Category: Politics

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden sealed an agreement to formally end the US combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021. It has been more than 18 years since US troops have been deployed to the country. The U.S. forces will eventually still operate there in an advisory role.

The decision is seen as a booster for Baghdad after Kadhimi is pressured by Iran-aligned partied and paramilitary groups who oppose the U.S. military role in the country.

The first face-to-face talks between Biden and Kadhimi were held in the Oval Office. Biden addressed the reporters that the US role in Iraq is to be available, to continue to train, to assist, to help, and to deal with ISIS as it arises but they will not be there by the end of the year in a combat mission.

The U.S. mission in the recent year was focused on helping defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The United State will provide $5.2 million to help fund a U.N. mission to monitor October elections in Iraq and also provide five lakh doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine under the global Covax vaccine sharing program.

The latest senior-level meeting between the United State and China saw a war of words to set the narrative. The Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials in Tianjin, China.

Zhao Linjian, spokesperson of the Chinese foreign minister said Chinese officials demanded the US to immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop harming China’s interest and stepping on the red line and warned them to stop playing with the fire. The US and China were trying to gain an advantage to manage the world’s most important bilateral relationship and set the stage for first leaders meeting President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G7 summit in October.

The state department painted Beijing as an international outlier that is subverting international norms and listed China’s genocide in Xinjiang and its refusal to cooperate with an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing officials described the talks as in-depth and frank where he responded with a torrent of condemnation and expressed strong dissatisfaction with Washington’s extremely dangerous China policy. They further accused it of hypocrisy on human rights.

The Deputy Secretary at the same time affirmed the importance of cooperation in areas of the climate crisis, counternarcotics, nonproliferation, and regional concerns including North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, and Burma.

The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephonic conversation with Tunisian President Kais Saied. On Monday, the secretary urged respect for democracy after he sacked the government.

The conversation over the call included top US diplomats who urged Saied to maintain an open dialogue with all political actors and the Tunisian people. They encouraged the President to adhere to the principles of democracy and human rights that are the basis of governance in Tunisia. Blinken promised to support the fight against Covid-19 and help Tunisia’s economy.

On Sunday, the protest that erupted around Tunisia led Saied to dismiss the prime minister and suspend parliament. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tunisia must not squander its democratic gains and the United States will continue to stand on the side of Tunisia’s democracy. He further added that the US was troubled by the closing of media offices and urged scrupulous respect for freedom of expression and over civil rights.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki took side and said it’s too early to blame Said if he had carried out a coup and a legal analysis will be carried out by the State Department.

Talibanese insists there won’t be any peace in Afghanistan until there is a new negotiated government in Kabul. They want President Ashraf Ghani removed from his position. Taliban say they won’t monopolize power and will lay down arms only when a government acceptable to all is formed. The President has often said he will prefer staying inside the office until new elections can determine the next government.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, in an interview with the Associated Press, laid out the insurgent’s stance on what should come next in a country on the precipice. In recent weeks the Taliban has captured territory after the U.S. and NATO soldiers left Afghanistan. While Ghani was in power, the repeated demands for a ceasefire were tantamount to a Taliban surrender. Shaheen added there must be an agreement on a new government before any ceasefire. He wants a government that is acceptable to them and other Afghans.

Mr. Ghani was accused of using Tuesday’s speech on the Islamic holy day of Id-al-Adha to promise an offensive against the Taliban and called Ghani a warmonger. Mr. Ghani was surrounded by allegations of widespread fraud in the 2019 election win. After the vote, both Ghani and his rival Abdullah declared themselves President.

From July 15th, Maldives opened tourism for Indians. The country announced to South Asian travellers for on-arrival tourist visas. Top businessman of Maldives Mohamed Ali Janah said that his country is seeing an economic recovery after the impact of COVID pandemic.

Janah who is the chairman of Hotels and Resort Construction Pvt.Ltd, is currently on an India visit. In his interview with WION, Janah said they are now able to manage things. He further added, on the economic front they were hit very badly. The restaurants, boating, and hotels were largely affected. They had to remain closed for a prolonged period of time.

He said Indian tourists turned out to be saviours as they started going to Maldives for vacations. Since July this year, over one lakh Indians have visited Maldives. In may, Maldives has suspended the entry of tourists after the surge in covid cases in the region amid the second wave of the virus.

Maldives economy largely depends on its tourism industry and was greatly impacted after the virus hit the island. Janah was happy about the recovery and has high hopes for next year and 2023. He felt proud that his country was able to manage the crisis way beyond people’s expectations.

The World Health Organization (WTO) has asked China for an audit of laboratories in areas where the first cases of COVID-19 were identified. The proposed plan was rejected by China. On Thursday, China’s opposition to a probe into the origins of corona virus disease in the second phase was stated as “irresponsible” and “dangerous” by White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

This audit was not found transparent in the first face of its investigation. First cases of COVID-19 were identified in Wuhan. An international team of experts visited Wuhan in January to investigate the origins of sars-cov-2.

They published their report in March this year. The reports showed two most likely scenarios of the virus transmission to the human population. The first scenario showcased the involvement of intermediary host species. However, in lab theory, the hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus to the human population.

Secretary briefed the reporters that it is not a time to be stonewalling each other. She even dismissed the earlier claims by the UN health agency’s proposal marked a change in its stance on the lab leak theory and expressed it to be “extremely unlikely”.

To reshape the post-Brexit arrangement in Northern Ireland, Boris Johnson and Ursula der Leyen have failed to reach an agreement according to the UK’s demand. Ms Von Der Leyen reported to the European Union that the original deal will not be renegotiated.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the European Commission spoke earlier about the change in the Northern Ireland protocol which was suggested by the UK. But the spokesman of Downing Street said the protocol is “unsustainable” and must be changed which was reiterated by PM, as reported to Asia One. During a call on Thursday, Borison requested German Chancellor Angela Merkel to consider “significant changes” of the agreement.

In 2019 the EU and UK agreed to Northern Ireland Protocol as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Asia News stated that the agreement was to prevent the hard border in Ireland by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for good. In the Brexit divorce bill, the border checks imposed on goods from Great Britain had proved to be unworkable. The UK’s Brexit minister Lord Frost on Wednesday, set out a new set of demands to re-shape the agreement.

Ms. Von Der Leyen added that they are ready to be creative and flexible within the protocol framework but will not renegotiate.

Foreign Ministry’s head of African calls the return of Israel to the 55-state pan-African organization as an extremely important political recognition. On Wednesday, the African Union said that it would readmit Israel as an observer country. According to news Asia One, after 19 years it was ousted from 55-nation pan African due to pressure by then-Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

The Israeli officials have been trying since 2002 to push for a seat in the African Union since its suspension. This news was warmly welcomed in Jerusalem and called it a day of celebration for Israel-Africa relations. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid added it as a “diplomatic achievement” that will help them strengthen their activities within the continent and the member states of the organization, Asia One stated. In recent years Israel tried to join the union twice without any success.

Israel’s newfound observer status will not only give them “political recognition” but also opens up the possibility of increased cooperation with the member nations of a variety of economic and security issues. Ben-Nun told Haaretz that it will help bring Israel closer to the few remaining African states with which they don’t have any diplomatic ties. 

Israel is eagerly waiting for this relationship to be established and start to cooperate in other areas of the fight against the coronavirus and the prevention of the spread of extremist terrorism throughout the continent.

A recent official notice announcingon July 22, the closure of Potala indicated a visit by high-level dignitaries, but the fact that Xi was visiting caught many observers off guard.

According to Asia One News given by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), Chinese president Xi Jinping paid an unannounced visit to Tibet. On Thursday, Xi was seen addressing people in the city of Nyingtri in a video clip shared on social media. President Xi Jinping was seen facing the “Monument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet ” in front of the Potala Palace. It’s the traditional winter residence of the Dalai Lama where he stepped out of a shop in the Barkhor area in Lhasa and gave remarks to the public. 

Asia News reported on July 20 that ICT was informed by a source that Xi first landed at Mainling airport in Nyingtri, in southeast Tibet. Xi said that 10 years ago when he came as the head of the Chinese government’s delegation to mark the 60th anniversary of the 17 Point Agreement, he had gone to Lhasa first. He further added that this time he came to meet the people in Nyingtri first, telling them that not even a single ethnic group will be left behind in the efforts to fully build a modern socialist China.

On Tuesday, the UK condemned Brussels of refusing to communicate in the “real world” and trying to discredit British sovereignty in the Brexit debate over Gibraltar. 

Commissioners from the EU outlined right to close checks on persons and products at the border crossing between Spain and Gibraltar during a meeting in the EU capital. However, the plan’s specifics enraged London, with foreign secretary Dominic Raab accusing the EU of breaking past agreements.

The law is serious and states that Spain is attempting to expand its authority into Iberian territory, which has long been a source of friction between the two countries.

The United Kingdom is apprehensive that the EU talks agenda has yet to be announced but has been leaked and released to the Spanish press. They said it contains proposals for Spanish officials to conduct border checks at ports and airports.

The British government wants EU border agency Frontex to conduct the inspections. This is being done in view of its concern over delegating administration to Spain that would appear to be a concession to Spanish control over the island.

The territory’s chief minister Fabian Picardo said, “The draft EU mandate is a matter for them, of course. But I must say that on the basis of the current draft, there is no possibility of this forming the basis for an agreement.

“We will work closely with the United Kingdom, especially foreign secretary Dominic Raab, to continue to seek the best possible outcomes for Gibraltar.”