Category: Politics

On Thursday, Australia announced the pursuit of nuclear submarines and the start of the AUKUS cooperation group between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, aimed at promoting information exchange and further cooperation between Canberra’s strategic partners.

This deal is likely to have serious consequences for Canberra’s neighbors, especially Indonesia. The Australia-Indonesia relationship has continued to grow despite periodic disruptions. On September 9, both sets of foreign and defense ministers met in Jakarta for the seventh “2+2” meeting to upgrade the bilateral agreements, the announcement for the new initiatives, and pledging to uphold regional order.

Jakarta’s major concern regarding the submarines is their impact on the military balance in the region. The submarines could not only undertake long-endurance, high-speed, stealth operations but they could also be equipped with advanced missile systems. On Friday, According to Indonesia’s government statement, the decision on submarines was viewed carefully, and the government was “deeply concerned over the continued arms race and power projection in the region.”

The Chinese navy has remained a threat. Jakarta has observed Beijing’s use of not just white but grey hulls against the Philippines and Vietnam.

The US has ruled out including India or Japan in the newly formed trilateral security partnership with Australia and Britain. The Indo-Pacific region is ready to face the challenges of the 21st century.

The joint formation of the trilateral security alliance AUKUS was announced on September 15 by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and British Prime Minister Borris Johnson. The AUKUS alliance allows Australia to get a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for the first time.

On Wednesday, at a press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the announcement of AUKUS last week was not to be an indication, and she thinks that it was the same as the President also sent to Emmanuel Macron. The message was that there is no one else who will be involved in security in the Indo-Pacific.

The Quad leader will be in Washington this week for the first summit which comprises India, the US, Japan, and Australia.

China was seen condemning the decision of the trilateral alliance and said that the alliance will have no future. It was also said that it will affect the international non-proliferation efforts and aggravate the arms race.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held a meeting of its ministers that was scheduled in New York. According to a source on Saturday, the meeting is a sideline of the high-level 76th United Nations General Assembly session that was canceled.

The member-states reportedly disagreed on Afghanistan’s participation with Pakistan’s support. Pakistan insisted that the Taliban should be allowed to represent Afghanistan. With the disapproval of the proposal, India and other members objected that led the meeting to be annulled. Nepal was the host for the meeting that saw a lack of consensus or concurrence. The new government formed in Afghanistan is still unrecognized by India and the world. Taliban’s top ministers are also blacklisted by the UN. The acting foreign minister of the Taliban, Amir Muttaqi led the government and is unlikely to attend any UN and affiliated meetings. On September 27, the Taliban captured Afghanistan is scheduled to give the last speech on the final day of the high-level meeting.

At the SCO meeting last week, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi warned the world and asked to think before accepting or recognizing the regime. He said the Taliban is a non-inclusive government.

On Tuesday, the United States President Joe Biden in the UN General Assembly used his first address to declare that the world stands at an “inflection point in history”. He said that it needs to move quickly and cooperatively to address the festering issues of the pandemic, climate change, and human rights abuse.

Biden asserted that the US is “not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs” amid the growing China tensions. He did not mention China directly but acknowledged increasing concerns regarding the growing tensions between the two nations. The president of the UN General Assembly noted Biden’s point of view in regard to null nation’s longest war and shifted the US attention to intensive diplomacy without the lack of crises faced across the globe. He earlier said that “to deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world”.

On Monday, the President arrived in New York to meet with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. He has expressed vigorously about the body’s relevance and goals at a difficult moment in history. He was seen returning to his mantra that “America is Back” which was his promise to take a dramatically different track with allies than Trump.

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was raised to power again but failed to gain majority seats. The party got the most seats as compared to other parties but the results were similar to the election two years back.

The party was leading with 157 seats which were the same as their win in 2019. According to a report, they were short by 170 seats to win a majority in the House of Commons. With 121 seats, the conservatives were elected which was again similar to their number in 2019. With 29 seats, the leftist New Democrats were leading with a gain of five seats. Quebec-based Bloc Qu b cois lost three seats and were at 28 whereas the Greens remained at two seats.

It was an uphill battle for Trudeau as his administration is showing signs of fatigue after staying in power for six years. According to Trudeau, the Conservative’s approach towards the Pandemic could have been dangerous as they were skeptical about the vaccine mandates and lockdowns.

In his winning Tweet, he thanked Canada for their votes and putting trust in his team, and choosing for a brighter future. He promised to end the fight against the COVID and move Canada forward for everyone.

The Philippines is encouraging the United States, Britain, and Australia to form a new defense partnership. It hopes that it will help to maintain a power balance in the Indo-Pacific region. This view contrasts sharply with that of some of its neighbors.

The AUKUS deal is the alliance with Australia to get the technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines as part of the agreement intended to respond to growing Chinese power. On Tuesday, Philippines Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said in a statement that the enhancement of a near-abroad ally’s ability to project power will be restored and will maintain the balance rather than destabilize it. The Minister’s remark differs from the stance of Indonesia and Malaysia as he sounds alarmed about the nuclear power submarines. According to him, this will lead to growing rivalries between Southeast Asian superpowers.

Locsin believes omitting the presence of nuclear weapons, the AUKUS move will not violate the 1995 treaty to keep nuclear arms out of Southeast Asia. It continues to be a source of tension as western allies regularly conduct “freedom of navigation” operations to which China has reacted angrily. China claims the waters as its own and conflicts with other coastal states like the Philippines and Vietnam that have accused China of harassing fishermen and energy activities.

Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the United States this week. He is scheduled to arrive on September 22 in Washington DC followed by the meeting with the top US CEOs next morning. He has a marathon schedule and will hold a series of high high-profile meetings.

Modi’s meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook is also on the cards. After conducting back-to-back meetings with top business experts, the Prime Minister is also expected to meet the US Vice President Kamala Harris. According to the officials, the meetings are yet to be confirmed and the details are omitted.

On the same day, Mr. Modi might also have meetings with the Australian Prime Minister Scot Morrison and Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga. This will be the first physical bilateral meeting for PM Modi with US President Joe Biden. It will also be the first in-person Quad leader’s summit on September 24 in Washington.

During the PM’s visit to the country, a dinner is organized. He is likely to meet UK’s Prime Minister Borris Johnson as his visit coincides with PM Modi’s visit to Washington. After the meeting, he will head to New York to deliver a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting scheduled for this week between the Defence Minister Florence Parly and her British counterpart Ben Wallace was canceled by France amid the submarine row. The conclusion was the aftermath of the US, Australia and UK sparked a full-blown diplomatic crisis with France. They announced a strategic partnership in which US nuclear submarines will be supplied to Australia sidelining France.

Outrage erupted last week in Paris over Australia’s decision to scrap a nuclear-powered submarine contract with France. UK’s former British ambassador to France, Lord Ricketts who was supposed to co-chair the two-day talk confirmed the call off and said that the meeting in London this week will not take place due to France canceling the same. He also added that the meeting is postponed to a later date. James Cleverly, Foreign Office minister said that all bilateral relationships go through a period of tension but he has no doubt that ultimately their relationship with France will endure.

Last week the Aukus agreement broke and was widely seen as an effort to counter China’s influence in the contested South China Sea. The deal ended which was worth $37 billion signed by Australia in 2016 for France to build 12 conventional submarines.

According to an independent investigation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva manipulated a report at the World Bank to avoid angering China during her previous job. In the 2018 and 2020 editions, the World Bank announced that it was immediately discontinuing its Doing Business report after the found irregularities in the investigation.

In October 2019, Georgieva took the helm of IMF, disagreed with its conclusions regarding her role.  In her statement, she said that she fundamentally disagrees with the findings and interpretations of the Investigation of Data Irregularities. She said it relates to her role in the World Bank’s Doing Business report of 2018.     

Her reputation is getting hampered by the allegation and those in the US who have long criticized multilateral organizations and their treatment of China may find grist for their mills. The situation was addressed to the IMF board by Georgieva. However, it is unclear when the board will meet and discuss the issue.

The US Treasury said in a statement that ‘these findings are serious’ findings and are ‘analyzing the report’. He further added that their primary responsibility is to uphold the integrity of the international financial institutions.

Georgieva, a Bulgarian national who took the helm of the IMF in October 2019, rejected its conclusions regarding her role.

On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi will lead the Indian delegation and address a plenary session at the meeting of the Council of Head of State at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Dushanbe. The meeting is scheduled to be held virtually.

For the first time, the 21st meeting of the SCO Council of Head of State will be held in a hybrid format. It will be chaired by Tajikistan President Emmomali Rahmon. This will be India’s fourth summit where it will participate as a full-fledged member of SCO. On Wednesday, in a statement, the ministry of external affairs said that the summit will be attended by the leaders of SCO member states, secretary-general of the SCO, executive director of the SCO, observer states, Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure(RATS) along with the President of Turkmenistan.

In Tajikistan’s capital, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar will represent India in a key meeting at the summit. This year at the SCO meeting he is expected to confine a series of bilateral discussions with his counterparts from Iran, Tajikistan, and Russia. The conversation is likely to revolve around the situation in Afghanistan and its impact on regional security.