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‘India is a vibrant democracy, shared values tie us’: US State Department spokesperson rebuffs Pakistani journalist trying to discuss BBC documentary

OpIndia Staff
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‘India is a vibrant democracy, shared values tie us’: US State Department spokesperson rebuffs Pakistani journalist trying to discuss BBC documentary

On Monday (January 23, US local time), a Pakistani journalist named Jalil Afridi was slammed by the US State Department spokesperson Ned Price after the former tried to rake up the BBC documentary on Indian PM Narendra Modi to sour the bilateral relations between the two countries.

At about 1 hour and 2 minutes into the press briefing, he claimed that the United States has compromised on its value by refusing to condemn Narendra Modi for his supposed involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots (an insinuation made by the BBC’s propaganda documentary).

Jalil Afridi, who serves as the Managing Editor of The Frontier Post said, “I have never challenged the strategic interest of the US with India, but I regret the fact that since last eight years that I have been covering the State Department I have not seen once a senior official standing here at your seat condemning Narendra Modi himself individually – not just as a prime minister but individually his acts.”

Ned Price responded, “I am not aware of this documentary that you point to, but I will say broadly is that there are a number of elements that undergird the global strategic partnership that we have with our Indian partners.”

“There are close political ties, there are economic ties, there are exceptionally deep people-to-people ties between the United States and India. But one of those additional elements are the values that we share, the values that are common to American democracy and to Indian democracy,” he emphasised.

“India, of course, is the world’s largest democracy. It’s a vibrant democracy. And again, we look to everything that ties us together, and we look to reinforce all of those elements that tie us together,” the US State Department spokesperson schooled the Pakistani journalist.

Nonetheless, Jalil Afridi nudged Ned Price in the hopes of soliciting a hostile response about India or its Prime Minister. “How is it possible that State Department officials who were posted there at that time did not know that this individual, who was a former chief minister,” he asked.

“It happened right under his nose. Two thousand people were burned alive,” the Managing Director of The Frontier Post resorted to peddling disinformation.

“Again, I’m not familiar with the documentary you’re referring to. I am very familiar with the shared values that connect the United States and India as two thriving, vibrant democracies,” Ned Price reiterated.

He concluded, “When we have concerns about actions that are taken in India, we’ve voiced those. We’ve had an occasion to do that. But we want first and foremost to reinforce those values that are at the heart of our relationship.”

The Background of the BBC controversy

Recently, BBC aired a two-part documentary attacking PM Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister during the Gujarat riots of 2002. India has denounced the controversial program as a “propaganda piece” that is designed to push a discredited narrative.

One of the nefarious objectives behind the documentary was to whitewash the role of Islamists in the Godhra train carnage, which claimed a total of 59 Hindu lives.

It further used the already discredited statements of Sanjiv Bhatt and RB Sreekumar to attack the Indian Prime Minister. BBC even used the claims of Babu Bajrangi and Haresh Bhatt, who have admitted that they were reading the script given by a journalist, to try and declare PM Modi guilty.

Massive protests erupt in Turkey, Yemen, Iraq over Quran burning in Sweden, people burn Swedish flag, call for the boycott of Swedish brands

OpIndia Staff
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Massive protests erupt in Turkey, Yemen, Iraq over Quran burning in Sweden, people burn Swedish flag, call for the boycott of Swedish brands

Massive protests erupted in several Middle East countries including Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey days after a copy of the Quran was reportedly burnt in Sweden during protests against Turkey outside Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. The protesters outside the Swedish Embassy in Turkey, Yemen, burnt the national flag of Sweden and strongly condemned the incident of burning the Quran.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered on the streets of Yemen and Turkey and raised slogans against Sweden. They also have called for a boycott of all the Swedish brands like clothing brands named H&M, furniture brands IKEA, Skype, Volvo, Ericsson, Nordea, and more. The videos of the protests went viral over the internet in which the protesters could be seen raising slogans against Sweden and demanding a boycott of Swedish brands.

Also, in some of the videos, people could be seen burning the Swedish national flag and praying for the end of polytheism (the practice of believing in multiple deities). One of the Twitter users shared the video of the protests and prayed, “May Allah destroy the polytheists, as the Quran has been burnt Nauzubillah, so may they burn in this world and hereafter, Ameen”.

The incident of burning the Quran in Sweden happened on January 21 during the protest against Turkey. Two more protests were happening in Stockholm that day. One was in support of Kurds and another one was against Sweden’s bid to join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). As reported earlier, all three protests had permission from the Sweden Police.

According to the reports, Turkey condemned the Quran burning incident and called it a ‘vile act’. The country also said that the Swedish government’s decision to allow the protest to go ahead was ‘completely unacceptable’. The Quran was burnt by Rasmus Paludan, a politician from the Danish far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party.

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the incident happened after repeated warnings. “Permitting this anti-Islamic act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’ is completely unacceptable,” it said.

Statement issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey

The protesters meanwhile also burnt the poster of Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line, in front of the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul on January 22. People protesting in Ankara and Istanbul also condemned Sweden for promoting ‘state-supported Islamophobia’ under the guise of ‘freedom of expression’. “We condemn Sweden’s state-supported Islamophobia,” flags and banners carried by protesters read.

Protesters burning the portrait of Paludan who burnt the Quran

The conflict between the two nations arose because Turkey delayed Sweden and Finland’s bids to join the NATO alliance. Following Russia’s war on Ukraine, both Scandinavian nations asked to join the alliance. Turkey, a NATO member, is utilizing its right to hold the applications under particular circumstances, including deporting critics of its President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and labeling Kurds as terrorists. The recent protest reportedly has most certainly reduced the likelihood of applications being approved.

Morbi bridge tragedy: Gujarat court issues arrest warrant for Oreva Group’s Jaysukh Patel

ANI
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Morbi bridge tragedy: Gujarat court issues arrest warrant for Oreva Group’s Jaysukh Patel

A Gujarat court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Jaysukh Patel of the Oreva Group in relation to the October 30 bridge collapse in Morbi in which 134 people were killed.

Ajanta Manufacturing Limited (Oreva Group) had secured the contract to renovate, repair and operate the British-era bridge on the Machchu river in Morbi. On Sunday, Chief Judicial Magistrate of Morbi, MJ Khan, issued an arrest warrant against Patel under section 70 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

“The court issued an arrest warrant against Jaysukh Patel of Oreva Group, which had a contract for the renovation of the Morbi bridge. He has not been arrested for 70 days. No lookout notice issued yet,” Government prosecutor Sanjay Vora told ANI yesterday.

Notably, Patel had moved to Morbi sessions court on January 20 for anticipatory bail in the case, while the hearing was adjourned till February 1 as the public prosecutor was not present. Patel is not named as an accused in the FIR filed by the police in the case.

Nine persons, including four employees of Ajanta Manufacturing (Oreva Group), have been arrested so far in the case. They include two managers and an equal number of ticket booking clerks of the Oreva Group that was managing the British-era bridge.

As many as 134 persons lost their lives after a century-old suspension bridge fell into the Machchhu River of Morbi, Gujarat.

Gujarat High Court on November 7 took suo motu cognisance of the Morbi accident, issuing notices to officials, including those of the state Home department and seeking a report within a week.

The Supreme Court in November said the Morbi bridge collapse incident was an “enormous tragedy”, as it asked the Gujarat High Court, which was already holding hearings in the matter suo motu, to hold periodical hearings.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

How to know your favourite influencer is doing paid promotion of a product in their vlog or Instagram post: Govt issues guidelines

OpIndia Staff
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How to know your favourite influencer is doing paid promotion of a product in their vlog or Instagram post: Govt issues guidelines

On Friday (January 20), the Union Government issued guidelines [pdf] to influencers and celebrities with respect to the promotion/ endorsement of products and services on social media.

To this effect, a detailed guide titled ‘Endorsements Know-hows’ was released by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The objective is to protect digital consumers from false and misleading advertising and unfair trade practices.

In a tweet, Union Minister Piyush Goyal wrote, “Protecting Consumer Choice! Endorsement guidelines for celebrities & social media influencers released. Disclosures to be prominently and clearly displayed to stop consumers from being misled.”

The guide reiterated the need for influencers and online celebrities to adhere to the rules laid down by the Consumer Protection Act of 2019. It stated that they must disclose any “material connection” with an advertiser during the endorsement of products and services.

According to the Department of Consumer Affairs, the material connection included monetary compensation, unsolicited free products, trips or hotel stays paid for by the advertiser, media barters etc.

“Disclosures should be placed in the endorsement message in such a manner that they are clear, prominent and extremely hard to miss…Disclosures should not be mixed with a group of hashtags or links,” the guide read.

The guidelines stated that the disclosures must be made in simple, easy-to-understand language. Terms such as ‘advertisement’, ‘ad’, ‘sponsored’, ‘paid promotion’, ‘paid’ etc might be used to make the nature of the relationship, with the advertiser, clear to the audience.

It further stated that disclosures must be prominently featured in ad videos or superimposed on an image used by influencers and celebrities. “Disclosures should be displayed continuously and prominently during the entire stream,” it added.

The ‘Endorsements Know-hows’ guide also laid down the criteria of ‘due diligence’ i.e. a product or service promoted by an influencer on social media must be used/ experienced by the influencer prior to endorsement before his/her audience.

The guidelines also apply to virtual influencers who have been defined as “fictional computer-generated ‘people’ or avatars who have realistic characteristics, features and personalities of humans, and behave in a similar manner as influencers.”

It cautioned, “In case celebrities and influencers don’t disclose their material connection, their opinion may be inferred as biased and/or misleading. However, if celebrities and influencers disclosed their material connection, the consumers will be able to make an informed decision.”

Failure to disclose any material connection or non-compliance of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and Rules made there under would make such violators liable for strict action under the law,” it further cautioned.

Importantly, the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 [pdf] lays down clear directions to impose fines and penalties for false and misleading advertising. Section 21 of the Act states:

(1) Where the Central Authority is satisfied after investigation that any advertisement is false or misleading and is prejudicial to the interest of any consumer or is in contravention of consumer rights, it may, by order, issue directions to the concerned trader or manufacturer or endorser or advertiser or publisher, as the case may be, to discontinue such advertisement or to modify the same in such manner and within such time as may be specified in that order.

(2) Notwithstanding the order passed under sub-section (1), if the Central Authority is of the opinion that it is necessary to impose a penalty in respect of such false or misleading advertisement, by a manufacturer or an endorser, it may, by order, impose on manufacturer or endorser a penalty which may extend to ten lakh rupees: Provided that the Central Authority may, for every subsequent contravention by a manufacturer or endorser, impose a penalty, which may extend to fifty lakh rupees.

As such, the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution will increase transparency and let consumers know whether their favourite influencer is endorsing a product organically or not in their vlog or Instagram posts.

Pakistan: Married Hindu woman abducted and raped for three days for refusing to convert to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Married Hindu woman abducted and raped for three days for refusing to convert to Islam

A married Hindu woman from Sindh was reportedly abducted and raped for three days in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan as she refused to convert to Islam. Minority Rights activist Shiva Kachhi shared two videos of the woman.

She accused Ibrahim Mangrio, Punho Mangrio and one accomplice of abducting and raping her for three days in Samaro town of Umarkot district.

As per the latest information shared by Kachhi, one person was arrested in the matter while two were still absconding. Earlier, the woman and her family were made to sit outside the police station for hours, waiting for the police to register the case. However, looking at the past record of Pakistani judiciary, it is highly unlikely that the accused will face justice.

In her statement, the woman said she was forced to convert to Islam. When she refused, the accused abducted and raped her for three days. She somehow managed to escape and come home. Similar cases have been reported in different parts of Sindh with Hindu populations, including Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Thar, Ghotki and Khairpur. Hindu women and young girls from poor families face rampant abductions, forced marriage and conversion to Islam.

In an ongoing matter, a Hindu man named Laloo Kachhi was murdered by abductors as he tried to save her sister.

On January 16, UN Experts expressed concern over the reports that Hindu girls as young as 13 years old are being abducted and converted to Islam in Pakistan.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan of Dera Sacha Sauda cuts cake with a sword while out on parole, watch viral video

OpIndia Staff
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Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan of Dera Sacha Sauda cuts cake with a sword while out on parole, watch viral video

Currently out on parole, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was seen “celebrating” by cutting a cake with a sword, reported news agency ANI. The video of the same has gone viral on social media.

The Sirsa-Dera chief who is serving a 20-year jail term for rape and murder, is out on a 40 day parole. He walked from the Sunaria Jail in Haryana’s Rohtak district on Saturday and arrived at his Barnawa Ashram in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat. The video, which appears to be streamed live, one can see people clapping as the Dera chief cuts the cake with a sword while cheerful music plays in the background. After cutting the cake, he ate it himself and bowed to the audience.

ANI reported that in his bail application, Ram Rahim had said that he wants to attend an event to mark the birth anniversary of former dera chief Shah Satnam Singh on January 25. The cake was cut to celebrate the former dera chief’s birth anniversary.

In the purported video that has surfaced on social media, the Dera chief can be heard saying, “Got a chance after five years to celebrate like this so I should cut at least five cakes. This is the first cake.”  To put things in perspective, public display of weapons i.e cutting a cake with a sword is prohibited under the Arms Act. 

ANI reported that Ram Rahim had on Monday virtually inaugurated a mega cleanliness campaign organised by his sect’s volunteers across multiple locations in Haryana and in some other states. A few senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Haryana, including Rajya Sabha MP Krishan Lal Panwar and former minister Krishan Kumar Bedi also participated in the event.

This is the fourth time in the last 14 months and second time in less than three months that Ram Rahim has been granted parole. Earlier, he was released on parole for 40 days in October 2022 ahead of the Haryana panchayat election and the Adampur Assembly bypoll. 

Ram Rahim was convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in August 2017 for raping two women followers. CBI had registered the case on the orders passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in 2003 and taken over the investigation of the case earlier registered at Police Station Sadar in Kurukshetra. 

It was alleged that former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, a resident of village Khanpur Kolian, Kurukshetra was murdered on July 10, 2002, when he was working in his fields at village Khanpur Kolian of District Kurukshetra in Haryana.  ANI report says that after a thorough investigation, CBI filed a charge sheet in 2007 against six accused and charges were framed in 2008 while, on October 8, 2021, the court convicted Rahim and four others in connection with Singh’s murder case.

Fact-Check: Did Pakistan go so dark due to grid failure that it vanished from the world map?

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-Check: Did Pakistan go so dark due to grid failure that it vanished from the world map?

On January 23, around 220 million people in Pakistan were deprived of electricity as its government reduced frequency to save fuel. Reportedly, the country has been facing frequent blackouts amidst the economic crisis. A British-Pakistani journalist Gul Bukhari shared an image on social media claiming Pakistan looked “wiped out” from the world map amidst the nationwide power cut. However, the reactions she received to her post were concerning. Netizens pointed out that the image she shared was photoshopped.

Twitter user Namira from Pakistan said, “Damn we wiped off a part of India and some of the ocean with us too.”

Journalist Syed Sajid Hasan from Pakistan proudly said the country is fine and the blackouts are just to save fuel. He said, “You wish but we are fine. Pakistan is healthy and blackouts are regular. The way to save fuel. And we are looking into the problem. Don’t get too excited.”

Varnica Raj Chauhan said, “Lmao. Can confirm that Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and UT J&K have light.
This is an edited image….”

OpIndia decided to look into the matter and see whether the image shared was photoshopped. Interestingly, while claiming Pakistan got “wiped out”, Bukhari conveniently took away almost 1/6th of Indian Territory and ‘blacked out’ part of the Arabian Sea as well. It was visibly an edited image, and it looked like someone without knowledge of international borders used the Windows Paint Brush tool to paint black over Pakistan. Using photoshop, when we changed the image’s levels, it was evident which portion was painted over.

Next, we reverse-searched the image and found that the original image came from Wikipedia.

The image was taken from Wikipedia. Source: Wikipedia

The next step was to see if Pakistan lits up during the night when there was no power failure. We checked the live satellite images and compared them with the old photos to confirm, and this is what we found.

On January 23, 10:30 PM, most of Pakistan was indeed dark. However, the darkness was thankfully limited to Pakistan and was definitely not infecting India.

Source: Zoom.Earth

When we went back to the last three days, we found the situation was the same at that time frame. On January 22, 10:30 PM, most of Pakistan was dark.

Source: Zoom.Earth

On January 21, 10:30 PM, most of Pakistan was dark.

Source: Zoom.Earth

On January 20, 10:30 PM, most of Pakistan was dark.

Source: Zoom.Earth

Verdict: The image Gul Bukhari shared was an edited image. Pakistan is mostly dark at night, possibly due to power outage issues but the darkness is strictly inside Pakistan and is not infiltrating India, unlike what the paintbrush tool seems to suggest.

Muslim students groups organise screening of BBC documentary on PM Modi on Hyderabad Central University campus

ANI
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Muslim students groups organise screening of BBC documentary on PM Modi on Hyderabad Central University campus

A students group at Hyderabad Central University (HCU) organised a BBC documentary screening on Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside the campus on Monday. 

Student Islamic Organisation (SIO) & Muslim Student Federation known as the Fraternity group has organised a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside the Hyderabad Central University. More than 50 students from these groups attended the screening. ABVP student leader Mahesh said, “we have escalated the matter to University Authorities and demanded action on the organisers. The group has organised screening without permission inside the campus premises.” 

Police said, “we have received the information that some students organised screening inside the campus but haven’t received any written complaint. If we receive a complaint investigation will be taken up.” 

Earlier last week, India denounced the controversial BBC documentary series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, described as a ‘propaganda piece’ designed to push a discredited narrative. 

“We think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias, lack of objectivity, and frankly continuing colonial mindset are blatantly visible,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a weekly media briefing. 

The MEA spokesperson added that the documentary is a reflection of individuals that are peddling this narrative again. 

Meanwhile, in a strong response to the BBC documentary, more than 300 eminent Indians, including retired judges, bureaucrats, and armed forces veterans signed a statement slamming the British national broadcaster for showing “unrelenting prejudice” towards India and its leader.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

‘Gandhi vs Godse’ maker Rajkumar Santoshi seeks police protection from violent protestors, fans of Gandhi had earlier disrupted his press conference

OpIndia Staff
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‘Gandhi vs Godse’ maker Rajkumar Santoshi seeks police protection from violent protestors, fans of Gandhi had earlier disrupted his press conference

A few days after protestors disrupted his press conference, noted filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi sought police protection ahead of the release of his film titled “Gandhi vs Godse”. Santoshi, who has directed blockbusters like Ghayal, Damini, and Ghatak, wrote a letter to Special Mumbai Police commissioner Deven Bharti seeking protection for his family.

In the letter, Santoshi wrote, “I, Rajkumar Santoshi, a well-known director of the Indian film industry, is hereby writing this letter to inform you about the interruptions in press conference during a particular press conference held by our team on 20th January 2023 for the release of the film Gandhi vs Godse.”

The famed filmmaker further added, “My team (directors, producers, & cast) for the movie Gandhi vs Godse was in the middle of the press conference where it was interrupted by people with vested interests. They barged into the press conference which was held at 4 PM at PVR, Citi Mall, Andheri.”

Image Source: ANI

The filmmaker further added that he has received numerous threats from unknown people asking him to stop the promotion and even the release of the film. Santoshi added that he feels unsafe and voiced his concern that either he or his family can get seriously injured at the hands of the violent characters opposing his film.

Gandhi vs Godse is set for release later this week on Republic Day, 26th January 2023. The film, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, stars Deepak Antani, Chinmay Mandlekar, and Tanisha Santoshi.

‘Digvijaya Singh is not aware of the facts and is misinformed’: Former IAF officer dismisses Congress leader’s ‘surgical strikes proof’ remark

ANI
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‘Digvijaya Singh is not aware of the facts and is misinformed’: Former IAF officer dismisses Congress leader’s ‘surgical strikes proof’ remark

Digvijaya Singh’s remark on Balakot surgical strikes against Pakistan has drawn immense fury from the ex-Indian Air Force personnel who on Monday said the Congress leader “is not aware of the facts and is misinformed”.

Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar (Retd), who retired after commanding the Western Air Command took on the Congress leader and said, “Singh does not know what he is talking about and is misinformed”. He made it clear that the pilots involved in the Balakot Airstrike in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir “did exactly as they were briefed”.

His remarks come after Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said that there was no proof of the Surgical strike against Pakistan which was claimed by the Centre.

“They (Centre) talk about surgical strikes and that they have killed so many of them but there is no proof,” said the Congress leader in his address in Jammu today.

Speaking to ANI, ex-Indian Air Force officer Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar (Retd) said, “This gentleman does not know what he is talking about. He has been misinformed and is not aware of the facts. I took over as the Commander-in-chief of the Western Air Command two days after the Balakot strike and am fully aware of what transpired. Let me assure all of you that our brave pilots did exactly as they were briefed and achieved all the objectives that we had set for them.”

“Please do not believe any lies and be rest assured that the Balakot Airstrike was a thumping success,” he said.

Earlier, another former IAF officer Wg Cdr Praful Bakshi said the Indian forces are not bound to give proof about the Surgical strikes it conducted in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, adding that the government knows that sharing the details of the attack is “against the policy of the army”.

He said that if Congress wants to see the proof, the party should “ask the Pakistanis”.

Speaking to ANI, Wg Cdr Bakshi said, “The Army does not give any proof. What proof should it give and why? If you want to know, ask the Pakistanis. If they are your friends, they will tell you, if not, they won’t. Nobody can compel the Army to give proof. If the government wants to give proof, it can. But the government also knows that it would be against the policy of the Army. The Pakistanis levelled the place where the attack took place. It does not matter who says what. I think it is not even a question. The media should not react to this.”

The Wg Cdr said that Pakistan has come down to its knees after the strikes, adding that it is the duty of the Army “not to answer”.

“It is about national security. The strike was conducted for the country. Neither the Army nor the government is bound to answer how and why the strikes were conducted. Pakistan has come to its knees after the strikes. Now their Prime Minister wants good relations with India. It is the duty of the Army not to answer even if the almighty asks,” he said. (ANI)

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

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