Category: Politics

On Saturday, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed delivered a message from Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on easy to strengthen bilateral relations.

At the Dubai Expo 2020, Robert Borje, Duterte’s special envoy and assistant on foreign affairs, conveyed the message to UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. Both parties discussed joint cooperation and multiple issues of common interest. Malina’s participation at Expo 202 and its role in enhancing joint cooperation among the two nations in various fields like industry and trade was also reviewed.

Robert Borje was impressed by the organization of Expo 2020, Dubai which provided an important global platform to create opportunities for cooperation and state partnerships. The expo 202 managed to drew wide participation from nearly 192 countries.

According to Borje, the Philippines was keen to elevate the joint cooperation in all the fields with UAE and praised its leading regional and international position.

UAE minister of state for international cooperation and director-general of Expo 2020 Dubai, Reem Al-Hashimi also attended the meeting.

On Friday, the Philippines celebrated its National Day at the Dubai 2020 Expo along with a host of activities marketing the country’s strong ties with the UAE.

On Sunday, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was re-elected as the president for the second term of five years by a special parliamentary assembly.

Ahead of the election, Steinmeier was endorsed by very influential political parties for the largely ceremonial head of state. With a big majority by a special assembly made up of parliament members of the lower house and 16 German states representatives, the president was elected.

66-year-old Steinmeier has served two stints as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign minister before becoming the president in 2017 and was chief of staff to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Steinmeier facilitated a coalition government in 2017 instead of waiting for a fresh vote following a messy parliamentary election result. Although Germany’s president has little executive power, he is considered an important moral authority.

He became known as a moral compass during his first presidential term, urging people to get vaccinations against the Coronavirus and speaking out against extremism and violence.

Post-election in a special assembly, Steinmeier said, “My responsibility is for all the people who live in our country. Non-partisan, yes – but I am not neutral when it comes to the cause of democracy. Whoever fights for democracy will have me on his side. Whoever attracts it will have me as an opponent”.

The Indian government grants the implementation of a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, modeled after the Aadhaar card.

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has decided to prioritize implementation of the Framework as a national-level program under the Rajapaksa administration

According to a statement released in media by the Department of Government Information stated the under the proposed Unitary Digital Identity Framework, it is anticipated to establish a personal identity verification device based on biometric data, a digital tool that will represent the identities of individuals in cyberspace. This identity can be accurately verified in the digital and physical environments by combining the two devices.

In December 2019, President Gotabaya Rajapaksha and Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed the bilateral talks. The Sri Lankan cabinet approved Mr. Rajapaksa’s proposal to sign a Memorandum of Understanding along with India, in order to obtain the grant and move the project forward. The announcement also comes in the midst of considerable economic assistance from India – a total of $1.4 billion since the beginning of this year – to Sri Lanka, to help it cope with a dollar shortage and import food, medicines, and fuel amid frequent shortages.

On Thursday, Indian External Minister Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar will begin his visit to Australia. He will be attending the Quad meeting (India, Austalia, Japan, United states) of the Foreign Ministers. He will be discussing vaccines, technology, and regional security issues, including China.

During Mr. Jaishankar’s first visit to Australia as EAM, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the meeting will the four minister and will exchange their views on regional strategic issues. They will give their hsharedf vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

He said, “The Ministers will review ongoing Quad cooperation and build on the positive and constructive agenda annpounced by the Leaders at the two Summits in 2021, to address contemporary challenges such as the COVID pandemic, critical technologies, infrastrucutre, climate change etc”.

The quad foreign ministers meet has been expected to lay the foundation for the second quad leaders summit which may take place in the summer. The first meeting which took place in Washington, September last year brought in a positive approach regarding the Grouping with respect to collaborating on vaccines and various other topics of prime importance.

The four countries will collaborate and vow to donate 1.2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses globally and produce 1 billion doses by 2022 year end. Developing and enhancing 5g technology is the prime agenda which would be focussed along with setting and upgrading technical standards and technology supply chains.

Post the success of BrahMos with the Philippines, India is eyeing a debut contract for LCA Tejas fighter jets with Malaysia.

One of the ASEAN nations, Malaysia, is evaluating its option to buy the light fighter jets. Designed by Aeronautical Development Agency, Tejas was manufactured by the HAL in India for the IAF and Navy. The fighter jet Tejas is considered as one of the lightest supersonic fighters in the world and it has the capability to carry beyond visual range, air-to-air, air-to-surface, standoff weapons, and precision-guided.

Even though the LCA Tejas has already proven its mettle and flying skills in Dubai last year, the Singapore air show becomes significant because Malaysia will be watching it closely.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) is also competing with Turkey’s Hurjet to buy the Tejas from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Tejas had displayed breathtaking aerial maneuvers at the Dubai Air Show which has captured the audience’s attention.

The IAF said in its demonstration at Dubai, “The aircraft maneuvered effortlessly, showing off its agility and its versatility”. He further added that it proves the platform has made rapid progress in recent years.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says Europe offers the continent the “most reliable” partnership as China and Russia court impoverished and vulnerable African with offers of security or loans.

The chief further added in an interview with AFP ahead of a visit to Senegal that she will use the trip to unveil the first African scheme with a new investment scheme dubbed Global Gateway. The Global Gateway initiative is the EU’s response to China’s Belt and Road initiative, with the aim of mobilizing investments of nearly 300 billion euros ($340bn) for the public and private infrastructure on a global platform.

On Wednesday, the president of the EU’s powerful executive arrived in Dakar for preparing for a summit between the EU and African Union on February 17-18.

The chief is also scheduled to meet the Senegalese President Macky Sall. Sall has recently assumed the AU presidency.

She said they need to work more to tackle today’s challenges like climate change or health. She believes the EU and AU need to set their own positive agenda that will directly benefit the growth of their people.

Earlier EU invested 20 billion incontinent, plus loans and guarantees.

On Monday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong welcomed the deepening relations between Saudi Arabia and Singapore. He spoke to the Crown Prince of Saudi, Mohammed bin Salman over the Phone. They discussed the developments in Saudi Arabia during their telephonic conversation.

PM Lee said in his Facebook post, “Our countries celebrate 45 years of diplomatic relations this year, and we welcomed the deepening of relations, including economic cooperation through the Saudi-Singapore Joint Committee”.

He further added that he looks forward to the meeting with Prince Mohammed in person when the situation allows for it. He also expressed his hope that Singapore’s request for an increase in the haj quota will be “favorably considered”. They believe this will be implemented when the international pilgrims for the haj resume.

Last month President Halimah congratulated Saudi Arabia for the successful management of the haj pilgrimage and reiterated the haj quota. In the meeting, Prince Faisal also met Dr. Balakrishnan and Dr. Maliki Osamna, the minister in the Prime Minister’s office and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Education. The views on regional developments in the Middle East and Asia, and agreed there was scope to deepen bilateral cooperation.

In 2020, the Emirati delegation became the first Emiratis to visit Israel’s parliament since the US-brokered normalization of relations.

On Monday, at the Israeli foreign and defense committee, Ali Rashid al-Nuaimi, chairman of the council’s defense interior and foreign affairs committee said, “When we talk about Abraham Accords agreements, we want you to look at the big picture. It’s not a political agreement only, it’s not an issue related to security and defense issues. No, it is an agent of change for the whole region”.

Nuaimi said that following the 11-day Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in 2021 – in which more than 260 Palestinians were killed, questions began to be raised about the Abraham Accords.

The delegation of Emiratis visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, before visiting the Knesset.

Arab countries including the UAE joined the so-called Abraham Accords, a set of diplomatic pacts with Israel arranged by President Trump. Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco followed suit in formalizing their diplomatic relations with Israel.

Palestinians felt their national cause was betrayed by the deals. Among Palestinian leaders, it constituted an abandonment of a longstanding commitment in the Arab world that calls for Israel to withdraw from occupied territory and accept statehood in exchange for normal relations with Arab countries.

On Monday, February 7, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi hosted Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh. The Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project, which is being built on the Nile River, was discussed by the heads of state.

On Monday, the president of Egypt met with his Djiboutian counterpart. It was part of Egypt’s efforts to strengthen African alliances in the midst of a water dispute with Ethiopia. During the Cairo talks, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Ismail Omar Guelleh discussed Ethiopia’s controversial dam on the Nile River’s main tributary. Egypt considers the dam to be an “existential threat.”

Guelleh and his Egyptian counterpart talked about strengthening bilateral relations at all levels. He said in his statement, “We shared our visions and views concerning various topics and issues that are of mutual interest, we also agreed on the importance of taking the relationship between the two countries to new horizons”.

The visit by Guelleh to Cairo comes more than eight months after el-Sissi paid a visit to the national capital of the Horn of Africa. After Djibouti declared independence in 1977, El-Sissi was the first Egyptian head of state to land on its soil.

Qatar’s emir has met the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Winter Olympics in Beijing for the first time since a dispute between Doha and four Arab countries were resolved last year.

As reported on Sunday by Qatar’s state news agency, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday during a lunch hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

There is a video clip of the two Gulf leaders speaking on UAE news websites.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that leaders from Uzbekistan, Ecuador, and Tajikistan attended the gathering in Beijing.

After cutting diplomatic and economic relations with Qatar in mid-2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt agreed in January 2021 to resolve a four-year dispute. The UAE has yet to restore diplomatic relations with Doha.

However, the UAE’s leader had his first official visit to Doha in four years last year, after the bitter dispute was resolved.  In August, the brother of the UAE’s de facto ruler, National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Sheikh Tamim.

Last year, Saudi Arabia and Egypt both appointed ambassadors to Qatar. Except for Bahrain, all have reestablished travel and trade links.