EAM Jaishankar reaches Maldives to reset bilateral ties
Male, Aug 9: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived here on a three-day official visit to reset the bilateral relationship with the Maldives, the first high-level trip from India after the archipelago nation's pro-China president Mohamed Muizzu assumed office last year.
Jaishankar’s trip to the Maldives comes weeks after President Muizzu’s visit to India in June to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain since Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge of the top office in November 2023.
Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. Subsequently, the Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians by May 10, the mutually agreed date.
This is the first official visit of Jaishankar to the Maldives since assuming office for a second term in June 2024. His previous visit was in January 2023.
Jaishankar’s three-day visit till August 11 comes at the invitation of his counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives Moosa Zameer.
Jaishankar is expected to pay a courtesy call to President Muizzu and also hold official talks with Zameer to review the existing bilateral cooperation.
Pleased to arrive in Maldives. Thank Foreign Minister @MoosaZameer for receiving me at the airport.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) August 9, 2024
Maldives occupies an important place in our vision of ‘Neighbourhood First’ & ‘SAGAR’.
Looking forward to fruitful engagements with the leadership.
🇮🇳 🇲🇻 pic.twitter.com/QTIph7rIEF
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Congress leader Harish Rawat files FIR against BJP over 'misinformation' campaign against him
Dehradun (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday filed a police complaint here against the alleged misinformation campaign being carried out against him by BJP on social media.
Rawat, who reached the Nehru Colony police station with his supporters, handed over a written complaint along with a pen drive and other evidence to the police.
Based on this, an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and relevant sections of law.
After filing the FIR, Rawat alleged that the police took four hours to register his complaint. He added that if it takes so long for a former CM to file an FIR, one can easily imagine the plight of a common man.
"Finally, after four hours, the police registered the FIR with trembling hands. Their hands were trembling because we have accused the BJP president and his associates, with factual evidence, of misusing AI to tarnish our and our party's image and trying to disrupt social harmony by targeting a particular community," Rawat said.
He expressed hope that after the registration of the FIR, the police would bring the culprits to justice.
Rawat also said, "Just imagine, if the police take so much time to register an FIR of a former CM, what will be the condition of a common man in this state?"
Later, he also handed over a copy of the FIR to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Dehradun and the SSP of the Special Task Force. Rawat also said that he would meet the District Magistrate of Dehradun and the State Election Officer with his complaint on Wednesday.
Recently, an AI-generated reel was uploaded on the official social media page of the BJP, which portrayed Rawat as a supporter of appeasement.
In the reel, a Congress leader is heard saying, "I take refuge in Muslims, I take refuge in dargahs (shrines), I take refuge in love jihad." The subsequent images show the construction of a dargah and some people smiling and talking about turning Devbhoomi (the land of gods) into a land of dargahs.
At the end of the reel, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is seen walking with police forces and bulldozers.
Rawat also claimed that another AI-generated video was uploaded from a 'fake' BJP platform, depicting him as a 'traitorous Pakistani agent' engaged in espionage. However, the BJP has denied any connection to this video.
