NEW DELHI, 27 March 2022, (TON): PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti reiterated her call to the BJP government for dialogue with Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir, saying “peace would be elusive as long as Kashmir remained unresolved.”

She called upon people to vote for the constituents of the People's Alliance for Gukpar Declaration, an alliance of several parties, including the National Conference, PDP and Communist Party of India, in the next assembly elections to defeat the BJP's attempt to gain power and seal its wrong decision to scrap Article 370.

The former chief minister said "Kashmir has been awaiting a solution for the last 70 years...there will be no peace in the region until the Kashmir issue is resolved, and for that, dialogue with Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir is imperative.”

Addressing a workers convention in Ramban, she said "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee both visited Pakistan, but why do they feel perturbed when we speak about holding dialogue with the neighbouring country."

DHAKA, 27 March 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr Ak Abdul Momen has urged Oman to enhance cooperation through tourism and people to people contract as well as exchange of visits between the trade bodies between the two countries.

A foreign ministry press release said “he made the remark while Omani Undersecretary Sheikh Khalifa Al Harthy paid a courtesy call on him at the Foreign Service Academy.”

During the meeting, they exchanged views about the new areas of collaboration between the two countries like contract farming, food security, blue economy, shipbuilding, ICT and ITES, climate change and environment.

The Undersecretary briefed the Minister about the bilateral discussions they held with the Bangladesh delegation led by Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.

NEW DELHI, 27 March 2022, (TON): Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said “New Delhi looks forward to working together with Dhaka to add more pages to the golden chapter of India-Bangladesh friendship.”

He made the remark in a tweet as he greeted Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Bangladesh government and its people on the occasion of Bangladesh's Independence and National day.

He tweeted "warm greetings to FM Dr AK Abdul Momen and the Government and people of Bangladesh on their National Day.”

WASHINGTON, 26 March 2022, (TON): Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and they jointly condemned the DPRK’s March 24 Intercontinental ballistic missile launch as a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

This provocation, which follows two ICBM tests earlier this year, further demonstrates the threat the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the U.S.-Japan Alliance as the cornerstone of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, and committed to trilateral cooperation with Japan and the Republic of Korea towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

LONDON, 26 March 2022, (TON): Exercise PANTHER GOLD 21 coincided with UK Defence Minister Baroness Goldie’s visit to Thailand. Her visit this week focussed on enhancing cooperation between the UK and Thai Armed Forces.

Baroness Goldie met with Thailand’s Deputy Defence Minister, General Chaichan Changmongkol and signed the first MoU between the UK and Thailand to deepen and enhance our Defence cooperation.

The joint exercise saw Armed Forces training in jungle warfare tactics, navigation and survival techniques.

UK and Thai troops worked side by side, learning from one and other’s skills and experience. Personnel on exercise also had the opportunity to train in Muay Thai a martial art and combat sport practiced in Thailand.

Minister of State for Defence, Baroness Goldie said “Thailand is an important Defence partner for the UK in the Indo-Pacific.”

He said “we are determined to continue to work together with our respective skills and expertise, supporting our shared values and addressing regional security challenges and global threats.”

BRUSSELS, 26 March 2022, (TON): The EU strongly condemns the launch by the DPRK of an intercontinental ballistic missile. This is a violation of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions and a serious threat to international and regional peace and security.

The EU calls on the DPRK to refrain from any further action that could increase international or regional tensions.

The DPRK must comply with UN Security Council resolutions by abandoning all its nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile programmes and existing nuclear programmes, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, and cease immediately all related activities.

The DPRK cannot have the status of a nuclear weapons state. The EU calls on all UN Members to take action to implement in full the UN Security Council sanctions.

The EU stands ready to implement and complement if necessary any action that could be taken by the UN Security Council in response to this event.

LONDON, 26 March 2022, (TON): G7 Foreign Ministers and the High Representative of the European Union statement on the recent testing of ballistic missiles by North Korea.

We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union strongly condemn the continued testing of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch conducted on March 24, 2022.

Since the beginning of 2022, the DPRK has conducted an unprecedented series of missile tests which build on ballistic missile tests conducted in 2021, including launches of new so-called hypersonic missiles, and has claimed a submarine-launched ballistic missile test.

These tests demonstrate the DPRK’s continued efforts to expand and further develop its ballistic missile capabilities. We deeply regret that the DPRK, with the most recent launches, has also abandoned its self-declared moratorium on ICBM launches.

We strongly condemn these acts which are in blatant violation of the DPRK´s obligations under numerous UN Security Council resolutions including resolution 2397 (2017).

TEL AVIV, 26 March 2022, (TON): The Foreign Ministry announced “Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will host his counterparts from the US, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco for a historic diplomatic summit next week.”

According to its statement, which said more details would follow “the summit will take place on Sunday and Monday.”

The announcement came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced his visit to Israel and the West Bank, a move that had taken some analysts by surprise as the top US diplomat had visited less than a year ago and is not expected to announce a major diplomatic initiative.

Blinken will be joined by the UAE’s Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain’s Abdullatif bin Rashid Al- Zayani and Morocco’s Nasser Bourita in the latest gathering that would likely not have taken place if not for the signing of the Abraham Accords.

The 2020 agreements saw Israel normalize ties with the three Arab countries in a matter of months in deals brokered by the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON, 26 March 2022, (TON): White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said “the US is still pursuing talks on Iran’s nuclear program but will work with allies to increase pressure on Iran if diplomacy fails.”

The talks were close to an agreement until Russia made last-minute demands of the US, insisting that sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine would not hurt its trade with Iran.

US officials have been cautious in their assessment of efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, which would curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting tough sanctions on Iran’s economy.

Sullivan told reporters “substantial progress has been made in resolving several issues necessary for Washington to come back to the deal “on a compliance-for-compliance basis.”

He added “there still are issues left. There still is work to be done.”

BRUSSELS, 26 March 2022, (TON): The US and EU announced a task force Friday aimed at reducing Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels in the face of Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

A statement said “the initiative being unveiled by President Joe Biden and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen will see the US work with partners to strive to supply Europe with an extra 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas this year.”

The push comes as EU member states wrangle over calls for the bloc to ban Russia’s key energy exports to punishment President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

The Baltics and Poland are urging counterparts to pull the trigger but others, including economic powerhouse Germany, remain reluctant to impose a sudden rupture given their reliance on Russian gas imports.

Germany said Friday it was drastically slashing its energy purchases from Russia amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with oil imports to be halved by June and coal deliveries to end by the autumn.

The EU has already announced ambitious plans to slash its imports of Russian gas by two-thirds this year and eliminate imports entirely before the end of the decade.