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People of J-K stood against Pakistan's conspiracy: PM Modi in Katra

People of J-K stood against Pakistan's conspiracy: PM Modi in Katra

After unveiling several development projects in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the people of the region for standing firmly against what he called "Pakistan's conspiracy".
Addressing a public gathering in Katra, the Prime Minister said the people's courage was not just a response to Pakistan, but also to the global mindset of terrorism.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi inaugurated the Chenab and Anji Bridges and flagged off two Vande Bharat trains, marking the completion of the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL).
Pahalgam attack targeted tourism, says PM Modi
PM Modi said the recent terror attack in Pahalgam was aimed at undermining tourism and harming the livelihoods of the poor. 'We are creating new employment opportunities for our youth, and tourism is one of the key means to achieve this. Unfortunately, our neighbouring country is not only against humanity but also against tourism. It is a nation that actively works against the livelihoods of the poor. The Pahalgam incident was an attack on insaniyat and Kashmiriyat. The incident that occurred in Pahalgam on April 22 is a clear example of this,' he said.
Operation Sindoor sends message to Pakistan
Referring to the Indian response to terrorism, PM Modi said: 'Today is June 6. The night of May 6 proved to be doomsday for Pakistani terrorists. Whenever Pakistan hears about Operation Sindoor, it will recall its shameful defeat. The Pakistani army and terrorists would have never imagined that India would strike so deep inside their territory.'
USBRL project to transform regional connectivity
The ₹43,780 crore USBRL project includes 36 tunnels totalling 119 km and 943 bridges. It offers seamless, all-weather rail connectivity between Kashmir and the rest of India and is expected to boost regional mobility and economic prospects.
The 272-kilometre railway link was completed in phases:
Qazigund–Baramulla (118 km) opened in October 2009
Banihal–Qazigund (18 km) in June 2013
Udhampur–Katra (25 km) in July 2014
Banihal–Sangaldan (48.1 km) in February 2024
Sangaldan–Katra (17 km) completed in December 2024
PM meets engineers at Chenab Bridge site
During his visit, PM Modi met engineers and workers at a railway museum near the Chenab Bridge in Reasi district. The bridge is the world's highest railway arch, built over the Chenab River using steel arches.
J-K LG hails landmark infrastructure
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha called the day historic: 'What a momentous day! 06 June, 2025 will go down in history. Hon'ble PM Sh Narendra Modi Ji inaugurated Chenab bridge, the world's highest railway arch bridge, and Anji bridge, India's first cable-stayed rail bridge, making the dream of connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari a reality,' Sinha posted on X.
Medical college for Reasi district
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Katra, a project worth over ₹350 crore. The institute will be the first medical college in Reasi district and is expected to significantly strengthen healthcare infrastructure in the region.
(With agency inputs)

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Daily Briefing: As US enters Iran-Israel conflict, what's next?
Daily Briefing: As US enters Iran-Israel conflict, what's next?

Indian Express

time14 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

Daily Briefing: As US enters Iran-Israel conflict, what's next?

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Military sources told my colleague Amrita Nayak Dutta that the war may not impact Indian military hardware just yet. However, if Iran were to close the Strait of Hormuz, a motion already approved in Iranian parliament, it may severely hit India's oil and gas imports. 🎧 For more on the US strikes in Iran, tune in to today's '3 Things' podcast episode. Moving on to the rest of the day's headlines. India has sealed the trade deal with the UK; another one with the US is in the offing. But are the trade talks with the European Union lagging? 'What is important is not about being fast and furious, but resolute and substantial, for both constituencies. Europeans may be a bit slower, we are a bit bureaucratic, we are not shining, but at the end of the day, we deliver,' the EU Ambassador to India, Herve Delphin, said. Read everything he said about EU-India ties in the latest Idea Exchange session. 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India must be ‘circumspect', rules-based order has collapsed—Manish Tewari on Iran conflict
India must be ‘circumspect', rules-based order has collapsed—Manish Tewari on Iran conflict

The Print

time16 minutes ago

  • The Print

India must be ‘circumspect', rules-based order has collapsed—Manish Tewari on Iran conflict

What complicates the situation for India, he said, is unlike during the Cold War era, New Delhi has no Soviet Union to fall back upon, while Chinese influence has grown over the past decade, especially since Xi Jinping took over as president of the neighbouring country. In an interview to ThePrint, Tewari, who serves as general secretary of the Congress party's foreign affairs department, said India must also tread carefully due to what he called a 'new dynamic' developing between the US, Pakistan and China. 'I think we need to be extremely careful. We should feel the stones as we go along, because only fools rush in where wise men fear to tread,' Tewari said, pointing to the new dynamic 'at play again'. New Delhi: Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari Sunday said that India should approach the conflict in the Middle East, which has escalated with the United States joining Israel's war with Iran, with 'extreme circumspection' and a 'degree of exceptionalism' given that the rules-based liberal democratic international order has 'collapsed'. 'Under those circumstances, India must approach the situation with a degree of exceptionalism, whereby we engage with situations and problems on our own and not really try to play 'vishwa guru'. Not that we have tried to mediate in any of these conflicts which have very complex historical and geopolitical roots. However, after this latest escalation. You know, circumspection and extreme circumspection should be the order of the day,' Tewari said. While the Congress, the principal opposition party, is yet to issue a statement on the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, it had on 15 June accused Israel of violating Iran's sovereignty and encroaching on its rights. Tewari said the Congress's position was correct from the public international law perspective. 'Because there has been a violation of Iranian sovereignty. And albeit unprovoked because there is no empirical evidence to substantiate that Iran was close to actually acquiring a nuclear bomb for a nuclear weapon. In fact, the only nuclear weapon state in the de facto nuclear weapon state in the Middle East is Israel, which purportedly has 90 warheads,' said the Chandigarh MP and former Union minister who recently travelled to Egypt, Qatar, South Africa, and Ethiopia as the member of a multi-party delegation formed by the Centre after Operation Sindoor. In an opinion piece on the Middle East crisis published in The Hindu Saturday, Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi criticised the Modi government's 'silence on the devastation in Gaza and now on the unprovoked escalation against Iran,' saying it reflects a disturbing departure from 'our moral and diplomatic traditions,' and amounts to a 'surrender of values'. Tewari endorsed that line, underlining India's historic position with regard to the two-state solution as Israel and Palestine was concerned and also with regard to respecting the sovereignty of independent countries. 'These are templates or postulates of Indian foreign policy which stretch back into time, and we have repeatedly called out such transgressions and invasions … this has been a consistent position. So is New Delhi really going to be taking a revisionist view on this position?' 'Also there is a domestic imperative. We have a large, diverse, heterogeneous population—a population which, notwithstanding their religious affiliations, does believe in a semblance of equity and fair play and so under those circumstances, even people would be very close to watching the positions which India would take,' Tewari, a three-term MP, said. Sharing his assessment of the geopolitical situation, Tewari said the world order and frames of an international rule of law stand completely and absolutely upended with concurrent conflicts playing out across the globe. 'In Europe, it is Russia versus Ukraine. In the Middle East, it is Israel versus Hamas versus Hezbollah versus Iran, and then you have the India-Pakistan standoff, which may have lasted a few days, but has lingering implications. And then you have the continuous militarization of the East China and South China sea as a consequence of the not too peaceful rise of China. 'What you are really witnessing is that the liberal democratic international order, built post World War II undergirded by the principles of public international law, has completely collapsed. The irrelevance of the United Nations and even the United Nations Security Council could not be more stark in what we are seeing today.' (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: Iran has fewer options & more risks than before. Its choices will affect all of Middle East

Iran-Israel conflict: Congress asks govt to show moral courage, slams it for not condemning US bombing
Iran-Israel conflict: Congress asks govt to show moral courage, slams it for not condemning US bombing

Time of India

time17 minutes ago

  • Time of India

Iran-Israel conflict: Congress asks govt to show moral courage, slams it for not condemning US bombing

Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel US President Donald Trump's decision to unleash American air power on Iran makes a "mockery" of his own calls for the continuation of talks with Iran, the Congress said on Monday and slammed the Modi government for neither criticising nor condemning the US bombing and Israel's opposition party reiterated the absolute essentiality of immediate diplomacy and dialogue with general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said President Trump's decision to unleash US air power on Iran makes a mockery of his own calls for the continuation of talks with Iran."The Indian National Congress reiterates the absolute essentiality of immediate diplomacy and dialogue with Iran. The Government of India must demonstrate greater moral courage than it has so far," he said."The Modi Government has unequivocally neither criticised nor condemned the US bombing and Israel's aggression, bombings and targeted assassinations," Ramesh said on has also maintained a deafening silence on the genocide being perpetrated on the Palestianians in Gaza, he remarks come after the US bombed three major nuclear sites -- Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan -- in Iran, bringing itself into the Israel-Iran Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday conveyed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian India's "deep concern" over Iran's conflict with Israel and called for immediate de-escalation of the situation through "dialogue and diplomacy".The US attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities has triggered fears of a wider regional conflict, with many leading countries and blocs calling for restraint.

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