DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR,PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `6.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CBC 15502/13/0018/2526 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2025, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES Manipur: Two Assam Rifles personnel killed, five injured as convoy ambushed on highway Incident in Bishnupur district comes less than a week after PM visited state EFFORTS FOR EARLY CONCLUSION BEING INTENSIFIED: MEA Trade deal talks back on track, Goyal-led team in US next week Jaishankar and Rubio also likely to meet in New York on UNGA sidelines RAVI DUTTA MISHRA & SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 19 A TEAM of officials led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to visit Washington next week to resume negotiations for a trade deal, two officials aware of the development told The Indian Express Friday. ThiscomesaftertheUSteam, led by Assistant US Trade Representative (USTR) for South andCentralAsia,BrendanLynch, visited New Delhi earlier this week to meet his Indian counterpart. Official sources said the talks will also be carried on at the po- Goyal will be in Washington, Jaishankar in New York litical level by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio whentheymeetonthesidelines of the UNGA next week. Jaishankar’s travel plans to the US are being worked out and an official announcement is awaited. On Friday, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson fortheMinistryof External Affairs, said, “A team from United States Trade Representative, led by Assistant USTR Brendan Lynch, had meetings at the Ministry of Commerce on September 16 to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Security personnel at the site of the attack in Nambol Sabal Leikai area of Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Friday. ANI EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE IMPHAL, GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 19 TWO ASSAM Rifles personnel were killed and another five were injured in an ambush by “unidentified terrorists” in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Friday evening. In a statement , a Defence spokesperson said the attack tookplacearound5.50pm,when TRUMP-XI PROGRESS ON TIKTOK DEAL, PLAN TO MEET IN SOUTH KOREA PAGE 21 CAG REPORT ON 2013-14 TO 2022-23 Fiscal health of states under strain as public debt trebles in 10 years HIGH DEBT-TO-GSDP RATIO: TOP 5 STATES Debt as % of GSDP Public debt* GSDP 2022-23 Punjab 40.35% `2,76,459 cr `6,85,147 cr Nagaland 37.15% `13,242 cr West Bengal 33.70% `5,10,763 cr `1,515,564 cr `35,642 cr Himachal Pradesh 33.06% `63,363 cr Bihar 32.58% `2,42,846 cr `7,45,440 cr *as on March 31, 2023 Source: CAG report on State Finances 2022-23 HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 19 THE PUBLIC debt of all 28 states combined trebled in 10 years — from Rs 17.57 lakh crore in 201314toRs59.60lakhcrorein202223 — according to a first-of-itskind report by the Comptroller BY UNNY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD State BUSINESS AS USUAL a column of the 33 Assam Rifles was moving along National Highway 2 in the Nambol Sabal Leikai area. “In the ensuing action, two personnel of Assam Rifles were martyred and five were injured, who have since been evacuated to RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal) and are currentlystable,”thestatementsaid. Assam Rifles identified the personnel killed in the attack as `1,91,659 cr and Auditor General of India (CAG) that provides a decadal analysisonfiscalhealthof states. The report was released Friday by CAG K Sanjay Murthy during the State Finance Secretaries Conference. According to the report, the total public debt (internal debt CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BEFORE UNSC SANCTIONS COMMITTEE US, UK, France put on hold Pak bid to designate Baloch group as terrorists Need more information on links to Al Qaeda, ISIL, say permanent members SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 19 The US, France and the UK have teamed up to put a “technical hold” on Pakistan’s bid to list the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, Majeed Brigade,asterroristgroupsatthe UNSecurityCouncil’s1267sanctions committee. Pakistan, a non-permanent memberattheUNSC,hadChina, Officials and others carry a woman during a rescue operation following landslides and floods triggered by heavy rainfall in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Friday. PTI Mothers of 2 Harni boat tragedy victims ‘whisked away’ from VMC viewing gallery CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pak Defence Minister’s bombshell: If need be, our n-programme can be given to the Saudis SHUBHAJIT ROY TO THE RESCUE IN UTTARAKHAND a permanent member, backing theproposal,butthreeotherpermanentmembersof theSecurity Council said the BLA does not have links with Al Qaeda or ISIL. On September 17, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, had told a meeting of the UN Security Council: “Pakistan and China have jointly submitted to the 1267 Sanctions Committee a GOVT & POLITICS NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 19 CANADA MINISTER, NSA, WHO FUELLED INDIA ROW, HOLD TALKS IN DELHI BJP SLAMS PITRODA OVER PAK REMARK P12 IN REMARKS that are making world capitals sit up, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif has said his country’s nuclear programme “willbemadeavailable”toSaudi Arabia, if needed, under their new defence pact. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Defencepact anumbrella arrangement, saysAsif Mohammed bin Salman signed the pact Wednesday with PakistanPrimeMinisterShehbaz Sharif inthepresenceof Pakistan CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 It comes months after they were dragged away from a VMC event for “interrupting” CM’s address ADITI RAJA VADODARA, SEPTEMBER 19 Sarla Shinde (left) and Sandhya Nizama had passes. FOUR MONTHS after Sarla Shinde and Sandhya Nizama, mothers of schoolchildren Roshni Shinde and Vishwa Nizama who died in the 2024 Harni boat tragedy, were dragged away from an event of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation(VMC)forinterrupting Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s address in May, both Shinde and Nizama were allegedly removed from the viewing gallery of the VMC’s general board meeting and then whisked away by the police on Thursday evening. Both Shinde and Nizama had arrived at the VMC’s viewing gallerywiththepassesissuedby the VMC. Both the women were takentotheNavapurapolicestation. At the police station, Congress leaders and other victims of the Harni Boat tragedy arrived in support of the two women. The police released the duo later after recording their statements, senior police officials said. Theincidenthassparkedout- rage and also resulted in corporator Ashish Joshi — suspended by the BJP after the May incident — filing a police complaint seekingprobeintotheallegedcorruptionintheHarniLakeredevelopment project, which was undertakenunderpublicprivate partnership in 2017. An official of the VMC said, “The passes were issued based on the forms signed by two BJP corporators – Poonam Shah and Parul Patel. The two women also CONTINUEDONPAGE2 After win in custodial torture case, Kerala Youth Congress leader seals it with a wedding ring PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHAJU PHILIP THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPTEMBER 19 HAPPINESS SHONE on the faces of V S Sujith, 29, and Thrishna, 22, as they tied the knot at Guruvayur temple in Kerala’s Thrissur district on September 15. Days earlier, Sujith, a Youth Congress leader, had another reasontorejoice—his30-month fightagainsthiscustodialtorture had finally led to the suspension of four police personnel. Throughout this fight, Thrishna, who plans to pursue her Master’s degree in psychology, stood by him. The couple had met five years ago at a temple where Sujith, president of the Youth Congress in Chovvannur mandalam of Thrissur’s Kunnamkulam town, worked as a priest. Congress leaders, including MP Shafi Parambil, former MPs V S Sujith and Thrishna at their wedding. Facebook T N Prathapan and V M Sudheeran,andformerMLAAnil Akkara, among others, attended the wedding. A week earlier, Sujith had got a gold ring as his wedding gift from AICC generalsecretary K C Venugopal and a gold chain from Joseph Tajet, the Congress’sThrissurdistrictcommittee chief. Sujith’slong-drawn-outlegal battle over two years — during which he used the Right to Information(RTI)Acttoforcethe police to hand over the CCTV CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad