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Saudi, Indian militaries complete first army-to-army talks

Saudi, Indian militaries complete first army-to-army talks
In this photo shared by the Additional Directorate General of Public Information of the Indian Ministry of Defense on April 25, 2025, Saudi and Indian officers conclude their first army-to-army talk in New Delhi. (Additional Directorate General of Public Information)
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Updated 25 April 2025

Saudi, Indian militaries complete first army-to-army talks

Saudi, Indian militaries complete first army-to-army talks
  • Discussions in New Delhi focus on Sada Tanseeq drill, knowledge sharing
  • Agreement follows Indian PM’s visit to Kingdom earlier this week

NEW DELHI: The first army-to-army talks between the Indian Army and the Royal Saudi Land Forces have resulted in an annual defense cooperation plan that includes joint drills, expert exchanges, and operational logistics, India’s military said on Friday.
The talks took place in New Delhi on April 23-24.
“Discussions focused on the annual defense cooperation plan, covering joint exercise Sada Tanseeq, training, military education, domain expert exchanges and engagements in areas of mutual interest,” the public information arm of the Indian Ministry of Defense said on X.
“Both sides also explored avenues of collaboration in operational logistics, battlefield management systems & niche technologies to enhance interoperability and capability development,” it said.
The Sada Tanseeq exercise, the first edition of which took place in Rajasthan in January and February, aims to enhance interoperability and joint operational capabilities between the two nations’ land forces, particularly in semi-desert terrain.
The exercise involved 90 troops from both sides focusing on training for operations under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which pertains to actions regarding threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression.
The talks in Delhi followed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to ֱ and meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman earlier this week.
During the visit the two sides expanded the Saudi-Indian Strategic Partnership Council to include a ministerial committee for defense cooperation and agreed to enhance defense industry collaboration.
“It is significant that the first army-to army staff level talks were held immediately after the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the crown prince, who decided to form a ministerial-level defense cooperation committee to give a push to already deepening defense and strategic relations between India and ֱ,” defense and strategic affairs expert Ranjit Kumar told Arab News.
“The two countries have already conducted joint army exercises in 2021 and 2023. Later, the navies of the two nations have also organized two rounds of joint naval exercises. These are indicative of growing proximity between the Indian and Saudi defense forces, which may lead to new strategic equations in the region.”


Mexico President Sheinbaum presses charges after street harassment

Mexico President Sheinbaum presses charges after street harassment
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Mexico President Sheinbaum presses charges after street harassment

Mexico President Sheinbaum presses charges after street harassment
Sheinbaum used her daily press briefing to say that she had pressed charges against the man
Sheinbaum said she felt a responsibility to press charges, because if not, where would that leave Mexican women?

MEXICO CITY: What should have been a five-minute time-saving walk from Mexico’s National Palace to the Education Ministry for President Claudia Sheinbaum has become a stomach-churning viral moment after a video captured a drunk man groping the president.
The brief clip has given the daily harassment and assaults that women suffer in Mexico their highest-profile platform. And on Wednesday, Sheinbaum used her daily press briefing to say that she had pressed charges against the man.
She also called on states to look at their laws and procedures to make it easier for women to report such assaults and said Mexicans needed to hear a “loud and clear, no, women’s personal space must not be violated.”
Sheinbaum said she felt a responsibility to press charges, because if not, where would that leave Mexican women? “If this is done to the president, what is going to happen to all of the young women in our country?”
Indeed, if Mexico’s president cannot be in the street for five minutes without a man approaching her from behind, putting his hands on her body and leaning in for a kiss, then it’s not difficult to imagine what women with hours-long commutes on public transportation are experiencing daily.
“I decided to press charges because this is something that I experienced as a woman, but that we as women experience in our country,” she said.
She said she had similar experiences of harassment when she was 12 years old and using public transportation to get to school. As president, she said, she felt like she had a responsibility to all women.
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada had announced overnight that the man had been arrested.
The incident immediately raised questions about the president’s security, but Sheinbaum dismissed any suggestion that she would increase her security or change how she interacts with people.
She explained that she and her team had decided to walk from the National Palace to the Education Ministry to save time. She said they could walk it in five minutes, rather than taking a 20-minute car ride.
Brugada used some of Sheinbaum’s own language about being elected Mexico’s first woman president to emphasize that harassment of any woman – in this case Mexico’s most powerful – is an assault on all women.
When Sheinbaum was elected, she said that it wasn’t just her coming to power, it was all women. Brugada said that was “not a slogan, it’s a commitment to not look the other way, to not allow misogyny to continue to be veiled in habits, to not accept a single additional humiliation, not another abuse, not a single femicide more.”