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Afghan refugees in Pakistan to be repatriated by end-2015

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(Last Updated On: October 25, 2022)

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The tripartite agreement between the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR), and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which grants Afghan refugees an official refugee status in Afghanistan, will come to an end on 31 December 2012.

Therefore, the estimated 1.8 million registered (and an additional 1.3 million unregistered) refugees are to return to Afghanistan as the authorities are preparing to close camps that have been set up, in some cases, over 30 years ago.

The Afghan president reportedly assured Sharif that the repatriation of registered Afghans in Pakistan was a priority for the new Afghan government and steps were being taken to facilitate their return by Dec 31, 2015, which is the extended deadline given by Pakistan for the repatriation.

The extended deadline was heading towards its expiry when Nawaz Sharif granted a “generous” extension to allow the refugees to stay on in Pakistan till Dec 31, 2015.

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Israel will enter Rafah with or without Gaza hostage deal, Netanyahu says

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

Israel will carry out an operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of whether or not a ceasefire and hostage release deal is reached, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

“The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its objectives is out of the question,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.

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Reported Indian role in assassination plots a ‘serious matter’, White House says

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(Last Updated On: April 30, 2024)

The White House said on Monday it viewed the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in two assassination plots in Canada and the United States as a serious matter.

The Washington Post reported that an officer in India’s intelligence service was directly involved in a foiled plan to assassinate a U.S. citizen who is one of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most vocal critics in the United States.

It said the officer was also involved in the separate shooting death of a Sikh activist last June in Canada.

India’s foreign ministry said the Washington Post report made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter” while New Delhi is investigating the issue.

“Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

“This is a serious matter, and we’re taking that very, very seriously,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

“We’re going to continue to raise our concerns.”

In November, U.S. authorities said an Indian government official had directed the plot in the attempted murder of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist and dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Reuters reported.

India has expressed concern about the linkage and dissociated itself from the plot, saying it would formally investigate the concerns of the United States, and take ‘necessary follow-up action’ on the findings of a panel set up on Nov. 18.

Pannun is the general counsel of Sikhs for Justice, a group that India labeled an “unlawful association” in 2019, citing its involvement in extremist activities. Subsequently, in 2020, India listed Pannun as an “individual terrorist”.

The issue is a delicate one for both India and the Biden administration in the United States as they try to build closer ties in the face of shared concerns about China’s growing power.

News of the U.S. plot came two months after Canada said it was looking at credible allegations potentially linking Indian agents to the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Sikh separatist, in a Vancouver suburb.

India strongly rejected Ottawa’s accusations.

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Dubai ruler approves new $35 billion airport terminal

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(Last Updated On: April 29, 2024)

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum approved a new passenger terminal in Al Maktoum International airport worth 128 billion AED ($34.85 billion), he said on Sunday in a post on X.

The Al Maktoum International Airport will be the largest in the world with a capacity of up to 260 million passengers, and five times the size of Dubai International Airport, he added, saying that all operations at Dubai airport would be transferred to Al Maktoum in the coming years, Reuters reported.

The Al Maktoum airport will also include 400 terminal gates and five runways, he said.

The airport will be the new home of flagship carrier Emirates and its sister low-cost airline Flydubai along with all airline partners connecting the world to and from Dubai, Dubai state-owned airline Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said.

The move “further solidifies Dubai’s position as a leading aviation hub on the world stage”, the CEO of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, was quoted as saying by the Dubai Media Office.

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