India's 21-year-old badminton star Ayush Shetty stunned defending champion and World No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 in the BWF World Championships 2026 Round of 64 clash. The youngster, who hails from Karkala in Karnataka, looked in sensational form as he came up with brilliant smashes and terrific defence to pull off a stunning win in front of the home crowd in New Delhi. This was his first-ever win over Shi Yuqi after three successive losses, including a straight-game loss in the final of the Asia Badminton Championships earlier this year. Ayush was off to a flying start with a 21-14 win in the first game and although he dropped the second game, the youngster did not give up. He fought back brilliantly and was able to finish the match in style. Who is Ayush Shetty? Shetty found himself in the headlines earlier this year after he became the first Indian men's singles player to reach the Badminton Asia Championships final in 61 years. While he was defeated by...
India has lodged a strong protest with Dhaka over a now-deleted social media post by a key aide of Bangladesh's interim government that claimed certain areas of Indian territory should be part of that country.
Mahfuz Alam, known for his provocative comments, had also posted on Facebook four days ago a map purportedly showing parts of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam as parts of Bangladesh. He deleted the post after it triggered backlash.
Mr Alam is a de facto minister in the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh.
In strongly reacting to the post, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday reminded all concerned to be "mindful" of their public comments.
"We have taken this up with the Bangladeshi government. We have strongly registered a protest on this issue. We understand that the post being referred to has reportedly been taken down.
"We would like to remind all concerned to be mindful of their public comments. While India has repeatedly signalled interest in fostering relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh, such comments underline the need for responsibility in public articulation," he said.
The relations between India and Bangladesh are reeling under severe strain after the interim government headed by Mr Yunus came to power in August.
Mr Yunus assumed the charge as the head of the interim dispensation days after the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post and fled to India in the face of a massive anti-government protest.
Asked about Mr Yunus not providing a specific timeline for holding parliamentary elections in Bangladesh as he said it could be held between late 2025 and early 2026, Jaiswal did not give a clear answer.
"We have very clearly defined our approach towards our ties with Bangladesh. We have said that we support a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh," he said.
"We have reiterated our willingness to build a positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh based on mutual trust, respect and mutual sensitivity to each other's concerns and interest," Jaiswal said.
"We have also emphasised that the people of Bangladesh are the main stakeholders in the India-Bangladesh relations and noted that India's development cooperation and multi-faceted engagements with Bangladesh including in areas of connectivity, trade, power, energy and capacity building which are all geared towards benefiting the people of Bangladesh," he added.
In an address to the nation on December 16, Mr Yunus said the elections could be held between late 2025 and early 2026, depending on implementation of various reforms.
Asked about Mr Yunus's comments offering to host the stalled SAARC summit in Bangladesh following his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Cairo, Jaiswal said India has been pushing for regional cooperation through various platforms.
"Our efforts have been to boost regional cooperation. We want to move forward with platforms like BIMSTEC," he said, adding, "SAARC is another platform...You know why cooperation under SAARC is not moving forward." The SAARC ((South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) is a regional bloc comprising India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The grouping has not been very effective since 2016 as its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014.
The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after the terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances".
The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet.
In the last few years, India has been making concerted efforts to make BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) a vibrant forum for regional cooperation as initiatives under SAARC were not moving forward.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/5iztSvm
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