31st March 2022 News: Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in India

HT Daily News Wrap

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in India amid the Russia-Ukraine war continuing with no sign of abatement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a warm farewell speech in Rajya Sabha for 72 members who retire on Thursday, United States has dismissed allegations that it is trying to topple the Imran Khan government as it does not approve of Imran Khan's latest Moscotw visit & other top news in today's bulletin.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday gave his first reactions a day after the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital alleged threat to his life and said that his house was attacked by the BJP-backed protesters amid demonstrations over his remarks against the movie- ‘The Kashmir Files’. “If the biggest party of the country, which is in power at the centre, resorts to such hooliganism, it will spread a bad message among people. People will think that this is the right way (to deal with anything). The country can’t progress like this,” Kejriwal said at an event. “Arvind Kejriwal is not important but the nation is. I can lay down my life for the country,” he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a warm farewell speech in Rajya Sabha for 72 members who retire on Thursday. “This is a farewell. But as they say in Bengali – ‘Ami aaschi’ or in Gujarati – ‘Aao jo’ … ‘come again’. That’s what we would want to tell them (Rajya Sabha members who are retiring) – ‘Come again’. When such experienced members leave, the nation… the House feel a vaccuum. Sometimes, there is more value for experience than knowledge.” “Whatever is gained with experience – that gives simple solutions for problems. Lesser mistakes happen,” the prime minister said, and added that the members who stay in Rajya Sabha now would have an added responsibillity. “When other experienced members carry forward this legacy, the House feels as powerful. All of us resolve to use the lessons learnt from the Rajya Sabha members retiring today.” As Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in India amid the Russia-Ukraine war continuing with no sign of abatement, the United States said India should not increase its oil imports from Russia and it could expose New Delhi to a “great risk”. Though the senior official did not clarify what is implied through risk, reports said the US might be looking to slap sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil. According to a Reuters report, the US apparently has no objection to India buying discounted Russian oil as it did in previous years, but there should not be any sharp rise in imports. “We continue to engage our partners in India and around the world on the importance of a strong collective action, including strong sanctions, to press the Kremlin to end its devastating war of choice against Ukraine as soon as possible,” a US state department spokesperson said. That New Delhi is exploring a rupee-rouble payment scheme to bypass the present sanctions is also not a concern for the US authorities. “Whatever they are paying, whatever they are doing, needs to be in compliance with sanctions. If not they are exposing themselves to a great risk…As long as they are compliant with sanctions and not significantly raising purchases, we are okay,” a source quoted by Reuters said. The United States has dismissed allegations that it is trying to topple the Imran Khan government as it does not approve of Imran Khan’s latest Moscow visit after Russian president Vladimir Putin sanctioned a special military operation on Ukraine. According to Dawn, the US state department said none of its officials or agencies sent any letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the country. “There is no truth to these allegations,” a state department spokesperson told Dawn. Imran Khan on Sunday alleged that the no-confidence motion against him was a result of a “foreign conspiracy” and he said he has a letter to produce as evidence. Coming under pressure to reveal what evidence he has, Imran Khan has reportedly divulged the content of the letter to a few journalists. Without naming any foreign government, it was informed that a senior official of that foreign government told a Pakistani envoy that the host country had issues with Imran Khan’s foreign policy, especially his visit to Moscow after the Russia-Ukraine war started. The statements made against Bollywood superstar Salman Khan by a neighbour appear to be supported by “documentary evidence”, a civil court has said here. The court last week refused interim relief to Khan who has filed a defamation case against his Panvel farmhouse neighbor Ketan Kakkad. Additional Sessions Judge Anil Laddhad rejected Khan’s plea seeking an interim order barring Kakkad from making any further comments against him or his family members in connection with Khan’s farmhouse at Panvel in neighbouring Raigad district. The detailed order became available on Wednesday. Kakkad, an NRI, owns a plot on a hill next to Khan’s farmhouse. Khan’s defamation suit alleged that Kakkad made defamatory comments against the actor in an interview to a YouTube channel. Khan’s advocate Pradeep Gandhy argued that Kakkad made false, disparaging and defamatory allegations in videos, posts and tweets.