UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will sign a reciprocal access agreement for military officers, said a newspaper report. The leaders are expected to sign the pact during Kishida’s visit to the UK on January 10. The reciprocal access agreement (RAA), which relaxes immigration controls for military officers, aims to strengthen security ties between the two countries to counter rising threats from Russia and China. The two countries are expected to sign the RAA, which would serve as a legal basis for joint exercises and logistics cooperation. An agr
India will host the Voice of Global South Summit on January 12-13. As many as 120 countries are expected to participate in the summit. Ten to 20 countries will be part of one session, and two lead sessions will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vinay Kwatra, the Foreign Secretary of India said on Friday. The Voice of Global South Summit will focus on issues such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, and increasing food, fertilisers, and fuel prices. The Global South largely refers to countries in Asia, Africa and South America. This summit, under the theme
US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss key issues from climate change to critical technologies, including through the Quad (comprising Australia, Japan, India and the US) and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific during Kishida’s visit to the US on January 13. Over the past year, the two leaders have worked closely together to modernise the US-Japan alliance. During the meeting, the leaders will discuss a range of regional and global issues, including North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes, Russian invas
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister of Cyprus Ioannis Kasoulides signed three key agreements in a joint press conference held in Nicosia, Cyprus in December 2022. The leaders signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defence and military cooperation, a letter of intent on Migration and Mobility Partnership – to provide a common framework of arrangement and cooperation to facilitate the mobility of students, academics, business people and professionals and help combat irregular migration – and the framework agreement on International Solar Alliance by Cyp
India is planning to speed up its ambitious plans to convert the strategically located Andaman and Nicobar Islands into a shipping and tourism hub with links to South-East Asia, say news reports. Building links between Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India and Aceh in Indonesia, situated 150 km apart, is part of the Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific signed in 2018 between the two countries. Officials from both the countries in a recent meeting agreed to “encourage sail tourism, cruise ship visits, and interaction between tour operators” to increase connectivity
Croatia adopted the euro as its currency on 1 January 2023. With this, Croatia has officially become the 20th European Union (EU) member state to do so. Beginning Sunday, the euro will gradually replace the kuna as the currency of Croatia, at a conversion rate of 1 euro for 7.53450 Croatian kuna. The two currencies will be used alongside each other for a period of two weeks. When receiving a payment in kuna, the change will be given in euro. The Balkan nation joined the EU nearly a decade ago, but had to wait until now to qualify as a Eurozone country. Croatia has also become a member o
From Monday, January 2, 2023, the United Arab Emirates is offering government employees a year-long paid leave scheme to start their own businesses and become self-employed. UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that the country’s cabinet has approved the initiative with the aim to encourage more businesses. This comes days after the country unveiled a reformed social welfare programme for its local population. “Today, within the Council, we decided on sabbatical leave for citizens working in the government who wish to run their own busines
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced in an end-of-year news conference a new package of measures worth €10 billion ($10.6 billion) to ease the cost of living, including slashing the value-added tax (VAT) on basic foodstuffs. For six months, the Spanish government will reduce VAT on all basic foods from 4% to zero. Pedro Sánchez said the list of such food items includes bread, milk, eggs, cheese, fruit and vegetables, and cereals. VAT on oil and pasta will be reduced from 10% to 5%. The Spanish Prime Minister also unveiled a one-off payment of €200 to families with incomes l
Serbia has released a dedicated stamp to commemorate the 75 years of India's independence. The Post of Serbia released the stamp as a celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ at a special event organised by PTT Museum in Belgrade. The Acting Director of the Post of Serbia, Zoran Djordjevic handed over the stamp to Ambassador Sanjeev Kohli in presence of Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. The First DYPM in his statement noted that 75 years had passed since the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the then Yugoslavia, and the frien
Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" was on Monday sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal for a third time, after he submitted a letter to the President showing the support of 169 members in the 275-member House of Representatives. The 68-year-old leader took the oath of office and secrecy from President Bhandari at an official ceremony at Shital Niwas in Kathmandu. Hours after he walked out of a pre-poll five-party alliance led by Nepali Congress president and outgoing Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) chairman Prachanda joined hands with opponent K P