Daily Bulletin: India, Pakistan to resume Samjhauta Express today; Modi says country 'feeling absence' of Rafale; day's top stories

Samjhauta Express to resume service today

The Samjhauta Express will leave for Pakistan from Delhi on Sunday, for the first time since the two neighbours agreed to resume operations at their end, a senior railway official told PTI. The announcement came a day after Pakistan released Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The official said the first train from India will leave on Sunday.

While Pakistan had cancelled its services right after air strikes by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on a terrorist training camp on the intervening night of 25 and 26 February, India cancelled the operations of the Samjhauta Express on 28 February.

The Railway Board, in an order, had said all operations of the Attari Special Express (Delhi-Attari-Delhi), which is known as the Samjhauta, or friendship, Express together with the Pakistani line from Wagah-Lahore, will remain cancelled. But the board had said that the cancellation was due to “purely operational reasons”.

Sources said after the missive about Pakistan’s resumption of services was conveyed to the board, it was decided that services on the Indian end would resume, as well.

The train will start running from the Indian side on Sunday, and on the Pakistan side, it will leave Lahore on Monday for its return journey, the official said.

Rafale would have made a difference, says Narendra Modi

Days after IAF air strikes against a terror camp in Pakistan and the tensions that followed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the country was feeling the absence of Rafale fighter jets, and that the results would have been different if India had the aircraft. He made the statement in response to the Congress party’s tirade against his government over the Rafale deal.

“India is feeling the absence of Rafale. The entire country is saying in one voice today that if we had Rafale, the results would have been different. The country has suffered a lot due to selfish interests earlier and now politics over Rafale,” he said at a media conclave.

Modi said he wanted to tell all those opposing him that they were free to criticise him and point out shortcomings, but they should not harm the country’s security interests. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been attacking Modi over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and favourtism towards a private defence manufacturer. The government has denied the charges.

Tearing into the Congress, Modi alleged its rule saw many defence scams. “They began with jeeps and later graduated to weapons, submarines, helicopters. The defence sector suffered in the process,” he said. “Those who ruled the country had interests in two things — doles and deals. The culture of doles and deals has harmed the country,” he said targeting the Congress.

The Congress responded, alleging that the country witnessed Modi’s “monologue, fake bravado and narcissistic lies”. Party chief Rahul Gandhi accused the prime minister of being “solely responsible” for the delay in the arrival of Rafale jets.

South Korea, US to end springtime military drills to back diplomacy

South Korea and the US are eliminating their massive springtime military drills and replacing them with smaller exercises as part of efforts to support diplomacy aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis.

The decision announced by both countries on Sunday is an olive branch to North Korea, but it will likely raise concerns about how the allies will maintain their readiness in the event that military tensions erupt again in the wake of the recently failed summit between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

India beat Australia by six wickets in 1st ODI

Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni hit gritty half-centuries to anchor India’s chase and beat Australia by six wickets in the first one-day international on Saturday. Jadhav, top-scoring with 81, and Dhoni, batting on 59, put on an unbeaten 141-run stand as the hosts achieved their target of 237 in Hyderabad to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Steven Spielberg criticises Netflix films contesting at Oscars

Steven Spielberg is going to take his criticism of Netflix films contesting at the Oscars to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, reports said. All his efforts are being devoted to ensuring that the Oscars don’t see a film like Roma, a Netflix movie, in the Best Picture race.

According to the Academy, “Awards rules discussions are ongoing with the branches, and the board will likely consider the topic at the April meeting.”