India celebrated Republic Day yesterday with a grand military parade in New Delhi held under tight security conditions, two months after the terror attacks on Mumbai.
Police shot and killed two suspected Pakistani militants near the capital on the eve of the national day celebrations, as 20,000 troops were deployed to prevent extremist strikes.
India says Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based militant group, was behind November’s carnage in Mumbai, during which 10 gunmen killed 165 people.
PHOTO: AFP
“The concerted and well-planned attacks in Mumbai stand out as an example of a ruthless operation undertaken to damage the confidence of India,” Indian President Pratibha Patil said in an address to the nation.
“Countries must own up to their responsibilities,” she said, without naming arch-rival Pakistan.
Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal had warned that Islamist militants could try to attack the parade, which emphasizes India’s role as a regional economic and military power, as it passed through the ceremonial heart of New Delhi.
“There are intelligence inputs [of possible strikes by guerrillas],” Dadwal said.
The center of New Delhi was virtually shut down for yesterday’s celebrations, which attracted large crowds, and security was focused on areas close to the parade route such as metro stations and shopping centers.
Dadwal said a “ground-to-air security apparatus” was in place with anti-aircraft guns, snipers and helicopter gunships at the ready to protect the event, which passed off peacefully.
Federal Home Minister P. Chidambaram had ordered all 28 Indian states, including the seven restive northeast provinces and disputed Kashmir, to be on high alert.
On Sunday, police said they had prevented a planned attack on New Delhi by killing two Pakistani militants on the outskirts of the city.
Brij Lal, a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh state, said an anti-terrorist team chased a car carrying the men towards the capital before they intercepted it in the suburb of Noida.
Police said they found two AK-47 assault rifles and five hand grenades in the car.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh missed yesterday’s events after undergoing major heart surgery.
Doctors said the 76-year-old was “doing extremely well” after five bypasses on Saturday to clear blockages in his arteries.
Singh’s role in the Republic Day schedule was filled by Indian Defense Minister A.K. Anthony, while Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was chief guest.
Bejewelled elephants that have been a highlight of Republic Day festivities for decades were banned from this year’s parade because of fears about their unruly behavior and animal rights concerns.
Among the military hardware on show were locally built T-90 tanks, which made their first appearance in the parade, and a cruise missile system being jointly built by India and Russia.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said on Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
CORRUPTION PROBE: ‘I apologize for causing concern to the people, even though I am someone insignificant,’ Kim Keon-hee said ahead of questioning by prosecutors The wife of South Korea’s ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday was questioned by a special prosecutor as investigators expanded a probe into suspicions of stock manipulation, bribery and interference in political party nominations. The investigation into Kim Keon-hee is one of three separate special prosecutor probes launched by the government targeting the presidency of Yoon, who was removed from office in April and rearrested last month over his brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3 last year. The incident came during a seemingly routine standoff with the opposition, who he described as “anti-state” forces abusing their legislative majority to obstruct
RSS