US envoy Sergio Gor's remark calling Jammu and Kashmir an "important part of India," triggering a diplomatic spat between Islamabad and New Delhi. DW has the latest.
Here's a roundup of the biggest headlines from India on Wednesday, August 20, 2026:
Sergio Gor called Jammu and Kashmir as an 'important part of India'
Pakistan summoned top US envoy in Islamabad and condemned the remark
Indian authorities removed safety barricades outside the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi
Right-wing group assaults tourists over 8-year-old girl's shorts
Government rethinks social media policy with Gen Z in mind
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju dismisses claims of Chinese incursion
India's Supreme Court has constituted a committee to examine allegations of excessive force and violence by police and other agencies against demonstrators during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests, media reports said.
The committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ramayyagari Subhash Reddy, will also include a former High Court judge and a retired director general of police, the court said.
The move follows petitions alleging excessive police action against students during the protests at Jantar Mantar over alleged irregularities in exams.
On July 20, during a march towards Parliament, the police used tear gas and batons to disperse protesters. The Delhi Police said force was used after some protesters allegedly turned violent and pelted stones, reports said.
India and Japan agreed to deepen defense and maritime security cooperation on Thursday as their defense ministers met in New Delhi.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, signed a memorandum on maritime security cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific," according to a joint statement.
"Such cooperation is vital not only to Japan and India, but also to the region and the international community," the statement added.
The ministers also said the two countries should pursue joint development in naval shipbuilding, combining Japan's technological expertise with India's manufacturing capabilities under its "Make in India" initiative.
Japan and India, along with the United States and Australia, are members of the Quad security alliance, which is seen as a counterweight to China's influence in the region.
In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, when the two countries agreed to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday questioned the transparency and spending of the PM CARES Fund.
The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund was launched in March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India. However, the PM CARES Fund is a private fund managed at the discretion of the prime minister and its trustees and does not form part of the Government of India's accounts.
Kharge in a post on X, said that the fund held ₹8,452 crore (~€754 million) at the end of 2024-25 but spent only 0.01% of the amount during the year.
Kharge questioned why the fund, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and overseen by the defense, home and finance ministers as trustees, is not subject to India’s Right to Information (RTI) law, audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), or accountable to Parliament.
The Congress leader also questioned the rationale for the emergency fund accumulating thousands of crores while spending only a fraction of its balance.
In his post, Kharge linked the issue to the alleged Ram Mandir Trust donation theft case and accused the Modi government of overseeing both donation-funded entities.
India's self-styled "Cockroach" protest movement used viral social media posts to challenge Modi's government.
Now activists allege an online crackdown, with protest content disappearing from platforms like Instagram.
Police in Pune in the western state of Maharashtra have registered a case against eight people from a right-wing group accused of assaulting domestic tourists after taking offense at an 8-year-old girl wearing shorts.
The incident occurred at the city's Sinhagad Fort on Sunday, a day after India's Independence Day.
According to media reports, members of the right-wing group Samast Hindu Bandhav Army confronted a family over their 8-year-old daughter wearing shorts. A man, identified by reports as the girl's father, was allegedly assaulted by the group.
The confrontation escalated into physical assaults, with women, children and elderly visitors also allegedly targeted, the reports said.
Maharashtra is governed by the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in a coalition with other regional parties.
The Cockroach Janta Party protests, which put the government on the back foot last month, have continued to reverberate through the corridors of power in New Delhi,.
Now the government has briefed cabinet ministers on their social media engagement, urging them to engage with Gen Z.
During a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, media reports said, union ministers were given an assessment of their social media performance.
The directive was simple:
Step up digital outreach
Engage more with Gen Z
The review covered posts across various social media platforms and assessed metrics including average daily posts, engagement, likes, followers and overall traction, while also comparing the performance of political leaders across parties, the reports said.
The review comes amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pushing for greater engagement with young people following recent Gen Z-led protests.
In the wake of the protests, the government has had to contend with posts from young people mocking the BJP's attempts to appear youthful while keeping the focus on education reform and accountability, exposing the chinks in the BJP's digital strategy designed for an earlier era.
Indian authorities on Thursday removed safety barricades outside the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, a day after Pakistan objected to US ambassador to India's remarks describing Jammu and Kashmir as an "important part of India."
On Wednesday, Sergio Gor made the remarks during his first visit to Kashmir, adding that Washington would reconsider its travel advisory for the region. The US currently places most of Jammu and Kashmir, excluding eastern Ladakh and Leh, under a Level 4 "Do not travel" advisory, citing terrorism and civil unrest.
Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part, creating a decades-long flashpoint between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
On Wednesday, Pakistan summoned Washington's top envoy in Islamabad and "strongly condemned and categorically rejected" remarks by Gor.
"It was underscored that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Pakistan also removed security bollards and parking poles outside the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
In a similar action, Indian authorities early on Thursday dismantled the safety barricades and traffic bollards outside Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, reports said. This included queue barriers near the visa section.
Hello! This is Shakeel from DW's New Delhi studio bringing you the latest updates from across India.
It's a cloudy morning in Delhi today, but perhaps not as cloudy as the strained relations between India and Pakistan after US envoy Sergio Gor's remarks on Kashmir caused a furor.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Narendra Modi government is committed to developing infrastructure in border areas, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, amid allegations of Chinese intrusion.
The fallout from the Cockroach protests continues to reverberate through the power corridors of New Delhi, with the government briefing cabinet ministers on their social media engagement and asking them to engage with Gen Z.
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