Thimphu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today concluded his "extremely successful" first foreign visit since assuming office with a message to Bhutan and other neighbouring countries that a strong and prosperous India was in their interest.

The upshot of the two-day visit by India's leader to tiny kingdom was a decision by the two countries to scale up their ties that cover security interests and cooperation in a wide variety of fields.

Bhutan promised not to allow its territory to be used against India, an assurance that comes against the backdrop of militants from North-East taking shelter there.

The two countries agreed to continue with their close coordination and cooperation on issues relating to their national interests and not allow each other's territory to be used for interests inimical to the other, said a joint statement issued at the end of the visit.

Modi later tweeted that the trip will remain etched in his memory. "This Bhutan trip will remain etched in my memory; It was a very satisfying & productive visit," he said in a tweet on his return to Delhi.

Earlier, addressing the joint session of the Bhutanese National Assembly, Modi said a strong Bhutan would benefit India like a strong and prosperous India would be beneficial for countries of the region, especially the SAARC members.

"India's prosperity is important as then it can help small countries and perform its duty of a good neighbour. But if India is weak and struggling with its own problems, then how can it help others," he said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who accompanied Modi on the visit, described the visit as "extremely successful" and that the Indian side was "extremely satisfied" with it.

Before winding up the visit, Modi gave an assurance that a change of government in Delhi would not affect their ties and past commitments would be fulfilled.

In a series of other tweets after returning home, Modi said "Addressed Bhutan's Parliament. When Bhutan moves ahead, India too feels like taking steps ahead to support Bhutan." He also wrote, "India plans to create an e-library network in Bhutan and we would double scholarships being given to students of Bhutan."

"Was happy to know about the large allocation for education in Bhutan's last budget. It shows commitment to well-being of future generations!," was another of Modi's tweet.

"In a short span of time, Bhutan has developed immense faith in democratic institutions. This is wonderful for Bhutan's development journey," he also noted on Twitter. -PTI 

THIMPU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday laid the foundation stone of the 600MW Kholongchu Hydro-electric project, a joint venture between India and Bhutan.

The project’s foundation stone was laid by Modi electronically from the courtyard of Bhutan’s Parliament building after addressing a joint session.

Three Hydro-electric projects (HEPs) totalling 1416 MW (Chukha, Tala and Kurichu) are already operational.

Three more HEPs [Punatsangchu I (1200 MW), Punatsangchu II (1020 MW) and Mangdechu (720 MW)] are under construction.

They are scheduled to be commissioned in 2017-18.

In April, 2014, the two countries had signed a framework agreement on four more JV-model HEPs totalling 2120MW. Of these, pre-construction activities for the 600MW Kholongchu HEP as a JV-model HEP between Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) will commence soon.

“Our hydropower cooperation with Bhutan is a classic example of win-win cooperation,” an Indian official said, adding that “the hydropower projects generate export revenues for Bhutan, cement our economic partnership and provide clean and low-cost electricity to India.” — PTI

BAGHDAD: Sunni militants captured the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar early on Monday, its Mayor and residents said, the latest blow to the nation’s Shiite-led government a week after it lost a vast swath of territory in the country’s north.

The town, with a population of some 2,00,000 people, mostly ethnic Shiite and Sunni Turkomen, was taken just before dawn, Mayor Abdulal Abdoul told The Associated Press.

The ethnic mix of Tal Afar, 420 km northwest of Baghdad, raises the grim spectre of large-scale atrocities by Sunni militants of the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, who already claim to have killed hundreds of Shiites in areas they captured last week.

A Tal Afar resident reached by phone confirmed the town’s fall and said militants in pickup trucks mounted with machineguns and flying black jihadi banners were roaming the streets as gunfire rang out.

The local security force left the town before dawn, said Hadeer al-Abadi, who spoke to the AP as he prepared to head out of town with his family. Local tribesmen who continued to fight later surrendered to the militants, he said.

“Residents are gripped by fear and most of them have already left the town to areas held by Kurdish security forces,” said al-Abadi.

The fall of Tal Afar comes a week after Sunni militants captured Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, and Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit in a lightening offensive.

Fighting in Tal Afar began on Sunday, with Iraqi government officials saying that ISIL fighters were firing rockets seized from military arms depots they captured in the Mosul area. They said the local garrison suffered heavy casualties and the main hospital was unable to cope with the wounded, without providing exact numbers.

Over the weekend, militants posted graphic photos that appeared to show their gunmen massacring scores of captured Iraqi soldiers. The pictures, on a militant website, appear to show masked ISIL fighters loading the captives onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie face down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. The final images show the bodies of the captives soaked in blood after being shot at several locations. 

Chief military spokesman Lt Gen Qassim al-Moussawi confirmed the photos' authenticity and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by ISIL. He said an examination of the images by military experts showed that about 170 soldiers were shot to death by the militants after their capture.

Captions on the photos showing the soldiers after they were shot say "hundreds have been liquidated," but the total could not immediately be verified.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the ISIL militants' claim of killing the Iraqi troops "is horrifying and a true depiction of the bloodlust that those terrorists represent."

She added that a claim that 1,700 were killed could not be confirmed by the US.

On Friday, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay warned against "murder of all kinds" and other war crimes in Iraq, saying the number killed in recent days may run into the hundreds. She said in a statement that her office had received reports that militants rounded up and killed Iraqi soldiers as well as 17 civilians in a single street in Mosul. Her office also heard of "summary executions and extrajudicial killings" after ISIL militants overran Iraqi cities and towns, she said.

The grisly images could sap the morale of Iraq's security forces, but they could also heighten sectarian tensions. Thousands of Shiites are already heeding a call from their most revered spiritual leader to take up arms against the Sunni militants who have swept across the north in the worst instability in Iraq since the US withdrawal in 2011.

ISIL has vowed to take the battle to Baghdad and cities farther south housing revered Shiite shrines.

Although the government bolstered defenses around Baghdad, a series of explosions inside the capital killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 40, police and hospital officials said.

Security at the US Embassy was strengthened and some staff members sent elsewhere in Iraq and to neighboring Jordan, the State Department said. A military official said about 150 Marines have been sent to Baghdad to help with embassy security.

The State Department issued a travel warning for Iraq Sunday night that cautioned US citizens to avoid "all but essential travel to Iraq." — AP

Ludhiana: The police on Sunday recovered a huge haul of arms and ammunition  allegedly belonging to the terrorist outfit Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) from the bed of Abohar Branch Canal. 

The recovered weapons include three rocket launchers, 15 pistols, six revolvers, seven countries-made pistols and 11 magazines. “Khalistan zindbad” is written on some weapons. This is the second recovery from Abohar Branch Canal in the past 45 days.

Earlier, the police had found 10 rocket launchers, an IED (bomb), an AK-47 and two other rifles, besides carbines, six magazines, and a country-made bomb from the canal on April 28.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP)-III Satvir Atwal said the weapons were found a few meters away from the place where the previous chunk of explosives were found. — TNS

BERLIN: Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is out of a coma and has left the French hospital treating him since a devastating ski accident in December, his spokeswoman said on Monday. He was later transferred to a medical facility in Lausanne, a French-speaking region of Switzerland.

"Schumacher was admitted by CHUV (the University Hospital of Lausanne) this (Monday) morning," hospital spokesman Darcy Christen told AFP by email.

"Michael has left the CHU Grenoble (hospital) to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore," Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said after news of the Formula One star leaving the French hospital broke.

"His family would like to explicitly thank all his treating doctors, nurses and therapists in Grenoble as well as the first aiders at the place of the accident, who did an excellent job in those first months.

"For the future we ask for understanding that his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye," she said, without giving further details about his condition or where the seven-time world champion was sent to.

Schumacher slammed his head on a rock while skiing in the French resort of Meribel in December and was put in a medically induced coma after undergoing brain surgery at the hospital in the Alpine city of Grenoble.

His family said at the end of January that drugs used to keep the 45-year-old in his deep sleep were being reduced to bring him back to consciousness, but little had filtered out about his condition since then.

Schumacher was in an induced coma since being hospitalized and had undergone two operations in Grenoble. He turned 45 this year, is the most successful Formula One driver of all time with 91 race victories.

He left the sport last year after a disappointing three-year comeback with Mercedes following an earlier retirement from Ferrari at the end of 2006. — AFP

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: The Pakistani Taliban on Monday warned foreign firms to leave the country after the launch of a military offensive in a troubled tribal district a day earlier.

"We warn all foreign investors, airlines and multinational corporations that they should immediately suspend their ongoing matters with Pakistan and prepare to leave Pakistan, otherwise they will be responsible for their own loss," said spokesman Shahidullah Shahid in a statement.

Pakistan's army has launched the long-awaited full-scale military operation against foreign and local terrorists in North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The announcement came from the military through a statement on Sunday, hours after Pakistani jets bombed hideouts of militants in the volatile region, claiming to have killed more than 8o militants. PM Nawaz Sharif will address the national Assembly on Monday in a bid to take political parties into confidence on North Waziristan operation.

North Waziristan is the only tribal region where the military has not launched a large military operation against militants, despite insistence from the US. The region until recently was harbouring several militant groups of local and foreign militants, including Chechens, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Tajiks and Uighurs. 

According to sources, many insurgents had recently vacated the main towns of the region and fled towards the rugged mountains on the border with Afghanistan. — AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Lionel Messi scored a sparkling individual goal and created another as Argentina overcame a faltering performance to open their World Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Bosnia on Sunday.

The Barcelona superstar produced a trademark moment of magic on a night that also saw France beat Honduras 3-0, with the help of the first goal decided by goal-line technology. Switzerland came back to beat Ecuador 2-1.

Hordes of Argentina fans helped transform Rio's famous Maracana Stadium into a corner of Buenos Aires as the South American giants eased past their Group F rivals.

Messi, hoping to secure his status as one of footall's greats by shining at this World Cup, had a largely quiet game by his high standards.

But the diminutive striker provided the two decisive moments of the match for Argentina's goals.

Messi's teasing free-kick caused panic in the Bosnian defence after only two minutes and eight seconds, when the ball came off Sead Kolasinac's legs and went into his own net, the fastest own goal in World Cup history.

On 65 minutes Messi electrified the 78,800-capacity stadium with a moment of magic, jinking towards the area and unleashing a low shot which flew past Asmir Begovic in the Bosnian goal.

The only blemish for Argentina was a late goal from Bosnian substitute Vedad Ibisevic, who slid his shot below the advancing Sergio Romero.

"The second goal secured the three points and was special for me for the game I was having," said Messi, who failed to score at the 2010 World Cup.

"Everyone was anxious to do well. The result was the most important."

The win puts Argentina on course for the last 16 with games against Iran and Nigeria to come.

Earlier, the Swiss snatched a dramatic last-gasp 2-1 win over Ecuador in Brasilia.

Haris Seferovic scored in the fourth and final minute of injury time to secure a remarkable win for the Swiss, the group's top seeds.

Fellow Swiss substitute Admer Mehmidi had taken just 121 seconds to make his mark as he levelled in the 48th minute.

Enner Valencia gave Ecuador the lead midway through the first-half as he scored for the fifth successive game for his country.

The victory was Switzerland's first over South American opposition in the World Cup having lost their previous four.

Earlier Sunday, Germany suffered an injury scare after confirming that midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger was airlifted to hospital for treatment to his left foot.

However, German officials said the knock was a pre-existing injury and would not rule him out of Monday's Group G showdown with Portugal. — AFP

Porte Alegre (Brazil): A swashbuckling Karim Benzema led the charge as France overwhelmed Honduras 3-0 in their Group E opener on Sunday, showing a resurgence of flair that should bury the memories of Les Bleus’ debacle in South Africa in 2010.

Benzema bagged a brace himself, while a bizarre own goal by Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares saw goal line technology used for the first time in a World Cup to confirm the ball had crossed the line.

In a bruising encounter, Honduras were reduced to 10-men after Wilson Palacios charged into French midfielder Paul Pogba seconds before the break in a challenge that had him sent-off for a second booking. Benzema smashed home the resulting penalty to give France a lead they deserved having dominated the first 45 minutes.

Three minutes into the second half, Benzema stole past the defence to shoot across goal with his shot coming back off the far post, rolling along the line and going in off Valladares.

Benzema struck again with 18 minutes left when he shot from a narrow angle on the right past Valladares and into the roof of the net, earning a rendition of “La Marsellaise” from the red, white and blue clad French fans.

The result will go a long way towards helping the 1998 champions banish the ghost of their disastrous campaign in South Africa, when the players mutinied against coach Raymond Domenech and returned home in disgrace.

It also signalled that Benzema could be one of stars of the tournament.

Coach Didier Deschamps will take heart that the French looked composed and did not get flustered when the goals were slow to come, although arguably they could have banged in a few more in the second half against the reduced Honduran side.

On top of Benzema’s performance, defender Mathieu Debuchy looked impressive, notably for his forays up the right.

“I think it is a marvellous start for us. It was a very important match indeed. Honduras played with high quality and defended aggressively and that was very complicated for us even though we hit the bar twice,” Deschamps said.

The penalty and sending off changed the situation, he said.

“We scored three goals, we could have scored even more goals but it was a good start for our team.”

The match, played before more than 43,000 fans in an almost full Beira Rio stadium, was the first between the two teams.

Despite accusations that Honduras were a thuggish side, France dished it out too and the first yellow card was handed to left back Patrice Evra after he body-checked young midfielder Andy Najar in the 7th minute.

France dominated almost from the start and might have opened their account earlier.

A shot by midfielder Blaise Matuidi was tipped on to the crossbar by Valladares in the 15th minute and Les Bleus rattled the bar again in the 23rd with a header by Antoine Griezmann from Evra’s cross.

The tackles were going in fast and hard and matters came to a head in the 28th minute when Palacios and Pogba tangled on the ground, the veteran Honduran appearing to stamp the Frenchman and receiving a kick in return. Both were given a yellow card but the incident was to have its denouement later.

Just before the break, Palacios clattered into Pogba in the penalty area. Given his second yellow card, he made an ignominious walk off the field and Benzema drilled in the penalty hard and high.

After that, the game was up for the Hondurans.

Three minutes into the second half, Benzema’s shot cannoned off the post and back across the face of goal before Valladares inadvertently pushed it towards his own net.

Despite his desperate efforts to scramble the ball clear, the referee awarded the goal with the aid of the technology. Initially, it was credited to Benzema then logged as an own goal.

“I don’t know if it is good to have goal line technology because football is like that, sometimes you don’t know whether the ball was in or not but the essential thing is that it counted and we won,” Benzema said.

“I’m happy, I’m proud the most important thing is the victory.”

The win puts France in a good frame of mind for the tougher challenge against Switzerland next Friday.

Honduras will have done nothing to lessen their reputation as perennial underdogs with a nasty bite. They will try to salvage some pride and clock up their first ever World Cup win when they tackle Ecuador.

Honduras coach Luis Fernando Suarez made no excuses for his side.

“They played better than we did. We will have to improve but sometimes it is difficult to play with less players for such a long time especially facing a team that is very well organised.” he said.

“The results would have been different if we had our 11 players but these things happen.” — AP

RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Two days of near non-stop rain have dumped a month's worth of precipitation on the World Cup city of Natal, leading to a flood alert and raising worries that the deluge could affect the US team's debut match against Ghana.

No deaths or injuries have been reported in the rains, which began early Friday and abated only on Sunday, dumping in 50 hours as much rain as is usually seen in the northeastern Brazilian city during the entire month of June.

With more rains forecast for the next five days, some people worried that the weather could affect the US-Ghana match on Monday afternoon.

Natal's City Hall declared a flood alert on Saturday and evacuated dozens of residents as a precaution in the Mae Luiza neighborhood in the city's west.

News reports showed images of residents wading through knee-deep waters as others pushed cars submerged up to the door handles. Additional reports showed a huge crater cutting across a street in a residential neighborhood.

Floods can often be deadly in Brazil, where intense rains, chaotic urban planning and garbage-filled drainage pipes sometimes result in landslides that bury entire neighborhoods.

Poor neighborhoods, often built up steep hillsides, tend to be hit worst by such flooding.

The southern Brazilian regions of Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul have also been hit by recent floods. — AP