NEW YORK: Canada and the US must get tougher on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for trying to silence dissidents on foreign soil, a Sikh separatist who was the target of an alleged India-led murder plot said in an interview.
The US Justice Department has unsealed indictments against two Indian nationals in connection with an alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen, in New York. The two Indian accused included an ex-government official, who the indictment said worked as an intelligence officer at the time and had orchestrated the assassination plan.
Pannun told Reuters earlier this month that the Modi government should not be allowed to conduct hostile activity in foreign countries and said India’s consulates in the US and Canada were running a “spy network,” although he did not provide any proof.
The US and Canada “need to put their foot down that regimes like Modi’s...should not be allowed to come to America or Canada, challenge their sovereignty and get away with it. They need to put their foot down and close (the consulates) permanently,” he said.
Pannun did not elaborate on the alleged spy network. Similar assertions have been made by Sikh activists in America and Canada.
India’s foreign ministry did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters regarding Pannun’s allegations. India, where Pannun was born, has labelled him a terrorist since 2020.
Authorities in the US and Canada declined comment on Pannun’s allegations.
The US and Canada have alleged Indian agents were involved in assassination plots in their countries last year against campaigners for ‘Khalistan’, a Sikh homeland they want carved out of India’s Punjab state where Sikh militancy in the 1980s and 1990s killed thousands of people.
India has denied involvement in any of the plots.
The allegations have damaged India’s ties with Canada and tested relations between Washington and New Delhi.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India’s government of involvement in the 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist leader in Canada. In May, Canadian police arrested and charged four Indian men for the murder. They are yet to be tried.
India has said Canada has not provided any evidence to support its allegations and New Delhi and Ottawa expelled six diplomats each earlier this month in a growing diplomatic spat.
However, India has said it is investigating the murder plot against Pannun and US officials have said they want a speedy result.
Pannun said Vikash Yadav, the former Indian official indicted by the US for the alleged attempt on his life, was just a “middle-tier soldier,” assigned the task of organizing the assassination by higher-level Indian officials. He did not offer any proof nor say how he had come to the conclusion.
New Delhi has said Yadav was no longer a government employee, without saying whether he had been an intelligence officer and not detailing when he left. Yadav’s whereabouts are not known but his family told Reuters earlier this month he had been in contact and denied the allegations in the US indictment.
Indian security officials have said they fear that a rise in support for Khalistan overseas may lead to resurgence of militancy that had previously paralyzed Punjab state, the birthplace of Sikh nationalism, where the movement for a separate homeland now commands little support.
Pannun, who has been holding independent referendums in the US, Canada and Europe on creating Khalistan, said in the interview his movement advocates peaceful resolution of the matter, and will continue despite threats to his life.
Sikh separatist claims Indian ‘spy network’ operates in US and Canada
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Sikh separatist claims Indian ‘spy network’ operates in US and Canada
- The US Justice Department has unsealed indictments against two Indian nationals in connection with an alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun
- The two Indians included an ex-government official, who the indictment said worked as an intelligence officer at the time he orchestrated assassination
Philippine president to make first visit to UAE
- Marcos’ trip marks ‘significant and symbolic milestone,’ Manila envoy says
- Philippines, UAE to sign new agreements on energy transition, artificial intelligence
Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to meet his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as he makes his inaugural trip to the Gulf nation.
The Philippines and UAE are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations this year, with the two countries eyeing closer cooperation across many fields to mark the occasion, including in energy transition and artificial intelligence.
The working visit will be Marcos’s first to the UAE since he took office in 2022.
“The president will personally oversee the overall state of bilateral relations between the Philippines and the UAE, and witness the signing of several agreements across a wide array of areas of cooperation, such as energy transition, artificial Intelligence, judicial agreements and culture,” Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso A. Ver told Arab News on Monday.
The one-day trip marks a “significant and symbolic milestone” in bilateral ties, he added.
“Bilateral relations between the two countries have reached a historic high, and have since expanded to new and innovative forms of cooperation,” Ver said, citing collaborations in space science, agriculture and digital infrastructure as examples.
“With President Marcos’s visit, the Philippines is keen to further boost the positive, robust, and comprehensive state and trajectory of our relationship with the UAE.”
The two countries are currently negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which has made “significant progress” as of early October, according to the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry.
Around one million Philippine nationals reside in the UAE, making it the second-largest employer of Filipino expats after Saudi Arabia.
“The president will also convey the gratitude of the Philippine government to the leaders of a nation that has tapped Filipino talent, allowing it to flourish in an environment that fosters kindness, respect, and tolerance,” the Presidential Communications Office said in a statement.
“It is expected that these productive dialogues will lead to agreements that will deepen the ties between the two countries … While the President’s visit will be short, the goodwill and opportunities it will create will be substantial, resulting in stronger Philippine-UAE relations.”
UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit, says foreign minister
- The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
FIUGGI: Britain would follow due process if Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday, when asked if London would fulfil the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.
At least eight migrants drown off Greek island of Samos
- Greek coast guard finds bodies of six minors, two women
- So far 39 people rescued, search and rescue operation continues
Greece’s coast guard has found the bodies of eight migrants — six minors and two women — who drowned off the island of Samos in the Aegean Sea, authorities said on Monday.
Greek police found a further 36 people alive in the northern part of Samos, while three people, trapped in a rocky area on the island, were rescued by coast guard officers, the coast guard said.
Aircraft and vessels assisted a search and rescue operation, it added.
According to a coast guard official, authorities were alerted to the incident by a non-governmental organization and estimate that about 50 people were on board the vessel that brought them off Samos.
Greece, in the southeast corner of the European Union, has long been a favored gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
More than one million crossed from Turkiye to Greece’s outlying eastern islands in 2015-2016. Many have drowned while attempting the perilous journey on flimsy boats.
The number of arrivals later dropped before surging again last year.
So far this year, about 54,000 migrants have reached Greece, the second largest number in southern Europe behind Italy. The vast majority of them arrived by sea, according to data from the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.
Le Pen threatens to topple French government over budget
- The opposition on all sides of the spectrum have denounced the budget
- Marine Le Pen downplayed the consequences of the budget being rejected
PARIS: French far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen on Monday threatened to back a no confidence motion that could topple the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a standoff over the budget, saying after talks both sides were entrenched in their positions.
Months of political tensions since right-winger Barnier became prime minister at the helm of a minority government appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of this summer’s elections are coming to a head over the budget which has yet to be approved by parliament.
The opposition on all sides of the spectrum have denounced the budget, prompting Barnier to consider brandishing the weapon of article 49.3 of the constitution which allows a government to force through legislation without a vote in parliament.
However, that could prompt Le Pen’s far right National Rally (RN) to team up in an unholy alliance with the left-wing bloc in parliament and find enough numbers to topple the government in a confidence vote.
Le Pen entered the Matignon residence of the French premier for the breakfast meeting and was to be followed later in the afternoon by hard left France Unbowed (LFI) parliamentary party leader Mathilde Panot as Barnier seeks to hear voices across the board.
“My position has not changed. No more, it seems, than that (the position) of the prime minister has changed,” Le Pen after meeting Barnier, describing him as “at the same time courteous but also entrenched in his positions.”
Asked if the RN would back a no confidence motion, she replied: “Of course.”
Le Pen downplayed the consequences of the budget being rejected, saying she did not believe “in this notion that ‘if this budget is rejected, if there is a no confidence motion, it will be dramatic, there will be chaos, etc’.”
Further complicating the situation is the constitutional rule in France that there must be a one year gap between legislative elections, meaning that Macron cannot call polls until the summer to resolve the crisis.
“Michel Barnier is creating the conditions for a vote of no confidence,” RN deputy leader Sebastien Chenu said on Sunday.
But he insisted that the move would not paralyze France and that Macron still had options, including resigning before his term ends in 2027, something the president has previously ruled out.
“The president has several options... reappoint the same prime minister, appoint a new prime minister, resign if he has no other solution, or call a referendum,” he added.
Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon had warned in an interview published in the Le Parisien daily that France risked a “Greek-style situation” if the government was brought down, referring to Greece’s 2007-2008 financial crisis.
The issue comes at a critical time for three-time presidential candidate Le Pen, who fancies having her best ever crack at the Elysee in polls due in 2027.
Le Pen, 56, and other RN defendants are currently on trial accused of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament which they deny.
If convicted, she could receive a jail sentence and a ban from public office which would disqualify her from the presidential polls.
Her young lieutenant Jordan Bardella, 29, who is the RN party chief, is not among the accused and is seen by some as harboring his own presidential positions.
Baredella, who has just published his first book “Ce que je cherche” (“What I am Looking For”), told French television last week that “not having a criminal record is, for me, rule number one when you want to be an MP.”
While opponents dubbed him “Brutus” after the Roman politician who assassinated ex-ally Julius Ceasar, Le Pen denied any tensions with her protege, saying they had a “relationship of trust.”
Children killed in Mozambique election violence: HRW
- The southern African nation has been rocked by unrest since an October 9 vote won by the ruling Frelimo party
- Thousands of people have demonstrated across the country in recent weeks in protests brutally suppressed by the police
JOHANNESBURG: Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday that Mozambican security forces killed at least 10 children and injured dozens more in post-election violence.
The southern African nation has been rocked by unrest since an October 9 vote won by the ruling Frelimo party in power since independence but contested by the opposition.
Thousands of people have demonstrated across the country in recent weeks in protests brutally suppressed by the police.
One 13-year-old girl was “caught in a crowd of people fleeing tear gas and gunfire... One of the bullets hit her in the neck, and she instantly fell to the ground and died,” HRW said in a statement.
The rights group said it had documented “nine additional cases of children killed and at least 36 other children injured by gunfire during the protests.”
The authorities have not responded to HRW’s claims.
Police have also detained “hundreds of children, in many cases for days, without notifying their families, in violation of international human rights law,” HRW said.
President Filipe Nyusi, who is due to step down in January, condemned an “attempt to install chaos in our country” in a state of the nation address last week.
He said that 19 people had been killed in the recent clashes, five of them from the police force. More than 800 people were injured, including 66 police, he added.
Civil society groups recorded a higher death toll — with more than 67 people killed since the unrest began — and said that an estimated 2,000 others had been detained.
Nyusi, 65, has invited the main opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane, for talks.
Mondlane, who came in second after Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo, 47, but claims to have won, has been organizing most of the protests.
He said he would accept the president’s offer as long as the talks were held virtually and legal proceedings against him were dropped.
The 50-year-old is believed to have left the country for fear of arrest or attack but his whereabouts are unknown.
