India celebrated yesterday its anniversary of independence from British rule with a vow to eradicate terrorism from its soil in the wake of last year’s devastating militant attacks on Mumbai.
India was strengthening its security to prevent assaults such as the carnage in the financial capital in November, in which 166 people were killed by Islamic gunmen, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
“After the Mumbai attacks our government has taken various steps and our intelligence agencies and security organizations are being strengthened,” Singh said in an address to the nation from the Red Fort in the Indian capital.
PHOTO: AP
“We will succeed in eradicating terrorism from Indian soil,” Singh added from behind a bullet-proof screen at the heavily guarded Mughal-built fort.
The annual Independence Day address marks the end of British rule in 1947 and partition of the subcontinent into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, a split that has caused endless tension in the region.
While Singh did not mention India’s rival Pakistan by name, he reiterated that India wants to live in peace and harmony with its neighbors.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan began a peace process in 2004 that was put on hold after the Mumbai attacks.
India said “official agencies” of Pakistan abetted the attackers who arrived by sea and targeted two hotels, a congested rail station and a Jewish center.
Islamabad rejects the allegations but accepts the attackers were Pakistani citizens and says it is making efforts to bring the plotters to justice.
Singh also pledged to crack down on Maoist insurgents who have set up base in nearly half of the country and who say they are fighting against the exploitation of landless farmers.
“People who think they can rule with the power of the gun underestimate the power of Indian democracy,” Singh said.
New Delhi was under a huge security blanket with heavily armed commandos guarding the imposing sandstone fort where cabinet ministers, diplomats and guests were invited to hear Singh’s speech.
Police barricades blocked roads.
Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder. China’s tech companies and vehicle manufacturers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology over the past few years in an effort to catch industry leaders in the US. Now the central city of Wuhan boasts one of the world’s largest networks of self-driving cars, home to a fleet of more than 500 taxis that can be hailed on an app just like regular rides. At one intersection in an industrial area of Wuhan, AFP reporters saw at least five
China and Vietnam yesterday inked 14 documents spanning cross-border railways to crocodile exports after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met with new Vietnamese leader To Lam in Beijing. The Vietnamese president’s visit to Beijing, his first overseas trip since becoming the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam earlier this month, signals a desire between the two communist neighbors to strengthen ties, amid growing trade and investment, despite occasional clashes over boundaries in the South China Sea. “China has always regarded Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, and supports Vietnam in adhering to the party leadership, taking the socialist
A former Saudi Arabian official alleged in a report that the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that launched the kingdom’s years-long, stalemated war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the allegations made without supporting evidence by Saad al-Jabri in an interview published yesterday by the BBC, but the kingdom has described him as “a discredited former government official.” Al-Jabri, a former Saudi Arabian intelligence official who lives in exile in Canada, has been a years-long dispute with the kingdom as
‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges were assisting with emergency cases as more than 1 million doctors were expected to strike Hospitals and clinics across India yesterday turned away patients except for emergency cases as medical professionals began a 24-hour shutdown in protest against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata. More than 1 million doctors were expected to join the strike, paralyzing medical services across the world’s most populous nation. Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases. The strike, which began at 6am, cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations, the Indian Medical Association said in a statement. The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied