1. Foreign Ministers meeting of BIMSTEC held in Sri Lanka
Tags: International News
The foreign ministers of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 29 March 2022.
It was hosted by the Sri Lankan foreign minister G.L.Peiris and was attended by the foreign ministers of member countries.
The foreign ministers of member countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Maldives ,Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand were present in Colombo while the foreign minister of Myanmar participated virtually.
India was represented by the foreign minister S. Jaishankar.
The foreign ministers meeting was held to prepare for the BIMSTEC summit meeting which will be held on 30 March 2022.
BIMSTEC
It was set up as Bangladesh, India Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on 6 June 1997 at Bangkok, Thailand .
It was renamed as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation on 31 July 2004 when the first summit meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand .
The member countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Maldives ,Myanmar ,Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand .
The group was formed to promote economic cooperation between the member countries
- Headquarters : Dhaka, Bangladesh
2. Indian Foreign Minister S.Jaishankar visit to Maldives and Sri Lanka
Tags: International News
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishanker is on an official visit to Maldives and Sri Lanka from 26 to 30 March 2022.
Maldives
On the first leg of his visit he visited Maldives on 26 and 27 March 2022. He met the Maldives foreign minister Abdulla Shahid and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The President Solih assured Jaishankar that his government will follow India first policy.
What is India First Policy of Maldives
Maldives like Sri Lanka is a battleground of India and China to increase their area of influence in the region. During the previous regime of president Abdulla Yameen in Maldives,the influence of China became very strong and he followed anti- India policy. He was ousted from power in 2018 and was put in jail on corruption charges.
He is now out of jail and is leading a vehement anti-India campaign “Out India” in Maldives.
The current regime of Solih is considered a close friend of India and is following a “India First Policy”.
Highlights of the Jaishankar Visit
He met the Maldives foreign minister Abdulla Shahid at Addu City , in Maldives.
India and the Maldives also agreed to mutually recognise the COVID-19 vaccine certificates issued by each other, a move that will facilitate easier travel between the two countries and give a boost to the tourism sector.
Both countries signed an agreement linking India's National Knowledge Network and the Maldives’ Higher Education Network. National Knowledge Network is a multi-gigabit national research and education network, whose purpose is to provide a unified high speed network backbone for educational and research institutions in India. The network is managed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Jaishankar also inaugurated a police training academy and a drug rehabilitation center built with Indian financial assistance at Addu.
Sri Lanka Visit
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will be in Sri Lanka from 28 to 30 March 2022. He went to Sri Lanka on the invitation of the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL.Peiris.
Highlights of his visit
He met the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He assured them of India’s help to Sri Lanka which is facing a severe economic crisis.
Since January, India has extended $2.4 billion in assistance by way of a currency swap, loan deferment and credit lines for essential imports to help Sri Lanka cope with a stifling dollar crisis and shortages.
Along with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa he virtually inaugurated the Jaffna Cultural Centre in Sri Lanka ,built with an Indian grant of $11 million.
They also virtually toured a camp in Jaffna where “Jaipur foot “ was being fitted. Jaipur Foot is an artificial low cost prosthetic foot made of rubber and it is made by Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Samiti, Jaipur.
- He also attended the Foreign Ministers meeting of the BIMSTEC held on 29 March 2022.
3. El Salvador declares state of emergency after gang killings
Tags: International News
The Central American country of El Salvador parliament has approved the state of emergency that temporarily suspended some constitutional protections in the country following a wave of killings attributed to criminal gangs.
At least 62 people were reported killed on 26 March in a gang war in the country.
The Parliament of the country approved the request of the President of El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele, to impose an emergency in the country.
El Salvador
It is the smallest of the Seven Central American countries of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize.
Capital : San Salvador
Currency : United States Dollar, Bitcoins.
President : Nayib Bukele
4. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Nepal after India Visit
Tags: International News
The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Nepal in the last leg of his South Asian tour. He first visited Pakistan and participated in the Summit of the Foreign Minister’s of the Organisation of Islamic Countries held in Islamabad, Pakistan. He then visited Afghanistan before making a surprise visit to India. From India, he visited Nepal on 26 March 2022.
This is the first visit of a high-ranking Chinese official to Nepal since Sher Bahadur Deuba became the Prime Minister of Nepal in July last year.
China and Nepal signed nine MOU(Memoranda of Understanding )
Under the economic and technical cooperation, China will increase its annual assistance to Nepal from Rs. 13 billion to Rs. 15 billion.
Another agreement is on cooperation on the feasibility study of China-Nepal Power Grid interconnection where China will finance the new alignment of the Ratamate-Rasuwagadhi- Kerung transmission line.
China will donate an additional 4 million doses of the Sinovac covid vaccine to Nepal.
Important for Exam
Nepal
It is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is located between India to the east, south, and west and the Tibet area of China to the north.
President of Nepal : Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister of Nepal : Sher Bahadur Deuba
Capital of Nepal : Kathnmadu
Currency : Nepalese rupee
It has the world's highest mountain peak: Mount Everest in the Himalayas.
5. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits India
Tags: International News
The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi reached India on 25 March 2022, He is the most senior Chinese official to visit India after the border clash in Galwan, Ladakh which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and 4 Chinese soldiers in June 2020. Since the Galwan clash, troops of both countries have been deployed on the Line of Actual control along the border.
Wang Yi came to India after his visit to Pakistan, Afghanistan and he will also visit Nepal from India.
India sharply criticised Wang's comment in the Organisation of Islamic States foreign ministers meeting held in Islamabad, where he supported Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir.
Wang last visited India for the Special Representative-level border talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Kumar Doval in December 2019.
The visit of Wang Yi is seen as an attempt by the Chinese leadership to ensure the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the forthcoming BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China , South Africa) summit to be held in China in 2022.
Also both countries are close to Russia and there is pressure on both the countries from western countries to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has identified three “mutuals' ' to normalise the strained ties between India and China. Three “mutuals” are mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests.
The Chinese by supporting Pakistan on Kashmir issue and its deployment of troops along the borders with India is seen by India as going against the three “mutuals” identified by S. Jaishankar.
6. Exercise Cold Response of NATO
Tags: International News
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is undertaking a large-scale military exercise in Norway code named Cold Response 2022. The military exercise is organised by Norway every two years.
About 30,000 troops from 27 countries from Europe and North America are participating in the exercise which are being held in March and April 2022.
The exercise assumed significance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that he will visit Norway on 25 March 2022 to witness the exercise just after the NATO, EU, G-7 summit meeting in Brussels on 24 March 2022.
Important for Exam
NATO
It is a military alliance which was set up after the signing of the Washington Treaty on 4 April 1949 in Washington , United States of America.
It was set up to combat threats from the communist countries led by the Soviet Union in Europe. After the breakup of the Soviet Union ,Russia is considered as the successor state of the Soviet Union and Russia is seen as a threat by NATO.
Initially there were 12 member countries but at present there are 30 member countries.
Headquarters of the NATO : Brussels , Belgium
- Member : Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
7. G-7,EU,NATO holds emergency meeting on Russia Ukraine Conflict
Tags: International News
In an unprecedented move the Western countries leader held an extraordinary summit meeting in Brussels, Belgium on 24 March 2022 to put pressure on the Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
The Group of 7 or G-7 ,European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO ) was held back to back on 24 March 2022.
The three back to back summit meeting which was attended by the President of Joe Biden is an attempt by the western countries to show solidarity to Ukraine and to present a united stand against Russia.
Highlights of the meeting
NATO leaders agreed to help Ukraine protect itself against any chemical, biological or nuclear attacks by Russia.
NATO, which has already increased its troop deployment to 40,000 along the eastern border of Russia from the Baltic to the Black Sea, has agreed to set up new combat units in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
The alliance also warned China not to support Russia’s war effort or to take any actions that will help Russia circumvent the western sanctions on Russia.
NATO turned down Ukrainian requests to defend Ukraine's skies by imposing a no-fly zone and said again, it will not send troops to Ukraine for fear of being dragged into a full-on military confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.
EU Meeting
At the European Union summit meeting ,the United States promised to supply the EU with 15 billion cubic metres more of liquefied natural gas this year than had been planned before so as to curb the European bloc's reliance on Russian gas.
Russia supplies 40% of the EU's gas needs and more than a quarter of its oil imports. Those most dependent on this supply - in particular Germany - are reluctant to take a step that would have a major economic impact.
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the leaders via videoconference.
Russia does not want Ukraine to become a member of either the European Union or NATO. It fears if Ukraine joins these western blocs then the security of Russia will be compromised.
Important for Exam
European Union
It is a political and Economic group of 27 European countries .
The European Economic Community was launched in 1957 and it became the European Union in 1993 with the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty.
Member countries of EU : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Headquarters of the European Union : Brussels
G-7 or Group of Seven countries
The G7 (Group of Seven) is an organisation of the world's seven largest advanced economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system.
They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Russia joined in 1998, creating the G8, but was excluded in 2014 for its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine .
It has no permanent secretariat .
The 2021 summit meeting was held in England
The 2022 summit meeting will be held in Germany .
8. Danish Sidduiqi families files case against Taliban in International Criminal Court
Tags: International News
The family of the slain Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui has filed a case against the Taliban in the International Criminal Court (ICC) pleading for an investigation into the circumstances leading to his death in Afghanistan on 16 July 2021.
The family is seeking legal action against high level Taliban leaders and commanders accusing them of torturing and killing Sidduiqi becausing he was an Indian.
Danish Siddiqui was a Pulitzer prize winning journalist working for Reuters news agency in Afghanistan. He was killed when Taliban attacked the Afghan special forces with which Danish was travelling in Kandahar province’s Spin Boldak district, a town near Afghanistan Pakistan Border.
Taliban has denied that it tortured and killed Danish Siddiqui.
The International Criminal Court has been engaged in an ongoing investigation on international crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, in Afghanistan, over which it has jurisdiction after Afghanistan’s government acceded to the Rome treaty 1998.
India is not a member of the International Criminal Court.
International Criminal Court(ICC)
It was set up in July 2002 under the Rome treaty of 1998.
It is the only permanent court to prosecute persons for crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and crimes of agression.
At present 123 countries are its members. The United States, China, and Israel are not its members.
The court's jurisdiction extends to offences that occurred after July 1, 2002, that were committed either in a state that has ratified the agreement or by a national of such a state or the case which was referred to it by the United Nations Security Council.
The Headquarters of ICC: The Hague, Netherlands
ICC is different from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). ICJ is a United Nations court which hears disputes involving the member states of the United Nations.
9. 2nd India Australia Virtual Summit Meeting held
Tags: Summits International News
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Scott Morrison held the 2nd India-Australia virtual summit on 21 March 2022. The first virtual summit meeting was held in June 2020.
Prime Minister Modi thanked Mr. Scott Morrison for the special gesture in returning 29 ancient artefacts to India. These artefacts comprise sculptures, paintings and photographs, across centuries, some dating back to the 9th-10th century, from different parts of India.
The artefacts include 12th century Chola bronzes, 11th-12th century Jain sculptures from Rajasthan, 12th-13th century sandstone Goddess Mahishasura Mardini from Gujarat, 18th-19th century paintings and early gelatin silver photographs.
Australia
It is the smallest continent by area on Earth after Asia, Africa, North America , South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
It is the 6th largest country in the world after Russia, Canada, China, United States, and Brazil.
Australia has been called “the Oldest Continent,” “the Last of Lands,” and “the Last Frontier.”
Its unique flora and fauna include the only egg-laying mammals on Earth, the Platypus and Echidna. It is also famous for its Kangaroos,Koala bears.
It is the second driest continent after Antarctica.
Its highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, rises to only 7,310 feet (2,228 meters).
Its Capital : Canberra
Currency : Australian Dollar
Prime Minister : Scott Morrison
The United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the State of Australia.
10. Major Plane Crash in China, all 132 passenger feared dead
Tags: International News
132 people on board a Eastern China Airlines are feared dead in a plane crash on 21 March 2022. It is the worst air disaster in China since 2010.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off from Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan, to the port city of Guangzhou before it crashed in the mountains of southern Guangxi.
The regulator of the civil aviation sector in India, Director General Civil Aviation(DGCA) has put Boeing 737s in the country under “enhanced surveillance” after an aircraft of the same model crashed in China.
This means that DGCA will deploy its teams to monitor flight procedures, airworthiness and operations of these planes in India. Three airlines, Vistara, SpiceJet and Air India Express, have Boeing 737s on their fleet. There are a total 64 of these planes in the country.
Boeing is an American company which manufactures planes for civilian and military purposes.
