Category: Politics

The Foreign Ministers of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 16 and talked about different facets of cooperation between the two sides. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers are in New Delhi as part of a two-day convention being hosted by India to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its relations with the 10-nation organization. The meeting between Modi and the ASEAN Foreign Ministers also had the presence of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

 Mr. Modi tweeted,” Had a good interaction with Foreign Ministers and Representatives of @ASEAN countries as we celebrate 30 years of close India-ASEAN cooperation,”

ASEAN is regarded as one of the most powerful associations in the region, with countries like India, the U.S., China, Japan, and Australia being its dialogue partners. It comprises Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Myanmar.

In 1992, a sectoral partnership was established at the start of the ASEAN-India dialogue relations and later moved on to full dialogue partnership in December 1995, strategic partnership in 2012, and elevated to summit level partnership in 2002.

 Mr. Jaishankar said in the meeting that India completely supports a strong, unified, and prosperous ASEAN with a key role in the Indo-Pacific, and both sides now should mark a new set of priorities.

US President Joe Biden is on his first trip to West Asia and will visit Saudi Arabia and meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next month in a bid to repair and build on ties with one of Washington’s closest allies. The decision marks the end of his administration’s tough stance toward the country, over which ties have frayed in recent years because of human rights concerns.

The White House also ended the speculations regarding Biden’s visit to Israel and Palestinian West Bank, and Saudi Arabia. This will be his first trip from July 13-16 since taking office. This trips major political takeaway is rebuilding ties with Saudi Arabia as the Biden administration majorly blamed Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Poat columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

When Biden took office, he threatened to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” and to make it “pay a price.” He also directed the administration to issue an official report on the killing and to impose sanctions and visa restrictions on 70 Saudi nationals and entities.

In recent months, however, administration policy has been reshaped by strategic imperatives. Saudi Arabia, as chair of OPEC, is essential to maintaining a ceasefire with Yemen, and its decision on boosting oil production is crucial to stabilizing energy prices after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

India, Israel, UAE, and the US formed a new 12U2 grouping that will hold its first virtual summit next month. The summit will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Israeli Prime Minister Neftali Bennett to discuss the food security crisis and other areas of cooperation.

The meeting of the four countries would take place during Biden’s Middle East trip from July 13 to 16. According to the White House, it is the Biden administration’s effort to revitalise and reenergize American alliances across the world, and he is looking forward to this unique engagement with other leaders.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “India is a massive consumer market.” It is a massive producer of high-tech and highly sought-after goods as well. So, there are a number of areas where these countries can work together, whether it be technology, trade climate, COVID-19, or potentially even security as well”.

He further added that since the beginning, their part of the approach was never to solely revitalise and re-energise their system of alliance and partnership across the globe but to also switch together partnerships that had never existed or were not utilised to their full extent.

Bahrain reshuffled its cabinet, the biggest cabinet restructuring in the country’s history, changing 17 out of 22 ministers, including the appointment of four women ministers.

Most of the new cabinets are from the younger generation and will take the oath of office on Wednesday. The reshuffle, done at the command of King Hamad, also included the appointment of Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure, Fatima Jaafer Al Sairafi as Tourism Minister, and Zayed Rashid Al Zayani as Industry and Commerce Minister. The new ministries also included a Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, and the Ministry of Infrastructure. Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who was the Minister of Oil and Environment, was replaced by Mohammed bin Mubarak bin Dainah, the erstwhile envoy for climate affairs.

Bahrain’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa was quoted as, “We look forward with optimism, determination, and responsibility to the coming days to achieve more gains and accomplishments in various sectors, to enhance Bahrain’s advanced position at all levels”. The reshuffle also brought the formation of four new ministries, and the detachment of some ministries to become separate entities.

At a bilateral meeting on Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Latvian counterpart, Edgar Rinkevich, discussed energy cooperation in a bilateral meeting in Cairo. The two further discussed a broad array of issues related to EU-Egypt relations and security policy and migration matters in the Mediterranean.

The top agenda of the meeting included a discussion on stronger cooperation for food security arising due to the Ukraine conflict. It focused on the key role of Egypt in becoming a new energy supplier to the Baltic state.

Rinkevich said, “I would stress that we see a new and very important sector that’s energy cooperation, especially taking into account that now the EU is diversifying its oil and gas supplies from Russia and seeking new alternative ways, and I think that this is where Egypt can and will play a very important role.”

During their discussions, the ministers also discussed developments on the continent, including Ethiopia and Libya. Two rival administrations are currently claiming legitimacy for the Libyan elections in Cairo, which are being mediated by the United Nations. Edgar Rinkevich’s visit coincided with the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Latvia and Egypt.

On Friday, India and the European Union held a security and defense consultation in Brussels. This significant move was made with the aim of focusing on cyber security, maritime awareness, terrorism, joint exercises, training modules, and threat assessments, among other issues.

The Ministry of Defence Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) Sommanth Ghosh and Sandeep Chakravorty-MEA Joint Secretary (Europe West) from India and Director Security and Defence Policy Mr. Joanneke Balfoort from the EU side, co-chaired the consultations.

The sides discussed ways to increase India-EU cooperation, including implementing the European code of conduct on arms export to India’s neighbors and co-developing and co-producing defense equipment, including India’s involvement in Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).

PESCO is an integral part of the EU’s security and defense policy. Its creation in December 2017 has elevated cooperation among EU member states in the field of defense to a whole new level.

The Indian Embassy in Brussels issued a statement, “The two sides noted a number of positive developments in the area of security and defense cooperation in recent years, including the establishment of a regular maritime security dialogue, which met for the second time in February 2021, the first-ever joint naval exercises held in June 2021, and a number of joint workshops on the subject of fostering maritime security”.

The director of the U.N.’s atomic custodian has set foot in Israel and is soon going to begin discussions with top officials

The visit comes as Israel indicates escalating concerns about Iran’s atomic activities and comeback to the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and international superpowers.

It is believed that Israel is the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but has never admitted to having such weapons.

The office of the Israeli Prime Minister stated that PM Naftali Bennett would meet with the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi

Israel fiercely opposed the 2015 nuclear deal and was pleased with the unilateral withdrawal by the Trump Administration from the agreement, which resulted in its fall down. The Biden administration has been trying to reopen the agreement which ended sanctions on Iran in return for limits to its nuclear program.

Iran has always claimed its nuclear activities are solely for non-violent purposes but has increased uranium enrichment after the fall down of the nuclear pact to near weapons-grade levels.

U.S. intelligence agencies, Western countries, and the IAEA have alleged Iran ran a systematic nuclear weapons program until 2003. The U.S. and Israel have said that they would not eliminate the use of military force to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

On Wednesday, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed a record number of women to the new cabinet. The new federal ministry was into office with a diverse cabinet team that includes religious minorities and indigenous aboriginals.

In the Albanese 23-member cabinet, a total of 10 women were included surpassing the seven in the previous cabinet led by Liberal-National coalition leader Scott Morrison.

In a ceremony in Canberra, Linda Burney became the first Aboriginal woman to hold the Indigenous Australians ministry, Claire O’Neil as the home affairs and cyber security minister, Katy Gallagher as finance minister, and Ed Husic and Anne Aly became Australia’s first Muslim federal ministers.

Penny Wong was sworn in last week so that she could fly to Tokyo for a summit with Prime Minister Albanese. There are some new faces in Albanese’s cabinet as well as some who served in the previous Labor government nine years ago.

Albanese said at the conference, “This is an exciting team. It’s a team that is overflowing, I think, with talent, with people who are absolutely committed to making a difference as ministers and assistant ministers”.

He further added that this is the largest number of women who have served in the Australian cabinet. Morrison’s government also had to deal with a string of sexual misconduct scandals that contributed to the conservatives’ ouster after nearly a decade in power.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met US President Joe Biden in her first-ever White House visit and stated that the meeting reflected the kind of relationship that the two countries share “warm, friendly, shared values and shared challenges”. This also makes it the first visit to the White House for a New Zealand Prime Minister since 2014.

Arden, who met Vice President Kamala Harris before meeting Biden, said that she was pleased with the nature of the discussion that dealt with topics such as trade in the Indo-Pacific to New Zealand’s involvement with gun reforms. They also discussed USA’s efforts to oppose China in the Indo-Pacific region. The meeting became even more significant as New Zealand recently raised worries about China’s growing presence in the Indo-Pacific region after news emerged that Beijing had signed a security deal with the Solomon Islands. Biden assured Ardern to do more work in the Pacific Islands and work together and in cooperation with other countries.

Biden also sought advice from Arden over tackling shooting incidents in America that have been increasing in recent times. The duo met in the Oval Office, and the meeting went overtime by half an hour.

On Friday, India organized a DefExpo in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to expand its defense sector footprints in Africa. A Mini-DefExpo was organized by the Indian High Commission in Dar-es-Salaam led Indian delegation by Anuraj Bajpai, Joint Secretary, Indian Ministry of Defence.

The occasion witnessed seven companies from the government and nine companies from the private sector participating. The companies were HAL, BEL, BDL, AVNL, MDL, GRSE, L&T, Ashok Leylands, Bharat Forge, Idea Technology, Tata Advanced System, and Adani Defence, Zen Technology, MKU Ltd, Tunga Aerospace, and AWEIL.

The event was held in a one-to-one session between the TPDF officers and company representatives.

It was inaugurated by the chief guest Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax, Minister of Defence of Tanzania. TPDF and Indian Partners were encouraged by Dr. Tax to work together with an open mind and build a partnership. ​​

TPDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. M. E. Mkinguke and senior TPDF officials were also in attendance. COL Lt Gen Mkingule reviewed historical relations between India and Tanzania and stressed the importance of bilateral defense cooperation between the two countries.

India and Tanzania might have longstanding defense cooperation in trading, capacity building, and the supply of equipment.