Nexus of state actors, N-traffickers a risk: PM

Washington: Apr 2, 2016, PTI

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said state actors working with nuclear traffickers and terrorists present the greatest risk to nuclear security as he called for dropping the notion that “his terrorist is not my terrorist”.

Referring to the recent terror attacks in Brussels, Modi said they show how real and immediate is the threat to nuclear security from terrorism as he pointed out that all countries must completely adhere to their international obligations in this regard.

Outlining three contemporary features of terror that the world should focus on, Modi said today’s terrorism uses extreme violence as “theatre”.

“Second, we are no longer looking for a man in a cave, but we are hunting for a terrorist in a city with a computer or a smart phone. “Third, state actors working with nuclear traffickers and terrorists present the greatest risk,” he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

Dwelling at length on the threat posed by terrorism to the world, Modi noted that terror has evolved and that terrorists are using 21st century technology, “but our responses are rooted in the past”.

The reach and supply chains of terrorism are global, but genuine cooperation between nation states is not, Modi said in his intervention during a White House dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama that formally kicked off the two-day Nuclear Security Summit here. “Drop the notion that terrorism is someone else’s problem and that “his” terrorist is not “my” terrorist.

“Terrorism is globally networked. But, we still act only nationally to counter this threat,” he told the international community.

Modi was seated next to Obama during the White House dinner which was attended by heads of States of more than 20 countries in the US capital for the fourth edition of the Nuclear Security Summit.
PTI

India, Canada made for each other: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India and Canada were “made for each other” as he met his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau for the first time during which they reviewed bilateral ties including the progress on nuclear cooperation, PTI reports from Washington.

Prime Minister Modi and Trudeau met here on the sidelines of the Nuclear 
Security Summit.

Read More

Plan to have realtime info on terrorists with US dropped

New Delhi: Apr 2, 2016, DHNS

Objections from security agencies have put a spanner on the ambitious plan to exchange terrorists information on a realtime basis between India and the United States.

The proposal to have such a system has been dropped from the Homeland Security Dialogue to be held in June, official sources said. The US has suggested a model agreement Homeland Security Presidential Directive for exchange of terrorist screening information between Terrorist Screening Centre (TSC) of the US and an agency chosen by Indian authorities.

Though there were discussions between the countries over the matter, sources said, Indian intelligence agencies were not enthusiastic about the scheme. This has resulted in the dropping of the plan to ink the agreement during the Homeland Security Dialogue in June to be attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Jeh Johnson.

The issue also did not figure during Tuesday’s preparatory meeting for the Homeland Security Dialogue, which was attended by Assistant Secretary Alan Bersin and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs M Gopal Reddy.

Though a section of the intelligence apparatus was in agreement with the proposed draft, majority felt that it primarily protected the US interests and India was not getting a reciprocal benefit.

However, later there was a general agreement on getting into the pact with the US as it was felt that there was no disadvantage in entering such pacts.

Read More

PM meets Trudeau in Washington; discuss bilateral ties

Washington, Apr 1, 2016 (PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau and discussed bilateral ties, their first meeting after the latter swept to power last year.

Modi and Trudeau met here on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.
"Engagements on Day 2 begin with a bilateral with PM Justin Trudeau," External Affairs Minister Vikas Swarup tweeted.

"Canadian connect...today's meetings commence with an interaction with Canada's PM Justin Trudeau. Both PMs discuss India-Canada relations," a PMO tweet said.

Last year, Prime Minister Modi had visited Canada when he held extensive talks with the then Canadian Premier Stephen Harper.

Canada had agreed to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium to energy-hungry India under a USD 254 million five-year deal to power Indian reactors.

The agreement for uranium supply, which came two years after protracted negotiations following the 2013 civil nuclear deal between India and Canada, was signed after comprehensive talks Modi had with Harper in April last year.

44-year-old Trudeau carries one of the most famous names in Canadian political history. His late father was prime minister for the better part of 16 years, between 1968 and 1984.
Trudeau assumed office in November last year and surprised one and all by including four Sikh-Canadians in his Cabinet.

Read More

Arab-American woman slams United Airlines for racial profiling

Washington, Apr 2, 2016, (PTI)

An Arab-American woman has accused United Airlines for "profiling" her family after its staff kicked them off a flight "for no reason", in a repeat of a similar incident last year when hundreds of people pledged to boycott the carrier over alleged discrimination.
Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley, her husband and their three young kids were told they had to get off the flight from a Chicago airport to Washington DC on March 20, because of a "safety of flight issue," the New York Daily News reported.

She posted a video of her interactions with the crew on Facebook, and said "Shame on you #unitedAirlines for profiling my family and me for no reason other than how we look."

She said the incident started when she asked a flight attendant on the American airliner about a harness for her child's safety seat, and the video shows a flight attendant asking her "what's going on?", the report said.

Saad Shebley says before a man who appears to be the pilot comes and decides to kick her and her family off the aircraft.

Her video has been viewed more than 1,500,000 times and shared on Facebook more than 30,000.

United Airlines said in a statement to WDIV that the family was removed from the planet "because of concerns about their child's safety seat, which did not comply with federal safety regulations," and that they were put on a later flight.

However, the family filed a complaint with the Council on American-Islamic Relations about the matter.

CAIR's Dawud Walid said, "Unfortunately there's a growing problem on airlines of Muslims being removed from flights when they cause no reasonable security concerns."

The incident was a repeat of a similar incident in May last year when a Muslim passenger alleged discrimination by United Airlines due to 'Islamophobia.'

The Muslim chaplain at Chicago's Northwestern University had claimed that when she asked for an unopened can of soda for hygienic reasons she was told, "Well, I'm sorry. I just can't give you an unopened can, so no Diet Coke for you."

When the man next to her allegedly got an unopened beer can from the in-flight service, the passenger said she was told something even more inflammatory.

Hundreds of social media users had said then that they would boycott United Airlines based on what they interpreted as open discrimination.

Read More

Gunmen kidnap Malaysian ship crew: reports

Kuala Lumpur, Apr 2, 2016, AFP:

Gunmen have kidnapped four Malaysians from a ship off the east coast of Sabah state in waters where Abu Sayyaf militants are known to operate, local media reported today.

If the Philippine Islamist group is confirmed to be behind the kidnapping, it would be their second such hostage-taking in as many weeks and comes amid an uptick in such attacks.

Sabah police commissioner Abdul Rashid Harun told Malaysia's official news agency Bernama that authorities were still investigating if the kidnapping yesterday occurred in Malaysian or international waters.

"The area is vast and we have our assets there. So we are investigating whether it happened in or off our waters," he was quoted as saying by Bernama. "The five other individuals in the ship comprising Myanmar and Indonesian nationals were released." There were conflicting reports over whether the boat, the size of which was not immediately known, had been sailing to Malaysia from the Philippines or making the reverse journey.

Many Western and other embassies routinely issue warnings against travelling to most of the Philippines' Muslim-populated southern regions, which lie just northeast of Sabah, because of the risk of being abducted by the Abu Sayyaf.

On Tuesday, officials said that 10 Indonesian sailors had been kidnapped in waters off the southern Philippines. The incident was believed to have happened last Saturday. The Philippine military said initial information indicated the sailors may have been taken by an Abu Sayyaf faction to Sulu, a remote southern island that is a hideout of the militant outfit.

Someone claiming to be from Abu Sayyaf called the vessel's owners to demand a ransom for the sailors' release. Other recent kidnappings, including of two Canadian tourists and a Norwegian resort owner in areas previously considered beyond the group's reach, have further raised fears.

Last year, Malaysian Bernard Then was kidnapped from a seaside restaurant in Sabah, about 300 kilometres (180 miles) from the Abu Sayyaf's Jolo stronghold. He was later killed by the group.

Read More