IRAN SUPREME LEADER WARNS ISRAEL, USA OF ‘CRUSHING RESPONSE’ 03 NOVEMBER 2024 FAROOQ DEMANDS PROBE INTO SURGE IN ENCOUNTERS MUMBAI TEST: JADEJA, ASHWIN BOOST INDIA WITH LATE CHARGE www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 5 PAGE 9 PAGE 12 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 PAGES 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER MIST IN THE MORNING. MAINLY CLEAR SKY. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 36 AND 21 DEGREE CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. Ottawa’s charges against Shah baseless, absurd: Govt RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY New Delhi has lodged strong protest, such actions will have serious consequences, says MEA Max. 94 % ASHOK TUTEJA TEMPERATURE Min. 48 % Max: 36.1 °C (+5) SUN RISES 06:33 hrs MOON RISES 06:14 hrs Min: 21.0 °C (+5) SUN SETS 17:37 hrs MOON SETS 16:50 hrs THUMBNAILS Workers spray chemicals to dissolve the toxic foam accumulating along the Yamuna River near Kalindi Kunj, in the capital on Saturday. SNS UK Conservatives pick Kemi Badenoch as new leader: Britain’s Conservative Party on Saturday elected Kemi Badenoch as its new leader as it tries to rebound from a crushing election defeat that ended 14 years in power. The first Black woman to lead a major British political party, Badenoch defeated rival lawmaker Robert Jenrick in a vote of almost 100,000 members of the Conservative Party. (Page 9) NEW DELHI, 2 NOVEMBER STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE INDIA-CANADA COLD WAR 8Top officials of the Canadian government had claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a "campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence­ gathering" targeting Sikh separatists in Canada. This disclosure was made by Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison to the Canadian Parlia­ ment’s national security committee. Mr Morrison had also admitted to naming Mr Shah to the US­based Washington Post in relation to the allegations. I ndia has lodged a strong protest with Canada over the ‘absurd and baseless’ allegation made by Ottawa that Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists in Canada, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Saturday. At a media briefing here, he said: “Regarding the latest Canadian target, we summoned the representative of the Canadian High Commission yesterday. A diplomatic note was handed over in reference to the proceedings of the (Canadian) Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa on October 29, 2024. It was conveyed in the note that the Government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Deputy Minister David Morrison.” Mr Jaiswal said that the revelation that high Canadian officials deliberately leak unfounded insinuations to the international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India and influence other nations only confirms the view that the Government of India has long 8New Delhi on Friday summoned representatives of the Canadian High Commission and handed over a diplomatic note protesting in the strongest terms the absurd and baseless references made to Mr Shah by Mr Morrison. 8An MEA spokesperson said that the revelation that top Canadian officials deliberately leak unfounded insinuations to the international media as part of a conscious strategy to discredit India only confirms the view that New Delhi has long held about the current Canadian government's political agenda and behavioural pattern. ‘Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties,’ the spokesperson said. held about the current Canadian government's political agenda and behavioural pattern. “Such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences for bilateral ties,” he added. About Canada’s New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh's statement his party will seek “official recognition” of the ‘1984 Sikh genocide’ in the country’s Parliament, the spokesperson said the Modi discusses economic corridor with Greek PM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 NOVEMBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the proposed IndiaMiddle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) and developments in West Asia during a telephonic conversation with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis. PM Mitsotakis warmly congratulated PM Modi on his re-election following the general elections in India. Both leaders appreciated the momentum generated in bilateral ties through recent high-level exchanges and reiterated their firm commitment to further strengthen IndiaGreece Strategic Partnership. They reviewed progress in a number of areas of bilateral cooperation, including trade, defence, shipping and connectivity, in follow-up to PM Mitsotakis’s visit to India earlier promotion of extremism and violence by Ottawa has been a core concern for India. India, he said, hopes Canada will take appropriate action in the matter. On Canada labelling India as an “adversary” in its National Cyber Threat Assessment 20252026, Mr Jaiswal said this appears to be part of another strategy by Ottawa to attack India. He noted that senior Canadian officials have Army begins verification patrolling at Depsang STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 2 NOVEMBER this year. “The two leaders also exchanged views on various regional and global issues of interest, including IMEEC and developments in West Asia,” an official release said on Saturday. The IMEEC) is a planned economic corridor that aims to bolster economic development by fostering connectivity and economic integration between Asia, the Persian Gulf and Europe. The corridor is a proposed route from India to Europe through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Greece. Uncertainty hangs over the proposed corridor in the wake of the ongoing war in West Asia. The Indian Army has commenced verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point between India and China in eastern Ladakh, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Patrolling at Demchok had begun on Friday, a day after the Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh. At a media briefing here on saturday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that following the disengagement agreement with China, the verification patrolling has begun on mutually agreed terms in both Demchok and Depsang. IMF retains India’s GDP forecast, sees it as driving growth in the Indo-Pacific AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 2 NOVEMBER India remains the world’s fastest-growing economy with investment and private consumption driving growth, according to the IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for the Asia-Pacific. The IMF, in its World Economic Outlook report released on 2 October, had retained India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts at a robust 7 per cent and 6.5 per cent for FY25 and FY26, respectively. While growth in Asia is expected to slow down in 2024 and 2025 ~reflecting fading support from the pandemic recovery and factors like ageing ~ short-term prospects were more favourable than expected in April, the regional economic outlook report said. The IMF said that the growth for the Asia Pacific region in 2024 has been revised up marginally by 0.1 percentage point to 4.6 per cent, primarily reflecting the robust performance early in the year. With this, the Asia and Pacific region are expected to contribute roughly 60 per cent to global growth this year. However, “the outlook is subject to sizable economic and geopolitical uncertainties,” the report states. A blog post released by the IMF along with the region- US-sanctioned firms did not violate national law: MEA al outlook report stated that while manufacturing has been the driver of growth in Asia, a transition to modern, tradable services could be a new source of growth and productivity. It said that the growth of services has already drawn about half of the region’s workers into the sector, up from just 22 per cent in 1990, as hundreds of millions moved from farms and factories. “This shift is likely to accel- erate with further expansion of international trade in modern services such as finance, information, and communication technology, as well as business outsourcing, for example, as already done in India and the Philippines,” the blog post said. In 2025, more accommodative monetary conditions are expected to support activity, resulting in a slight upward growth revision to 4.4 per cent from 4.3 per cent in April. Inflation has retreated in much of the region. At the same time, risks have increased, reflecting rising geopolitical tensions, uncertainty about the strength of global demand, and potential for financial volatility. Demographic change will act increasingly as a brake on activity, though structural shifts into high-productivity sectors such as tradable services hold promise to sustain robust growth, the report added. gone on record to say that they are manipulating global opinion against India. He also stated that some Indian Consular officials were recently told by the Canadian government that they have been and continue to be under audio and video surveillance. Their communications have also been intercepted. “We have formally protested to the Canadian Government as we deem these actions to be a flagrant violation of relevant diplomatic and consular conventions.” “Our diplomatic and consular personnel are already functioning in an environment of extremism and violence. This action of the Canadian Government aggravates the situation and is incompatible with established diplomatic norms and practices,” he added. Regarding reports about the cancellation of Diwali celebrations at Canada's Parliament Hill in the wake of the diplomatic row between the countries, he said: “It is unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached high levels of intolerance and extremism.” On the reduction in the number of visas by the Canadian government, Mr Jaiswal said: “We are monitoring the well-being of our students and professionals who are working in Canada. Our concern for their safety and security remains strong.” NEW DELHI, 2 NOVEMBER Reacting to the recent U.S. sanctions on 19 Indian entities and two Indian nationals for helping Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, India on Saturday asserted that Indian companies have not violated any national law. “We have seen reports on U.S. sanctions. India has a robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade and non-proliferation controls. We are also a member of three key multilateral nonproliferation export control regimes - the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime, and have been effectively implementing relevant UNSC sanctions and UNSC resolution 1540 on non- proliferation,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal pointed out at a media briefing here. “Our understanding is that the sanctioned transactions and companies are not in violation of Indian laws. Nevertheless, in keeping with India's established non-proliferation credentials, we are working with all the relevant Indian departments and agen- 8Earlier, Washington had announced sweeping sanc­ tions on around 400 entities and individuals globally, including 19 from India, for their alleged roles in ‘supporting Russia's ongo­ ing war’ against Ukraine. cies to sensitise Indian companies on applicable export control provisions, as well as inform them on new measures being implemented that could impact Indian companies in certain circumstances,” Mr Jaiswal told reporters. “Regular strategic trade/export control outreach events for Indian industries and stakeholders are being carried out by agencies of the Government of India. We are also in touch with the US authorities to clarify issues.” the spokesperson said. Earlier, Washington had announced sweeping sanctions on around 400 entities and individuals globally, including 19 from India, for their alleged roles in "supporting Russia's ongoing war" against Ukraine. The sanctions aim to disrupt Russia's ability to procure key technologies and components from third-party countries.