News,Insights and events from India’s neighborhood .
The roll call identified only Squadron Leader Hasan Siddiqui as the pilot of F-16B, which is a twin-seater aircraft. This has led to a huge speculation within the online community in India about the fate of the second ‘missing’ pilot.
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has strengthened its intelligence network with India, following the latest Indian intelligence reports that warned of possible renewed attacks by the Islamic State (IS) terrorists.
SLA Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake said that the country was confronted with global terrorism, and needed the assistance of the neighbouring countries to fight against the IS.
“We are confronted with a global threat and need to join regional cooperation, government to government and military to military, to face the IS threat,” he said.
Last week, three letters sent by the Indian State Intelligence Service had claimed that both India and Sri Lanka was likely to be under IS threat again, as it had diverted its focus more towards the Indian Ocean Region after they lost their control in Syria and Iraq.
“After the loss of territory in Iraq and Syria, IS is urging operatives to take up violent forms of jihad, while staying back in their respective countries,” NDTV quoted a letter sent by the State intelligence to top Kerala Police officers.
In another letter, it has stated that the increased IS-related cyber-activity in the country indicates signs of terror attacks to come.
Lt. Gen. Senanayake, addressing the media at the passing out ceremony of theIntake-49 of the Special Forces held at its Training School in Maduruoya, said that the tri-forces and the Police were kept on high alert with the latest warnings from the Indian intelligence sources on renewed attacks by the IS.
“Emergency has been extended and security is fully ensured, but in any country, any attack can happen as no one can give a guarantee that nothing will happen. But we are on high alert,” he said. Lt. Gen. Senanayake also said that the military was assisting the investigations by the Parliamentary Select Committee, the Police, and the Criminal Investigation Department on the Easter Sunday suicide attacks by the IS-influenced terrorists in Sri Lanka. The NDTV has said that nearly 100 people have believed to have joined ISIS from Kerala in the last few years, 3,000 have been ‘de-radicalised’ at 21 counselling centres across the southern State, and most of them are from north Kerala.
While strengthening the internal security, the Kerala coast has been on alert to prevent the IS terrorists from Sri Lanka entering the Kerala State since the end of May.
“Jaish-e-Mohammad used to run training centre in Balakot with Army organising it all,” Rana was quoted as saying in the Facebook live video.
Pakistan had “significant” work to do and was, with regard to an action plan agreed in June 2018, “lacking in almost every respect”, Mr. Billingslea said.
The Emergency Ambulance Service (EAS), which is being run with a grant of US$ 22. 7 million from India, became an all-island service with extension to Ampara in Eastern Sri Lanka, on Sunday.
The country office of the ADB had to issue a rare rebuke on a holiday after two cabinet ministers claimed that the lender would extend $3.4 billion to Pakistan.
The Paris-headquartered Financial Action Task Force has asked Pakistan to explain whether it has launched any investigation into the USD seven million allocated to maintain schools, madrasas, clinics and ambulances originally operated by terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and LeT fronts Jamat-ud-Dawah and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.
Top local government sources in Male told TOI that the agreement Yameen signed with China in 2017, which raised a security alarm in India, is “not on the table”. Titled ‘Protocol on Establishment of Joint Ocean Observation Station’, the agreement was meant to allow China to construct an observatory at Makunudhoo, the westernmost atoll of the Maldives in the north.
India’s ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri handed over the cheque to Finance Secretary of Nepal Rajan Khanal for the reconstruction work, Indian embassy here said in a statement.
In a bid to fight the dire global pollution menace, Philippines has passed a landmark new law which requires all high school and college students to plant at least 10 trees if they want to graduate school or college.
