NEW DELHI, 15 November 2021, (TON): Indian Army Chief Gen M M Naravane embarked on a five-day visit to Israel to further strengthen India's defence and security cooperation with the Jewish state.

The visit by Naravane comes weeks after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar had travelled to Israel to explore ways to boost strategic ties.

In August, the then Indian Air Force Chief R K S Bhadauria had also visited Israel.

The army said in a tweet "General MM Naravane COAS proceeded on a five-day visit to Israel. The visit aims to further strengthen strategic defence cooperation between both countries.”

Officials said Gen Naravane will hold wide-ranging talks with the top military brass of Israel on boosting overall military cooperation between the two countries, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

In reflection of growing bilateral defence ties, India and Israel had on Tuesday last inked an agreement to jointly develop next-generation technologies, drones, robotics, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

NEW DELHI, 15 November 2021, (TON): Russia has started supplying India with S-400 air defence missile systems, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday citing Dmitry Shugayev, the head of the Russian military cooperation agency.

The supplies put India at risk of sanctions from the United States under a 2017 US law aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian military hardware.

“The first supplies have already been started,” Interfax cited Shugayev as saying on Sunday at an aerospace trade show in Dubai.

He said that the first unit of an S-400 systems will arrive in India by the end of this year.

The $5.5 billion deal for five long-range surface-to-air missile systems, which India says it needs to counter a threat from China, was signed in 2018.

India faces a range of financial sanctions from the United States under Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which names Russia an adversary alongside North Korea and Iran for its actions against Ukraine, interference in the US 2016 elections and help to Syria.

New Delhi said it has a strategic partnership with both the United States and Russia while Washington told India it was unlikely to get a waiver from CAATSA.

Last year, the United Stated imposed sanctions citing CAATSA on Nato-ally Turkey for acquiring S-400 missiles from Russia.

NAYPYITAW, 15 November 2021, (TON): The UN rights chief called on Myanmar to immediately release all detained media workers after a US journalist was slapped with an 11-year prison sentence.

Michelle Bachelet said in a statement "I urge the military authorities to immediately release all journalists being detained in relation to their work.”

Her comment came after a Myanmar junta court sentenced American journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years behind bars on charges of unlawful association, incitement against the military and breaching visa rules, according to his lawyer.

Fenster, who worked for local outlet Frontier Myanmar, was arrested in May at Yangon airport. He is still awaiting a second trial on charges of sedition and terrorism, which could see him jailed for life.

The statement from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights decried the "harsh sentence", adding that the "closed door, unfair trial is emblematic of the wider plight of journalists in Myanmar".

The military has squeezed the press since taking power in a February coup, arresting dozens of journalists critical of its crackdown on dissent, which has killed over 1,200 people according to a local monitoring group.

DHAKA, 15 November 2021, (TON): Bangladesh, as the incoming chair of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), will host the 21st IORA Council of Ministers’ meeting on November 17

A number of foreign ministers representing IORA countries, including the Minister for South Asia, the United Nations and the Commonwealth at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, will be visiting Bangladesh this week.

British Minister Tariq Ahmad will deliver a keynote speech at a program titled "Bangladesh-UK: Partners in Progress" on Monday afternoon.

The talks will be held at the Foreign Service Academy with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen in the chair.

An official said “the British minister will also have a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen during his stay in Dhaka.”

The foreign ministers of Sri Lanka, Union of Comoros, Indonesia, South Africa and a Minister of Tanzania will also be visiting Bangladesh.

Another official said that US Deputy Assistant Secretary Kelly Keiderling is likely to arrive here on Tuesday.

Keiderling is the South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

DHAKA, 15 November 2021, (TON): During Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh in March, the two governments agreed to bring down deaths of civilians to a zero level.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen reiterated that the border killing is a matter of shame for India and unfortunate for Bangladesh as Bangladeshis are losing their lives.

He said “I always say, it’s unfortunate for us and it’s a matter of shame for India, I’ve no other answer to that.”

Dr Momen further said “the decision was taken at the level of heads of government and also at various levels that the two countries do not want to see any killing along the Bangladesh-India border. There was a verbal decision that no lethal weapon would be used.”

He added “but it happens from time to time.”

His remarks came two days after the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) gunned down to Bangladeshis along Lalmonirhat border.

KABUL, 14 November 2021, (TON): At a critical time when the doors of international trade are almost shut on Afghanistan, and as a humanitarian catastrophe looms large, China reopens trade with Afghanistan.

This month, more than 45 metric tons of pine nuts were sold by the war-ravaged country at the 4th China International Import Expo.

The Expo ran from November 5 to November 10 in Shanghai. The pine nuts fetched an estimated 10 million yuan ($1.56 million) for Afghanistan. This is the first time that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has exported goods to China under the new Taliban-led government. It is important to mention here that China has yet to officially recognise the Taliban government.

According to Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, Afghanistan resumed the export of pine nuts to China, as reported by China’s Xinhua news agency.

“A cargo plane carrying pine nuts took off from the Kabul International Airport to China, after officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan inaugurated the air corridor,” Mujahid wrote on Twitter.

On the launch of the China-Afghanistan trade, the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu also tweeted “the first flight of Afghanistan’s pine nuts of this year arrived at the Pudong Airport, Shanghai, from Kabul. Great job of cooperation of our 2 countries and peoples. Income for Afg farmers, nice taste for Chinese cousumers. Win Win.”

China’s acting consul general in Lahore, Peng Zengwu, also told Geo.tv that at this juncture, when Afghanistan desperately needs global trade to avert a humanitarian crisis, “China pine nut trade with Afghanistan has injected new life in the business of Afghan traders.

WASHINGTON, 14 November 2021, (TON): Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly in Washington, D.C. 

Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Joly emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Canada partnership and discussed a range of issues, including the upcoming North American Leaders’ Summit, our continued support for the people of Afghanistan, the situation in Haiti, and our shared commitment to promote global security and universal norms.

Secretary Blinken noted his appreciation for our close collaboration as we continue to implement the Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership, including opportunities to reinforce the importance of democracy, anticorruption, and human rights at the Summit for Democracy.

WASHINGTON, 14 November 2021, (TON): Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani led the fourth U.S.-Qatar Strategic Dialogue on November 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.

A testament to our strong partnership, this year’s dialogue addressed regional and global issues, and advanced bilateral cooperation in the areas of health, humanitarian assistance, international development, labor and human rights, security cooperation, climate change, trade and investment, culture, and education. 

The United States and Qatar signed several accords, including an Arrangement on the Protection of U.S. Interests in Afghanistan and an MOU on Cooperation to Host Individuals at Risk Due to the Situation in Afghanistan.

Regional Cooperation and Global Affairs

Underscoring deep cooperation on regional issues, U.S. and Qatari officials discussed challenges in Afghanistan and the extraordinary teamwork between the two countries on the relocation to the United States, through Qatar, of more than 60,000 U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, Special Immigrant Visa holders and at-risk Afghans. 

Both sides discussed political developments in the region, including in Syria, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa.  The United States and Qatar remain deeply concerned about the West Bank and Gaza, will continue to work together to improve humanitarian and economic conditions for all, and discussed the importance of achieving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The United States highlighted Qatar’s bilateral and multilateral humanitarian assistance efforts, including its collaboration with UN agencies in the form of a $500 million multi-year assistance pledge to aid forcibly displaced populations and refugees.

PARIS, 14 November 2021, (TON): The participants of the fourth Paris Peace Forum decided to create an international fund to support the media. This is stated in the final communiqué of the fourth Paris Peace Forum, circulated.

The report notes that the new international fund was created “to ensure the development, sustainability and independence of mass media of public interest.”

The forum participants emphasized that independent media are a necessary element of democracy and help to counter misinformation, as well as contribute to the holding of free and fair elections.

The Paris Peace Forum is held annually on the anniversary of the end of the First World War.

The forum is attended by leaders of states, heads of various international organizations, foundations and companies.

RIYADH, 14 November 2021, (TON): The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has welcomed the UN Security Council’s addition of three Houthi leaders to the international sanctions blacklist.

Council members agreed by consensus to impose sanctions on the Houthi head of the general staff leading the militia’s Marib offensive, Muhammad Abd Al-Karim Al-Ghamari; a leader of Houthi forces assigned to the Marib advance, Yusuf Al-Madani; and the Houthi’s assistant defense minister for logistics, Saleh Mesfer Saleh Al-Shaer.

The trio were put on the list on the grounds that they were considered a direct threat to peace, security, and stability in Yemen, while also being responsible for attacks on Yemeni civilians, and causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

UN Security Council members agreed by consensus to impose sanctions on the Houthi head of the general staff leading the militia’s Marib offensive, Muhammad Abd Al-Karim Al-Ghamari; a leader of Houthi forces assigned to the Marib advance, Yusuf Al-Madani; and the Houthi’s assistant defense minister for logistics, Saleh Mesfer Saleh Al-Shaer.

The OIC said “it hoped the UN move would help curtail the group’s activities and cut its supplies of missiles, drones, and money for weapons which were used against the Yemeni people and to threaten the security of Saudi Arabia and international shipping.”