NEW DELHI, 17 February 2022, (TON): In a significant move, the government has appointed Vice Admiral (retd) G Ashok Kumar as India's first national maritime security coordinator with a mandate to ensure cohesion among various key stakeholders with an overall objective to strengthen the country's maritime security.

Late last year, the Cabinet Committee on Security had cleared the proposal for the creation of the post.

The appointment of G Ashok Kumar, who is a former Navy vice chief, is seen as part of India's consistent efforts to bolster its maritime security following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack 14 years back when a group of sea-borne terrorists struck at the heart of the country's financial capital.

The government has appointed the country's first national maritime security coordinator (NMSC), people familiar with the developments said.

The NMSC works in coordination with the National Security Council Secretariat headed by NSA Ajit Doval.

NEW DELHI, 17 February 2022, (TON): His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual summit on Friday, February 18, 2022, aimed at deepening the historic and strategic ties between both countries by strengthening cooperation and joint partnerships in a number of areas.

During the summit, the two leaders will witness the signing of key strategic agreements between the fraternal countries in India’s capital, New Delhi.

This includes the United Arab Emirates-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement which will usher in a new era of economic cooperation and unlock greater avenues for trade and investment.

The two leaders will discuss a range of regional and global issues of mutual concern, as well as ways to establish stronger strategic bilateral ties under the auspices of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in 2017.

Bilateral ties between the UAE and India have intensified significantly in recent years.

WASHINGTON, 16 February 2022, (TON): The Justice Department said “a US Navy engineer admitted in federal court on Monday that he tried to sell secrets about nuclear submarines to a foreign power.

Jonathan Toebbe, 43, pleaded guilty before a federal judge, more than four months after being arrested with his wife Diana Toebbe.

In exchange for his guilty plea, he is expected to be sentenced to between 12.5 to 17.5 years in prison.

His wife, a teacher, has so far maintained her innocence and sought release to care for their two teenage children. But her husband’s plea deal also incriminates her.

The document said “Diana Toebbe knowingly and voluntarily joined the conspiracy to communicate Restricted Data to another person with the intent to secure an advantage to a foreign nation and committed multiple overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy, including acting as a lookout while Mr. Toebbe serviced three dead drops.”

The court documents did not however say which country the couple tried to sell their information to.

JERUSALEM, 16 February 2022, (TON): Israeli President Isaac Herzog is preparing to visit Turkey, his office said, in a rare trip following years of frayed ties between the two countries.

A presidency statement said that a senior Turkish delegation, including a top aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was due in Israel this week “as part of preparations for the planned visit”.

In a television interview last month, Erdogan said he expected Herzog to visit in February, hailing the trip as an opportunity to “open a new chapter in relations between Turkey and Israel.”

Herzog’s office had declined to comment on the prospective visit until Tuesday’s statement, which gave no indication of a possible date.

Turkey’s state-run TRT television, reported the trip would take place on March 9 and 10.

OTTAWA, 16 February 2022, (TON): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked an emergency measure for the first time in the country’s history to give his government more power to respond to ongoing anti-government trucker protests.

In a news conference, Trudeau said he was invoking the Emergencies Act, which allows the federal government to take “special temporary measures” for a period of 30 days during national emergencies.

Trudeau told reporters “the federal government has invoked the Emergencies Act to supplement provincial and territorial capacity to address the blockades and occupations.”

“I want to be very clear: the scope of these measures will be time-limited, geographically-targeted, as well as reasonable and proportionate to the threats they are meant to address. The Emergencies Act will be used to strengthen and support law enforcement agencies at all levels across the country.”

The Emergencies Act defines a national emergency as a situation that “seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it” or that “seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada”.

BEIJING, 16 February 2022, (TON): China called the US decision to split Afghan reserves a “robbery” and urged Washington to return the money to Afghans.

The US stole money from Afghans, Hua Chunying, spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Twitter.

Hua reacted to the US President Joe Biden’s executive order last Friday splitting Afghanistan's central bank's $7 billion in assets, allocating half for humanitarian relief to the poverty-stricken country ravaged by 42 years of war, while keeping the other half available for compensation to victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Hua said “this is flagrant robbery and shameless moral decline. The US should immediately return the stolen money back to the Afghan people, and compensate people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and more who died or suffered losses from the US military invasions.”

The interim government in Afghanistan condemned the move while many people in the war-torn country hit the streets against Biden’s decision.

 MOSCOW, 16 February 2022, (TON): Russia said “some of its military units were returning to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, following days of US and British warnings that Moscow might invade its neighbour at any time.”

It was not clear how many units were being withdrawn, and by what distance, after a build-up of an estimated 130,000 Russian troops to the north, east and south of Ukraine.

The development drew a cautious response from Ukraine and Britain but prompted a sharp rally on financial markets. Western military analysts said it was too soon to be sure of the extent of any de-escalation.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said “we’ve always said the troops will return to their bases after the exercises are over. This is the case this time as well.”

He accused the United States of fuelling the crisis by warning repeatedly of an impending invasion, to the point where Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had made jokes about it.

JEDDAH, 16 February 2022, (TON): The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has expressed deep concern over recent public calls for the genocide of Muslims in Haridwar in India’s Uttarakhand state.

It also condemned reported incidents of harassment of Muslim women on social media, as well as the banning of female Muslim students wearing the hijab in Karnataka.

The OIC said “the continued attacks on Muslims and their places of worship, the recent trend of anti-Muslim legislation in different states and rising incidents of violence against Muslims are indicative of the growing trend of Islamophobia.”

It called upon the international community, especially the UN and Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, to take necessary measures in this regard.

WASHINGTON, 16 February 2022, (TON): A senior US official said “the Biden administration cannot yet release half of the $7 billion it has set aside for Afghanistan as it involves a lengthy judicial process.”

US President Joe Biden issued an executive order, saying that half of this fund would go to a trust fund the administration would set up for humanitarian relief in Afghanistan. The other half would be kept for compensating the victims of the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

The order, however, also said that the administration needs judicial permission to do so as a US federal court is already considering a plea from the victims’ families who demand the entire amount for compensation.

MOSCOW, 16 February 2022, (TON): Russia held the door open on Monday to further talks on resolving its standoff with the West and said some of its military drills were ending, signalling a possible easing of the crisis over Ukraine.

While the comments from President Vladimir Putin and his foreign and defence ministers seemed to offer hope of a de-escalation, the Pentagon said “Russia had strengthened its forces amassed on the border with Ukraine over the weekend.”

Spokesman John Kirby told media “Putin continues to add forces along that border with Ukraine and in Bela­rus, even just over the course of the weekend, he’s well north of 100,000.”

During a carefully choreographed meeting with Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “there is always a chance” to reach an agreement with the West over Ukraine.