The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Thursday that New Delhi continues to engage with the Taliban by attending several regional-level and international-level meetings on Afghanistan in various formats. MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal mentioned that the Indian Technical Team head recently participated in a regional meeting in Kabul. Jaiswal said that, at the meeting, India informed participants about the humanitarian assistance it provides to Afghanistan and highlighted its long-standing friendship with the Afghan people.
A day after former Pakistani PM and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the Toshakhana case, the country’s police officials raided his party’s office. According to reports, the security forces took control of PTI’s central secretariat in Islamabad and stopped members from entering the premises ahead of a scheduled party meeting at the venue.
The US State Department approved the sale of 31 armed MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones, missiles, and equipment to India for approximately $4 billion, the Pentagon confirmed. Furthermore, the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency informed Congress of the potential sale on Thursday. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will act as the primary contractor, it said. The sale includes advanced communications and surveillance technology, 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, and 310 Laser Small Diameter Bombs, which are precision glide bombs. This comes soon after reports of the US Congress blocking the sale until India conducted a “meaningful investigation” into the failed assassination plot concerning pro-Khalistan Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India is “deeply concerned” about Israel’s allegations that a dozen UNRWA staffers were involved in Hamas’ 7 October massacre of Israeli civilians. He added that New Delhi welcomes the UN’s investigations in this regard. India is an “important development partner of Palestine” and has consistently provided aid, both bilaterally and through the UN, Jaiswal underlined. However, at the same time, “[India has] a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism,” he claimed.
Malaysia’s Minister of Federal Territories, Zaliha Mustafa, said at an event on Thursday that an official statement regarding ex-PM Najib Razak’s partial royal pardon is expected to be released this week.
A Thursday report released by Human Rights Watch states that major automakers like Tesla, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Toyota are not effectively ensuring the absence of forced labour in their Chinese supply chains, especially regarding aluminium allegedly produced with forced labour by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.