DHAKA, 16 January 2022, (TON): The government has extended the appointment of Muhammad Imran by three more years as Bangladesh high commissioner to India.

His three-year new contractual appointment will be effective from February 28 or from the date of joining, said the public administration ministry. 

Imran was appointed as Bangladesh high commissioner to India in November 2019.

He served as Bangladesh ambassador to the United Arab Emirates before replacing Syed Muazzem Ali.

He is a career foreign service officer belonging to the 1986 batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs cadre, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

NEW DELHI, 16 January 2022, (TON): The Southeast Asian nation's defence minister said “the Philippines has finalised a deal to acquire a shore-based anti-ship missile system from India for nearly $375 million to beef up its navy.”

The Philippines is in the late stages of a five-year, 300 billion pesos ($5.85 billion) project to modernise its military's outdated hardware that includes warships from World War Two and helicopters used by the United States in the Vietnam War.

Under the deal negotiated with the government of India, Brahmos Aerospace Private Ltd will deliver three batteries, train operators and maintainers, and provide logistics support, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a Facebook post late on Friday.

It was conceptualised in 2017, but faced delays in budget allocation and due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The new anti-ship system aims to deter foreign vessels from encroaching on the country's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

NEW DELHI, 16 January 2022, (TON): The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its annual report criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in India for adopting discriminatory policies against minority communities, including Muslims.

In its World Report 2022, the HRW said “this, coupled with the vilification of Muslims by some BJP leaders and police failure to take action against BJP supporters who commit violence, emboldened Hindu nationalist groups to attack Muslims and government critics with impunity.”

It added “the Indian government cracked down on activists, journalists, peaceful protesters, and even poets.”

The HRW said actors, and businesses increasingly risked politically motivated harassment, prosecutions and tax raids.

It said “authorities shut down rights groups using foreign funding regulations or allegations of financial irregularities.”

About Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), it said "allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings persisted with the National Human Rights Commission registering 143 deaths in police custody and 104 alleged extrajudicial killings in the first nine months in 2021."

KABUL, 16 January 2022, (TON): The Acting Foreign Minister said “we want to have a positive relationship with the world. The remarks were made by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister, who spoke via video conference at the Joint Conference on Afghanistan and the US Zakat Foundation.”

The conference, entitled Peace and Humanitarian Aid to Afghanistan, was held in Washington. According to Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Islamic Emirate wants to establish positive relations with the nations of the world based on mutual respect so that we are not part of the rivalry and enmity of the great powers.

In his speech, he stressed that we seek to establish constructive and positive relations with neighboring countries, the region and the world, and we are eager for Afghanistan to become a bridge of cooperation in the Asian region.

He reiterated the address of the Islamic Emirate “we will never allow anyone to re-use Afghan territory to the detriment of others.”

We will also not allow others to interfere in the internal affairs of our country.

We respect the legitimate interests and demands of other nations and call for similar action.

KABUL, 16 January 2022, (TON): The Russian Federation’s foreign ministry expressed readiness to mediate between the Islamic Emirate and its opponents.

The remarks were made by the Russian foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, in a press conference in Moscow.

She told a press conference “there have been no contacts with Russia in this regard. But it we were asked based on regulations, we will be ready to facilitate the negotiations between the new Afghan authorities and their opponent forces.”

But the Islamic Emirate downplays its political opponents, calling them “not serious,” and saying that the chance for negotiations with those who fled the country have been squandered.

Islamic Emirate spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said “we don’t have any political opponents. Those who left the country and fled, they have also lost the chance for negotiations because we were ready for negotiations in the first place.”

This comes as earlier a delegation of the Islamic Emirate, led by acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi, met with Ahmad Massoud, leader of the Resistant Front, and Ismail Khan, the former Herat governor, in Iran.

DHAKA, 16 January 2022, (TON): President Abdul Hamid is set to address the 16th session of the 11th parliament, which commences on Sunday.

The president has to address the first parliament session of every year, according to Article 73(2) of the Constitution.

President Hamid convened the 16th session on January 1.

The session will start after the president’s speech, and it will be conducted adhering to strict health guidelines owing to concerns about the pandemic.

The 15th session of parliament ended on November 28. According to the constitution, there cannot be more than 60 days between two sessions.

DHAKA, 16 January 2022, (TON): Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Hamzah bin Zainudin is likely to arrive in Dhaka on January 25 on a three-day visit to discuss issues of mutual interests with Bangladesh.

He will visit Bangladesh at the invitation of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad.

During his visit, the Malaysian minister will also hold a meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan apart from his meeting with Imran Ahmad on January 26.

Hamzah will also attend a session of Bangladesh foreign workers' agencies and visit Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Center.

The minister will join a dinner of the Malaysian diaspora in Dhaka during his stay.

The entry of foreign workers for all employment sectors was approved by the Malaysian cabinet on December 10 last year.

LONDON, 15 January 2022, (TON): Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič held their first meeting at Chevening on 13-14 January.

The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. They agreed that officials would meet next week in intensified talks and that the principals would meet again on 24 January.

We share a desire for a positive relationship between the UK and the EU underpinned by our shared belief in freedom and democracy.

WASHINGTON, 15 January 2022, (TON): A US official has said “Russia is plotting to stage acts of provocation to create a pretext to invade Ukraine.”

A Pentagon spokesman said Russian operatives were planning a "false-flag" operation, to allow Moscow to accuse Ukraine of preparing an attack. Russia has dismissed the claims.

It comes after a week of US-Russian talks aimed at defusing tensions.

Ukraine accused Russia of being behind a cyber-attack on dozens of official websites.

Before the sites went offline, a message appeared warning Ukrainians to "prepare for the worst". Access to most of the sites was restored within hours.

The US and Nato condemned the attack and have offered support to Ukraine. Russia has not commented on the hack.

Russia and West talk all week but war risk remains.

WASHINGTON, 15 January 2022, (TON): The United States said Thursday that Russia had not decided whether to invade Ukraine, but that the West was ready for all possibilities after a week of crisis talks.

Russian officials discussed tensions in a Vienna meeting with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the third round of diplomacy this week after talks directly with the United States and with NATO.

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden s national security advisor, said that the United States was under “no illusions” about Russia but hoped that a peaceful solution remained possible.

Sullivan told reporters at the White House “we re ready either way.”

“We re ready to make progress at the negotiating table,” he said, “and we re ready to take the necessary and proper steps to defend our allies, support our partners and respond robustly to any naked aggression that might occur.”

The West has accused Russia of deploying tanks, artillery and about 100,000 soldiers on Ukraine s war-torn eastern border in recent weeks, in what NATO says is preparation for an invasion.