Category: Politics

Bali will host the G20 finance leaders this week for talks that will tackle topics such as global food security and inflation.

Wempi Saputra, Indonesia’s deputy for finance in the G20, said the group will be seeking to ensure the supply and affordability of food and fertilizers in poor countries to cope with a possible food crisis.

In addition to debt relief for poor countries, the summit will discuss the creation of a future pandemic fund at the World Bank, as well as the Resilience and Stability Trust at the International Monetary Fund.

When talks end on Saturday, Indonesia expects to issue a communiqué, but its central bank governor said that if that’s not possible, he will issue a chairman’s statement.

The central bank governor of Indonesia said if a communique could not be issued, the meeting would be summed up in a statement issued by the chair. The governor of Indonesia’s central bank said, “We hope for the best but certainly prepare for the worst.” He added that he doesn’t wish to speculate and that the bank is still working on the best possible way to reach a release.

On Tuesday, the European Union accepted Croatia as the 20th eurozone member. It will allow the nation to adopt a single currency from 2023.

According to the European Council, Croatia has passed the final three legal measures necessary for the country to join the euro. Among the acts, one euro will be converted into 7.53450 Croatian kunas. It will take some months to determine the practicalities of switching currencies.

European Commission VP Valdis Dombrivskis said that this was particularly important at such a challenging time when Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is continuously sending shock waves around the world. Dobrovskis spoke at a ceremony celebrating Croatia’s accession to the eurozone, the first since 2015.

The finance minister of Czechia Zbynek Stanjur is currently holding the six-month rotating presidency of the EU. He congratulated his Croatian counterpart and said, “Adopting the euro is not a race, but a responsible political decision. Croatia has successfully completed all the required economic criteria and they will pay in euros as of 1 January 2023”.

One of those acts set the conversion rate for entry at one euro to 7.53450 Croatian kunas, with Croatia now having a few months to prepare the practicalities for the currency switch.

Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday said he hoped a visit to Israel by U.S. President Joe Biden this week would result in a common Middle East market including Saudi Arabia.

Biden is to visit Israel on Wednesday and move to Saudi Arabia on Friday. The White House has said the purpose of the visit is to boost regional economic and security cooperation.

Questioned at an economic conference hosted by the Calcalist newspaper what he hopes to gain from Biden’s visit, Lieberman said: “It is time to create a new, common market in the Middle East – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries, and Jordan. That’s the big challenge.” He elaborated, “It will change the reality here from end to end, in both the fields of security and economics. Therefore, I hope the emphasis during Biden’s visit will be on creating this new market in the Middle East.”

Israel restored ties with four Arab countries under a 2020 U.S. diplomatic drive, which was welcomed by Riyadh. In another remark at the conference, Israeli National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata said that Biden’s visit would make it possible to achieve certain breakthroughs in the potential expansion of the regional markets.

Japan’s ruling party and its coalition partner scored a major victory in a parliamentary election on Sunday.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito lifted their combined share to 146 in the 248-seat chamber- much more than the majority — in the elections for half of the seats in the defenseless upper house.

With such a monumental victory, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stands to rule uninterruptedly until a scheduled election in 2025. This would let Mr. Kishida focus on long-term policies such as national security, his “new capitalism” economic policy, and his party’s dearly treated goal to bring changes to the U.S.-drafted postwar pacifist constitution.

Mr. Kishida welcomed the major victory but wasn’t too happy, given the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe loss and the arduous task of maintaining party unity without him. In press interviews late Sunday, Mr. Kishida said, “Party unity is more important than anything else.” He said the reaction to COVID-19, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and rising prices will be his main focus. He also said he would gradually work on reinforcing the country’s national security and a constitutional amendment.

Mr. Kishida and senior party legislators paid respect to Abe by observing a moment of silence at the party election headquarters. Abe, 67, was killed during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara on Friday.

Two Indian-origin Conservative MPs are expected to bid for the Tory leadership. Attorney general Suella Braverman MP formally declared her run for UK PM even before Prime Minister Boris Johnson quit when she said on Live TV on Wednesday night: “If there is a leadership contest, I will put my name into the ring. I love this country. My parents came here with absolutely nothing and it was Britain that gave them hope, security, and opportunity this country has afforded me incredible opportunities in education and my career, and I owe a debt of gratitude to this country and to serve as prime minister would be the greatest honor.”

Sunak, 42, son-in-law of Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy was long seen as a probable candidate for the post of Prime Minister, mainly because of his famous grants and job-saving schemes during the COVID pandemic lockdowns. But recently his popularity has decreased because of the high cost of living and he didn’t feel sorry to raise certain taxes to cope with the challenging economic times. Although Sunak has not yet announced an official leadership bid, he is hugely expected to run and is considered to be leading the race.

On Friday, the G20 meeting was held in Bali, Indonesia with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Finance Minister Sergei Lavrov. the top diplomates attended the meeting of the Group of 20 foreign ministers for the first time since the Russian Invasion.

Meetings between Moscow and Western nations are expected to produce tense exchanges but no direct meetings are expected between the diplomats.  It is believed that Washington is looking for significant backing from the major economies around the globe to put pressure on Moscow.

A senior US official said, “It clearly can not be business as usual when it comes to Russia’s involvement and engagement in enterprises like the G20”.

As part of his visit to Bali, Blinken will meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for the first time in months after tensions over Taiwan strained relations.

In addition to the war’s impact on food and energy security, the G20 will look at how the global economy will recover from the Coronavirus pandemic and the consequences of climate change. Nonetheless, Blinken will avoid a direct meeting with Lavrov, instead blaming Moscow for causing global food and energy crises.

S Jaishankar, India’s External Affairs Minister, held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Bali on Thursday with the center of interest on “specific outstanding issues”.

The talks took place on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Summit, which is being held in Bali on July 7-8, 2022. One of the key topics discussed was the fight involving the eastern Ladakh border. Jaishankar tweeted, “Began my day in Bali by meeting FM Wang Yi of China. The discussion lasted one hour. Focused on specific outstanding issues in our bilateral relationship pertaining to the border situation. Also, spoke about other matters including students and flights”

 Jaishankar is also expected to hold discussions with his counterparts from other G20 member countries and invited countries. The MEA said that Jaishankar’s participation in the G20 Foreign ministers’ meeting would “strengthen India’s engagement with G20 member states”.

 The last time both foreign ministers met was on March 24 and 25, when Wang visited India. In May, India and China held diplomatic talks on the border controversy and agreed to conduct the next round of the Senior Commanders’ meeting as soon as possible to attain complete withdrawal from all friction points in eastern Ladakh. However, they haven’t yet decided on the military talks.

Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai arrived for a four-day visit to Singapore on Wednesday (July 6).

The Mongolian leader, who was invited by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, was received at Changi Airport by human resource Minister Tan See Leng.

An official welcome ceremony will be held in his honor at Istana on Friday, and PM Lee will host an official lunch with him.

During his trip, he will meet Minister for Communications and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Josephine Teo, and get information from Singapore agencies like the Central Provident Fund Board and the Housing Board.

Mr. Oyun-Erdene, who is visiting Singapore along with other Mongolian ministers, MPs, and senior officials, will also stop by the Singapore City Gallery and have a new orchid hybrid named in his honor. He is scheduled to have a meeting with the Temasek Foundation at Temasek Shophouse on Thursday morning. Later in the day, he and his delegation are invited to a private dinner by Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, where they are expected to sign two memorandums of understanding.

Singapore and Mongolia established diplomatic ties in 1970. In July 2016, PM Lee visited Mongolia, making it the first official visit by a Singapore prime minister to Mongolia.

On Wednesday, Music maestro Ilaiyaraaja from Tamil Nadu, sports icon P T Usha from Kerala, acclaimed screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad, Telangana, and philanthropist and spiritual leader Veerendra Heggade from Karnataka were nominated to the Rajya Sabha. All the nominees have been recognized nationally and globally for their respective career achievements.

Post-retirement, PT Usha has started Usha School of Athletics where she is training 1– national and international-level athletes. Mr. Prasad has been associated with the creative world meanwhile, Mr. Heggade is the Dharmadhikari of the Dharmasthala Temple for decades and has established 

Prime Minister Modi Tweeted for all the nominees individually. For Ilaiyaraaja he tweeted, “The creative genius of @ilaiyaraaja Ji has enthralled people across generations. His works beautifully reflect many emotions. What is equally inspiring in his journey- he rose from a humble background and achieved so much. Glad that he has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha”.

The nomination came a day before Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of BJP and RCP Singh of JD (U) will resign from the Union Cabinet which signals a political message as the ruling BJP has nominated all-new RS candidates from southern states, as their next growth. Their Rajya Sabha term is ending on Thursday.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday declared Colombo is planning to organize an international donor’s conference counting in three big Asian economies–India, China, and Japan–to breathe new life into the wilting economy.

Wickremesinghe, while speaking in Parliament, stated, “After obtaining the staff-level agreement, we will organize a donor-aid conference by bringing together the friendly countries that provide us with loan assistance, such as India, China, and Japan. We hope to create a system where we can get loan assistance through a common agreement.”

Sri Lanka will be only the second South Asian country to organize an international donor meet, the first being Afghanistan. By August, the country will hand over a debt restructuring program to the IMF to secure a bailout package.

Sri Lanka is going through the most serious economic crisis since its independence and needs to gain at least $ four billion to sustain the acute shortage in foreign exchange reserves. The main issue is the fuel and food crisis, which got worse because of the recent global crisis.

India has given aid to Lanka for more than $3.5 billion in 2022 and is going to send fresh consignments of fuel to the capital this month.