General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2017

May 2017

Jul 16, 2019

Pakistan Reopens Airspace for All Civilian Traffic

Pakistan reopened its airspace to all civilian planes following months of restrictions after the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot earlier in 2019.
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority cancelled the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for its airspace, a step taken by India as well. Airlines are likely to resume normal routes through Pakistan airspace after the restrictions were lifted.
Pakistan had earlier said it would not open its airspace for commercial flights until India removed its fighter jets from forward Indian airbases.

No Intent to Exclude India from Afghan Diplomacy

Following quadrilateral talks in Beijing among China, Russia, the U.S. and Pakistan, China sought to reassure India that it does not intend to exclude New Delhi from international diplomacy on Afghanistan.
Fresh from his visit to Qatar where he held talks with the Taliban and Afghan government officials, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad first joined his counterparts from Russia and China for the third trilateral mechanism on Afghanistan. This was followed by the first quadrilateral meeting on Afghanistan, in which Pakistan was also present.
Earlier in July 2019, the U.S. special envoy Khalilzad attended the third trilateral consultation of Afghan issue between China, Russia and the U.S. in Beijing. He also attended the first China, Russia, the U.S. and Pakistan meeting.

Talks to Save Iran Nuke Deal

European foreign ministers held crisis talks on saving the beleaguered Iran nuclear deal as Britain warned the small window for success was closing and Tehran issued fresh threats of restarting its atomic programme.
The European Union is desperately trying to prevent the deal unravelling completely, seeing it as the best way to stop Tehran acquiring atomic weapons, and the issue was top of the agenda as ministers from the bloc met in Brussels.
But Iran piled fresh pressure on Europe, demanding concrete measures to give it relief from US sanctions and threatening to return its nuclear programme to where it was before the curbs imposed by the 2015 deal.
British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt - who held phone talks with his US and Iranian counterparts at the weekend insisted that the deal isn't dead yet.
Iran is still a good year away from developing a nuclear weapon and there is still some closing but small window to keep the deal alive. Britain, France and Germany -the three European parties to the deal - issued a joint statement calling for dialogue to resolve the crisis.

Law Penalising Catcalling, Sexual Harassment

The Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed a bill into law penalising a range of acts of sexual harassment including catcalling, wolf-whistling and persistent telling of sexual jokes, which pro-women's groups have accused him of committing.
A copy of Republic Act 11313, known as the "Safe Spaces Act," was released which Duterte signed in April 2019. The reason for the delay in its public release was not immediately clear.
The law defines a range of offensive acts, including catcalling, wolf-whistling, intrusive gazing, cursing, misogynistic acts, sexist slurs and persistent telling of sexual jokes in public or online. Punishments include fines and imprisonment depending on the gravity of the offense.

Jul 15, 2019

Pakistan Should Pay Foreign Firm $6bn

As per the World Bank, Pakistan would have to pay almost $6 billion in damages to a foreign gold mining firm whose dig was shut down by the government in 2011.
The consortium Tethyan Copper Company is the largest Foreign Direct Investment mining project in the country.
More than a decade ago the group found vast gold and copper deposits at Reko Diq, in the turbulent southwestern Baluchistan province, and had planned a hugely lucrative open-pit mine.
But the project came to a standstill in 2011 after the local government refused to renew the consortium's lease, and in 2013 Pakistan's top court declared it invalid.
In July 2019, the World Bank's international arbitration tribunal committee awarded $5.84 billion in damages to Tethyan.

Next Dalai Lama Must be Chosen within China

As per Chinese authorities, the successor of the Dalai Lama has to be decided within China and any interference by India on the issue will impact bilateral ties.
In first clear assertion on the sensitive issue, senior Chinese officials and experts said that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama must be approved by the Chinese government and the selection should take place within the country based on an over 200-year old historical process.
According to Wang Neng Sheng, Director General at the government of Tibet Autonomous Region, the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is a historical, religious and political issue.
There are established historical institutions and formalities for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
The current Dalai Lama was recognised by Beijing and his successor must be found through the draw of lots in golden urn process within China.
The Dalai Lama's reincarnation is not decided by his personal wish or by some group of people living in other countries.

Jul 14, 2019

Sri Lanka PM to Appear Before Parliamentary Committee

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee probing the Easter Sunday attacks that claimed 258 lives and would provide all available information.
The Prime Minister made the remarks after his government defeated the no-confidence motion that accused it of failing to prevent the Easter Sunday bombings despite receiving intelligence inputs from India.
The motion, moved by the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, was defeated by a vote of 119-92 after two days of debate.

Turkey Ignores US Warnings

Turkey ignored warnings from the United States as it continued to take delivery of Russia's S-400 missile defence system.
Delivery of S-400 Long Range Air and Missile Defence Systems resumed as the fourth Russian plane carrying S-400 parts landed at Murted Airport.
The US fears that if Ankara integrates the S-400 into its defence, data about the US-built F-35 fighter jet could leak back to the Russians, and Washington threatened to deny Turkey's access to the stealth aircraft.
The western defence alliance NATO, which counts Turkey as one of its members, is also concerned about the potential consequences of the S-400 purchase.
Members of the US Congress have repeatedly voiced opposition to the move and threatened sanctions.

Jul 13, 2019

China to Impose Sanctions on U.S. Firms

China said that it would impose sanctions on U.S. companies involved in a potential arms sale worth $2.2 billion to self-ruled Taiwan, a move that has infuriated Beijing.
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, the U.S. arms sale to Taiwan has severely violated the basic norms of international law and international relations.
In order to safeguard national interests, China would impose sanctions on U.S. enterprises participating in this sale of weapons to Taiwan.
The planned weapons sale, the first transfer of big-ticket United States military gear to democratically-governed Taiwan in decades, comes as ties between Washington and Beijing are already strained by a trade war.
China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.

Pakistan Asks India to Pull Back Fighter Jets

As per Pakistan's Aviation Secretary Shahrukh Nusrat, Pakistan told India that it will not open its airspace for commercial flights until New Delhi removes its fighter jets from forward IAF airbases.
Pakistan fully closed its airspace on February 26, 2019 after the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot following the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir.
Aviation Secretary Nusrat, who is also the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), informed the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation that his department has intimated Indian officials that Pakistani airspace would remain unavailable for use by India until the country withdraws its fighter jets from forward positions.
This is probably the first time a senior Pakistani official has publicly stated Islamabad's precondition for reopening its airspace after the Balakot air strikes.

Jul 12, 2019

India Urges Commonwealth to Readmit Maldives as Member

India has urged the Commonwealth to expedite readmission of the Maldives as a member country.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar conveyed India's stand at the 19 Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting in London.
The support came weeks after Mr. Modi visited Male in his first overseas trip after his re-election.
The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth during the tenure of President Abdullah Yameen in 2016 after the Commonwealth expressed serious concern over the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was elected President in a democratic wave against the rule of Mr. Yameen.

No-confidence Motion against Sri Lanka Govt. Defeated

A trust vote on the government presented by the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in Sri Lankan Parliament was defeated with a majority of 119 legislators in the 225-member House voting against it.
The leftist JVP or Peoples' Liberation Front, an opposition party, had submitted a motion accusing the ruling coalition of failing to prevent the April 21 Easter terror attacks despite the fact that proper information had been made available regarding suicide terrorists.
Following a two-day debate, a total of 92 lawmakers from President Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which pulled out of government in October 2018, the coalition backing former President and Leader of Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the JVP voted in favour of the no-confidence motion.
Muslim MPs, who had resigned protesting demonisation of the community following Easter attacks and the opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voted in favour of the government.

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