Pakistan imitates India, calls up Xi Jinping as chief guest at military parade

Islamabad: Feb 3: Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to be the chief guest at an annual military parade that Pakistan will hold after seven years on its national day, March 23, officials said.

A security official said the venue of the parade has not been decided yet, but it is expected to be held near Islamabad.

The joint military parade of the three branches of the armed forces - that was discontinued due to the deteriorating law and order situation in the country - was once the centerpiece of Pakistan Day celebrations, featuring a display of military hardware and culture.

The last military parade was held on March 23, 2008, when General Pervez Musharraf was the president.

The announcement that Pakistan will resume the parade comes days after US President Barack Obama was chief guest at India's Republic Day parade.

Mr Obama's visit was seen as the forging of a new alliance in the Asia-Pacific region aimed at China, and Beijng was irked. This week, India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj is visiting China in what is being seen as an attempt to soothe the neighbour's nerves.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit before he completes a year in office, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

Ms Swaraj called on Xi Jinping on Monday and the latter expressed confidence in China's relationship with India. "I have full confidence in India-China relations and I believe that new progress will be achieved in growing this bilateral relationship in this new year," Xi told Swaraj.

Xi said since his visit to India in September last year, relations between the two countries have entered into a new stage of growth.

"The positive side of India-China relations has been growing and momentum of our cooperation has been strengthening and solid steps are being taken to implement agreements reached between Prime Minister Modi and I," he said as he welcomed the Ms Swaraj.

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and China are bound by an "unbreakable bond."

"In this century, once again we have to give something to the world, say something. For this, it is important that we look at each other, know and understand (each other)," he said in a video message to the "Visit India Year 2015" event being held in Beijing.

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Spain blocks arms ship from India to Israel amid ongoing Gaza genocide

News Network

May 18,2024

In a humanitarian move, Spain has refused entry to a ship carrying arms from India’s Chennai to Israel to dock at one of its ports, its Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has said.

The Denmark-flagged cargo ship Marianne Danica sailed from Chennai on April 8 when people in Gaza were observing Ramadan fasting, and was headed to the port of Haifa in Israel, according to maritime tracking portals and Spanish media.

Spain has been extremely critical of the rising civilian casualties due to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and, along with Belgium, has suspended arms exports licenses to Tel Aviv.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal, at the weekly press conference, only said that they have seen the report of the ship and will revert with more information.

Meanwhile, a source said, “Investigation will reveal if the items on board were cleared for export and if the end user is the same as reported by The Guardian because there are items that are not banned for exports.”

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday on the issue, Mr. Albares had said, “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port.”

“This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The Foreign Ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he stated.

The ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosives according to local reports. It was to make a port call at Cartegena in Spain.
In February, Mr. Albares said that they had suspended arms export licences to Israel since October 7, which he said made them “realise” the importance of a “fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian cause.

The incident comes amid an ongoing row between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party and his coalition partners over another ship, Borkum, that was due to dock at Cartegena port on Friday over allegations that it was carrying arms meant for Israel. However, the Spanish government has said that the arms it is ferrying are meant for the Czech Republic.

Belgium had suspended two arms export licences to Israel.

“We welcome the decision of the Spanish government to deny the transit authorisation of the vessel Marianne Danica, in accordance with Tratado (treaty) on Arms Trade and Spanish law,” Amnesty International Spain said on social media platform ‘X’.

The timing also coincides with the Israeli ground offensive inside Rafah. According to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at least 6,30,000 Palestinians have been forced out of Rafah since the launch of the incursion on May 7.

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