Category: Politics

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.

On Monday, the United Kingdom’s trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan and her counter South Korean counterpart Yeo Han-Koo will sign a deal to reinforce pandemic-damage supply lines for major projects like semiconductors in London.

The upcoming meeting is a precursor to formal negotiations. They are expected to commence by the end of the year to improve the existing agreement which will effectively keep in place the term that Britain had as an EU member.

The ministers will also begin work on a revised trade agreement as Britain seeks to use its exit from the European Union to strengthen ties with faster-growing economies in Asia and the Pacific.

Trevelyan said in a statement, “This is our Indo-Pacific tilt in action-strengthening ties with one of the largest economies in the world”. Before the meeting, the delegation is scheduled will try to improve the supply chain resilience in the face of global disruption caused due to pandemics. This has hampered the production costs and fuelling inflation which is considered as the highest in 30 years in Britain.

According to Britain, it wants to ensure the flowing of critical good between the two nations.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris is expected to meet India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday. A recent credit line of USD 500 million has already been approved for the island nation. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Peiris will visit India from February 6 to February 8.

Foreign ministers from both countries are likely to discuss how to expand bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas, such as trade and investment.

On Monday, Harsh Vardhan Shringla will also meet with the dignitary, according to the MEA. In a move to assist Sri Lanka with its petroleum product purchases, India provided the island nation with a USD 500 million credit line (one million equals Rs 10 lakhs).

After a virtual meeting between Jaishankar and Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on January 15, India announced its assistance to Colombo of USD 500 million.

Talks are likely to include the contentious fishing issue as well.

56 Indian fishermen were released by Sri Lankan authorities on January 25. Last month, the island nation signed a deal to redevelop around 75 oil tanks in Trincomalee with the Sri Lankan affiliate of Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC), Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), and the joint venture between LIOC and CPC.

During the first trip to Asia as president, Joe Biden will stop at several stops, including a summit with three key regional allies in Japan this spring.

According to the US official, Biden accepted an invitation to visit Japan in spring to attend the summit of the Quad which consists of Japan, Australia, India, and the United States. However, the officials said that the details are still being worked out.

The trip is roughly planned in May as keeping the concern over China and North Korea on top of the agenda as Washington was looking into having Biden visit South Korea at the same time.

The senior U.S. official said, “The President will travel later this year to Tokyo for the Quad Summit, as part of our commitment to regularize our engagement through the Quad, which continues to operate at full speed”.

During the visit, the administration plans to launch a new Pacific Island initiative along with allies and partners that will bring together regional countries to drive resources, coordinate their actions and raise their ambition in the region including maritime, climate, and transportation issues.