NAYPYITAW, 25 July 2021, (TON): Two people familiar with the matter said that Myanmar has selected a new representative to the United Kingdom, replacing the ambassador who was ousted from the embassy in a dramatic standoff after breaking ranks with the military over its Feb 1 coup.

One of the sources said “the junta's new pick has applied for a visa to travel to Britain and is currently in Myanmar. Both sources requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.”

The Myanmar Accountability Project, a UK-based rights group, said “the appointee for the London job was Htun Aung Kyaw, who served as a fighter pilot during a long army career.

One of the sources also said “Htun Aung Kyaw was Myanmar's new pick, but Reuters could not further verify that information”.

The British foreign ministry declined to comment on the new representative.

WASHINGTON, 25 July 2021, (TON): Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl met with Croatian Minister of Defence Mario Banožić at the Pentagon to reaffirm the importance of the U.S.-Croatia bilateral defense relationship and further strengthen our strategic Alliance.

Dr. Kahl emphasized the U.S. commitment to collaborating within NATO and helping Croatia meet its NATO capability targets.

The two leaders discussed regional security, Euro-Atlantic integration and mutual concerns over malign influence in the region.

Dr. Kahl thanked Minister Banožić for Croatia’s impressive history of contributions to coalition operations, including Kosovo Force and NATO Mission Iraq.

NEW DELHI, 25 July 2021, (TON): A seafarer workers’ union has claimed that Indian sailors are losing jobs on China-bound commercial vessels as Beijing has imposed an unofficial ban and is not allowing ships with Indian crew members to berth at Chinese ports.

The All India Seafarer & General Workers’ Union said “it has written a letter to Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, the directorate general of shipping and the ministry of external affairs on the unofficial “ban” on Indian seafarers from entering Chinese waters as a result of which “21,000 Indian sailors are facing job losses, directly or indirectly.”

Talking to media, Abhijeet Sangle, working president of the Unimon, alleged, “It’s China’s tactics to isolate our seafarers so as to provide better prospects to its sailors.

We have written a letter to Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, DG shipping a and MEA to seriously look into the issue. In fact, I have sent a letter to foreign minister S Jaishankar separately, requesting him to take immediate action.

Earlier, this year, our Indian sailors faced a similar problem when China did not allow two foreign ships with Indian crew to berth at its port as a result of which our crew of over 40 members were stranded off China for several weeks.”

DG (Shipping) Amitabh Kumar said “we have not received any official communication from either the Chinese government or the ministry of external affairs about any such ban. Our data doesn’t suggest anything of that sort (that over 21,000 sailors are facing any job problem). These are personal views of some people. We can't keep reacting to everyone's views.”

WASHINGTON, 25 July 2021, (TON): US warplanes carried out at least four sets of airstrikes in Afghanistan this week in support of Afghan government troops who have ceded ever-growing swathes of the country to the Taliban Islamist insurgency.

Pentagon officials said “the Pentagon acknowledged the bombing raids, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday, but refused to provide any details as to the aircraft or munitions involved. The targets struck were in southern Kandahar province, the historic stronghold of the Taliban, and in Kunduz in the north. Among the targets were materiel captured by the Taliban from government forces, including at least one piece of artillery and armored vehicles.”

In both Kunduz and Kandahar, the security forces of Afghanistan’s puppet government are facing increasing pressure from Taliban on their respective provincial capitals.

In a Pentagon press conference on Wednesday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, provided a confirmation of the breadth and speed of the Taliban’s advances, acknowledging that the insurgency had seized about half of the country’s 419 district centers. Just last month, he told Congress that the Taliban held only 81 centers. This official count is no doubt a significant underestimate. And, in many cases, district centers still held by the government forces are islands surrounded by Taliban-controlled countryside.”

KABUL, 25 July 2021, (TON): Afghanistan ministry of interior affairs said that people in 31 provinces will not be allowed to get out of their homes from 10pm to 4am except for emergency.

The Afghan capital Kabul, eastern Nengarhar province and the northern Panjsher provinces are exempt from the new decree.

Ministry of interior ministry said that most of the terror activities are being conducted throughout night that behooved them to impose such unprecedented limitations.

Deputy spokesperson of Afghan interior ministry Ahamd Zia Zia has asked people in 31 provinces to cooperate with the Afghan Forces and abide by the rules of night curfew.

The unprecedented curfew comes at a time when the Taliban fighters and Afghan government forces are busy fighting in over ten provinces of Afghanistan.

Ministry of interior affairs too announced it plan for recapturing over 200 districts which have fallen to the Taliban in the past two months.

WASHINGTON, 25 July 2021, (TON): Deputy Secretary Sherman is going to be traveling to Tianjin for discussions with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng, Senior Administration official of the State Department has said.

The deputy secretary’s travel to China follows a week of important engagements with allies and partners in Japan, we were in Seoul a little bit earlier, and right now we’re in Mongolia.

The deputy secretary used her meetings there to underscore the United States commitment to standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies and partners to address pressing global challenges, advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, and uphold and strengthen the rules-based international order.

We’ve said we are prepared to engage Chinese officials when we believe those engagements will be substantive and constructive. Those are the terms on which we agreed to this visit.

So Deputy Secretary Sherman’s meetings are a continuation of the discussions we had in Anchorage in March around setting the terms for the relationship and achieving a steady state of affairs between our countries. 

We believe it’s important to maintain open lines of communication between high-level officials.  Frank and open discussion, even – perhaps especially – where we disagree, is critical to reducing the potential for misunderstandings between our countries, maintaining global peace and security, and making progress on important issues.

As Secretary Blinken has said, “the U.S. relationship with China will be collaborative where it can be, competitive where it should be, and adversarial where it must be.  And we expect all dimensions of the relationship will be on the table for discussion during Wendy’s meetings.  You know as well as I do she’s a seasoned diplomat. 

We’re going into these meetings with our eyes wide open.  The deputy secretary is going to represent the U.S. interests and values and those of our allies and partners.  We’re going to do it honestly and directly.  In Tianjin, she’s going to make clear while we welcome stiff and sustained competition with the PRC, everyone needs to play by the same rules and on the level – on a level playing field.

DHAKA, 25 July 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has expressed his deep condolences over the loss of lives due to floods in Germany and China.

Over 33 people died in heavy flooding in the Central Henan Province of China.

In a message sent to the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi, Momen conveyed heartfelt sympathies to the members of the bereaved families.

Foreign Minister added "our thoughts and prayers are with the government and people of China. We stand by the friendly people of China as they face this situation with courage and fortitude."

Momen also expressed deep condolences at the tragic loss of lives in western Germany due to severe floods. More than 200 have lost their lives till now.

In a message sent to the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Heiko Maas, Momen conveyed heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives.

DHAKA, 25 July 2021, (TON): State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said “Bangladesh is going to develop its own social media platforms called "Jogajog" and "Alapon" as alternatives to Facebook and WhatsApp.”

He was speaking at the inaugural function of "Entrepreneurship Masterclass Series 2", organised by Women e-Commerce.

"Using this [Jogajog app], the entrepreneurs of the country will be able to create their own online marketplace and group for information, data and communication."

Palak explained how his ministry successfully developed "Boithok" app as an alternative to Zoom online and "Surokkha" app for vaccine registration.

He said “the digital e-commerce policy of 2018 aims at creating 20 lakh jobs in the ICT sector by this year.”

He added “the e-commerce, hardware, software and BPO sectors will be able to meet the target of more than 20 lakh jobs by 2021.”

ISLAMABAD, 25 July 2021, (TON): National Security Adviser (NSA) Dr Moeed Yusuf said India must stop state sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan before dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbours can resume.

In an interview with Indian journalist Karan Thapar, the security adviser also said India must reverse its unilateral and illegal decision of August 5 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for talks to resume.

Explaining Pakistan's position on Kashmir, Moeed said "the government and the people of Pakistan will remain committed to the Kashmir cause till Kashmiris are granted their right to self-determination under UNSC resolutions."

Elaborating on the offer from India to hold talks, the national security adviser said Islamabad had clearly communicated to India that it must halt demographic change in IIOJK, ensure the protection of Kashmiri identity and give Kashmiris their rights before any dialogue or talks can take place.

Providing details of Indian involvement in terrorism, he said “the country has provided a detailed dossier with evidence of Indian involvement and said New Delhi's intelligence agency, RAW, was involved in the recent bombing in Johar Town in Lahore. He further detailed the evidence of banking transactions, telephone records and cyberattacks, whcih "revealed direct involvement of India in the attacks."

ISLAMABAD, 25 July 2021, (TON): Pakistan and China promised to expose the culprits behind the deadly Dasu bus incident and give them "exemplary punishment" while vowing to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

Read a joint statement after talks between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing "both sides expressed their firm resolve to expose the culprits and their reprehensible designs through the ongoing joint investigation, give exemplary punishment to the perpetrators, ensure comprehensive safety and security of the Chinese projects, nationals and institutions, and prevent recurrence of such incidents."

On July 14, at least 13 people including nine Chinese nationals were killed in an incident that was initially termed an accident but the joint statement made it clear that it was a terrorist attack.

The incident raised questions about the future of Chinese investment in Pakistan. But the joint readout suggested that the two sides were not deterred by the bus attack as the Pakistan side promised comprehensive security for the Chinese nationals.

According to the joint statement, both sides vehemently condemned the terrorist attack in Dasu which caused loss of precious lives and injuries to the Pakistani and Chinese workers.

The Pakistan side conveyed its profound condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families, emphasised that the sacrifices of Chinese nationals would not be in vain, and that the China-Pakistan partnership would emerge stronger through this test. The Pakistan side promised to ensure medical treatment, care and comfort of the injured, said the statement further.

After the bus incident, the crucial Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC), the apex forum for CPEC, was postponed.