What to expect from Modi’s newly sworn-in coalition Cabinet

Analysis This handout photograph taken and released on June 10, 2024 by the Indian Press Information Bureau shows India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, holding the first cabinet meeting, in New Delhi. (AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on June 10, 2024 by the Indian Press Information Bureau shows India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center, holding the first cabinet meeting, in New Delhi. (AFP)
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Updated 11 June 2024
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What to expect from Modi’s newly sworn-in coalition Cabinet

What to expect from Modi’s newly sworn-in coalition Cabinet
  • No Muslim representation in India’s government as Modi starts third term
  • Re-elected FM says will focus on border issues with China and Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has retained most of the Cabinet ministers for his third term in office, signaling policy continuity, experts say, as they forecast a more conciliatory approach toward minorities.

Modi named the members of his government on Monday, one day after being sworn in following a mammoth general election, which ran from mid-April until June.

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar remains in charge of India’s foreign policy, Amit Shah has stayed as home minister, Nirmala Sitharaman as finance minister, and Rajnath Singh as defense minister.

The first minister to comment after his re-appointment was Jaishankar, who told reporters on Tuesday that the “foreign policy of Modi 3.0” will focus on resolving border issues with China and, on finding a solution to the “issue of years-old cross-border terrorism” with Pakistan.

Nuclear-armed India and China share a 3,800 km border over which they fought a war in 1962. Since 2020, they have engaged in a military standoff on the border — the worst in five decades.

With Pakistan, also a nuclear-armed neighbor, India has fought three wars, including two over control of the disputed Kashmir region in the Himalayas.

“The message from the way the cabinet has been formed and the way Dr. Jaishankar continues as the foreign minister means that the previous approach of marginalizing Pakistan in the Indian foreign policy and standing up to China will continue,” Prof. Harsh V. Pant, vice president of the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, told Arab News.

“Also, the way India has been reactive on the global stage is again something that is again likely to continue, so India will continue to find its own space in the global order through active diplomacy as it has tried to do in the last one decade.”

Despite becoming the second Indian prime minister to win a third term, Modi had to rely on regional allies to form his Cabinet.

The BJP won 240 seats in the 543-member parliament, losing its absolute majority for the first time since 2014. It was able to form a government with the support of two coalition members — the Telugu Desam Party, a player in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, and the Janata Dal (United) party from the eastern state of Bihar.

Their National Democratic Alliance controls 293 seats, while 272 were needed to form the government.

None of the key ministries went to the coalition partners.

“Practically no portfolio has changed except that the civil aviation has gone to the TDP but by and large all the crucial posts are with the BJP,” said R. Jagannathan, editorial director of the Hindu nationalist Swarajya magazine.

“I think the coalition people cannot expect more than their proportionate share of seats in the coalition. They don’t have that many seats to demand so much more ... The coalition will not have an impact in terms of the ministries they control, they will have an impact behind the scenes. They will get the Modi government to do many things for their states, mainly Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.”

The Modi “3.0” Cabinet saw representation from across states and castes but not for the 200 million Muslim minority.

A champion of the Hindu majority, who make up 80 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population, Modi has been widely criticized for undermining India’s secular democracy with a majoritarian agenda, which has facilitated violent attacks by Hindu nationalists against minorities, particularly Muslims.

For Venkat Narayana, former professor of economics at the Kakatiya University Telangana state, the lack of Muslim representation in Modi’s government was a “signal that he would continue with his non-secular approach and his anti-minority politics remain as pronounced as in the previous two terms.”

But since the 2024 election has been seen as a comeback of India’s opposition with 232 parliament seats, the prime minister will have to be “more conciliatory and democratic this time,” Narayana said.

“He can’t afford to shut the opposition completely now. He cannot run the government with the hardcore agenda otherwise the government will collapse.”

Prof. Ajay Gudavarthy from the Centre for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi told Arab News that the BJP’s alliance partner TDP has “a fair share of Muslim backing,” so there must be an agreement regarding that.

“The BJP this time might not go for some of the radical agendas like mob lynching which was followed in the previous terms. But they will follow a more cultural majoritarian agenda,” he said.

“Let’s wait and watch.”


Russia working ‘constantly’ to return Kursk residents: official

Updated 8 sec ago
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Russia working ‘constantly’ to return Kursk residents: official

Russia working ‘constantly’ to return Kursk residents: official
Hundreds were unable to evacuate and are now living in Ukrainian-controlled territory — cut off from communication with Russia
Some relatives this week posted photos of their missing relatives on Russian social media platform VKontakte

MOSCOW: An official in Russia’s Kursk border region partly occupied by Ukraine told AFP that authorities were working “constantly” to secure the return of Russian civilians caught behind the front lines — after facing rare public criticism.
Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into the Kursk region last August, seizing dozens of towns and villages in a shock setback for Moscow.
Hundreds were unable to evacuate and are now living in Ukrainian-controlled territory — cut off from communication with Russia.
In rare displays of public criticism amid Russia’s crackdown on dissent, some of their relatives have taken to speaking out against the authorities over the lack of information and failure to secure their return.
“Federal agencies and structures, and also the government of the Kursk region, are carrying out constant work in order to achieve concrete results in searching for and returning residents of Kursk region, with whom relatives have lost contact,” Kursk’s acting information minister, Mikhail Shumakov, said in a letter, dated Tuesday, sent to AFP.
He was replying to a request to comment on accusations from a Kursk woman, Lyubov Prilutskaya, who is campaigning to raise attention of the issue through posts on social media and interviews.
Her parents, who lived in a border village captured by Ukraine, have been missing since August.
Some relatives this week posted photos of their missing relatives on Russian social media platform VKontakte, saying around 3,000 civilians remain in Kyiv-controlled areas of the front-line Sudzha district.
They urged “the leadership of the two countries and international organizations to help save the lives of our family members.”
Kursk authorities in their letter acknowledged a list of 517 missing people published by rights ombudswoman Tatiana Moskalkova was “not comprehensive.”
A Ukrainian military spokesman for Kursk said this month that around 2,000 civilians remained in Kyiv-held territory.
Dozens of local residents forced to leave their homes by Ukraine’s offensive held protests in the main city of Kursk on Saturday and Tuesday, complaining about poor conditions for evacuees and demanding direct dialogue with authorities.

Saudi Arabia set to finance bridge construction in eastern Sri Lanka

Saudi Arabia set to finance bridge construction in eastern Sri Lanka
Updated 10 min 4 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia set to finance bridge construction in eastern Sri Lanka

Saudi Arabia set to finance bridge construction in eastern Sri Lanka
  • Saudi Fund for Development previously financed Kinniya Bridge, Sri Lanka’s longest
  • Kingdom has helped finance various projects and granted development loans to the country

COLOMBO: Saudi Arabia is to finance a bridge construction project in Sri Lanka’s eastern district of Trincomalee, the Kingdom’s envoy in Colombo said on Thursday.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Saudi Fund for Development have signed a revised agreement for a $10.5 million infrastructure project in the coastal town of Kinniya that will connect it to the Kurinchakerny peninsula.

The ministry announced on Wednesday: “(Some) $10.5 million has been allocated for the construction of Kurinchakerny Bridge, facilitating the transport and business needs of approximately 100,000 residents.”

The funds were repurposed from an earlier project between the Sri Lankan government and the SFD, the Saudi Ambassador to Sri Lanka Khalid bin Hamoud Al-Kahtani said.

The Kingdom previously funded the reconstruction of the Peradeniya-Badulla-Chenkaladi road in Sri Lanka, which connected the country’s eastern, middle and southern provinces. The massive project, which helped improve road safety and mobility in the island nation, was completed in 2021.

“The balance left from the project has been given for the construction of the project on a request made by the Sri Lankan government,” Al-Kahtani told Arab News.

“Through the revised agreement, it is expected to transfer funds that remained in the aforesaid project … and to mobilize the same towards construction of the Kurinchakerny Bridge (in Kinniya). It is envisaged to provide solutions to many transport difficulties.” 

Saudi Arabia has helped finance over a dozen projects in Sri Lanka, covering education, water, energy, health and infrastructure. The SFD has also granted at least 15 development loans to the island nation, worth more than $425 million in total.

In Trincomalee, the new bridge will be the second financed by the Kingdom after the Kinniya Bridge. At 396 meters it is the longest bridge in Sri Lanka and was opened in 2009.

A.L. Ashraff, a Kinniya-based journalist, said that the Kinniya Bridge had “triggered the region’s economic and cultural development.” 

The Kurinchakerny Bridge, he said, was a “fantastic gift for the thousands of people in Kinniya, which would make their daily life easier.”


5 treated after stabbing in south London, 1 man arrested

5 treated after stabbing in south London, 1 man arrested
Updated 19 min 33 sec ago
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5 treated after stabbing in south London, 1 man arrested

5 treated after stabbing in south London, 1 man arrested
  • Metropolitan Police said that a man was arrested following the stabbing in Croydon
  • Authorities didn’t provide a motive for the stabbing

LONDON: Five people have been treated following a stabbing Thursday morning in south London, according to London’s Ambulance Service.
London’s Metropolitan Police said that a man was arrested following the stabbing in Croydon, which British media reports said happened near an Asda supermarket. Authorities didn’t provide a motive for the stabbing.
The ambulance service said that one person was taken to a major trauma center in London and four other people were hospitalized.
“We sent a number of resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer, members of our Tactical Response Unit and London’s Air Ambulance,” the service said.
The violence came on the same day that a teenager faced sentencing for fatally stabbing three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed summer dance class in the northwestern English town of Southport.


Police in Hungary investigate bomb threats affecting over 240 schools

Police in Hungary investigate bomb threats affecting over 240 schools
Updated 23 January 2025
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Police in Hungary investigate bomb threats affecting over 240 schools

Police in Hungary investigate bomb threats affecting over 240 schools
  • The threats, which came in the form of emails, were identical in their text
  • Officers were being dispatched to all affected institutions

BUDAPEST: Police in Hungary said Thursday they were investigating bomb threats that were sent to more than 240 schools across the country, resulting in classes being canceled at some schools.
The threats, which came in the form of emails, were identical in their text and likely sent by a single sender, police said in a statement. Officers were being dispatched to all affected institutions. No explosives or explosive devices were found in the buildings inspected so far, police added.
Gergely Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said that “education in most schools in the country proceeds smoothly,” and that school administrators could decide for themselves whether to send students home.
He said Orbán on Thursday had consulted repeatedly with the interior minister and the minister in charge of Hungary’s secret services.
The emails were sent from numerous email providers “including foreign ones,” Gulyás said. Hungarian secret services were in consultation with their counterparts in neighboring Slovakia, where similar bomb threats were made last year, Gulyás said.
On Wednesday, numerous schools in around a dozen cities in Bulgaria also received bomb threats, according to Bulgarian public broadcaster BNT.


Kyiv claims Russian forces killed six captured Ukrainian troops

Kyiv claims Russian forces killed six captured Ukrainian troops
Updated 23 January 2025
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Kyiv claims Russian forces killed six captured Ukrainian troops

Kyiv claims Russian forces killed six captured Ukrainian troops
  • Officials both in Moscow and Kyiv have accused the other’s army of carrying out killings
  • “In the video, the occupiers recorded their own crime,” Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote in a social media post

KYIV: Kyiv accused Russian forces on Thursday of killing six captured Ukrainian servicemen and said it was notifying international rights groups of the latest alleged Russian war crime.
Officials both in Moscow and Kyiv have accused the other’s army of carrying out killings of captured soldiers in violation of international law.
The Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets made the allegations referring to footage circulating on social media that appears to show Russian troops shooting unarmed Ukrainian troops to death.
“In the video, the occupiers recorded their own crime — shooting six Ukrainian soldiers who were captured in the back,” he wrote in a social media post.
The video, which has spread across social media, could not be verified by AFP and there was no immediate comment from Moscow on the claims.
It appears to show Russian soldiers in a muddied frontline area ordering the Ukrainian troops to a clearing where they are then shot in the back one by one.
“I am once again sending information about this crime to the UN and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). These facts must be recorded,” Lubinets added.