Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim government Wednesday revoked a ban on the rightwing Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, less than a month after it was outlawed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

“It (lifting the ban) will come under effect immediately,” the Home Ministry said in a gazette notification, noting that there was no particular evidence against the organisation.

The erstwhile Awami League government led by Hasina had imposed a ban on Jamaat on August 1, 2024, accusing the Islamist party as a “militant and terrorist” organisation. The government blamed Jamaat’s student wing for inciting chaos over a quota system for government jobs.

Welcoming the interim government’s decision, Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Shafiqur Rahman, called for an end to the politics of hatred and division in Bangladesh.

“We want the politics of hatred to be buried… it shouldn’t rise again. We want the politics of division to be buried,” he told journalists.

Rahman said that Jamaat-e-Islami does not support the division of the nation over any issue, saying, “In all cases, we want the nation to be united.”

The ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Chhatra Shibir, was a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the anti-government movement, he said.

The government notification said the ban under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 has been lifted as there was no particular evidence against the organisation. The government believed that Jamaat and its associate bodies, including its student front Chhatra Shibir, were not involved in terrorist activities and violence.

The decision, formally published in a gazette notification on Wednesday, represents a significant change from the decision taken by the erstwhile Awami League government earlier this month, just days before its ouster.

The development came a day after Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman urged the High Court to summarily reject a writ petition seeking an order on the government to ban Hasina’s Awami League as a political party and scrap its registration.

“The current (interim) government has no intention to ban any political organisation,” the government’s top law officer told a two-judge High Court bench, which set August 29 for its decision on the writ filed by one Sarda Society as a public interest litigation.

The interim government’s law adviser, equivalent to a minister, Asif Nazrul on Wednesday told reporters he was opposed to the call for a ban on Awami League or any other political parties unless there was any strong evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities.

“Awami League is the party which led Bangladesh’s independence movement and contributed to different democratic movements. (But) what they did in the past 15 years does not go with their heritage, the spirit of the Liberation War,” Nazrul said.

He said the party had established the “most barbaric fascism” in Bangladesh’s history for which someone might have individual or its leaders might have collective responsibility “but I don’t think it will be a wise decision to ban it as a political party”.

Secretary General of ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that anyone should be able to form an independent political party, that is the main goal of democracy.

“We are not in favour of banning any political party; any party and any individual has the right to form an independent party. But they must be on the side of freedom and sovereignty. Those who do not believe in freedom cannot be supported,” he said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

No senior leader of the Awami League, which ran the country for the past 15 years, is seen in the public domain while several ministers of Hasina’s cabinet were arrested, on the run or believed to have fled the country since the ouster of the regime.

The Jamaat opposed Bangladesh’s 1971 independence from Pakistan and sided with the Pakistani troops during the Liberation War.

The Jamaat, founded in 1941 in undivided India, was first banned in 1972, the year Bangladesh framed its Constitution, which disbanded the functioning of any association, union or political party based on religion.

But the subsequent military government led by General Ziaur Rahman revoked the ban by issuing a martial law proclamation, which allowed Jamaat to refloat and years later became a crucial partner of the then prime minister Khaleda Zia’s 2001-2006 four-party alliance government. Two senior Jamaat leaders were inducted into her cabinet.

The Jamaat remained active despite losing its registration and being barred from elections due to court rulings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv

Kyiv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday conveyed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an “active role” to restore peace in the region.

In his talks with Zelenskyy in Kyiv that came a day ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day, the prime minister said India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict and he would even like to contribute personally for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Modi’s nearly nine-hour visit to Ukraine, the first by an Indian prime minister since its independence in 1991, came six weeks after he held summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that triggered anguish in some Western countries.

The prime minister reiterated the need for “sincere and practical” engagement between all stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that will have “broad acceptability” and contribute towards early restoration of peace in Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

“I have come with a message of peace..I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed to respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us,” Modi told Zelenskyy at the talks.

The prime minister also asserted India’s strong commitment towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

“I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us,” he said.

Modi arrived in Kyiv following a nearly 10-hour train journey from Poland in the second leg of his two-nation trip.

Modi’s wide-ranging talks with Zelenskyy primarily focused on ways to end the war and boost bilateral cooperation in areas of trade, defence, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and education.

“We (India) are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace. We have come from the land of Buddha where there is no place for war; we have come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi who had given a message of peace to the entire world,” Modi said.

The prime minister also apprised Zelenskyy of his message to Putin in Samarkand in September 2022 as well as in Moscow last month.

“Some time back, when I met President Putin in Samarkand, I had told him that this was not the era of war. Last month when I went to Russia, I said in clear words that the solution to any problem is never found on the battlefield,” Modi said.

“The solution comes through talks, dialogue and diplomacy and we should move ahead in that direction without wasting time.

Both sides should sit together and find ways to come out of this crisis,” Modi said.

Following the talks, Zelenskyy said India supports Ukraine’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and it is “critical because everyone in the world must equally respect the UN Charter.”

“Following the visit, we also agreed on a joint statement focusing on the development of a strategic partnership, bilateral trade, and continued military-technical cooperation,” he said.

Zelenskyy said “history was made” today as the Indian prime minister made the first visit to Ukraine since “our independence, on the eve of our Independence Day.”

In a post on ‘X’, Modi described his talks with Zelenskyy as “productive” and said India “firmly” believes that peace must always prevail.

At a media briefing, Jaishankar said Modi conveyed to Zelenskyy India’s willingness to contribute in “all possible ways” to facilitate an early return of peace to Ukraine, he said.

“We are very, very keen that this conflict should come to an end,” the external affairs minister said.

It was a “very detailed, open and in many ways constructive discussion”, he said.

The talks revolved around to some extent on the military situation, on concerns like food and energy security, and on “conceivable pathways to peace”, Jaishankar said.

“It is India’s view that the two sides (Ukraine and Russia) need to engage with each other to find a solution,” he said, adding the talks revolved around the military situation, on concerns like food and energy security, and on “conceivable pathways to peace”.

The external affairs minister also defended India’s procurement of crude oil from Russia.

“India is a big oil consumer, it is a big oil importer..It is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil, there is an oil strategy to buy oil, there is a market strategy to buy oil,” Jaishankar said.

A joint statement released after the talks said Modi and Zelenskyy reiterated their readiness for further cooperation in upholding principles of international law, including the UN Charter, such as respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.

It said the Indian side reiterated its principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy, as a part of which, India has attended the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in Switzerland in June.

The Ukrainian side welcomed such participation by India and highlighted the importance of high-level Indian participation in the next peace summit, it said.

In the talks the Ukrainian side conveyed that the joint communique on a peace framework, adopted at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, could serve as a basis for further efforts to promote just peace based on dialogue, diplomacy, and international law, the statement said.

The two leaders appreciated various efforts to ensure global food security, including the Ukrainian humanitarian grain initiative.

The importance of an uninterrupted and unhindered supply of agricultural products to global markets, especially in Asia and Africa, was emphasised in the talks.

In his remarks at the meeting, the prime minister conveyed to Zelenskyy that he has come to Kyiv also with a message of peace from the Global South. The Ukrainian side wanted continued involvement of India with the Global Peace summit, he said.

“It is India’s view that the two sides (Ukraine and Russia) need to engage with each other to find a solution,” he said.

The external affairs minister said the two leaders reiterated their readiness to continue cooperation to uphold principles of international law such as respect for territorial integrity and protect the sovereignty of states.

Jaishankar said the prime minister sought the president’s assessment of both the ground situation as well as the diplomatic scenario and Zelenskyy spoke on both issues.

The external affairs minister described Modi’s visit to Kyiv as a “landmark”

Jaishankar said a significant part of discussions between PM Modi and President Zelenskyy was devoted to the bilateral relations.

There were discussions on trade, economic issues, defence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education, he said.

Modi and Zelenskyy also tasked the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commission to specifically focus on rebuilding trade and economic relations.

Taipei: Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided at sea, damaging at least two boats, in an encounter early Monday near a new flashpoint in their increasingly alarming confrontations in the disputed South China Sea.

Both blamed the other for the collision near Sabina Shoal, a disputed atoll in the Spratly Islands, where overlapping claims are also made by Vietnam and Taiwan. There were no reports of injuries.

China’s coast guard accused the Philippines of deliberately crashing one of its ships into a Chinese vessel. Two Philippine coast guard ships entered waters near the shoal, ignored the Chinese coast guard’s warning and intentionally collided with one of China’s boats at 3:24 am, a spokesperson said in a statement on the Chinese coast guard’s website.

“The Philippine side is entirely responsible for the collision,” spokesman Gan Yu said. “We warn the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement and provocation, otherwise it will bear all the consequences arising from that.”

The Philippines’ National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said two of the coast guard’s ships, BRP Bagacay and BRP Cape Engano, “encountered unlawful and aggressive maneuvers” from Chinese coast guard vessels while en route to Patag and Lawak islands in the area.

“These dangerous maneuvers resulted in collisions, causing structural damage to both Philippine Coast Guard vessels,” the statement read.

The task force said the collision between BRP Cape Engano and one of the Chinese ships created a hole on the deck of the Philippine ship with a diameter of about 5 inches (12.7 centimetres).

About 16 minutes later, the other Philippine ship, BRP Bagacay, was rammed twice on its port and starboard sides by a different Chinese vessel, leading to minor structural damage, according to the task force.

“The (Philippine Coast Guard) stands firm in its responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our maritime domain while addressing any threats to our national interests,” it said.

Gan added China claimed “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands, known in Chinese as Nansha Islands, including Sabina Shoal and its adjacent waters. The Chinese name for Sabina Shoal is Xianbin Reef.

In a separate statement, he said the Philippine ship that was turned away from Sabina Shoal entered waters near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, ignoring the Chinese coast guard’s warnings. “The Chinese coast guard took control measures against the Philippine ship in accordance with law and regulation,” he added.

Sabina Shoal, which lies about 140 kilometres west of the Philippines’ western island province of Palawan, has become a new flashpoint in the territorial disputes between China and the Philippines.

The Philippine coast guard deployed one of its key patrol ships, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, to Sabina in April after Filipino scientists discovered submerged piles of crushed corals in its shallows that sparked suspicions that China may be bracing to build a structure in the atoll. The Chinese coast guard later deployed a ship to Sabina.

Sabina lies near the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of increasingly alarming confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships and accompanying vessels since last year.

China and the Philippines reached an agreement last month to prevent further confrontations when the Philippines transports new batches of sentry forces, along with food and other supplies, to Manila’s territorial outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been closely guarded by Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships.

The Philippine navy transported food and personnel to the Second Thomas Shoal a week after the deal was reached and no incident was reported, sparking hope that tensions in the shoal would eventually ease.

China has been at odds with many other countries in the Asia-Pacific for years over its sweeping maritime claims, including almost all of the South China Sea, a strategic and resource-rich waterway around which Beijing has drawn a 10-dash line on official maps to delineate what it says is its territory.

Beijing is in the midst of a massive military expansion and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its claims, giving rise to more frequent direct confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though it is also involved in longtime territorial disputes with Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

A 2016 arbitration ruling by a United Nations tribunal invalidated Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, but China did not participate in the proceedings and rejected the ruling.

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has started an investigation against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and nine others on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity that took place from July 15 to August 5 during students’ mass movement against her government.

A complaint was filed on Wednesday with the investigation agency of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal against Hasina, Awami League general secretary and former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and several other prominent figures within the party.

The complainant’s lawyer Gazi MH Tamim confirmed on Thursday that the Tribunal started the probe on Wednesday night.

Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5 after resigning from her post amidst unprecedented anti-government student-led protests.

The Hasina-led Awami League along with its affiliated organisations is also named in the petition.

The petition was filed by Bulbul Kabir, the father of Arif Ahmed Siam, a Class IX student who was killed during the anti-discrimination student movement.

“The (ICT-BD) investigation agency has started reviewing the charges… The accusation of genocide and crimes against humanity has been recorded as a case,” said the lawyer.

The application accuses Hasina and others of orchestrating a violent crackdown on student protestors, resulting in widespread casualties and human rights violations.

He said the progress of this investigation outcome would be informed to the Tribunal, originally constituted to try the Bengali-speaking hardened collaborators of Pakistani troops during the 1971 Liberation War, within seven days.

He said that in line with the tribunal law in addition to the plaintiff and other witnesses, reports published in various media from July 16 to August 6 were submitted as necessary documents.

Separately, a case of enforced disappearance was filed on Wednesday against Hasina and several others, including former ministers of her cabinet, on the charge of kidnapping a lawyer in 2015.

On Tuesday, a murder case was filed against Hasina and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last month’s violent clashes that led to the fall of her government.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court on Thursday asked police to submit by September 15 the probe report of the case filed against Hasina and six others over the death of grocery shop owner Abu Saeed in police firing in the capital’s Mohammadpur area during the quota protests on July 19.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Zaki Al Farabi set the date after the case was placed before his court for the next course of action.

The development coincided with the now scrapped National Mourning Day holiday marking the August 15, 1975 assassination of Hasina’s father and Bangladesh’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The interim government of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus cancelled the holiday after discussions with different political parties other than Awami League while most of its leaders are on the run or in jail following the collapse of Hasina’s regime on August 5.

According to media reports, some parties were in favour of keeping the mourning day holiday while others opposed it.

Unlike the previous years, no sombre wreath offering ceremony was held at Bangabandhu’s 32 Dhanmandi private residence later turned into a memorial museum which was burnt into ashes by angry mobs following Hasina’s resignation and fleeing to India.

“Nobody approves of it… but somebody’s (Hasina regime) overdoing caused the overreaction,” ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader and spokesman Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury earlier told PTI, referring to the attack on the museum.

Political commentator and New Age newspaper editor Nurul Kabir, known for his stern criticism of the past regime, said Hasina herself was responsible for the defamation of her father.

Kabir added, “Who can deny his contribution to Bangladesh’s creation”.

“The blame lies with them (Hasina regime or party),” he said.

Reports and witnesses said film actress Rokeya Prachi, followed by several people to stage a sit-in, on Wednesday went to the museum but was dispersed by protesters who used sticks to chase them away.

However, a huge group of stick-wielding people on Thursday positioned themselves in front of the museum to bar anyone from paying tributes in front of his bust at Bangabandhu Bhaban, despite calls from the deposed premier.

“I went to pay my respects in the morning. But I could not place wreaths. I felt good as some people gave salam (Muslim traditional greeting) and asked me to go back,” said a 1971 veteran and leader of a Krishak Sramik Awami League, a party belonging to the opposition camp.

He however complained that brickbats were thrown at his car, damaging the vehicle.

The student-led protests demanding reforms in government job quotas evolved into a government-toppling movement in early August.

Over 230 people died in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, taking the death toll to 560 during the three weeks of violence.

Following Hasina’s resignation, a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed in the country, promising to address administrative and political reforms and hold accountable those involved in the violence.

Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip): More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry said Thursday.

Israel’s offensive has also wounded 92,401 people and displaced over 85% of the population from their homes, the ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

The announcement came during yet another push from international mediators to broker a cease-fire in the war, now in its 11th month.

The conflict began Oct 7 after Hamas-led group attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people — most of them civilians — and dragging roughly 250 hostages to Gaza.

Israel says 111 of the captives have not been released, including the bodies of 39. The hostages include 15 women and two children under the age of 5.

In Gaza, health officials have struggled to fully identify the dead as bodies stream into overwhelmed hospitals and morgues where they say the count is compiled amid the chaos of war and displacement.

In its most recent detailed report on the dead, issued Thursday, the ministry said 40,005 people have been killed. Health officials and civil defence workers say the true toll is likely thousands higher, since many bodies remain buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed in airstrikes.

Israel’s air and ground offensive in Gaza has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history.

The bombardment and shelling have killed entire Palestinian families. With cemeteries often unreachable, families fleeing Israeli airstrikes bury their dead wherever possible — in backyards, along roadsides and under the staircases of their homes.

Israel says it aims to eliminate Hamas. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the group operate in civilian areas and have built extensive tunnel networks underneath them. Israeli forces have regularly targeted mosques, schools, hospitals and cemeteries where it claims fighters or tunnels are located, often causing civilian casualties.

The fighting has also killed 329 Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military claims that over 17,000 Hamas fighters are among those killed in Gaza but has not provided evidence.

Nearly 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, fleeing multiple times across the territory to escape ground offensives. During the war, thousands within Israel and in southern Lebanon have also been displaced.

The assault has created a massive humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The entire territory is at high risk of famine and over 495,000 people — more than a fifth of the population — are expected to experience the most severe level of hunger in the coming months, according to the latest report by the leading authority on measuring hunger.

Also, Gaza’s sanitation systems have been destroyed, leaving pools of sewage and towers of garbage in tent camps packed with displaced families.

The offensive likely either damaged or destroyed 59% of all structures in Gaza by July 3, including 70% of buildings in northern Gaza, according to an analysis of satellite data by Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek, experts in mapping damage during war.

The conflict has sparked fears of a wider regional war, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and the Israeli military trading fire almost daily over their countries’ border.

More than 500 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, including some 350 Hezbollah members and 50 fighters from other groups, with the rest being civilians. In Israel, 22 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra

Bangkok : Thailand’s Parliament elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of the divisive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, as the country’s new prime minister Friday.

Paetongtarn becomes Thailand’s third leader from the Shinawatra family, after her father, who was ousted by coup before returning from exile last year, and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra, who lives in exile. Paetongtarn also became Thailand’s second female prime minister after her aunt and the country’s youngest leader at 37.

She is the leader of the ruling Pheu Thai party but was not an elected lawmaker, which was not required for her to be a candidate for prime minister. Paetongtarn was the sole nominee and got a majority of the votes in Parliament with the voting ongoing.

The last prime minister had been removed by the Constitutional Court two days ago over an ethics violation.

Thaksin is one of Thailand’s most popular but divisive political figures and was ousted by a military coup in 2006. He is widely seen as a de facto leader of Pheu Thai, the latest in a string of parties linked to him. His residual popularity and influence is a factor behind the political support for Paetongtarn.

Her public entry into politics came in 2021 when the Pheu Thai party announced she would lead an inclusion advisory committee. She was appointed as leader of Pheu Thai last year, after she was named one of its three prime ministerial candidates ahead of the polls.

When Paetongtarn was on the campaign trail for Pheu Thai, she acknowledged her family ties but insisted she was not just her father’s proxy.

“It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she told a reporter.

However, her father’s shadow is too big to be dismissed and her work will not be easy with him continuing to call political shots for Pheu Thai, said Petra Alderman, a political research fellow at England’s University of Birmingham.

“Thaksin was a political force to reckon with, but he was also a liability,” she said, “He has a tendency to overplay his political hand, so serving in his shadow has never been easy.”

Paetongtarn’s nomination followed the removal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday after less than a year in office. The Constitutional Court found him guilty of a serious ethical breach regarding his appointment of a Cabinet member who was jailed in connection with an alleged bribery attempt.

It was the second major ruling in a week to shake Thai politics. The same court last week dissolved the progressive Move Forward party, which won last year’s general election but was blocked from taking power. The party has already regrouped as the People’s Party.

Pheu Thai and its predecessors had won all national elections since 2001, with core populist policies pledging to solve economic problems and bridge income equality, until it lost to the reformist Move Forward in 2023. It, however, was given a chance to form a government after Move Forward was blocked from taking power by the previous Senate, a military-appointed body.

Move Forward was excluded from the coalition by Pheu Thai, which went on to join hands with parties affiliated with the military government that ousted it in a coup. The move drew criticism from some of its supporters but party officials say it was necessary to break the deadlock and start reconciliation after decades of deep political divisions.

Thaksin returned to Thailand last year after years in exile in what was interpreted as part of a political bargain between Pheu Thai and their longstanding rivals in the conservative establishment to stop Move Forward Party from forming a government.

The former senators were given special power to veto a prime ministerial candidate by the constitution adopted in 2017 under a military government. However, that power expired when their term ended in May. New members of the Senate, selected in a convoluted process last month, do not retain the veto.

A candidate now needs just a majority from the lower house, or at least 247 votes. The current 11 party-coalition led by Pheu Thai now has 314 lawmakers in the lower house, and they have declared their unanimous support for Paetongtarn.

The coalition under the leadership of Paetongtarn could strengthen their unity because Paetongtarn possesses something that Srettha does not — a direct line to her powerful father who has the final say — said Napon Jatusripitak, a political science researcher at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

“In a strange way, it creates a clear chain of command and curbs factionalism,” he said. “Paetongtarn will be given clear jurisdictions on where she can exercise her own agency and where it is a matter between her father and the coalition members.”

With Move Forward dissolved and the party’s only prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat banned from political activities, Napon believes it’s the time that the rest of major political parties resume a “game of musical chairs” of the premiership race that has been put on hold “with an agreement to share power, regardless of who becomes the prime minister.”

“Most importantly, the overarching goal remains the same: to keep the music playing and exclude the reformists from power,” he said.

Joe Biden U.S President

The Biden Administration looks forward to expanding its “critical and critically important” partnership with India and creating a more prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific, the White House has said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the remarks on Monday while responding to questions on the priorities of US President Joe Biden in the remaining six months of his administration.

“We look forward to continuing to expand our critical and critically important partnership and how it’s going to benefit the American people,” she said while addressing her daily news conference.

“We want to create a more prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific and the world. That is going to continue to be our focus as we move forward,” she said.

“The president (Joe Biden) views our relationship — the United States’ relationship with India — as one of the most consequential in the world. We work closely with India on our most vital priorities, including through the Quad and the US-India initiative on — Critical and Emerging Technology,” Jean-Pierre said.

Earlier in the day, India’s Ambassador-designate to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, arrived in the American Capital.

Kwatra, who previously served as Minister of Commerce in the Indian Embassy here, is expected to present his credentials to President Biden shortly.

The top Indian diplomat, who is well known in the US diplomatic circles, arrives in the US in the middle of an intense presidential election campaign, fast-moving developments in Bangladesh and two wars in which the US is currently engaged.

Over the next 90 days, India and the US are expected to have some high-level diplomatic engagements, including visits of cabinet-level officials on either side.

The overall ties between India and the US have witnessed a major upswing following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic state visit to Washington in June last year, followed by Biden’s trip to India last September for the G20 summit.

Wellington: A man died after an unauthorised helicopter flight in Queensland, Australia ended in a crash on a hotel roof early Monday morning, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of people from the building as flames engulfed the aircraft.

Authorities in the city of Cairns said that they had not confirmed the identity of the pilot, his reason for making the flight or how the tourist helicopter was able to take off from Cairns Airport.A couple staying at the hotel was hospitalised suffering from smoke inhalation and have now been discharged, Queensland Police Service Acting Chief Superintendent Shane Holmes told reporters. No one else on the ground was hurt.

Holmes said it was not known if the man flying the helicopter held a pilot’s license or if he worked for the company that owned the craft, Nautilus Aviation.

“There is no further threat to the community, and we believe this is an isolated incident,” Holmes said.

Nautilus Aviation said in an unattributed written statement that the flight was “unauthorised” but would not supply any further details.

Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker said initial findings of a review Monday showed “no compromise of the airport security program or processes.”

About 400 people were evacuated from the hotel after the crash, which happened in the early hours of the morning in a busy tourist district of Cairns — a tropical city of 150,000 people in far north Queesland — where it is peak season for holidaymakers. Witnesses told local news outlets the crash sounded like a bomb exploding.

Smoke and flames billowed from the roof of the Doubletree Hilton and one of the helicopter’s rotor blades landed in the hotel pool, the Australian broadcaster ABC reported.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus

Dhaka : People in Bangladesh have welcomed the new interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, hoping it would restore order, end repression and hold a fair election to facilitate a democratic transition of power.

Yunus, 84, on Thursday took oath as the head of an interim government, replacing Sheikh Hasina who abruptly resigned and fled to India leaving the country in turmoil following deadly protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.

He was sworn in as the chief advisor – a position equivalent to prime minister.

Women’s rights activist Farida Akhtar, right-wing party Hefazat-e-Islam’s deputy chief AFM Khalid Hossain, Grameen Telecom trustee Nurjahan Begum, freedom fighter Sharmeen Murshid, chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board Supradip Chakma, Prof Bidhan Ranjan Roy and former foreign secretary Touhid Hossain are among the advisory council members.

Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said that one of the duties of the interim government would be to restore order, which has been disrupted over the last few days following the fall of Hasina.

“The other task is to ensure the safety of citizens,” The Daily Star newspaper quoted Choudhury as saying after the oath-taking of the interim government.

The government would also need to eliminate all forms of oppression and the culture of fear prevailing across the country, he said.

However, the main responsibility of the government, he emphasised, would be to hold a fair and acceptable election to facilitate a democratic transition of power.

Eminent jurist Kamal Hossain said, “The change that has happened was welcomed by everyone. There has been an extraordinary turnout at the event. Everyone feels that change has come.

“We hope they [members of the advisory council] will be able to address the new crises. People will expect a meaningful change — let this be that change,” he said.

Barrister Sara Hossain said: “My main expectation from this government is that it will enable substantial reforms to institutions in Bangladesh and clear the path for truth-telling about what has happened not only in the immediate past or the past few weeks but even over the last 14 years and before that.”

The students’ anti-discrimination movement was for reforms and against repression and these should be the interim government’s main themes, she told the newspaper. “What I perhaps am a bit troubled by is that, unlike previous years, there is no balance of political background and police. We obviously have no representation from (Hasina-led) Awami League. This absence of balance could cause a problem,” she said,

Bangladesh has a secular Constitution, history and tradition, which has not denied any faith but encouraged pluralism, but the swearing-in today did not reflect that, she said, expressing hope that “it is not a sign of things to come.”

The inclusion of students is of course unprecedented, she said, adding, “But I think it can only add energy to the whole process … I believe they can be a part of keeping the interim government in the right direction and keep it within the demands of the students and general people. We need to remember that even post-Liberation in 1971, we had many young leaders.”

Samina Luthfa, associate professor at Dhaka University, said, “While I welcome the interim government, it is to be noted that many of them are from non-government organisations and require a specific kind of skill set. However, there is much work to be done to reform the nation, whether they have the skills for that remains a question. I think including the students [leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement] in the government brings hope.”

Asked whether minority and women representation were enough, she said, “I believe those could be higher. Many other women and actors from religious minority backgrounds are skilled and have been supporting the movement, they too could have been included. More people from these segments of society could have ensured a higher possibility of a ‘discrimination-free’ country.”

She added that since the Jamaat-e-Islami was banned, the Hefazat Ameer may have been included to balance out participation from all religious backgrounds.

“We are in an extraordinary situation and of course, we cannot expect everything to be perfect already, it will all take time.

“However, at this moment, the first thing the interim government must look after is the safety of all citizens, justice, the economy, and restoring law and order.”