DUBAI: Thousands of Indians gathered in the sunny morning at Dubai Opera, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the Shila Pujan (Hindu religious prayer) of the stone temple to be built in Abu Dhabi and addressed the gathered members of the community.
The event was organized as a theatrical production. Famous Indian Tabla (Indian drum instrument) player Bickram Ghosh along with his team entertained the audience with live music. And then 12-year-old Sucheta, a student at an Indian high school in Dubai, sang a medley in 7 different languages including Arabic.
Dubai Opera is a 2,000-seat, multi-format performing arts center, which is located within the Opera District in downtown Dubai. The signature venue for arts and culture events in the city, was packed with colorfully dressed enthusiastic Indians. This was the first time any Indian head of the state used the venue to speak to its countrymen. There were many who were emotionally charged and chanted “Modi, Modi” and “Jai Hind” (long live India).
Three short documentaries were shown about how India’s soft power is expanding across the world, such as Bollywood, Yoga, and Indian cuisine.
When Modi, came at the stage, the audience gave him a standing ovation as a warm welcome.
Before the Modi’s much-awaited speech, a live broadcast was shown from the site of Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, where special inaugural prayers were happening. Modi, inaugurated the construction site here at Opera House by unveiling the temple monument, covered by palm leaves.
“Palm leaves reflect the peace and harmony of the UAE that gives shade to all people of the world,” said the event host from back stage.
India’s Ambassador to the UAE, Navdeep Singh Suri, while welcoming his prime minister, highlighted the growing India-UAE ties. “When the Indian community see Burj Khalifa lit up with the Indian flag, it gives a lot of energy and enthusiasm to them. And today it’s more than just the address to the Indian community as it is the culmination of a long-held desire for a temple which is coming to fruition,” he said.
In about 20 minutes of his speech, Modi talked about the growing UAE-India relationship. He spoke in Hindi. “It is no more a buyer-seller relationship, but that of partnership,” Modi said, thanking the GCC countries for giving home-like conditions to over 3 million Indians across the region.
“This is an excellent example of human relations between Indians and the Gulf countries,” Modi said. While talking about temple in Abu Dhabi, he thanked Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed on behalf of all 125 crore Indians.
“A temple is a catalytic agent of spiritual life. It will help build a new image of India.” He further said that it is our [Indians] responsibility to honor the trust shown by the UAE leadership,” he said.
“India is changing rapidly, and you can experience it here,” he said.
“The UAE is a second home for Indians. One can find Indians here from almost all parts of the country.”
Modi said that India is changing. “There was a time, when people in India were pessimistic and wanted to leave the country for a better future. But just in four years, things have changed in the Indian. Uncertainty has replaced confidence and faith.”
“Changes may bring problems. But they are temporary. India is moving in the right direction. India is changing,” he said.
After speaking to the community, Modi headed toward a government summit where he spoke about technology and governance.
Modi will leave for Oman this evening and will address another gathering of Indian community in Muscat.
India is changing, Modi tells Indian expats in UAE
India is changing, Modi tells Indian expats in UAE
‘Protect our people’: Armed Syrian volunteers watch over Damascus
- Local committees have taken over some of the deserted checkpoints, with the authorities’ approval
- Committees had been set up to patrol neighborhoods to prevent crime until the police could take over
After Islamist-led militants ousted former president Bashar Assad in early December, thousands of soldiers, policemen and other security officials deserted their posts, leaving the door open to petty theft, looting and other crimes.
The new Syrian authorities now face the mammoth challenge of rebuilding state institutions shaped by the Assad family’s five-decade rule, including the army and security apparatuses that have all but collapsed.
In the meantime, Damascenes have jumped into action.
In the Old City, Fadi Raslan, 42, was among dozens of people cautiously watching the streets, his finger on the trigger of his gun.
“We have women and elderly people at home. We are trying to protect our people with this volunteer-based initiative,” he said.
“Syria needs us right now, we must stand together.”
Local committees have taken over some of the deserted checkpoints, with the authorities’ approval.
Hussam Yahya, 49, and his friends have been taking turns guarding their neighborhood, Shughur, inspecting vehicles.
“We came out to protect our neighborhoods, shops and public property as volunteers, without any compensation,” he said.
He said the new authorities, led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group, have backed their initiative, providing light arms and training.
Authorities also provided them with special “local committee” cards, valid for a year.
Police chief Ahmad Lattouf said the committees had been set up to patrol neighborhoods to prevent crime until the police could take over.
“There aren’t enough police officers at the moment, but training is ongoing to increase our numbers,” he said.
The Damascus committees begin their neighborhood watches at 22:00 (19:00 GMT) every night and end them at 06:00 (03:00 GMT) the next morning.
Further north, in the cities of Aleppo and Homs, ordinary residents have also taken up weapons to guard their districts with support from authorities, residents said.
The official page of the Damascus countryside area has published photos on Telegram showing young men it said were “volunteering” to protect their town and villages “under the supervision of the Military Operations Department and in coordination with General Security.”
It also said others were volunteering as traffic police.
A handful of police officers affiliated with the Salvation Government of the Idlib region, the militant bastion controlled by HTS before Assad’s fall, have also been deployed in Damascus.
Traffic policemen have been called from Idlib to help, while HTS gunmen are everywhere in the capital, especially in front of government buildings including the presidential palace and police headquarters.
The authorities have also begun allowing Syrians to apply to the police academy to fill its depleted ranks.
Syria’s new rulers have called on conscripts and soldiers to surrender their weapons at dedicated centers.
Since rising to power, HTS and its allies have launched security sweeps in major cities including Homs and Aleppo with the stated goal of rooting out “remnants of Assad’s militias.”
In the capital’s busy Bab Touma neighborhood, four local watchmen were checking people’s IDs and inspecting cars entering the district.
Fuad Farha said he founded the local committee that he now heads after offering his help to “establish security” alongside the HTS-affiliated security forces.
“We underwent a quick training, mainly teaching us how to assemble weapons and take them apart and to use rifles,” he said.
Residents said that the committees had been effective against burglars and thieves.
“We all need to bear responsibility for our neighborhood, our streets and our country,” Farha said.
“Only this way will we be able to rebuild our country.”
Macron says West must be cautious over new Syria rulers
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday the West must not be naive about the new authorities in Syria after the ousting of Bashar Assad and promised France would not abandon Kurdish fighters.
“We must regard the regime change in Syria without naivety,” Macron said in a speech to French ambassadors after Islamist-led forces toppled Assad last month, adding France would not abandon “freedom fighters, like the Kurds” who are fighting extremist groups in Syria.
UN: Over 30 million in need of aid in war-torn Sudan
- Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than eight million internally displaced
- Both the army and the RSF have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war
PORT SUDAN, Sudan: More than 30 million people, over half of them children, are in need of aid in Sudan after twenty months of war, the United Nations said on Monday.
The UN has launched a $4.2 billion call for funds, targeting 20.9 million people across Sudan from a total of 30.4 million people it said are in need in what it called “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
Sudan has been torn apart and pushed to the brink of famine by the war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than eight million internally displaced, which, in addition to 2.7 million displaced before the war, has made Sudan the world’s largest internal displacement crisis.
A further 3.3 million people have fled across Sudan’s borders to escape the war, which means over a quarter of the country’s pre-war population, estimated at around 50 million, are now uprooted.
Famine has already been declared in five areas in Sudan and is expected to take hold of five more areas by May, with 8.1 million people currently on the brink of mass starvation.
Sudan’s army-aligned government has denied there is famine, while aid agencies complain that access is blocked by bureaucratic hurdles and ongoing violence.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of using starvation as a weapon of war.
For much of the conflict, the UN has struggled to raise even a quarter of the funds it has targeted for its humanitarian response in the impoverished northeast African country.
Sudan has often been called the world’s “forgotten” war, overshadowed by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine despite the scale of the horrors inflicted upon civilians.
Jordanian FM discusses rebuilding Syria in Turkiye talks
DUBAI: The Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi highlighted on Tuesday the need to help Syria regain its security, stability, and sovereignty during discussions in Turkiye.
Talks also focused on providing support to the Syrian people and addressing the challenge of rebuilding the war-torn country.
He underscored Jordan's firm stance against any aggression on Syria’s sovereignty, rejecting Israeli attacks on Syrian territory.
The minister also expressed solidarity with Turkey, supporting its rights in confronting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), emphasizing the importance of regional cooperation to ensure peace and stability.
Israel military says three projectiles fired from north Gaza
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it identified three projectiles fired from the northern Gaza Strip that crossed into Israel on Monday, the latest in a series of launches from the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
“One projectile was intercepted by the IAF (air force), one fell in Sderot and another projectile fell in an open area. No injuries were reported,” the military said in a statement.
