WASHINGTON, 16 November 2022, (TON): The United States imposed sanctions on companies it accused of being involved in the production of or transfer to Russia of Iranian drones that have been used in attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said “it imposed sanctions on the Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, accusing it of being responsible for the design and production of Shahed-series drones being used by Russian forces in Ukraine, as well as other companies.”

Russia has managed to procure drones from Iran that have been used to attack cities and power infrastructure in Ukraine. Iranian military entities and industries are already under heavy US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear development program

DHAKA, 16 November 2022, (TON): Bangladesh abstained from voting in the UN General Assembly that adopted a resolution calling for Russia to be held accountable for violating international law by invading Ukraine.

The resolution, which was passed, also ordered Moscow to pay reparations to Kyiv for damages, loss and injury resulting from the war.

Of the assembly's 193 members, 94 voted in favour of the resolution, which recommends the assembly's member nations in cooperation with Ukraine create an international register to document claims and information on damage, loss or injury to Ukrainians and the government caused by Russia.

DHAKA, 16 November 2022, (TON): Border guards of both Bangladesh and India have discussed commencing joint efforts to fight trans-border crimes and illegal cross-border movement.

The two forces have also stated their interest to adopt a plan of simultaneous coordinated patrol at the West Bengal frontier.

The matters were discussed at Border Coordination Conference between the inspector general of India's Border Security Force and regional commanders of Border Guard Bangladesh.

The conference began in Kolkata on November 13 and is set to conclude.

DHAKA, 16 November 2022, (TON): Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma at a session said “the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement has the potential to enhance bilateral trade and investment between Bangladesh and India.”

Both countries have agreed to negotiate the details of CEPA.

The high commissioner said “the agreement will facilitate a new institutional framework and supply chain links.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi directed trade officials on both sides to complete the CEPA negotiations soon and in time for Bangladesh's graduation from LDC status.

By Usman Khan

For the success of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Chinese huge economic investments around south Asia.  Now china intends to use Buddhist diplomacy in countries like Sri Lanka. This may at first appear an odd combination. However, it shows several interrelated inclinations in China’s foreign policy pursuits and its rise on the world stage. In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has worked hard to mitigate criticism of its policies and its increasing global presence by portraying itself as a benevolent power intent on improving the lives of its neighbors. To this end, the CCP’s strategic goals are increasingly advanced via “soft power” initiatives to sway others of China’s harmonious intentions.

Since the end of Sri Lanka’s 1983-2009 civil war, China’s economic presence has been a mainstay in the country. After the BRI’s inception in 2013, Chinese foreign direct investment and state-backed policy loans increased immensely, particularly represented by the port projects in Hambantota and Colombo, both of which are related to the nautical sphere of the BRI, known as the Maritime Silk Road. Yet China is not the only major power with interests in Sri Lanka and the South and Southeast Asian regions. China is using religious narratives to promote its soft power in Sri Lanka and bolster its image as a peaceful regional power.

Sri Lanka’s strategic place in the Indian Ocean ensures its significance to other regional and international powers, mostly those that make up the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad: Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. The race is on to secure access and use of Sri Lanka’s port placements, trans-shipment routes, and prospective for naval bases. The Quad considers it essential to remove China’s presence in the country and to contain the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) sway in the Indo-Pacific.

In spite of the CCP’s tough religious control within China’s borders, the Chinese government is increasingly working to circulate a positive narrative of its religious policies to preserve and augment its relations with countries that identify with those religions. This strategy supplements different foreign policy pursuits to persuade other countries to support Chinese interests without the use of coercion. Buddhist-majority countries like Sri Lanka have become the main objectives of this approach.

Definitely, due to the role of Buddhism as the primary religion in Sri Lanka, the government’s Buddhist Advisory Council and the remainder of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy retain influence in the country’s domestic and foreign politics. Yet the position of Buddhism has had detrimental effects on ethnic and religious groups such as the Tamils and Muslims, and international human rights agencies and Western powers increasingly task Sri Lanka with addressing its faulty human rights framework before loans and investments are granted. Therefore, Sri Lanka has become progressively dependent on China, which holds a “pragmatic tactic” to lending under the BRI framework.

Away from economic clout, China has endeavored to position itself as a trusted partner to its religious neighbors by utilizing “strategic narratives” rooted in “classic” Chinese religions like Buddhism. In Sri Lanka, China’s narratives are forwarded by its extensive Buddhist diplomacy, which is carried out through high-level visits, joint religious events, and gifts and donations. The narratives that China projects through these activities center on commemorating the historical Buddhist bonds between China and Sri Lanka that are framed as shared religious fates, ties, and values.

In a nutshell, China’s narratives attempt to establish a discourse concerning the continuation of religious cooperation between the two countries as a prerequisite. The BRI is promoted as a central part of strengthening Sri Lanka’s development, “bright future,” and in time, world peace. In brief, China’s rise in the international system has become dependent on perceptions of its ascent, and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is increasingly attempting to portray the country’s pursuits through a “benevolent religious” lens at least in places where these discourses have local cultural resonances.

Moreover, while the CCP’s simultaneous use of religious diplomacy and infrastructure investments under the BRI’s umbrella is part of the initiative’s original purview. The BRI has always been intended to be promoted through the concept of creating a “community of common destiny” set to secure China’s peaceful environment in order to facilitate its continued rise.

In other words, the goals of China’s concurrent use of religious narratives and infrastructure investments are simple: to pave the way for the BRI’s current implementation, future projects, and investments, as well as to ease potential criticism from influential Sri Lankan stakeholders. This holds important insinuations for the BRI’s progress in religious countries, particularly in South and Southeast Asia where the CCP is attempting to follow the same strategy.

While China’s religious diplomacy seems to have met with some success in Sri Lanka, different stakeholders in Sri Lanka have also shown significant agency in utilizing China’s religious narratives to serve their own national and international goals. Sri Lanka is increasingly utilizing religion in its foreign policy to mitigate criticism of its human rights issues related to the Tamil and Muslim populations. Through reproducing China’s narratives, the Sri Lankan government desires to secure valuable support from the public, and political elites.

Naturally, this is not a foolproof strategy, and China’s religious diplomacy is increasingly being criticized by Western analysts. Questions persist as to how the CCP can portray China as an atheist state while harnessing religious and cultural resources to serve its strategic interests abroad, as well as repressing its own ethnic and religious minorities at home. Yet so far, this has not dissuaded Sri Lanka from accepting China’s narratives of their shared faith in a “harmonious and peaceful Buddhist world.”

Finally, while it is certain that the new Sri Lankan government under the incumbent President and Prime Minister is continue to support China’s visions, as they are not stranger to working with the CCP.  Therefore, the CCP may find that its  strategy of and advance itself well to its strategic pursuits, though much continues to depend on the willingness and agency of BRI host countries in accepting China’s own narratives about its supposed “peaceful rise.”

By R. Hassan, TON Bangladesh

The untiring efforts and strong determination of BNP is finally dragging it to the position where it should be. BNP under the leadership of Begum Khaleda Zia has attained fame and favor for next coming elections not only by internal factors but also from outer side the Bangladesh. Besides facing so many hardships and difficulties Begum Khaleda Zia remained consistent with her national ideology and never got tired in times of trials.

Currently as the general elections of 2023 are approaching ahead in bangladesh and current political situation is in great chaos of turnover and regime change as ruling party, AL, under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina Wajed is also busy in accumulating strength and power n order to face BNP’s strong opposition this time. In previous elections due to controversial behavior of election commission and the ruling party, BNP remained far away from political unrest in the state and boycotted the general elections but this time as the new election commission has already formed and special ways and means are going to be adopted for the conduct of fair and clear elections. Hence the possibility of false election is being reduced down. Moreover, international watchdogs are also very conscious regarding elections of 2023 in Bangladesh and they wish not to be repeated the previous controversial   and elections unrest which further creates disturbance in the domestic politics and accordingly in international politics.

On 14th of November 2022, Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Lilly Nicholls held a closed-door meeting with BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at the BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office. They mutually discussed various issues relating to Bangladesh's upcoming national election and human rights situation especially in terms of human rights, elections, law and security. The meeting went on for around one and a half hours. Lilly Nicholls Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh highlighted that Canada on multiple occasions has told the Bangladesh government that human rights are being violated in Bangladesh. Moreover, one of the leaders of BNP told that BNP has no reason to go to the next polls under the current government and they are determined on this stance. And to hold free and fair elections caretaker government must be established ousting the current government for ensuring a credible election, where people will be able to freely exercise their voting rights.

Furthermore, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki I to met BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on 13^th of November 2022 at BNP Chairperson's Gulshan office a day after attacks on some leaders of the party in Dhaka and Comilla. They more likely discussed about the various issues of bilateral cooperation between the two countries alongside the latest political situation in Bangladesh. Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh appreciated the efforts of BNP in the state and Japan gave words to favor BNP in the next coming elections.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party is not a ruling party in Bangladesh but yet it has got great fame and earned name in the international politics as all other foreign actors in the world politics support democracy in every state and help states to democratize to get stabilize and not becoming threat for the whole world. Similarly there have been complaints by international watchdogs in Bangladesh for violating the democratic rules and regulations which has created serious threat to democracy in Bangladesh and neighboring states as well. So in order to restore democracy in Bangladesh, BNP as a democratic supporter is being favored by other states as well.

CAIRO, 15 November 2022, (TON): The threat to the Egyptian port city of Alexandria from rising sea levels was a topic of discussion for the second year in a row at a climate summit.

However, this year, at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, talks were preceded by a song performed by Lebanese singer Fairuz in the documentary “Shatt Alexandria,” which highlights the fears Alexandria’s residents hold for their city’s future.

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the 2021 Glasgow climate summit that a global increase of 4 C “means we say goodbye to whole cities; Miami, Alexandria, Shanghai. All lost beneath the waves.”

NAIROBI, 15 November 2022, (TON): The United States said “it was increasing its reward for information about key leaders of Somalia’s Al-Shabab to $10 million apiece, a move that follows a spate of deadly attacks by the extremist group.”

The US State Department also said it was for the first time offering a reward of up to $10 million for information “leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms” of the Al-Qaeda affiliate.

Al-Shabab fighters have stepped up attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu and other parts of the country in the face of a widescale offensive against the group by the new government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

NUSA DUA, 15 November 2022, (TON): The G20 will issue an end-of-summit statement in which “most” members will strongly condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine, a senior US official said Tuesday in Bali.

The official told reporters “I think you’re going to see most members of the G-20 make clear that they condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine, that they see Russia’s war in Ukraine as the root source of immense economic and humanitarian suffering in the world.”

The statement, to be issued at the end of the summit this week in Bali, will show that the G20 is “really isolating Russia” a member of the group of the world’s biggest economies.

UNITED NATIONS, 15 November 2022, (TON): The UN General Assembly adopted Monday a resolution supporting a mechanism for Russia to pay reparations for human and property destruction from its invasion of Ukraine.

The resolution, which is non-binding, calls for creation of a framework for Russian reparations for the war which began on February 24 and has left well over 200,000 people on both sides dead or injured, according to US estimates.

Referring to the invasion of Ukraine, it said Russia “must bear the legal consequences of all of its internationally wrongful acts, including making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such acts.”