Indian defence chief Bipin Rawat among 13 dead in Tamil Nadu helicopter crash

 

NEW DELHI, DEC 8: India's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the air force said.

Gen Rawat was India's first chief of defence staff, a position that the government established in 2019, and was seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 63-year-old was travelling with his wife and other senior officers in the Russian-made Mi-17 chopper, which crashed near its destination in Tamil Nadu.

"Gen Bipin Rawat was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiri Hills) to address the faculty and student officers of the staff course today," the Indian Air Force (IAF) said on Twitter.

"Around noon, an IAF Mi-17 V5 helicopter with a crew of four members carrying the CDS and nine other passengers met with a tragic accident near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu," the statement said.

The IAF said that it had been ascertained that Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board had died in the accident.

"Group Captain Varun Singh SC [...] with injuries is currently under treatment at Military Hospital, Wellington," the statement said.

Footage from the scene showed a crowd of people trying to extinguish the fiery wreck with water buckets while a group of soldiers carried one of the passengers away on an improvised stretcher.

The chopper was already making its descent at the time of the crash. It came down around 10 kilometres from the nearest main road, forcing emergency workers to trek to the accident site, a fire official was quoted as saying by AFP.

Meanwhile, Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh termed Gen Rawat's death an "irreparable loss" to the country and its armed forces.

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he was “deeply shocked” by the accident and Gen Rawat's death. “We worked closely together in the last few years. It is a huge loss to the nation,” he said.

Earlier today, the air force had confirmed that the helicopter carrying the Indian defence chief had met with an accident near Coonoor and said an inquiry was underway to ascertain the cause of the incident. Media reports said the chopper took off from Sulur Air Force Station on Wednesday afternoon.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said he was "deeply shocked and disheartened" after hearing about the crash. "I've instructed the local administration to provide all the help needed in rescue operations even as I'm rushing to the spot," he tweeted.

The Mi-17 helicopter, which first entered service in the 1970s and is in wide use by defence services around the world, has been involved in a number of accidents over the years.

Fourteen people died in a crash last month when an Azerbaijani military Mi-17 chopper went down during a training flight.

In 2019, four Indonesian soldiers were killed and five others wounded in central Java in another training accident involving the aircraft.

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Courtesy Dawn News

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Turkey, Qatar sign 15 new agreements to develop bilateral ties

 

DOHA, DEC 7: Turkey and Qatar on Tuesday signed 15 new agreements to boost the cooperation between the two countries. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani participated in the signing ceremony of 12 of the agreements on various areas including trade, investment, development, culture, youth, sports, diplomacy, health, religious affairs, and media.

Following the signing ceremony, Erdoğan and Al Thani are expected to attend the 7th meeting of Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee.

Earlier, Erdoğan was welcomed with an official ceremony by Al Thani and the duo held a one-on-one meeting at the Amiri Diwan, the emir’s office.

The Turkish president arrived in the Qatari capital Doha on Monday for a two-day working visit upon the invitation of Al Thani.

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Courtesy Anews

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'Pakistan envisions friendly relationship with Bangladesh'

 

ISLAMABAD/DHAKA, DEC 6: Pakistan envisions a friendly and strong relationship with Bangladesh, and the recent exchange of dialogue between the two countries on trade and economic ties symbolizes a new and bright start, according to a military official.

Commanding Officer of 6th Frontier Force (FF) Regiment Lt. Col. Asif Ali made the remarks during a briefing to a group of journalists who were visiting Head Sulemanki, a border area adjacent to India, where they paid homage to late Maj. Shabbir Sharif Shaheed, who was killed in the 1971 war.

“Maj. Sharif was the company commander of the 6th FF. He was ordered to provide stiff resistance to advancing Indian columns and capture high ground at Sulemanki Headworks. He embraced martyrdom on Dec. 6, 1971, after fighting tirelessly for several days,” said the officer.

Sharif was directly hit by a tank shell as he was fighting “on the front line against the Indian army.” He was posted in the 6th FF in 1964. He posthumously received the Nishan-e-Haider award, one of the three most coveted awards of the army.

“Bangladesh is our brotherly country. We should move on from the bitter past. The two countries have historical relations, and it is very important in today’s world to maintain good relationships with all countries in the region,” the officer said while answering a reporter’s question.

Along with the journalists, a group of war veterans that served with Shabbir during the war was also present and offered special prayers for his departed soul.

“Maj. Shabbir Sharif is the embodiment of courage. He fought like a lion that day. Even the Indian side’s officers were praising his bravery and courage,” said retired Maj. Shehreyar Ameerzada.

Subedar Jaffar Khan, a senior non-commissioned officer, and Havildar Muhammad Aslam, a soldier, told stories of the 1971 war.

“We fought day and night and even crossed the border on the other side, still at this age I can fight for my country. My son is the fifth generation in the army. We can do anything for our country, and now we are even stronger and we can deal with any conspiracies against us,” Khan said with tears in his eyes.

PAKISTAN-BANGLADESH RELATIONS IN NEED OF A FRESH START

Recently, the prime ministers of Pakistan and Bangladesh extended invitations to each other for official visits, and both have shown a deep interest in bilateral talks and the need for developing trade mechanisms.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry earlier this year said it is mutually beneficial for the two countries to candidly revisit and let go of the past and look towards a shared prosperous future in the era of geo-economics and regional integration.

Ties have improved with Dhaka following its constitutional “friendship to all and malice to none” foreign policy with Islamabad in recent months.

Likewise, on the Pakistani side, there is not a hint of hostility towards Bangladesh. Talking on the future ties, Asif Ali said: “From literature to textbooks, there is no material denouncing Bengalis. The separation of East and West Pakistan is largely remembered as a painful tragedy warranting soul searching and self-accountability.”

He further said no malicious campaign has ever been run in Pakistan to show spite against Bangladesh at any forum. Rather, it is considered a brotherly Muslim sovereign state.

Bangladesh got its independence in 1971, while it was a part of Pakistan before then and was named East Pakistan.

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Courtesy Anews 

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Armenia should negotiate with Turkey, Azerbaijan without mediators: Armenian expert

 

“Armenia has lost the (Karabakh) war and is currently in a weak state. The government has to negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan, but this should happen without intermediaries like Russia,” Stepan Grigoryan, the head of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, a think tank in Armenia.

Yerevan, DEC 3: For improvement in ties, Armenia has to negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan but without mediators such as Russia, an Armenian analyst has said.

“Armenia has lost the (Karabakh) war and is currently in a weak state. The government has to negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan, but this should happen without intermediaries like Russia,” Stepan Grigoryan, the head of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, a think tank in Armenia, told Anadolu Agency.

“The process must continue through bilateral negotiations,” added Grigoryan, who is also a former lawmaker of the Pan-Armenian National Movement party.

Emphasizing that Turkey can be an alternative to Russia in the region, he said: “Turkey follows a serious foreign policy in line with its interests.”

After last year’s six-week war, Azerbaijan retook Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions from nearly three-decade-long Armenian occupation.

Turkey had backed Azerbaijan during the 44-day war, which ended in a Russia-brokered cease-fire agreement in November 2020.

Moscow has since mediated talks between Baku and Yerevan to end the decades-long conflict. It has also expressed willingness to support normalization between Ankara and Yerevan.

Besides Karabakh, Turkey has long been at loggerheads with Armenia over issues such as Yerevan’s refusal to recognize their shared border, terror attacks on Turkish diplomats, and Armenia’s claims over the events of 1915.

Due to its intransigence, landlocked Armenia has been left out of transport and trade lines towards Turkey and Europe, routes meant to draw the region closer together.

‘GREATER CHANCE’ TO ESTABLISH PEACE

Noting that Turkey has the potential to be a “sustainable and reliable partner for Armenia”, Grigoryan said: “Turkey’s support and alliance with Azerbaijan is understandable and not open to discussion.”

“While doing this, it can establish a reasonable and balanced relationship with Armenia. The same goes for Armenia.”

Urging his country to establish direct channels of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, he said: “I am not saying that this will be easy. Yes, there are disagreements on many issues, but negotiations should begin.”

“Today we have a greater chance to establish peace,” he added.

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Courtesy Anews

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Erdoğan vows to never submit Turkey’s economic future to IMF

 

ANKARA, DEC 2: Turkey will never leave its political and economic future to the “prescriptions” of global economic institutions like the IMF, the country’s president vowed on Wednesday.

“Turkey will never again submit its political and economic future to the prescriptions of global economic tutelage institutions, such as the IMF and similar institutions,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his Justice and Development (AK) Party’s parliamentary group.

The Turkish president urged calm among the public, asking them “not to stray from common sense” when buying foreign currency, setting prices, and shopping.

Erdoğan also promised additional measures to help low-income citizens “whose purchasing power has decreased.”

On intervention by Turkey’s Central Bank earlier on Wednesday, Erdoğan underlined the bank’s authority to take such action as it is governed by its own law.

“It has such a right when such a thing is necessary. The Central Bank makes such interventions and has the right to do so,” he said.

Turkey’s Central Bank on Wednesday said it has intervened in the market via selling transactions due to “unhealthy” price formations in exchange rates, according to a statement by the bank.

The announcement came amid fluctuating foreign exchange rates.

Following the move, the Turkish lira gained 6.27% against the U.S. dollar, reaching 12.65 after a historic low of 14.05.

The Central Bank made its last direct foreign exchange intervention in January 2014 with a sale of $3.15 billion.

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Courtesy Anews

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