عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Germany Looks to Strengthen Defense, Military Ties With India

09 October 2024, Saxony, Leipzig: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the 35th anniversary of the peaceful revolution in Leipzig, at the Geandhaus. Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Pool/dpa
09 October 2024, Saxony, Leipzig: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the 35th anniversary of the peaceful revolution in Leipzig, at the Geandhaus. Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Pool/dpa
TT
TT

Germany Looks to Strengthen Defense, Military Ties With India

09 October 2024, Saxony, Leipzig: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the 35th anniversary of the peaceful revolution in Leipzig, at the Geandhaus. Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Pool/dpa
09 October 2024, Saxony, Leipzig: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the 35th anniversary of the peaceful revolution in Leipzig, at the Geandhaus. Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Pool/dpa

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday he wanted to deepen defense ties with New Delhi and bring the two countries' militaries closer, in comments following a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Germany, which has not traditionally had close defense ties with India, is now pitching to join the latter's effort to wean its arms base from decades of dependence on Russia, at a time when the West seeks to counter China's growing influence, Reuters said.
"Our overall message is clear, we need more co-operation, not less," Scholz said.
"At our inter-governmental consultations with India, we also want to deepen co-operation in defense and agree to bring our militaries together."
Scholz, accompanied by most of his cabinet, is leading a high-level delegation to New Delhi, betting that greater access to the vast Indian market can reduce Germany's reliance on China.
German Thyssenkrupp is one of two bidders that have partnered with Indian firms to build six conventional submarines in India, in a deal estimated to be worth $5 billion.
The Indian Navy is expected to pick between the German company or Spain's Navantia soon.
Scholz reiterated his economy minister's comments on pushing for swift progress on talks for a free-trade pact between India and the European Union.
Earlier, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal warned that India would be unable to strike such a deal if the bloc insisted on getting access to the Asian giant's dairy industry.
The two sides initially aimed to wrap up talks on the pact by the end of 2023, but progress has been slow, with India blaming the EU for what it called "irrational" standards as one reason.
A trade deal could be concluded swiftly if sensitivities were respected on both sides, Goyal told the Asia-Pacific conference of German business in the Indian capital, attended by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
On Thursday, Habeck had said agriculture was the "most problematic" area in the deal talks, suggesting it would be better if the two sides focused first on the industrial sector.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

‘I’m Going to Stay Calm’: 48 Hours Under the Rubble in Venezuela

Volunteers and rescuers help to find survivors in a collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on June 30, 2026, following the June 24 twin earthquakes. (Reuters)
Volunteers and rescuers help to find survivors in a collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on June 30, 2026, following the June 24 twin earthquakes. (Reuters)
TT
TT

‘I’m Going to Stay Calm’: 48 Hours Under the Rubble in Venezuela

Volunteers and rescuers help to find survivors in a collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on June 30, 2026, following the June 24 twin earthquakes. (Reuters)
Volunteers and rescuers help to find survivors in a collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on June 30, 2026, following the June 24 twin earthquakes. (Reuters)

Andrea Canonico focused on her breathing to stay calm as she lay trapped under a building that had crumbled during the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela last week.

Just 23 years old, Canonico spent almost 48 hours in the same position before being pulled out -- alive.

"The most important thing about all of this was that I never lost hope," Canonico told AFP in the Los Corales neighborhood in the city of La Guaira, the hardest-hit by the disaster.

She is holding on to that hope for her 20-year-old brother and 91-year-old aunt who remain missing.

Wednesday's 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes have killed almost 2,000 people, with warnings that the figure could soar.

- 'I'm going to sleep' -

"I told myself, I'm going to sleep," Canonico recalled, up to her elbows in bandages following the ordeal.

"This is in the middle of a full-blown disaster," she had told herself. "It's surely going to keep shaking. I'm going to stay calm; I'm not going to get worked up about the breathing issue."

She says she was able to sit up despite being covered by around six meters of rubble.

"I had my phone, of course," which allowed her to keep track of time and enjoy a little light.

She was able to communicate with a man who was stuck a little higher up. Once he got out, he told his rescuers that she was also trapped.

"Above me there was an opening I was able to climb up through," Canonico said, explaining how she "managed to reach the other opening the rescuers were making."

"From there I kept climbing while they pulled me up, and that's how I was able to get out."

- 'The mole' -

"Is anyone alive in here?!" the voice of Moises Faramaya ricochets around the ruins of the same neighborhood.

The ex-miner is using his know-how to rescue others in the same situation as Canonico.

The 26-year-old says he has rescued 16 people alive and recovered 22 bodies in La Guaira, which authorities have declared a "disaster zone."

He told AFP about one of the rescued, who he heard "scratching at a wall."

"The person was pinned down but could move their hand. And I got them out alive," said Faramaya, who says he uses "nothing but a pickaxe and a shovel" to pick through the rubble.

Nicknamed "the mole," Faramaya says he got good at digging during a six-year stint in the mines of El Callao in the mineral-rich state of Bolivar.

Firefighters and experts ask for his help, and he hardly eats or sleeps, only smoking cigarettes to "stay active" during his brief breaks.

"The work you do in there isn't easy -- the dust, the smell of dead people who are already decomposing. But here we are, persevering," he said.

- Between hope and despair -

Authorities recently declared that everyone in Canonico's building had died.

Alexander Garcia, a 44-year-old waiter, said he heard firefighters declare "Code 14," which he later found out meant that there were no survivors.

But when US rescue workers and Spanish sniffer dogs found traces of life, his hopes for his two trapped brothers were rekindled.

"Everyone heard them, everyone," he told AFP after his mother was pulled from the detritus alive but later died.

Rescue efforts continue under torchlight as darkness falls.

Heavy rain on Tuesday morning paused operations and dampened spirits, however.

The critical 72-hour window during which survivors were still likely to be found closed on Saturday evening.

Hopes of finding survivors had faded substantially by Tuesday.

World

Afghanistan Says Airstrikes Launched on Pakistan; Islamabad Says Drones Shot Down

Taliban security officials stand guard on a street in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 30 June 2026. (EPA)
Taliban security officials stand guard on a street in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 30 June 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

Afghanistan Says Airstrikes Launched on Pakistan; Islamabad Says Drones Shot Down

Taliban security officials stand guard on a street in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 30 June 2026. (EPA)
Taliban security officials stand guard on a street in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 30 June 2026. (EPA)

Afghanistan's ‌Taliban said they launched airstrikes into Pakistani territory, while Islamabad said its forces had intercepted and shot down four rudimentary drones in the southern resource-rich province of Balochistan.

Tuesday's exchanges were the latest in a series of clashes between the South Asian neighbors.

Afghanistan's defense ministry said its forces launched airstrikes on what it said was an ISIS center in the town of Saranan ‌in Pakistan's ‌border province of Balochistan, as ‌well ⁠as elsewhere in Khyber ⁠Pakhtunkhwa province.

In a statement, Pakistan's military said the drones were spotted immediately and neutralized.

Provincial authorities confirmed the drone attack and said a drone was sighted near a government school in Saranan. Two people were injured, ⁠officials said.

Afghanistan has no fighter jets ‌but is known ‌to possess at least six aircraft and 23 helicopters, ‌data from the London-based International Institute for Strategic ‌Studies shows. The Taliban forces are also known to have drones that have been used in fighting with Pakistan.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants ‌it blames for plotting attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban denies the accusations, ⁠saying ⁠militancy is Pakistan's internal problem.

At least 28 civilians were killed and 49 injured in Monday's airstrikes by Pakistan on its border with Afghanistan, in what Islamabad called retaliation for "terrorist attacks" on its soil.

The conflict between the allies turned foes has killed hundreds of people this year, with no results yet from efforts to ease tension mediated by China.

World

Xi Vows to Strengthen China’s Military, Stamp Out Corruption

Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on as People’s Liberation Army honor guard hold party flags during a ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on as People’s Liberation Army honor guard hold party flags during a ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 1, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Xi Vows to Strengthen China’s Military, Stamp Out Corruption

Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on as People’s Liberation Army honor guard hold party flags during a ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on as People’s Liberation Army honor guard hold party flags during a ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 1, 2026. (Reuters)

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Wednesday to strengthen and modernize the military and to stamp out corruption within the ruling Communist Party.

Xi underscored the importance of a "strong military" in a speech to political and military leaders as well as Chinese Communist Party members gathered at the Great Hall of the People for the party's 105th founding anniversary.

Analysts have questioned the ability of China's armed forces to fight effectively since Xi's sweeping anti-graft campaign gutted its top ranks.

Xi's years-long effort to purge corruption has brought down two defense ministers in the past three years and reduced the once seven-member Central Military Commission -- China's top military body -- to just himself and one other general.

The Chinese leader on Wednesday swore to "uphold the party's absolute leadership" over the armed forces and strengthen the military.

"We must advance the modernization of national defense and the armed forces," Xi told party members.

The CCP also has to "resolutely wage the critical, protracted, and comprehensive battle against corruption", he added.

The Central Military Commission -- which Xi heads -- has published new measures that would "establish iron rules for strict education, strict management, and strict supervision" of senior military cadres, state media reported in May.

Xi also reiterated on Wednesday his commitment to see China gain control of Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its territory.

"Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete unification of the motherland is an unswerving historical mission of our party and the shared aspiration of all Chinese people," he said.

Xi urged his country to "oppose interference by external forces", without naming any specific countries.

The CCP was founded on July 1, 1921 and had more than 101 million members as of late 2025, according to state news agency Xinhua.