COLOMBO, 08 September 2021, (TON): Two Sri Lankan Army Officers, Lieutenant Colonel Janaka Ranaweera and Lieutenant Colonel Kosala Wijekoon, who were selected to follow the Masters degree in Defence Diplomacy (International) at the Indonesia Defence University (IDU) paid a courtesy call on the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia Yasoja Gunasekera on 02 September 2021 at Embassy of Sri Lanka in Jakarta.

This is the first time in the Sri Lankan military training history that the IDU offered scholarships to the Sri Lankan military to follow the Masters Degree programme. The Minister Counsellor (Defence) Commodore Nalindra Jayasinghe also attended the meeting.

The Defense University of the Republic of Indonesia held the opening ceremony for the Vocational, Bachelor, Master and Doctoral education programs on 30 August, 2021 at the Indonesian Defense University ceremony field, Sentul Bogor.

The Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia Lt Gen Muhammad Herindra graced the occasion. The Deputy Minister was accompanied by the Chancellor of the Indonesian Defense University Vice Admiral Prof. Dr. Amarulla Octavian.

The two Sri Lankan Army officers who obtained the Scholarships for the Master Program also attended the Opening Ceremony.

DHAKA, 08 September 2021, (TON): Bangladesh's Information Minister Hasan Mahmud met Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi, during which they discussed bilateral cooperation "progressing steadily across all domains and media and public perceptions in that regard."

In a brief post on his official Twitter handle after the meeting, Jaishankar wrote "glad to meet Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Minister, Hasan Mahmud. Our bilateral cooperation is progressing steadily across all domains. Discussed media and public perceptions in that regard."

Mahmud is now on a four-day visit to India, our New Delhi correspondent reports.

NAYPYITAW, 08 September 2021, (TON): Resistance forces carried out multiple attacks on junta targets in Magway and Sagaing regions, as Myanmar’s shadow government stepped up its campaign to oust the country’s military dictatorship.

The Magway-based Beikthano People’s Defence Force (PDF) said in a statement that it hit five military targets in four of the region’s townships.

The group, which takes its name from an ancient city founded in the region some 2,000 years ago, said “its members attacked Light Infantry Battalion 103, based in Taungdwingyi Township, with a bomb.”

It said “it then set off explosions targeting two transmission towers used to supply electricity to the No.17 Defence Appliances Factory in the village of Nyaung Kone in Myothit Township.”

According to the statement “the homes of a municipal official in Yaysakyo Township and the Ku Lar Shin village administrator in Natmauk Township were also bombed in pre-dawn attacks.”

Regime forces providing security for a branch of the state-owned Myanma Economic Bank in Natmauk were the fifth target, the statement added.

DHAKA, 08 September 2021, (TON): The Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal, left Dhaka on invitation of US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael M Gilday, to attend the 24th International Seapower Symposium in the United States.

The Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) and the Naval Administrative Authority Dhaka officially bid the navy chief farewell at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal will participate in discussions at the symposium on the growing dependence on marine resources, maritime security and maritime stability, and the impact of climate change on international security during his visit to the United States.

He will be accompanied by Admiral Michael M Gilday; Admiral Tony Radakin, First Sea Lord and commander of the United Kingdom Navy; Admiral Samuel J Paparo, commander of the United States Pacific Fleet; Admiral Yudo Margono, chief of the Indonesian Navy; and Admiral Boo Suk-jong, chief of the Republic of Korea Navy.

He will also exchange views with representatives of other countries attending the symposium.

NAYPYITAW, 08 September 2021, (TON): Myanmar’s acting president Duwa Lashi La of the National Unity Government (NUG) announced that the people’s “resistance war” against the junta had started and urged the public across the country to revolt against the military coup regime led by Min Aung Hlaing.

In an seven-minute emergency speech at 8am, the acting president also called on the NUG’s People’s Defence Force (PDF) to target “every pillar of the junta’s ruling mechanism,” as well as to protect the lives of Myanmar’s people, to follow orders and to behave in line with the PDF’s code of conduct.

Duwa Lashi La urged local administrators working under the junta to resign immediately.

People were warned not to undertake unnecessary travel, to stock up on food and medical supplies and to help the PDFs and civilian resistance forces by informing them of the military’s activities.

He urged ethnic armed organisations to attack the coup regime’s forces in every way possible and to maintain control over their territories. He also called on Border Guard Forces, junta-allied militias, and individual soldiers and police to defect from the military council and collaborate with those forces on the side of the people.

ISLAMABAD, 07 September 2021, (TON): The Taliban called for recognition of Afghanistan, saying the country "has the right" to be recognised while urging the international community to reopen their embassies in Kabul.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul “the war has ended, the country is getting out of the crisis. It is now time for peace and reconstruction. We need the people to support us.”

Addressing journalists at the press conference, Mujahid stressed that “Afghanistan has the right to be recognised”.

He said “the international community should open their embassies in Kabul.”

The Taliban spokesman also called upon military personnel who served under the previous regime to join the new force. “The Afghan forces who were trained in the past 20 years will be asked to rejoin the security departments alongside Taliban members.”

He said that any insurgency against their rule would be “hit hard”, after earlier saying they had captured the Panjshir Valley, the last pocket of resistance.

 CAIRO, 07 September 2021, (TON): Khaled Al-Anani, Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiquities, discussed with his Saudi counterpart Ahmed Al-Khatib ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in the tourism field.

The discussions were held in the presence of Osama Nugali, Saudi ambassador to Egypt.

Al-Anani said that Egypt is an important destination for Saudis for many reasons, most importantly geographic proximity, a common language and similar cultures, customs and traditions.

He tweeted “I was pleased to receive my dear friend, His Excellency Minister Ahmed Al-Khatib in his second country, Egypt.”

Al-Anani praised relations between the two countries in all fields, as well as Saudi efforts regarding development projects, especially in relation to tourism infrastructure, according to a statement by Egypt’s Tourism Ministry.

ISLAMABAD, 07 September 2021, (TON): Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Pakistan's armed forces had all required capabilities to fight all external and internal threats, and traditional and non-traditional wars.

He said while addressing a Defence Day ceremony held at the General Headquarters "if any enemy wants to fight us, it will find us ready at every moment and on every front."

He said that Pakistani armed forces were counted among the world's best. We have fought every enemy courageously and defeated all external and internal plots and above all, by achieving self-sustainability in defence capabilities, made the country's defence impenetrable.

"We have no doubt that the relationship between Pakistan Army and the nation is the strong shield that has always defeated the enemy's plots and black-handed tactics against Pakistan and this unity has always made us persevere."

Gen Bajwa said “whether it was the wars of 1965 and 1971, the Kargil fight or the war against terrorism, Pakistan's armed forces have proven in every situation that "we know how to defend our country in any condition and are ready to pay any price.”

He paid tribute to the martyrs and their families, saying the entire nation was indebted to them.

CONAKRY, 07 September 2021, (TON): The leader of the coup which ousted Guinea's President Alpha Condé has said “a new union government would be formed in weeks.”

Col Mamady Doumbouya told ministers who served in Mr Condé's government that there would be no witch-hunt against former officials.

President Condé remains in detention, but his fate is unclear.

The UN, African Union, and regional body Ecowas have condemned the coup and called for a return to civilian rule.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted "I strongly condemn any takeover of the government by force of the gun and call for the immediate release of President Alpha Condé."

Col Doumbouya, who heads the army's special forces unit, did not say on Monday when the new government would be in place.

He said in his statement "a consultation will be launched to set down the broad parameters of the transition, and then a government of national union will be established to steer the transition.”

He told former ministers that they could not leave the country and had to hand over their official vehicles to the military. He also announced the reopening of land and air borders.

Blinken to intensify Afghanistan diplomacy in Qatar, Germany

WASHINGTON, 07 September 2021, (TON): A week after declaring America’s “new chapter” of engagement with Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will aim to form a united front with allies this week on how to tackle the Taliban and ensure continued support for U.S. bid to help evacuate Americans and at-risk Afghans who remained behind.

In a trip to Qatar and Germany, Blinken will be overlapping with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who is also departing for a wider Gulf visit covering Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

The visit by top two U.S. national security officials comes as the Biden administration still grapples with the fallout from what is widely seen as a messy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, criticized by President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats, as well as Republicans.

Dubbed as a “thank you” tour to the Gulf countries and Germany, who were instrumental in helping Washington evacuate thousands of people out of Kabul, Blinken will meet with senior Qatari officials in Doha and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at Ramstein air base, where he will also co-host a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan.

Neither Blinken nor Austin are expected to meet with members of the Taliban, U.S. officials said.

The United States’ two decades-long invasion in Afghanistan culminated with a hastily organized airlift that left thousands of U.S.-allied Afghans behind and was punctuated by a suicide bombing outside Kabul’s airport that killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghans. Washington completed the withdrawal on Aug. 31.