The Editorial Page: Islamabad channel — India must stand for peace, whoever the broker may be 8 THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAgE LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A TRUMP THREATENS 50% TARIFF ON COUNTRIES WHICH SUPPLY ARMS TO IRAN World exhales, holds breath Israel’s Lebanon strikes test 14-day pause, Vance to join talks in Pakistan Steve Holland, Parisa Hafezi, Alexander Cornwell & Maya Gebeily Washington, Dubai, Tel Aviv, Beirut, April 8 RELIEF OVER a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran gave way on Wednesday to alarm that fighting was still raging across the region, as Israel launched its biggestattacksyetonLebanon, and Iran struck Gulf neighbours' oil facilities. Meanwhile, the White House said President Donald Trump is dispatching his Iran negotiating team, led by Vice President J D Vance, to Pakistan for talks, adding that the first round of negotiations would take place on Saturday. WithseveralofIran’sveteran politicalleaderskilledinthewar, Iran’s delegation is expected to EXPLAINED IRAN’S HORMUZ LEVER TO PAKISTAN’S RISING PROFILE: THE 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS New Delhi, April 8 AFTER39daysofawarthathas killed more than 3,000 people including eight Indians, India onWednesday“welcomed”the ceasefire and expressed hope that it would lead to a “lasting peace”, hours after US and Iran reached a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan. Delhi’s response was measured, mindful of the chal- happening today lCHINA'S FOREIGN MINISTER Wang Yi will visit North Korea, signalling efforts by the neighbours to revitalise ties that chilled after the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. lLOK SABHA SPEAKER Om Birla will inaugurate the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association India Region West Zone conference in Goa. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.cOM INSIDE pAgES 6, 3 NItISh to tAkE oAth AS rS mp oN frIdAy, mAy qUIt AS cm oN AprIL 14 yogI ordErS SWIft rELIEf to fArmErS for crop dAmAgE C Raja Mohan SHADOW OVER TALKS: DISSENT WITHIN U.S., FROM CIA CHIEF TO V-P VANCE PAGE 13 be led by Parliament Speaker and former Revolutionary Guards Commander MohammadBaqerQalibaf,withForeign Minister Abbas Araqchi. World financial markets rose after Trump announced a ceasefire late on Tuesday, two hours before a deadline he had set for Iran to open the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 lenges in the implementation of the fragile truce that the Americans and Iranians have agreedto.Israelishave,fornow, signed off, but have not yet committed to ending the operations in Lebanon where they see Hezbollah as a still survivingthreatandaproxyoftheIranian regime. “We welcome the ceasefire reached and hope that it will lead to a lasting peace in »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pro-government Iranians at Tehran’s Enqelab-e-Eslami Square after the ceasefire was announced. AP business as Usual By EP UNNY DISQUIET IN DELHI Pakistan emerges key mediator; US pushed it to broker truce, says FT Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, April 8 tEhrAN StrIkES SAUdI ArAbIA’S kEy crUdE oIL Export pIpELINE pAgE 10 PAKISTAN HAS emerged as a key mediator between US and Iran with Army Chief Field MarshalAsimMunirandPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif playing pivotal roles in brokering thetwo-weekceasefireandsetting the stage for delegationlevel talks from both countries in Pakistan. There is distinct disquiet in NewDelhioverthiswiththeofficial sense being that US President Donald Trump wanted an off-ramp — and Pakistan rushed in to help. A report in Financial Times Wednesday said that it was the White Housethat“pushedPakistanto broker” the ceasefire. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2026 WESTBENGAL Asad Rehman New Delhi, April 8 WITH TWO weeks to go for elections in West Bengal, a meeting on Wednesday between the state's ruling party TMCandtheElectionCommission(EC)inthenationalcapital witnessed high drama. While the TMC claimed that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar asked its delegation to “get lost”, the EC asserted that it engaged in “straight talk” and conveyed that the Assembly polls would befreeof“fear,violence,intimidation and inducement”. Afterthemeeting,TMCParliamentary Leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien, who was part of the delegation, said: “I want to tell you what the CEC told our delegation. Within seven minutes of the meeting, he told us to ‘get lost’. After beingtoldso,weleft.Wearethe second-largest Opposition party in Parliament, yet this is the conduct we are met with.” EC sources, on the other hand, claimed that O’Brien “shouted at the Election Commission and asked the CEC not to speak”. “The CEC requested Derek O’brien to maintain the decorum of the Commission room. Shouting and indecent behaviour is not appropriate,” the EC sources said. The EC also posted on X a rarestatementbythepaneltargeting a political party. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE TWO-WEEK pause in the US-Iran War announced early Wednesday morning by Washington and Tehran has set off a wave of relief across the world, tempered by the recognition that bridging the deep contradictions between the two sides will be hard. The pause is welcome; the pathaheadremainsforbidding. Optimists argue that US President Donald Trump’s transactional instincts might help Washington pull off what has eluded his many predecessors in the White House: a comprehensive peace settlement with Tehran. They point to Iran’s own need to end the prolonged conflict with America, rebuild its battered economy, and reclaim what manyintheregionstillseeasits natural leadership role. Pessimists worry the pause may prove only a brief interlude in a contest that has stretchedacrossfivedecades— ever since the 1979 revolution recast Iran’s relations with the West and the region and set the stage for a long, bitter rivalry. As US-Iran talks open in Islamabad, there is enough room for both hope and despair. That both sides have declared victory points to the prospectofsuccessfultalks.But the massive divergence between the declared positions of E. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Cabinet clears Bills for women’s quota in Lok Sabha and Assemblies Delimitation to be based on Census 2011; LS strength to go up 50% to 816 Liz Mathew New Delhi, April 8 THE UNION Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the proposed Constitutional amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan AdhiniyamandaDelimitationBillto fast-track 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas by using 2011 Census data, sources told The Indian Express. According to sources, there will be multiple Bills to make the long-pending reservation a reality by delinking it from the yet-to-becompletedCensusexercise and using the 2011 data instead. The Delimitation Bill, whichislearnttoproposeanincrease of 50% in the number of seatsintheLokSabhaandstate assemblies, was also cleared by Cabinet. A separate Bill will be ThE IDEAS PAGE WE oWE It to NArI ShAktI to AdvANcE rEprESENtAtIoN of WomEN BY PM NARENDRA MODI pAgE 9 movedtoimplementthismove in Union Territories. In the Lok Sabha, the strength would increase by 50% only by the next general elections in 2029. The Bills will be brought to Parliament during the special session convened for later this month.TheParliament’sBudget Session has been adjourned to meetagainonApril16,andisexpectedtosituntilApril18toconsider and pass these Bills. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Bangladesh Foreign Minister meets Jaishankar, seeks return of Hasina Trinamool versus EC: MPs say told to ‘get lost’; poll panel targets party in ‘straight talk’ DECISION Pausewelcome, pathahead forbidding:5key minefieldsamid US-Iranchasm New Delhi, April 8 FOR TEHRAN AND TRUMP, HOW ROADS TO ‘VICTORY’ ENDED AT TALKS TABLE India calls for lasting peace, underlines need for diplomacy, dialogue Shubhajit Roy US, Israel say Lebanon not part of ceasefire agreement; Iran warns of ‘heavy response’, hits neighbours Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, April 8 Assam,Keralavotetoday Officials carry EVMs and other election materials to booths on the eve of Assembly elections, in Guwahati, Wednesday. PTI PAGE 5 l Assam 126 l Kerala Total seats (including 19 ST and 9 SC) Voting turnout in 2021: 82.4% NDA: 75 (44.5%) Congress+: 50 (43.7%) Results in 2021 Others: 1 (11.8%) 140 Total seats ( including 14 SC and 2 ST) Voting turnout in 2021: 76% LDF: 99 (45.4%) UDF: 41 (39.5%) Results in 2021 NDA: 0 (12.4%) Source: EC; vote share in % THE VISITING Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Khalilur Rahman conveyed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval that the BNP government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will pursue a “Bangladesh First” policy EAM S Jaishankar with his Bangladesh counterpart Khalilur Rahman in New Delhi. PTI based on “mutual trust and respect and reciprocal benefit”. In an official statement Wednesday, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry also “reiterated its request to extradite Sheikh Hasina and her Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan KamaltoBangladeshwhohave been awarded the death penalty by the International »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Cyber café owner among 7 booked for minor girl’s gangrape in Bareilly Express News Service Lucknow, April 8 AN FIR has been registered against seven persons, including the owner of a cyber café, for allegedly gangraping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district by threatening to circulate an objectionable video of her, police said. The alleged incident took place in the cyber café on April 2whentheteenagedvictimwas called to meet a youth she was acquainted with, they added. She was previously assaulted by the youth, but had not lodged a complaint at the time due to fear of social stigma, it was claimed in the police complaint. The youth had allegedly recorded a video of the incident and used it to threaten and coerce the victim, it was alleged. The incident came to light after the victim’s condition deteriorateddaysafterthealleged gangrape. She disclosed the purported episode when questioned by her family who then approached the police to file a case, officials said. “The case has been filed »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l PLASTIC PELLETS USED TO MAKE YARN ARE A BYPRODUCT OF THE PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY. RISING PRICES HAVE PUT PRESSURE DOWN THE PRODUCTION CHAIN In fabric hub Surat, labour exit adds to raw material crisis, production halved Kamal Saiyed Surat, April 8 TWO WEEKLY offs, no night shiftsandcommunitykitchens. Surat, the hub of man-made fibre industry in the country, is struggling to keep the wheels turning as the West Asia war squeezes it from both ends. Whilerisingrawmaterialprices have hit production as well as demand, the LPG crisis has forced around 40% of the migrant workforce to head home. The ceasefire announced Tuesdaynighthascomeasare- lief but no one expects an immediate difference on the ground. Plastic pellets that are used tomaketheyarnforman-made fibre,particularlypolyester,are a by-product of the petrochemical industry, derived fromtheprocessingofcrudeoil and natural gas. The rise in crude oil prices due to the war has hiked up the prices of this crucial raw material. In India, Reliance is a major producer of pellets from crude oil. The others are local, small units. ThENUMbERS l OUTPUT PER FACTORY: WAR IN GULF Down from 6 crore metres/day to 3 crore metres/ day DAY 40 toll YARN PRICE: Up from Rs 100/kg to Rs 135-140/kg aT hOme FABRIC PRICE: Up from Rs 200/kg to Rs 250/300 kg AN ExPRESS SERIES Consequently, from around 6 crore metres of fabric a day per factory on an average, production is down to half. The WORKER NUMBERS: Down from 22 lakh to 13.2 lakh The LPG crisis due to the war in West Asia has forced around 40% of the migrant workforce in Surat to head home. KAMAL SAIYED number of migrant workers, largely from Bihar, Uttar Pra- desh, Jharkhand and Odisha, are down by nearly 8 lakh. Ashok Vaishnav, a yarn trader in Surat, says that a kilogramofpelletsisneededtoproduce a kilo of yarn, “which is twisted and weaved to make fabric”. “Before the war, yarn was being sold for Rs 100 per kg, now the price is Rs 135-140 per kg. Also, there is a shortage of raw material. Our business has declined by 35-40%.” Devesh Patel, a powerloom factory owner at Ved Road Industrial Society, says that he usually has one month’s stock of yarn, “around 5-6 tonnes”, to keep his 24 machines running. “We now have stocks for a week… If yarn becomes costlier, we will have to shut down.” Mahendra Ramoliya, the Director of the Sachin Industrial Association and the owner of a weaving unit, says weavers have already “cut purchases” due to rising prices. Before the war started on February 28, crude oil was trading at between US $70-80 per barrel, which is up to US $115 now, he points out. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow