Donald Trump reiterates claim that he stopped conflict between India and Pakistan
New York/Washington, Jul 14 (PTI): US President Donald Trump Monday reiterated his claim that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan, which could have turned into a "nuclear war", through trade.
"We've been very successful in settling wars. You have India, (and) Pakistan. You have Rwanda and the Congo that was going on for 30 years," Trump said during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Rutte in the Oval Office.
"India, by the way, Pakistan would have been a nuclear war within another week the way that was going. That was going very badly, and we did that through trade. I said, ‘we're not going to talk to you about trade unless you get this thing settled’, and they did, and they were both great, great leaders, and they were great,” he added.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim more than a dozen times on several occasions that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.
However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
In a nearly 35-minute phone call with Trump last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi firmly stated that India does not and will "never accept" mediation and that the discussions between Indian and Pakistani militaries on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad's request.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
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SC seeks ED's response on journalist's bail plea in money laundering case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its response within three days on a bail plea of journalist Mahesh Langa in a money laundering case linked to an alleged financial fraud.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the jailed journalist, to file rejoinder, if needed, to the ED's response within two days of it being filed.
The top court fixed the case for further hearing on December 15.
During the brief hearing on Monday, Sibal said a journalist has been facing as many as six cases.
"The journalist is accused of extortion," the counsel for the ED said and sought a short adjournment on the ground that Solicitor General Tuhar Mehta was unavailable at the moment.
The top court on September 8 sought responses from the Gujarat government and the ED on Langa's bail plea.
While issuing the notices on Langa's bail plea, the bench asked, "What kind of a journalist is he?"
"With due respect, there are some very genuine journalists. But there are also people who on their scooter say we are 'patrakar' (journalists) and what they actually do everybody knows," the bench told Sibal.
Sibal replied that these are all allegations.
"In one FIR, he gets anticipatory bail, then a second FIR is lodged and again anticipatory bail is granted but now he is booked under a third FIR for income tax evasion. There are other things also against him," Sibal submitted.
He added that there is a background to the case also.
On July 31, the Gujarat High Court rejected Langa's bail plea in the money laundering case on the grounds that if released on bail, prejudice would be caused to the prosecution case.
On February 25, the ED said it arrested Langa in a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged financial fraud.
He was first arrested in October 2024 in a GST fraud case.
The money laundering case against Langa stems from two FIRs filed by Ahmedabad police on charges of fraud, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating and causing wrongful loss of lakhs of rupees to certain people.
