WORLD

The Saudi Arabian government has located the grave of a Hindu man who was buried there as per the Muslim rights and is considering repatriation of the remains, the Centre informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also told the court that the Indian consulate in Jeddah has initiated legal proceedings in a Saudi court for bringing back the remains.

The submissions were made before Justice Prathiba M Singh during hearing of a plea moved by the deceased’s widow seeking his remains to perform the last rites here. The mortal remains of the Hindu man were wrongly buried in Saudi Arabia as per Muslim rites due to incorrect translation of his religion on the death certificate purportedly by Indian Consulate officials in Jeddah.

India-China border tensions “remain high” despite pullbacks of forces and although a war between India and Pakistan is “unlikely”, crises between them will become “more intense, risking an escalatory cycle”, the US intelligence community said on Tuesday in its annual assessment of threats around the world.

It added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India was “more likely than in the past to respond with military force to perceived or real Pakistani provocations, and heightened tensions raise the risk of conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, with violent unrest in Kashmir or a militant attack in India being potential flashpoints”.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday said India was a “pivotal player” in the Indo-Pacific region, and added that the country shared many security challenges with the world body, ranging from Afghanistan to international terrorism and maritime security.

Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2021, the secretary-general said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sees “the value of strengthening our partnership with like-minded democracies such as India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, that stand up for the rules-based international order”.

“India and NATO share many security challenges from Afghanistan, international terrorism and maritime security. NATO and India should consult, coordinate and take concerted action together,” he said at the virtual event, organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Confusion and complacency in addressing COVID-19 means the pandemic is a long way from over, but it can be brought under control in months with proven public health measures, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

So far some 780 million vaccines have been administered globally, but measures including wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing must be applied to reverse the trajectory.

“We too want to see societies and economies reopening, and travel and trade resuming,” Tedros told a news briefing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in an interview Sunday of “consequences” if Russia acts “aggressively” towards Ukraine.

“I have to tell you I have real concerns about Russia’s actions on the borders of Ukraine,” Blinken told NBC’s “Meet the Press” of the military build-up in the region.

“President Biden’s been very clear about this. If Russia acts recklessly, or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences,” Blinken said.