'PM who travelled the most on taxpayers' money': TMC MP Mahua Moitra slams Modi's 5-nation tour
New Delhi (PTI): As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a five-nation tour, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday called him a "globetrotting" PM and asked why diplomatic efforts of the government were "unable" to isolate Pakistan at the global stage.
In a video statement, Moitra said Modi is "probably the one Prime Minister who's travelled the most on taxpayers' money, apparently cementing India in the global world order and making sure that we are in prime position".
"A few questions, how is it that after all your diplomatic outreach and after all of India's efforts, that today the leader of the free world is openly professing love for what is known as a terror hub, is having meals with its army chief. And worst of all, India and Pakistan have been hyphenated together, something that was unthinkable even 10 years ago," Moitra said.
She was apparently referring to the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir.
"Today, the prime minister of India and the prime minister of Pakistan are being spoken of in the same breath. How is it after all your efforts, Mr Prime Minister, and after the efforts of our External Affairs Ministry, after all diplomatic efforts, we have been unable to diplomatically isolate Pakistan?" she said.
"How come no country has come out and openly said anything against Pakistan post the Pahalgam attacks? We have been unable to show to anybody any direct link between Pakistan and the Pahalgam attacks. Is that not a failure of intelligence on our part?" she said.
Moitra said multilateral organizations like the World Bank and the IMF are bailing out Pakistan with billions of dollars.
"We have either been completely unable to convince them, or Pakistan's just done a better job than we have," she said.
Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday left on a week-long visit to five countries, including Brazil where he will attend the BRICS meeting.
"Together, we strive for a more peaceful, equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order," he said in his departure statement.
During the week-long travel, the PM will visit Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil and Namibia.
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US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The alert posted Friday by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
About a fifth of the world's trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.
Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the US and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through alternate routes closer to its shoreline, charging fees at times for the service.
That "tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.
The payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including chartibale donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.
“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method,” it said.
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The US responded to Iran's closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
The US Central Command said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
Trump rejects Iranian proposal
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The warning came as US President Donald Trump swiftly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war between the countries.
“They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House. He didn't elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.
“It's a very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up.”
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations. The standoff is increasingly putting pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products tied to the oil industry.
Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys' trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America's Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has briefed many of his regional counterparts on the country's initiatives to end the ear, according to his social media. He also held talks Friday with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU's Gulf partners.
China's UN envoy urges Iran to lift restrictions
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Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassdor to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire is “the most urgent issue" as well as bringing together the sides to resume good faith negotiations “to make sure that the ground is laid for reopening of Hormuz.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi “has been on the phone almost constantly” with representatives from all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan's efforts to mediate between the parties.
Fu stressed the root cause of the tremendous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries and the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, “is the illegitimate war by the US and Israel.
