• Officials say suspect Amir Rashid Ali arrested in Delhi.
• NIA seizes vehicle belonging to alleged suicide bomber.
• Ali accused of conspiring with car driver Umar Un Nabi.
  

India’s federal anti-terror agency on Sunday said it had arrested a resident of Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir (IIOJK) who it accused of conspiring with the driver of a car that exploded in Delhi last week, killing 12 people and wounding at least 20 others.

The National Investigation Agency said it had arrested Amir Rashid Ali in Delhi, adding the car used in the attack was registered in his name. 

The NIA accused Ali of conspiring with the alleged suicide bomber, who it identified as Umar Un Nabi, a resident of IIOJK’s Pulwama district.

It said Ali came to Delhi to facilitate the purchase of the car, which was used as a “vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device to trigger the blast.”

The agency said it had seized another vehicle belonging to Nabi for examination. So far, it has interrogated 73 witnesses, including those injured in the blast.

Last week, the Indian government said it was treating the car blast as a “terror incident” and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice as swiftly as possible.

The blast outside Delhi’s historic Red Fort was the first such explosion in the heavily guarded city since 2011.

It was also the most significant security incident since April 22, when 26 civilians were killed at the tourist site of Pahalgam in IIOJK.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Delhi blast a “conspiracy”, and vowed that those responsible would face justice.

India’s Home Minister, Amit Shah, said he had instructed officials “to hunt down each and every culprit behind this incident”.

The blast occurred four days after an explosion rocked IIOJK’s Srinagar, killing at least nine people and injuring over two dozen.

Indian officials said that the blast took place when a stockpile of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station, resulting in most fatalities among policemen and forensic team members inspecting the explosives.

Britain said it would make refugee status temporary and the wait for permanent settlement would be quadrupled to 20 years under the country’s most sweeping overhaul of policy on asylum seekers in modern times.

The Labour government has been hardening its immigration policies, above all on illegal small-boat crossings from France, in efforts to stem the soaring popularity of the populist Reform UK party, which has driven the immigration agenda.

The government said it would take inspiration from Denmark’s approach, one of the toughest in Europe — where growing anti-immigrant sentiment has led to increased restrictions in many countries — and widely criticised by rights groups.

Temporary status subject to review

As part of the changes, the statutory duty to provide support to certain asylum seekers, including housing and weekly allowances, will be revoked, the Home Office (interior ministry) said in a statement issued late on Saturday.

The department, led by Shabana Mahmood, said the measures would apply to asylum seekers who can work but choose not to, and to those who break the law. It said that taxpayer-funded support would be prioritised for those contributing to the economy and local communities.

The Home Office also said that protection for refugees would “now be temporary, regularly reviewed and revoked” if the home country was deemed safe.

“Our system is particularly generous compared to other countries in Europe, where, after five years, you’re effectively automatically settled in this country. We will change that,” Mahmood told Sky News on Sunday.

She added that under the changes, a refugee’s status would be reviewed every two-and-a-half years, during “a much longer path to permanent settlement in this country of 20 years”.

Mahmood said she would provide further details of the changes on Monday, including an announcement on Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

The government has said it wants to stay in the ECHR but change how the Article 8 provision, covering the right to a family life, is interpreted.

Mahmood said it was being “applied in a way that is designed to frustrate the removal of those that, under our immigration rules, would not have the right to be in this country.”

The government’s tougher approach has drawn criticism. More than 100 British charities wrote to Mahmood, urging her to “end the scapegoating of migrants and performative policies that only cause harm”, saying such steps are fuelling racism and violence.

Polls suggest immigration has overtaken the economy as British voters’ top concern. Over the summer, protests took place outside hotels housing asylum seekers at public expense.

A total of 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025, a 17% rise on the previous year and 6% above the 2002 peak of 103,081.

Mahmood said the government would look to open more “safe and legal” routes for asylum seekers, as she believed Britain should play its part in helping those fleeing danger.

UK inspired by Denmark, other European countries

The Home Office said its reforms would look to “match and in some areas exceed” the standards of Denmark and other European countries, where refugee status is temporary, support is conditional, and integration in society is expected.

Asylum seekers are granted temporary residence permits under Denmark’s approach, usually for two years, and they must reapply when these expire. They can be repatriated if their home country is deemed safe, and the path to citizenship has also been lengthened.

The Home Office said Denmark’s more restrictive immigration policies had reduced asylum claims to a 40-year low and resulted in the deportation of 95% of rejected applicants.

Denmark’s reforms, implemented while it remains a signatory to the ECHR, have drawn sharp criticism. Rights groups say the measures foster a hostile climate for migrants, undermine protection and leave asylum seekers in prolonged limbo.

Britain’s Refugee Council said on X that refugees do not compare asylum systems while fleeing danger, and that they come to the UK because of family ties, some knowledge of English, or existing connections that help them start anew safely.

• India’s defence chief slams local firms for delays.
• Chauhan slams defence equipment as “70% indigenous”.
• “Such misrepresentation compromised national security.”

India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan has castigated the country’s defence industry, exposing deep fissures in New Delhi’s self-proclaimed drive for military self-reliance and raising fresh questions about the reliability of equipment.

Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi, the CDS slammed several manufacturers for misleading the military by falsely branding imported equipment as “70% indigenous”.

“We expect a bit of nationalism and patriotism in your profit-driven endeavours. I am given to understand… actually, the Army was telling me that they were scouting for 5th and 6th EP procurements, most of the people have over-promised things and they have failed to deliver in that time frame,” the CDS said.

According to Indian publication The Print, EP refers to emergency procurements under which the services have been given powers to sign contracts up to INR3 billion each to beef up their capabilities without going through the procurement processes of the defence ministry.

He also criticised Indian firms for repeatedly failing to deliver defence equipment ordered under emergency procurement powers, despite government claims of unprecedented military capacity.

Chauhan said companies had “over-promised” and routinely missed deadlines, leaving the armed forces short of critical capabilities.

The CDS warned that such misrepresentation compromised national security, noting that contracts were being awarded to firms with no real manufacturing capability, which simply repackaged imported material.

“Industry will have to be truthful about their capabilities to us. You cannot leave us in a lurch. You sign a contract, don’t deliver in that particular time, it is a capability that is being lost. You have to be truthful about your indigenous capability. There could be security-related issues,” he added.

Chauhan further rebuked defence suppliers for inflated pricing and lack of competitiveness, saying Indian firms were “overpriced” even for international markets.

He stressed that the armed forces could not be left “in a lurch” when companies failed to meet contractual obligations.

His remarks sharply contrast with Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” defence production.

Following the four-day armed conflict with Pakistan, CDS Chauhan acknowledged that the country lost several fighter jets during its recent military clash with Pakistan.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the CDS acknowledged for the first time that Indian fighter jets were indeed downed during recent hostilities with Pakistan. Without specifying the number of losses, Chauhan said that mistakes had been quickly identified and rectified.

“What is important is not the jets being down, but why they were being downed. The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and fly all our jets again, targeting at long range”, he said.

In May, Pakistan and Indian engaged in a military showdown, the worst between the old foes in decades, which was sparked by a terrorist attack on tourists in IIOJK’s Pahalgam area, which New Delhi said was backed by Pakistan.

Islamabad denied involvement in the Kashmir attack, which killed 26 men and was the worst assault on civilians in India since the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

After the incident, India killed several innocent civilians in unprovoked attacks on Pakistan for three days before the Pakistan Armed Forces retaliated in defence with the successful Operation Bunyanum Marsoos.

Pakistan downed seven IAF fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.