Democrats Look To Block UAE Arms Sales, As Trump Announces New Deals

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 16, 2025 | top-stories

Washington:

US congressional Democrats on Thursday sought to block arms sales to the United Arab Emirates over its alleged involvement in Sudan’s civil war and concern about crypto currency ties, the same day Republican President Donald Trump announced $200 billion in new deals with the Gulf State.

Democrats Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz and Tim Kaine, and Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, introduced resolutions of disapproval in the Senate that would block three arms sales to the UAE.

Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sara Jacobs, the top Democrat on the panel’s Africa subcommittee, introduced resolutions of disapproval in the House of Representatives.

The senators cited concerns that have been raised about Abu Dhabi arming Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries in Sudan’s civil war. The UAE has repeatedly denied such charges.

They also cited the announcement by MGX, an investment firm backed by the Emiratis, that it would use a stablecoin launched by Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture for its $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance.

A series of Trump family crypto-related ventures, including a “meme coin” launched in January, have drawn criticism from government ethics experts and political opponents over potential conflicts of interest.

In a statement, Murphy said he wanted to force a full Senate debate on what he termed “nuclear grade corruption.”

The House members said the Trump administration had decided to move ahead with the UAE sales despite Meeks’ hold on such transactions over of his concerns about the conflict in Sudan.

“The Trump administration’s end-run around Congress is irresponsible and will further embolden the UAE to violate the UN’s Darfur arms embargo and continue its support for the RSF and the killing of innocent civilians,” Meeks and Jacobs said in a statement.

Trump Expects Stronger UAE Ties

The White House and the UAE embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, both Republican and Democratic US administrations have long viewed the Gulf state as a vital security partner and the UAE has denied providing weapons to the RSF.

Trump pledged to strengthen US ties to the Gulf State as he announced the deals. “I have absolutely no doubt that the relationship will only get bigger and better,” he said in a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

US law requires congressional review of major arms deals, and lets members of the Senate force votes on resolutions of disapproval that would block such sales. Although the law does not let House members force such votes, resolutions must pass both chambers of Congress, and potentially survive a presidential veto, to go into effect.

No block has ever succeeded and survived a veto.

Among the sales targeted in the resolutions were a $1.32 billion sale of helicopters and equipment, $130 million for F-16 aircraft components and accessories, and $150 million for Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook aircraft parts, logistics and support.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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“Trump Not Getting Enough Credit”: Karoline Leavitt Shares Chat With Kashmiri

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 15, 2025 | top-stories

New Delhi:

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted about her conversation with a man from Jammu and Kashmir, who she claimed thanked US President Donald Trump for bringing the military actions between India and Pakistan to a halt.

Trump’s administration had earlier this week claimed that he had mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, days after the May 7 Operation Sindoor kickstarted military actions between he neighbouring countries, resulting in loss of lives and infrastructure. India later said the ceasefire was arrived at after DGMO-level talks between the two countries.

Ms Leavitt recounted meeting a waiter in Qatar’s Doha today, who she claimed told her to thank Trump as the ceasefire as the closure of airspace and safety concerns kept him from returning home. “He said President Trump is not receiving enough credit for literally preventing a nuclear war – and he is right!” she wrote in a post on X.

The White House official said Trump inherited many global conflicts and “he is tackling them one at a time”. “Peace, through strength, is being restored!” she wrote.

This morning at breakfast in Doha, my waiter told me to thank President Trump for him.

I asked him why.

He told me he is from Kashmir, and he has been unable to return home in recent weeks due to the India-Pakistan conflict.
But he was just notified that he’s now able to…

— Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) May 15, 2025

During his speech at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Thursday, Trump reiterated his role of peacemaker, allowing the May 10 ceasefire between the countries that saw escalating tensions since the April 22 Palahlgam attack, in which 26 civilians had died.

“And by the way, I don’t want to say I did, but I sure as hell helped settle the problem between Pakistan and India last week, which was getting more and more hostile,” he said, making it the sixth instance when he took credit for the ceasefire.

Under Operation Sindoor, India had struck nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This was followed by counter-attacks on infrastructure on both sides. The situation in border districts has been normal since the ceasefire, with 32 airports in northern and western India opening for civil operations.

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US Court Orders Release Of Indian Researcher Detained Over Alleged Hamas Ties

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 14, 2025 | top-stories

Washington:

A US judge ordered the release from custody on Wednesday of an Indian researcher at a top American university who is facing possible deportation for alleged Hamas ties.

Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in the US capital, was arrested by federal agents two months ago at his home in Virginia and has been held in Texas.

District Judge Patricia Giles ordered Suri’s immediate release on Wednesday and that he be allowed to return from Texas to his wife and three children in Virginia on his personal recognizance.

“Hearing the judge’s words brought tears to my eyes,” Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh, said in a statement released by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which is among the groups representing her husband in court.

“Speaking out about what’s happening in Palestine is not a crime,” Saleh said. “Let’s show the world that this country is still a place where people can and do express their beliefs without fear.”

Giles, in ordering Suri’s release, said his detention violated his First Amendment rights to free speech.

“The court’s order today should send a clear message to the Trump administration that it cannot arrest someone, rip them away from their family, and incarcerate them just for standing in solidarity with Palestinians and against the genocide in Gaza,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, an attorney at the CCR.

Suri’s release comes several days after another judge ordered the release from custody of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish Ph.D student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, who was detained in another high-profile case.

The arrests of Suri, Ozturk and others have sparked fears in the academic world that freedom of research and speech is being challenged under Republican President Donald Trump.

Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said on X at the time of Suri’s arrest that he was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media.”

McLaughlin also accused him of having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.”

According to The New York Times, Saleh, Suri’s wife, is the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

McLaughlin said Suri was subject to deportation under a provision of immigration law that allows for expulsion if the visa holder’s presence in the United States is determined to threaten US foreign policy.

Hamas is a US-designated terror organization.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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India Reminds China Of The “Undeniable Reality” Of Arunachal Pradesh

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 14, 2025 | top-stories

New Delhi:

India has once again issued a strong rebuttal to China’s attempts to rename certain places in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing refers to as “Zangnan,” or the southern part of Tibet. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), responding to a fresh round of Chinese place-naming initiatives, dismissed the exercise as futile and reiterated India’s stance on the status of the state.

“We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated on Wednesday. “Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” the External Affairs ministry said in a statement.

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory, has often released maps with several places within the northeastern state renamed. In 2024, China released a list of 30 new names of various places in Arunachal Pradesh, which India categorically rejected.

The boundary dispute between India and China over Arunachal Pradesh has been a longstanding source of friction. The region shares a border with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Beijing claims the state as part of historical Tibet, while New Delhi has administered it as an integral part of India since independence in 1947 and the subsequent consolidation of its northeast.

The territorial dispute over Arunachal Pradesh has, in recent years, been accompanied by concerns over the use of water resources in the region. At the centre of these concerns is China’s decision to construct what is expected to be the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet’s Medog County-just before the river bends and flows into India as the Siang, and later becomes the Brahmaputra in Assam.

Tapir Gao, MP and state BJP unit chief, had described the Chinese project as a “water bomb” last month. “China has already decided to construct a dam which will have the capacity to produce 60,000 MW of electricity. This is not going to be a dam, but a water bomb to be used against India and other lower riparian countries,” Mr Gao said.

The BJP MP recalled the floods of June 2000, which he claimed were triggered by a similar release of water upstream, resulting in the destruction of over ten bridges in Arunachal Pradesh. “If China decides to release water from the dam in the future, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bangladesh and other countries of South East Asia will be devastated,” he warned.

He also supported the construction of a counter-balancing dam within Arunachal Pradesh to manage downstream disaster risks that could arise from sudden water discharges from the Chinese side.

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“Pak Used Civilian Flights As Part Of Its Conspiracy”: PM To Soldiers

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 13, 2025 | top-stories

New Delhi:

Praising the armed forces for meeting the objectives of Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday highlighted to the world, once again, how Pakistan had used civilian flights as a shield, putting the lives of hundreds of innocent people in danger.

Addressing personnel of the Indian Air Force at the Adampur Airbase – India’s second largest – In Punjab on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi said the Indian armed forces carried out strikes with pinpoint precision at terror bases in Pakistan on May 7 in just 20-25 minutes.

“Your precision was such that the enemy was left stunned, it did not even realise when it was struck. Our aim was to hit terror headquarters and terrorists, but Pakistan hatched a conspiracy by placing its passenger planes in front… I can imagine how difficult it must have been, but I am proud that you did an amazing job and did not let any civilian aircraft be harmed. You gave a befitting reply,” the PM said in Hindi.

During a press briefing on Friday, India had pointed out how Pakistan had not closed its airspace for civilian flights even as it launched 300-400 missiles at India the previous day, and said the country was using unsuspecting civilian aircraft, including international flights, as shields.

“Pakistan is using civil airliners as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including the international flights, which were flying near the International Border between India and Pakistan,” Army Colonel Sofiya Qureshi had said.

That same evening, at least two commercial aircraft were seen flying near Lahore in Pakistan even as a fresh wave of drones and missiles was being intercepted on the Indian side. While all of this was happening, India had closed its airspace close to the Line of Control and International Border to civilian aircraft.

After India’s accusations rang alarm bells, Pakistan closed its airspace to civilian aircraft temporarily on Saturday, the day its Director General of Military Operations called up his Indian counterpart and a ceasefire was agreed upon.

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IndiGo Cancels Flights To Amritsar, 5 Other Cities For Today

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 12, 2025 | top-stories

New Delhi:

IndiGo has cancelled its flights to and from Jammu, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Leh, Srinagar and Rajkot for May 13.

“In light of the latest developments and with your safety as our utmost priority, flights to and from Jammu, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Leh, Srinagar, and Rajkot are cancelled for 13th May 2025,” IndiGo said in a post on X at 11:38 PM on Monday.

The airline also said its teams are actively monitoring the situation.

These six airports are among those that were reopened for civilian flights on Monday after being temporarily shut in the wake of the military conflict between India and Pakistan.

On Monday evening, an IndiGo flight enroute to Amritsar returned to the national capital after precautionary blackout measures were enforced in Amritsar, according to sources.

The flight 6E2045 from Delhi to Amritsar returned to the national capital after being ariborne for sometime, as per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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