SRINAGAR, India: Indian authorities on Friday told tourists to leave Kashmir because of “terror threats,” as media reports said 25,000 military reinforcements have been sent to the troubled Himalayan region.
The extra troops and other security measures, including a call to stockpile food and fuel, have shaken the Muslim-majority region, which is also claimed by Pakistan.
Long lines of cars formed outside petrol stations while residents queued at food stores and bank cash machines to get emergency supplies.
The Jammu and Kashmir state government said that because of “intelligence inputs of terror threats” against a huge Hindu pilgrimage and “the prevailing security situation,” pilgrims and tourists should leave “immediately.”
India’s military head in Kashmir, Lt. Gen. Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, said a sniper gun and a mine with Pakistani markings had been found on the route of the Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage that draws hundreds of thousands of Hindus each year.
“This proves Pakistani attempts to attack the Yatra,” said Singh, who has 500,000 forces in Kashmir battling a three-decade insurgency.
India and Pakistan divided Kashmir when they became independent in 1947 and have fought two of three wars since over the territory.
The Indian government has admitted that 10,000 extra troops were sent to Kashmir a week ago. Media reports Friday said a further 25,000 had been ordered there.
Kashmir’s police chief, Dilbagh Singh, called the new figure “exaggerated.”
As tensions build, near-daily clashes between Indian forces with separatist militants in Kashmir and Pakistan forces across the border go on.
Two Indian soldiers were killed this week in cross-border firing from Pakistan Kashmir and a siege of separatist rebels, authorities said.
Two militants accused of staging attacks on Indian government forces were also killed in a gunbattle, according to police.
Residents and Kashmir politicians fear the security is a preliminary smokescreen before the Hindu nationalist government carries out a threat to scrap special job and property rights for Kashmiris.
Political leaders in the territory have warned that canceling the constitutionally guaranteed rights could spark unrest.
To add to public nerves, a police order to gather details on every mosque and its leaders was leaked on social media this week.
A top police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officers have been “advised” to send their families to safe places and build up food reserves.
Many owners of petrol stations said officials have also asked them to keep vehicle fuel stocks at full capacity.
“It’s part of a constantly changing security plan to counter a possible public uprising,” the police official added.
A statement by Jammu and Kashmir state governor Satya Pal Malik that “everything is normal” in the region has not convinced the public.
“The anxiety among Kashmiris is real as this government has not hidden its intentions,” said Noor Ahmad Baba, a political commentator and politics professor at the University of Kashmir.
Article 35A of the constitution which prevents Indians from outside the territory buying land or claiming government jobs in Kashmir has long been targeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The article has been challenged in the Supreme Court by right-wing Hindu groups and Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has promised to repeal it even without court backing.
Kashmir has surged back into the spotlight since a deadly militant attack on an Indian convoy in February, claimed by a Pakistan-based group, sparked cross-border air attacks by the nuclear-armed rivals.
US President Donald Trump angered India last month when he said that Modi had asked him to mediate in the Kashmir dispute.
Trump reaffirmed an offer to mediate on Thursday. Each time India has insisted that the festering dispute can only be resolved bilaterally.
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India warns tourists to leave Kashmir over ‘terror’ threat
India warns tourists to leave Kashmir over ‘terror’ threat
- The extra troops and other security measures, including a call to stockpile food and fuel, have shaken the Muslim-majority region
- To add to public nerves, a police order to gather details on every mosque and its leaders was leaked on social media this week
Hong Kong firm begins arbitration proceedings over ruling against its Panama Canal port contract
- The Hutchison subsidiary has operated ports at both ends of the Panama Canal since 1997
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio views the operation of the ports as a national security issue
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings said Wednesday its subsidiary started arbitration proceedings against Panama after that country’s Supreme Court ruled a concession for the subsidiary to operate Panama Canal ports was unconstitutional.
Hutchison said it strongly disagreed with last week’s ruling, and China warned Panama would pay “a heavy price” if it persisted. Panama’s president has moved to assure the public that the ports would operate without interruption after the ruling, which advanced a US aim to block any influence by China over the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Hutchison’s subsidiary, Panama Ports Company, began arbitration proceedings Tuesday under the rules of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, the company said in a statement.
The rules are overseen by the chamber’s International Court of Arbitration, an independent body, and it’s unclear what the impact of the proceedings would be. The Panamanian president’s office and commerce ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Tuesday local time.
The ruling draws ire from China
The court ruling has drawn backlash from China, and the tensions may complicate Hutchison’s plan to sell its port assets in dozens of countries to a group that includes the US investment firm BlackRock Inc.
The planned sale has already been caught up in tensions between Beijing and Washington. US President Donald Trump, who has alleged that China interferes with the canal, initially welcomed that plan. However, it apparently angered Beijing and drew a review by Chinese anti-monopoly authorities.
On Tuesday night, Beijing’s office overseeing Hong Kong affairs criticized the Panama court ruling as legally groundless and ridiculous, saying the ruling reflected that Panamanian authorities were bowing down to hegemonic powers. It did not specify the countries but pointed to politicians from some countries who had said they were “encouraged” by the ruling, in an apparent veiled reference to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In a statement shared on social media platform WeChat, the office said that China will never bow to hegemonism and has sufficient means and tools, as well as capability, to uphold justice in the international economic and trade order.
“Panama’s authorities should recognize the situation and correct their course,” it said. “If they persist in their own way and refuse to see reason, they will pay a heavy price both politically and economically!”
A company caught in US-China tensions
The Hutchison subsidiary has operated ports at both ends of the Panama Canal since 1997. The awkward position Hutchison found itself in highlights the challenges Hong Kong business elites face in navigating Beijing’s expectations of national loyalty, especially during U.S-China tension. CK Hutchison is owned by the family of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing.
The company said last July that it was considering seeking a Chinese investor to join as a significant member of the consortium under its sale plan, a move that some interpreted as way to please Beijing, but CK Hutchison hasn’t said more since.
The consortium also includes BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, which is chaired by Italian shipping scion Diego Aponte, whose family reportedly has a longstanding relationship with Li’s.
Last May, Hutchinson co-managing director, Dominic Lai told shareholders that Terminal Investment was the main investor.
Panama’s government has maintained it has full control over the canal and that the operation of the ports by Hutchison does not mean Chinese control of it. But Rubio made clear that the US viewed the operation of the ports as a national security issue.
Hutchison said it strongly disagreed with last week’s ruling, and China warned Panama would pay “a heavy price” if it persisted. Panama’s president has moved to assure the public that the ports would operate without interruption after the ruling, which advanced a US aim to block any influence by China over the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Hutchison’s subsidiary, Panama Ports Company, began arbitration proceedings Tuesday under the rules of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, the company said in a statement.
The rules are overseen by the chamber’s International Court of Arbitration, an independent body, and it’s unclear what the impact of the proceedings would be. The Panamanian president’s office and commerce ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Tuesday local time.
The ruling draws ire from China
The court ruling has drawn backlash from China, and the tensions may complicate Hutchison’s plan to sell its port assets in dozens of countries to a group that includes the US investment firm BlackRock Inc.
The planned sale has already been caught up in tensions between Beijing and Washington. US President Donald Trump, who has alleged that China interferes with the canal, initially welcomed that plan. However, it apparently angered Beijing and drew a review by Chinese anti-monopoly authorities.
On Tuesday night, Beijing’s office overseeing Hong Kong affairs criticized the Panama court ruling as legally groundless and ridiculous, saying the ruling reflected that Panamanian authorities were bowing down to hegemonic powers. It did not specify the countries but pointed to politicians from some countries who had said they were “encouraged” by the ruling, in an apparent veiled reference to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In a statement shared on social media platform WeChat, the office said that China will never bow to hegemonism and has sufficient means and tools, as well as capability, to uphold justice in the international economic and trade order.
“Panama’s authorities should recognize the situation and correct their course,” it said. “If they persist in their own way and refuse to see reason, they will pay a heavy price both politically and economically!”
A company caught in US-China tensions
The Hutchison subsidiary has operated ports at both ends of the Panama Canal since 1997. The awkward position Hutchison found itself in highlights the challenges Hong Kong business elites face in navigating Beijing’s expectations of national loyalty, especially during U.S-China tension. CK Hutchison is owned by the family of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing.
The company said last July that it was considering seeking a Chinese investor to join as a significant member of the consortium under its sale plan, a move that some interpreted as way to please Beijing, but CK Hutchison hasn’t said more since.
The consortium also includes BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, which is chaired by Italian shipping scion Diego Aponte, whose family reportedly has a longstanding relationship with Li’s.
Last May, Hutchinson co-managing director, Dominic Lai told shareholders that Terminal Investment was the main investor.
Panama’s government has maintained it has full control over the canal and that the operation of the ports by Hutchison does not mean Chinese control of it. But Rubio made clear that the US viewed the operation of the ports as a national security issue.
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