Modi-Meloni condemn terrorism; Rajnath warns against nuclear blackmail; Iran slams US

Here are some of the major developments from across the world on WednesdayIndia Italy condemn terrorism agree to deepen defence cooperationIndia and Italy on Wednesday strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms including crossborder terrorism and called upon all nations to work towards eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure During their meeting in Rome Prime Minister PM Narendra Modi and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni welcomed the first meeting of the Permanent Task Force on countering the financing of terrorism and the upcoming meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter TerrorismldquoThe two leaders strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations including cross border terrorism The two leaders strongly condemned the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack and reiterated their commitment to cooperate in the fight against terrorists and terrorist groups and their affiliates including those listed in the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions regimerdquo the IndiaItaly Joint Declaration statedBoth leaders called on all countries to work towards disrupting terrorist networks and combating terror financing in line with Financial Action Task Force FATF guidelines They also agreed to enhance cooperation at the United Nations UN FATF and other multilateral forumsOn the defence front the two PMs expressed satisfaction over the deepening of defence cooperation including through ministerial exchanges servicetoservice interactions and port visitsThey welcomed the adoption of a Joint Declaration of Intent and a Defence Industrial Roadmap to promote technological cooperation coproduction and codevelopment in areas such as helicopters naval platforms marine armament and electronic warfareThe leaders also agreed to explore the possibility of an annual highlevel military dialogue and decided to launch a dialogue on maritime security They welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding MoU between Italyrsquos Guardia di Finanza and Indiarsquos Directorate of EnforcementIndia will not tolerate any form of nuclear blackmail Rajnath SinghSeoul Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that India will not tolerate any form of nuclear blackmail while asserting that the country remains committed to its lsquoNo First Use policyrsquoSpeaking at an event organised by the Indian diaspora in Seoul Singh said ldquoOperation Sindoor was proof that India will not tolerate terrorism in any form As a responsible nuclear power we firmly adhere to a policy of No First Use However there are times when people mistake our restraint and commitment to peace for weakness While India remains committed to its No First Use policy it will not tolerate any form of nuclear blackmail This is new IndiardquoSingh who is on a threeday visit to South Korea held wideranging talks with his South Korean counterpart Ahn Gyuback The two sides signed key agreements to enhance cooperation in defence cyberspace and military training Two agreements were also signed between Indiarsquos LampT and South Korearsquos Hanwha Co Ltd to boost defence manufacturing collaborationThe Defence Ministry said the agreements signalled a promising future for IndiaSouth Korea defence innovation and technology partnershipIran accuses US of trying to restart Middle East WarIranrsquos chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday accused the United States US of trying to restart the Middle East war days after President Donald Trump threatened fresh military action against TehranldquoThe enemyrsquos movements both overt and clandestine show that despite economic and political pressure it has not abandoned its military objectives and is seeking to start a new warrdquo Ghalibaf said in an audio messageHis remarks came after President Trump warned that he would attack Iran again unless Tehran agreed to a peace dealIranian officials have warned of a ldquoforceful responserdquo in case of any renewed conflictA ceasefire reached on April 8 had brought a temporary halt to the USIsraeli conflict with Iran However despite ongoing diplomatic efforts mediated by Pakistan tensions remain high with both sides issuing warningsEbola risk high regionally but low globally WHOThe World Health Organization on Wednesday said that the risk of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains high at the national and regional levels but low at the global levelWHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while investigations into the origins of the outbreak were still ongoing the epidemic in eastern DRC had likely begun a couple of months agoldquoSo far 51 cases have been confirmed in the DRChellip although we know the scale of the epidemic in DRC is much largerrdquo Tedros said He added that Uganda had reported two confirmed cases in Kampala including one death while a US national working in the DRC had tested positive and was shifted to GermanyThe WHO emergency committee noted that the current situation did not meet the threshold of a pandemic emergencyXi Putin strengthen ties days after Trumprsquos Beijing visitChinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Beijing on Wednesday days after US President Donald Trumprsquos visit to China and sought to highlight the strength of their bilateral relationsThe two leaders signed several agreements on trade energy and media and extended their treaty of ldquofriendly cooperationrdquo While neither leader directly referred to the United States Xi warned against ldquounilateral and hegemonic countercurrents running rampantrdquo in the international system Putin described the ties between the two countries as being at an ldquounprecedentedly high levelrdquoOn the Middle East Xi called for an early end to the ongoing conflict to secure energy supplies On Ukraine both sides agreed on the need to address the ldquoroot causesrdquo of the conflict through dialogue and negotiationsHowever there was no breakthrough on the proposed ldquoPower of Siberia 2rdquo natural gas pipeline Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that while a ldquobasic understandingrdquo had been reached on the route and construction some details were still being worked outWith AFP IANS PTI and ANI inputs