This Week in Explainers: How Jyoti Malhotra’s case revives memories of India’s honey-trapping past

It was a newsy week for India. Seven all-party delegations are taking India’s anti-terrorism stance to the world stage. They will be visiting 33 countries, including the European Union (EU) headquarters.

China and Pakistan have decided to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. This is a big worry for New Delhi, which opposes the connectivity project as it violates India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra has been thrown into the limelight since her arrest for allegedly spying for Pakistan. She is among 11 people arrested across Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh over the past two weeks in a suspected Pakistan-backed spy ring believed to be present in North India.

Here’s all this and more in our weekly roundup from India.

1. Seven multi-party delegations comprising MPs and former diplomats are setting out for foreign capitals to convey India’s anti-terrorism stance in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam massacre. These groups will interact with permanent and non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India’s traditional partners, and countries that have a presence in the United Nations.

The all-party delegations will travel to different regions, including North, Central and South America, North Africa and West Africa, Southeast, East and West Asia, and Europe. But why were these places picked? What is their relevance? We explain here .

2. Beijing, Islamabad and the Taliban-ruled Kabul held an “informal” meeting, where it was decided that CPEC, a 3000-km-long connectivity project, will be extended to Afghanistan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

China announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan, which have seen tensions since the Taliban’s return to Kabul, have decided to reset ties. The three countries also agreed to ramp up Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation and extend CPEC. This comes as a new headache for India. We explain why.

3. Passengers on an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar had a miraculous escape after their plane was caught in a major storm that affected Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). The flight encountered severe turbulence on Wednesday due to stormy weather.

Videos of flyers screaming, crying in distress and offering religious prayers, as their plane shook mid-air, went viral on social media. Later, unverified images of the aircraft’s broken nose caused by the unexpected hailstorm emerged. We take a look at this story here.

4. Indian security forces have killed a top Naxal commander. Basava Raju, also known as Nambala Keshava Rao, was the general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Besides him, 26 other Naxals were killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed it as a “landmark achievement” in the “battle to eliminate Naxalism.” But who was Basava Raju, whom Shah described as the “backbone of the Naxal movement”? Read our story to find out.

5. Travel influencer Jyoti Malhotra , who ran the YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’, has come under the scanner. She has been accused of sharing sensitive information , including details on blackouts that India imposed during ‘Operation Sindoor’ after reportedly being honey-trapped by a Pakistani official.

Also known as Jyoti Rani, Malhotra travelled to Pakistan twice, with the first visit coming in 2023. It has also come to light that she visited Pahalgam three months before the April 22 terror attack. Her case has revived memories of past instances when Indians, including diplomats, army officials, and scientists, were honey-trapped by spy agencies across the world. We take a look in this story .

6. Covid-19 is once again grabbing headlines. There has been an uptick in coronavirus cases in India. This comes amid a surge in infections in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Thailand. In Singapore, the resurgence in Covid-19 cases is driven by variants linked to the JN.1 strain.

India currently has 257 active cases of coronavirus, with Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu reporting the most cases. We take a look at how Covid cases have increased in India in recent weeks.

7. Pakistan had reportedly planned a large-scale attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which was foiled by Indian security forces. As tensions heightened between New Delhi and Islamabad in early May, Indian intelligence agencies got inputs that Pakistan was preparing to target religious and civilian sites in India.

One of these places was found to be the Golden Temple, one of the holiest shrines in Sikhism. Here’s how India’s advanced defence systems were successful in countering Pakistan.

This is all we have for you this week. If you like the way we explain news, you can bookmark this page .

PS. The internet is obsessed with security guard jobs at Vishal Mega Marts. If you don’t know what we are talking about, here’s our story . Have a fun read!