MOSCOW, 10 November 2021, (TON): Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Dmitry Dogadkin, the new Russian ambassador to Qatar, who previously headed the Russian diplomatic mission in Oman.

The corresponding decrees of the head of state were published on Tuesday on the official portal of legal information.

The 54-year-old Dogadkin, as ambassador to Qatar, replaced Nurmakhmad Kholov, who headed the Russian diplomatic mission in this country since 2013.

Ilya Morgunov, 62, has been appointed to the post of Russian ambassador to Oman, which Dogadkin has held since the end of 2-017. Prior to that, the diplomat held the position of chief adviser in the Department of the Middle East and North Africa of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Previously, he was the Russ-ian ambassador to Iraq.

NEW YORK, 10 November 2021, (TON): The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said “fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has forced at least 11,000 people to flee to neighbouring Uganda since Sunday night, representing the largest refugee influx in a single day for more than a year.”

Women and children comprise the majority of those who have crossed the border to escape clashes between militia groups and the Congolese armed forces in Rutshuru Territory, in the DRC’s North Kivu province.

Shabia Mantoo, UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva, said some 8,000 asylum seekers crossed at Bunagana town, while another 3,000 came through the Kibaya border point in Kisoro district.  Both locations are roughly 500 km southwest of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

She said “the new arrivals told UNHCR staff that fighting was going on in the villages of Binja, Kinyarugwe and Chanzu.”

“Many people came with cooking utensils, sleeping mats, clothing and livestock, gathered hurriedly as they fled. Some appear to be returning to remote areas in the border vicinity.”

UNHCR and Uganda are responding to the situation, in coordination with district and local officials.  Several partners are also assisting, including the World Food Programme (WFP).

WARSAW, 10 November 2021, (TON): Poland said “it blocked a bid by hundreds of migrants to illegally enter the country from Belarus on Monday, warning of an “armed” escalation as thousands more massed near the border.”

As the latest grim chapter of Europe’s migrant crisis unfolded, Washington and Brussels called on Minsk to stop what they described as an orchestrated influx.

NATO also hit out at Minsk, accusing the government there of using the migrants as political pawns, while the European Union called for fresh sanctions against Belarus.

Brussels says Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has encouraged the migrant flow in retaliation for existing EU sanctions imposed over its dismal human rights record.

Poland, a member of both the European Union and NATO, has drawn sharp criticism for its tough rhetoric on migration in recent years.

TEHRAN, 10 November 2021, (TON): Iran said that the United States should provide guarantees that it will not abandon Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers again if talks to revive the agreement succeed.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States, which stalled in June after the election of hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, are set to resume on November 29 in Vienna to find ways to reinstate the 2015 accord.

It has eroded since 2018 when then-US president Donald Trump withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to breach mandated limits on uranium enrichment the following year.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a virtual news conference "the US should show that it has the capability and will to provide guarantees that it will not abandon the deal again if the talks to revive the deal succeed.”

Echoing Iran's official stance, Khatibzadeh said Washington must lift all sanctions imposed on Tehran in a verifiable process and "recognise its fault in ditching the pact".

That ongoing stance is likely to cause concern in the US and with its European allies — France, Britain and Germany, who deem it unrealistic and want to resume June's talks where they left off without new demands.

One Western diplomat said if Tehran was genuinely continuing to demand a guarantee and full lifting of sanctions then it meant Iran was not serious about talks.

BEIJING, 10 November 2021, (TON): Days after Islamabad announced backing out of India’s NSA moot on Afghanistan, Beijing said “it will also not attend the regional security dialogue on Afghan issue to be hosted by New Delhi.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said “due to scheduling reasons, it is inconvenient for China to attend the meeting. We have already given our reply to the Indian side.”

Last month, India invited Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, and all the central Asian nations to attend the ‘Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan’, scheduled to be held on November 10.

Being well-cognisant of India’s true face and negative role in the region particularly in Afghanistan, Pakistan has already declined India’s invitation to be part of the summit.

“I will not go, a spoiler can’t be a peacemaker,” Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf last week said “in response to a question by a reporter whether Pakistan will be attending the moot.”

Having faced strategic losses in Afghanistan after US withdrawal, India’s plan to host the NSA-level summit is nothing but an attempt to cover up its image of “spoiler” and try to enhance its relevance in the region, experts believe.

The defence and security analysts are of the view that India has always used Afghanistan as a staging ground and a second front against Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, 10 November 2021, (TON): Officials said “Pakistan will host senior diplomats from the United States, China and Russia in Islamabad on November 11 (Thursday) to discuss the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan.”

A diplomatic official told media “the Troika Plus meeting on Afghanistan will be attended by special representatives from all four countries.”

Representatives of the four countries will also meet Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is arriving in Islamabad tomorrow (Wednesday), the first visit to Pakistan by an Afghan minister since the Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15.

The Pakistani official said “Troika Plus at SRs (special representatives level) will meet with Muttaqi.”

He said “Troika Plus has become an important forum for engagement with Afghan authorities. It will express support for an inclusive government, discuss ways to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as well as the protection of human rights, particularly women's rights.”

This is the first full-fledged meeting of the Troika Plus after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.

The last meeting was held in Doha on August 11, in which the US was represented by former special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.

ISLAMABAD, 10 November 2021, (TON): A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said “Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that he is proud of achieving self-reliance in defence production.”

The army chief was cited by the ISPR as saying during his visit to Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) "self-reliance in defence production is the hallmark of any country and we are proud of the milestones achieved towards that end.”

The military's media wing said “Gen Qamar was briefed about the HIT's capabilities, the progress of ongoing projects and recently undertaken Balancing, Modernisation and Revamping (BMR) measures for the production units.”

It added "the COAS visited various facilities and witnessed recently developed enhanced protection solutions and remote weapon systems for tanks, indigenously developed 155mm Artillery gun barrel, ballistic, IED protection of military vehicles and manufacturing, rebuild and upgradation of tanks and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).”

The ISPR added “the COAS witnessed the ongoing research and development projects and lauded the efforts to attain self-reliance through indigenisation in modern technologies of tanks, artillery guns and ballistic protection solutions for vehicles.”

NEW DELHI, 10 November 2021, (TON): India has told a gathering of navy chiefs and heads of maritime forces of 12 countries, that New Delhi will continue to oppose and deter the attempts of aggression on land and sea and also called for a collaborative effort in this regard.

Addressing the third maritime conclave in Goa yesterday, Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said “India would work with all willing nations for peace in the Indian Ocean region.”

He said "standing for a rules-bound world.”

Kumar said without naming China's aggressive military build-up in the Indian Ocean Region "Maritime domain is so vast and challenges are so diverse that going alone is not an option for practically any country. We welcome all nations which respect rules and shun aggression, to collaborate in our region.”

The third edition of Goa Maritime Conclave 2021 is being hosted by the Indian Navy from November 7 to 9 with the theme "Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR (Indian Ocean Region-IOR) Navies."

The Indian Navy is hosting chiefs of Navies/ heads of Maritime Forces from 12 Indian Ocean Region countries comprising Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

NAYPYITAW, 10 November 2021, (TON): A judge sentenced Karen State’s ousted chief minister Nang Khin Htwe Myint to 75 years in prison on Tuesday for five separate counts of corruption, her lawyer said.

Lawyer Aung Thein said that that 67-year-old, who like many top National League for Democracy (NLD) figures was detained in the early hours of February 1 as the military staged its coup, got 15 years for each corruption charge.

Also sentenced on Tuesday was Karen’s ousted state finance minister Than Naing, 65. He was given a 90-year prison term for six corruption offences.

Aung Thein, who represented both defendants said “it was the maximum term,”

Both the chief minister and the minister had already expected this, so they were more or less unfazed by their sentences.

Nang Khin Htwe Myint was accused of breaching Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law by, among other things, using state funds to pay her medical bills and moving money meant for a development project to a private bank account. 

NAYPYITAW, 10 November 2021, (TON): A judge sentenced Karen State’s ousted chief minister Nang Khin Htwe Myint to 75 years in prison on Tuesday for five separate counts of corruption, her lawyer said.

Lawyer Aung Thein said that that 67-year-old, who like many top National League for Democracy (NLD) figures was detained in the early hours of February 1 as the military staged its coup, got 15 years for each corruption charge.

Also sentenced on Tuesday was Karen’s ousted state finance minister Than Naing, 65. He was given a 90-year prison term for six corruption offences.

Aung Thein, who represented both defendants said “it was the maximum term,”

Both the chief minister and the minister had already expected this, so they were more or less unfazed by their sentences.

Nang Khin Htwe Myint was accused of breaching Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law by, among other things, using state funds to pay her medical bills and moving money meant for a development project to a private bank account.