NEW DELHI: India’s air force will begin its biggest-ever combat exercise on Sunday as it weighs up potential threats from nuclear rivals Pakistan and China.
The biennial two-week exercise, known as Exercise Gagan Shakti (“gagan” is Hindi for skies and “shakti” is power), will include joint operations with the country’s army and navy.
“The entire machinery of the Indian Air Force will be activated to validate its plans and assess its war-waging capability,” the air force announced in a statement.
The exercise will involve “real-time deployment and employment of air power assets in a simulated, short and intense battle scenario.”
Day and night exercises will be carried out in two phases — the first in the west of the country, along India’s border with Pakistan. The second phase in the north will include high- altitude landings, said to be aimed at Chinese defenses on the Tibet border.
“With two nuclear-armed neighbors that are allied with each other and are potential military adversaries for India, it’s logical that New Delhi needs to test its military capabilities in a two-front conflict scenario,” said Sharad Joshi, assistant professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California.
“In a war with either China or Pakistan, India would have to be on guard against the other party in an alliance,” he said.
China recently sold Pakistan a highly sophisticated, large-scale optical tracking and measurement system, making it the first country in the Indian subcontinent to acquire a missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and one that can overwhelm a missile defense system.
The Chinese team spent about three months in Pakistan to assemble the system and train Pakistani officers.
News of the sale came on the heels of India testing its Agni-V inter-continental ballistic missile, which is capable of striking targets in almost all of China.
Experts said that the “leak” of the tracking equipment’s sale was China’s message to India that it could counter the Agni-V.
India’s air force will move 15,000 personnel, including 300 officers, from its bases as part of the exercise, according to media reports. More than 1,100 aircraft will take part, including locally made Tejas LCA fighter jets.
The air force has been operating for several years at levels below those required for a two-front scenario, making the exercise all the more significant, Joshi said.
To tackle the shortfall, the air force will practice “surge operations” in which it carries out more sorties with the same number of aircraft by improving maintenance.
India sends warning to rivals with biggest-ever air combat exercise
India sends warning to rivals with biggest-ever air combat exercise
Mozambique protest leader says he will return from exile
- Thousands of Mozambicans have fled into neighboring Malawi and Eswatini since the unrest started, according to authorities, prompting alarm from the UN
The Mozambique opposition leader who has led more than two months of deadly protests against disputed election results from outside the country announced on Sunday he would return ahead of the inauguration of the new president.
Venancio Mondlane, who left Mozambique after his lawyer was gunned down on Oct. 19, said in a Facebook live address he would arrive at Maputo’s Mavalane airport on Thursday.
From self-exile in an unknown location, he called for demonstrations against the results of the Oct. 9 election, which he says were rigged in favor of the ruling Frelimo party in power for 50 years.
The protests so far have been met with a tough police crackdown. The violence has left around 300 people dead, according to a tally by a local rights group, with authorities also reporting looting and vandalism. “If they are killing my brothers, they are murdering my brothers, then I will be there,” Mondlane said.
FASTFACTS
• From self-exile in an unknown location, Venancio Mondlane called for demonstrations against the results of the Oct. 9 election.
• The protests so have been met with a tough police crackdown. The violence has left around 300 people dead.
• Final official results of the poll said Mondlane took 24 percent of the presidential vote compared to 65 percent for the Frelimo candidate.
“If it’s for me, if it’s because of Venancio, then Venancio will be, on Thursday ... at Mavalane International Airport,” he said.
Final official results of the poll said Mondlane took 24 percent of the presidential vote compared to 65 percent for the Frelimo candidate, Daniel Chapo.
Mondlane, 50, insists the election was stolen from him and that another count said he was the winner. Several international observer missions have also said there were irregularities.
Chapo, 47, is due to be sworn in on January 15, taking over from President Filipe Nyusi at the end of his two-term limit. His Frelimo has ruled the country since independence from Portugal in 1975.
Mondlane, a charismatic speaker who appeals to Mozambique’s disenchanted youth, appeared to shrug off criminal and civil charges that the authorities have laid against him, including for damages caused during protests by his supporters.
“You can do whatever you want,” he said, addressing the authorities. “If you want to murder, murder. If you want to arrest, arrest too. I will be there.”
The opposition leader has previously claimed there had been attempts to assassinate him.
While Mondlane has been maintaining rejection of the results and his call for “electoral truth,” the leaders of the main political parties have agreed to take their seats in the new parliament, even if they say there were irregularities in the election.
Nyusi has called for dialogue among the parties to resolve the dispute.
On Dec. 27, Chapo called for “non-violence” and “unity,” saying several police officers had died during the clashes.
The unrest has caused major losses to Mozambique’s economy, stopping cross-border trade. Shipping, mining and industry has also been affected.
Regional grouping the Southern African Development Community was concerned that the situation “may jeopardize peace and security for the country concerned and the region as a whole,” said Tanzanian President Samia Hassan at a meeting Sunday focused on Mozambique.
“For the last couple of weeks, we have witnessed the spread of violent protests that have caused massive harm to human life, affected economic activities and disrupted cross-border trade,” said Hassan, who chaired the meeting of the SADC’s security troika.
Thousands of Mozambicans have fled into neighboring Malawi and Eswatini since the unrest started, according to authorities, prompting alarm from the UN.
“Refugees and civilians are facing immense risks, losing their livelihoods and relying on humanitarian assistance,” said Chansa Kapaya, UNHCR’s regional director for southern Africa, on Dec. 31.
“While we are grateful for the generosity of Malawi and Eswatini, immediate support is crucial to tackle the worsening crisis and prevent further suffering.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation
- Trudeau said Monday he has asked the president of his Liberal Party to begin the process to select a new leader
- He has faced rising discontent over his leadership, and the abrupt departure of his finance minister late last year
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, telling the nation that “internal battles” mean he “cannot be the best option” in the next election.
Trudeau said Monday he has asked the president of his Liberal Party to begin the process to select a new leader. He has faced rising discontent over his leadership, and the abrupt departure of his finance minister late last year signaled growing turmoil within his government.
Parliament will be suspended until March 24. It had been due to resume Jan. 27. The timing will allow for a Liberal Party leadership race.
Trudeau had been the second-youngest prime minister in Canada’s history when he was elected in 2015, and he had been planning to run for a fourth term in next year’s election even as discontent in his party grew. He said that “I have always been driven by my love for Canada” and repeatedly described himself as a fighter.
Here’s the latest:
A HOPEFUL FOR PRIME MINISTER THANKS TRUDEAU
One person likely to seek power in the Liberal Party after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation is Mark Carney, the former head of the Bank of Canada and later the Bank of England.
Carney has long been interested in entering politics and becoming prime minister, and Trudeau tried to recruit him to join his government.
Carney in a post on X thanked Trudeau for his contributions and sacrifices. He adds: “Wishing you the best for your next chapters.”
TRUDEAU SAYS CANADA NEEDS A RESET IN POLITICS
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada deserves a Parliament that functions. He took questions after announcing his resignation Monday morning.
Trudeau said Parliament has been “entirely seized” by what he called obstruction and a total lack of productivity. He said this has been the longest-serving minority government in Canadian history.
And in some of his final comments to the media, Trudeau shared his thoughts on opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. He said Poilievre has a “very small vision” for Canada, describing it as “stopping the fight against climate change,” backing off on “strength in diversity” and “attacking journalists.”
TRUDEAU ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, telling the media that “internal battles” mean he “cannot be the best option” in the next election.
Trudeau says he has asked the president of his Liberal Party to begin the process to select a new leader. He has faced rising discontent over his leadership, and the abrupt departure of his finance minister late last year signaled growing turmoil within his government.
Shortly before he spoke, an official familiar with the matter said Parliament will be suspended until March 24. It had been due to resume Jan. 27. The timing will allow for a Liberal Party leadership race. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.
FIRST, SOME BACKGROUND
Trudeau came to power in 2015 after 10 years of Conservative Party rule, and had initially been praised for returning the country to its liberal past. But the 53-year-old leader, the son of Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada’s most famous prime ministers, became deeply unpopular with voters in recent years over a range of issues, including the soaring cost of food and housing, and surging immigration.
The political upheaval comes at a difficult moment for Canada internationally. US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods if the government does not stem what Trump calls a flow of migrants and drugs in the US
That’s even though far fewer of each crosses into the US from Canada than from Mexico, which Trump has also threatened.
Indonesia launches free meals program to combat malnutrition
- With $4.3 billion budget, government is targeting over 19 million recipients by end of 2025
- Stunting afflicts around 21.5 percent of children under 5 years old in Indonesia
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s new government launched an ambitious $4.3 billion free meal program on Monday to fight malnutrition and stunting, a key election promise of President Prabowo Subianto.
The Free Nutritious Meal Program, a centerpiece of Prabowo’s election campaign that catapulted him to power last year, plans to reach more than 82 million students and pregnant mothers across Indonesia in five years.
It is part of a longer-term strategy to develop human resources to achieve a “Golden Indonesia” generation by 2045 and to significantly reduce the problem of stunting that currently afflicts around 21.5 percent of children younger than 5 years old in the country.
“This is a historic moment for Indonesia. For the first time, Indonesia is conducting a nationwide nutrition program for toddlers, students, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers,” Hariqo Wibawa Satria, head of the presidential communications office, said late on Sunday.
The first leg of the program was rolled out on Monday with 190 kitchens involved in preparing the first meals for about 570,000 school children in more than 20 provinces.
With a budget of 71 trillion rupiah ($4.3 billion) for 2025, the government is hoping to reach more than 19 million people by the end of the year.
“The number will gradually increase so that the program will reach its 82 million target by 2029,” Satria said.
Prabowo said the program, which was previously estimated to cost $28 billion over five years, is strategic to counter child malnutrition and spur economic growth.
Malnutrition is a prevalent issue in Indonesia, where one in 12 children younger than 5 suffer from wasting, while one in five are stunted, according to estimates from UNICEF.
Tan Shot Yen, a Jakarta-based nutritionist and doctor, said the multi-billion program was unlikely to resolve Indonesia’s stunting and malnutrition problem.
“Stunting is a multidimensional issue, and it mostly has to do with the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, between the time they are in the womb until they are 2 years old. So if there’s a program distributing food to prevent stunting among school children, that is a (political) campaign,” she told Arab News.
In the archipelago nation of around 280 million people, around 70 percent of stunting cases can be traced back to poor parenting, she said, where many disregard the importance of nutrition during pregnancy and in young children.
“The problem is that many people do not understand the basics of nutrition,” Tan said, adding that resolving malnutrition in Indonesia was “an extremely complicated” matter.
“Eating right once a day is not going to change someone’s fate and improve his nutrition for the better.”
Russia ‘guilty’ over downed Azerbaijan plane: Azeri president
- An Azerbaijan Airlines jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board
- Moscow has admitted its air defenses were operational in the area at the time, which it said was under attack from Ukrainian drones
BAKU: Azerbaijan’s president said on Monday that Russia was “guilty” over the downing of an airline last month that Baku says was shot by Russian air defenses.
An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on December 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, after being diverted from a scheduled landing in the southern Russian city of Grozny.
Moscow has admitted its air defenses were operational in the area at the time, which it said was under attack from Ukrainian drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized that the “incident” occurred in his country’s air space but has not responded to claims the plane was hit by Russian weapons.
“The guilt for the death of Azerbaijani citizens lies with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday, according to a statement published by his office.
Aliyev was meeting surviving crew and family members of crew who died in the incident.
The Azerbaijani leader, who is close to Putin, has issued rare fierce criticism of Moscow over the crash, demanding an apology, admission of guilt and the punishment of those found responsible for the “criminal” shooting of the plane.
On Monday he said Russia’s “concealment” of the causes and “delusional versions” being put forward “cause us justifiable anger.”
Initial statements by Russia’s air transport agency that the plane had been forced to divert after a bird strike have triggered fury in Baku.
Aliyev said air defense measures for Grozny – the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, where the plane was set to land – were only announced after the plane had been “shot from the ground.”
“If there was a danger to Russian airspace, then the captain of the plane should have been informed straight away,” Aliyev said.
He also questioned why the plane was sent hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh city of Aktau for an emergency landing.
“Why it was directed to Aktau, we have no information,” Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan says preliminary results of its investigation show the plane was hit accidentally by a Russian air defense missile.
Russia has opened its own criminal probe but has not said whether it agrees with Baku’s assessment.
The plane’s black boxes have been sent to Brazil for analysis.
Hundreds of Afghans seeking US resettlement arrive in Philippines for visa processing
- Group of around 300 Afghan nationals, comprising mostly children, arrived from Kabul on Monday
- Under Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no more than 59 days
MANILA: Hundreds of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines on Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the US, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington.
The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a US visa-processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals who had worked for American forces in Afghanistan and were left behind during their chaotic withdrawal from the country in 2021.
A group of about 300 Afghan nationals arrived from Kabul on Monday and were issued “the appropriate Philippine entry visa,” said Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza.
“All applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippine national security agencies,” Daza added
“As part of its agreement with the Philippines, the US government is supporting all necessary services for those SIV applicants temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation to complete visa processing.”
The applicants were also vetted by US security agencies and had undergone medical screening prior to their arrival.
The group of Afghans will stay at a billet facility operated by the US State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and are only permitted to leave for their embassy consular interviews
Under the Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no longer than 59 days.
The Philippines was chosen as a location for the visa processing as the US Embassy in Manila is “one of the largest” and “has the capacity to process them efficiently and smoothly without having to sacrifice the normal operations,” a Philippine official said.
The Afghan nationals who are processing their visas in the Philippines comprised mostly children and “will be the only group” under the agreement between Manila and Washington, a US State Department official told Arab News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
More than 160,000 Afghans sought resettlement when the Taliban took over Afghanistan as international forces withdrew from the country in 2021 — two decades after the US invaded it.
Thousands of others are in third countries awaiting visa processing. Many of them had worked for the US government.
