Pak claims relief operations for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka ‘hampered by lack of cooperation’ by India
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan on Tuesday alleged that its relief operations for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka were being “hampered by lack of cooperation” by India by "delaying permission" to use its airspace, a claim denied by New Delhi.
India on Monday expeditiously heeded to Pakistan's request to use Indian airspace to send humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka, people familiar with the matter said.
They said the official request for overflight was submitted by Pakistan at around 1300 hours (Indian time) on Monday and India expeditiously cleared the request and intimated the same to Pakistan at 1730 hours (Indian time).
It was processed at the shortest notice period of four hours, they added.
They also described as "fake", reports in the Pakistani media that India has not granted overflight facility to Pakistan to send aid to Sri Lanka.
"Pakistani media, as usual, is indulging in propaganda and peddling fake news. These allegations are baseless and misleading. All requests for overflight or transit are processed strictly in accordance with established procedures and international norms," said one of the people.
The Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) on Tuesday claimed that Islamabad’s relief efforts were being “hampered by lack of cooperation” by India which was “delaying permission to allow it to use its air space”.
“India continues to block humanitarian assistance from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. The special aircraft carrying Pakistan’s humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka continues to face delays for over 60 hours now awaiting flight clearance from India,” the FO said in a social media post.
It further claimed: “The partial flight clearance issued by India last night, after 48 hours, was operationally impractical: time-bound for just a few hours and without validity for the return flight, severely hindering this urgent relief Mission for the brotherly people of Sri Lanka.”
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and infrastructure collapse triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country’s disaster-response capacity.
India launched Operation Sagar Bandhu, to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has confirmed at least 410 deaths and 336 missing till Tuesday morning in catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
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Women's reservation must be implemented without being made contingent on delimitation: CM
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the Women's Reservation Bill is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation.
Terming the delimitation as the political re-engineering at the cost of southern states, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that these states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism.
The leaders' statements came a day before the Constitutional Amendment Bill with provisions on women's reservation implementation and delimitation was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
"You are right in highlighting the larger implications of the proposed delimitation approach and the concerns it raises for southern states. We wholeheartedly support the Women's Reservation Bill - it is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
He was replying to his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy's post on 'X' with a letter, urging the former to unitedly resist moves to push a pro rata model to increase Lok Sabha seats, which would be highly detrimental and inimical to the interests of southern states.
"Any exercise that reshapes political representation must be undertaken with utmost care. The Union Government must engage all states in a transparent and consultative process, and ensure that fairness, federal balance, and consensus guide this critical decision," Siddaramaiah added.
Shivakumar said that this is not a delimitation, but political re-engineering "at the cost of southern states".
"The proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 will systematically reduce the voice of the South, while rewarding unchecked population growth elsewhere. This is nothing but punishing progress and good governance," he posted on 'X'.
Clarifying that Congress fully supports women's reservation and in fact, it was party's top leader Sonia Gandhi's vision and commitment that brought this dream to the national agenda, the Deputy CM said, "We demand that it be implemented without linking it to delimitation or seat expansion."
"I urge the Union Govt to not hide behind women's empowerment to push a deely unfair political agenda. Rushing such a massive restructuring of India's democracy during elections, without transparency or consultation, is deeply suspicious and unacceptable," he said.
Asserting that India's strength lies in balance not domination, and in fairness, not manipulation, Shivakumar said, "The Southern states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism."
"We will not allow the South to be politically marginalised."
