeau during his eight-day state visit to India.

The visiting dignitary and his family have since visited Agra, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Amritsar.

While Modi did not accompany Trudeau to Ahmedabad, a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in Amritsar on Wednesday was organised only at the last moment.

Ties between New Delhi and Ottawa have been frosty of late as Canada was being seen as offering a platform to separatists demanding an independent Khalistan.

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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 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 26,2024

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The extremist Israeli finance minister has called for the occupation of the Gaza Strip and halving the population of the Palestinian territory that is reeling from almost 14 months of genocide.  

Bezalel Smotrich, who has a history of racist statements against Palestinians, made the controversial remarks during a conference of the Yesha Council settler group on Monday.

“We can occupy Gaza and thin the population by half within two years,” through encouraging the so-called “voluntary emigration," he said.

The racist minister also urged the Tel Aviv regime to use its favorable ties with the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump to implement the plan.

“Occupying Gaza is not a dirty word,” he further claimed.

Once the success of the “voluntary emigration" is proven in the besieged Gaza Strip, it can be replicated in the occupied West Bank, he added.

Last month, Smotrich urged the full annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, asserting that Israel should unequivocally declare there would be no Palestinian state.

Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, nearly 14 months into the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives of finding captives held in Gaza and eliminating Hamas.

So far, the occupying regime has killed at least 44,235 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 104,638 others, in Gaza. 

It has been committing the war crimes of starvation and of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population in the besieged territory.

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