NEW DELHI, 18 February 2022, (TON): The Indian Defence Ministry said in a statement on its website “the Saudi military chief Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair arrived in India on a landmark and historic visit this week.”

According to the ministry, the Lt Gen Al-Mutair arrived in the country on Monday and concluded his visit.

The ministry noted that it was the first-ever visit by a serving royal Saudi land forces commander to India and marked a "deepening bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries."

It further said the aim of the visit was to bolster bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries.

Detailing the meeting with the Indian army chief, the communique said the Saudi dignitary "was briefed on security aspects".

NEW DELHI, 18 February 2022, (TON): India and UAE are poised to sign a new trade deal set to be worth $100 billion over the next five years after a swift conclusion to negotiations. 

According to reports in the country's media outlets “the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will be formally adopted on Feb.18 at a bilateral summit hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

The new deal is expected to elevate the imports of Indian products in the UAE, especially textiles, jewelry, and gems.

According to the Gems and Jewelry Export Promotion Council, UAE accounts for more than 80 percent of India's jewelry and gem exports.

However, due to the pandemic, the jewelry trade witnessed a massive setback, and this agreement is expected to revamp the sector.

DHAKA, 18 February 2022, (TON): Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal paid a courtesy call on Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, the ruler of the Emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates,  at latter’s office in Fujairah.

During the meeting, they underscored the need for working together for the growth and development of political relations between Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

Later, the minister also met Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Fujairah, UAE.

Director General of Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) Maj Gen Md Ayub Chowdhury, Additional Secretary of the Security Services Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs Md Abdullah Al Masud Chowdhury among others, on the occasion.

DHAKA, 18 February 2022, (TON): A Joint Venture Agreement has been signed between Bangladesh Army run Army Welfare Trust and Eleris Energy Limited, the USA, for implementing a solar power project.

A press release said “Army Welfare Trust Managing Director Brigadier General Abul Mansur Md Ashraf Khan and Chief Operating Officer of Eleris Energy Limited Jerry Price signed the JVA on behalf of their respective sides at the conference room of the Army Welfare Trust's head office in Dhaka Cantonment here.”

Earlier, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the Army Welfare Trust and Eleris Energy Limited, USA on August 16 in 2021 for implementing a 1,000 megawatt solar power project at Sandwip in Chittagong.

WASHINGTON, 17 February 2022, (TON): US senators joined together to express a message of solidarity to the Ukrainian people and a warning to Russia´s Vladimir Putin, although the chamber failed to agree on drafting sanctions against Moscow.

12 senior Democratic and Republican members of the Senate said in a statement “in this dark hour, we are sending a bipartisan message of solidarity and resolve to the people of Ukraine, and an equally clear warning to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.”

The text, signed by the chamber´s party leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, marked a rare point of political unity in a hyper-polarized Congress.

But the statement does not carry the weight of law, and comes after political rivals in the evenly divided Senate failed to reach agreement on a bipartisan bill to severely sanction Russia should it invade neighbor Ukraine.

Late last month key senators on both sides of the aisle were close to reaching a deal on sanctions. But late Tuesday Republicans essentially balked by introducing their own sanctions bill without Democrats for consideration.

MOSCOW, 17 February 2022, (TON): Russia said more of its forces surrounding Ukraine were withdrawing but Britain joined the United States in saying it had yet to be convinced the pullout was real.

In Ukraine, the defence ministry said “its web portal had been hit by an unprecedented cyberattack that was into its second day.”

The Russian defence ministry published a video that it said showed tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery units leaving the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Their deployment was part of a huge build-up of Russian forces to the north, east and south of Ukraine since November that had prompted London and Washington to warn in recent days that a Russian invasion looked imminent.

Russia mocked those warnings as hysterical war propaganda when it announced on Tuesday that some units were starting to return to base after completing exercises.

SANAA, 17 February 2022, (TON): A former US ambassador to Yemen and veteran analyst has urged the Biden administration to redesignate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization for resisting peace efforts to end the war and staging attacks on neighboring countries.

Writing for the US-based War on the Rocks platform, Gerald Feierstein said that the Biden’s administration should consider redesignating the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since it is the only option available to pressure the Houthis to stop hostilities on the ground and comply with peace initiatives.

The former ambassador, who until now had opposed the proposed designation, added “but, in the absence of other viable options to pressure the Houthis to abandon their military campaign and seek a peaceful political outcome to the war, it would be foolhardy not to consider the possible use of a terrorist designation as a tool in America’s kit.”

ANKARA, 17 February 2022, (TON): Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stressed the importance of who Libyans choose in eventual elections when asked about that country’s parliament assigning a new prime minister, broadcaster NTV and others cited him as saying.

Turkey has provided military support and training to Libya’s former internationally recognized Government of National Accord, and helped it fight off an assault lasting several months on the capital Tripoli by eastern Libyan forces led by Khalifa Haftar. It still has military personnel and fighters in Libya.

Last week, the Parliament spokesman declared Fathi Bashagha the new interim prime minister after a rival candidate withdrew, but it was not clear if the chamber had held a vote.

Incumbent Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah has said he does not recognize the attempt to remove him and will not step down.

Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Dubai “Fathi Bashagha announced his candidacy. Our ties with Fathi Bashagha are good. On the other hand, (ties) are also good with Dbeibah.”

TOKYO, 17 February 2022, (TON): Japan and the UAE have agreed on the need to work closely together to strengthen their cooperation in new areas, such as promoting advanced technologies and innovation, according to a statement from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

The agreement was reached during a recent video conference between METI Minister Hagiuda Koichi and Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology in the UAE.

Hagiuda expressed his gratitude for the stable supply of crude oil to Japan and urged cooperation toward stabilizing the international crude oil market in light of soaring prices.

The two leaders affirmed their countries’ bilateral energy relations are not limited only to the conventional oil and gas fields, but simultaneously there has also been significant progress in cooperation in the decarbonization field, including on hydrogen and ammonia.

Hagiuda welcomed the UAE’s pledge to go carbon neutral by 2050 and the acceptance of its bid to host COP28 in 2023.

LONDON, 17 February 2022, (TON): State Department spokesperson Ned Price said “the United States is in “the midst of the very final stages” of indirect talks with Iran aimed at salvaging a 2015 deal limiting Tehran’s nuclear activities.”

Price using an abbreviation for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 deal with world powers told reporters “this is really the decisive period during which we’ll be able to determine whether a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is in the offing, or if it’s not.”

Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani responded in a tweet, calling on Western powers “to be realistic, avoid intransigence and heed lessons of past 4yrs. Time for their serious decisions.”