It also bans US govt employees from travelling to certain areas without permission, including eastern Maharashtra, northern Telangana & western West Bengal due to terrorist threats.
US officials say it is a step in the 'broader' crackdown on transnational immigration networks that undermine US laws & security, meant to 'cut off alien smuggling'.
Some analysts have said the terrorism designations could expose asylum seekers who pay cartels to be smuggled to the possibility of prosecution or being barred from the US.
Paul Kapur once wrote that ‘support for Islamist militants has constituted a central pillar of Pakistan’s grand strategy’. He also served briefly in first Trump administration.
The BJP has also accused Gandhi, the OCCRP & 92-year-old billionaire financier-philanthropist George Soros of singling out the Adani Group & its closeness to the Modi government.
US state dept spokesperson Matthew Miller reiterated need for peace in Ukraine & US’s hope for India to support its efforts. US will continue to engage with India on this, he added.
The senators, including 3 from pivotal Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have written to Antony Blinken, calling out India for ‘increasingly irresponsible efforts to silence critics’.
India has been using Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar to ship humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. The 10-year deal will allow India to operate the terminal at the port.
The collusion between the new class of bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen and trade union bosses perpetuates itself partly because of the short-run benefits and partly because they see no way out of the system, wrote author MH Mody in 1980.
IAF is firming up plans to revamp airlift capabilities with medium transport aircraft that will be assembled in India & serve as its main workhorse. Embraer is leading contender as of now.
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