DHAKA, 01 February 2022, (TON): Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said “his country looks forward to strengthening defence and economic cooperation with Bangladesh, greeting its government marking the 50-year Australia-Bangladesh diplomatic relations.

He said "this year, we look forward to strengthening our defence and economic cooperation, and working towards our shared recovery from the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

According to the Australian High Commission “he said in a message marking the two country's 50-year diplomatic ties.”

Morrison said Australia and Bangladesh stand fast in their resolve to build a more secure, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

He said “the Australia-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement would be important in this course.”

NEW DELHI, 01 February 2022, (TON): India on Monday abstained from a procedural vote taken in the UN Security Council ahead of a meeting to discuss the situation on the Ukraine border.

The UN Security Council met Monday to discuss the Ukraine issue. Ahead of the meeting, Russia, a permanent and veto-wielding member, called for a procedural vote to determine whether the open meeting should go ahead.

Russia and China voted against the meeting, while India, Gabon and Kenya abstained. All other 10 Council members, including Norway, France, the US, the UK, France, Ireland, Brazil and Mexico, voted in favour of the meeting going through.

The Council needed only 9 yes votes for the meeting to go ahead. With 10 Council members voting in favour, the Council went ahead with the meeting on the situation on the Ukraine border.

Russia is reported to have massed an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade.

NEW DELHI, 01 February 2022, (TON): In the streets around a revered religious site in the Indian city of Mathura where a temple and mosque stand side-by-side, the handful of Muslim restaurants that remain are mostly empty or shuttered.

A ban on meat last year by the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, a Hindu monk who issued the order on religious grounds, has decimated their trade.

Now the saffron-clad Yogi Adityanath, up for re-election in key state polls next month, has turned his attention to the temple itself, suggesting he will champion the Hindu cause in a long-running dispute with Muslims over who owns the site.

The issue has become a central part of the ruling party's campaign to extend its grip on power in Uttar Pradesh, home to 200 million people and the bellwether of national politics.

Hindus and Muslims have argued for decades over who should control the site, echoing other disputes in India that have, on occasions, flared into deadly riots between the two communities.

While communal violence in India is sporadic, clashes erupted across the country in early 2020 over a citizenship law that Muslims said was discriminatory. Dozens of people died.

Now mention of the Mathura dispute during campaign rallies and on social media has the city's Muslims worried, according to interviews with more than 20 residents.

DHAKA, 01 February 2022, (TON): A team of Bangladesh Police reached in Mali to join the UN peacekeeping mission by a chartered aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

According to a statement issued by the Police Headquarters “the police contingent left Dhaka to join the United Nations (UN) Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) yesterday.”

The 70-member strong contingent of Bangladesh Formed Police Unit (BANFPU)-1 led by Commander Hasan Md Shawkat Ali and 70 members of BANFPU-2 led by Deputy Commander Md Rahat Gawhari left for the UN peacekeeping mission.

The statement said “apart from the stipulated forces working with different peacekeeping missions under the UN and the Bangladesh Formed Police Unit 2 (BANFPU-2, Rotation) team will work there.”

It added “Deputy Inspector General of Police Md Haider Ali Khan and officers of UN desk gave them farewell at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.”

DHAKA, 01 February 2022, (TON): Dhaka and Bangkok have agreed to raise bilateral ties to a newer height through further intensifying trade and investment relations between Bangladesh and Thailand.

This was discussed in a telephone conversation between Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and his Thai counterpart  Don Pramudwinai.

During the phone call, Dr Momen and Pramudwinai, who is also deputy prime minister of Thailand, agreed to jointly celebrate the Golden Jubilee of diplomatic ties in a befitting manner.

The Bangladesh foreign minister emphasized on enhanced connectivity between Dhaka and Bangkok for further strengthening bilateral and regional trade relations by joining the proposed India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway.

Dr. Momen applauded the Thai Government’s offer of DFQF scheme to the Bangladeshi products in its market till 2026.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister encouraged more investment from Thai investors in various sectors, particularly in the agro-processing industries.

KABUL, 01 February 2022, (TON): Afghanistan and Pakistan will form a new coordination mechanism to resolve issues at border crossing points, the two governments have said in separate statements following the conclusion of a visit by Pakistan’s national security adviser to Kabul.

A statement said “Pakistani NSA Moeed Yusuf concluded his visit to Kabul aimed at discussing economic engagement and ways to address the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan’s northwestern neighbour.”

A Pakistani statement said “Yusuf met with senior Afghan Taliban officials, including Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdus Salam Hanafi and others during his two-day visit.”

He was accompanied by Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq and other senior Pakistani officials.

The Pakistani statement said “the visit yielded substantive outcomes in terms of forward movement on trade facilitation and social sector support.”

“Both sides agreed to establish a National Level Coordination Mechanism for enhancing facilitation at Border Crossing Points. They also agreed to initiate barter trade, modalities for which will be worked out immediately.”

KABUL, 01 February 2022, (TON): The Afghan Taliban rejected a report by United Nations (UN) accusing the group of killing around 100 former government officials after taking the reins of the war-stricken country.

The UN, in its report revealed, said “the group and its allies had killed former officials and security force members and people who worked with the international military contingent since the US-led pullout.”

However, interim Afghan government's deputy spokesperson Bilal Karimi in a video statement said “the authorities hadn't allowed anyone to abduct, torture or raid the houses of former government employees or servicemen.”

He further said that the government was strictly adhering to its forgiveness decree and that no one will be allowed to carry out such atrocities in violation of the order.”

The report sounds the latest in a series of warnings the UN chief has issued in recent months about the humanitarian and economic crises that accelerated after the Taliban seized Kabul as the last US-led foreign troops left and international donors cut critical financial aid.

JERUSALEM, 31 January 2022, (TON): Israel’s president said his country supports the United Arab Emirates security needs and seeks stronger regional ties during the first such visit to the Gulf state on Sunday, as world powers try to revive an Iran nuclear deal.

The UAE, along with Bahrain, signed US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel, dubbed the Abraham Accords, in 2020.

The two Gulf states and Israel share concerns about Iran and its allied forces in the region.

Isaac Herzog discussed security and bilateral relations with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The UAE has in the past fortnight been attacked twice with drones and missiles by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia.

Herzog said during the meeting, in comments released by his office “we completely support your security requirements and we condemn in all forms and language any attack on your sovereignty by terrorist groups. We are here together to find ways and means to bring full security to people who seek peace in our region.”

MOSCOW, 31 January 2022, (TON): Moscow’s campaign against Ukraine and fellow democracies is undermining the very foundation of European security. And so, it is vital we face down the clear and present threat posed by Russia.

The Prime Minister will spearhead diplomatic efforts by talking to President Putin and travelling to the region in the coming days.

Tomorrow, the UK will join talks at the UN Security Council to apply pressure on Russia to pursue the path of diplomacy.

I will be flying out to Moscow within the next fortnight.

The stakes are high. Over 100,000 troops are now massed on Ukraine’s border. Russia has attacked Ukraine before, illegally annexing Crimea in 2014 and bringing war to the Donbas region, so the danger is real.

This malign activity goes beyond the borders of Ukraine. Russia is using its influence to fan the flames of discord in the Western Balkans. Russian forces are continuing to arrive in Belarus for a so-called “joint exercise” close to NATO’s borders.

In recent days, Russia has intensified its brinkmanship by planning naval exercises off the Irish coast and increasing its naval presence in the Baltic Sea, prompting Sweden to send troops to reinforce one of its islands.

SEOUL, 31 January 2022, (TON): North Korea tested its most powerful missile since 2017, ramping up the firepower for its record-breaking seventh launch this month as Seoul warned nuclear and long-range tests could be next.

Pyongyang has never test-fired this many missiles in a calendar month before and last week threatened to abandon a nearly five-year-long self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range and nuclear weapons, blaming US hostile policy for forcing its hand.

With peace talks with Washington stalled, North Korea has doubled-down on leader Kim Jong Un’s vow to modernise the regime’s armed forces, flexing Pyongyang’s military muscles despite biting international sanctions.

South Korea said that North Korea appeared to be following a “similar pattern” to 2017 when tensions were last at breaking-point on the peninsula warning Pyongyang could soon restart nuclear and intercontinental missile tests.

North Korea “has come close to destroying the moratorium declaration”, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said in a statement following an emergency meeting of Seoul’s National Security Council.

South Korea’s military said Sunday it had “detected an intermediate-range ballistic missile fired at a lofted angle eastward towards the East Sea.”