Tag: Border

Centre to provide free ‘Dish’ in remote areas at Indo-China border: Anurag Thakur

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Leh: Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday announced that the Centre will ensure supply of free Doordarshan DTH connections in villages at Indo-China border.

He also said better mobile connectivity to residents of these remote villages will be ensured soon, asserting that the government is committed to ensure better all-round connectivity to these far-flung areas.
The minister said this during an interaction he had with the villagers at Karzok Village of Ladakh, some 211 kilometres from Leh.

The government has proposed to distribute 1.5 lakh free FreeDish connections in villages in border areas.
Asserting that the government was committed to development of border villages, Thakur assured the local villagers that their demands of better digital connectivity and road connectivity, enhancing tourism infrastructure, sports infrastructure and improved Jal Jeewan Mission will also be implemented on priority basis.
As part of the government’s vibrant village programme, Thakur embarked on a three-day tour of Leh-Ladakh, during which he stayed in Karzok village, held meeting with UT and district officials to review Central/state government schemes and distribution of sports equipment.
He also interacted with the ITBP jawans at Karzok platoon post located about 15,000 feet above sea level on the Indo-China border, according to an official statement.
Aiming to assess the reach of various projects and schemes of the government and also gain a first-hand understanding of the challenges faced by the residents in remote villages on Indo-China border, the Union minister held close interaction with the local villagers and also administrative officials.

Accompanied by a team of officials and local representatives, Thakur interacted with local villagers in Kharnak and Samad among others and listened to their concerns and aspirations.
At Kharnak, he also inaugurated the PMGSY road connecting the highway of Dadh Kharnak.
During one of his interactions with locals, the minister asserted that after the formation of the Union territory, a lot of development has taken place in Ladakh such as direct funding, 24-hour electricity, installation of solar plant, increased livelihood opportunity, and sanction of 375 mobile towers in Leh.
He also unveiled plans for future initiatives that would further enhance the development of Changthang and surrounding villages. These initiatives include upgrading infrastructure for better connectivity, and promoting eco-tourism to leverage the region’s natural beauty.
Thakur assured the villagers that the government would provide all necessary support and resources to implement these plans effectively.
The concerted effort of the government would lead to increased tourism development in Changthang, he added.
While interacting with the jawans of the 37th ITBP post, Thakur spoke about the reforms undertaken by the Centre to provide all facilities for the forces posted at the border such as improved combat wear, armament, make in India initiative and pensions, etc.
The minister’s visit to vibrant village Changthang is a significant step towards empowering rural communities, uplifting their living standards, and fostering sustainable development in the region, the statement said.
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#Centre #provide #free #Dish #remote #areas #IndoChina #border #Anurag #Thakur
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

July 13, 2023
House and Senate diverge on immigration as border fears mount

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Passing any bill would mark a political victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s conference, which punted a plan to pass border legislation in the first weeks of their majority as they navigated open infighting within their ranks. Republicans view border security as a potent wedge issue heading into the 2024 campaign — and underscoring that strategy, they’re timing a Thursday vote on their bill to the expiration of a Trump-era border policy that lets the U.S. deny asylum and migration claims for public health reasons.
But should the House GOP muscle its bill through, the win would be largely symbolic. That’s because, across the Capitol, GOP senators are warning that House Republicans will have to make concessions if they want to get a bill to President Joe Biden’s desk.
“It’s a start,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said of the House bill in a brief interview. “But I think everybody understands that, in order to get 60 votes in the Senate, it’s going to have to change.”
“And the question is, what does that look like?” Cornyn added. “Will Senator Schumer agree to let us take it up, and will the House accept those changes?”
The two chambers are miles apart: While the Senate is months or more away from even starting immigration negotiations, House Republicans are still working to get conservatives and more centrist-minded members aligned. That task isn’t fully done even as the GOP prepares to take the bill to the floor: Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said in a statement for this story that “Americans who care about border security should be deeply disappointed in House Republican leaders” over the proposal’s treatment of drug cartels.
Crenshaw added that “the only mention of the cartels in this bill is a ‘study’ of the cartels that may actually give the Biden administration a pathway to make our immigration crisis exponentially worse,” noting that “multiple members” have raised worries that “are being ignored by leadership as they try to rush this bill to the floor.”
A spokesperson for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said Monday that he will vote against the border bill over its treatment of “e-verify” technology designed to help companies confirm employees’ immigration status, and an aide to Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said he’s “expressed concerns to leadership” about the e-verify provision.
The White House on Monday threatened to veto the House bill if it reaches Biden’s desk as is, arguing it “would make things worse, not better.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said he’s still talking with conference members on the measure’s e-verify provisions. And while he didn’t rule out changing the bill in order to get it to Biden’s desk, Scalise observed that the Senate — where the filibuster requires lawmakers to work across the aisle on most issues — hasn’t been able to get the necessary 60 votes this year on a range of topics, not just the border.
“We at least are going to show how we can pass something,” Scalise said in an interview. “If there are senators, Republican and Democrat, who want to help solve the problem, we’ve laid out a path to do it. If they’ve got better ideas, I want to start seeing their ideas.”
On that front, behind-the-scenes conversations are happening between members in both chambers. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who helped negotiate a deal on the House bill, has been in touch with a bipartisan group of senators, including Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Cornyn. Sinema and Tillis also took a trip to the border earlier this year with Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Gonzales.
Senate talks about a larger immigration bill are “active” but “sporadic,” as Tillis put it. But senators aren’t deep enough into talks that they are ready to horse-trade over what a proposal would have to include in order for it to clear the chamber.
Three Senate Democrats who would likely be integral to any deal that could pass — Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — each separately said they’ve seen few signs of movement on their side of the Capitol.
“I believe it’s a very positive step. And there are elements of the framework that we’re going to have to consider to get votes on the Senate side, and we’re constantly working with the House,” Tillis said of the House bill, while cautioning that “we’re talking months before we would have a vote on that.”
Congress is under renewed pressure to act on border legislation, a long-sought but elusive goal for more than a decade now, thanks to bipartisan fears that the Thursday end of the public health-related border policy known as Title 42 could spark an onrush of migration along the southern border.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was working “within significant constraints,” urging lawmakers to provide his agency with additional resources. The administration is taking its own steps, including sending 1,500 additional troops to the border.
While the House GOP bill is expected to get little if any Democratic support this week, some in the president’s party are signaling interest in negotiating on border policy.
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) wrote to Mayorkas on Monday asking the Homeland chief and the White House “to join me in engaging in these conversations” with Republicans. And Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told reporters late last week that he likes parts of the GOP’s bill while opposing others: “I’m hoping that we can sit down and work those out.”
Tillis, Sinema, Cornyn and Manchin rolled out a bill late last week, first reported by POLITICO, that would grant a temporary two-year authority to expel migrants from the U.S., similar to what is currently allowed under Title 42.
Despite its timing, the legislation isn’t designed as a response to the House bill; aides involved in Senate conversations about a broader border proposal say they’re continuing on a separate track.
Meanwhile, Republicans have hammered the Biden administration over repealing Title 42 — rhetoric that GOP aides predicted would escalate this week as the policy’s expiration date nears.
Tillis predicted, as the option of restricting migration on public health grounds evaporates, a “growing sense that if the president’s not going to put any other option on the table, that it’s going to be unsustainable, unsafe and politically unwise.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) phrased it more succinctly in an interview: “First thing we need to do is not repeal Title 42,” he said. “We should deal with the asylum problem. That’s the magnet, right?”
Asked about the next step to address the influx of migrants, Graham added: “Chaos.”
Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.

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#House #Senate #diverge #immigration #border #fears #mount
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 9, 2023
7 dead after SUV hits crowd at Texas bus stop near border

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The city bus stop is across the street from the shelter and is not marked. There was no bench, and people waiting there were sitting along the curb, Maldonado said. He said most of the victims were Venezuelan men.
He said the SUV flipped after running up on the curb and continued moving for about 200 feet. Some people walking on the sidewalk about 30 feet from the main group were also hit, Maldonado said. Witnesses detained the driver as he tried to run away and held him until police arrived, he said.
Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval said the crash happened about 8:30 a.m. and police did not know whether the driver intentionally hit people.
“It can be three factors,” Sandoval said. “It could be intoxication; it could be an accident; or it could be intentional. In order for us to find out exactly what happened, we have to eliminate the other two.”
The driver was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained when the car rolled over, Sandoval said. There were no passengers in the car and police didn’t immediately know the drivers’ name or age, Sandoval said on Sunday afternoon.
“He’s being very uncooperative at the hospital, but he will be transported to our city jail as soon as he gets released,” Sandoval said. “Then we’ll fingerprint him and (take a) mug shot, and then we can find his true identity.”
Police also retrieved a blood sample and sent it to a Texas Department of Public Safety lab to test for intoxicants.
Brownsville has long been an epicenter for migration across the U.S.-Mexico border, and it has become a key location of interest for next week’s end to pandemic-era border restrictions known as Title 42. The Ozanam shelter is the only overnight shelter in the city and manages the release of thousands of migrants from federal custody.

Maldonado said the center had not received any threats before the crash, but they did afterward.
“I’ve had a couple of people come by the gate and tell the security guard that the reason this happened was because of us,” Maldonado said.
The shelter can hold 250, but many who arrive leave the same day. In the last several weeks, an uptick in border crossings prompted the city to declare an emergency as local, state and federal resources coordinated enforcement and humanitarian response.
“In the last two months, we’ve been getting 250 to 380 a day,” Maldonado said.
While the shelter offers migrants transportation during the week, they also use the city’s public transportation.
U.S. Rep. Vicente González said Sunday that local officials are in communication with the federal government about the crash.
“We are all extremely sad and heartbroken to have such a tragedy in our neighborhood,” he said.
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#dead #SUV #hits #crowd #Texas #bus #stop #border
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 7, 2023
We have to take disengagement process forward: Jaishankar on eastern Ladakh border row

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Benaulim: The relations between India and China cannot be normal if peace and tranquillity in border areas are disturbed, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday.
His comments at a press conference came a day after his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
“I think the issue is that there is an abnormal position in border areas,” he said, adding “we had a frank discussion about it.”

“We have to take the disengagement process forward,” he further said.
Jaishankar and Qin held bilateral talks on Thursday on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
The meeting between the two foreign ministers was their second in the last two months. The Chinese foreign minister visited India in March to attend a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers.
During the talks, Jaishankar conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that the state of India-China relations is “abnormal” because of the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh.
Last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu at a meeting that China’s violation of existing border agreements “eroded” the entire basis of ties between the two countries and that all issues relating to the frontier must be resolved in accordance with the existing pacts.

The meeting on April 27 took place in New Delhi on the sidelines of a conclave of the SCO defence ministers.
Days ahead of the meeting between the two defence ministers, the Indian and Chinese armies held 18th round of talks on ending the border row.
In the Corps Commander talks on April 23, the two sides agreed to stay in close touch and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh at the earliest.
However, there was no indication of any clear forward movement in ending the three-year row.
The ties between India and China nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
The Indian and the Chinese troops are locked in a standoff in a few friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh for the last three years though they disengaged in several places following a series of military and diplomatic talks.
India has been maintaining that the relationship between the two countries should be based on “three mutuals” — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests.
The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area.
As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.
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#disengagement #process #Jaishankar #eastern #Ladakh #border #row
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 5, 2023
Sinema and Tillis pitch two-year border patch as Trump-era policy expires

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The legislation would provide protections for migrants whose return to their home countries would threaten their life, freedom, or expose them to torture. It also provides protections for migrants with acute medical needs, according to a Sinema aide.
The legislation would need at least 60 votes to pass the Senate, making it all but guaranteed that it won’t pass before Title 42’s expiration, and it faces an uphill climb more broadly in a chamber that has struggled in recent years to find consensus on border and immigration issues.
And it comes as the House is set to vote on its own sweeping border and immigration proposal next week. But it’s not meant to be a response to that bill — with aides and senators involved noting that Sinema, Tillis and others are holding broader talks on a separate track — but instead is in response to the looming May 11 date for the expiration of the Trump-era authority.
The end of Title 42 has sparked fierce criticism from Republicans, as well as warnings from some Democrats who worry that the administration doesn’t have the resources positioned along the U.S.-Mexico border to be able to process an increase in migrants seeking entry into the United States.
Eleven Senate Republicans — including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — sent a letter to Biden Wednesday urging him to reverse course and keep Title 42 in place. Graham, in a press conference on Wednesday, compared the end of Title 42 to “being hit by a slow moving truck in Kansas.”
“I’m asking them to find an acceptable substitute for Title 42,” he added.
The administration had initially planned to end the Trump-era program on May 23, 2022. But the policy got tied up in a lengthy court battle as Republicans made an effort to keep the authority in place. The Biden administration then announced in February that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic public health emergency would also terminate Title 42.
But the issue is rife with potential political trip wires for the Biden administration, who faced public urging from Democrats over the past year to keep the program in place. Tillis and Sinema offered an amendment late last year that, among other provisions, would have extended Title 42 and boosted border funding. The proposal failed but got support from several senators up for reelection in 2024 in red and purple states: Sens. Sinema, Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Asked whether he would support a two-year expulsion authority similar to Title 42, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told reporters on Thursday that he’s instead been “working on getting the resources” border officials need if Title 42 goes away.
“We’re looking at other options. Right now I’ve been focused on getting the resources they need for when May 11 comes,” said Kelly, who previously voted for the duo’s amendment last year.
Manchin, who like Sinema hasn’t yet announced if he will run for reelection, called the end of Title 42 a “shame” and appeared frustrated by Congress’ inability to legislate on the border.
“I think the border has to be secure, period. … It’s a disaster at the border,” Manchin said in a brief interview, asked about steps the administration or lawmakers should take.
The administration has been ramping up its response to the policy ending as they face concerns about being able to respond to a potential increase sparked by both the end of Title 42 and the upcoming summer season.
The administration announced late last month that it would establish immigration processing centers throughout Latin America to help slow down the number of migrants coming to the U.S.
And earlier this week the administration announced it would add another 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border to deal with the influx of migrants expected with the expiration of Title 42.
The additional troops, which are being sent to fill a request from the Department of Homeland Security, will fill “critical capability gaps,” including detection and monitoring, data entry and warehouse support. They will be there for up to 90 days, after which military reservists or contractors will do the work.
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#Sinema #Tillis #pitch #twoyear #border #patch #Trumpera #policy #expires
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 4, 2023
‘Border Haats’ in Tripura along India-Bangladesh border to reopen after 3 yrs

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Agartala: After three years of closure, one of the two ‘Border Haats’ (markets) in Tripura along India-Bangladesh border will resume trading from May 9, officials said on Wednesday.
A top official of the Tripura Industries and Commerce Department said that after a recent meeting between the district officials of Feni (Bangladesh) and South Tripura, it was decided to resume the business of the Purba Madhugram (Bangladesh)-Srinagar (South Tripura) ‘Border Haats’ from May 9.
“Efforts were on to restart the Kasba (Bangladesh)-Kamlasagar (Tripura) Border Haat in Sepahijala district,” the official told IANS.

The four Border Haats, two each in Tripura and Meghalaya, have remained closed since March 2020 after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns, causing immense loss to the people living in the bordering villages.
Both the Tripura and Meghalaya governments have been pressing the Centre to take up the matter with the Bangladesh government to resume the Border Haats.
The two Border Haats in Meghalaya — at Balat (East Khasi Hills district) and Kalaichar (South West Garo Hills district) — were reopened last year and both are functional once a week now.
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel, recently in a letter to former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, currently a Rajya Sabha member, said that the Central government has raised the issue of reopening the two ‘Border Haats’ in Tripura to promote local business and livelihood of the people living on either side of the frontiers with its Bangladesh counterpart.
“We are continuously raising the matter of the reopening of Border Haats at Kamalasagar and Srinagar in the bilateral meetings with Bangladesh. We are hopeful of an early resolution of this matter,” Patel had said in her letter to Deb.

Officials of the Tripura Industries and Commerce Department said that the officials in Sepahijala and South Tripura district administrations had on a number of occasions approached their Bangladesh counterparts to reopen the Border Haats as the Covid-19 induced situation has almost been tamed now.
Jaipur-based think-tank CUTS International, which has done several studies on border trade, had also recommended to the Indian government to resume these border markets the necessary precautions against Covid-19, as these markets boost the economy, cement ties between the people of the two countries and also check illegal trade.
These markets, spread in around 5,625 sq. metre area of the two countries’ territories or “no-man’s land”, operate once a week on a fixed day.
In the weekly market, on an average, at least 25 vendors, including women from both sides of the border, sell their products.
According to the officials, 10 more “Border Haats” were approved along the India-Bangladesh border at Tripura and Meghalaya. Out of them, six are in Meghalaya, and four in Tripura.
Both Indian and Bangladeshi governments are keen to reopen more “Border Haats” in the four northeastern states — Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram, which share 1,880-km border with Bangladesh.
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#Border #Haats #Tripura #IndiaBangladesh #border #reopen #yrs
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 3, 2023
‘Unacceptable’: Top Dem rips Biden plan to send 1,500 more troops to southern border

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The move comes as Title 42, the public health law that permits the U.S. to deny asylum and migrations claims for public health reasons, is set to expire on May 11. Some senior U.S. officials say the end of Title 42 could entice more people seeking a better life in America to present themselves at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The administration has had over two years to plan for the eventual end of this Trump-era policy in a way that does not compromise our values as a country,” Menendez said. “I have offered them a strategic and comprehensive plan, which they have largely ignored. Trying to score political points or intimidate migrants by sending the military to the border caters to the Republican Party’s xenophobic attacks on our asylum system.”
The service members, mainly coming from Army units, will not have a law enforcement role. They will be armed for self-defense but will be performing monitoring and administrative tasks only, freeing up Border Patrol officials to process migrant claims, officials said.
The additional troops, which are being sent to fill a request from the Department of Homeland Security, will fill “critical capability gaps,” including detection and monitoring, data entry and warehouse support. They will be there for up to 90 days, after which military reservists or contractors will do the work.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is investing in technology and personnel to reduce its need for DoD support in coming years, and we continue to call on Congress to support us in this task,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the official request from DHS, sending soldiers to join 2,500 National Guard troops already activated to assist law enforcement at the border.
The National Guard troops already at the border are deployed in active-duty status, which means their mission is funded by the federal government and not their respective states, according to the DoD official. They are assisting border agents with detection and monitoring.
President Joe Biden last week signed an executive order authorizing the administration to call up active-duty forces to address drug trafficking at the southern border, essentially preapproving the mission. DHS then asked the Pentagon for assistance.

Fox News first reported the development.
Last week, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas previewed how his agency would be stretched by the end of Title 42.
“We have been preparing for this transition for more than a year and a half. Notwithstanding those preparations, we do expect that encounters at our southern border will [be] increasing, as smugglers are seeking to take advantage of this change and already are hard at work spreading disinformation that the border will be open after that,” he told reporters. “High encounters will place a strain on our entire system, including our dedicated and heroic workforce and our communities.”
Biden admin to set up migrant processing centers in Latin America ahead of end of Title 42
While the politics of the border crisis have shifted in recent years, Biden could see similar reactions to Menendez’s. Many Democrats fiercely resisted the Trump administration’s deployment of active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing the move was politically motivated, would harm readiness and service members would be quietly involved in law enforcement. The House Armed Services Committee’s first hearing after Democrats took control in 2019, for instance, was on the Pentagon’s support for DHS at the border.
But the Senate’s top appropriator on defense, Jon Tester (D-Mont.), said he wouldn’t object to the move as an emergency measure. He added that the news highlights the need to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.
“We need a secure border, if that’s what we need to do now, do it,” Tester said. “The real issue here is that we have to empower the Department of Homeland Security, and Customs and Border Protection to do that job.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking member, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), said he hadn’t been briefed on the matter.
He said Biden, who’d previously shown “a lack of concern about the border” might now be “reading the polls.”
“If they would begin to resume enforcement of the law, it would be the best step possible,” Wicker said. “We are told by agents along the border that their hands are tied and they’re not allowed to enforce the law as they were earlier.”
The Biden administration’s move continues the trend of presidents using troops to fill in for the personnel-strapped Border Patrol as Congress hasn’t fully funded the agency to do its work.
In 2006, then-President George W. Bush deployed 6,000 troops to the border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for Operation Jump Start, which lasted two years. While there, the troops assisted with more than 185,000 apprehensions of undocumented immigrants.
Four years later, then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Biden sent up to 1,200 troops to the border during Operation Phalanx, which stretched for about a year. Soon after, the Obama administration also deployed troops, including a Stryker unit, from Fort Bliss to the border communities in Arizona and New Mexico for two months.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump sent some 2,100 National Guardsmen to the southwest, though they mostly stayed miles from the border and largely performed support tasks for the U.S. Border Patrol. Months later, days before midterm elections, he deployed another 5,200 troops to fortify the border, drawing backlash from former military officials and Democrats who accused Trump of abusing the military to rile up his base.
Matt Berg and Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.
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#Unacceptable #Top #Dem #rips #Biden #plan #send #troops #southern #border
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 2, 2023
Border Residents in Uri celebrate this year’s first wedding amid Ceasefire pact

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Baramulla, May 01: With ceasefire along, Line of Control (LoC) completing two years, joyous wedding ceremony was held in the Churunada border town of Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, marking the first celebration of its kind this year.
Although the relations between India and Pakistan are currently strained, both sides have taken measures to ensure strict compliance with the ceasefire, providing a great sense of relief to those living on both sides of the de facto border who had previously experienced frequent firing and destruction of homes.
Choudhary Lal Hussain, a local resident whose sister was married told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that relatives and neighbors came together to celebrate the wedding, an event that had been previously disrupted by cross-border shelling between the two armies.
Expressing gratitude towards his loved ones for attending the ceremony, he remarked that the peaceful situation in the area over the past two years had made such gatherings possible.
Gulam Rasool, another local said that the wedding was a lively affair, with women singing traditional songs and men playing drums with great enthusiasm.
“Such celebratory events are only possible in an atmosphere of peace and stability, and we hope and pray that such conditions continue at the borders so that people in border areas can live their lives with a sense of safety and comfort,” he said.
Mohammad Amin, another elderly local expressed his joy at the newfound ability to hold celebratory events in his village.
He remarked that in the past, the fear of shelling made it difficult to even hold funeral ceremonies in their homes, let alone weddings. However, he expressed relief that the situation has now improved significantly.

“Before, we used to worry about whether we would be able to hold a wedding or not because of the constant threat of shelling and violence. But now, with the ceasefire in place and a peaceful atmosphere prevailing, we can hold our ceremonies with joy and celebration. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to carry on our cultural traditions without the constant fear of shelling,” he said.
Last year, approximately 250 weddings took place in the border villages of Kashmir, evoking memories of past times when celebrations were held in the comfort of one’s own home rather than being relocated to safer areas outside the villages—(KNO)
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#Border #Residents #Uri #celebrate #years #wedding #Ceasefire #pact
( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

May 1, 2023
Democratic mayor becomes unlikely GOP ally in battle over Southern border

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“This administration has been asleep at the wheel on border security, and it has had a tremendous, negative impact on New York City,” Lawler said in a statement to POLITICO. “I would be more than happy to work in a bipartisan way with the mayor to force President Biden to secure our borders and reform the immigration system.”
Since spring 2022, more than 57,000 migrants — largely from Latin America — arrived in New York after crossing the southern border. Some were sent from conservative states like Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott chartered as many as eight buses a day to carry migrants to Manhattan. Others arrived on their own.
The influx has strained the resources of one of the biggest cities in the world.
Services tied to housing, feeding, educating and providing health care to the newcomers are projected to cost $2.9 billion next year alone, an amount that exceeds the New York City Fire Department’s entire operating budget. So far, Adams has mostly failed to get the White House to respond to his pleas for additional funds, easing of work requirements and better coordination at the border to resettle asylum seekers around the U.S.
Adams’ new rhetoric, which drew praise from the conservative editorial page of the New York Post and mirrored remarks by Fox News contributor Sean Duffy, was even more eyebrow-raising given the moderate Democrat is a national surrogate for Biden.
The mayor’s comments came just days before the president announced his reelection bid and at a time when Republicans are gearing up to use voter discontent around immigration in their fight for the White House, the Senate and a larger majority in the House.
This is the second time in less than a year that Adams’ message on a highly contentious political issue has overlapped with Republican talking points. In 2022, he joined GOP calls for reforms to New York’s bail laws and only changed his tune as the midterms neared and it became clear his party would take a beating over crime at the ballot box.
Though Adams’ words on immigration could now hurt fellow Democrats running for national office, particularly in New York’s swing congressional districts where Lawler is facing a competitive race, Adams may be thinking more about protecting his own reelection bid in 2025.

One mayoral adviser, granted anonymity to discuss the administration’s internal mood, noted most New Yorkers would rather see investments in schools, libraries and other city services than billions more spent to help the newcomers. Indeed, a February poll by Quinnipiac University found that 63 percent of voters — including 53 percent of Democrats — don’t think New York City can accommodate the sanctuary-seekers.
Spokespeople for Adams strongly rejected criticism that he’s parroting Republican talking points, saying he’s done more to care for tens of thousands of migrants than any other Democrat in the country.
“To personally show his support for asylum seekers, Mayor Adams has organized haircuts for migrants, book donations for kids, and clothing drives, as well as slept besides migrants at a humanitarian relief center while spending hours hearing their personal stories,” mayoral press secretary Fabien Levy said in a statement.
“Anyone falsely accusing Mayor Adams of using Republican rhetoric should stop criticizing the one person doing more than anyone else in this city for migrants and start pushing for more aid from Washington, DC and Albany,” Levy said.

Adams visits a food and clothing distribution center for asylum seekers at PS 20 in Manhattan, on Feb. 11.
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Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
But his language around the issue — saying the migrant crisis has “destroyed” the city, directly blaming Biden for the situation and saying it has prevented New York’s economic comeback — is still jarring to many members of his party.
“It’s extremely disappointing and dangerous to hear anyone feed into anti-immigrant rhetoric, particularly the highest-ranking elected city official of one of the most diverse cities that is fueled by the contributions of the immigrant community,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez, a first-term Democrat from Illinois who says her progressive stance is key to stemming GOP gains in the Latino community.
“At the federal level, we need to utilize executive authority to ensure cities like Chicago and New York have the support they need to continue providing shelter with maximal flexibility,” she said.
Added Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a leading critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ immigration policies: “We should tone down the rhetoric and focus on solutions.”
Both Republican and Democratic strategists say Adams’ decision to amplify the right’s messaging around immigration could be a gift to the GOP.
“I think echoing Republican attacks when Biden is going to need every single resource from Democrats to back him up is not what good Democrats do,” said Bill Neidhardt, a progressive political consultant.
Republican strategist Bob Heckman said it’s surprising that other Democratic mayors of places like Chicago, D.C. and Denver, which have also faced an influx of migrants, aren’t speaking out like Adams.
“If you are the mayor of a city who’s receiving the huge influx of migrants that are pouring across the southern border, it’s hard not to talk like that,” Heckman said. “The administration needs to get serious about it. They can’t just ignore it and run on, ‘We can’t let Donald Trump get reelected.’”
A spokesperson for Biden declined to respond directly to Adams’ criticism but pointed to the president’s announcement in January about new border enforcement actions when he said “extreme Republicans” have always tried to use immigration to score political points but don’t help solve the problem.
One of those so-called extreme Republicans, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas who has advocated for conservative immigration measures, wasn’t quite ready to embrace the New York mayor.
“Eric Adams is right to blame the Biden Administration for the border crisis, but this is the same guy who campaigned on his city’s sanctuary status and extended childcare, colleague classes and other taxpayer-funded programs to illegal migrants,” Roy said in a statement.
“Texas has been bearing the brunt of this crisis for over two years — now New York is getting a taste of their own medicine.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 29, 2023
India needs to do more than strong words on border situation with China

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After the meeting of Indiana and Chinese defense ministers on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization ( SCO), in which the two sides failed to agree on the future of the situation in eastern Ladakh, which has caused a lot of consternation and tension on both sides, makes it mandatory for Delhi to reassess the crisis and tools for its resolution.
As usual, there was a lot of hype ahead of the meeting of visiting Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh, on April 27, 2023, that the two sides could approach the matter of over three-year-long military standoff in the mountains and desert of eastern Ladakh with more pragmatism. Some of the optimists were hoping, in whispers though, for a breakthrough in the border situation. It was a difficult, though not impossible to deliberate on the standoff and the ways to end it . But the outcome has left neither side satisfied. Worse, they are looking at continuation of the crisis which has a potential of the geo-political stability, which already is on cutches.
India, as articulated by Rajnath Singh, during the meeting, “categorically conveyed that development of relations between India and China is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquility at the borders.” There was an addition of a very strong point, in which the Indian minister said that “all issues at the LAC need to be resolved in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and commitments., “ and he went on to remind the Chinese side and reiterated that the “ violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of the bilateral relations and disengagement at the border will logically be followed with de-escalation.”

This was both an assertion of the Indian territory in eastern Ladakh and also a charge against Beijing, which traversed beyond the issue staring at the border. This also reflected that how the two Asian giants were losing the grand opportunity of fostering better bilateral relations because of China’s moves to unilaterally change the status of the LAC.
China was told that enough is enough and it will have to do more to ease the situation, and the first task is to go back to the letter and spirit of the agreements of maintaining peace and tranquility on borders. The agreement signed on September 7, 1993, between India and China had worked out a mechanism in which neither side would cross the LAC nor create any threatening situation. This agreement had, by and large been held, despite certain skirmishes and face-off situations until April 2020 when Chinese troops gathered in huge numbers with their war machinery and militarily threatening exercises. This was in complete violation of the agreement.
Chinese, on the other side, as it came out after the April 27 meeting, did not agree with the perception and the assessment of the border situation, and they believed that whatever has been done till date, in terms of disengagement and de-escalation at the LAC in eastern Ladakh, doesn’t require any further action , completely ignoring the fact that tensions continued to persist. There were at least two major friction points – Despang and Demchok where disengagement and de-escalation are pending.
Li Shangfu, however, as per the readout issued by China’s Ministry of Defense on Friday, said that the “ Common interest between China and India prevails over discrepancies, thus both sides should view bilateral ties and their development in a comprehensive, long-term and strategic way. The two countries should bring the border situation under the normalized management and to jointly enhance mutual trust between the two armies.” The not-s-hidden meaning of this statement is that India should accept the LAC situation as it is now, keeping all the changes that might have occurred since April 2020, out of the bilateral relations or future talks on the subject.
China is asking India, this is what is clear from Shagfu’s statement that the two countries should move ahead in their bilateral relations and treat the current border situation as normal. In short, it translates into, heads I win and tails you lose attitude articulated by China.

This is a serious proposition by China. It has put ball in the court of India , leaving Delhi with two choices whether you accept what is there and move ahead in the bilateral relations, or you wait and watch till the time China decides something else on the issue. It is a grave situation – India cannot accept it either.
This also poses tremendous challenge to Indian policymakers and strategists. The first and foremost things is that India should reassess the whole situation, draw its own roadmap of the solution it wants, and deliberate on the ways how to approach China in a manner in which there is no escalation and still the results can be achieved. While doing so, India will have to factor in the rising international profile of China, after it brokered agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and now its efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. The US might offer help to India, but that would also be a self-trap for India. It should dig into the history, maintain strong diplomatic position and the best way would be to convey a message to Beijing that the current situation would hurt China as well. That demands strong words to be backed by great homework and action as per requirement of the situation.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 29, 2023