Wednesday 29 November 2017

Aung San Suu Kyi plans to visit China

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi plans to visit China, starting on Thursday.
Myanmar’s government says that during her stay in China, Aung San Suu Kyi will attend a conference of officials from the Chinese Communist Party and its foreign counterparts.
The government says the purpose of her visit is to strengthen relations with China.
The government has been under international criticism for allowing the conflict in the country’s Rakhine state to force minority Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. The international community sees the Myanmar government’s inaction as a violation of human rights.
Myanmar has conspicuously been approaching China in recent months, apparently due to China’s hands-off stance over the Rohingya issue.
The Chinese government maintains that the exodus of Rohingya is a bilateral issue between Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Aung San Suu Kyi met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on November 19th when he visited Myanmar.
Wang expressed China’s intention to help Myanmar resolve the Rohingya issue. Aung San Suu Kyi thanked him for the support.
Analysts say China also wants to strengthen ties with Myanmar by setting aside the human rights issue because it ultimately wants to advance into Myanmar’s economy.
They say Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to China will provide another opportunity in this direction for the 2 countries.

Bosnian Croat political after ‘the Butcher of Bosnia’

United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague has suspended an appeal case of a Bosnian Croat suspect after he apparently drank poison upon hearing his 20-year sentence was upheld.
The suspect, Slobodan Praljak, drank from a small bottle, declaring: “What I am drinking now is poison”.
“I’m not a war criminal,” Praljak shouted at the presiding judge.
The tribunal on Wednesday was handing down its last judgment, in an appeal by six Bosnian Croat political and military leaders who were convicted in 2013 of persecuting, expelling and murdering Muslims during Bosnia’s war. Reports.aljazeera.com
Six former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders will on Wednesday learn their fate as UN judges hand down their final verdict for war crimes committed during the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia. Prosecutors accuse Ratko Mladic and his political counterpart Radovan Karadzic of seeking through ethnic cleansing to “permanently remove”Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from areas claimed by BosnianSerbs.
This judgement comes after week after the judges imposed a life sentence on former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, whose ruthlessness in the conflict earned him the title ‘the Butcher of Bosnia’.
Former prime minister of a breakaway statelet Prlic, and his five co-defendants were found guilty in 2013 on 26 charges of taking part in a scheme to remove Bosnian Muslims permanently and create a Croatian territory.
The bloody 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, in which 1 lakh people died and 2.2 million were displaced, mainly pitted Bosnian Muslims against Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats.

S.Korea tests 3 missiles

South Korean military conducted a missile drill in waters close to the maritime border with North Korea immediately after the North launched an ICBM-level missile.
The drill, which lasted about 20 minutes, began in the Sea of Japan at 3:23 AM on Wednesday, only minutes after the North Korean missile launch, and involved the country’s Army, Navy and Air Force.
An Aegis ship fired a Haesong-2 missile, which has a range of 1000 kilometers and can penetrate concrete 5 meters thick.
An Army missile unit fired a Hyunmoo-2 missile, which has a range of 300 kilometers and is capable of destroying an area within a 600-meter radius.
An Air Force KF-16 fighter jet fired a SPICE-2000 missile, which has a range of 57 kilometers and is capable of penetrating concrete 2.4 meters thick.
The military released videos of the launches of the Haesong-2 and Hyunmoo-2 missiles.

Bali’s international airport will re-open today

Bali’s international airport will re-open on Wednesday after a nearly three-day shutdown, Indonesian airport authorities say, as ash from a rumbling volcano that looms over the island paradise shifted direction.
The eagerly awaited decision opens up a window of hope for some of more than 1.20 lakh 2tourists stranded after a spike in activity at Mount Agung grounded hundreds of flights since Monday.
The majority of Bali’s tourists are Chinese, followed by Australians, Indians, British and Japanese. Foreigners whose visitor visas are expiring will be given a special permit to stay longer due to the eruption.
Agung rumbled back to life in September, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people living nearby.
Indonesia, the world’s most active volcanic region, lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent volcanic and seismic activities.

Francis calls for peace in Myanmar

Pope Francis has called on the people of Myanmar to exercise compassion to overcome ethnic problems in the country, where members of the Rohingya minority have been forced to flee their homes.
Francis delivered his message at a public Mass in a stadium in Yangon, the country’s largest city, on Wednesday. He arrived in Myanmar 2 days earlier.
Organizers say about 150,000 Christians from across the country attended the Mass. About 90 percent of the population is Buddhist.
The pontiff said he knows many people in Myanmar carry the wounds of violence, but he urged them to show forgiveness and compassion to others, for the sake of reconciliation and peace.
He did not refer to Rohingya issues directly in his speech. Members of the Muslim community in the western state of Rakhine are seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh. The Myanmar government has been accused of abusing their human rights.
The Pope apparently prioritized conveying a message of peace to avoid adding fuel to the country’s conflicts. Many in Myanmar hold negative views of the Muslim minority.
A man attending the Mass said that seeing the Pope moved him. He added that he prays for peace for the people of Myanmar and Rakhine.

Berlin summons N. Korea ambassador over missile test

Germany strongly condemns North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Wednesday. Gabriel added that he would summon North Korea’s ambassador, Reuters reported. Pyongyang “has again breached international law,” the minister said in a statement. “North Korea’s ruthless behavior poses a huge threat to international security.” Pyongyang said on Wednesday it successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that put the entire US mainland within range of its nuclear weapons.
China expressed “grave concern” on Wednesday after North Korea fired what appears to have been an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed close to Japan. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that China hopes all parties act “cautiously to preserve peace and stability,”

Russia condemns North Kora missile launch

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday described North Korea’s latest missile launch as provocative. Russia still does not see any reason for significant optimism in implementing the proposed “road map” for resolving the situation around North Korea, he added. Peskov expressed hope that other parties of the conflict will remain calm and will not worsen the situation. Russia and China earlier offered North Korea the option to declare a moratorium on nuclear tests and missile launches and suggested that South Korea and the US refrain from conducting exercises in the region, Sputnik said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu Arrives in Nairobi

Prime Minister Netanyahu landed in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was welcomed by an honor guard.Prime Minister Netanyahu landed in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was welcomed by an honor guard.

EAM Sushma Swaraj leves for Russia

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday left for Sochi, Russia to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Meeting.
The two day SCO summit will begin tomorrow and it is likely to discuss the regional security scenario besides several other issues.
I
n June, India along with Pakistan had become a full-fledged member of the grouping. On the sidelines of the summit, Ms. Swaraj will also have bilateral meetings with several leaders.
The External Affairs Minister will also attend the reception hosted by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
As a member of SCO, India is expected to have a bigger say in pressing for concerted action in dealing with terrorism as well as on issues relating to security and defence in the region.

India, Singapore agree to enhance security cooperation

India and Singapore have agreed to further deepen security cooperation to collectively tackle the threat of terrorism.
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In a joint statement after bilateral talks with her Singaporean counterpart Dr Ng Eng Hen in New Delhi, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, India and Singapore remain strongly committed to tackle transnational security threats.
On regional security, both Ministers reaffirmed the importance of maintaining maritime freedom of navigation and trade consistent with international law.
Both Ministers also discussed Singapore’s proposal to expand the Code of Unplanned Encounters at Sea to all ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting ADMM-Plus countries as well as to establish guidelines for air encounters between military aircraft, to reduce the risk of miscalculations.
In his statement, Dr Ng Eng Hen said, not only Singapore will be comfortable with berthing of Indian naval ships but will also encourage Indian Navy to use Changi port more often.
Appreciating India’s leading role in the Indian Ocean Region, Dr Ng agreed to India’s proposal for continuous and institutionalised naval engagements in their shared maritime space, including establishing maritime exercises with like-minded regional and ASEAN partners.
The Singaporean Defence Minister expressed his appreciation for India’s offer of its test ranges and infrastructure to Singapore for the conduct of testing and evaluation for Reseach and Development projects.
Dr Ng also expressed his appreciation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s acceptance as keynote speaker for the 2018 Shangri-La Dialogue to articulate India’s vision for a stable Indo-Pacific region.
Singapore and India have also made progress in defence industry cooperation, with the signing of the terms of reference for the Defence Industry Working Group in August this year.
Both Ministers agreed that it will facilitate greater collaboration in aerospace, electronics and other areas of mutual interest between the defence industries of both countries.
Earlier, Dr Ng Eng Hen was given Tri-Services Guard of Honour at South Block lawns.

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