COLOMBO, 12 July 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn have agreed to strengthen and expand bilateral relations into new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, leading to the celebration of the establishment of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Luxembourg in 2022.

This understanding was reached during a video call between the two Ministers, as a follow up to Minister Asselborn’s official visit to Sri Lanka in January 2020, the first visit by a Luxembourg Foreign Minister to Sri Lanka. The two Ministers also agreed to celebrate this landmark anniversary next year in both countries in a fitting manner.

During their cordial discussion, both Ministers reviewed bilateral relations and underscored the importance of enhanced economic cooperation, especially in the financial sector

with a focus on sustainable and green bond financing, trade & investment, air connectivity, employment, and education.

Minister Gunawardena briefed his Luxembourg counterpart on Sri Lanka’s progress in reconciliation, international assistance for cooperation with multilateral institutions, among other matters of mutual interest.

KHARTOUM, 12 July 2021, (TON): Officials said that an explosion has killed four people in a Sudanese Red Sea port city, the latest in a series of violent incidents in the area.

Tensions have been simmering in recent days in Port Sudan where anti-government protesters have reportedly blocked roads over rising insecurity.

Local media have linked the unrest to rejection by the Hedendoa tribe of an October peace deal between rebel groups and the Sudanese government.

Hadendoa, the largest subdivision of the Beja people in the region, fear their tribe will be under-represented in regional legislative and executive bodies under the Juba agreement.

Blast took place late in the evening at a busy sporting club in Port Sudan, the provincial capital of the Red Sea state, and also involved an armed attack.

It added “an explosive device went off at Al-Amir club killing four people,” the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said in a statement. Three others were wounded after being shot or stabbed, it added.

Witnesses said “the attack was carried out by unidentified armed men on a motorcycle but it was not immediately clear what motivated it. Authorities in the Red Sea state said in a statement that one of the perpetrators had been arrested. Dozens of people later gathered outside the public prosecutor’s office in Port Sudan demand the assailants be brought to justice.”

Explosion was the latest in a series of violent incidents in Port Sudan, including an attack Friday by unidentified assailants on security forces.

A man was killed during a fight on a public bus and that same day there was a failed bid to attack a hotel with explosive, authorities said.

KABUL, 12 July 2021, (TON): Officials and a security source said that India has evacuated about 50 diplomats and security personnel from its consulate in Kandahar, the former Taliban bastion in southern Afghanistan, after days of intense fighting.

The insurgents claimed this week that they now control 85 percent of Afghanistan, much of it seized since early May when US-led foreign forces began their final withdrawal from the country.

The Taliban also clashed with government forces this week on the edge of Kandahar city, the capital of Kandahar province, where the hardline Islamist movement was born.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement “the Consulate General of India has not been closed. However, due to the intense fighting near Kandahar city, India based personnel have been brought back for the time being.”

“This is purely a temporary measure until the situation stabilises. The consulate continues to operate through our local staff members.”

A security source said about 50 Indian personnel, including some six diplomats, have been evacuated from the consulate.

ISLAMABAD, 12 July 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has left for Tajikistan to attend the meeting of Foreign Ministers’ Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe.

During his three-day visit, the foreign minister will also attend the meeting of SCO Foreign Ministers Contact Group for Afghanistan and present Pakistan’s views on the Afghan peace process, the rapidly changing situation in the region and promotion of regional cooperation.

On the sidelines of the meeting, he will meet with foreign ministers of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Russia and China. Issues of mutual interest, including bilateral relations and promotion of regional ties will be discussed in these meetings.

 Shah Mahmood Qureshi will also meet President of Tajikistan Imam Ali Rehman. The foreign minister’s visit is expected to be helpful in promoting the Afghan peace process, adopting a common approach to the law and order situation in the region, and promoting cooperation between SCO member states in multilateral areas.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Qureshi has invited his Afghan counterpart Haneef Atmar for talks in Islamabad as the Taliban make rapid territorial gains and fighting surges across Afghanistan.

Inviting Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar to visit Pakistan, Qureshi said that a negotiated settlement is the best option for lasting peace in Afghanistan.

 In recent weeks, the Taliban have overrun several areas bordering five countries: Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China and Pakistan and captured key border crossings through which Afghanistan conducts most of its trade with Iran and Turkmenistan.

Qureshi said “Pakistan is ready to cooperate for facilitation.”

TEL AVIV, 12 July 2021, (TON): The Israeli government approved during a weekly meeting, the proposal of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to extend the term of office of the head of the General Security Service (Shabak) Nadav Argaman until October 13. This was announced by the office of the Israeli prime minister.

The statement said “the government approved Bennett’s proposal to extend the term of office of the head of the Shabak Nadav Argaman by one month until October 13, 2021.”

The leader of the Yamina Party, Bennett, took the oath of office on June 13 as the 13th Prime Minister of Israel. On June 15, the new head of the Cabinet held the first working meetings with the leaders of the Israeli special services Mossad (foreign intelligence) and the Shin Bet, and on July 8, for the first time since taking office, Bennett visited the headquarters of the General Security Service, where he thanked its employees for “a series of secret and open operations”.

KABUL, 12 July 2021, (TON): The presidential office said “Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani inaugurated an international airport in the eastern Khost province, a move in the latest efforts to improve people's livelihood.”

Ghani joined dozens of Afghan officials, dignitaries and locals at a ceremony to launch the operation of the Khost airport in the province, 150 km southeast of the national capital Kabul.

President Ghani and provincial Governor Mohmand Qatawazi also greeted passengers arriving in a flight from the United Arab Emirates conducted by Afghanistan's privately-owned airline Kam Air.

The statement said “the inauguration of Khost Airport would promote people's livelihood through economic development. As Khost residents frequently travel to Arabic states and other regional countries for work and business."

Besides, the Afghan president chaired a security meeting attended by security and political officials on the current situation in Khost and met with people including members of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in the province bordering Pakistan.

KATHMANDU, 12 July 2021, (TON): Nepal signed a pact with India’s state-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam to develop the 679-megawatt Lower Arun Hydropower project in eastern Nepal.

The $1.3 billion project, the single biggest foreign investment project, as per the 2017 cost estimates, is located in Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur districts.

This is the second mega project undertaken by the southern neighbour after the $1.04 billion 900-MW Arun-3 hydroelectric project in the Arun river.

The Investment Board said in a statement that a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Investment Board of Nepal Chief Executive Officer Sushil Bhatta and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Chairman and Managing Director Nand Lal Sharma in Kathmandu.

According to the board “the developer should complete the detailed project study of the project and submit the detailed project report for approval at the board within two years from the agreement date.”

The project will be built under the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model.

According to the statement, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel, who is also the vice-chairman of the board, expressed commitment to extend necessary support to expedite and fast-track the project development.

BELGIUM, 11 July 2021, (TON): The European Parliament has voted for diplomats to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics due to continuing allegations of human rights abuses.

MEPs also want their governments to impose further sanctions over China's treatment of Uighur Muslims and support pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong.

This comes as an investment deal between Brussels and Beijing has been frozen.

The European Parliament has called on EU heads of state and government to tell their diplomats and all officials to decline any invitations they may get to the Winter Olympics in 2022 unless the human rights situation improves.

However, this European Parliament resolution is not binding.

DAMASCUS, 11 July 2021, (TON):  A vital border crossing between Syria and Turkey has been kept open thanks to Washington and Moscow forging an agreement to pass a resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC), the deputy to the US ambassador to the UN told a press briefing attended by Arab News on Saturday.

He added that Jeffrey Prescott said keeping the border crossing open will save lives and deliver critical food and medicine, especially vaccines, to internally displaced Syrians. The US had initially expected Russia to veto the resolution.

Prescott described the passing of the resolution as a critical starting point that the US and others will have to build on in the months ahead in order to expand humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.

The UNSC voted unanimously on Friday to extend its authorization to keep the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing open for humanitarian aid to the Syrian people for another year in two six-month intervals.

The UN said the resolution applies “only to Bab Al-Hawa, not to several other crossing points whose use was previously curtailed by the council.”

DHAKA, 11 July 2021, (TON): White House said in a statement that US President Joe Biden has chosen Peter D Haas as the next US ambassador to Bangladesh.

The veteran diplomat and trade policy expert will replace the current envoy, Earl R Miller, who had joined the embassy in Dhaka on November 13, 2018.

“Peter Haas [is the president’s] nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to [the] People’s Republic of Bangladesh” according to the White House statement.

The statement noted that Haas, a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service who holds the class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as the acting assistant secretary of state and principal deputy assistant secretary for economic and business affairs for the State Department.

Previously, he was the senior advisor/deputy assistant secretary for trade policy and negotiations for the State Department and prior to that he served as the deputy permanent representative to the US Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France.

Statement said “throughout his career, Haas has also served in positions across five geographic bureaus of the State Department, including as the consul general of the US Consulate General in Mumbai, India.