Rajnath urges Netherlands counterpart to ensure Dutch firms don't provide weapons, tech to Pak
New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI): Conveying his concern over cross-border terrorism, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday urged his counterpart from the Netherlands, Ruben Berkelmans, to ensure that Dutch companies do not provide weapons, platforms or technology to Pakistan, sources said.
The two leaders held discussions here on broad range of subjects including Indo-Pacific and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
After the meeting, Singh in a post on X said they looked forward to "further deepen and elevate" the bilateral defence partnership.
During the meeting, Singh conveyed his concern over cross-border terrorism that has emanated from Pakistan over the last several decades due to which India has suffered, the sources said.
He urged Berkelmans to ensure that Dutch companies do not provide weapons, platforms or technology to Pakistan, they said.
It is learnt that Singh also conveyed that providing platforms or technology to Pakistan is potentially detrimental to peace and stability in the region.
The defence ministry here in a statement said the two ministers explored the possibilities of collaboration in shipbuilding, equipment and space sectors, optimising the complementariness in skills, technology and scale of the two countries.
"Delighted to meet the young and dynamic Defence Minister of Netherlands, Mr. Ruben Berkelmans in New Delhi. We reviewed the full range of India-Netherlands defence cooperation. We look forward to further deepen and elevate our defence partnership. The areas of our discussion included defence, cyber security, Indo-Pacific and emerging technologies like AI," Singh said in his post on X.
The two leaders discussed elevating the bilateral cooperation in areas like defence, security, information exchanges, Indo-Pacific and new and emerging technologies, the statement said.
They also discussed working together in domains like AI and related technologies, besides connecting the respective defence technology research institutes and organisations, it said.
Delighted to meet the young and dynamic Defence Minister of Netherlands, Mr. Ruben Berkelmans in New Delhi. We reviewed the full range of India-Netherlands defence cooperation.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 18, 2025
We look forward to further deepen and elevate our defence partnership. The areas of our discussion… pic.twitter.com/S4x1bXk81n
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Karnataka Assembly passes resolution against Centre's Waqf Bill amid BJP walkout
Bengaluru, Mar 19 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution against the Centre's Waqf (Amendment) Bill amid walkout by the opposition BJP.
The resolution was moved by the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil.
He said the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), set up to study the amendments to the law, acted "unilaterally and arbitrarily", disregarding the longstanding traditions of Parliament and "failing" to consider the views of the opposition members.
Patil noted that the JPC has recommended specific changes to the Act and submitted a report to Parliament, with the bill now being presented for parliamentary approval.
In response to the JPC’s invitation, various stakeholders, State Waqf Boards, and institutions submitted their opinions.
Despite objections from the Karnataka State Waqf Board and other stakeholders against the amendment, the Centre chose to present the bill unilaterally, which has now been introduced in Parliament, the Minister added.
“The proposed amendment to the Waqf Act encroaches and curtails the executive and legislative powers of the state government. The proposed amendment is against the principles of "Principle of Equity, Equality and Parity". Therefore, the proposed amendment is ultra vires,” Patil said.
“This House unanimously urges the Central Government to take immediate action to respect the unanimous views of the country by immediately withdrawing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which contains provisions that violate the fundamental principles of the Constitution."
The BJP MLAs voiced their opposition to the bill and called it "height of appeasement".
“We oppose the resolution. This government favours Pakistan and this is height of Muslim appeasement,” a BJP legislator said.
The opposition leader R Ashoka accused the ruling Congress of "turning a blind eye" to the suffering of farmers whose land records were altered in favour of the Waqf Board.
