Tehran (AFP) Feb 21, 2025 Iran’s military will conduct naval drills on Saturday in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean, a commander told state television. “The joint military exercise Zolfaghar 1403 will begin tomorrow (Saturday) on the Makran coast, the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean,” Habibollah Sayyari, the Iranian army’s…
New Delhi (AFP) Feb 28, 2025 The European Union is exploring a security and defence partnership with India, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday before meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Von der Leyen arrived in India on Thursday for a two-day visit with her college of commissioners seeking…
New Delhi (AFP) Mar 5, 2025 India’s capital New Delhi has vowed to clear one of its largest trash piles by next year as part of a plan to eradicate unsightly landfills dotting the megacity’s skyline. Around 32 million people live in greater Delhi, where a slipshod approach to waste management has left numerous landfills…
Beijing (AFP) Mar 6, 2025 Lawmakers from Tibet on Thursday hailed recent economic progress and vowed to keep “high pressure” on alleged separatists in the region, where Beijing stands accused of widespread repression of minorities. Sparsely populated Tibet, which borders India, is one of China’s poorest and most tightly controlled provinces. Lawmakers from the region…
Saint-Denis De La Reunion (AFP) Mar 1, 2025 At least four people have died in the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion during the passage of a devastating cyclone that sowed destruction across the overseas French territory, officials said on Saturday. On Friday, Cyclone Garance struck the territory of 900,000 people, uprooting trees, tearing off…
Dehradun, India (AFP) Mar 2, 2025 Rescuers recovered the eighth and final body from the site of an avalanche in a remote area of northern India, the army said Sunday, marking the end of a marathon operation in sub-zero temperatures. More than 50 workers were submerged under snow and debris after the avalanche hit a…
Dehradun, India (AFP) Mar 2, 2025 Indian rescuers hurried in sub-zero temperatures Sunday to dig out four missing workers presumed buried by an avalanche in a remote border area, with snowfall increasing the risk of more sliding snow. More than 50 workers were submerged by snow and debris after the avalanche hit a construction camp…
New Delhi (AFP) Feb 28, 2025 India will finalise a “mutually beneficial” free trade deal with the European Union by the end of this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday after meeting with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. “We have asked our teams to work out a mutually beneficial bilateral free trade agreement…
Dhaka (AFP) Feb 26, 2025 Bangladesh’s interim government praised on Wednesday Moscow’s “important” backing of a controversial nuclear plant during the first visit by the director of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom since Dhaka’s revolution last year. Construction on the nuclear plant at Rooppur began in 2017 during the iron-fisted tenure of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina….
New Delhi (AFP) Mar 1, 2025 Cars more than 15 years old will soon be barred from refuelling in New Delhi, the city’s government said Saturday, as part of measures to reduce the Indian capital’s hazardous pollution levels. New Delhi is regularly ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world and is…