VIENNA, 25 January 2022, (TON): Direct negotiations between Iran and the United States at an advanced stage of work in Vienna to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program could be beneficial.

This statement was made on Monday by head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks, permanent representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov.

Ulyanov wrote on Twitter “yes, direct negotiations [of Iran and the United States] at an advanced stage of the Vienna talks can be useful.”

He said commenting on a message with a statement by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian that Tehran could enter into direct negotiations with Washington if it is necessary to reach a good agreement on the nuclear deal.

DHAKA, 25 January 2022, (TON): Russia has congratulated Bangladesh on the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh-Russia diplomatic relations due tomorrow.

In a statement, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “the two countries have long been bound by friendly ties, the foundation of which was laid back in 1972, when the Soviet Union supported the national liberation struggle of the people of Bangladesh.”

She said “Russia was among the first countries to recognise the independence of Bangladesh.”

Bangladeshis remember the feat of Soviet military sailors, who cleared the waters of the port of Chittagong from mines and sunken ships in 1972-1974.

Today, Bangladesh and Russia maintain an active political dialogue, which is built on the principles of equality and mutual respect.

Maria Zakharova said "Let me remind you that Bangladesh is Russia's major trading partner in South Asia, with bilateral trade exceeding $2.5 billion a year. Major economic projects are underway, including the construction of Rooppur, Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant.”

KABUL, 25 January 2022, (TON): Experts in Britain are calling on the UK government to press the international community to broaden the definition of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to avert an irreversible humanitarian disaster.

In a letter sent to The Guardian newspaper, a group of experts, including former defense, national security and foreign policy chiefs, laid out five practical outcomes that the UK should encourage the international community to work toward.

The outcomes include meeting the UN’s appeal for humanitarian funding, preserving state delivery systems, resuming technical support to the country’s central bank to prevent economic collapse, reinstating the Afghan reconstruction trust fund and releasing some of the frozen Afghan foreign reserves so that salaries of essential workers can be paid and key social services maintained.

The letter said “but these measures are not enough to avert an irreversible humanitarian disaster.”

It added “we believe the UK government needs to act in accordance with two fundamental principles.”

Afghan lives should not be used for political leverage; and economic and state collapse in Afghanistan is not in our own national interest.

Afghanistan’s dire humanitarian situation has worsened following the Taliban takeover and withdrawal of the last remaining US troops. As a result, aid was suspended and many countries and international organizations froze the country’s assets.

The World Food Program said that it urgently needs $220 million per month this year as it ramps up operations to provide food and cash assistance to the more than 23 million Afghans facing severe hunger.

KABUL, 25 January 2022, (TON): Iran’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, said that his country has issued a license allowing the transport of fuel through its territory to Afghanistan for three months.

Qomi in a tweet said that in order to meet the fuel needs of the Afghan people in winter, his country has allowed Afghanistan to import fuel to the country through Iran.

According to Qomi “the license has been issued based on the request of the Islamic Emirate officials.”

He wrote in Twitter “in order to meet the needs of the Afghan people in the winter season and based on the request of the Afghan officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran, a permit for the transit of diesel to Afghanistan from Iran’s territory was issued for three months.”

Meanwhile, Herat’s provincial Chamber of Commerce and Investment says that this will have a positive effect on reducing gas and fuel prices in the country.

NEW DELHI, 25 January 2022, (TON): India would cooperate in setting up high-tech parks and creating skilled human resources in 12 districts of Bangladesh.

A press release said "the Government of India is providing loans for creating skilled human resources and establishment of high-tech parks in 12 districts of the country.”

It said that the historical ties between the two countries have been further strengthened and it was important to work for enhancing partnership with Bangladesh in other sectors including the ICT sector.

It further said "India's investment in various sectors, especially in the ICT sector has increased.”

It added “the work of setting up eight of these parks will start by February 2022.”

NEW DELHI, 25 January 2022, (TON): Afghanistan is anxiously awaiting Indian wheat that has to reach Kabul via Pakistan but Indian authorities have failed to deliver the grain at the Pakistan border although Islamabad has generously offered facilitation to transit the grain in the interest of the Afghan people, who are suffering.

Reports said “India has failed to give any schedule for the supplies so far, though the New Delhi had earlier indicated that the supply of 50,000 metric tonnes of its wheat would likely be transited from early next month.”

The offer was made in October last year.

Indian sources claimed that New Delhi has already signed contracts with Afghan transporters for thousands of trucks to pick up wheat from the Pakistan-India border and transport it to Afghanistan.

The wheat would be then handed over to the United Nations (UN) agencies like the World Food Programme (WFP) for distribution in the country.

However, complicated logistics still needed to be streamedlined, which included ensuring a steady supply of wheat to the Pakistani border from Indian storage facilities.

DHAKA, 25 January 2022, (TON): , Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki has said “innovation and technology development will play a significant role in coping with new challenges as Bangladesh graduates from Least Developed Countries (LDC) status soon.”

The ambassador hoped that the juncture would motivate local students to realize new avenues in high-tech engineering and its practical application in Bangladesh.

A Japanese embassy press release said “Naoki spoke in a webinar titled “the creation of a new robot era” by Robo Garage's CEO Takahashi Tomotaka, jointly organized by the Japan Embassy and the Bangladesh Robot Olympiad.”

At the webinar, Tomotaka, who is known as a robot creator, showed his own created robot smartphone named “Robohon”, which can talk and dance.

He said “young students would focus on their curiosity and fun as most innovations start from fun.”

DHAKA, 25 January 2022, (TON): Oman’s newly appointed Charge d’ Affaires (CDA) Abdul Ghaffar Bin Abdul Karim Al-Bulushi has said that the possibility of forming a “Bangladesh-Oman Business Forum” could be explored to strengthen business cooperation between the two countries.    

A press release said “the envoy made the proposal while calling on State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam at the Foreign Ministry on Sunday.”

Earlier, the CDA presented his letter of credence to Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

During the meeting with the state minister, the CDA also emphasized that the boost in trade area needs a B2B interaction and exchange of visits among the business community.

The CDA also paid a courtesy call on Foreign Secretary Masud bin Momen at his office.

WASHINGTON, 24 January 2022, (TON): The United States and Russia have sought to lower the temperature in a heated standoff over Ukraine during high-level talks in Geneva but reported no breakthroughs as a result of the discussions.

Armed with seemingly intractable and diametrically opposed demands, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met on Friday for roughly 90 minutes at what the former dubbed a critical moment in the crisis.

Both sides said they were open to further dialogue following the talks, but put the onus on the other to move first to defuse tensions.

Blinken said the pair’s frank and substantive discussions had put Washington and Moscow on “a clearer path to understanding each other’s positions.”

He added that Russia, which has massed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine’s border, now faced a choice.

ANKARA, 24 January 2022, (TON): Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said “Ankara and Washington will negotiate the delivery of F-35 fighters in late January – early February in the United States.”

The United States previously sent an official notice to Turkey about its exclusion from the program for the supply of the latest F-35 fighters due to Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

The US canceled the joint memorandum on the F-35 si-gned by Turkey in January 2007, signing it with the seven remaining partners in the F-35 project – the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway.

The Turkish President said that the United States offered his country to buy F-16 fighters after it was excluded from the F-35 supply program.