Category: Politics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to his counterparts among the Group of 20 (G20) members, calling for the African Union to be given full membership of the grouping at its September summit in New Delhi. If accepted, the move will effectively make the group of 20 largest economies G21, sources said on June 17.

PM Modi’s proposal was made in line with a request from the Union, which is made up of 55 countries of the African continent, aimed at enhancing Africa’s voice “on the international stage and in shaping the future of our shared world.”

The G20 was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis. In addition to 19 countries, it has the European Union as a member. The African Union’s membership of G20 will be a “right step towards a just, fair, more inclusive and representative global architecture and governance,” said the sources.

A strong believer in having a greater voice for the countries of the Global South on international platforms, PM Modi has focused on incorporating the priorities of the African countries in G20’s agenda under India’s presidency. Under his leadership, earlier this year, India hosted the Voice of Global South Summit to establish the priorities and concerns of the developing countries so that they could be incorporated into the G20 agenda.

US President Joe Biden hailed a new era in the US-India relationship, after rolling out the White House red carpet for Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on June 22, pushing deals on defense and commerce.

The partnership between the world’s two big democracies is “stronger, closer and more dynamic than at any time in history,” Biden told reporters at a joint press conference with Modi, and the economic relationship is “booming,” with trade more than doubling over the past decade.

Prime Minister Modi also called the current times as “a new chapter” to the countries’ “strategic partnership” post their meeting in the Oval Office.

About 7,000 well-wishers gathered at the opening ceremony at the White House, featuring a cappella group Penn Masala performing renditions of songs by the American group Maroon 5 and Hindi films.

During PM Modi’s visit, the countries signed several deals. General Electric will produce jet engines in India to power Indian military aircraft, through an agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics. US Navy ships in the region will be able to stop in Indian shipyards for repairs under a maritime agreement, and India will procure US-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones. US chipmaker Micron Technology plans a new semiconductor testing and packaging unit in Gujarat.

The US will also make it easier for skilled Indian workers to get and renew U.S. visas. India also agreed to join the US-led Artemis Accords on space exploration and to work with NASA on a joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024. 

Opposition lawmakers have lifted the majority of seats in Kuwait’s parliament, in its third election held in the last three years.

The snap election on June 6 took place amid an ongoing political crisis that led to repeated dissolution of parliament due to a dispute between the government and lawmakers, affecting financial reforms.

According to the results announced on June 7, opposition politicians won 29 of the legislature’s 50 seats, with 37 lawmakers retaining their seats. In the election, 207 candidates competed for the 50 seats in five constituencies. The remaining 15 seats in the assembly are reserved for the appointed cabinet. Only one woman was elected, who was a member of the annulled 2022 assembly that had two women lawmakers. Voter turnout in the election stood at 51 percent.

The election was called after Kuwait’s constitutional court cancelled the results of last year’s vote in March, and restored the previous 2020 assembly. However, on May 1, the crown prince dissolved the reinstated 2020 assembly.

Kuwait is the only Gulf Arab country to have a democratically elected assembly that exerts some checks on the ruling family. However, in recent years, the political system in the country has been affected by internal disputes, delaying the sanction of even basic reforms. 

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s official visits to South Africa and Namibia, from 1 June to 6 June, 2023, have further cemented India’s strong bonds with these countries, said a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on June 7.

During the foreign minister’s visit to Cape Town, South Africa, from 1-3 June, Jaishankar participated in the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting and the Friends of BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on June 1 and 2, respectively. At the meetings, the minister presented India’s perspectives on global and regional developments, global economic recovery, and the functioning of multilateral institutions, including BRICS.

The Joint BRICS Foreign ministers’ statement issued on 1 June reflected the collective stance of the member nations. In addition to the multilateral engagements, Jaishankar held separate bilateral interactions with his counterparts attending the meetings. He met the President of South Africa, along with other BRICS ministers, to discuss bilateral issues of mutual interest.

His visit to Namibia, from 4-6 June, was the first visit by an External Affairs Minister of India to the Republic of Namibia. He called on Hage Geingob, President of Namibia and co-chaired the inaugural Session of the Joint Commission Meeting with the Namibian Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. The meetings provided a platform for discussing bilateral cooperation across various sectors and identifying new areas of collaboration. The minister also inaugurated the India-Namibia Centre of Excellence in Information Technology in Windhoek, to boost cooperation in the area of technology and capacity building.

Republican, former US Vice President Mike Pence will challenge his one-time boss, Donald Trump for the party’s 2024 White House nomination. He joins his other Republican peers, Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the race to the White House.

Pence’s campaign filed a declaration of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on June 5 and the 63-year-old launched his campaign on June 7 in the early nominating state of Iowa. A devoted social conservative and Christian, the former governor of Indiana has progressively distanced himself from Trump after rejecting his demands to overturn the 2020 election in his role as president of the Senate.

Pence has spent a great deal of the last two years visiting early-nominating states such as Iowa and New Hampshire to strengthen his political vision as a “Christian, conservative, Republican – in that order.”

He is positioning himself as a traditional Republican, concerned with fiscal responsibility and family values, and someone who can deliver Trump’s economic policies without the show. The senior Republican has also allied himself strongly with Ukraine and declined to discount cuts to welfare payments.

Suriname on June 5 conferred its highest civilian honour to President of India, Droupadi Murmu to honour the deep-rooted bilateral ties between the two nations. She is the first Indian to receive The Grand Order of the Chain of Yellow Star.

President Murmu received the award from the President of the Republic of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi. She arrived in Suriname on June 4, 2023, on a three-day State visit – her first since assuming office in July last year. The President of India said that the honour holds tremendous significance not only for her, but the people of India. She dedicated the award to the “successive generations” of the Indian-Surinamese community.

On the first leg of her state visit to Serbia and Suriname, President Droupadi Murmu arrived in Paramaribo, Suriname on Sunday. She expressed her delight to be in Suriname on her first State Visit as President of India when it is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians in Suriname, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in an official release.

India and Suriname on June 5 signed four major Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in the fields of health, agriculture and capacity building. The pacts were inked after Murmu and Santokhi held delegation-level talks. President Murmu led delegation-level talks between the two sides.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a re-election on May 28, extending his rule into a third decade.

With more than 99 percent of ballot boxes opened, unofficial results from competing news agencies showed Erdogan with 52 percent of the vote, compared with 48 percent for his opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The head of Turkey’s electoral board confirmed the victory, saying that even after accounting for outstanding votes, the term belongs to Erdogan.

The leader thanked the nation for entrusting him with the presidency for five more years. “The only winner today is Turkey,” he said, promising to work hard for Turkey’s second century. The country marks its centennial this year. “No one can look down on our nation.”

Erdogan has now been at Turkey’s helm for 20 years. He came just short of victory in the first round of elections on May 14 – the first time he failed to win an election outright – but he regained the feat on Sunday. His victory came despite inflation and aftereffects of a devastating earthquake three months ago.

Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and other world leaders, including Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and leaders of Qatar, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Libya, Algeria, Serbia and Uzbekistan, congratulated Erdogan on the victory.

On the final day of his three-day visit to Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the ties between India and Australia had entered ‘T20 mode’.

Using ‘cricket diplomacy’ to explain the relationship between the two nations, PM Modi also extended a personal invitation to his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese to visit India during the cricket World Cup – scheduled from October 5 to November 19 – and take part in Diwali celebrations.

“I am visiting Australia within two months of the visit of my friend, Prime Minister Albanese to India. This is our sixth meeting in the last year… reflects the depth of our comprehensive relations, convergence in our views and maturity of our ties. In the language of cricket, our ties have entered the T20 mode!,” said the Indian leader at a joint press briefing on May 24.

The Prime Ministers met in Sydney to discuss a number of issues, ranging from trade agreements to new areas of cooperation, such as critical minerals and renewable energy. The leaders have also spoken about the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement, which is aimed at boosting the exchange of students, graduates, researchers and businesspeople, and expanding people-to-people ties between the two nations. Their meeting also saw the signing of Terms of Reference for a Green Hydrogen Taskforce, which will include experts in renewable hydrogen and report to the ministerial energy dialogue on opportunities for cooperation in this vital area.

During a meeting of Quad leaders in Tokyo, US President Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed that they are receiving many requests from citizens to attend events where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be speaking.

President Biden came up to PM Modi and said, “I should take your autograph,” adding, “You are causing me a real problem. Next month, we will have dinner for you in Washington. Everyone in the whole country wants to come. I have run out of tickets. You think I am kidding? Ask my team. I am getting phone calls from people I have never heard of before. Everyone from movie stars to relatives. You are too popular.”

In June, PM Modi will go to the US on a state visit following an invitation from President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The US leaders will host the Indian leader for a state dinner at the White House.

“Mr Prime Minister, you have made a significant impact on everything, including what we are doing in the QUAD. You also made a fundamental shift in climate change. You have influence in the Indo-Pacific. You are making a difference,” said President Biden.

On his visit to Japan for the G7 summit, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak clinched the Hiroshima Accord for greater UK-Japan economic, security and technology collaboration.

The Hiroshima Accord signed on May 17 will cover agreements on defence, trade and investment, science and technology collaboration, and joint work on tackling global issues like climate change. The new UK-Japan global strategic partnership is also being seen as a counterbalance to Chinese dominance in the region. It includes a Semiconductors Partnership to pursue bold R&D cooperation and skills exchange to boost supply chain resilience in the sector.

The UK also corroborated that its Carrier Strike Group warship will return to the Indo-Pacific in 2025, after a maiden voyage to the region including India in 2021. 

Rishi Sunak is the first British Prime Minister to visit Hiroshima – the site of the Second World War atomic bombing. While in Tokyo, he visited a naval base to confirm new UK-Japan defence cooperation, which includes doubling UK troop numbers in forthcoming joint exercises and agreeing on a formal Consult Clause, whereby the UK and Japan commit to consult each other on important regional and global security issues and consider measures in response. It was also announced during his visit that leading Japanese businesses have committed to invest almost GBP 18 billion in businesses and projects across the UK.