Category: Politics

On Monday, the first non-Anglo Celtic Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese has sworn in as Australia’s new president ahead of the Tokyo summit with President Biden. He flew to Tokyo while counting and continued to determine whether he will control a majority in a parliament as it demands tougher action on climate change.

In Saturday’s election, Albanese defeated Scott Morrison’s conservative coalition, which was in power for nine years under three prime ministers. Malaysian-born Penny Wong was sworn in as Australia’s first Foreign Minister to be born overseas and Richar Marles as Deputy prime minister. Jima Chalmers and Katy Gallagher swore into economic ministries.

Ministers were sworn into office by Governor-General David Hurley ahead of the Tokyo trip on Tuesday with Mr Biden, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Before the swearing-in ceremony, Anthony Albanese said, “I want to lead a government that has the same sentiment of optimism and hope that I think defines the Australian people.

The party appears assured of 75 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, just one seat short of a majority. According to Australia’s Electoral Commission, the conservative coalition was on track for 58 seats, unaligned lawmakers had 12, and six seats were too close to call.

Officials said on Monday that India and Nepal have agreed to construct a 695 megawatt (MW) hydropower plant. As per a statement released by the NEA spokesperson Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai the Arun IV project will be constructed jointly on the Arun River in Eastern Nepal by India’s Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN NSE 2.20%) Ltd and Nepal’s state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) with payable equity of 51% and 49% respectively.

 India, which has an electricity trading pact with Nepal, is plowing billions of dollars into infrastructure such as hydropower plants as it aims to expand its influence in its neighboring countries, where China plays a dominant part too. Bhattarai told Reuters without elaborating that Nepal will receive 152 megawatts of free electricity from the plant for its consumption and the remaining will be divided between the two on a 51% and 49% basis. He said that the cost of the project is being worked out and they will share the total as per the above ratio.

Nepal is eager to make the most of its plentiful potential to produce clean energy to reduce power shortages.

The power plant agreement is one of the six deals concluded between India and the Himalayan nation during the historic visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal on Monday.

Elisabeth Borne, 61, was appointed France’s new prime minister following the resignation of Prime Minister Jean Castex on Monday, to become only the second woman in the history of France to hold the post. The first woman Prime Minister of France was Edith Cresson, who ruled from 1991 to 1992 under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand. Borne served as the transport minister, minister of Ecological Transition and the labor minister all under President Emmanuel Macron’s previous government.

Soon after her appointment, Borne spoke about how emotional she felt at being selected for the top-most position that a woman has ever held in the political leadership of France. She dedicated her selection to all the “little girls” and persuaded them to chase their dreams and fight for the place of women in society.

The top priority for Borne will be to ensure that Macron’s centrist party and its allies get success in the parliamentary election to be held in the country in June. Macron also assured that his new government would prepare and address a bill, most probably after the parliamentary election, that will look into the high cost of living in France, where the price of food and energy are skyrocketing.

Macron and Borne are expected to appoint the new government in the days to come.

After the demise of UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin al-Nahyan on May 13, his half-brother Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, 61, was unanimously elected as the new president of the United Arab Emirates. The meeting was held between the rulers of the seven sheikhdoms in Abu Dhabi’s Al Mushrif palace where the decision was made to appoint Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan as the third president of the oil-rich country.

 Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, tweeted that all of UAE, including the rulers, pledge allegiance to the new president and congratulated him on his appointment. He added that the entire nation will be led by him and if God wills, the new president will take the country to greater heights and carry on the legacy of his predecessor.

The UAE is observing a state mourning period of three days in which all businesses will remain shut across the country and events halted as a mark of respect to Sheikh Khalifa. Flags flew at half-mast and all Electronic billboards in Dubai flashed the photograph of the late Sheikh.

Sheikh Mohammed was forever the candidate for the post of a president ever since Sheikh Khalifa suffered a stroke in 2014. His tenure is for five years and he can be eligible for re-election after his term ends.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is on a historic 7-day visit to the USA, on a mission to give a talk on bilateral disagreements and strengthen partnerships including America-ASEAN ties that would be significant in offering peace and stability in SE Asia.

The visit goes to show that Vietnam has an important role in casting US-ASEAN ties. At the same time, India-Vietnam collaboration also helps to build up India’s role in ASEAN and therefore avouch Vietnam’s role as a multinational player in shaping foreign policy. Chinh’s visit also gives evidence of the fact that Vietnam can sensibly manage human rights issues. Vietnam, whose GDP growth rate is expected to reach between 6 to 8 percent, is in the making of one of the rising economies in South East Asia.

While addressing the ASEAN–US Special Summit on May 13, the Vietnamese prime minister stated that ASEAN has been working hard in shaping the regional architecture and its members have come forward together and envisioned building an ASEAN community, contributing to peace, growth, and stability. He also said that he hoped the superpowers who have partnered with ASEAN function to build steady relations out of consideration for global peace and safety.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, 73, becomes the 26^th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka amid a severe economic upheaval and financial mayhem that the country is undergoing. Wickremesinghe is now assigned a huge responsibility of helping the country overcome its huge debts and restore political peace and stability.

After the swearing-in ceremony in Colombo, the newly appointed prime minister said that he wanted a closer relationship with India and that he wanted to thank Prime Minister Modi for giving economic aid to Sri Lanka. In the last three months, India has rendered economic assistance to Sri Lanka by giving over 270,000 metric tonnes of diesel and petrol. It also delivered 100 tonnes of nano nitrogen liquid fertilizers and tonnes of ration to Colombo besides the enormous sum of loans.

After weeks of nationwide protests against the political Gotabaya family and Rajapaksa’s followers, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on May 9. The widespread violence resulted in the killing of 9 people and injuring over 200.

India on Thursday said it happily awaited to work with the new Sri Lankan government and that New Delhi would continue to extend its help to the people of the island nation.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said his primary aim was to tackle the economic crisis.

Modi had attended the first virtual Covid Summit in September 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the second virtual Global Covid Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden on May 12 at the invitation of the latter. The summit whose topic is “Preventing Pandemic Fatigue and Prioritising Preparedness’’ aims to get new measures underway that would help face the constant challenges brought by the covid -19 pandemic and build a more robust worldwide health security infrastructure. The session will commence at 6.30 pm and will be telecasted live.

India, keeping WHO at its center is actively working on ways to strengthen and improve the global health security architecture. In the fight against the covid 19 pandemic, India developed affordable local testing technologies, supplied low-cost vaccines and medicines to foreign nations, and provided amenities for health care workers.

The virtual encounter is jointly hosted by the government of Belize as Chair of CARICOM, Indonesia as President of G20, Senegal as Chair of African Union, and Germany as President of G7, respectively. Also, attending the summit will be the United Nation’s Secretary-General, Director General of World Health Organization, and other notable people.

The two neighboring West African countries of Ghana and Togo have started mapping out border markers in order to avoid conflicts and to ensure the protection of both the lands. The initiative will put to rest the long-standing border dispute between the two countries.

On April 14, the national coordinator of Ghana’s Border Commission, Brigadier General Emmanuel Kotia, after paying a visit to the border had stated in a press release that by the end of May 2022, work would start whereby the old decayed pillars that stood as boundary markers would be reconstructed. A joint technical committee set up by both countries is working on it. The African Union’s “Border Program” is funding the reconstruction of the 50 damaged pillars. These measures will clearly define and reaffirm the international borderlines between the two countries and prevent trespassing and illegal cross-border activities across the boundary line.

Kotia had earlier declared that the pillar, whose existing dividing lines have either been corroded, destroyed, or disappeared completely, would be made in four types, whereby each pillar would be extended from the top and bottom by approximately 2m. The new combination of main pillars, intermediary pillars, and boundary-crossing post pillars would have an entirely different look from the old pillars.

On Tuesday, Yoon Suk-Yeol was sworn in as South Korea’s new president. The swearing-in ceremony was celebrated in a huge ceremony at Seoul’s National Assembly.

Yoon Suk-Yeol said, “I solemnly swear before the people that I will faithfully perform the duties of the president”. He promised an “audacious” plan for North Korea and reinforced the South’s democracy and freedom.

The former prosecutor won the election with a slim margin in March by promising to “sternly deal” with the threat posed by Kim Jong Un’s regime. He spoke in front of the parliament calling North Korea’s nuclear weapon program a “threat” to the region.

However, he added that the door to dialogue and peaceful resolution remains open and would like to help improve life in North Korea in return for greater security. He said that if North Korea embarks on a process to complete denuclearization, his government is prepared to work with the international community to present an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea’s economy. According to him. Denuclearization would “greatly contribute to bringing lasting peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and beyond”.

As part of his election campaign, Yoon promised to take a tougher stance against North Korea; a departure from Moon’s approach that had consistently promoted peaceful reconciliation.

On Friday, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal co-chaired the India-Italy Business Roundtable with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi DI Maio. The ministers highlighted both nations undergoing dynamic economic cooperation. The leader acknowledges the bilateral trade between the nations reaching Euro 10 billion in the year 2020-2021.

According to Mr Goyal, this meeting was the first in a series that has been planned between the two nations and looking forward to transformational and exponential growth in their trade relations with Italy.

He said, “India offers the largest business opportunity anywhere in the world as we progress from a USD 3 trillion economy today to a USD 10 trillion economy in ten years to a USD 30 Trillion economy in 20 odd years and to a USD 50 Trillion economy, which I believe we all are committed to, particularly when we see that we still are at the very, very initial stage of development in the country”.

Meanwhile, the Italian Foreign Minister called the Roundtable a “record step” towards shaping the “strategic partnership”. Many Italian companies view India as a “key country” and that India’s market will lead to international growth. Ahead of the round table, both ministers had a one-to-one meeting.