Strategic Energy Partnership emerged as cornerstone of expanding India-US ties: Envoy
India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, in an op-ed in The Houston Chronicle, wrote that numbers speak for themselves.
Defence & Diplomacy
Death toll mounts as clashes continue between Armenia and Azerbaijan
Any move to all-out war could drag in major regional powers Russia and Turkey. Moscow has a defence alliance with Armenia, which provides vital support to the enclave and is its lifeline to the outside world, while Ankara backs its own ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan.
Rajnath Singh unveils new Defence Acquisition Procedure
Under the new policy, the offset guidelines have also been revised facilitating preference to defence majors offering to manufacture products in India over relevant components.
Armenia appeals to international community to prevent Turkish intereference in it’s conflict with Azerbaijan
Pashinyan held Azerbaijan responsible for the new escalation in Nagorny Karabakh,
Fighting erupts between Armenia, Azerbaijan; 16 killed
Armenia also claimed that two Azerbaijani helicopters were shot down and three Azerbaijani tanks were hit by artillery but Azerbaijans defense ministry rejected that claim
Reform of UN is ‘the need of the hour’: India premier
Indian leader pledged that, as the largest vaccine producing nation in the world, India would use its capacity to help all humanity in fighting the crisis.
Japan to ‘proactively lead’ on COVID-19 response efforts
Mr. Suga reported that so far, Japan has provided over $1.5 billion in foreign aid to medical and health centres during the pandemic.
Despite ‘compromises’, peace remains elusive in Yemen, says President, calling for international support to save his country
The President said Houthi militias refused to take part in peace talks, and instead had supported coup efforts and invaded the capital, Sana’a. State institutions were taken hostage and liberties were smothered, he said, adding that Houthi militias transformed Sana’a into a “prison”.
CAR President calls for better representation of Africa on the Security Council
He joined other Member States and the African Union in supporting Security Council reform, reasoning “it is necessary to transcend narrow interests and it is also important for Africa to be better represented in the various organs of the Organization.”
Ghani Urges World To Support Peace In Afghanistan In Speech To UN
In a pre-recorded speech Ghani said the Afghan government had demonstrated the “commitment, compassion, and courage” to make hard decisions to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban but said this wouldn’t be enough.