NO ROLE FOR ANY THIRD PARTY IN J&K, SAYS INDIA

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: The Indian government on Wednesday pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s latest offer, his seventh, to help resolve the Kashmir issue, with people familiar with development saying there was “no role” for a third party in the matter.

Despite India’s persistent spurning of his offers to mediate or assist in handling the Kashmirissue,theUSpresidentraked up the matter ahead of his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines ofthe World EconomicForum at Davos on Tuesday.

“Our position on the Kashmir issue has been clear and consistent. There is no role for any third party in this matter,” said an Indian government official who asked not to be named.

BEIJING: A new virus that has killed17peopleinChinacouldbe adapting and mutating, top ChineseofficialssaidonWednesday, while warning that it could spread further amid worldwide effortstocontainapossiblewider outbreak.

China has confirmed over 500 casesofthepreviouslyunknown strain of coronavirus across more than 17 provinces, most of them in the country’s heavily populated central, southern and eastern regions.

Thefirstsuspectedcasesofthe infection were reported from HongKongandMacau,bothspecial administration regions (SAR)ofChina,andasfarasMexicoon Wednesday.Over100people are under observation in Hong Kong.

Cases of the virus have also beendetectedinThailand,Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States, causing widespreadalarmbecauseofits similaritytoSARS(SevereAcuteRespiratorySyndrome),whichkilled nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

Countrieshavebeenintensifyingeffortstostopthespreadofthe pathogen—knownbyitstechnicalname2019NovelCoronavirus (2019-nCoV) .

InIndia,atotalof43flightsand 9,156 passengers have been screened till Tuesday at seven airports,includingthoseinDelhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, Union health secretary Preeti Sudansaidin NewDelhi,adding that no cases were detected.

The government has directed these airports to make arrangements for screening passengers arriving from China.

Sudan said the Indian EmbassyinChinawasproviding thehealthministrywithupdates onthestatusoftheinfection. She said passengers travelling from

Chinawererequestedtoreportto thenearest publichealthfacility iftheydevelopsymptomssuchas fever,cough,shortnessofbreath, runny nose, and sore throat.

Britain said it will start enhanced monitoring of passengers who arrive on direct flights from the Chinese city of Wuhan, suspected to be the epicentre of the outbreak. Serbia, too, will screen passengers arriving at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport using a thermal camera and is ready to quarantine anyone suspected of carrying the pathogen.