Opposition parties have said the lists have been manipulated to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On Wednesday, the Indian Express newspaper said two election commissioners had raised questions or expressed concern at least 14 times in 10 months — mostly in connection with the process of updating voter lists that began last year — with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The report sparked a political furore, with opposition parties launching a fresh attack on the election commission that they have accused of being biased. The panel has denied these claims.

On Thursday, the main opposition Congress Party announced protest marches on all state election offices across India on Friday, demanding Kumar’s arrest, his removal from office and an independent review of all decisions and voter-list changes made under him.

The Election Commission of India has said that differences between election commissioners were normal for any institution and that all its actions were lawful. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours, the Cockroach Janta Party will start a nationwide agitation … we will not back down without Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation,” said Abhijeet Dipke, who founded the self-named movement, at a press conference.

Differences are normal, poll panel says

The Cockroach Janta Party is fresh off its successful youth demonstrations in July, which led to the resignation of Modi’s education minister over exam-paper leaks — one of Modi’s biggest political setbacks since he came to power in 2014.

“Differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution,” the panel said in a statement on Wednesday following the newspaper report. “They are a part of the decision-making process before a final decision is taken.”

Kumar is one of three election commissioners and is the chief as he is the most senior.

Election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi — who the newspaper said had questioned and differed with Kumar — did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Opposition parties have criticised the conduct of the panel in recent years, alleging that names of millions of voters were deleted without warning and that new voters were added without verification to favour the BJP.

The BJP has defended the poll panel and said opposition parties had launched a smear campaign because they were regularly losing elections.

“Neither the Election Commission of India nor any constitutional body in India is under dictatorial rule … they are functioning democratically,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

But Trump’s diplomatic flurry has done little to dispel the view among many analysts of a president beset by problems at home and abroad. Those include a widening Iran war that has driven up US gasoline prices and cratered his approval ratings, while his relations with allies worsen and the AI challenge from China intensifies.

With the limits of his power exposed, Trump has begun facing pushback from world leaders on issues ranging from the crisis in the Middle East to Russia’s war in Ukraine, leaving the impression of a foreign policy agenda that has stalled. This comes as Trump’s Republican Party faces midterm elections in November that could further constrain him politically.

Even so, Trump’s speech to the United Nations on Tuesday was a stark reminder of how, since returning to the White House last year, he has shaken up the rules-based global order that Washington helped to create from the ashes of World War Two.

Standing atop the rostrum of a world body dedicated to peacemaking, he issued a fresh threat to annihilate Iran if it did not agree to a deal, defended his coercive approach to OPEC member Venezuela by asserting to the victor belong the spoils, and signaled he may not be done deploying the US military to achieve his international aims.

Despite that strident stance, Trump’s talks with Xi on Thursday put the US president up against a Chinese counterpart who appeared to be in stronger position, overseeing a surge in his country’s trade with the world while the US grapples with the economic fallout from the Iran conflict.

Limited results from Xi summit

That was the backdrop for a state visit by Xi that was heavy on pomp and ceremony but light on substance, despite a host of thorny issues such as AI, trade, Taiwan and Iran. The most tangible outcome appeared limited to a two-month extension of a trade truce, originally due to expire in November, between the world’s two biggest economies.

While Trump showed little interest in publicly airing any differences between the two powers, Chinese state media reported that behind closed doors Xi urged him to oppose independence for Taiwan. The democratically governed island claimed by China remains the most contentious topic in relations between Washington and Beijing.

Trump’s seemingly non-confrontational attitude was a far cry from his previously hawkish, tariffs-driven approach, which has been tempered by Beijing’s control over rare earth minerals, a key input for technology and auto manufacturing that Beijing has shown the ability to withhold in retaliation.

“Trump sees himself taking us back to a world where might makes right,” said Brett Bruen, who was a foreign policy adviser in the Obama administration and now heads the Global Situation Room strategic consultancy.

“But its noteworthy that he goes all wobbly when it comes to Xi Jinping and ascendant Chinese power.”

Responding to Reuters questions, a White House official rejected the notion that Trump’s foreign policy had hit a wall and said his UN remarks “highlighted his various wins in advancing US interests around the world,” including preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Tehran has always said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Iran war stalemate

Looming over Trump’s packed week of diplomacy was the war with Iran, which he started alongside Israel on February 28.

It has dragged on for nearly seven months, disrupting global energy supplies and spreading to other countries in the region most recently to Yemen and the Red Sea shipping corridor.

Iran’s defiance, despite the economic and military beating it has taken, has become the most intractable foreign policy challenge of Trump’s second term.

Trump used his address at the UN to defend his attack on Iran and to declare that America is back, stronger than ever.

But after a string of early foreign policy achievements, including a Gaza ceasefire and the capture of Venezuela’s leader, Trump’s record in his second term in office is increasingly defined by stalemates.

With the Iran war deeply unpopular and dividing Trump’s political base, he could pay a price in the midterm congressional elections when his Republican Party’s control of Congress is at risk.

World leaders appear to be preparing for a time when the US president’s influence could begin to wane following the midterms, and with less than two-and-a-half years left in office.

Most European and Asian allies have already spurned Trump’s demands for assistance in an Iran conflict he launched without consulting them.

At this year’s UN gathering, some US partners took aim at Trump, though mostly without mentioning him by name.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned against a global “return to the law of the jungle,” saying countries faced a choice between a world governed by power and coercion, and a “civilised international society.”

In a rebuke to Trump, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decried foreign interference in his country’s October election and insisted that “we do not need aircraft carriers patrolling our waters, we need cooperation to stem the flow of weapons and money that fuel crime”.

The White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Trump was “not concerned with posturing but about results” and that some leaders’ public comments did not match what they told the president in private.

Resisting Trump

In another sign of diminished clout, Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine and Russia to agree to even a limited energy ceasefire failed to gain much traction.

And while Trump touted a deal with Denmark and Greenland for an expanded US military presence in the vast Arctic island, it fell short of his initial demand to own the territory and his threat, if necessary, to take it by force from a fellow Nato member.

A year ago, few countries dared cross Trump, Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, wrote on X. Now Canada, Europe, China, Iran, Russia and others are all more willing to say no.

At one point, Trump himself seemed to wonder how much international sway he actually possessed.

In his speech, he told world leaders he wanted to rebrand AI as super intelligence.

“Let’s see if I have any power,” he said. “Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. We’re going to find out pretty soon.”

Header image: US President Donald Trump addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US on September 22, 2026. —Reuters

Speaking at a meeting with delegations from the US-Pakistan Business Council and US Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister said Pakistan had undertaken “massive structural reforms”, including the digitisation of the economy, the Federal Board of Revenue and e-governance.

“Our economy is now stable. We have moved towards growth,” he said, adding that the Gulf crisis had affected Pakistan at an unfavourable time.

“We are trying to stand on our feet. We are doing our best to facilitate peace efforts,” he said.

The premier said Pakistan had been “largely very successful” in June, but the situation had subsequently deteriorated. He expressed hope that, with the support of friendly and brotherly countries, the situation could be brought under control and long-term peace achieved in the region.

He said regional peace was important for discussions on business and investment.

The prime minister identified agriculture, mining, information technology and artificial intelligence-led initiatives, energy security, and investment, imports and shipments as key areas of potential cooperation.

On agriculture, he said Pakistan could benefit from modern machinery and technology, including combine harvesters and other equipment, to improve efficiency, increase production and reduce costs.

“Pakistan has the biggest potential” in agriculture, he said.

The prime minister also highlighted the country’s mineral resources, saying Pakistan had been “blessed” with enormous potential in the mining sector.

He said IT and AI-led initiatives also offered significant potential, particularly given Pakistan’s young population. The government was seeking to empower young people through vocational and skills training, he added.

“This is a great asset for Pakistan,” he said, adding that the workforce could be utilised through productive employment and increased production.

The prime minister also pointed to lessons from the ongoing regional crisis, saying Pakistan offered security and safety for energy reserves, including petrol, oil and gas.

He also highlighted investment, imports and shipments as areas for discussion with the business delegation.

PM Shehbaz said privatisation was another important area of interest for investors.

Shehbaz further said Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was being privatised and expressed confidence that its new Pakistani owners would turn the airline around.

The government had also privatised a bank, while power distribution companies in various provinces were being processed for privatisation, he said.

“Many other areas of mutual interest are being offered to the private sector,” the prime minister said.

“The government’s business is to facilitate, act as a catalyst to support the private sector, not become the private sector,” he added.

PM Shehbaz, UN chief discuss Middle East peace

Prime Minister Shehbaz also met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, with the two discussing major regional and international developments, including the situation in the Middle East, the government said in a post on X.

According to the post, the prime minister stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in resolving regional tensions and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to promoting peace and stability in the region.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s “steadfast commitment to multilateralism and the central role of the UN in promoting international peace and development”.

The two leaders also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and the “drastic increase” in terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.

The prime minister reiterated Pakistan’s strong attachment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and appreciated Guterres’s leadership in upholding them.

He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and statehood.

The prime minister raised concerns over the “rising trend of Islamophobia”, particularly in Pakistan’s immediate neighbourhood, and called for effective international action to curb it.

Guterres, meanwhile, commended Pakistan’s role and strong voice at the UN, as well as its contribution to international peace and security.

He appreciated Pakistan’s mediation efforts for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and durable peace and stability in the region.

The UN secretary general also appreciated Pakistan’s role and sacrifices in countering terrorism.

In a separate post on X, the UN said Guterres had “expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s important role as an elected member of the Security Council” and its support for the UN.

Dar meets Bahrain, Singapore foreign ministers

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

“The two sides discussed bilateral relations, including preparations for the forthcoming third session of the Joint Ministerial Commission”, the FO said in a post on X.

They also exchanged views on regional and international developments.

Al Zayani appreciated Pakistan’s constructive role in promoting regional peace and stability, it added.

The two foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening bilateral cooperation and maintaining close coordination at bilateral and multilateral forums.

Dar also met his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan on the sidelines of the UNGA, FO said in a separate post.

“The two sides reviewed bilateral relations and exchanged views on further strengthening cooperation in diverse areas of mutual interest”, the FO said.

They agreed that “sustained engagement and high-level exchanges” would help deepen bilateral ties and advance mutually beneficial cooperation, it added.

The two foreign ministers also discussed regional and international developments of mutual interest.

Balakrishnan appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to promote dialogue and diplomacy in addressing regional challenges, the statement added.

Hundreds of students marched through the streets of New Delhi on Wednesday, shouting slogans and holding placards demanding stronger safety measures following the latest high-profile case.

In that incident on Monday, three men posing as police officers allegedly gang-raped a 17-year-old girl in a public park in the heart of the capital city, according to authorities.

The case evokes the 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old physical therapy student on a bus, which triggered nationwide protests and led to more robust laws against sexual violence.

But campaigners say those changes, which included a broadening of the definition of sexual offences and the introduction of stronger punishments for rape, have proven inadequate.

“Nobody is working on the actual solution, which is the mindset change,” women’s rights activist Yogita Bhayana told AFP.

“The mentality (is still) that it is a woman’s fault to be out of home late, or men policing women if they are seen with another man,” she said.

“It is outrageous that society still thinks this way.”

India recorded an average of 80 rape cases per day in 2024, according to the latest available official data. That compares with around 68 per day in 2012, the last year before the stronger laws came in.

Activists say the true number of sexual assaults is likely far higher because many victims never file a report, often fearing stigma in a deeply patriarchal society.

Lack of enforcement

The alleged assault on Monday followed the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl whose body was found by police in a decomposed state, and the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl by a bus driver and a conductor who offered her a lift during heavy rain.

Both cases occurred in recent weeks in Delhi — often called India’s “rape capital” — but other regions are not immune, with a video that surfaced this month showing a teenage girl being sexually assaulted in the eastern state of Bihar.

Each case has brought arrests, political condemnation and a public outcry.

After the watershed 2012 case — the woman is known nationally as “Nirbhaya” or “Fearless”, as Indian law does not allow the press to publish a rape victim’s name — the government expanded the criminal definitions of penetration and consent.

Gang rape became punishable by at least 20 years in prison, and the death sentence was introduced for repeat rape offenders.

Lawyers and activists say the challenge lies in enforcement.

Overstretched police forces and courts lack the means to investigate cases thoroughly enough, hindering the reforms’ impacts, criminal lawyer Shilpi Jain, who has represented survivors of sexual violence, told AFP.

“The problem is not in the law but with the people who are implementing it,” she said.

“Overworked judges. Overworked cops. One police station handles 200,000 to 300,000 people. How will it work? This is a vicious cycle.”

India’s conviction rate for rape has remained largely stable since 2012, hovering at around a quarter of all cases that make it to trial.

But the criminal justice system struggles with a vast case backlog.

Less than 10 per cent of the more than 200,000 rape cases before the courts in 2024 were actually completed, according to official data.

“An average rape case takes seven to eight years. If the case goes to the Supreme Court, then 20 years, so criminals lose fear of law and victims lose hope,” Jain said.

For gender rights activist Poonam Muttreja, legal reforms alone cannot solve a problem rooted in social attitudes and inequality.

Deep-seated cultural taboos and political resistance have hampered the effectiveness of government programmes to raise awareness of sexual violence, experts say.

“Prevention must begin much before a crime is committed: in homes, schools, communities, digital spaces and police systems,” Muttreja said.

“We thought we got permission to swim from the coast of France. Turned out that is not the case,” Karl Bushby, a former paratrooper, told AFP as he walked towards Cap Blanc-Nez in northern France, within sight of the white cliffs of the English coast.

“There was some internal confusion. So, right now we’re scrambling in kind of semi-panicked state.”

The 57-year-old had originally hoped to use a service corridor in the Channel Tunnel on foot, but he said the authorities seemed “set against” this idea.

So he resigned himself to swimming from Calais, even though he “hates” it.

“I say I swim like a cat dropped in a bathtub. It’s not funny. It’s bad.

“But you just do what you’ve got to do,” he said.

At an earlier stage of the journey he took 30 days to cross the Caspian Sea with a mixture of swimming and floating, resting — but not advancing — on a boat.

He hopes to get permission to swim across the Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, before October 1, after which the winter weather would make the crossing too risky.

When he set off in November 1998, Bushby set himself two rules: not to use any form of transport to advance, and not to return home — near Hull in northern England — except on foot.

As he travels he pushes a cart containing all his belongings, nicknamed “the Beast”.

Over three decades, he has paused his journey several times.

Moscow refused him a visa for a long time, unhappy that he had crossed the Bering Strait separating Alaska from far eastern Russia on foot — something he says no one had ever done before.

Between them, visa woes, the 2008 financial crisis, and then the Covid-19 pandemic have accounted for about 14 of his 28 years on the road, he estimates.

At those times, he stepped away from the journey, living notably in Mexico, then once the situation cleared, he would resume his journey at the exact spot where he had left off.

As he nears England, Bushby looks back nostalgically on the very start of the adventure, on his trek up through the Andes and the difficult crossing of the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama.

“Then slowly but surely it becomes a job. You get older, it gets harder,” he said.

Bushby is the subject of a documentary currently in preparation, and once the journey is complete he plans to devote himself to the film and to giving talks.

“I’ve got to try and get established in the grown up world again, because I’m going to arrive home with nothing,” he said.

But first there is the Channel to cross, and despite the challenge, Bushby is optimistic.

“I think we can work it out. If not, I’m living in France for the rest of my life!” he said.

Thursday’s lavish state summit at the White House appeared heavy on symbolism but light on substance, with no sign of major breakthroughs between the world’s biggest economies.

Still, Trump highlighted progress under a bilateral trade mechanism, citing what he described as increased market access for US farmers and ranchers, while both leaders identified artificial intelligence as an area for cooperation.

Trump said in remarks welcoming Xi they would see some of the greatest treasures of US history at the National Archives, including the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

They would also see “artifacts testifying to the long and cherished relationship” between China and the United States and their “cultural exchanges”, he said.

“Just as our ancestors reached across the ocean centuries ago to trade, to learn, and to build a better world, our two countries do really the same thing, and we’re very proud of it and the relationship,” Trump said.

China has not commented on the visit to the archives, but analysts say Xi may be keen to see records relating to the US switch of recognition to communist China from Taiwan in 1979.

China presses on Taiwan

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and Xi has long sought to persuade Trump to state publicly that the United States opposes Taiwan’s independence, rather than saying only that it does not support independence, which has been Washington’s formulation for decades.

He is also keen to get the US to halt arms sales to the island.

As expected, Xi pressed Trump on Taiwan on Thursday, saying he hoped the United States would “handle the Taiwan question with prudence.” China’s state news agency also reported that Xi “hopes the US side will adhere to the correct position of opposing ‘Taiwan independence’.”

While the United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, Washington is its most important international backer and is bound by US law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

America’s Asian allies will watch closely to see how Trump talks about Taiwan following Xi’s visit.

After his May summit with Xi, Trump, whose administration in December approved an $11 billion arms sale package to Taiwan, said he was holding a second package, worth some $14 billion, in abeyance and described it as a “very good negotiating chip.” Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies think tank said Beijing may believe it has established a new baseline on Taiwan with Trump.

He said Xi’s use of the word “adhere” was revealing because “it implies Beijing believes Washington is already behaving in ways it wants.”

“In the context of the current standdown on Taiwan arms sales, China may increasingly view that restraint as a new baseline rather than a temporary pause,” he said.

“Beijing’s objective is to get Trump to absorb Chinese red lines into his own definition of a stable relationship.”

On Thursday, Senate Democrats criticised the summit, saying Trump had failed to secure meaningful concessions from Beijing on trade, security, artificial intelligence or human rights.

They also criticised Trump for failing to publicly address China’s military pressure on Taiwan and called for the immediate delivery of approved military aid and arms sales to the island.

Aleema was detained by authorities on Sept 20, after the office of Lahore’s deputy commissioner (DC) ordered her detention or arrest for 30 days. The DC’s order cited a letter by the Lahore capital city police officer, which referred to police reports that Aleema and Ameer “are prejudicial to the public safety and maintenance of public order”.

Justice Abher Gul Khan has been holding hearings on the petition. In the previous hearing, Justice Abher had sought arguments on the plea’s maintainability.

As the hearing resumed on Friday, a Punjab government law officer asked the court to dispose of the petition, arguing that the home secretary had already fixed a hearing to review the detention order issued by the Lahore DC on Sept 28.

The judge, however, issued a notice to the home secretary for submission of a reply to the petition.

Barrister Taimur Malik submitted that his client, Aleema, was facing difficulties in receiving her medicines and other essentials in jail. The judge directed the counsel to file a separate application on this issue.

Aleema’s detention took place amid reports of a crackdown on the PTI ahead of its September 27 countrywide protest and march to Islamabad, which the party has called to demand Imran’s release from jail and mobilise people for the supremacy of the Constitution.

Shahraiz Khan, Aleema’s son, filed a petition through Advocate Rana Mudassar Umar, challenging the detention orders issued by the Lahore DC against his mother and two aunts.

Following Aleema’s detention, her two sisters, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, were also detained under MPO. A day earlier, the LHC turned down a request to immediately suspend the preventive detention notifications issued against Noreen and Dr Uzma.

The petition contends that the DC unlawfully issued the detention orders and failed to follow the procedure prescribed under Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance.

It further argues that the orders contain no specific allegations and demonstrate no application of mind.

The petition also says that ordinary criminal law and less restrictive measures were not considered and contends that the grounds for detention were not communicated within the required period, alleging that the detention orders were issued after the arrests.

It asks the court to set aside the detention orders issued by the Lahore DC and declare them unlawful.