DHAKA, 22 July 2022, (TON): Border Security Force of India and Border Guard Bangladesh agreed to bring down the killing, injuring or beating of unarmed nationals of both countries to zero by adopting extra precautionary measures.

A joint statement said “both sides agreed to undertake joint efforts to bring down the number of incidents of assault or border crime by intensifying public awareness campaigns by undertaking appropriate socio-economic developmental programmes in vulnerable areas.”

The statement also emphasised educating the border population about the sanctity of international boundaries and preventing criminals or inhabitants from crossing the boundary.

The joint statement was issued at a press conference held at the BGB headquarters in Pilkhana at the end of the five-day conference.

RIYADH, 22 July 2022, (TON): Saudi Press Agency reported “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince received a phone call from the president of Russia.”

During the call, Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Vladimir Putin discussed bilateral relations between their countries and ways to develop them in various fields.

They also reviewed the most prominent regional and international developments and efforts exerted in their regard to achieve security and stability.

CAIRO, 22 July 2022, (TON): Russia’s top diplomat will address the Arab League at its Cairo headquarters Sunday, the organization said, days after Russia took part in a summit hosted by Iran.

It said “Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia will meet Arab League head Ahmed Aboul Gheit and representatives of the 22 nations that make up the pan-Arab bloc.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi hosted a summit that was attended by his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting was nominally about conflict-ridden Syria, where Iran and Russia back the government while Turkey supports anti-regime groups.

MADRID, 22 July 2022, (TON): Europe’s spate of fierce wildfires abated somewhat amid cooler temperatures, with French firefighters starting to get the upper hand over two major blazes, Spain taming a fire that killed two people and no new outbreaks reported in Portugal.

But a fire in Slovenia on the border with Italy kicked up strongly, forcing the evacuation of three villages.

Spanish firefighters were tackling nine blazes, with two said to be especially dangerous in the northwestern Galicia region.

Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and a drought have worsened Spain’s wildfires this year.

Thursday’s highest temperature in Spain was forecast to be 32 C (90 F).

RIYADH, 22 July 2022, (TON): Saudi Arabia condemned an attack in Iraq’s Dohuk province that killed eight and wounded 23.”

The Kingdom affirmed its full support for the government of Iraq in facing the challenges that threaten its security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Turkey rejected claims by Iraqi officials and state media that it had carried out the attack on a mountain resort in the northern province.

Iraq summoned Ankara’s ambassador to Baghdad over the attack and its state agency said the government will call back its charge d'affaires in Ankara.

DHAKA, 22 July 2022, (TON): The US government has recognised Bangladesh's Tariqul Islam, an advocate for victims of human trafficking whose work has helped increase Bangladesh government's capacity to investigate and prosecute traffickers.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken honoured him and five others from around the world as 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report Heroes in a ceremony hosted by US Department of State in Washington DC.

Tariqul has led anti-trafficking organisations that have facilitated assistance to more than 2,000 victims.

He has worked diligently with the victims to either provide or connect them to the services they need in many of these cases, according to the TIP report.

DHAKA, 22 July 2022, (TON): Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan visited the Jatiya Press Club.

A press release said “during the visit, he attended a discussion where various bilateral, regional and international issues were discussed with the management committee and senior members of the club.”

He highlighted the efforts of his government in solving the Rohingya problem.

Convener of the Press Club's International Liaison Sub-Committee Ayub Bhuiyan welcomed the ambassador on his arrival at the club premises while JPC President Farida Yasmin greeted the envoy with a bouquet of flower.

NEW DELHI, 22 July 2022, (TON): Lawmakers chose India’s first president from the country’s tribal communities which could boost the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party among marginalised groups ahead of the 2024 general election.

Droupadi Murmu, a 64-year-old teacher turned politician, will be the second woman to hold the largely ceremonial role as head of the republic when she takes office on July 25 at the start of a five-year term.

More than 4,500 state and federal lawmakers voted in the presidential election and ballots were counted.

Murmu’s victory was assured as she was backed by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which dominates federal and state politics.

By Ammara Farooq

The US is incessantly forcing Nepal to the front position of its China policy, decreasing its flexibility. As a Nepal situated at a hot spot of power games, Nepal's foreign policy has always affected by the prism of geopolitics. This sensitivity of its location shapes Nepal's geopolitical atmosphere and affects its domestic politics.

From Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to the latest State Partnership Programme (SPP) issue, associations between the United States and Nepal have attained remarkable progress in the past two years and at the same time, it has also brought Nepal into a more vulnerable geopolitical position. Nepal received valuable aid for development from the US.

Furthermore, Nepal national disagreements on the dubious purposes behind the assistance and its impacts are ensuing in more political and social splits in the country. This relationship of internal and external inconsistencies has pressed Nepal into a dilemma and carried more vagueness to its foreign policy.

From a past perception, US policy towards Nepal has always reverberated its China policy. Since the 1950s, the US has begun to assist Nepal through the Point Four Programme to support Nepal's agricultural and rural development to prevent the increase of communist movements in Nepal and tried to keep it away from the sway of China and the former Soviet Union. Its policy judgment is that poverty leads to communism.

In the 1960s, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) supported Tibetan insurgents based in Nepal's Mustang to carry out disruption and intelligence actions against China. And as US-China relations improved in the 1970s, it slowly ended its support to the rebels.

After the end of the Cold War, competition in the ideological field distressed out of the center of international politics. US aid to Nepal also weakened expressively in the subsequent period. With the steady rise of China since the new era, the rivalry between China and the US has become increasingly ferocious. Then the US-Nepal policy also exposed more Chinese factors.

In its 2019 Indo-Pacific Strategy, the US administration registered Nepal as a serious partner, seeking to enlarge its defense relationship with Nepal and escalate diplomatic resources here. This strategy, meant to halt China's economic influence, military power and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Through this way US defined China as America's number one contestant.

The US president version of the Indo-Pacific Strategy released in February this year obviously specified that its objective is not to alter the People's Republic of China but to form the strategic atmosphere in its favor. It is irrefutable that the strategic atmosphere here referred to includes Nepal.

The current US administration's style highlights collaboration and empowerment in the economic field and pays more attention to the use of US soft power. This strategic shift has been repeatedly verified in the development of Nepal-US relations in recent years. It is predictable that as the Indo-Pacific Strategy endures to spread, the US will invest more incomes in Nepal.

At the moment, the relationship between China and Nepal is more than bilateral and has regional significance. In 1957, while the two countries had not yet determined the issue of border segregation, Chinese Premier visited Nepal. During his meeting with King. The then Chinese Premier said that the great Himalaya bind China and Nepal with a border of more than 1,000 km.

The friendly collaboration between our two countries is of marvelous implication to the peace of this massive region. In the following decades, the development of bilateral relations followed the direction of this declaration. Nepal has always observed China as the main balancer to maintain its diplomatic independence. From the absolute neutrality of Nepal's Zone of Peace proposal during the Cold War to the more dynamic balanced diplomacy in the new century, it has received firm support from China.

China also puts more importance on developing relations with Nepal. In 2017, China and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Earlier to that, the collaboration between China and Nepal in trade, investment has made momentous advancement. The memorandum is more of a summary of the earlier collaboration and a complete strategy for mutual cooperation in the new era. In addition to traditional security interests, Nepal plays a main role in China's western frontiers' national safety and strength.

Nepal is also a significant entry point for China's western inland to open to the outside world, which is a unique role for other countries in this region. China expects that Nepal will take the express train of China's economic development and realize its financial freedom and divergence of foreign economic relations. This is the central way to maintain Nepal's political independence. And China can also expand its economic interests from this process, and more importantly, secure a favorable external environment for the prosperity and stability of its western region.

The alteration of the geopolitical environment is not a simple receding and flowing of nations' strength. Therefore, assessing and expressing a country's foreign policy must also be pragmatic in a larger historical dimension. From Nepal’s facing the colonial and Cold War eras and the civil war struggle to maintain independence and unity is the best reply to geopolitics and its conversion.

In this sense, Nepal's foreign policy is intended to uphold impartiality and equilibrium. Even if there will be biases on a specific issue or area, as long as the Nepali people still believe in the conclusive importance of independence for the country, there will certainly be forces to correct it.

However, it is never an easy option for Nepali leaders engage and disengage among significant powers. It is like walking on a tightrope with a heavy weight; the game with external forces will be transmitted to domestic political development and trigger a chain reaction. For now, the US is continually pushing Nepal to the forefront of its China strategy, shrinking its freedom.

At the same time, India, which has maintained special relations with Nepal for a long time, also remains highly worried about China's role in Nepal and in the rest of South Asia. However, this strategic convergence has pushed India towards US indo-specific alliance because India is also wary of the growing role of china in the Himalaya. As a result, Nepal's diplomatic tightrope walking has become even more perilous in south Asia with its effects.

By TON Research Desk

Sri Lanka had always been a non-aligned and peace loving country. Sri Lanka based its economic model on China. However, India is also trying to out China from Sri Lanka. India is also developing country and facing acute poverty, however, New Delhi is actively increasing Colombo's debts in the name of financial help to Sri Lanka. In fact these aids, grants, line of credits and loans are extended by United States and some other countries through India against Chinese, Russian and Islamic presence in South Asia. In fact, India has become a front man of Western players to make Asian countries debt ridden leading to smooth compromise of national integrity and sovereignty. There is no doubt, India is indirectly responsible for the current economic crisis of Sri Lanka.

India's total development portfolio in Sri Lanka is more than $3.5 billion, of which only $550 million are grant projects. The supply of Full AC Diesel Multiple Units (AC DMUs) by India is just one of the many railway projects undertaken by India in Sri Lanka. There are also other ongoing projects, which include supply of passenger coaches by RITES under an Indian Line of Credit. RITES has already supplied 120 of the 160 coaches under this project. In fact, everything in these projects are purchased and acquired from India thus it will give little benefit to Sri Lanka in short terms. The Indian Housing Project, with an initial commitment to build 50,000 houses in war affected areas for estate workers in the plantation areas is aimed to bring demographic change and keep Sri Lanka always under New Delhi's thumb. The fact cannot be denied that Tamil issue was never a Sri Lankan issue as Tamils were demanding a separate state in India and not in Sri Lanka but the British policy was followed and own people who could join main stream politics were eliminated and generally all the expenditure for maintaining Sri Lankan forces were to be borne by Sri Lanka.

If we recall, Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has clarified that there is no overdue payment from the Sri Lankan government after Sri Lanka cleared all the pending amount on last repayment on 31 March 2022 . Which means that in this difficult time New Delhi forced Colombo to clear all its dues.We need to understand that Indian Exim Bank extended lines of credit (LOCs) , at the behest of the government of India to Sri Lanka on the condition that Colombo will import developmental and infrastructure projects, equipment, goods and services from India. As per authentic reports, Export Import Bank of India has extended LOCs worth more than USD 1.3 billion to the Sri Lankan government. Till June 2022, India, extended total value to $2.73 billion lines of credit to Sri Lanka.

India has again extended Line of Credit worth $1 billion through State Bank of India that would enable Colombo in procuring food, medicines and other essential items from India to overcome its acute economic crisis. Some time back the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, India remained the champion of as supplier of COVID Vaccine "Maitri" to 100 countries amounting 2324.389 Lac items including 12.640 lac to Sri Lanka. However, this is just the tip of iceberg as Sri Lanka paid huge amount to India with regard to COVID testing kits and vaccine. In another development, India is planning to sell Sri Lanka Alappuzha NIV with testing kits and later Monkeypox vaccine, whereas till now not a single case of Monkeypox. There are reports of attempts immigrate positive Monkeypox cases to Sri Lanka and the viruses to introduce new disease there.

It is high time that Sri Lankan neighbours and international players must change their policies towards Sri Lanka. The sovereignty and national integrity of Sri Lanka is most vital. All nations must help help Sri Lanka to come out of present economic crisis so as it can contribute for peace and development in the region.