Turkey’s bid for the status of Dialogue Partnership in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) has been approved
Turkey’s bid for the status of Dialogue Partnership in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) has been approved, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday.
“Turkey’s Dialogue Partnership with IORA will contribute to strengthening our relations with the Indian Ocean region which has a great economic potential and the rim countries with many of which we have historical affinity, and in this manner to diversify the international relations and promotion of our country, and its quest for new export markets,” the ministry said in a statement.
The decision was taken during the IORA Ministerial Council Meeting, which was held in Durban-South Africa, on Oct. 31-Nov. 2, the ministry added.
“IORA is the only platform that brings together 21 countries (Australia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Bangladesh, Somalia, Kenya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, Yemen, Singapore, Oman, Sri Lanka, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius) and has been in operation for more than 20 years,” the ministry added.
Unidentified gunmen killed a leader of India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu and Kashmir state late on Thursday, prompting authorities to impose a curfew in the area.Anil Parihar, 53, state secretary of the BJP, and his brother, Ajit, were shot dead in the predominantly Muslim town of Kishtwar, while they headed home after shutting their shop, police said.Police are investigating whether it was a militant attack or a criminal act, a senior police officer said.Anil Parihar was an influential leader in the region. He was considered a moderate and had a sizeable support base, even among Muslims, media reported.Pakistan marks 'Black Day' in solidarity with KashmirisIndian Kashmir, its only Muslim-majority state, has been beset by a 29-year-old insurgency.India accuses Pakistan for sheltering anti-India militants but Pakistan denies that. Pakistan, which like India, claims the whole of Kashmir, calls for talks to decide the region's future.The BJP leader in the state had two bodyguards but they were not with him at the time of the attack, said Kishtwar's senior police official, Rajinder Gupta.Kashmir observes complete shutdown to protest killingsKashmir is under direct rule by the federal government, which gives the BJP a free hand to control it ahead of a general election that must be called early next year.Federal home minister Rajnath Singh said he was shocked and pained by the killing of the brothers."Police will leave no stone unturned to bring the perpetrators to justice," Singh said on Twitter.Kashmir has been at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan, which have gone to war over it twice since independence from Britain in 1947. 
Gunmen kill a leader of India's ruling party in disputed Kashmir
Suspected Indian militants shot dead five Bengali-speaking Hindu men in a sensitive border state late on Thursday, police said, as tension grows over a controversial citizenship test to identify illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.India’s northeastern state of Assam, home to 33 million people, has suffered years of violence as residents, including tribal groups, have clashed with suspected Hindu and Muslim settlers they accuse of plundering resources and grabbing jobs.The state’s draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) released in July excluded 4 million mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims and Hindus.On Friday, police said the five men killed were Indian citizens who had been shot one by one after being taken to a low-lying area by a road in Assam’s district of Tinsukia.India unveils tallest statue in world amid protestsOne young man, picked up by a group of men in army fatigues but presumably left for dead when he passed out at the start of the shooting, said he was lucky to be alive.“I woke up minutes later and saw the five bodies lying in ditches,” Sahadeb Namashudra, also a Bengali Hindu, told reporters at the incident site. “They were in army fatigues and carrying long guns.”Police have not yet made any arrests in the investigation, said a spokesman, Deepak Deka. The situation was tense in Tinsukia because of a 12-hour shutdown called by Bengali associations there, he added.The government has promised strong action against the perpetrators.Angry Sri Lankans rally to support ousted PM, denounce 'coup'The United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent), which has in the past championed the separation of tea and oil-rich Assam from India and is now trying to make a comeback there, denied responsibility for the killings in a statement. No other group has claimed responsibility.Work on the NRC accelerated under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which wants to give all Hindus citizenship, infuriating many Assamese, who want all illegal immigrants expelled.India, which does not have a deportation pact with Bangladesh, has said it will decide on the fate of those eventually deemed foreigners in consultation with the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the registration process.Mamata Banerjee, a staunch Modi critic whose party rules India’s eastern state of West Bengal, said it would hold rallies all over the Bengali-majority state to protest against the killings in neighboring Assam.India's Modi and Japan's Abe draw closer as Tokyo woos BeijingThe state will shelter Assam’s Bengali-speaking people if the NRC process deems them stateless, she added.“Terrible news coming out of Assam,” Banerjee, the state’s chief minister, told reporters. “We strongly condemn the brutal attack in Tinsukia and the killings. Is this the outcome of NRC development?”
Killings in India's northeast raise tension over citizenship survey
India on Wednesday unveiled the tallest statue in the world depicting one of its independence leaders amid criticism over the whopping budget spent on it.The statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at a height of 182 meters is twice the size of Statue of Liberty in New York.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Statue of Unity in Gujarat state, calling Patel the man who led the path for India.“Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had said infighting was the reason for India's subordination by foreign powers; never again will India make the same mistake and never will India again be enslaved,” Modi said, according to local media reports.India's Modi and Japan's Abe draw closer as Tokyo woos BeijingThe statue at a cost of over $400 million has been criticized for destroying the environment and displacing locals who were not compensated for land taken from them.The chiefs of 22 local villages signed a letter calling on Modi to stay away from the function.According to news reports, before the inauguration police detained dozens of activists to ensure a protest free event.India is also working on a giant statue of 17th-century king Chhatrapati Shivaji, who will be seen riding a horse and brandishing a sword in Mumbai. The statue is touted to be the tallest in the world at 212 metres.
India unveils tallest statue in world amid protests