Indian External Affairs Minister gifts Virat Kohli signed bat to Australia's Deputy Prime Minister
Canberra (PTI): External Affairs Minister on Monday met Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and said that the growing defence and security cooperation between both countries ensures a peaceful, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.
"Pleased to meet DPM and Defence Minister of Australia @RichardMarlesMP. Exchanged views on regional and global security," Jaishanakar said, amidst the Chinese military's aggressive moves in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
"Our growing defence and security cooperation ensures a peaceful, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific," Jaishankar tweeted along with a picture in which he is seen gifting a bat signed by former Indian captain Virat Kohli to the Australian Defence Minister.
The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the region. The US, India, Australia and Japan are also part of the Quad grouping.
China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Canberra on Monday, also met Australia's Education Minister Jason Clare and discussed the importance of quality education.
"Glad to meet Australia's Education Minister @JasonClareMP today afternoon in Canberra. Discussed the importance of quality education, need for an international outlook and preparation for the global workplace," he tweeted.
"A pleasure to catch up this afternoon with India's Minister for External Affairs @DrSJaishankar and discuss the work we are doing together on international education," Clare tweeted.
Over 2.60 lakh students have arrived in Australia to take up higher education soon after the country opened its borders following the impact caused by Covid19 enforced lockdown, an official said on Saturday. Australia has unveiled the Study Australia Industry Experience programme for Indian students aimed at enhancing employability skills, Australian Trade and Investment Commissioner-South Asia Abdul Ekram said in September.
Earlier, in a joint press conference with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Jaishankar said that India wants Australia to partner in education.
"One of them is a proposal that's been under discussion for an understanding of mobility, on the mobility of talent and skills, how we can grow education and what we could do particularly bearing in mind, India's New National Education Policy (NEP). We certainly would like to see Australia, which is one of our major partners in education, also having a stronger presence in India, and that's something which our Prime Ministers had discussed as well when they had met in Tokyo."
This is Jaishankar's second visit to Australia this year.
The first visit was in February 2022 when he attended Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Melbourne.
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No endeavour to build Ayodhya mosque, reclaim land given for it: BJP leader to Adityanath
Ayodhya (UP) (PTI): A BJP leader here has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, asking him to reclaim the land allotted for the construction of a mosque here and claiming that no substantial endeavour has been undertaken to build it.
On November 9, 2019, settling a fractious issue that went back more than a century, a five-judge bench headed by the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, at the site where the 16th century Babri Masjid once stood. It also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot would be found for a mosque in the holy town.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board later formed the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation to build a new mosque on the land allotted by the state government in the Dhannipur area of the district.
BJP leader Rajneesh Singh, in his letter to the chief minister on December 10, said that since the apex court's verdict, "no substantial endeavour has been undertaken by the Muslim community to construct the mosque".
Their "intention was never to establish a mosque there but to perpetuate the discord under the pretext of a mosque", he alleged.
"In compliance with the Supreme Court's order, the land allocated to Sunni Central Waqf Board in Ayodhya is being used by the mosque's responsible persons for other purposes. The Muslim community's intention was never to construct the mosque but rather to keep the disturbance and disorder alive under the guise of a mosque. However, this has not been possible due to your leadership," Singh said in the letter to Adityanath.
Asserting that "a mosque is not necessary for offering prayers anyway," he appealed to the chief minister to "issue strict instructions to the officials of the Ayodhya mosque trust to use the land in compliance with the Supreme Court orders".
In case of being unable to do so, issue directives to return the land to the government to prevent its misuse, Singh said.
In a conversation with PTI, he said, "The Muslim community merely wishes to preserve Babar's legacy through this mosque and aims to manipulate Hindu sentiments in the name of Babri Masjid."
When PTI contacted Athar Husain, the secretary of the Ayodhya Masjid Trust, for his reaction to the issue, he refused to comment.
In 2022, Singh petitioned the Allahabad High Court, claiming that the Taj Mahal mausoleum is an ancient temple dedicated to the deity Lord Shiva and is known as the "Tejo Mahalaya".
