On Wednesday, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed a record number of women to the new cabinet. The new federal ministry was into office with a diverse cabinet team that includes religious minorities and indigenous aboriginals. In the Albanese 23-member cabinet, a total of 10 women were included surpassing the seven in the previous cabinet led by Liberal-National coalition leader Scott Morrison. In a ceremony in Canberra, Linda Burney became the first Aboriginal woman to hold the Indigenous Australians ministry, Claire O’Neil as the home affairs and cyber security m
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met US President Joe Biden in her first-ever White House visit and stated that the meeting reflected the kind of relationship that the two countries share "warm, friendly, shared values and shared challenges". This also makes it the first visit to the White House for a New Zealand Prime Minister since 2014. Arden, who met Vice President Kamala Harris before meeting Biden, said that she was pleased with the nature of the discussion that dealt with topics such as trade in the Indo-Pacific to New Zealand's involvement with gun reforms. They also discu
On Friday, India organized a DefExpo in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to expand its defense sector footprints in Africa. A Mini-DefExpo was organized by the Indian High Commission in Dar-es-Salaam led Indian delegation by Anuraj Bajpai, Joint Secretary, Indian Ministry of Defence. The occasion witnessed seven companies from the government and nine companies from the private sector participating. The companies were HAL, BEL, BDL, AVNL, MDL, GRSE, L&T, Ashok Leylands, Bharat Forge, Idea Technology, Tata Advanced System, and Adani Defence, Zen Technology, MKU Ltd, Tunga Aerospace, and AWEIL.
On Wednesday, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was proclaimed as the next president of the Philippines with a huge win with 31 million votes. The joint session of Congress voted for him after 36 years in which his father was ousted from power in a pro-democracy uprising. A huge Philippine flag draped the podium in a plenary hall bedecked with a huge Philippine flag, as the Senate president and the House speaker raised Marcos Jr.'s hands to applause from the audience, which included diplomats. Additionally, both the Senate and House of Representatives declared that his separate vice presidential can
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden launched the technology cooperation initiative and investment initiative at the bilateral meeting in Tokyo. The leaders agreed to expand defense cooperation and welcomed the signing of an investment incentive agreement to focus on healthcare, renewable energy, infrastructure, and other sectors. Defense and security cooperation was described by Modi and Biden as crucial pillars of the bilateral agenda and they agreed to work closely on emerging technologies. This initiative, spearheaded by the National Security Council Secretariat i
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu along with the Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, will visit Israel this week in what seems to be an effort to improve the relationship between the two countries that has seen tensions and stormy ties for more than a decade. Cavusoglu met Palestinian officials on Tuesday and will meet his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, on Wednesday, which will make it the first visit by a Turkish foreign minister in 15 years. The ministers are expected to hold talks on re-establishing ties and enhancing diplomatic links. Relations between Israel and Turkey saw a su
Australia's economy minister on Wednesday urged China to drop the taxing trade tariffs if it wants to improve bilateral relations after Beijing showed interest in fostering ties. China, Australia's biggest trading partner – levied official and unofficial trade sanctions and threw into disorder several big industries such as wine, barley, and coal, as relations between both countries worsened in the last couple of years. Earlier in the week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory note to the newly elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which is considered t
The Quad leaders are set to discuss laying a long-term strategic groundwork to further solidify cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Leaders from India, the United States, Australia and Japan are among the Quad leaders. The leaders of India, the United States, Australia and Japan are expected to show that the group is a "force for global good" and has a unifying commitment to a rules-based international order amidst China's increasing threats. PM Narendra Modi is expected to discuss India's outlook and vision for the Indo-Pacific and ways to boost cooperation in multiple areas, including en
On Monday, the first non-Anglo Celtic Labour Party leader Anthony Albanese has sworn in as Australia’s new president ahead of the Tokyo summit with President Biden. He flew to Tokyo while counting and continued to determine whether he will control a majority in a parliament as it demands tougher action on climate change. In Saturday's election, Albanese defeated Scott Morrison's conservative coalition, which was in power for nine years under three prime ministers. Malaysian-born Penny Wong was sworn in as Australia’s first Foreign Minister to be born overseas and Richar Marles as Deput
Officials said on Monday that India and Nepal have agreed to construct a 695 megawatt (MW) hydropower plant. As per a statement released by the NEA spokesperson Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai the Arun IV project will be constructed jointly on the Arun River in Eastern Nepal by India's Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN NSE 2.20%) Ltd and Nepal's state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) with payable equity of 51% and 49% respectively. India, which has an electricity trading pact with Nepal, is plowing billions of dollars into infrastructure such as hydropower plants as it aims to expand its