Author: Neha

External Affairs Minister, Mr. S Jaishankar conveyed to his Myanmar counterpart, U Than Swe, that the common border areas are seriously disturbed and any such action which could aggravate the situation must be avoided.  EMA held bilateral discussions with the respective member country counterparts on the sidelines of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation Meeting on Sunday. He said that the disturbed conditions have been affecting the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway as well. India-Myanmar Border Issue Both countries share over 1600 km of border. Recently, during Kuki-Meitei clashes in Manipur, it was reported that heavily armed militants crossed over from Myanmar into Manipur.…

The first-ever foreign ministers’ meeting of BIMSTEC was held in Thailand’s capital city Bangkok on Monday. The leaders discussed how to further deepen the strength and agenda of the organisation and also agreed on the importance of creating a crisis response mechanism.  The meeting was attended by Indian Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. S Jaishankar who informed that the discussions held were focused on strengthening resilience and coordination among the BIMSTEC members, reflecting on the world’s present-day challenges.  BIMSTEC is a grouping of seven members, it stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. The foreign ministers’…

With increasing defence sector cooperation with France, India will now set up a technical office of DRDO at its embassy in Paris, as per the India-France joint statement which came on Friday. The development took place while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a two-day visit to France, where he was invited as Guest of Honour for the Bastille Day Prade. On his visit, the Prime Minister of India was honoured by the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian award, by French President Emmanuel Macron. PM Modi dedicated the award to the People of India saying…

European Union’s Parliament on Thursday, adopted a resolution on the situation in Manipur, asking India to act promptly to end violence in Manipur, to which India said that such interferences in India’s internal affairs are unacceptable. Earlier on Wednesday, when European Parliament planned a discussion on Manipur violence, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra informed that India has reached out to the concerned EU parliamentarians and made it very clear that this is absolutely an internal matter to India. These comments from the EU Parliament come just when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to start his two-day visit to France where…

China recently passed a new foreign law, which will work towards national security, safeguarding its sovereignty, and development interests, as per the state media. The new Law for foreign relations was passed by the National People’s Congress on 28th June, coming into effect on July 1st. According to the state media, the new law is to enhance coordination between Beging’s existing foreign relations legislation and departments working on foreign affairs. What does China’s new law say? The new law enshrines Xi Jinping’s signature campaigns, such as Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative into China’s Foreign Policy.…

Eyeing the potential market of South-East Asia, India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) expands its presence in Malaysia. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday inaugurated Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) regional office in Kuala Lumpur, facilitating closer defence industrial collaborations between India and Malaysia. According to the defence ministry, the regional marketing office of HAL in Kuala Lumpur will also serve as a hub for engagements with the wider South-East Asian region. It will act as a window for other Indian defence PSUs as well. Defence Minister’s 3-day Visit to Malaysia Rajnath Singh was on a 3-day visit to Malaysia, where…

US President Joe Biden announced on Friday that the US has destroyed its last declared stockpile of chemical weapons, fulfilling its commitments that were ratified in 1997’s Chemical Weapons Convention. The weapons were eliminated at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, where rockets containing sarin, a toxic nerve agent, were stored since the 1940s. The last stockpile contained weapons that date back to World War I. It was once comprised of more than 30,000 tons of chemical warfare agents. However, the United States was the last of all nations signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) to completely destroy…

The US will assist India in building naval logistic hubs, bolstering Indo-US ties and countering China’s increasing presence in the Indo-Pacific region.  These logistic hubs will be used by the US and other allies for resupply, repair and maintenance of ships and aircrafts.  During PM Modi’s recent visit to the US, both countries agreed to a comprehensive defence and economic partnership. The joint statement read, “The U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership has emerged as a pillar of global peace and security,”. Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) The US Navy has already signed a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) with Larsen &…

India has increased its Line of Credit to Africa, the second most important continent for India after Asia, aiming to enhance its presence in the continent and to counter China’s influence in the region. According to the Bloomberg report, Africa has now received about $32 billion as line of credit from India. With this, it becomes the second-largest recipient of credit from India after Asia. The managing director of India’s Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, Harsha Bangari said in an interview that forty-two African nations received about $12 billion in the project-based line of credit provided by India in the last decade.…

The Chief Financial Officer of the BRICS financial institution, the New Development Bank, has confirmed that the BRICS bloc does not have any immediate plans to create a new common currency. Leslie Massdorp said, while the member countries are definitely putting efforts to conduct more trade with each other in local currencies, they are not ready to challenge the global dominance of the dollar right now.  The development of anything alternative to dollar is more a medium to long-term ambition of the group, he informed. He said that even the Chinese Renminbi is still far from becoming a reserve currency. …