Category: Politics

In Monday’s top defense-level talks, India and Malaysia discussed the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) offer as well as the future of the Su30 MKM aircraft of the Malaysian Air Force. Rajnath Singh and Malaysia’s senior defense minister, YB Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, held video conferencing talks.

According to reports, the Indian offer for 18 Tejas fighter jets to satisfy Malaysia’s needs was discussed extensively. Earlier, India offered Malaysia a dual package for the indigenous fighter jets as well as maintenance services for the Su30 MKMs it operates.

The Indian Defense Ministry spokesperson said, “The defense minister highlighted the areas in which Indian defense industries could assist Malaysia. He suggested a visit of senior officers from Malaysia to Inda to get a first-hand experience of the facilities and products of the Indian Defense Industry”.

The Indian aircraft has already been the subject of several rounds of technical discussions, with the Tejas emerging as the frontrunner in competition with Chinese and South Korean jets, but a government-to-government agreement could also be reached.

Mr. Hussein was offered an extended invitation by Mr. Singh to visit India at the soonest convenient time to talk about developing more substantial and strategic defense cooperation.

Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani landed on Friday in Cairo, marking his first official visit to Egypt since the boycott of Doha by four Arab states.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived in Cairo, his first visit to Egypt since the thaw in relations between the two countries. Four Arab nations viz- Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain had boycotted Doha in mid-2017 but in January of last year, the Arab quartet signed the Al-Ula Declaration with Qatar terminating their all-round boycott of Doha.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi received the Qatari emir at Cairo International Airport, while the flags of both countries flew over the tarmac, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Tamim’s two-day visit will see the signing of several economic agreements, and the launch of meetings to boost trade, investment, and economic ties, and ensure Qatari investment in Egypt, especially in the energy sector. The two leaders are expected to talk about ways to improve bilateral relations and address the current regional and international political issues concerning both countries.

The visit comes ahead of American President Joe Biden’s expected tour of the Middle East next month.

In a historic move, US President Joe Biden signed the most sweeping gun violence bill in decades. A bipartisan compromise was reached on Saturday that had seemed inconceivable until a series of mass shootings, including a massacre of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas.

Citing the families of shooting victims, President said, “Lives will be saved. Their message to us was to do something. Well today we did”. According to a bipartisan group of senators, the deal “doesn’t achieve all I want,” but it “does include things I’ve long advocated for that are going to save lives.”

Following Senate ratification on Thursday, the House provided final approval on Friday, and Biden acted soon before departing Washington for two meetings in Europe. The proposal will toughen background investigation for the youngest gun purchases, prevent firearms out of the hands of much more domestic violence abusers, and assist jurisdictions in enacting red flag laws that make it simpler for police to seize weapons from dangerous suspects.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that restricted people from carrying concealed weapons. Biden signed the measure two days later. Meanwhile, he will be hosting an event on July 11 for lawmakers and families affected by gun violence.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Munich, Germany to attend the G7 summit on June 26 and 27. Mr. Modi was invited by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to visit the country that is holding and chairing the G7, a meeting of the world’s seven richest nations.

Ahead of the summit, Mr. Modi said that he was looking forward to “fruitful discussions” along with other world leaders on topics like climate, food security, energy, environment, counter-terrorism, gender equality, and democracy.

During a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, Narendra Modi met with Argentinean President Alberto Fernandez in Munich and discussed all aspects of bilateral relations.

He also said he looks forward to meeting Indian Diaspora members throughout Europe, who contribute immensely to their local economies as well as enriching India’s relations with Europe.

He addressed the Indian diaspora in Munich and said, “Today is June 26 which is also known as the day when India’s democracy that’s is in the DNA of every Indian was trampled and suppressed 47 years ago. Emergency was a black spot on the vibrant history of India’s democracy”.

Germany has also invited Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal, and South Africa as guests to recognize the democracies of the global south as its partners.

Senior diplomat Ruchira Kamboj, on Tuesday, has been appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Kamboj, the current envoy to Bhutan, will succeed T S Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the UN. A 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) office, Ruchira Kamboj, was the all-India women’s topper of the 1987 Civil Service batch and the topper of the Foreign Service batch in the same year. Kamboj’s diplomatic journey started in Paris, France, where she was posted as the Third Secretary in the Indian Embassy in France from 1989 to 1991. After that, she returned to Delhi, where she was appointed as an under-secretary in the Europe West Division of the Ministry of External Affairs from 1991 to 1996. From 1996 to 1999, she worked in Mauritius as First Secretary (Economic and Commercial) and Head of Chancery at the Indian High Commission in Port Louis. She later became India’s high commissioner to South Africa, from July 2017 to March 2019. From 2002 to 2005, Ms. Kamboj served as a counselor at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. On 17 May 2019, she was appointed as Indian envoy to Bhutan.

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a brief statement that Ms. Kamboj is expected to take up the task soon.

An expert panel from India and Indonesia addressed two sessions in the Center for Global Affairs and Public Policy that hosted a round table conference on “G-20, Indo-Pacific and the Regional Economic Order: Collaborative Synergies between India and Indonesia” on June 20 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

In a session titled Exploring Synergies in the G-20, Dr. Tauhid Ahmad, INDEF’s Executive Director in Jakarta, said the government needs to develop a coherent policy to deal with Indonesia’s data protection issues. Furthermore, he said Indonesia is in favor of a comprehensive partnership with India.

Chief of International Trade Policy Division CII, Pranav Kumar said at the roundtable called for more cohesive steps toward climate and debt finance while highlighting India’s role in combating the climate crisis. During his talk, he also touched upon the issue of the global technological divide and the importance of establishing digital literacy and access to it for all.

He said, “G20 is important for India as it is the oldest engagement group. G-20 is also important because it is a multilateral forum core agenda of trade management, with India’s merchandise export up to billions, India has good agenda to move forward with WTO. The Geneva Package of agreement has also given WTO a good agenda going forward”.

On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Indian envoy Pradeep Kumar Rawat in Beijing ahead of the BRICS meeting. The two sides discussed boundary situations and broader bilateral relations.

Mr. Rawat met the Chinese Foreign Minister for the first time since his arrival in Beijing in March, ahead of the summit on Thursday. Speaking at a security conference in Slovakia earlier this month, Mr. Wang mentioned Foreign Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s remarks regarding “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe’s problems are the world’s problems but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems”.

Mr. Wang stated that External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar publicly voiced his disapproval of European centralism and his objections to external forces meddling in China-India relations, reflecting India’s history of independence.

He further added that China and India have a lot in common and their interests far outweigh their differences and urged both sides to work together to maintain the positive momentum in China-India relations and get them back on track for stability and sound development as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rawat emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border to maximize the potential of the relationship.

The defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) agreed on Wednesday to strengthen the federation’s pervasiveness, solidarity, integrity, and a rules-based order for harmonized security and the good of the people in the region started a joint declaration.

The 16th edition of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) was held in person in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital on Wednesday (June 22), under the chairmanship of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Tea Banh, after two years of online meetings brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

The ministers also stated the key role of ASEAN as the most important driving force in improving defense, enhancing security cooperation, strategic dialogue, and confidence-boosting steps with the international community, with the universal aim to ensure peace, security, and prosperity in the region. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the ADMM was productive and discussed a wide range of current security issues, including cyber and information domain threats.

The ADMM-Plus is a dialogue that includes ASEAN and Australia, China, India, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Russia, as well as the United States.

According to the declaration, the next ADMM will be held in 2023 in Indonesia.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the annual summit of the five-nation grouping BRICS on June 23 and 24 following an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping. It is China that hosts the summit as the chair of the group for the current year.

A group of five developing countries representing 41 percent of the world’s population, 24 percent of the world’s GDP, and 16 percent of global trade, the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) is the world’s largest group of developing countries.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa are expected to attend the summit.

The MEA said in a statement, “At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the 14th BRICS Summit hosted by China in virtual format on June 23 and 24. This includes a high-level dialogue on global development with guest countries on June 24”.

Other topics to be discussed include reform of the multilateral system, combating the COVID-19 pandemic, and global economic recovery. MEA said Mr. Modi will participate in the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum on Wednesday via a recorded keynote speech.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been elected after defeating independent candidate Rodolfo Hernandez in the second round of elections in a very tight race, the state-run National Civil Registry reported. Petro will take office on August 7.

62-year-old Petro is a senator and former Mayor of Capital Bogota.

According to the reports 99.67 percent of polling stations, Petro, candidate of the leftist Historic Pact for Colombia coalition, received 11,266,138 votes, or 50.48 percent, while Hernandez received 10,546,163 votes or 47.26 percent.

The new president took to Twitter to express his job and wrote, “Let’s celebrate the first popular victory. This victory is for God, and for the people, and its history. Today is the day of the streets and squares”.

Despite previous reports indicating that the voting process was proceeding normally on election day, it was later reported that a soldier and an electoral witness were killed. According to Defense Minister Diego Molano, one soldier was killed in an attack by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. A death in Guapi, Cauca department, involving an electoral volunteer is also under investigation, he said.