Author: TheStateLine

Washington, Nov 22 (IANS) India, for nearly a decade, had been gradually shedding the rhetoric of strategic restraint, with its cycle of responses to major Pakistan-based terrorist attacks, including Uri in 2016, Balakot in 2019, and Pahalgam in 2025 revealing an unavoidable reality, renowned international analysts reckoned on Saturday.John Spencer, the Executive Director at the US-based Urban Warfare Institute and Lauren Dagan Amoss, an international academic expert on India’s foreign and security policy, argued that limited and predictable retaliation against cross-border terrorism has not deterred attacks; rather, it has enabled them.According to the experts, restraint, once assumed to be stabilising -- had become strategically risky; its predictability enabled militant groups to plan t...

Riyadh, Nov 22 (IANS) The last rites of Indian pilgrims killed in the tragic bus accident in Saudi Arabia were performed on Saturday in the Kingdom’s Medina city.As many as 45 Umrah pilgrims from Hyderabad died when a bus carrying them caught fire after a collision with an oil tanker early Monday morning near Medina.The victims included 17 males, 18 females and 10 children. Most of the pilgrims were from Asif Nagar, Jhirra, Mehdipatnam and Toli Chowki areas of Hyderabad.According to the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, Governor of Andhra Pradesh S. Abdul Nazeer participated in the funeral prayers at the Prophet's Mosque and burial of the mortal remains at the sacred cemetery of Jannat ul Baqi at Medina.Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Suhel Khan and India Consul General in Jeddah Fahad Suri also...

Quetta, Nov 22 (IANS) Several human rights organisations on Saturday condemned the enforced disappearance of a teenage Baloch girl during a raid by Pakistani forces in Balochistan.Human rights body Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) mentioned that 15-year-old Nasreena Baloch was allegedly abducted during a raid conducted by Pakistani security forces in the early hours of Saturday in the Daroo area of Hub Chowki city in the province.“The targetted raid and subsequent disappearance of a minor highlight the intensifying pattern of repression faced by Baloch women and girls,” the BVJ stated.The rights body urged international human rights organisations, including the United Nations and global civil society groups, to urgently intervene to ensure the protection of Baloch women from Pakistan-led i...

Johannesburg, Nov 22 (IANS) The leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20), who have gathered in South Africa's Johannesburg for the historic first Summit on the African Continent under the South African G20 Presidency, on Saturday adopted a declaration that addressed major global challenges after discussing ways to promote solidarity, equality and sustainability as key pillars of inclusive growth. The Leaders' Declaration was adopted despite the United States boycotting the key summit featuring several top world leaders, accusing the host nation of mistreating its minority white farmers."The G20 underscores the value and relevance of multilateralism. It recognises that the challenges we all face can only be resolved through cooperation, collaboration and partnership. The adoption of the declar...