Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz on Monday blamed India for the cancellation of talks between him and his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval. Aziz said that no dialogue could take place between the two countries until New Delhi agreed to discuss the Kashmir issue with Islamabad. Aziz said India needed to be sensitive to Pakistan's priorities, adding that the Indian government was forgetting that Pakistan was a nuclear power as well. “Modi’s India acts as if they are a regional superpower,” Aziz was quoted saying by a Pakistani newspaper. He also called on New Delhi to hold a referendum in Kashmir to let the state’s residents decide their legal status. The talks between the two NSAs were called off by Pakistan on Saturday after India refused to allow Aziz to meet with Kashmiri separatist groups during his visit to New Delhi.
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index (Sensex) on Monday lost over 1,624 points in intra-day trading, it’s sharpest single-day fall in value since 2009. The crash, reported to be third-sharpest fall in terms of percentage, also eroded over seven lakh crore from investor wealth. The fall was triggered by an 8.5% slump in China’s Shanghai Composite, which also caused equity and commodity markets across Asia, Europe and the United States to plunge. The Rupee also hit a fresh two-year low against the US Dollar, closing 82 paise lower than its value at the start of the day. Later, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government and the Reserve Bank of India were “watching the situation closely”, adding that the effects of China's economic slowdown on Indian markets were only “transient and temporary”.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Monday provisionally directed India and Italy to “suspend all court proceedings” against two Italian Marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012. The Tribunal also directed both countries to not initiate any new proceedings against the two which would “aggravate or extend the dispute submitted” to the Annex VII Arbitral Tribunal, which is yet to take a final decision on which country can exercise jurisdiction over the marines. Both countries were also asked to submit an initial compliance report to the Tribunal by September 24. Later, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that India would abide by the tribunal’s order.
The Trinamool Congress on Monday cancelled a three-member delegation’s visit to the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. Citing “party programmes”, TMC national spokesperson Derek O’ Brien said that the party’s delegation would visit the Institute later. However, a senior TMC official toldPTI that the visit was cancelled as the party was preparing for a rally to be held by its own students’ wing. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rahul Sinha welcomed the TMC’s decision, saying that the party had “no right” to visit FTII as its own cadres were harassing and assaulting teachers and professors in West Bengal. The Mamata Banerjee-led outfit had announced on Saturday that the delegation would visit the FTII to express its solidarity with the Institute’s students, who have been protesting against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its Director.
India and Egypt on Monday agreed to deepen their bilateral cooperation in key areas, including security, counterterrorism and investments. During meetings between Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, her Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Hassan Shoukry and Egyptian President Fattah Al-Sisi, both sides also underlined the need to tackle militant groups in the Middle-East, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. India said that the Islamic State needed to be fought in a “determined and collective manner”. A top Indian official also said that the two sides had agreed to cooperate in defence and increase trade between the two countries as well. The delegations of both countries agreed to put in place a bilateral framework to enhance their cooperation.
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