Pak's Senate Chairman cancels UAE visit as PM Modi honoured by Gulf nation
Islamabad: Pakistan's Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Sunday cancelled his official trip to the UAE, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honoured with the Gulf nation's highest civilian award during his visit to the country, according to a media report.
Sanjrani was scheduled to visit the UAE from August 25 to August 28 with a parliamentary delegation on the invitation of the UAE government. His delegation was to hold meetings with the UAE parliamentarians and government officials, Geo TV reported.
He, however, decided to cancel the trip as Pakistan vehemently supports Kashmiri people, the channel said, citing a statement from the Senate Secretariat.
Prime Minister Modi was honoured with the 'Order of Zayed', the UAE's highest civilian award, on Saturday as a mark of appreciation for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.
Modi thanked the UAE government for the honour and dedicated the award to the skills and abilities of 1.3 billion Indians. The UAE in April had announced to confer the country's highest award on Modi.
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, evoking strong reactions from Pakistan.
India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was an internal matter and also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.
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Puducherry (PTI): Puducherry experienced heavy rains on Saturday morning prompting the union territory administration to send SMS alerts to around 12 lakh residents cautioning them to remain vigilant as cyclonic storm Fengal is expected to make landfall near here later in the day.
District Collector A Kulothungan told PTI that all necessary steps have been taken to ensure that people remained safe.
"We have evacuated people from low lying areas and shelter homes are ready to accommodate them. Arrangements were also made to supply food packets," he said adding that National Disaster Relief Force from Arakonam has arrived to engage in relief and rehabilitation works.
According to the official, cyclone Fengal was expected to cross the coast in the evening. Control rooms have been opened in the collectorate and also in the line departments.
Toll free numbers 112, 1077 and also WhatsApp number 94889 81070 have been put in place to help people facing crisis to contact for help.
Cyclone Fengal is likely to cross between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram coasts close to Puducherry, official sources said. The government has advised people to stay indoors.
The entire stretch of beach road and also several tourist spots were closed to ensure that there was no movement of the people near the sea shore.
Schools and colleges remained closed today.
