Kashmir assembly demands restoration of special status revoked by Modi in 2019

Special Kashmir assembly demands restoration of special status revoked by Modi in 2019
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, center, looks on as members of the region’s legislative assembly shout slogans in support of a resolution to restore its special status during a session in Srinagar on Nov. 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 06 November 2024
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Kashmir assembly demands restoration of special status revoked by Modi in 2019

Kashmir assembly demands restoration of special status revoked by Modi in 2019
  • Kashmir lost semi-autonomy when PM Narendra Modi’s government repealed Article 370 of constitution
  • All parties in the assembly supported the move except for lawmakers from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party

NEW DELHI: The newly elected assembly of Jammu and Kashmir passed on Wednesday a resolution requesting the Indian government to start talks for the restoration of the region’s special status.

Kashmir lost its semi-autonomy in August 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government repealed Article 370 of the Indian constitution and downgraded it from state to union territory.

Article 370 acknowledged the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in terms of autonomy and its ability to formulate laws for its permanent residents.

The region has been under direct control of New Delhi since, with India’s Parliament as its main legislator, but last month the territory elected its local legislative assembly, with voters choosing representatives in opposition to Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The election was the first in 10 years, with the restoration of statehood being a main promise of all contenders, including the BJP.

The National Conference, the oldest party in Kashmir, won the polls and formed a government led by Omar Abdullah, who had earlier served as the chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir between 2009 and 2014.

Wednesday’s resolution was filed by Abdullah’s deputy, Surinder Kumar Choudhary.

“This assembly upon the Government of India to initiate dialogue with elected representatives of people of Jammu and Kashmir for restoration of special status, constitutional guarantees and to work out constitutional mechanisms for restoring these provisions,” the resolution read.

“This Legislative Assembly reaffirms the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees, which safeguarded the identity, culture, and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses concern over their unilateral removal.”

All parties in the 90-member assembly supported the resolution except for 29 BJP lawmakers.

After the revocation of Article 370, a series of administrative changes followed, with the Indian government removing protections on land and jobs for the local population, which many in the Muslim-majority region likened to attempts at demographically altering it.

While the restoration of Kashmir’s statehood was on the table, with the region’s New Delhi-appointed lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha, bringing it up earlier this week, the assembly’s call to restore the special status and protections came as a surprise.

“It was a surprise, but it was expected. It was not expected that this would happen quickly. The NC in its manifesto was committed to do it,” Prof. Noor Ahmad Baba, political science lecturer from the University of Kashmir, told Arab News.

“That is implied that the with the special status statehood, too, would be restored.”

The wording of the resolution, which did not mention Article 370 of the constitution, allowed room for negotiation with New Delhi.

“They have not asked for the restoration of Article 370, they have asked for the safeguarding of culture, identity and rights of the people,” Baba said.

“On the face of it, it looks difficult for New Delhi to accept the demand for special status. But there is also a window open here. It can be a negotiated kind of relationship, which can be symbolically different from Article 370.”

An agreement could also help to improve India’s relationship with Pakistan, he said, and become a “basis for that.”

Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir is part of the larger Kashmiri territory, which has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Both countries claim Kashmir in full and rule in part. Indian-controlled Kashmir has, for decades, witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgencies to resist control from the government in New Delhi.


Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis

Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis
Updated 05 December 2024
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Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis

Macron seeks remedy to France’s political crisis

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday will seek ways out of France’s political crisis, after Michel Barnier became the first prime minister to be ousted by parliament in over six decades.
Lawmakers voted on Wednesday to oust Barnier’s government after just three months in office, approving a no-confidence motion proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far right headed by Marine Le Pen.
Barnier’s record-quick ejection comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer, which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far right holding the key to the government’s survival.
Macron now has the unenviable task of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left, with some — though not all — opponents calling on him to resign.
Barnier is due to present Macron his government’s resignation on Thursday morning.
The president will then address the nation at 1900 GMT, the Elysee said.
The no-confidence motion, brought by the hard left in the National Assembly, came amid a standoff over next year’s austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote.
With the support of the far right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government.
It was the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.
“We are now calling on Macron to go,” Mathilde Panot, head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, told reporters, urging “early presidential elections” to solve the deepening political crisis.
But taking care not to crow over the government’s fall, Le Pen said in a television interview that her party — once a new premier is appointed — “would let them work” and help create a “budget that is acceptable for everyone.”
Laurent Wauquiez, the head of right-wing deputies in parliament, said the far right and hard left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that will “plunge the country into instability.”
Candidates for the post of premier are few, but loyalist Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.
On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September.
Barnier was the fifth prime minister to serve under Macron since he came to power in 2017, with every premier serving a successively shorter period.
Given the turbulence, the new nominee now risks serving an even shorter term than Barnier, whose tenure was the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.
Macron is minded to appoint the new premier rapidly, several sources told AFP.
A source close to Macron said the president, who has taken time with appointments in the past, has “no choice” but to name the new premier within 24 hours.
Macron has rejected calls to resign.
With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes against the threat of cutbacks, action that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis.
The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air-traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures.
Meanwhile, Macron is due to host a major international event Saturday, with the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was elected to be the next US president.
“His failure,” was left-wing daily Liberation’s front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027.
In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen’s move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government.
“In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalization she had consistently pursued,” the daily said.


Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions

Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions
Updated 05 December 2024
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Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions

Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions

WASHINGTON: The top US military officer, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, spoke by phone with Russia’s Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov last week, the US military said on Wednesday, the first time Brown spoke with his Russian counterpart.
“The leaders discussed a number of global and regional security issues to include the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” a spokesperson for Brown said in a statement.
The rare call took place on Nov. 27, but “at the request of Gen. Gerasimov, Gen. Brown agreed to not proactively announce the call.” The request for the call was made by the Russian ministry of defense, the spokesperson said.
Brown became the top US general last year, and Gerasimov last spoke with Brown’s predecessor, Mark Milley.
Tensions have spiked in recent weeks. Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia despite Moscow’s warnings that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address, said Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new medium-range, hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” (the hazel) and warned that more could follow.
US officials had said Russia notified Washington shortly before its strike.


UN children’s agency sets $9.9 bn fundraising goal for 2025

UN children’s agency sets $9.9 bn fundraising goal for 2025
Updated 05 December 2024
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UN children’s agency sets $9.9 bn fundraising goal for 2025

UN children’s agency sets $9.9 bn fundraising goal for 2025

UNITED NATIONS: The UN children’s agency on Wednesday launched a $9.9 billion fundraising appeal to provide aid next year for millions of young people impacted by wars and other crises across the globe.
“The scale of children’s humanitarian needs is at a historically high level, with more children impacted every day,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement.
The money will target 109 million children and will support access to primary health care facilities, mental health services, drinking water and education, malnutrition screening and gender-based violence mitigation.
“Looking ahead to 2025, we estimate that 213 million children in 146 countries and territories will need humanitarian assistance over the course of the year — a staggeringly high number,” Russell added.
UNICEF’s appeal comes at a time when humanitarian operations face a chronic funding crisis.
Last year, the agency appealed for $9.3 billion in its fundraising call.
The largest appeal for funds — at over $1 billion — is for Afghanistan, followed by Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Palestinian territories, and Lebanon.


Afghan economy faces ‘uncertain’ future despite modest growth: World Bank

Afghan economy faces ‘uncertain’ future despite modest growth: World Bank
Updated 05 December 2024
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Afghan economy faces ‘uncertain’ future despite modest growth: World Bank

Afghan economy faces ‘uncertain’ future despite modest growth: World Bank
  • The economy’s challenges include “fiscal constraints, trade imbalances, and a limited capacity for public investment,” the bank said in its Afghanistan Development Update

WASHINGTON: Afghanistan’s economy continues to face significant challenges despite showing signs of modest growth, the World Bank warned on Wednesday, with the future “uncertain.”
The economy’s challenges include “fiscal constraints, trade imbalances, and a limited capacity for public investment,” the bank said in its Afghanistan Development Update.
Critical factors for long-term recovery include enabling women’s participation in the economy, maintaining price stability and dealing with key deficits in human capital — such as education and health care, the multilateral development lender said.
While Afghanistan has seen GDP growth of 2.7 percent, driven by private consumption, this has “recouped only about 10 percent of past economic losses,” the World Bank said.
Afghanistan has been ruled by the Taliban since 2021, when their forces capitalized on the withdrawal of the US military under a peace deal to overthrow the country’s government.
The Taliban’s government has not been officially recognized by any country, and the economy remains largely isolated, with many Afghans living under the poverty line.
“Afghanistan’s long-term growth prospects depend on tapping into the substantial potential of the domestic private sector and improving the overall business environment,” said World Bank country director for Afghanistan Faris Hadad-Zervos.
The economy requires more investment, access to finance for small businesses, and support for skilled women entrepreneurs, Hadad-Zervos added.
Women and girls have been barred from secondary school and university as part of restrictions imposed by the Taliban that the UN has dubbed “gender apartheid.”
The World Bank noted that partial economic recovery, alongside falling food prices, has contributed to a gradual improvement in household welfare.
But it said many Afghan households still struggle to meet basic needs and that “poverty remains widespread.”
Trade is another challenge with a widening deficit due to surging imports on the back of greater demand for foreign goods and a revival of domestic industry.
“The trade deficit, exacerbated by Afghanistan’s reliance on imports for essential goods like fuel, food, and machinery, might pose a risk to the country’s economic stability,” the World Bank said.


Under pressure, UK’s Starmer sets out plans to deliver on election pledges

Under pressure, UK’s Starmer sets out plans to deliver on election pledges
Updated 05 December 2024
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Under pressure, UK’s Starmer sets out plans to deliver on election pledges

Under pressure, UK’s Starmer sets out plans to deliver on election pledges

LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer will set out plans on Thursday to deliver on his priorities to raise living standards and rebuild Britain in a speech he hopes will draw a line under what even some of his supporters say has been a bumpy start to government.
Five months since his Labour Party swept back to power with a landslide win, Starmer wants to turn the page on criticism of his government on everything from its use of campaign donations to a tax-raising budget which prompted an outcry from businesses and farmers.
He will use Thursday’s speech to plot out when Britain can expect to start seeing progress his government has promised in a range of areas, including hospital backlogs, increasing police numbers, improving education and securing home-grown energy.
Called the government’s ‘plan for change’, he is expected to set out a reform program for Britain’s overly stretched public services to try to restore trust in politics, eroded by years of chaos and scandal under the Conservatives and further deepened by Labour’s missteps in its first few months in power.
“My government was elected to deliver change, and today marks the next step. People are tired of being promised the world, but short-term sticking plaster politics letting them down,” Starmer will say, according to excerpts of his speech provided by his office.
“My mission-led government will deliver.”
Labour campaigned before the July 4 election on five missions — boosting economic growth, accelerating steps toward reaching net zero, reducing waiting times in the state-run health service, tackling crime and improving education.
His first measures on Thursday will include a move to give communities a named, contactable police officer to deal with local issues, his office said, part of a pledge to add a further 13,000 police in neighborhood roles.
“This marks a return to the founding principles of British policing — where officers are part of the communities they serve,” interior minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement.
“Through this visible, responsive police presence in every neighborhood, we will restore the trust and partnership that lies at the heart of keeping our communities safe.”