New Delhi, Oct 10: The Supreme Court on Friday gave the Centre four weeks to file its response on a batch of pleas seeking restoration of statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was hearing multiple pleas, including those filed by academician Zahoor Ahmad Bhat and socio-political activist Ahmad Malik, pressing for the implementation of the Centre’s assurance to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir “at the earliest”.

They referred to the Centre’s assurance on statehood for the union territory during the hearings on the abrogation of Article 370.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that elections in the region were conducted peacefully last year, but the government required more time to evaluate the issue of restoring statehood in view of ongoing security concerns and the recent Pahalgam terror attacks.

“Elections were held in a peaceful manner, and an elected government is in place. Over the last six years, substantial progress has been made in J&K. However, certain recent incidents, such as the Pahalgam attack, need to be factored in before taking a final call,” the country’s top law officer said.

He said consultations were underway with the J&K administration on the issue of restoration of statehood.

“This is a sui generis (unique) problem, and there are wider concerns involved. Of course, there was a solemn undertaking, but several factors need to be considered,” Mehta submitted.

He alleged that some people were spreading a specific narrative and giving a grim picture of J&K.

During the hearing, CJI Gavai said the region continued to face security challenges and cited the Pahalgam terror attack.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Zahoor Bhat, said, “Pahalgam happened under their watch….”

Mehta vehemently objected to the remark, saying, “What is ‘their watch’? It is under our government. I object to this.”

Sankaranarayanan argued that the Centre had assured the court about restoring statehood in 2023 and said, “Much water has flowed since then.”

To this, Mehta retorted, “And blood too. This is a citizen before the Supreme Court who treats the government of India as your government and not my government.”

Sankaranarayanan also said that the matter be placed before a five-judge Constitution bench, given that the original Article 370 judgment had been delivered by a bench of similar strength.

He clarified that the applicants were not seeking to reopen the abrogation issue but merely the enforcement of the Union’s commitment “within a reasonable timeframe”.

The solicitor general opposed the submissions, saying this cannot be done that too at the behest of interveners.

Senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, appearing for MLA Irfan Hafiz Lone, argued that the continuing denial of statehood undermines the federal structure of the Constitution.

“If a State can be converted into a Union Territory like this, what does it mean for federalism? The J&K Assembly passed a resolution a year ago calling for statehood. Allowing J&K to remain a UT sets a dangerous precedent,” she said.

Citing Articles 1, 2, and 3 of the Constitution, she said, “These provisions do not envisage converting a state into a union territory. The Union gave an assurance. What is the consequence of not honouring that assurance for federalism?”

“If this is permitted, any state can be downgraded to a UT if the government is inconvenient… tomorrow, it could be Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. This has never happened in our constitutional history,” another lawyer said.

The solicitor general interjected, accusing the counsel of attempting to “create a grim picture” of the union territory before the world.

“Why are you getting agitated? Let him complete the submissions,” the CJI told Mehta, drawing mild laughter in the courtroom.

Counsel representing a group of Jammu-based lawyers submitted that citizens in the region were facing acute unemployment and stagnation in development projects.

“There is hardly any developmental work in the Jammu region. Legislators say they have no funds for local works. Despite incidents like Pahalgam, peace has largely prevailed, tourist inflows are high, and the Vaishno Devi yatra continues smoothly. Security concerns cannot be a perpetual excuse,” the counsel said.

To this, S G Mehta responded by saying that the region had witnessed significant improvement.

“J&K has progressed; everyone is happy… 99.9 percent of the people consider the government of India as their own. These arguments are for some other forum, not this court,” he said.

“Delay in the restoration of statehood would cause a serious reduction of democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, causing a grave violation of the idea of federalism, which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India,” Bhat’s plea said.

The assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls were conducted peacefully in J&K without any incident of violence, disturbance, or any security concerns being reported, it said.

“Therefore, there is no impediment of security concerns, violence, or any other disturbances which would hinder or prevent the grant/restoration of the status of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as had been assured by the Union of India in the present proceedings,” the plea said.

New Delhi, Oct 10: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday addressed the inaugural India-Australia Defence Industry Business Roundtable in Sydney, highlighting the growing strategic and industrial synergy between the two nations.

He described the forum as “a declaration of intent to make India and Australia natural allies in business, industry, and innovation.”

Recalling recent high-level engagements, including the India-Australia Summit (2024) and the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, Singh emphasised that strong bilateral ties rest on government cooperation, people-to-people links, and shared business interests, with the defence industrial partnership holding significant untapped potential.

“Both India and Australia are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. Our shared history is built on democracy, diversity, liberty, and similar governance structures,” he noted.

The defence minister said that strong India-Australia ties rest on three pillars: robust government-to-government cooperation, people-to-people connections, and convergence of business interests.

While the first two are thriving, he said, “our defence industrial partnership based on joint R&D, innovation, co-creation and co-production still has untapped potential.”

Rajnath Singh highlighted India’s economic and defence transformation, noting record defence production of 1.51 lakh crore and exports to nearly 100 countries.

He pointed out complementarities between Indian and Australian capabilities in shipbuilding, quantum technologies, AI, maritime systems, and defence manufacturing, urging joint R&D, co-development, and co-production initiatives.

The defence minister welcomed Australia’s proposal for a reciprocal MoU on defence articles and services and stressed opportunities in naval vessel co-production, green shipbuilding, and autonomous systems.

He called on Australian industry to invest and collaborate, saying the partnership is at a “defining moment” for shaping a secure and self-reliant Indo-Pacific.

The defence minister underlined vast opportunities in the co-production of naval vessels and sub-systems, ship repair and maintenance, and joint R&D in autonomous systems and green shipbuilding technologies.

“By diversifying supply chains, building joint capacities, and investing in innovation, India and Australia can contribute to a resilient, secure, and self-reliant Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“I invite the Australian business community to invest, collaborate, and innovate with India,” Rajnath Singh urged. “Together, we can develop cutting-edge technologies, build advanced platforms, and ensure that our industries are not just suppliers, but strategic enablers of peace and security in the region.”

Concluding his remarks, the defence minister said the India-Australia defence partnership is at a “defining moment.”

“The convergence of our strategic interests, the energy of our industries, and the vision of our leadership give us a unique opportunity to shape the future together,” he said.

New Delhi, Oct 10: Kabul will soon send its diplomats to India as part of “step-by-step” efforts to improve bilateral relations, Afghan Foreign Minister Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Friday even as he asserted the Taliban will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against other countries.

Muttaqi, who landed in New Delhi on Thursday on a six-day trip, is the first senior Taliban minister to visit India after the group seized power four years back. India has not yet recognised the Taliban set up.

In an interaction with a small group of journalists, after holding wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Afghan foreign minister invited Indian businesses to invest in his country’s mining, minerals and energy sectors.

Muttaqi also pitched for India and Afghanistan joining hands to remove obstacles for development of the Chabahar port in Iran in view of the Trump administration bringing it under sanctions.

The Afghan foreign minister’s visit to India assumed greater significance as it came at a time when both India and Afghanistan are having frosty relations with Pakistan over a range of issues including cross-border terrorism.

Muttaqi said Kabul will soon send its diplomats to New Delhi.

“The foreign minister (S Jaishankar) said you can send diplomats to New Delhi now. When we go back, we will select people and send them,” he said.

In his meeting with Muttaqi, Jaishankar announced the upgrading of India’s technical mission in Kabul to the status of an embassy.

Asked if the Taliban regime will appoint an ambassador, Muttaqi said: “we will now send diplomats and gradually the contacts will increase.” Till now, the Afghan missions in India have officials who were largely appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government.

To a question on whether the Indian government will hand over the Afghan embassy premises in New Delhi to the Taliban regime, the foreign minister shot back: “It is with Afghanistan; it belongs to us.”

Muttaqi said the ties between India and Afghanistan are witnessing steady progress in the last four years.

“This is my first visit to India and it was decided that India will upgrade its technical mission in Kabul to a diplomatic mission and our diplomats will come to New Delhi. Gradually, the goal is to take things to normal,” he said.

The Afghan foreign minister said his country will not allow its territory to be used to “threaten or harm others” and asserted that there is no presence of any terror group including Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Afghanistan.

“Not even one inch of soil is controlled by anyone other than the Islamic Emirate. These groups and tanzeems are not present in Afghanistan, they have left Afghanistan in these four years. We finished those against whom we conducted operations,” he said.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has proven over the course of the last four years that its territory will not be allowed to be used against others,” Muttaqi said.

There have been concerns in New Delhi over the possibility of use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups to launch attacks.

Against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump asking the Taliban to hand over the strategic Bagram airbase to US forces, Muttaqi said Kabul will not accept any foreign military presence in the country.

“Afghanistan has a long history of safeguarding its independence and sovereignty and combating occupations. Afghanistan will not allow military interventions or military presence of anyone,” he said.

Muttaqi also criticised Pakistan’s approach towards Afghanistan while responding to a question on reports of explosions in Kabul on Thursday night.

The foreign minister said Pakistan had a hand in an attack in the border areas and that it was yet to be ascertained how the explosion took place in Kabul.

“Afghanistan is an independent country in this region and when peace has come there, why are others troubled? Afghan people too have rights. The peace, benefits and progress of the last four years should be strengthened,” he said.

“Just as we want good relations with India, we want good ties with Pakistan. But these relations can only be built from both sides, it can’t be done by one side,” he said.

The visiting minister said India and Afghanistan should work together to address hurdles in development of the Chabahar port.

“Both Afghanistan and India should try to remove all problems and obstacles in this route, because there are some restrictions on this path from America,” he said.

“Afghanistan and India should jointly talk with America and also talk among ourselves and derive the maximum benefits from this route, this is the need for both countries and we understand this need because trade between Afghanistan and India last year was more than USD 1 billion,” he said.

“If routes are closed, trade will not decrease, not increase, and we should open all routes, including the Wagah land border,” he said.

Muttaqi also pitched for trade between India and Afghanistan through the Wagah border transit point.

“The Wagah route is the shortest for Afghanistan and trade was conducted through this route in the past. Pakistan and India should not close this route because economic, human and trade issues should not be mixed with political issues,” he said.

“This is the right and the need of the people, this is a route for trade and should not be closed because Wagah is close (to Afghanistan) and it is cheaper to transport goods between Afghanistan and India through this route,” he said.

“It is our request to both countries that this route should be opened for starting and increasing trade,” he added.