NEW DELHI, 23 June 2021, (TON): Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first meeting with the political leadership of Jammu and Kashmir since abrogation of special status to the erstwhile state, Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with senior party leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to finalise the party’s stand at the meeting.

While Congress leaders said former J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, J&K Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir and former deputy CM Tara Chand will attend the meeting with an open mind, as the government has not circulated any agenda, it is learnt that they will focus on restoration of full statehood for J&K.

The party’s representatives are unlikely to demand restoration of Article 370, it is learnt.

Besides Sonia and Singh, virtual meeting was attended by Azad, former Union minister P Chidambaram, party leaders Karan Singh, G A Mir, Rajni Patil and Tariq Hamid Karra. Mir told The Indian Express that the Congress will have to go to the meeting with an open mind. He said the party will demand restoration of full statehood to J&K, as also holding elections.

Mir said that the Congress believes this could be the first of many meetings. Asked about restoration of Article 370, we are not clear about the (meeting’s) agenda. One thing is clear, people of J&K want restoration of statehood, and they deserve that.”

DHAKA, 23 June 2021, (TON): Putting forward six suggestions to consider in framing post-Covid-19 economic recovery plan, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina underscored the need for taking immediate collective action to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.

She said in a pre-recorded message "as we're witnessing the challenges, we need to take immediate collective and concerted action to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic through expanding trade, business and investment for our common prosperity."

The six suggestions the PM put forward in the Forum include taking ambitious climate action to meet the goal of the Paris Agreement, leveraging science, technology, and innovation for closing the digital divide; and having targeted international support to revitalise global trade and export earnings.

The suggestions also include contributing to the reintegration plan of migrant workers highlighted as vulnerable group by the host countries, business leaders and investors in the region, ensuring new international support measures for the graduating LDCs to prevent any possible sliding back due to the pandemic, and having an inclusive, sustainable and holistic recovery plan for shared prosperity.

To ensure sustainable and equitable order after the pandemic, there is a need for a whole-of-the-world approach now.

Hasina said the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the world to multiple setbacks and fragilities as it has already claimed millions of lives and battered the economies.

KABUL, 23 June 2021, (TON): In recent weeks, the number of terrorist attacks, kidnappings, criminal offenses, and other similar occurrences has escalated across Afghanistan.

In the face of a rise in violence, Beijing has advised Chinese people in Afghanistan to move out of the country as soon as possible, and its organizations to take extra measures during these challenging times.

In the light of the deteriorating situation, the embassy of China in Afghanistan cautioned that Chinese citizens and organizations should take special precautions and enhance their emergency readiness.

Through a statement, the embassy of China in Kabul stated that “the conflicts in Afghanistan are constant” asking its nationals in Kabul to be more cautious and urgently depart.

China has attributed an increase in violence on the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) abruptly withdrawing troops from Afghanistan after almost two decades of deployment.

TOKYO, 22 June 2021, (TON): Japan’s defence minister has urged European nations to have a stronger military involvement in the Asia-Pacific as Tokyo tries to put tremendous pressure on Beijing to counter China’s influence in the region.

In his first speech to the European Parliament subcommittee on security and defence, Nobuo Kishi called on the European Union to solidify its commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and for the two sides to continue and expand their security cooperation.

Kishi said in an online address “[Parties] such as Japan and the EU must tackle together ... the fight against authoritarianism.”

As defence minister, I highly commend the point that the EU strategy sets out [about] the strengthening of presence and action in the Indo-Pacific.

“It is my sincere hope that such involvement will continue and expand, and that many more will follow the lead.”

A source familiar with Japan’s defence policymaking said that the speech was part of Tokyo’s efforts to enlist the EU to put more pressure on Beijing.

DHAKA, 22 June 2021, (TON): Dr David Brewster, a senior research fellow at Australian National University's National Security College and an expert on Indian Ocean security, has referred to Bangladesh's economic growth and described how the country is becoming an increasingly influential state in the region.

He mentioned that Dhaka is more confident in its role and the rest of the world would benefit from paying close attention.

Brewster said the recent announcement that Bangladesh would provide US$200 million to Sri Lanka is an important turning point as the country moves from being an impoverished supplicant towards an increasingly influential state.

He thinks it is an outcome of years of high economic growth and points to Dhaka's potential to become an important Indo-Pacific middle player.

Bangladesh is a confident country of over 160 million people with a booming, export-oriented economy, which has grown at an annual average of about 6 percent for two decades.

The economic growth slowed to 5.2 percent in 2020 due to Covid-19, and is forecast by the ADB to bounce back to 6.8 percent in 2021 and 7.2 percent in 2022. GDP per capita now stands at $2,227, higher than India's ($1,947) and much higher than Pakistan's ($1,543).

Dhaka's recent aid to neighbouring Sri Lanka was a first in Bangladesh extending financial assistance to any other country.

RIYADH, 22 June 2021, (TON): Yemen’s warring parties are thrashing out terms for a peace deal that would extricate Saudi Arabia from a costly war and help alleviate a devastating humanitarian crisis, two sources close to the talks and a Houthi official said.

The sources said “talks between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis are focused on steps to lift a blockade on Houthi-held ports and Sanaa airport in return for a promise from the Iran-aligned group for truce talks.

Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi made a commitment to an Omani delegation that visited Sanaa this month to enter into ceasefire discussions immediately after the blockade is lifted in line with the latest proposal from UN envoy Martin Griffiths.

The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital, Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis and pushed the country to the brink of famine. The Houthis have been attacking Saudi infrastructure with armed drones and ballistic missiles.

One of the sources said Riyadh was open to a deal but “would need some additional guarantees from Oman and Iran”, both with close ties with the Houthis.

ISLAMABAD, 22 June 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned that Afghanistan faces the possibility of another civil war if the US withdraws its forces from the country without a political settlement.

The US began drawdown from May 1 and the process is supposed to complete by September 11, as per the revised plan given by the Biden administration.

However, the US has changed the plan and wants to leave Afghanistan at the earliest, according to Foreign Minister Qureshi.

PM in an interview with Jonathan Swan said “we will be partners in peace but not in conflict.”

There must be a political settlement in Afghanistan before the Americans leave. Without a political settlement, there is a possibility of a civil war, and the country that will suffer the most after Afghanistan will be Pakistan.

The premier went on to say that Pakistan is already hosting three million Afghan refugees and continued conflict in the war-torn neighbouring country could lead to another exodus towards Pakistan.

Responding to a question, the prime minister said being the most powerful nation in the world, the United States has a big responsibility.

Imran also categorically said that Pakistan would "absolutely not" allow any bases and use of its territory for any sort of action inside Afghanistan.

JERUSALEM, 22 June 2021, (TON): Israel’s foreign office said “Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will visit the United Arab Emirates, in the first official ministerial visit since the two nations agreed to normalise ties.”

Israel and the UAE, along with Bahrain, normalised ties in September, and the Jewish state also last year agreed to normalise relations with two other Arab nations, Morocco and Sudan.

A statement read “Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will hold the first and historic official visit of an Israeli foreign minister to the UAE.”

It added that he will be hosted by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan on his two-day visit from June 29-30.

Lapid is the architect of a coalition government in Israel that came to power on June 13, ousting long serving prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who presided over last year's normalisation accords.

Israeli ministers have previously visited the UAE, but Lapid is the most senior Israeli to make the trip, and the first to travel on an official journey.

KABUL, 22 June 2021, (TON): Afghanistan’s former president said the United States came to his country to fight extremism and bring stability to his war-tortured nation and is leaving nearly 20 years later having failed at both.

In an interview with The Associated Press just weeks before the last U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan, ending their ‘forever war,’ Hamid Karzai said “extremism is at its highest point and the departing troops are leaving behind a disaster.”

He said “the international community came here 20 years ago with this clear objective of fighting extremism and bringing stability, but extremism is at the highest point today. So they have failed.”

Their legacy is a war-ravaged nation in “total disgrace and disaster.”

“We recognize as Afghans all our failures, but what about the bigger forces and powers who came here for exactly that purpose? Where are they leaving us now?” he asked and answered: “In total disgrace and disaster.”

SRINAGAR, 22 June 2021, (TON): Kashmiri politicians will urge Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore held Kashmir’s autonomy when they meet him on Thursday for the first talks since he took away the region’s special status two years ago.

New Delhi has struggled for decades to dampen freedom sentiments in occupied Kashmir, accusing Islamabad of supporting Kashmiris.

Reasserting New Delhi’s control in August 2019, Modi abolished Article 370 of the Indian constitution, ending the held state’s autonomy and removing its statehood by splitting it into ‘union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh’.

Some of the politicians set to meet Narendra Modi were among the thousands of people detained back then to forestall a backlash against the shock move. The government also imposed months-long communications restrictions in the highly-sensitive valley to stifle opposition.

“Our agenda is restoration of pre-August 5, 2019, status of Jammu and Kashmir,” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti told her colleagues, according to two officials who attended the online meeting.

A party official said that senior leaders of the National Conference also met over the weekend and backed a decision to push for the restoration of statehood and special status.