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Chinas Xi Vows To Stand With Friend Putin Against Hegemonic Bullying

Chinese leader, the highest-profile guest of Moscow’s WWII commemorations, keen to maintain ‘deep’ relationship with Russia. Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that his country will stand with Moscow against “unilateralism and hegemonic bullying” during a visit to the country to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Arriving in Moscow on Thursday at the start of a four-day visit, Xi hailed the “deeper” trust developing between the two countries, appearing to take a swipe at Western critics of Russia’s continuing offensive in Ukraine, which Putin has characterised as a war against latter-day Nazis. “In the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying behaviour, China will work with Russia to shoulder the special responsibilities of major world powers,” Xi told Putin. Greeting Xi as a “dear friend” in the Kremlin, Putin took the opportunity to underline Moscow’s role in WWII, which he has long accused the West of minimising, and to reinforce his narrative of the Ukraine war as a new battle against Nazis. “Together with our Chinese friends, we firmly stand guard over historical truth, protect the memory of the events of the war years and counteract modern manifestations of neo-Nazism and militarism,” he said. Russia and China, Putin said, now stood together against “neo-Nazism”. This week, Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged countries not to send their militaries to participate in the Victory Day events, saying it would go against the declared neutrality of some. Beijing has portrayed itself as a neutral party throughout the conflict, but Kyiv claims it has sent its nationals to assist Moscow on Ukrainian territory. Xi said that China and Russia would jointly defend the “correct view” of the history of WWII, protect the “authority and status” of the United Nations, and defend the “rights and interests” of China, Russia and the “vast majority of developing countries” to promote an “equal, orderly, multipolar, and inclusive economic globalisation”. His visit comes as United States President Donald Trump applies pressure on Russia and Ukraine to reach a peace agreement after more than three years of war, with Washington embarking on a behind-the-scenes diplomatic reset with Moscow – a development that may be making Beijing nervous. “Many say that China has some concerns about the current rapprochement between Russia and the US, which is quite evident these days. And that could mean some geopolitical shift that would possibly affect China,” said Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow. Xi, whose country is locked in a tariff war with the US, is expected to sign numerous agreements to deepen the “no limits” strategic partnership that it signed with Russia in 2022, less than three weeks before Putin sent his army into Ukraine. Shapovalova said that the Chinese delegation was expected to discuss the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, a “long-delayed” project that has been hampered by disagreements over costs. “Economic pressure on both sides could push them closer to a compromise this time around,” said Shapovalova. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Have India And Pakistan Started A Drone War?

Indian drones were brought down over key Pakistani cities. India claimed Pakistan tried attacking it with drones, too. Pakistan’s military said on Thursday morning that the country’s air defence system had brought down 25 Indian drones overnight over some of the country’s chief cities, including Lahore and Karachi. At least one civilian has died, and five people were wounded, it said. India’s Defence Ministry confirmed hours later that it had targeted Pakistan’s air defence radars and claimed that it was able to “neutralize” one defence system in Lahore. It said Pakistan had attempted to attack India and Indian-administered Kashmir with drones and missiles overnight, but that these had been shot down. The drone attacks represent the latest escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours, a day after India launched deadly missile strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least 31 people, according to Islamabad. Those were the most extensive Indian strikes ever on Pakistan outside the four wars that they have fought. Heavy artillery shelling from both sides overnight caused border communities in the disputed Kashmir region to flee. Simmering tensions erupted on April 22 after gunmen killed 25 tourists and a local pony rider in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan for backing fighters who claimed the attack. Islamabad has denied any involvement. Here’s what we know about the latest escalation of drone attacks: In a briefing on Thursday, Pakistani army spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said the country came under attack from a wave of drones overnight, targeting many of the most populated cities, including Karachi and Lahore. Pakistan’s air defence system intercepted and brought down these drones, he said. Pakistan’s military said 25 such drones were jammed and shot out of the sky. The falling debris killed one civilian and injured another person in the southern Sindh province, while an additional drone targeted and wounded four soldiers in a military installation in Lahore, Chaudhry said in the news briefing. Partial damage to “military equipment” was recorded in that latter incident. Chaudhry described the drone attacks as an act of “naked aggression” and a “serious provocation”, and pledged that Pakistan was ready to retaliate. “It appears that India has apparently lost the plot and, rather than going on a path of rationality, is further escalating in a highly charged environment. Pakistan Armed Forces remain fully vigilant to any type of threat,” he said. Hours after the drone attacks, India accepted responsibility – but insisted it had been provoked. On the night of May 7-8, India’s Ministry of Defence said, Pakistani forces attempted to “engage a number of military targets” in multiple areas in northern and western India and Indian-administered Kashmir using “drones and missiles”. These were shot down by India’s air defence systems, the ministry said. “Today morning Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan,” the ministry’s statement said. “It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised.” Pakistan has not commented on Indian claims that it attempted to strike India with drones and missiles. In his briefing, Pakistan army spokesperson Chaudhry said drones either attacked or were shot down in the following locations: Lahore: The capital of the eastern Punjab region, and Pakistan’s second-largest city of 14 million people. Local police official Mohammad Rizwan told reporters a drone was downed near Walton Airport, an airfield that the Pakistani military manages and uses for radars. The airport also has training schools. Gujranwala: The fourth-largest city in Punjab, with a population of 2.5 million people. Chakwal: Also in the Punjab region, with a population of about 1.5 million. Rawalpindi: The city in Punjab is home to the headquarters of Pakistan’s powerful military. The city has a population of close to 6 million people. Attock: Close to the capital, Islamabad, Attock is a cantonment city with a population of 2.1 million. Nankana Sahib: The Punjab city has a population of just more than 100,000 but enjoys far greater significance than that number suggests: It was the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and is one of the holiest sites of the faith. Bahawalpur: Also in Punjab, it has a population of nearly one million. Miano: A town in Sindh province, housing a major oil field. Chor: A small town in the Umerkot district of the southeastern province of Sindh. Ghotki: A city in northern Sindh known for its date palms, with a population of about 120,000. Karachi: Pakistan’s most populous city of 20 million people is based in Sindh. India said Pakistani missiles and drones attempted to strike 15 cities and towns but that all were brought down. Awantipora: A town of 12,000 people, on the Jhelum River in Indian-administered Kashmir. Srinagar: The biggest city in the Kashmir valley, Srinagar has a population of 1.2 million people. Jammu: The winter capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, it has a population of 500,000 people. Pathankot: Also in Indian-administered Kashmir, Pathankot is a major nerve centre of the Indian army’s operations. It is home to the largest military base in Asia. Amritsar: The city in India’s Punjab state has a population of 1.1 million and is home to the Golden Temple, one of Sikhism’s holiest shrines. Kapurthala: A smaller town of 100,000 people in Indian Punjab. Jalandhar: Right next to Kapurthala, Jalandhar has a population of nearly 900,000. Ludhiana: The most populous city in Indian Punjab is home to 1.6 million people. Adampur: The Punjab town is tiny, with just 20,000 people. But it is home to India’s second-largest air force base. Bhatinda: The city in Indian Punjab has a population of nearly 300,000. Chandigarh: The capital of both Indian Punjab and the neighbouring state of Haryana, Chandigarh has a population of just more than one million. Nal: A tiny town near the India-Pakistan border in the desert state of Rajasthan, it is home to a civilian airport and an air force base. Phalodi: A city of 66,000 people in Rajasthan, Phalodi is famous for its salt industry. Uttarlai: A small village in Rajasthan that is home to an air force station. Bhuj: A city of 190,000 people, Bhuj is in Gujarat, the western state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chaudhry, the Pakistani military spokesperson, identified the Indian projectiles as Harop drones. Harop drones are a form of what are known as loitering munitions, and are developed by the Israeli government’s primary aviation manufacturer and supplier, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Loitering munitions are usually remotely controlled unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) designed to hover in the air after being deployed, waiting for a precise target to be exposed before they crash into it and self-detonate. They are not meant to survive a confrontation, and so are also known as suicide drones or kamikaze drones. The IAI Harop is reputed to be one of the deadliest drones because it combines ordinary UAV and missile capabilities. Spanning two metres (6.6ft) in length, the vehicle is small enough to bypass most aircraft detection systems. It can fly over a range of 200km (120 miles) and is programmed for about six hours of flight. The drone can return and land at its launch base if it fails to engage a target. The Indian Armed Force (IAF) is one of Israel’s biggest clients for drones. Between 2009 and 2019, India bought at least 25 Harop drones, with a single sale of 10 units costing $100m, according to reporting by The Jerusalem Post. India’s fleet also includes Searcher and Heron drones, similarly manufactured by the IAI. Searchers are typically used for reconnaissance missions, while the Heron has similar missile capabilities to the Harop. Multiple drones breaching Pakistan’s airspace, hovering in the country’s most populous regions, and managing to attack a military location imply that India has the capabilities to breach Pakistan’s air defence and strike its most crucial nerve centres. The attacks, according to the Pakistani army, were an “extreme act of provocation” that could lead to a major escalation of violence between the two nuclear powers. Additionally, the drone breach poses a potential threat to civil aviation safety in Pakistan. The country’s civil aviation authorities temporarily suspended operations in four airports on Thursday, before lifting the restrictions: Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Islamabad International Airport, and Sialkot International Airport. Kashmir, famed for its picturesque lakes, meadows and snow-capped mountains, is at the heart of tensions between the two countries. India and Pakistan both administer parts of it, as does China. But India claims all of it, and Pakistan claims Indian-administered Kashmir, too. Three of the four previous India-Pakistan wars have been over Kashmir, which spans 22,200 sq km (8,570 square miles). India has for years blamed Pakistan for supporting, arming, and training armed groups seeking secession from India. Pakistan has insisted it provides only moral and diplomatic support to Kashmir’s separatist movement. New Delhi blamed April’s attack on an obscure group, The Resistance Front (TRF), and claimed it was Pakistan-backed. Islamabad, however, has denounced the attacks and denied involvement, calling for a “transparent, credible, impartial” investigation into the incident. Both countries, with a combined population of 1.6 billion, are nuclear powers, raising fears among security experts that further escalation could be disastrous. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Eat, Nap, Vote: Inside The Vatican Conclave To Choose The Next Pope

What actually takes place when the cardinals are not casting their votes during the papal conclave? Sistine Chapel doors closed as Vatican conclave begins Cardinals are in the Sistine Chapel for the second day of the conclave to elect a new pope, following two votes so far that have ended with black smoke – a signal that no new pope has been elected. Thursday’s voting has been highly anticipated, as the previous two popes were both announced on the second day of the conclave. Here is what we know about what the cardinals do all day: Out of 252 cardinals, only those less than the age of 80 are eligible to participate in the papal conclave. Currently, 135 cardinals meet this criterion. However, two have chosen not to travel to Rome, citing health issues, and bringing the number of confirmed voting participants to 133. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope; that’s 89 votes out of the 133 eligible cardinals. If no candidate reaches that threshold, another vote is held. After each round, ballots are burned. If black smoke appears from the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel, it means no pope has been chosen. White smoke signals the Catholic Church has a new pontiff. “In the past, fresh straw was used to produce white smoke, and water was added to produce black smoke,” Father Francis Lucas, a Catholic priest and executive director of the Catholic Media Network, told Al Jazeera. “However, this sometimes resulted in grey smoke, which led to confusion. Now, chemicals are added to ensure the smoke is distinctly black or white,” he added. Voting after the first day occurs a maximum of four times per day: Twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon Each cardinal receives a ballot marked “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (“I elect as Supreme Pontiff”) and writes in their chosen candidate. They are not permitted to vote for themselves. They then fold the ballot, hold it up for visibility and carry it to the altar, where a chalice covered by a plate awaits. One by one, the cardinals approach the altar before Michelangelo’s Last Judgement, swear an oath and place their votes in the chalice. According to Vatican News, each cardinal says aloud, in Italian: Each cardinal places his ballot on a plate, uses it to drop the vote into the chalice, bows towards the altar and then returns to his seat. Cardinals who are present but unable to walk to the altar due to illness give their folded ballot to one of the scrutineers – a number of cardinals chosen to oversee the voting. The scrutineer brings it to the altar and deposits it in the same manner, without reciting the oath again. No one except the cardinals is permitted inside the chapel during the conclave. Outside the chapel, there are others involved in the process, such as personnel handling logistics and security, cleaners, medical support staff and other clerics in supporting roles. About 100 additional people have taken the oath of secrecy over and above the voting cardinals. Conclaves are inherently secretive, but experts say some information is available about what happens when the cardinals are not voting. “In the course of the days of the conclave, they will move by charter bus around St Peter’s to the Sistine Chapel, enter and have the morning vote,” Steven P Millies, professor of public theology at the Catholic Theological Union, a Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, told Al Jazeera. “They will return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae (Latin for Saint Martha’s House, the Vatican guesthouse) and have their midday meal, take their midday nap, and then return for the evening vote (to the Sistine Chapel). And then back again (to the Domus Sanctae Marthae) for a nighttime meal,” he added. “The Church emphasises that the conclave is a spiritual and sacred process, not a political one,” Father Francis Lucas said. Some experts argue that most of the social activities and reflections on the previous vote might take place during their time in Saint Martha’s House. “One imagines that it is in the cafeteria at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where people do eat cafeteria style, they put food on their own trays and that sort of thing,” Millies said. “There is a lot of time over meals and informal conversations for the cardinals to decipher the meaning of what just happened in the last vote and to try to figure out where their support might go best. This is where coalitions and alliances are made,” he added. “That doesn’t exclude the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but there certainly is a certain amount of negotiation, alliance-making, shifting alliances, those kinds of things that will happen in those spaces too,” he explained. According to reports, food is not great during the Conclave. “The food is pretty ordinary, pasta, soup and fruit, which is how Francis wanted it,” a Vatican insider who has eaten there told the UK’s Times newspaper. While food during the papal conclave has traditionally been a plain affair, Francis, known for his focus on simplicity and humility, has been partly blamed for the further decline in quality, according to a report by The New York Times. Some cardinals have complained about bland vegetables and uninspired pasta dishes. “You don’t eat very well,” Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi of Italy, a supporter of Pope Francis, told The New York Times. After his election, Pope Francis broke with more than a century of Vatican tradition by declining to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. Instead, he chose to live in a simple suite at Santa Marta (Saint Martha’s), where the voting cardinals are currently lodging. “This room where we are now was a guest room,” Pope Francis said in an interview. “I chose to live here, in Room 201… The papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace is not luxurious. It is old, tastefully decorated and large, but not luxurious. But in the end, it is like an inverted funnel. It is big and spacious, but the entrance is really tight. People can come only in dribs and drabs, and I cannot live without people. I need to live my life with others,” he added. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Multiple Explosions And Sirens In Indian-administered Kashmirs Jammu City

Pakistan’s FM says it ‘deserves to respond’; his Indian counterpart says any response will be an ‘escalation’. Residents in Indian-administered Kashmir have said there are major and multiple explosions and sirens in the city of Jammu causing a complete blackout. Local news channels reported suspected drones flying overhead in the city on Thursday. Shesh Paul Vaid, the region’s former director-general of police and a resident of Jammu, said  on social media: “Bombing, shelling, or missile strikes suspected.” Indian and Pakistani authorities did not immediately comment. Pakistan’s military says it shot down 29 drones from India that entered its airspace, as hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbours continue to spiral following Indian air raids on multiple locations within Pakistan’s territory. Pakistani Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the military spokesperson, said on Thursday that Indian-made Israeli Harop drones had been deployed to targets including Karachi and Lahore. “Indian drones continue to be sent into Pakistan airspace … [India] will continue to pay dearly for this naked aggression,” Chaudhry said. The military said one civilian was killed and four Pakistani soldiers were wounded as a result of the drone incidents. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said his country has so far “exercised strategic restraint” and limited its response strictly for self-defence in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter. “Pakistan deserves to respond to India at a place, time and manner of its choosing,” he said. Earlier on Thursday, his Indian counterpart, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, said that any further military action by Pakistan will be considered an “escalation”, adding that Islamabad will be considered responsible for any attack on Indian infrastructure. India said that Pakistan had attempted to engage military targets with missiles and drones, but that the Indian military had thwarted the attacks. India’s army said it “neutralised” attempts by Pakistan to “engage” several military targets in its northern and western regions on Wednesday night and early Thursday. It targeted air defence systems in several locations in Pakistan, India’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that 16 people were reported killed as a result of Pakistani fire. Pakistan said India’s attacks killed at least 31 civilians on Wednesday. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the Reuters news agency that no military sites or the air defence system in the country’s second-largest city of Lahore sustained any damage from Indian drones. India said its army struck and damaged air defence radars and systems at multiple locations in Pakistan. Thursday’s exchanges and back and forth came claims and counterclaims came a day after India said it launched precision strikes on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” inside Pakistan. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told an all-party meeting on Thursday that “100 terrorists” had been killed; the claim could not be independently verified. The crisis between India and Pakistan appears to be “at a crossroads,” Washington-based South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman has told Al Jazeera. “India has said it has no intention of further military action, unless it is attacked by Pakistan. For now, Pakistan has vowed retaliation for the initial Indian airstrikes but it has also said it wants de-escalation,” he said. New Delhi’s operation followed a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir two weeks ago, which killed 26 people. India blamed Islamabad for the attack – a charge Pakistan strongly denies. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday in which he reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “national security, operational preparedness, and citizen safety,” his office said. “Ministries are ready to deal with all kinds of emerging situations,” the statement said. Reporting from New Delhi, Al Jazeera’s Neha Poonia described the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) – the de facto border in Kashmir – as deteriorating rapidly. “There’s been a significant escalation in the manner in which the two armies are engaging,” she said. The Indian army said 13 civilians had been killed, 59 injured, and one soldier had also died in the exchanges. Villages near the LoC have emptied, with residents fleeing or sheltering in bunkers. “We haven’t seen this kind of civilian movement in years,” Poonia noted. Amid the security crisis, 20 airports across northern India have been closed until at least May 10, severely affecting travel and commercial activity. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority said Karachi airport will be closed until 6pm (13:00 GMT), while the airports at Islamabad and Lahore were briefly shut “for operational reasons”. From Islamabad, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder reported that the Pakistani military has accused India of endangering civilian and aviation safety with repeated airspace violations. Hyder also noted a new point of contention: India’s release of water into the Chenab river. Islamabad sees this as a breach of longstanding agreements, an “existential threat” and “an act of war”. “Pakistan’s parliament, with cross-party consensus, has now authorised a military response,” Hyder said, pointing to mounting fears of a wider war. After Wednesday’s strikes, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promised to retaliate, raising fears that the two countries could be headed towards another all-out conflict. But in a sign that India and Pakistan may be looking to temper the escalation, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told the Reuters news agency on Thursday that there has been contact between the offices of the national security advisers of Islamabad and New Delhi. At the same time, Saudi Arabia and Iran have sent their foreign ministers to New Delhi and Islamabad in a bid to mediate. As India and Pakistan both accuse each other of provocation, analysts suggest Pakistan is under pressure to deliver a strong response to India’s actions. “India’s limited objectives are met,” said Happymon Jacob, director of the Council for Strategic and Defence Research in New Delhi, speaking to Al Jazeera. “Pakistan has a limited objective of ensuring that it carries out a retaliatory strike to save face domestically and internationally. So, that is likely to happen.” Jacob predicted the exchange may evolve into a few rounds of cross-border missile or artillery fire, similar to past confrontations. Security analyst Hassan Khan told Al Jazeera that the Pakistani government and military are under pressure to respond decisively. “Pakistan will respond and the people expect that response to be harder than what the Indians have done,” he said from Islamabad. Khan predicted Pakistan could target multiple Indian installations using missiles while avoiding crossing the LoC. 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