Australia-India-Japan-United States Secretary of State Quad, who met in Melbourne on Friday for their fourth ministerial meeting, underscoring the broad scope of the grouping, from accelerating the delivery of more than a billion COVID vaccines to be manufactured in India and holding a special meeting on climate change. Several initiatives announced. This year, to step up efforts to ensure maritime security in the region. He also announced plans for a quad summit involving Prime Minister Modi, US President Biden and Australian PM Morrison to be hosted by Japan’s PM Kishida in Tokyo in the first half of 2022.
The Quad also made an indirect reference to China’s actions in the South and East China Seas, reaffirming its commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific “in which states attempt to protect the interests of their peoples, without coercion.” free from.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry, as expected, issued a response calling the Quad “only a tool to control China” and “a deliberate move to provoke conflict and undermine international solidarity and cooperation”.
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Speaking in Melbourne, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said China’s decision to assemble troops along the Line of Actual Control was breach of your written commitments And said Beijing’s behavior is a matter of concern to the international community. That remark drew sharp reactions from Beijing on Monday, which said it expected India will not make “irresponsible remarks” on the border situation and that both sides “must abide by the agreements”.
Hindueditor of diplomatic affairs Suhasini Hydari Saw the highlights of the meeting – points of agreement as well as issues including the crisis in Ukraine where the four are not quite on the same page. Haider argues that what appears to be clear is that while the Quad remains strong on its Indo-Pacific commitments, the worldviews of the 4 Quad partners are far from identical. You can read or view their analysis of the meeting Here,
top five
What we’re reading this week – the best Hinduopinion and analysis
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former national security advisor MK Narayanan, on cyber challengeargues that nations and institutions should be better prepared, rather than waiting for a ‘big bang cyber attack’.
- Shriram Laxman writes on The long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy of the Biden administration which was released on Friday. The document focuses on building collective capacity to deal with challenges in the region – China’s assertiveness, the pandemic and climate change, among others.
- Meera Srinivasan analyzes Current Status of India-Sri Lanka Relations and the recent visit of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister GL Peiris, after a year marked by tension and lack of trust.
- Srinivasan Ramani assesses The many challenges facing the African UnionCivil conflicts, Islamic insurgency, an increasing number of military takeovers and the outbreak of COVID-19, which were in focus at the 35th African Union Summit held on 5 February.
- G Sampath writes on Protest of “Azadi Convoy” and truckers Against the vaccine mandate that has paralyzed Canada’s capital.
neighbourhood watch
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister GL Peiris. , photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushkar
talking to Hindu, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister GL Peiriso, on his visit to India, said India’s support had made a “world of difference” to Sri Lanka’s economic situation, making it clear that a flurry of agreements announced in recent weeks had helped the neighbors “problems of the immediate past”. He cautioned, however, that the unresolved conflict over fishing rights is a “continuing bottleneck” in bilateral relations, and the recent clashes between Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen killed two Sri Lankans. became a “flashpoint” in the relationship. hoping for a solution through negotiations
T. Ramakrishnan explains Fishing conflict in Pak Gulf Because it regains intensity.
A group of senior parliamentarians in Sri Lanka, including some people associated with the government, have called for a “Systematic Negotiation Moratorium” of Outstanding External Debtand corrective policy measures, including a “robust social welfare plan” to deal with the island nation’s economic crisis.
India has signed an agreement with the World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations Distribution of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat That it has committed to sending humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as part of diplomatic efforts to send truck convoys through Pakistan by road is expected to begin after the completion of the Punjab elections on February 20.
Government of Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba It faces a major challenge this month as the Biden administration has set February 28 as the deadline for ratification of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) development compact, on which members of the ruling coalition are divided. The crackdown on the MCC agreement and over $500 million development grant, which has divided Mr Deuba’s National Congress Party (NC) and his coalition partner Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) of the Communist Party (Maoist), is closely watched by India. He is going. This could not only affect the stability of the government but also play a decisive role in the local elections to be held on May 13 and the general elections due later this year.
ISRO’s PSLV C-52 carrying three satellites has successfully taken off from the first launch-pad Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. , photo credit: B. Jyothi Ramalingam
On Monday, the thick orange smoke of PSLV C-52 of the Indian Space Research Organization briefly lit up the dark pre-dawn sky. ISRO’s first launch of 2022 went smoothly, PSLV C-52 carrying earth observation satellite, EOS-04, INS-2TD, a technology demonstrator of ISRO and student satellite InspireSat-1, took off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space at 5.59 am. Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota on Monday. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and National Central University, Taiwan, were part of INSPIREsat’s development team. This is a rare example of cooperation with Taiwan on space.
The Ministry of Home Affairs of India on Monday recommended 54 ban on Chinese mobile apps “Which is a threat to the security of the country”. This follows a ban on over 200 Chinese apps from 2020.
As the Winter Olympics in Beijing continue, we witnessed the rise and fall of Freestyle skiing sensation Eileen GuAnd how an American-born athlete became the face of China’s sports.
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