S Jaishankar with Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stopped by Qatar twice within a week. On his way back from Kenya, he made a stopover and met Deputy PM and Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani (above, right) in Doha today. On his way to Kuwait, Jaishankar had last week stopped by in Qatar and met Qatari NSA Mohamed Bin Ahmed Al Mesned. Qatar has been at the centre of US-Taliban talks, and has been an important player in the Gulf.
No International Haj
Saudia Arabia announced that it will not permit International Haj this year, allowing only residents of the country to participate in the pilgrimage due to the pandemic. The Indian Haj committee has therefore cancelled all standing applications for Haj this year. Minorities Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had recently chaired a meeting of Haj organisations in Mumbai, in which he initiated preparations for Haj, but had accepted that it will be dependent on Saudi Arabia’s decision.
Song For Soldiers
To commemorate the 20 Indian soldiers who were killed during intense hand-to-hand combat with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley on June 15 last year, the Army on Tuesday brought out a song “dedicated to the bravehearts of Galwan”. The song Galwan ke Veer (the brave of Galwan) is sung by Pamda Shri Hariharan, with Bickram Ghosh on the tabla. The three-and-a-half-minute song was released by the Army with a representative video, which shows the tough terrain and climate that the Indian troops have to brave in regions like eastern Ladakh, where India and China have been involved in a standoff. All 20 Indian soldiers, including Col B Santosh Babu, were awarded gallantry medals posthumously on Republic Day.
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