SATURDAY 05 JULY 2025 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR EAM TO VISIT CHINA FROM 13 JULY TO ATTEND SCO MEETING FACTIONAL FIRESTORM P5 SENSEX 83,432.89 p193.42 WEATHER GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN ACCOMPANIED WITH THUNDERSTORM/ LIGHTNING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 36 AND 27 DEGREE CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: 000.2 Mm SUN RISES 05:29 hrs MOON RISES 14:42 hrs ` vs $ 85.43 Min. 59% Min: 28.4˚C (+0.5) SUN SETS 19:23 hrs MOON SETS 01:29 hrs THUMBNAILS Farmers plant rice saplings in a paddy field in Nagaon on Thursday. n ANI PM likely to visit Manipur amid renewed peace push P reparations are on for the likely visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to trouble-torn Manipur, sources said. A top BJP functionary in Imphal told The Statesman that no date has been fixed, but the Prime Minister is expected to visit the state, and groundwork for the trip is already underway. While no official confirmation has been made, heightened security arrangements and the sudden acceleration of infrastructure projects suggest that a high-level visit is being planned. If it materialises, this would be Mr Modi’s first visit to the violence-hit state since 22 February 2022—more than a year before ethnic clashes broke out in May 2023. The prolonged violence has claimed at least 260 lives and displaced around 50,000 people. Since 13 February this year, the state has been under President’s Rule, with Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities largely confined to separate zones ~ valley and hill districts, respectively ~ buffered by security forces. Over the past month, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has intensified dialogue with key stakeholders. Talks with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups resumed on 9 June after a hiatus of more than a year, followed by meetings with three influential Meitei civil society organisations earlier this week. Another round of talks with the Kuki-Zo groups is scheduled for Friday. A major breakthrough ~such as a ceasefire pact or a commitment to reconciliation~ could provide the groundwork for a significant political gesture in the form of the Prime Minister’s visit, likely before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins on 21 July. PM Modi honoured withTrinidad & Tobago’s highest award NEW DELHI, 4 JULY Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Friday conferred with ‘The Order of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.’ the highest national award of the Caribbean nation. Expressing his gratitude after being conferred with the honour, Mr Modi said: “I accept it on behalf of 140 crore Indians. I express my heartfelt gratitude to you, your government, and the people for being honoured with the high- est national award.” The award recognises his global leadership, deep ties with the Indian diaspora, and humanitarian efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Modi said the honour symbolises the eternal and deep friendship between India and Trinidad and Tobago. “This honour is a symbol of the eternal and Air India denies allegations of forcing AI 171 crash victims’ families to disclose financial dependency AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 4 J ULY among certain passengers was intended solely to verify familial relationships, ensuring the rightful distribution of interim payments. “Understandably, there are some formal processes that must be followed, but we are giving families all the time and flexibility they need. We want to support however we can,” Air India said. “In order to facilitate payments, Air India has sought basic information to establish family relationships to ensure that the advance payments are received by those entitled to them. Family members have been issued with a questionnaire to allow Air India to gather the information required to process compensation payments. This can be submitted in person at our Facilitation Centre at the Taj Skyline hotel in Ahmedabad, or by e-mail, Govt declines to take any position on choice of the Dalai Lama’s successor STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 JULY Declining to take any position on the choice of the Dalai Lama’s successor, India on Friday said it does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) response came a day after Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju asserted that the choice of the Dalai Lama’s successor should rest solely with the spiritual leader himself, reflecting the belief of his followers worldwide amid China’s recent statement on the matter. “We have seen reports P12 SILVER `1,10,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 68.35 At WTO, India proposes retaliatory tariffs on USA over auto sector duties Indian team returns from USA without final trade pact No official word yet, but security beef-up, fast-tracked projects hint at high-level visit STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Tax benefits available under NPS will apply to UPS, says Finance Ministry: The Finance Ministry announced on Friday that the tax benefits available under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) will apply mutatis mutandis to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), as it is an option under the former. The measure aims to provide further impetus to the UPS. These provisions ensure parity with the existing NPS structure and provide substantial tax relief and incentives to employees opting for the UPS, according to the Finance Ministry statement. The term mutatis mutandis means with all the necessary changes being made. The legal term clarifies that although changes will be necessary in order to take account of different situations, the basic point remains the same. (P10) Air India has denied allegations from British law firm Stewarts Law that it forced families of the AI 171 crash victims to disclose financial dependency on the deceased to get compensation. Over 40 families represented by Stewarts Law have accused the airline of coercion and intimidation as they pursue claims related to the crash of the London-bound Boeing plane crash at Ahmedabad in which over 241 passengers and crew were killed. “Air India categorically rejects these allegations and refutes them as both unsubstantiated and inaccurate,” the Tata Group airline said in a statement. The airline clarified that a questionnaire circulated GOLD `99,870 IMPHAL, 4 JULY TEMPERATURE Max: 36.2˚C (-1.2) P7 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. .08% P6 NIFTY 25,461.00 p55.70 SMITH, BROOK RESCUE ENGLAND AFTER TOP-ORDER COLLAPSE ‘YAMUNA IS DEAD AT ISBT’ relating to the statement made by the Dalai Lama about the continuation of the Dalai Lama institution. Government of India does not take any position or speak on matters concerning beliefs and practices of faith and religion,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to media queries regarding a recent statement by the Dalai Lama. “Government has always upheld freedom of religion for all in India and will continue to do so,” Mr Jaiswal added. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th in the lineage. On 2 July, the Dalai Lama, had stated that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust, a foundation established by him, can recognise future reincarnations, and no one else has the authority to decide on the matter. This statement rules out any say for China in the process of naming the next Dalai Lama. and families have been given time and flexibility to complete these. Air India has certainly not made any unsolicited visits to families’ homes,” Air India said. Air India executives said that an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh has been paid to 47 families, while interim compensation for another 55 families is in process and will be disbursed soon. UK-based law firm Stewarts, which is representing over 40 bereaved families, has alleged that Air India has been “coercing” families into submitting legally significant financial disclosures before receiving advance compensation. “This tactic has deeply distressed families already dealing with an immense loss,” the firm said. deep friendship between our two countries. I accept this honour on behalf of 140 crore Indians as a shared pride,” he added. “Trinidad and Tobago is not only a CARICOM partner for India but also an important partner globally. Our cooperation is significant for the entire Global South,” the Prime Minister said. He also praised the Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago, saying they have preserved India’s traditions, culture, and customs. AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 4 JULY STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 JULY India has formally proposed retaliatory tariffs on select US products under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, in response to the recent hike in US import duties on automobiles and auto parts originating from India. In a notification to the WTO, India said the US safeguard measures ~ a 25 per cent ad valorem tariff on passenger vehicles, light trucks, and certain automobile components ~ would affect $2.895 billion worth of Indian exports annually. The corresponding duty collection by the USA is estimated at $723.75 million. India stated that the proposed suspension of concessions or other obligations will be in the form of an increase in tariffs on selected products from the USA, matching the value of the affected trade. “India’s proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in the United States,” it said. These US measures, adopted on 26 March and effective from 3 May 2025, have not been notified to the WTO. India maintains that the actions are inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the WTO Agreement on Safeguards. Last month, India requested consultations with the USA over the tariff hike, but no such discussions have taken place. India has now reserved the right to suspend concessions if consultations do not materialise. This marks the second instance this year of India proposing retaliatory duties under WTO norms. In May, New Delhi sought to impose similar tariffs in response to US safeguard duties on steel and aluminium, which it said impacted $7.6 billion worth of Indian exports. According to trade data, the US imported $89 billion worth of auto parts in 2024, of which India’s share was just $2.2 billion — far behind Mexico and China. Nonetheless, India views the tariffs as unjustified and protectionist. India’s high-level official delegation, led by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, has returned from Washington after the trade talks with US officials without reaching a final agreement on the sensitive issue of trade in agricultural and dairy products that the USA is pushing for. However, there is still a glimmer of hope that an interim bilateral trade agreement may be reached at the highest political level in the two countries before the 9 July deadline for the 26 per cent hike in US tariffs on Indian exports to kick in. The Indian team was in Washington for negotiations on an interim trade agreement with the United States from 26 June to 2 July. The USA is seeking broader market access for its agricultural and dairy products, which is a major hurdle, as for India, this is a livelihood issue of the country’s small farmers and hence is considered a sensitive area. While India is looking to secure an exemption from US President Donald Trump’s 26 per cent tariffs by concluding an interim deal before 9 July. Allahabad HC rejects plea to declare Mathura Idgah a disputed structure STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE PRAYAGRAJ, 4 JULY The Allahabad High Court, after hearing arguments in the Krishna JanmabhoomiShahi Idgah case, rejected the plea of the Hindu side to declare the Shahi Idgah in Mathura a disputed structure. Earlier on 23 May last, after the completion of the hearing , the court had reserved its judgment. The single bench of the court comprising Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra rejected the petition filed on behalf of the plaintiff, Mahendra Pratap Singh, president of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Mukti Trust, who had demanded that the court should declare the idgah as a disputed structure as was done in the case of Babri Masjid. He also claimed that the Shahi mosque of Mathura was also built after demolishing the original sanctum sanctorum of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi. The petition filed on 5 March had said that the mosque should be declared a disputed structure since it does not have land papers as it was built on an encroached land. The Hindu side claimed that the royal idgah was a temple first, and that the Muslim side could not produce any evidence of its existence till date. The Hindu side also contended that what is being called a mosque bears symbols of Hindu deities on its walls. The petitioners contended that by encroaching someone else’s land, one can’t claim it to be his. They also maintained that the name of the mosque is not in the Khatauni connected to the land and there is no record in the municipal corporation nor tax is being paid. They compared the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya with the birthplace of Lord Krishna in Mathura. The petitioners’ lawyers pointed out that the court had declared the Babri Masjid a disputed structure before giving its decision in the Ayodhya case. Hence, the mosque in Mathura should also be declared a disputed structure. The Muslim side had objected to the demand, pointing out that the Shahi Idgah has been there for the past 400 years. Sino-Pak-Turk alliance turning battlefields into ‘live labs’: Army Deputy Chief STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 4 JULY The Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development and Sustenance) Lieutenant General Rahul R Singh said on Friday that India was fighting three adversaries at the same time during Operation Sindoor. India launched Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of 6-7 May against terrorists and terror hubs located in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to avenge the killings of 26 civilians during Pahalgam terror attack in April. Speaking for the first time since the launch of Operation Sindoor, the deputy Chief of Army Staff said that India had one border and two adversaries, actually three. “Pakistan was in the front. China was providing all possible support. Turkey also played an important role in providing the type of support it did. When DGMO-level talks were on, Pakistan was actually mentioning that your such and such important vectors are ready for action and requested us to pull it back. They were getting real time updates from China,” said the Lieutenant General during his keynote address at a FICCI defence seminar, ‘New Age Military Technologies’ here today. Speaking about the close ties shared between China and Pakistan, Lt-Gen. Singh said that the red dragon was using Pakistan as a proxy to test its military hardware. “It’s no surprise that 81 per cent of the military equipment Pakistan has acquired in the past five years is Chinese. China would rather inflict pain through its neighbours than directly engage,” he said while dubbing the conflicts as “live lab” which Beijing is using to evaluate its weapon systems against other weapons. “This must be taken very seriously,” he added. “Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory action, exposed both vulnerabilities and strengths — but more importantly, it showed the growing depth of Sino-PakTurkish defence cooperation,” he added. Stating that “war is easy to initiate, but it's very difficult to control,” the DCOAS said there were a few lessons from Operation Sindoor. “The planning and selection of targets was based on a lot of data that was collected using technology and human intelligence. So, a total of 21 targets were identified, out of which nine targets we thought would be prudent to engage. It was only the final day or the final hour that the decision was taken that these nine targets would be engaged,” he said. Highlighting the evolving nature of modern warfare, Lt-Gen. Singh has stressed the critical need for a robust and layered air defence system to protect India’s vast geography and densely populated areas.