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Weeks after a military crisis, India and Pakistan have dispatched top lawmakers to press their cases in the United States, where President Donald Trump has shown eagerness for diplomacy between them.After crisscrossing the world, the delegations descended this week at the same time on Washington, which played a key mediatory role in a ceasefire after four days of fighting between the nuclear-armed adversaries in May.In strikingly similar strategies, the rival delegations are both led by veteran politicians who have been critical of their countries’ governments and are known for their ease in speaking to Western audiences.Pakistan has embraced an active role for the Trump administration while India, which has close relations with Washington, has been more circumspect and has long refused outside mediation on the flashpoint Himalayan territory of Kashmir.”Just like the United States and President Trump played a role in encouraging us to achieve this ceasefire, I believe they should play their part in encouraging both sides to engage in a comprehensive dialogue,” said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the scion of a political dynasty whose Pakistan People’s Party says it belongs neither to the governing coalition nor opposition.”I don’t quite understand the Indian government’s hesitance,” he told AFP. “I’m the first to criticize the United States for so many reasons, but where they do the right thing, where they do the difficult task of actually achieving a ceasefire, they deserve appreciation.”India’s delegation is led by one of its most prominent opposition politicians, Shashi Tharoor, a former senior UN official and writer.He said he was putting the national interest first, despite disagreements domestically with Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Tharoor said he heard “total support and solidarity for India” during his meetings with US lawmakers and a “complete understanding of India’s right to defend itself against terrorism.”- ‘No equivalence’ -Gunmen on April 22 massacred 26 tourists on the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, most singled out as Hindus, in the deadliest attack on civilians in decades in the scenic region that has seen a long-running insurgency.India accused Pakistan of backing the assailants and launched strikes on Pakistani territory. More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides.”There can be no equivalence between a country sending terrorists and a country having its civilians killed — holiday-makers, tourists, men shot down in front of their wives and children after being asked their religion,” Tharoor told a news conference.He said he was “puzzled” by those who believe denials of responsibility by Pakistan, pointing to how US forces found Osama bin Laden in the country.Tharoor also noted that former Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari — Bilawal’s father — had advocated peace with India but was in power during the siege of Mumbai on November 26, 2008.”If they can’t control what they’re doing to us, why bother to talk to them?” said Tharoor, who pointed to the outsized role of the military in Pakistan.- ‘A new normal’ -Trump has repeatedly credited his administration with averting nuclear war and said the United States had negotiated an agreement to hold talks between the two sides at a neutral site, an assertion that met India’s silence.Pakistan had cool relations with Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, whose aides bitterly resented Islamabad’s role in the Afghanistan war, but Pakistan has quickly worked to woo Trump including with the arrest of a suspect in a deadly 2021 attack that killed more than 170 people, including 13 US troops, during the withdrawal from Kabul.Bilawal — recalling how his mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in an attack — said Pakistan was ready to discuss terrorism with India but that Kashmir as a “root cause” also needed to be on the table.He said that India was establishing a dangerous new precedent in South Asia where whenever there is a terrorist attack in any country, “you go straight to war.””I think that the fate of 1.7 billion people and our two great nations should not left in the hands of these nameless, faceless, non-state actors and this new normal that India is trying to impose on the region,” he said.The two delegations have no plans to meet in Washington.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru said Thursday they stood “united” with fans as the Indian Premier League champions announced financial aid to families of those crushed to death during their title celebrations. Hundreds of thousands had packed the streets in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru on Wednesday to welcome home their hero Virat Kohli and his RCB team-mates after they beat Punjab Kings in a thrilling IPL final.But the euphoria of the vast crowds ended in disaster when 11 fans died in a stampede near the city’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the players were parading the trophy.Most of the dead were young fans aged between 14 and 29 who had gone out just to catch a glimpse of their heroes.Dozens of abandoned shoes and flip-flops littered the site in the aftermath.RCB offered financial aid of $11,655 to each family of those killed.Indian media have widely reported the team earned $2.3 million in prize money alone for taking the title on Wednesday.”Our fans will always remain at the heart of everything that we do,” RCB said. “We remain united in grief.”Kohli, who top-scored in the final, said he was “at a loss for words” after celebrations of a dream IPL crown turned to tragedy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the accident “absolutely heartrending”. –  ‘Stamped on me’ -Police used mild force to disperse people outside the stadium, an eyewitness told AFP, but the crowd was “extremely difficult” to control. Lakshminarayan, who lost his 14-year-old granddaughter in the crush, said his family carried the child in a motor rickshaw to hospital. He said celebrations should have been delayed to prepare for the widely expected mass crowds.”There was no need to conduct celebrations the very next day, they should have postponed it to a week and organised it a better way,” he said. “You should take all precautionary measures, they should have police protection and follow the queue system.”One of the people injured described to AFP how a “huge crowd” had crushed her.”They stamped on me,” said the woman, who did not give her name, from a wheelchair. “I was not able to breathe. I fell unconscious.”- ‘Died in an RCB shirt’ -Street food vendor Manoj Kumar mourned the death of his 18-year-old son.”I wanted him to go to college,” Kumar told the Indian Express newspaper. “I brought him up with a lot of care. Now he is gone.”A grieving mother outside a city mortuary said her 22-year-old engineering student son had also died.”He was crazy about RCB,” she was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.”He died in an RCB shirt. They danced when RCB won and now he is gone. Can RCB give him back to us?”Authorities had already called off RCB’s proposed open-top bus victory parade through the streets after anticipating vast crowds.But organisers pressed ahead with the welcome ceremony and celebrations inside the stadium.RCB’s social media account posted a video of cheering crowds lining the streets as the players waved back from their team bus on their way to the stadium.The team said they cut short the celebrations “immediately upon being made aware of the situation”.Karnataka state chief minister Siddaramaiah said that the stadium had a capacity of “only 35,000 people, but 200,000-300,000 people came”.

Virat Kohli said he was lost for words after celebrations of a dream IPL title turned to tragedy when 11 mainly young cricket fans were crushed to death in Bengaluru.Hundreds of thousands had packed the streets Wednesday to welcome home their hero Kohli and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) after they had beaten Punjab Kings a day earlier in a thrilling Indian Premier League final.But the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it “absolutely heartrending”.Karnataka state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the 11 dead were young people and there were 47 others injured in the crush after a stampede near the city’s M. Chinnaswamy cricket stadium, where the players were parading the trophy for fans.Kohli, who top scored in the final, said earlier it had been “as much for the fans” after the 36-year-old finally celebrated winning the IPL at his 18th attempt.Later, Kohli wrote on social media: “At a loss for words. “Absolutely gutted,” he added, alongside a statement from the RCB team saying they were “deeply anguished” at what had unfolded.One of the people injured described to AFP how a “huge crowd” had crushed her.”They stamped on me,” said the woman, who did not give her name, from a wheelchair. “I was not able to breathe. I fell unconscious.”Most of the dead were young fans who had gone out just to catch a glimpse of their sporting heroes.- ‘He died in an RCB shirt’ -Street food vendor Manoj Kumar mourned the death of his 18-year-old son, killed in the stampede, who he said he had stopped from working on his stall so he could study.”I wanted him to go to college,” Kumar told the Indian Express newspaper. “I brought him up with a lot of care. Now, he is gone.”A grieving mother outside a city mortuary said her 22-year-old engineering student son had also died in the crush.”He was crazy about RCB,” she was quoted as saying by the Indian Express on Thursday.”He died in an RCB shirt. They danced when RCB won and now he is gone. Can RCB give him back to us?”Authorities had already called off RCB’s proposed open-top bus victory parade through the streets after anticipating vast crowds.But organisers pressed ahead with the welcome ceremony and celebrations inside the stadium.RCB’s social media account posted a video of cheering crowds lining the streets as the players waved back from their team bus on their way to the stadium.The team said they cut short the celebrations “immediately upon being made aware of the situation”.Siddaramaiah said that the stadium had a capacity of “only 35,000 people, but 200,000-300,000 people came”.

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla blasts off into space next week as the first Indian to join the International Space Station (ISS), bearing with him New Delhi’s dreams of its own manned space flight.An airforce fighter pilot, 39-year-old Shukla is joining a four-crew mission launching from the United States with private company Axiom Space, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.He will become the first Indian to join the ISS, and only the second ever in orbit — an achievement that the world’s most populous nation hopes will be a stepping stone for its own human flight.”I truly believe that even though, as an individual, I am travelling to space, this is the journey of 1.4 billion people,” Shukla was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper this year.Shukla said he hopes to “ignite the curiosity of an entire generation in my country”, and “drive the innovation that will make many such projects possible for us in the future”.The airforce group captain — equivalent to an army colonel or navy captain — will pilot the commercial mission slated to launch June 10 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a joint team between NASA and ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organisation.- ‘New era’ -India’s Department of Space calls it a “defining chapter” in its ambitions, naming Shukla as “among the top contenders” for its maiden human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, “sky craft” in Hindi, scheduled for launch in 2027.”His journey is more than just a flight — it’s a signal that India is stepping boldly into a new era of space exploration,” the Department of Space said ahead of the launch.New Delhi has paid more than $60 million for the mission, according to Indian media reports.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced plans to send a man to the Moon by 2040.India’s ISRO said in May that it planned to launch an uncrewed orbital mission later this year, before its first human spaceflight in early 2027.Shukla’s voyage comes four decades after Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma joined a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.”What sets Shukla’s mission apart is its strategic importance,” the department added.”Unlike the symbolic undertones of India’s first human spaceflight, this time the focus is on operational readiness and global integration.”Shukla also trained in Russia, in 2020 along with three other astronaut hopefuls, at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center — before further training at ISRO’s centre in the southern city of Bengaluru.He has said the journey aboard the Axiom Mission 4 — and then the expected 14 days on the ISS — will provide “invaluable” lessons to bring back home.- Space yoga -Shukla will be led by mission commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, and joined by European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.The son of a government ministry official, from Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Shukla is a veteran fighter pilot experienced in flying Russian Sukhoi and MiG jets.He has promised to perform yoga poses in the ISS.If he is unable to fly on Tuesday, fellow airforce pilot Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, 48, is expected to take his place.India has flexed its ambitions in the last decade with its space programme growing considerably in size and momentum, matching the achievements of established powers at a much cheaper price tag.In August 2023, it became just the fourth nation to land an unmanned craft on the Moon after Russia, the United States and China.Waiting at home will be Shukla’s family, including his wife and son.”I’ve been having goosebumps by just thinking that soon my brother will be in space,” his older sister Suchi, a school teacher, told the Times of India newspaper.

Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said.Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.But the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending”.Karnataka state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead and 47 injured in the crush.In one Bengaluru hospital, a stream of injured came for treatment. “I was standing near the entrance, there was a huge crowd and they stamped on me”, one lady told AFP, being taken in a wheelchair, who did not give her name. “I was not able to breathe. I fell unconscious.”Siddaramaiah told reporters said that “no one expected such a huge crowd.” But he added that the entire police force of the city had been deployed.”The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 200,000-300,000 people came,” the minister said.He said a victory street parade by the winning team was called off as authorities had anticipated an uncontrollable crowd.”The pain of this tragedy has even erased the joy of victory,” said Siddaramaiah, who has ordered an inquiry in the deaths.”I don’t want to defend the incident, the tragedy… our government is not going to play politics on this,” he added.”This tragedy should not have happened. We are with the victims.”- ‘Distressing’ -The IPL winning team said it was “deeply anguished” by the incident. “The safety and well-being of everyone is of utmost importance to us,” Royal Challengers Bengaluru said late Wednesday. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said hundreds of thousands of people had flocked onto the streets and that police had been “finding it very difficult.”An AFP photographer saw vast crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets and police waved sticks.Broadcasters showed police rushing away from crowds carrying young children in their arms, who had seemingly fainted.One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.India cricket great Sachin Tendulkar called the deaths “beyond tragic”, in a post on social media. “My heart goes out to every affected family,” he said. “Wishing peace and strength to all.”Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who attended the final match with his wife on Tuesday, expressed sorrow over the stampede. “We celebrated with you yesterday and we mourn with you today,” he said in a post on X. Where the crush took place, abandoned shoes lay scattered around.Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior Congress party leader, said the deaths were “profoundly distressing”, adding that “the joy of victory should never come at the cost of lives”.- ‘Heartfelt condolences -Organisers pressed ahead with the ceremony, with the team’s social media account posting a video of cheering crowds as the bus full of the players — including batting legend Virat Kohli — waved back.”This welcome is what pure love looks like,” the club said in a post on X, which it later deleted. But IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, speaking to NDTV, said organisers in the stadium had not been told about the stampede until later.”At the time of the celebrations inside the stadium officials there did not know what had happened… I would like to send my heartfelt condolences,” Dhumal said. Shivakumar said cricket organisers had “shortened the programme”.Bengaluru had erupted in midnight celebrations after their team RCB, who scored 190-9, restricted Punjab to 184-7.India’s IPL mega-tournament wrapped up on Tuesday night watched by 91,000 fans packed into the stadium in Ahmedabad — and many millions more on television.Bengaluru fans celebrated wildly after their hero Kohli and RCB clinched victory for the first time in the 18 years of the IPL, their three previous finals having all ended in defeat. Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian mass events such as religious festivals due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.A stampede at India’s Kumbh Mela religious fair in January this year killed 30 people and injured several others.In July last year, 121 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering.

At least 11 people were killed in a stampede Wednesday as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the victory of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, the state’s chief minister said.Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.But the euphoria of the vast crowds ended in disaster, with Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending”.Karnataka state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said “most of the deceased are young”, with 11 dead and 47 injured in the crush.”No one expected such a huge crowd,” he told reporters, but added that the entire police force of the city available had been deployed.”The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 200,000-300,000 people came”.He said a victory street parade by the winning team was called off as authorities had anticipated an uncontrollable crowd.”The pain of this tragedy has even erased the joy of victory,” said Siddaramaiah, who has ordered an inquiry in the deaths.”I don’t want to defend the incident, the tragedy… our government is not going to play politics on this,” he added.”This tragedy should not have happened, we are with the victims.”- ‘Distressing’ -Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said “hundreds of thousands of people” had flocked onto the streets and that police had been “finding it very difficult.”An AFP photographer saw vast crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets and police waved sticks.Broadcasters showed police rushing away from crowds carrying young children in their arms, who had seemingly fainted.”I apologise to the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru,” Shivakumar said.”We wanted to take a procession, but the crowd was very uncontrollable… the crowd was so much.”One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior Congress party leader, said the “loss of precious lives and the injuries” was “profoundly distressing”.”The joy of victory should never come at the cost of lives,” he said in a statement.- ‘Heartfelt condolences -Organisers pressed ahead with the ceremony, with the team’s social media account posting a video of cheering crowds as the bus full of the players — including batting legend Virat Kohli — waved back.”This welcome is what pure love looks like,” the club said in a post on X, which it later deleted. But IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, speaking to NDTV, said organisers in the stadium had not been told about the stampede until later.”At the time of the celebrations inside the stadium officials there did not know what had happened… I would like to send my heartfelt condolences,” Dhumal said. Shivakumar said cricket organisers had “shortened the programme”.The tech city of Bengaluru had erupted in midnight celebrations after their team RCB, who scored 190-9, restricted Punjab to 184-7.India’s IPL mega-tournament wrapped up on Tuesday night watched by 91,000 fans packed into the stadium in Ahmedabad — and many millions more on television.Bengaluru fans celebrated wildly after their hero Kohli and RCB clinched victory for the first time in the 18 years of the IPL, their three previous finals having all ended in defeat. Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian mass events such as religious festivals due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.A stampede at India’s Kumbh Mela religious fair in January this year killed 30 people and injured several others.In July last year, 121 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering.

A stampede broke out Wednesday as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the victory of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, resulting in deaths, a senior government official said.India media reported as many as 11 people had been crushed to death, but Karnataka state’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he was not able to immediately confirm the exact number who had been killed.”The tragedy and death have brought deep pain and shock”, Shivakumar said in a statement. “My condolences to the deceased. My condolences to their family.”An AFP photographer saw vast crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets and police waved sticks.Shivakumar said “hundreds of thousands of people” had flocked onto the streets.”I have spoken to the police commissioner and everyone, I will also go to the hospital later — I do not want to disturb the doctors who are taking care of the patients”, he told reporters.”The exact number cannot be told now. We appeal to the people to remain calm.”Broadcasters showed police rushing away from crowds carrying young children in their arms, who had seemingly fainted.One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.India’s NDTV broadcaster said at least 11 people were killed, while The Times of India newspaper reported seven dead.”This is not a controllable crowd,” Shivakumar said, speaking to reporters. “The police were finding it very difficult.””I apologise to the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru,” he said. “We wanted to take a procession, but the crowd was very uncontrollable… the crowd was so much.”- ‘Heartfelt condolences -Cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.Organisers pressed ahead with the ceremony, with the team’s social media account posting a video of cheering crowds as the bus full of the players — including batting legend Virat Kohli — waved back.”This welcome is what pure love looks like”, the club’s social media posted on X.But IPL chairman Arun Dhumal, speaking to NDTV, said organisers in the stadium had not been told about the stampede.”At the time of the celebrations inside the stadium officials there did not know what had happened… I would like to send my heartfelt condolences”, Dhumal said. Shivakumar said cricket organisers had “shortened the programme”.”This is a very sad incident,” Rajeev Shukla, vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the national governing body, told India Today news outlet.”No one imagined that such a huge crowd would turn up.”Deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian mass events such as religious festivals due to poor crowd management and safety lapses.In July last year, 121 people were killed in northern Uttar Pradesh state during a Hindu religious gathering.

The world’s most populous nation India will conduct a census in 2027, its first since 2011, the government said Wednesday, which will also count caste — a controversial accounting not done since the country’s independence.”It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.Most of the vast nation will take part in the census on March 1, 2027, but for the high-altitude Himalayan regions, the counting will take place earlier before snow sets in — on October 1, 2026.Those areas include the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as in Ladakh, and the contested region of Jammu and Kashmir.Caste remains a crucial determinant of one’s station in life in India, with a rigid societal chasm dividing those of higher castes — the beneficiaries of ingrained cultural privileges — from people of lower castes, who suffer entrenched discrimination.More than two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion people are estimated to be on the lower rungs of a millennia-old social hierarchy that divides Hindus by function and social standing.The decision to include detailed caste data as part of the next census — originally due in 2021 — was approved by a government meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May.Caste data was last collected as part of the official census exercise in 1931, during British colonial rule that ended with Indian independence 16 years later. Successive governments have since resisted updating the sensitive demographic data, citing administrative complexity and fears of social unrest. A caste survey was conducted in 2011 but its results were never made public because they were purportedly inaccurate.That survey was separate from the 2011 general census, the last time India collected demographic data.

More than 200,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since the government renewed a deportation drive in April, with Iran also stepping up expulsions of Afghans.Generations of Afghans have fled to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran during decades of successive wars, seeking safety and better economic opportunities.Both governments have grown weary of large migrant populations and ordered millions to leave under the threat of arrest.Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict more than 800,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in the country or lived there for decades.According to the interior ministry, more than 135,000 Afghans left Pakistan in April, while around 67,000 departed in May and more than 3,000 were sent back in the first two days of June.The number of returnees has slowed ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday later this week, but some Afghans were still crossing the main border points from Pakistan on Wednesday.”We left behind our orchards” and livelihoods, 21-year-old farmer Mohammad Wali told AFP near the southern Spin Boldak crossing.”But we said to ourselves, ‘If we stay, maybe one day we’ll lose our dignity,’ so it’s better to return to our homeland now.”The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday voiced concern over a surge in Afghan families being deported from Iran, recording 15,675 crossing in May, a more than two-fold increase from the previous month.Iranian officials have ordered Afghans without documentation to leave by July 6.Nader Yarahmadi, from the Iranian interior ministry, said on state television that it would affect around four million of the more than six million Afghans who Iran says are in the country.The IOM said the influx across both borders threatens to strain Afghanistan’s already “fragile reception and reintegration systems”.It again called for “all countries to immediately suspend the forced return of Afghans, regardless of their immigration status, until safe, voluntary, and dignified return conditions are in place”.- Rise in border violence -Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades, fleeing successive wars, as well as hundreds of thousands who arrived after the return of the Taliban government in 2021.A campaign to evict them began in 2023, prompting hundreds of thousands to cross the border in a matter of weeks, fearing harassment or arrest.In total, more than one million Afghans have left Pakistan. Islamabad has labelled Afghans “terrorists and criminals”, but analysts say the expulsions are designed to pressure neighbouring Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to control militancy in the border regions.Last year, Pakistan recorded the highest number of deaths from attacks in a decade.Pakistan’s security forces are under enormous pressure along the border with Afghanistan, battling a growing insurgency by ethnic nationalists in Balochistan in the southwest, and the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates in the northwest.The government frequently accuses Afghan nationals of taking part in attacks and blames Kabul for allowing militants to take refuge on its soil, a charge Taliban leaders deny.Some Pakistanis have grown weary of hosting a large Afghan population as security and economic woes deepen, and the deportation campaign has widespread support.Pakistan is now threatening to lift the protection granted to the 1.3 million Afghans holding refugee cards issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at the end of June. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to make his first visit to contested Kashmir since a conflict between India and Pakistan last month, inaugurating a strategic railway to the mountainous region, his office said Wednesday.The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the centre of a bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan, divided between them since independence from British rule in 1947.Modi is set to visit on Friday to open the Chenab Bridge, a 1,315-metre-long (4,314-foot-long) steel and concrete span that connects two mountains with an arch 359 metres above the river below.”The project establishes all-weather, seamless rail connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the country,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.Modi is expected to flag off a special train.Last month, nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought an intense four-day conflict, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides.The conflict was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing — a charge Islamabad denies.Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged a 35-year-long insurgency demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.The 272-kilometre (169-mile) Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway — with 36 tunnels and 943 bridges — has been constructed “aiming to transform regional mobility and driving socio-economic integration”, the statement added.Its dramatic centrepiece is the Chenab Bridge, which India calls the “world’s highest railway arch bridge”.While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China.Indian Railways calls the $24-million bridge “arguably the biggest civil engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history”.The bridge will facilitate the movement of people and goods — as well as troops — that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and air.The train line could slash travel time between the town of Katra and Srinagar, the region’s key city, by half, taking around three hours.The bridge will also revolutionise logistics in Ladakh, the icy region in India bordering China.India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for strategic influence across South Asia.Their troops clashed in 2020, killing at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, and forces from both sides today face off across contested high-altitude borderlands.The railway begins in the garrison city of Udhampur, headquarters of the army’s northern command, and runs north to Srinagar.