New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the G7 summit in Canada amid “strained ties” between New Delhi and Ottawa, following the killing of India-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada two years ago. A BBC report refers to the invitation to Modi as something to watch out for, “with (Canada PM Mark) Carney saying there are important discussions that India, as a major economic force, should be a part of”.
“Canada has accused India of carrying out that targeted killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar two years ago and the G7 invitation has received backlash among some Sikh Canadians,” it reads.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that passenger identification continues to be an agonising task in the aftermath of the crash of the London-bound Air India plane in Ahmedabad, which left 241 of 242 passengers dead.
“High temperatures affect the DNA present in various parts of the body. This process is very complex,” said H.P. Sanghvi, director of the lab in charge of DNA testing, according to the report by Mujib Mushal, Suhasini Raj and Pragati KB.
“By Sunday evening, only 35 bodies had been handed over to relatives, among an overall official death toll of 270 from inside the plane and on the ground,” it adds.
Also in NYT, Alex Travelli traces Air India’s journey to privatisation, which had been a “painfully long time coming”.
“It unfolded like a belated family reunion. The airline was founded in 1932 by J.R.D. Tata—the brilliant scion of India’s first family of industrialists, and a passionate aviator. India gained its independence from Britain, and the new government nationalised the company in 1953, a time when a lot of postcolonial states were doing the same thing with industrial firms,” reads the report.
For the families of Thursday’s crash victims, grief has mutated into anger—and the search for answers continues.
“Holding back tears, Sagar (family member of one of the deceased) said the disaster was not an ‘aircraft failure’, but a ‘management failure’ by Air India, a view that reflected growing anger at the airline among crash members’ families,” reports Financial Times.
A Washington Post report too said emotions ran high at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and B.J. Medical College in the aftermath of the crash.
“In a minute, everything has changed, said Vagdaya (family member of one of the deceased) from the hospital auditorium, where relatives waited Friday to give blood samples to help identify their loved ones. On Thursday, the room had been filled with panic and confusion; now, it had become a place of mourning,” says the report.
The Guardian paid homage to the known victims of the crash, many of whom were British citizens. One couple was returning home after completing a 10-day wellness retreat.
“The couple captured the happy time they had in India in a series of social media posts, including getting henna tattoos, shopping for fine fabrics and other gifts and driving through chaotic traffic in a tuk-tuk,” says the report.
Anchal Vohra in Foreign Policy analysed communication between India and Pakistan––the necessity of which cannot be overestimated following last month’s conflict.
“If you can’t really communicate with the other side, then you have to resort to what you have. That may not be very subtle, that may be kinetic in nature, and that has a chance of escalating beyond your control,” a former Indian diplomat is quoted as saying.
“The media on both sides was accused of spreading disinformation and rooting for war. False and exaggerated claims of victory and destruction were made on social media in both nations and often amplified by the mainstream press. The pacifists were ignored altogether,” reads the report.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)