General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2016

Mar 2016

Dec 13, 2019

Human Rights Not Part of 2+2 Talks, But J&K to Come Up: US

As per the Trump administration's point person for South Asia, human rights issues aren't part of the second India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue in Washington next week though Kashmir-related matters and India's threat perceptions are expected to be on the agenda.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will meet their US counterparts Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo in Washington next week for a comprehensive review of cross-cutting foreign policy, defence and security issues.
During the meeting, the two sides are expected to sign the Industrial Security Annex (ISA), which will allow US companies to share sensitive proprietary technology with Indian private firms and not just state-owned partners, marking another milestone in the growing partnership.

Trump Says US and China Very Close To Trade Deal

Wall Street share markets hit a record high on signs of an imminent pause in the trade war between the US and China.
Business chiefs who met White House officials hinted that a deal could come this week.
It would avert another round of tariffs that the US was due to impose on China.
President Donald Trump has been meeting his trade advisers, and tweeted earlier that the US and China were very close to a deal.
"They want it and so do we!" he wrote.
The US has reportedly offered to halve tariff rates on about $350bn worth of Chinese goods, some of which had climbed as high as 25%. In exchange, China would commit to boost its purchases of US agricultural products.
However, the so-called Phase One deal is not expected to address many of the more difficult issues that triggered the fight, like China's subsidies for certain industries.

Gotabaya Assures Media Freedom under His Govt.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assured that media freedom will not be hindered in any form during his tenure.
His assurance came amid concerns among sections over media freedom in Sri Lanka after the November 2019 presidential election. Several journalists and dissidents in Sri Lanka were targeted in the past.

Spain's King Tells Sanchez to Form New Government

Spain's King Felipe VI tasked acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez with forming a new government even though he lacks support from other parties to form a workable majority in parliament.
After meeting party representatives at the royal palace, as is the norm after an election, the king had formally asked the Socialist leader to attempt to form a government with enough backing the assembly to govern.
His Socialists won 120 seats in the 350-seat parliament - three fewer than it won in April - in a repeat general election on November 10, 2019 that saw far-right party Vox surge to third place.
Two days after the election, the Socialists signed an agreement with the hard-left party Podemos, which won 35 seats, to form a coalition government in what would be the first such power-sharing deal in Spain's modern history.
But to achieve an absolute majority of 176 seats required to win a confidence vote and be sworn in for another term, Sanchez still needs the support of several smaller parties including Catalan separatists ERC, which won 13 seats in last month's polls.

Bangladesh Ministers Call off Visits

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A. K. Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan called off visits to India hours after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, or CAB, which has generated concern and debate in the neighbouring country.
Officially, Dhaka attributed Momen's decision to his participation in events related to Victory Day, observed on December 16 to commemorate the surrender of Pakistani forces in the 1971 war of liberation and Bangladesh's emergence as an independent state.

Dec 12, 2019

US Suspends Training of Saudis

The US suspended flight training for Saudi military personnel in light of the shooting at a Florida naval facility by a Saudi Royal Air Force lieutenant. Pentagon called the move a "safety stand-down" measure. It will affect 900 Saudi military students across the US.

Suu Kyi Denies Myanmar Genocide Allegations at ICJ

Myanmar's former pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi denied that her country's armed forces committed genocide against the Rohingya minority, telling the U.N.'s top court that the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Muslims was the unfortunate result of a battle with insurgents.
Ms. Suu Kyi calmly refuted allegations that the army had killed civilians, raped women and torched houses in 2017 in what Myanmar's accusers describe as a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide that saw more than 700,00 Rohingya flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.
She said that the allegations stem from an internal armed conflict started by coordinated and comprehensive armed attacks to which Myanmar's defence services responded. Tragically, this armed conflict led to the exodus of several hundred thousand Muslims.
As per Ms. Suu Kyi, the African nation of Gambia, which brought the legal action against Myanmar on behalf of the 57-country Organization of Islamic Cooperation, had provided "an incomplete and misleading factual picture" of what happened in Rakhine state in August 2017.

China Jailed More Journalists than Any Other Country

A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) showed that China imprisoned at least 48 journalists in 2019, more than any other country, displacing Turkey as the most oppressive place for the profession.
According to the report, which the committee compiles annually, at least 250 journalists were imprisoned worldwide in 2019. The total last year (2018) was 255.
China's total rose by one since last year. The report noted that the number has steadily increased since President Xi Jinping consolidated political control of the country.

Boris Seeks Brexit Win as U.K. Votes

As per reports, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks on course to win election though the race has tightened markedly and he can no longer be sure of a majority.
The December 12 election has been described by all parties as Britain's most important in memory, with Johnson calling for a big majority so he can swiftly pull Britain out of the EU.
The main opposition Labour Party promises a new referendum on Brexit and a renationalisation of utilities and railroads in its most left-wing platform for decades.

Bougainville Votes to Become World's Newest Country

The South Pacific region of Bougainville voted overwhelmingly to become the world's newest nation by gaining independence from Papua New Guinea.
Bougainville Referendum Commission Chairman Bertie Ahern announced that more than 98% of valid ballots favored independence. The other option in the vote was greater autonomy from Papua New Guinea.
The referendum is nonbinding, and independence will need to be negotiated between leaders from Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. The final say would then go to lawmakers in the Papua New Guinea Parliament. The process of becoming a separate nation could take years to achieve.

Dec 11, 2019

US Panel for Sanctions over CAB

A US commission that monitors religious freedom across the world has asked the Trump administration to consider sanctions against India's leadership if a controversial citizenship bill is approved by Parliament, prompting New Delhi to say that the panel is prejudiced and has no locus standi in the matter.
Soon after the Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) 2019 that aims to grant citizenship to religious minorities from three Muslim-majority countries in India's neighbourhood, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said on Tuesday it was deeply troubled by the development because of the "religion criterion in the bill".

Russia and Ukraine Agree to Swap Prisoners

The leaders of Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine by the end of the year, but left thorny questions about the region's status unresolved in their first face-to-face meeting.
Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent nine hours in discussions in Paris in a summit brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Russia Awaits Modi's Participation in Moscow Parade 2020

According to Russian Federation Ambassador to India Nikolay Rishatovich Kudashev, Russia was well-prepared to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian troops at the 75th anniversary of the "victory in the great patriotic war" parade in Moscow on May 9, 2020.
Participating in the 72nd International Human Rights Day celebrations under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment here, Kudashev said that Russia wants to further elevate its cooperation with India to new heights in 2020 "which is an extraordinary year due to many reasons".

Dec 10, 2019

Sri Lankan Group Wants Bill to Include Tamil Hindus

A group of Tamil Hindus criticised the government for what it called the overlooking of Hindus from Sri Lanka from the list of persecuted minorities who will be able to seek citizenship in India.
Maravanpulavu K. Sachitananthan, leader of the Sri Lankan Shiva Senai, a group of Hindus in the island nation, said that the situation for Hindus in Sri Lanka was not different from their situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. But the bill has conveniently ignored the 10,000-year-old history of the Hindus in Sri Lanka.

Putin and Zelensky Sit Down for Peace Talks for the First

President Vladimir Putin of Russia met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine for the first time at a summit in Paris to try to end five years of war between Ukrainian troops and Moscow-backed separatists.
Both sat down at the French presidential palace along with the leaders of France and Germany for talks focused on reviving a 2015 peace agreement for eastern Ukraine that has largely stalled. Since 2014, the war has killed 14,000 people, emboldened the Kremlin and reshaped European geopolitics.

Yemen Peace Deal Deadline Expires

The Yemeni government and southern separatists have failed to meet a deadline to establish a power-sharing government, an ominous sign for hopes of a wider deal to end years of war.
The Riyadh Agreement signed on November 5, 2019 stipulated the creation within 30 days of a new 24-member cabinet.

Dec 09, 2019

N. Korea Conducts Very Important Test

North Korea carried out a very important test at its Sohae satellite launch site, a rocket testing ground that US officials once said Pyongyang had promised to close.
The reported test comes as a year-end deadline North Korea had imposed nears, warning it could take a "new path" amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States.
South Korea's defence ministry said that South Korea and the United States are cooperating closely in monitoring activities at major North Korean sites including Tongchang-ri, the area where Sohae is located.

Hong Kongers Mark Half Year of Protest Movement

Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through Hong Kong to mark Human Rights Day and press for greater democracy in the city in the biggest rally in about six months.
Protesters still clogged the main streets of the city hours after the masses began to leave the gathering point in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and wind their way to the Central district. The rally was the first Civil Human Rights Front-organised event in four months to be given the go-ahead by the government.

Unacceptable that India is Not in UNSC

German ambassador Walter Lindner said that India and Germany, which are working closely on multilateral issues, are both ideal candidates for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC) that reflects the realities of today's world.
Following German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India last month, the two countries are now focusing on implementing more than 20 existing MoUs and cooperation in key areas such as smart cities, green mobility and climate change.

Iran Unveils Budget of Resistance

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani announced a "budget of resistance" against US sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector, backed by a $5 billion Russian investment.
After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of "maximum pressure".
Iran has suffered a sharp economic downturn, with a plummeting currency sending inflation sky rocketing.
Rouhani told the parliament that the budget of 4,845 trillion rials, or $36 billion at the current street rate, was devised to help Iran's people overcome difficulty.
Iran and Russia have strengthened ties in recent years, with both backing President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

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