Chinese national detained; was visiting J-K, Ladakh without permission: Officials
Srinagar (PTI): An unusual chatter on the Internet intercepted by the army alerted security agencies in the Kashmir valley, leading to the detention of a Chinese national who had entered Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir without permission, officials said on Sunday.
Hu Congtai, 29, arrived in Delhi on November 19 on a tourist visa, which permitted him to visit Buddhist religious places in Varanasi, Agra, New Delhi, Jaipur, Sarnath, Gaya and Kushi Nagar.
However, leveraging his resemblance to locals, he boarded a flight to Leh on November 20 and did not register at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office counter located at the Leh airport.
During his stay, he toured the Zanskar region for three days and visited places of importance in the Himalayan town before landing in Srinagar on December 1, the officials said.
A search of his phone history showed that he was looking for the deployment of CRPF in the valley, the officials said, adding he was being questioned by various agencies.
According to the officials, he had arranged for an Indian SIM card from the open market.
While in Srinagar, where he stayed in an unregistered guest house, the Chinese national went to a Buddhist religious place at Harwan, a place where an encounter had left one Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist dead last year.
According to the officials and data extracted from his phone, he had also visited Awantipur ruins in South Kashmir, which is located near Victor Force headquarters of the army in South Kashmir.
During his stay, he had also visited different areas of Srinagar, including Shankracharya hills, Hazratbal, and Mughal Garden along the Dal Lake.
His phone history showed searches related to CRPF deployments and Article 370 of the Constitution which was abrogated in August 2019 to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.
Hu has completed his graduation in Physics from Boston University and has claimed that he likes to travel. His passport shows that he has visited various countries, including the US, New Zealand, Brazil and Fiji, and Hong Kong.
The officials said that he had violated the visa regulations and, at best, they could deport him back to his country.
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'Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane...': Tharoor takes dig at failed US-Iran talks in Pakistan
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.
"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.
The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.
अब क्या होगा, ये रब जाने
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 13, 2026
ना वो माने, ना ये माने https://t.co/DYrXpa7C8h
Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".
Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".
The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".
The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke
