International Relations

Imran Khan meets Indian High Commissioner Pakistan is likely to boost its role in SAARC under the Imran Khan government which will assume charge soon. An indication on this came at the first meeting between the newly elected leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Ajay Bisaria, Indian High Commissioner, on …

Syria’s government is to set up a committee to coordinate repatriating millions of its nationals who fled the country’s seven-year conflict, state media has said. The Cabinet on Sunday “agreed to create a coordination body for the return of those displaced abroad to their cities and villages,” state news agency …

Ottawa had called for release of activists Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it was expelling the Canadian Ambassador and recalling its own envoy while freezing all new trade, in retaliation for Ottawa’s vigorous calls for the release of jailed activists. The kingdom gave the envoy Dennis Horak 24 hours …

Ruling Progressive Party rejects Opposition claims that poll might be postponed Dismissing Opposition claims that the Maldivian presidential election might be postponed, the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has assured that the poll will be held in September as scheduled. The Elections Commission of the Maldives in June …

Trump warns Tehran again as sanctions get reimposed; Rouhani calls it ‘psychological warfare’ U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told Iran to change its “destabilising” behaviour or risk further economic isolation, hours before the reimposition of sweeping sanctions against Tehran, though he left the door open to a new deal. …

Indian pilgrims stranded due to bad weather Around 200 Indians on their way back home after the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage in Tibet are stranded in Nepal’s Humla district due to bad weather, a statement by the Indian Embassy said on Sunday. The representatives of the Indian Embassy in Simikot, Hilsa and …

The textile industry has urged the Centre to push for negotiations with China to provide duty-free access to Indian cotton textiles. Sanjay Jain, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, said in a release that in 2017-2018, India exported textile goods worth $1,362 million to China. The Indian textile …

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called for the rebuilding of 11 schools torched by suspected Islamic extremists in northern Pakistan. She tweeted about the attack, saying “extremists have shown what frightens them most: a girl with a book.” She was shot and injured by the Pakistani Taliban in …

Asian countries have voiced concern about the potentially devastating impact of a U.S.-China trade war, with Ministers calling for the acceleration of talks for a gigantic Beijing-backed free-trade deal that excludes the United States. Fear that a simmering trade spat between the world’s top two economies could spiral into a …

“National tragedy.” That is how Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera described the problem of prevalent household indebtedness in Sri Lanka, when he recently announced the government’s decision to write off debt of LKR 1 lakh or less, incurred by 75,000 women in 12 drought-affected districts across the country. The move, aimed …