Category: Politics

On August 9, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi will chair an open debate on maritime security at the UN Security Council virtually. For August, India is holding the Presidency of the UN Security Council. India will hold the rotating presidency for UNSC.

Arindam Bagchi who is the spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs informed via his Twitter account that this will be the first time where an Indian Prime Minister will chair an open debate at the UN Security Council. It is Indian’s 8th term as a non-permanent member in the UNSC. This term will be a two-year tenure for India as a non-permanent member. India’s high-level Diplomat Foreign Minister Mr. S Jaishankar will chair his meetings in person.

On Monday, the Indian permanent representative to the UN T S Tirumurti presided over the security council proceeding for the first day. India said it will promote responsible and inclusive solutions to international peace and security after its election to the global body. It even aims to pitch for a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system.

On Sunday the UN Security Council for August was taken over from France and was assumed by India. India will organize three high-level meetings that will focus on priority areas like maritime security, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism.

Indian ambassador T S Tirumurti addressed the UN over a video message about the close and historical relationship of France and India. He also thanked France for all the support they have shown towards India during their stint in the Security Council. He future included their agenda on several important meetings and resolutions on Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, UN Interim Force in Lebanon and the Middle East.

According to New Delhi’s previous UN envoy Syed Akbaruddin, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi might also address the UNSC this month. According to him, Mr. Modi may perhaps preside, albeit virtually for the 1st time in August 2021, which is a council meeting.

On January 1, 2021, India began its 8th term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC. This non-permanent membership will run for two years. The last term for the country as a non-permanent UNSC member was in 2011-2012. The stint also preceded in 1991-1992, 1984-1985, 1977-1978, 1967-1968, and 1950-1951.

Myanmar military ruler Min Aung promises the nation that they are ready to work with any special envoy named by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He further added that his government will have new multi-party elections.

He addressed the nation in a televised interview after six months. The army seized power from the civilian government after the disputed elections won by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party. Aung called them the “extremists” party and accused them of inciting violence within the nation. Min Aung confirms that Myanmar is ready to work within the ASEAN framework and on ASEAN cooperation. This also includes the dialogue with the ASEAN Special Envoy. The foreign ministers of ASEAN are scheduled to meet on Monday, 2nd August. in the meeting, the diplomats will aim to finalize a special envoy. The envoy will be tasked with ending violence and will focus on promoting dialogue between the junta and its opponents.

The military ruler repeated the pledge to restore democracy with a union based on federalism after the army seized power on Feb 1. The military arguments were tainted by frauds after the ruling party won. The number of protestors killed showcased far lower while the members of armed forces have also died in the violence according to the military.

On Wednesday, Pedro Castillo assumed the presidency of Peru. He addressed the nation by stating that its colonial wounds still ran deep and he would seek to heal them. He promised economic stability in his inaugural speech as the president.

His first speech was on the same day as the country’s 200th anniversary since declaring independence from Spain. He said the colonial-era divisions that separated classes and races in Peru remained unharmed. Castillo is the son of a peasant farmer whose journey to the presidency was driven by support from the rural poor. He added the fact in his speech and said it’s the first time that Peru will be governed by a peasant.

He tried to strike a conciliatory tone for investors, pledging to respect private property while establishing clear rules for miners. He was elected in a bitterly divisive election that underscored the inequities between rural and urban Peruvians. The elementary school teacher who was backed by the Marxist party won in the end. It was a razor-thin margin against the conservative U.S.-educated Keiko Fujimori.

Castillo said he will not live in Lima’s government palace known as the ‘House of Pizarro’. It was named after the Spanish conquistador who defeated the Inca Empire five centuries ago.

The first meeting between China and the Taliban was held on Wednesday amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan. Taliban’s delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar had an unplanned visit to China and had talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Ghani termed Beijing as a “trustworthy friend” and assured China that they will not permit anyone to use Afghanistan’s territory for terrorist operations. The meeting was confirmed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian and briefed media about the delegation led by Baradar who met Mr. Wang at the port city Tianjin located close to Beijing. The meeting’s brief was followed by posting the photo of Mr. Wang with Baradar and his delegation.

The visit followed days after Pakistan and China announced plans to launch “joint action” in Afghanistan to drive out terrorist forces. On July 25, the talks were carried out between Mr. Wang and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi at Chengdu in China.

Mr. Wang expressed hope for the Taliban to draw a clear line between themselves and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). Mr. Wang further added that ETIM is a listed terrorist organization that threatens territorial integrity and the common cause of the international community is to fight ETIM. Baradar said he would like to have friendly ties with its neighbors to ensure the environment for income investment and make efforts for a better future.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged his support to World Health Organization’s (WTO) plans for additional research into COVID-19 origins to better understand the Pandemics and prevent future ones. On Wednesday in Kuwait, WTO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met Antony who showed the US’s support when the UN health agency has been under intensifying pressure for a new and more in-depth investigation.

From the Gulf Arab State Antony tweeted about the U.S.’s support into COVID-10 origins, including in (the People’s Republic of China) to better understand the cause. The meeting was not on the US diplomat’s published schedule. The State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken stressed the need for the next phase of the investigation to be timely, transparent, evidence-based, expert-led, and free from interference. He emphasized the importance of international communities to come together in this matter as of critical concern.

The lab leak theory has been repeatedly being denied by Beijing and insisted that it is extremely unlikely, citing the conclusion reached by a joint WHO-Chinese mission in Wuhan. Earlier this month, on the second stage of investigation China, expressed its disappointment and said such a proposal showed “disrespect” and “arrogance towards science”.

On Wednesday, Senior US Deputy Secretary and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister officials restarted talks on easing tensions between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers. The State Department said they agreed to reconvene in September after an informal consultation.

Wendy Sherman and Sergei Ryabkov headed their delegations in the meeting at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva. TASS news agency cited Ryabkov as saying the US showered readiness for constructive dialogue at the talks and he was satisfied with the consultations. It is known that Russia and the US hold 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. They have agreed to launch a bilateral dialogue on strategic stability to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures. The discussions were called “professional and substantive” by the State Department spokesman Ned Price. His statement included the U.S. side of policy priorities where the current international security environment “the prospects for new nuclear arms control” and the format for further talks were discussed.

The two sides are expected to discuss which weapons system and technologies are of greatest concern. Observing this as a violation of a nuclear testing moratorium, the Biden administration has asserted that Russia has engaged unilaterally in nuclear testing.

The United States secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in India on a two-day visit for talks on strengthening Indo-pacific engagement and New Delhi’s human rights record along with other issues. He touched down in New Delhi on Tuesday evening. Antony will hold bilateral talks with foreign minister S. Jaishankar on the situation in Afghanistan and the aftermath of the US troop pullout and global response towards Covid-19.

The top diplomat will meet Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval after assuming the office of the US Secretary of State in the Biden Administration. The agenda for the forthcoming Quad summit in October in the US will also be discussed. India is also eager to buy Predator drones from the US for national security.

India’s Jaishakar and US Blinken have met thrice and had the last meeting in the United States in May. The two leaders spoke on various issues including Covid-19 relief, efforts to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation through the Quad initiative, the security situation in Afghanistan combating climate change were few issues discussed.

On Tuesday, the South Korean presidential office said that North and South Korea restored their cross-border communication lines that had been severed for over a year. The official statement came at 10:00 am local time from the two Koreas’ direct communication hotlines. After North Korea cut off all communication lines in June last year with South Korea due to the protest over Seoul’s supposed failure to stop activists from sending anti- Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into the communist nation. Yonhap reported this issue got solved after a 13 months stalemate in The United State led diplomacy aimed at stripping North Korea of its nuclear weapons.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged personal letters several times since April to communicate about issues. The statement read that Moon and Kim agreed first to restore the severed inter-Korean communication line and also agreed to restore mutual trust and enhance inter-Korean ties at the earliest. The Spokesperson said the resumed inter-Korean communication lines would play a positive role in the improvement and will help the development of the inter-Korean relationship.

Lebanon has finally named a new prime minister after a year-long standoff. Lebanese parliament named billionaire tycoon, Najib Miqati as the new prime minister of Lebanon who led the country twice before. The only hope who can ward off a total economic collapse and save an estimated 2 million people from the brink of poverty.

Protesters had demanded the selection of a figure removed from the political elite who was accused by a state prosecutor in 2019 of embezzlement- a charge he denies and had described as politically motivated.

Lebanon’s financial and economic crisis surged in late 2019 and has worsened over time. Hassan Diab resigned in the wake of a massive explosion at Beirut’s port last august, since then Diab’s cabinet has acted as caretaker capacity compounding Lebanon’s paralysis future. Miqati was nominated after prime minister-designate Saad Hariri lost a protracted tussle for power with the country’s president Michel Aoun. Miqati became the third nominee so far since Hassan Diab’s resignation.

Mohanad Hage Ali who is the communication director of Carnegie Middle East Center showed his disapproval of the corruption allegations against Miqati from last time as they had not been addressed.