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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2018

Mar 2018

May 27, 2021

Macron Visits Rwanda to Mend Diplomatic Ties

French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Rwanda in an attempt to reset relations that ruptured over accusations about the role of Paris in the 1994 genocide.
The visit follows the release in March of an official French report which said the then-government of Francois Mitterrand bore a "serious and overwhelming" responsibility for not foreseeing the killings.
The report, which has been welcomed in Kigali, did absolve France of direct complicity in the slaughter of more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame recently said that Rwandans could not forget but could perhaps forgive France for its role and signalled that relations between Paris and Kigali were on the mend.
Mr. Macron is expected to visit and deliver a speech at the Kigali genocide memorial. He is also expected to appoint an ambassador to Kigali - the first in six years.

Joe Biden Nominates Arun Venkataraman to a Key Administration Post

US President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Indian American Arun Venkataraman to a key position in his administration related to foreign commercial service.
Venkataraman is the nominee for Director-General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service and Assistant Secretary for Global Markets, Department of Commerce.
With over 20 years of experience in advising companies, international organizations, and the US government on international trade issues, Venkataraman is currently the Counselor to the Secretary of Commerce, advising the department on trade and other international economic matters.
Before joining the Biden-Harris administration, he was a senior director at Visa, leading global government engagement strategy on a range of international policy issues including digital economy, trade, tax, and sanctions.

Israel Appoints David Barnea as New Mossad Spymaster

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday the appointment of David Barnea as the new head of the country's spy agency, the Mossad.
Barnea, a former longtime Mossad operative, will succeed Yossi Cohen as head of Israel's intelligence agency on June 1. Cohen has served as Israel's spymaster since taking office in 2016.
According to Netanyahu, Barnea's appointment will allow the Mossad and the state of Israel to continue in the path of accomplishments to ensure the security of Israel," adding that the top mission is preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Mali's Transitional President Resigns

Mali's transitional President has resigned while he and the Prime Minister are in detention after being arrested by the military earlier this week.
The resignation comes as representatives of the West African regional bloc are in Mali to mediate the political crisis.
The UN, the African Union and other international bodies have urged Mali's military to release the transitional President and Prime Minister, who were to lead an 18-month civilian transitional government.
Transitional President Bah N'Daw dismissed Prime Minister Moctar Ouane before handing in his own resignation letter to former junta leader and transitional Vice President Col.

Swiss Abandons Years of EU Talks and Reject Treaty

After years of talks, Switzerland has scrapped efforts aimed at agreeing an over-arching treaty with the EU.
Switzerland is not in the European Union but has signed up to many of its policies, such as freedom of movement.
The relationship is currently governed by more than 120 bilateral deals, and a failure to replace them with one framework deal could harm ties.
"We regret this decision, given the progress that has been made over the last years," the EU Commission said.
The EU-Switzerland free trade agreement dates back to 1972.
The Commission - the executive body for the EU's 27 member states - said that without an EU-Swiss framework agreement, modernising that relationship would not be possible. Existing deals were "not up to speed" and the impact of Switzerland's decision would have to be analysed, it warned.

War-torn Syria Goes to Polls

Syrians in government-held areas of the war-torn country headed to polling stations to vote in a presidential election set to give President Bashar Assad a fourth seven-year term.
The vote is the second presidential election since the country's conflict began 10 years ago and has been dismissed as a sham by the opposition and western countries.
Two other candidates are running for the country's top post, which has been held by members of the Assad family for five decades.
They are little known figures, Abdullah Salloum Abdullah and Mahmoud Ahmad Marie. But competition with Assad is largely seen as symbolic.

May 26, 2021

Mali's Coup Leader Dismisses President and Prime Minister

Mali's former coup leader Assimi Goita fired the President and Prime Minister of the transitional government but promised to still hold new elections next year.
The move came a day after the two leaders were arrested by the military following their announcement of a cabinet reshuffle. Goita said that the President and Prime Minister had acted without consulting him.

Iran and World Powers Resume Talks on US Return to Nuclear Deal

World powers were set to open a fifth round of talks with Iran aimed at bringing the United States back into the landmark 2015 nuclear deal meant to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining an atomic bomb.
The talks in Vienna come the day after the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, was able to strike a last-minute agreement with Tehran on a one-month extension to a deal on surveillance cameras at Iran's nuclear sites.
The issue wasn't directly related to the ongoing talks on the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, but had Iran not agreed it could have seriously complicated the discussions.
The US is not directly involved in the talks but an American delegation headed by President Joe Biden's special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, has also been in the Austrian capital. Representatives from the other powers involved Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China have been shuttling between the U.S. and the Iranians to facilitate indirect talks.

Joe Biden to Meet Putin on June 16

The White House announced that US President Joe Biden will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16.
The leaders will discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the US-Russia relationship.
Last month, Biden held a phone call with Putin, where he had voiced his concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and on Ukraine's borders, and called on Russia to de-escalate tensions.
He had reaffirmed his goal of building a stable and predictable relationship with Russia consistent with US interests and proposed a summit meeting in a third country in the coming months to discuss the full range of issues between the United States and Russia.

May 25, 2021

Australia to Close Embassy in Afghanistan

Australia abruptly announced that it will shutter its embassy in Afghanistan this week, expressing fears over the increasingly uncertain security environment in Kabul as foreign troops withdraw.
The Taliban, which has ramped up violence across the country in recent weeks, reacted by saying it would provide a safe environment to foreign diplomats and humanitarian organisations.
The United States and allied forces are in the final stages of pulling out their remaining troops from Afghanistan, ending America's longest-ever war, but heralding an uncertain future for a nation in the tightening grip of Taliban militants.
According to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the embassy would close in just three days.

Cindy Kiro New Zealand's Next Governor-general

Children's advocate Cindy Kiro hopes to inspire Maori girls after becoming the first indigenous woman appointed to the role of governor-general.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern picked Kiro for the largely ceremonial role as Queen Elizabeth II's representative, and that the queen had approved.
Under New Zealand's constitutional system, the British monarch remains the nation's head of state although it does not wield any real day-to-day power.
Kiro's five-year term begins in October, when she will replace Patsy Reddy. Both women have been given the honorific "Dame" for their services to the community.
Kiro is currently chief executive of the Royal Society, a nonprofit group which advocates for research.

Appoint Deuba as PM of Nepal

Nepal's Opposition alliance filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court demanding restoration of the House of Representatives and appointment of veteran Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba as the Prime Minister.
Leaders of the alliance moved the apex court two days after President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the 275-member House on the recommendations of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who headed a minority government after losing a trust vote in the House.
In the writ, the petitioners have demanded that Nepali Congress president Deuba should be lawfully appointed the Prime Minister of Nepal in accordance with Article 76 (5).
Their other demands include the scrapping of the announcement of elections in November, to stop election-related programmes amid the pandemic, and to issue an order to summon House meeting to facilitate presentation of the budget within the time provisioned by the Constitution.

May 24, 2021

IAEA will Have No Access to Iran's Nuclear Sites

As per Iran's parliament speaker, a three-month monitoring deal between Tehran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog has expired, and the agency would no longer access images of nuclear sites.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, is to hold a news conference with Tehran.
He is in talks with Iran on extending the monitoring arrangement, which could affect talks between Tehran and six powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran began gradually breaching terms of the pact with world powers after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions.

May 23, 2021

Myanmar Election Chief May Dissolve Aung San Suu Kyi's Party

The head of Myanmar's military-appointed state election commission said Friday that his agency will consider dissolving Aung San Suu Kyi's former ruling party for alleged involvement in electoral fraud and having its leaders charged with treason.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy came to power after a landslide 2015 election victory, and won an even greater majority in last November's general election. It was set to start a second term in February when the military seized power in a coup, arresting her and dozens of top government officials and party members.
Junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing cited electoral fraud as the reason for the army's takeover, saying there was terrible fraud in the voter lists. The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, which suffered unexpectedly heavy losses in the election, made similar allegations.
Independent observers dispute the assertions of widespread irregularities.
Political parties were called to discuss planned changes in the electoral system at a meeting. The Union Election Commission chairman Thein Soe said that an investigation of last year's election that would soon be completed showed that Suu Kyi's party had illegally worked with the government to give itself an advantage at the polls.

Biden Appoints Special Envoy for N. Korea

US President Joe Biden has announced the appointment of a special envoy for North Korea after he had his maiden talks with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-In.
I'm pleased to announce that Ambassador Sung Kim, a career diplomat and with deep policy expertise, will serve as the US Special Envoy for the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Biden told reporters on Thursday at a joint press briefing along with the visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
DPRK is popularly called North Korea.

Nepal President Dissolves House

In a dramatic turn of events, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday midnight dissolved the Parliament as per the recommendation of the government and declared to hold midterm elections on November 12 and 19.
As per the constitutional provision, the President has authenticated the recommendation made by the Cabinet to dissolve the House and declare the snap polls for November 12 and 19.
This is for the second time that the House has been dissolved. Earlier, President Bhandari had dissolved the House on December 20 last year but later it was reinstated on February 23. The decision to dissolve the house came hours after a new government formation bid failed.

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