Thousands of people have fled their homes in Pakistani Kashmir, officials said Monday, as continued shelling between Pakistan and India escalated tensions along the the de-facto border in the disputed Himalayan region. Pakistani authorities confirmed the exodus saying around 3,000 people have left their villages along the Line of Control (LOC) in Abbaspur sector after … Read more
Sopranos star Michael Imperioli kicked off an expedition Monday that will see a motley crew of celebrities drive 10 fire trucks on Nepal’s hair-raising roads for charity. Imperioli and around two dozen other celebrities — including actor Malcolm McDowell and British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes — will drive 480 kilometres (300 miles) from the India-Nepal … Read more
Pakistan on Sunday released 78 Indian fishermen held for trespassing into its territorial waters, officials said. “The fishermen were released from Karachi’s Landhi jail,” an official of the provincial home department of Sindh, Naseem Siddiqui told AFP. The freed fishermen are expected to cross over into India on Monday. Siddiqui said “298 Indian fishermen are … Read more
Government forces threw tear gas and clashed with stone-throwing protesters in Indian Kashmir on Saturday, as the volatile Himalayan region marked the anniversary of a hugely popular rebel leader’s death. Thousands of troops have fanned out across Indian-administered Kashmir, where authorities have imposed a widespread curfew and cut off all internet services after separatist leaders … Read more
India on Saturday imposed a widespread curfew, cut off all internet services and deployed thousands of troops in Kashmir as the volatile Himalayan region marked the anniversary of a hugely popular rebel leader’s death. Residents of Indian-administered Kashmir said the restrictions on movement were some of the strictest they had seen, with some villagers told … Read more
In a crowded hospital in Kashmir a 17-year-old student is recovering from gunshot wounds, one of thousands of civilians injured in protests against Indian rule that have exploded since the death of a popular rebel leader a year ago. When government forces came to his village in the picturesque Himalayan region recently to raid a … Read more
An Indian court Wednesday allowed disciples of a spiritual guru to preserve his body in a freezer, as they believe he is in a deep state of meditation and will return to life. Ashutosh Maharaj, founder of the multi-million dollar sect, Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (Divine Light Awakening Mission), apparently died of a cardiac arrest … Read more
China’s ambassador has said the withdrawal of Indian troops from disputed territory is a “precondition” for peace, in an apparent escalation of a border row between the two Asian powers that has drawn in tiny Bhutan. Indian and Chinese troops are reportedly facing off on a section of land high in the Himalayas near what … Read more
Two suspected rebels were killed and a civilian was critically wounded in a shootout with government forces in Indian Kashmir on Monday, police said, as tensions in the disputed territory ran high. A police officer was also critically wounded in a separate incident in the Indian-administered part of the disputed Himalayan region, which has seen … Read more
India condemned a new road that China is building on their Himalayan border on Friday, saying it raises “serious security” concerns between the rival neighbours. Delhi hit back after Beijing made a formal protest this week, accusing Indian border guards of crossing into its territory to stop the construction. But India’s foreign ministry said on … Read more
Bhutan has protested to China over the construction of a road in disputed territory that has already heightened tensions between Beijing and the Indian government, reports said Thursday. Bhutan’s ambassador to New Delhi, Vetsop Namgyel, said his government had called on China’s People’s Liberation Army to stop building the road in the district of Sikkim … Read more
US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced each other as friends and partners Monday, pledging their quest for economic growth would strengthen rather than undermine ties between the world’s two largest democracies. While Trump’s relations with some traditional allies have got off to rocky start, he and Modi appeared to strike … Read more
Indian government forces fired tear gas and pellet guns at protesters brandishing Pakistani flags as the disputed territory of Kashmir marked the Muslim festival of Eid on Monday. Authorities detained some pro-separatist political leaders to try to avert trouble on Eid, the day of festivities that marks the end of the Ramadan fasting month. But … Read more
Shiites in Pakistan’s restive northwest protested Monday as the death toll from twin blasts three days earlier rose to 69, marking a grisly Eid for the town worst hit by militancy so far in 2017. Dozens of protesters offered their Eid prayers wearing black armbands in the market in Parachinar, where the bombs tore through … Read more
An angry mob beat a police officer to death outside a mosque in Indian-administered Kashmir as tensions ran high in the volatile Himalayan region. Witnesses said the mob attacked Mohammad Ayub Pandith late Thursday after he fired his pistol when confronted by worshippers at the mosque in the main city of Srinagar who suspected him … Read more
An angry mob beat a police officer to death outside a mosque in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said Friday, as tensions ran high in the volatile Himalayan region. Witnesses said the mob attacked Mohammad Ayub Pandith late Thursday after he fired his pistol when confronted by worshippers at the mosque in the main city of Srinagar … Read more
Yoga has connected the world with India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday, as he rolled out his mat along with millions of others across the globe to celebrate the traditional practice. In the western city of Ahmedabad around 125,000 enthusiasts gathered at an open-air ground to try to set a new record Guinness World … Read more
Another student death in clashes in Indian-administered Kashmir has heightened tensions in the disputed territory and worsened India’s worries about a foe that it cannot control — youths who do not carry guns. The teenager was fatally shot in the chest during an exchange of fire between troops and suspected militants in Shopian, south of … Read more
Nepal’s parliament on Tuesday elected an unopposed three-time former prime minister to the top post once again, the tenth time in just over a decade the leadership has changed hands in the Himalayan nation. Sher Bahadur Deuba, a wily political veteran, stood unopposed in the parliamentary election having struck a deal with his predecessor that … Read more
Pakistan on Thursday said two of its civilians were killed and seven injured in Indian cross-border shelling in the disputed Kashmir region. Senior government official Raja Tahir Mumtaz said the incident occurred in the Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC), the de-facto border that divides the Himalayan territory. “These civilians were sleeping in … Read more