Category: Politics

Saudi Arabia on July 18 agreed to buy Turkish drones in the biggest defence contract in Turkey’s history. Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended the signing ceremony between Turkish defence firm Baykar and the Saudi defence ministry.

Saudi Arabia will acquire the drones to enhance the readiness of the kingdom’s armed forces and strengthen its defense and manufacturing capabilities. In a tweet, Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar informed about signing a contract with the Saudi Arabian defence ministry for the Bayraktar Akinci (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) export and cooperation. Developing a local military industry has been part of an ambitious plan by Prince Mohammed to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.

Investments and funding from the Gulf have helped ease stress on Turkey’s economy and its currency reserves since 2021, when the country launched diplomatic efforts to mend ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In a statement, Baykar said that the agreement with Riyadh entails cooperation on technology transfer and joint production to advance the high technology development capability of the two countries. The two countries also inked several memorandums of understanding in sectors, including energy, real estate and direct investments.

In June, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek travelled to the UAE to discuss economic cooperation opportunities with counterparts, and met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on July 16 said that her country sees India as an “indispensable partner” with regard to its policy of “friend-shoring.”

Addressing the media ahead of her participation in the G20 summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Yellen said that derisking and friend-shoring are important priorities for the United States that the country is promoting in India.

Friend-shoring is a policy of encouraging companies to shift manufacturing away from authoritarian states and towards allies. The term is shorthand for the practice of relocating supply chains to countries where the risk of disruption from political chaos is low. An important policy to increase the resilience of the US supply chain, friend-shoring helps the country source raw materials, components and even manufactured goods from countries that share its values.

Yellen said that the US-India bilateral ties have reached an all-time high, and the two countries are looking to see it grow even more. Private sector is a really important point of friendshoring, and private firms have continued to make announcements of investing in India as they see India as “an excellent place to be producing and exporting to the US,” she added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed the decision of the United States to return 105 artefacts to India, following his official state visit to Washington DC last month. On July 17, the Manhattan district attorney’s office handed over the antiques to Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, at an event in New York.

The antiquities are made of terracotta, stone, metal and wood, and span the time period from 2nd-3rd century CE to the 19th century. The artefacts belong to diverse parts of the country, with 47 from eastern India, 27 from the south, 22 from central India, six from the north, and three from western India. Many of these were stolen by an American citizen, Subash Kapoor, who is currently in prison in Tamil Nadu.

Bringing the Indian antiquities back home has been a diplomatic priority for India since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. During his 2016 visit to the US, the US handed over 16 antiques. In 2021, the country handed over 157 Indian artefacts. In the last seven years, the US has returned 278 antiques to India.

Among the 105 items returned in July, around 50 hold religious significance for Hindus, Jains and Muslims, while the rest are of cultural importance.

External Affairs Minister of India S. Jaishankar on July 12 held a series of meetings with his counterparts from several countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Vietnam, and discussed bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual concern during his week-long visit to Indonesia and Thailand.

The union minister began his engagements in Jakarta with a meeting with the Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Dr Kao Kim Hourn. The leaders discussed the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership. Jaishankar suggested India-ASEAN dialogues in finance, cyber and maritime domains, noted the ongoing work in energy, disaster management and health and wellness, and agreed to expand their Track II engagement, he tweeted later.

During his stay in Indonesia, Jaishankar met his counterparts under the ASEAN framework in the format – ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum. He met Vietnam Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Zambry Adbul Kadir, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Lao PDR Saleumxay Kommasith. He joined Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Australian counterpart Penny Wong for the 2nd India-Australia-Indonesia trilateral.

After Jakarta, Jaishankar travelled to Bangkok to participate in the 12th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Mechanism on July 16 and attended the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers’ Retreat on July 17. The MGC is an initiative by India, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to facilitate closer connections between the six member countries which share the Ganga River and Mekong River basins.

French President Emmanuel Macron has bestowed the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an award ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on July 14. It is the highest French honour in military or civilian orders.

During PM Modi’s two-day visit to France, India and France reached an agreement to use India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in France. Making the announcement in Paris, PM Modi said that in the coming days, UPI usage will begin from Eiffel Tower.

India will open a new consulate in Marseille, PM Modi announced on July 13 while addressing the Indian community at La Seine Musicale in Paris. He also said that a statue of Tamil philosopher Thiruvalluvar will be installed in the Cergy Prefecture.

Indian students who are pursuing a master’s degree in France will now be given a five-year long-term post-study visa. Earlier, Indian students were given a two-year work visa. He made the announcement during his address to the Indian community at Paris’s LA Seine Musicale.

French President Macron gifted PM Modi the framed facsimile of the photograph “A Parisian presenting flowers to a Sikh, 14 July 1916.” The picture shows a French woman giving flowers to a Sikh soldier during World War I. He also gifted reproductions of the Charlemagne chessmen and Marcel Proust’s Le temps retrouvé (Time Regained), among others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to France to attend the French National Day (Bastille Day) parade as the guest of honour. This year’s parade on July 14 will also see the participation of a 269-member Indian tri-service contingent, and the Indian Air Force aircraft performing in a fly past. PM Modi will also engage in discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron, focusing on defence, space, trade and investment. On July 15, he is scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for an official visit.

In France, PM Modi will hold a meeting with French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, address an Indian community event at the iconic La Seine Musicale, and attend a private dinner to be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.

In Abu Dhabi, PM Modi will hold talks with H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to add strength to India-UAE friendship. The UAE is hosting the 28th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC (COP-28) later this year. PM Modi is keen to exchange views on strengthening global cooperation towards accelerating climate action to facilitate the energy transition and implementation of the Paris Agreement, he said in a tweet.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak honoured Rajindar Singh Dhatt, a 101-year-old Sikh World War II veteran, with a Points of Light award for his service and work in bringing together British Indian war veterans.

The Points of Light award recognises outstanding people whose service is making a difference in their communities and whose stories can inspire others towards innovative solutions to social challenges in their own communities and beyond. Dhatt was one of the last surviving Sikh soldiers who fought in World War II. At a UK-India Week reception at 10 Downing Street, he was acknowledged for his service and work running the Undivided Indian Ex-Servicemen’s Association to help bring together British Indian war veterans.

Born in pre-Partition India in 1921, Dhatt fought with the Allied forces during the British colonial period. He has been based in Hounslow in southwest London since 1963. He joined the British Indian Army during the Second World War and excelled up the ranks, being promoted to Havildar Major (Sergeant Major) in 1943. The war veteran was later drafted to the Far East campaign to fight in Kohima, then in Assam, India, to support the Allied Forces and help break through the Japanese defences.

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.