Category: Politics

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was raised to power again but failed to gain majority seats. The party got the most seats as compared to other parties but the results were similar to the election two years back.

The party was leading with 157 seats which were the same as their win in 2019. According to a report, they were short by 170 seats to win a majority in the House of Commons. With 121 seats, the conservatives were elected which was again similar to their number in 2019. With 29 seats, the leftist New Democrats were leading with a gain of five seats. Quebec-based Bloc Qu b cois lost three seats and were at 28 whereas the Greens remained at two seats.

It was an uphill battle for Trudeau as his administration is showing signs of fatigue after staying in power for six years. According to Trudeau, the Conservative’s approach towards the Pandemic could have been dangerous as they were skeptical about the vaccine mandates and lockdowns.

In his winning Tweet, he thanked Canada for their votes and putting trust in his team, and choosing for a brighter future. He promised to end the fight against the COVID and move Canada forward for everyone.

The Philippines is encouraging the United States, Britain, and Australia to form a new defense partnership. It hopes that it will help to maintain a power balance in the Indo-Pacific region. This view contrasts sharply with that of some of its neighbors.

The AUKUS deal is the alliance with Australia to get the technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines as part of the agreement intended to respond to growing Chinese power. On Tuesday, Philippines Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said in a statement that the enhancement of a near-abroad ally’s ability to project power will be restored and will maintain the balance rather than destabilize it. The Minister’s remark differs from the stance of Indonesia and Malaysia as he sounds alarmed about the nuclear power submarines. According to him, this will lead to growing rivalries between Southeast Asian superpowers.

Locsin believes omitting the presence of nuclear weapons, the AUKUS move will not violate the 1995 treaty to keep nuclear arms out of Southeast Asia. It continues to be a source of tension as western allies regularly conduct “freedom of navigation” operations to which China has reacted angrily. China claims the waters as its own and conflicts with other coastal states like the Philippines and Vietnam that have accused China of harassing fishermen and energy activities.

Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the United States this week. He is scheduled to arrive on September 22 in Washington DC followed by the meeting with the top US CEOs next morning. He has a marathon schedule and will hold a series of high high-profile meetings.

Modi’s meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook is also on the cards. After conducting back-to-back meetings with top business experts, the Prime Minister is also expected to meet the US Vice President Kamala Harris. According to the officials, the meetings are yet to be confirmed and the details are omitted.

On the same day, Mr. Modi might also have meetings with the Australian Prime Minister Scot Morrison and Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga. This will be the first physical bilateral meeting for PM Modi with US President Joe Biden. It will also be the first in-person Quad leader’s summit on September 24 in Washington.

During the PM’s visit to the country, a dinner is organized. He is likely to meet UK’s Prime Minister Borris Johnson as his visit coincides with PM Modi’s visit to Washington. After the meeting, he will head to New York to deliver a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting scheduled for this week between the Defence Minister Florence Parly and her British counterpart Ben Wallace was canceled by France amid the submarine row. The conclusion was the aftermath of the US, Australia and UK sparked a full-blown diplomatic crisis with France. They announced a strategic partnership in which US nuclear submarines will be supplied to Australia sidelining France.

Outrage erupted last week in Paris over Australia’s decision to scrap a nuclear-powered submarine contract with France. UK’s former British ambassador to France, Lord Ricketts who was supposed to co-chair the two-day talk confirmed the call off and said that the meeting in London this week will not take place due to France canceling the same. He also added that the meeting is postponed to a later date. James Cleverly, Foreign Office minister said that all bilateral relationships go through a period of tension but he has no doubt that ultimately their relationship with France will endure.

Last week the Aukus agreement broke and was widely seen as an effort to counter China’s influence in the contested South China Sea. The deal ended which was worth $37 billion signed by Australia in 2016 for France to build 12 conventional submarines.

According to an independent investigation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva manipulated a report at the World Bank to avoid angering China during her previous job. In the 2018 and 2020 editions, the World Bank announced that it was immediately discontinuing its Doing Business report after the found irregularities in the investigation.

In October 2019, Georgieva took the helm of IMF, disagreed with its conclusions regarding her role.  In her statement, she said that she fundamentally disagrees with the findings and interpretations of the Investigation of Data Irregularities. She said it relates to her role in the World Bank’s Doing Business report of 2018.     

Her reputation is getting hampered by the allegation and those in the US who have long criticized multilateral organizations and their treatment of China may find grist for their mills. The situation was addressed to the IMF board by Georgieva. However, it is unclear when the board will meet and discuss the issue.

The US Treasury said in a statement that ‘these findings are serious’ findings and are ‘analyzing the report’. He further added that their primary responsibility is to uphold the integrity of the international financial institutions.

Georgieva, a Bulgarian national who took the helm of the IMF in October 2019, rejected its conclusions regarding her role.

On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi will lead the Indian delegation and address a plenary session at the meeting of the Council of Head of State at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Dushanbe. The meeting is scheduled to be held virtually.

For the first time, the 21st meeting of the SCO Council of Head of State will be held in a hybrid format. It will be chaired by Tajikistan President Emmomali Rahmon. This will be India’s fourth summit where it will participate as a full-fledged member of SCO. On Wednesday, in a statement, the ministry of external affairs said that the summit will be attended by the leaders of SCO member states, secretary-general of the SCO, executive director of the SCO, observer states, Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure(RATS) along with the President of Turkmenistan.

In Tajikistan’s capital, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar will represent India in a key meeting at the summit. This year at the SCO meeting he is expected to confine a series of bilateral discussions with his counterparts from Iran, Tajikistan, and Russia. The conversation is likely to revolve around the situation in Afghanistan and its impact on regional security.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is scheduled to arrive in India on September 19. Prince will hold a meeting with EAM Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and call on Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.

Prince will discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan as Qatar has taken the lead over the diplomatic engagement in Kabul and towards legitimizing the Taliban. India along with Saudi Arabia and UAE is worried about the security’s consequence of the medieval theocratic state of Afghanistan. The country’s ties with the global jihadist network with the Talian regime are a matter of concern that may pose problems. The Middle East is also agitated with the involvement of Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan for engaging the Sunni Islamist regime with Islamabad sending its first commercial flight to Afghans capital Kabul. Taliban is considering handing over its perimeter security to the Turkish military whereas Qatar is handling the technical side of the Kabul airport operation.

PM Modi had a telephonic discussion on Afghanistan’s situation with UAE crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on September 3. Notes were exchanged on the Kabul crisis between EAM Jaishankar who hosted Dr. Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Advisor UAE President.

Malaysian King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al Mustafa Billah Shah said that he will welcome and appreciate the bipartisan cooperation that is being forged by the new government and the opposition party of the country.

On Monday, in royal decree at the parliament, King said that he welcomed and appreciated the efforts towards realizing dual-partisan cooperation involving all sides that will build a new political landscape and bring changes in the country’s administrative system. He further added that maturity like this is what the people want.

Under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government, this is the first parliament meeting where the House of Representatives will meet for 17 days until October 12. The duration of the senate meeting will be from October 4 to October 26.

The king in his speech at the opening ceremony said that the new government has to double its efforts to fight COVID-19 to bring the country and people out of the pandemic. He said with the high-performance work culture and a focus on short-term and long-term goals, he believes that the new government can prove its early achievement in 100 days. He advised all sides to practice deliberative democracy in finding solutions to all problems.

Japan and Vietnam have agreed to sign up for cooperation amid worries about China’s growing military influence. They signed the deal that enables the export of Japanese-made defense equipment and technology to Hanoi.

Nobuo Kishi, Japan’s Defence Minister said that the deal elevates the two countries’ defense partnership “to a new level” and both the nations plan to deepen defense ties through multinational joint exercises and other means. Vietnam became the 11th nation that has signed defense equipment and technology transfer deals with Japan.

The defense minister’s meeting with Phan Van Giang who is his Vietnamese counterpart in Hanoi coincided with a two-day visit to the Vietnamese capital by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Over the Spratly and Paracel island groups in the South China Sea, Vietnam has territorial disputes with China. China and Japan are also in a territorial dispute against the Chinese coast guard’s presence in the East China Sea near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands which Beijing claims to be Diaoyu. Japan accuses Chinese vessels of routinely violating Japanese territorial waters around the island and sometimes they also threaten the fishing boats.

Kishi has expressed Japan’s strong opposition to “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by coercion or any activities that escalate tensions”.

On Monday, Bhupendra Patel will take oath as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat. Followed by the resignation of Vijay Rupani from the top post in the state, Patel holds a strong influence in the Patidar community in Gujarat which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has banked upon to win the upcoming elections.

He will be the 17th Chief Minister of Gujarat, fondly addressed as ‘Dada’ by his supporters, Bhupendrabhai Rajnikantbhai Patel. He is the fourth CM in the BJP-led state government in the country this year to opt for this move. Earlier, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat Uttatakhknad’s Chief Minister and BS Yediyurappa tendered their resignations.

On Sunday, the announcement came as a surprise for many as the low-profile MLA was not seen to be among the top contenders for the post at the legislative party meeting of the BJP. According to BJP the selection of Bhupendra Patel was a unanimous decision by all leaders present in the party’s meeting. He had won the maiden seat by a margin of 117,000 (72%) votes in 2017 which was the largest margin that defeated congress candidate Shahikant Patel.

Patel has been invited by Governor Acharya Devvrat to the oath as the chief minister.