| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | As we close another eventful week, Globetrotter tracks the rise of Britain's first PM of Indian descent, Rishi Sunak, who is also a practicing Hindu. Rishi faces an uphill task to keep afloat his sinking party and Britain's economy. We also track the outcomes of China's 20th party congress, where Xi Jinping ensured five more years of absolute power, and stuffed chock-full China's elite club of politicians with his acolytes. Elsewhere, we trace developments on India-Russia front, the continuing tragedy in Iran, and Italy electing its first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni (picture above). | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | Rishi Sunak becomes first British PM of Indian descent; PM Modi calls up to discuss trade deal | | Rishi Sunak, a practicing Hindu, became the first British prime minister of Indian descent on Tuesday after he won the race to lead Britain's Conservative Party. Sunak, 42, whose wife Akshata Murthy — heir of the Infosys empire — is richer than the British royalty, will be one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster. He replaces Liz Truss, who lasted only 44 days, needing to restore stability to a country reeling from years of political and economic turmoil and seeking to lead a party that has fractured along ideological lines, says Reuters. Sunak's grandparents, according to a report in Times of India, were from Punjab who emigrated to Britain from eastern Africa in the 1960s. "His father was a doctor in Southampton, while Sunak's mother ran a local pharmacy. Growing up, Sunak waited tables in a local Indian restaurant, before progressing to Oxford and then Stanford University in California." Sunak's ascension to No 10 Downing Street was auspicious as it came on the day of Diwali, but the British PM faces stiff challenges both in terms of turning around the sinking fortunes of this party, and UK's economy. Sunak must try to shore up an economy sliding toward recession and reeling after his predecessor's brief, disastrous experiment in libertarian economics, while also attempting to unite a demoralized and divided party that trails far behind the opposition in opinion polls. In his first public statement, Sunak said "the United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge," reports Associated Press. Hours after taking over, in one of his first decisions as PM, Sunak reinstated Suella Braverman as interior minister, less than a week after she resigned from the Truss cabinet for breaching government rules. Braverman, hawkish on immigration, had angered India by her comments on Indian immigrants, putting in jeopardy a UK-India FTA. But Sunak defended the decision, saying in reply to attack from Labour leader Keir Starmer that "the home secretary made an error of judgment but she recognised that, she raised the matter and she accepted her mistake." Critics say Sunak is "deeply in hock to the hard right." Meanwhile, prime minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sunak on Thursday — marking the first conversation between the two leaders — and they agreed on the importance of a "comprehensive and balanced" FTA while Sunak said he is excited about "what our two great democracies can achieve" in terms of their security, defence and economic partnership. | | Hu Jintao steals show at party congress as China's president Xi extends term, tightens grip even more | | Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), extended his rule as Chinese president for five more years and kept the space open for more as the ruling CPC wrapped up its twice-a-decade congress on Saturday. Xi not only cemented his iron grip on power, he made sure that the entire super structure of the party is beholden only to him, as staunch Xi loyalists were inducted into the super elite, seven-man Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). And there were no women in either the PBSC or even the 24-man Politburo. Bloomberg reports: "Xi, 69, installed six trusted associates alongside him on the Politburo's supreme Standing Committee on Sunday, putting his former chief of staff, Li Qiang, in line to become the country's premier. Those associated with other camps failed to secure any positions of power, with Vice Premier Hu Chunhua kept off the broader 24-member Politburo altogether." Reuters notes that the party's new 205-member Central Committee, elected by delegates at the end of the week-long congress, did not include outgoing Premier Li Keqiang or former Guangdong party boss Wang Yang, who had been seen as a potential replacement as premier. Bloomberg has a lowdown on the seven PBSC men who will run China. One of the most interesting names on the list is 63-year-old Li Qiang, the former Shanghai party boss, who was elevated despite presiding over a chaotic Covid lockdown. Bloomberg says it "proves the top criteria for promotion is loyalty to Xi." Li is expected to take over as China's premier once Li Keqiang steps down in March. Meanwhile, amid the highly choreographed affair of the 20th CPC where even the placement of teacups is rehearsed beforehand, the most remarkable event took place on the closing day where Xi's predecessor and former Chinese president Hu Jintao was unceremoniously escorted out of the Great Hall in full foreign media glare. Chinese state media said Hu was "not feeling well", but fresh footage of the event — a "new video released on Monday by the Singaporean news agency CNA with a better view of the episode provided new clues, but no real answers, only adding to the confusion about what is going on at the upper levels of China's leadership," surmises Washington Post. | | Jaishankar to visit Moscow for a meet with Lavrov; Indian students back in Ukraine, refuse to leave | | From China, we move to the Ukraine war. "Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu called up defence ministers of India and China Wednesday to convey Moscow's concern about a purported Ukrainian plan to use a 'dirty bomb', repeating an allegation that Ukraine and the West have already rejected", reports Indian Express. It adds that Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, on his part, "told Shoigu that the Ukraine conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and the nuclear option should not be resorted to by any side." Only one side has nuclear weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war, so it is evident that India's message was for Russia. A defence ministry media release said "Singh reiterated India's position on the need to pursue the path of dialogue and diplomacy for an early resolution of the conflict" and pointed out that "the prospect of the usage of nuclear or radiological weapons goes against the basic tenets of humanity." A day after on Thursday, Russian foreign informed that India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar will visit Moscow to have talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on November 8. ""The ministers will discuss the current state of bilateral relations and the international agenda," reports Indian Express. Amid these meetings and discussions, India on Tuesday issued its second advisory in a week asking its citizens to "leave Ukraine immediately by available means". In the previous advisory, issued on October 19, New Delhi had warned its citizens against travelling to Ukraine and asked students who returned to the country to leave in view of the "deteriorating security situation", reports Indian Express. However, around 1500 Indian students who had come from Ukraine after Russian attacks in February this year, have once again started returning to the war-torn country to complete their medical studies, reports India Today. These students are now refusing to leave despite government advisories. | | Police fire on Iranian protestors mourning Amini; ISIS claims terrorist attack on a Shia shrine | | This newsletter has been tracking Iran protests, that continues for weeks with no signs of ebbing. Wall Street Journal reports that "Iran was rocked by unrest on Wednesday, with massive protests in Tehran and other parts of the country marking 40 days since the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody sparked an antigovernment movement." The report notes that "adding to the turmoil, a gunman in the south of the country opened fire on a holy site, killing at least 15 people. The gathering at Amini's grave in Iran's restive Kurdistan province took place on the 40th day since her death, a date of remembrance in Islamic tradition, despite warnings from authorities saying they wouldn't permit processions marking her death. In the evening, protests erupted throughout the country, including large demonstrations in Tehran. A resident of northern Tehran said the streets were 'crowded like never before'." As the protests grew, "Iranian security forces shot teargas and opened fire on people in Zindan Square, Saqqez city," reports Guardian, quoting Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran's Kurdish regions. It said more than 50 civilians were injured by direct fire in cities across the region. "Witnesses confirmed shots were fired, while the Iranian government said security forces had been forced to respond to riots. Iran later tried to block internet access in the region." CNN adds that "the unrest came on the same day that at least 15 people were killed and 10 others were injured in what appeared to be a terrorist attack at the Shahcheragh Shrine in the city of Shiraz, southern Iran. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the shrine attack, saying in a statement that one of its members had 'targeted groups of Sunni refusal infidels inside the shrine with his machine gun'." Iran's 'Supreme Leader' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday vowed to retaliate. He said said the assailants "will surely be punished" and called on Iranians to unite, reports Reuters. | | Italy's first female prime minister Giorgia Meloni takes oath, but faces daunting challenges ahead | | In Italy, Giorgia Meloni has been sworn in as the new prime minister to become "the country's first female leader heading its most right-wing government since World War II, after president Sergio Mattarella tasked her to form an administration," reports Bloomberg, "At the Quirinale Palace in Rome on Saturday, Italy's new cabinet took an oath following Meloni's coalition's election win," adds the report. Meloni leads the nationalist 'Brothers of Italy' party. She swept to victory in an election last month in alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League. According to Reuters, Meloni's government will replace a national unity administration led by former European Central Bank head Mario Draghi. The new prime minister, who has pledged steadfast support for Ukraine and opposition to Russia's war on the country, faces daunting challenges, notably a looming recession, rising energy bills and how to present a united front over the Ukraine war, adds Reuters. However, Wall Street Journal notes that "cracks in Meloni's right-wing alliance has begun to appear even before her government was sworn in, when former premier Silvio Berlusconi, a junior coalition member, was recorded defending Russian president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. In response, Meloni said adherence to a pro-Western foreign policy was a requirement for belonging to her government." The Economist points out that Meloni has, so far, "run what was a fringe party that took only 4% in the election of 2018. She owes her current success to the fact that the other parties have had their turn and have disappointed voters. How she will weather the coming storm is unclear; and that should worry Italians and other Europeans alike." | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | India must deal with Xi from a long-term perspective | | Xi Jinping is putting in place ideological, constitutional and coercive instruments that will keep him in power for the foreseeable future. India will have to deal with him from a long-term perspective, writes former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale in Indian Express. | | India, China will remain in a logjam at least until 2024 | | The problem is that neither India nor China seem to trust each other – and we have good reasons not to trust them. I fear that we will find it very difficult to get past this logjam till 2024 at least, JNU professor Alka Acharya tells Devirupa Mitra of The Wire in an interview. | | China may never overtake the US economy | | Assuming that the United States grows at 1.5 per cent, with similar rates of inflation and a stable exchange rate, China would not overtake America as the world's largest economy until 2060, if ever, writes Ruchir Sharma, chairman of Rockefeller International, in Financial Times. | | Xi no longer needs to worry about organized opposition | | With the Party Congress now finished, it's clear that Xi no longer needs to worry about organised opposition to him, if indeed he ever faced any. The new Politburo Standing Committee – the seven-member inner cabinet of Chinese politics – has been packed with Xi acolytes, Cindy Yu writes in The Spectator. | | Rishi Sunak is an accidental prime minister | | It took an economic meltdown, two prime ministerial resignations, lack of an electoral mandate, and severe economic privilege on Rishi Sunak's part for multiculturalism to succeed in Britain, writes SOAS, University of London professor Avinash Paliwal in Indian Express. | | Sunak's elevation does not indicate UK's post-racial future | | Hopes that Rishi Sunak's move to 10 Downing Street has brought closer a post-racial future may prove as cruelly premature as the fantasies ignited by Barack Obama's elevation to the White House in 2008, writes author Pankaj Mishra in Bloomberg. | | American conservatives would never elect a Hindu | | It is impossible to imagine someone like Rishi Sunak being chosen to lead the Republican Party, America's closest equivalent to the Tories — because Sunak describes himself as a proud Hindu, writes Peter Beinart in Unherd. | | Turkey helped Pakistan set up cyber army to target US, India | | Turkey has secretly helped Pakistan in setting up a cyber army to shape public opinion, influence the views of Muslims in Southeast Asia, attack the US and India and undermine criticism leveled against the Pakistani rulers, according to a report by Abdullah Bozkurt of Nordic Monitor. The plan was also green-lighted by Imran Khan, the then-prime minister who simultaneously held the position of interior minister, in December, 2018, says the report. | | On Pakistan's FATF 'escape', India must remain on its toes | | On Pakistan's exit from FATF 'grey' list, Ramanathan Kumar, former special secretary in the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), writes in Indian Express that India will have to continue mustering all available instruments and options to deny Pakistan operating space to wield the jihadi weapon till there is convincing evidence of a consensus among the generals in Rawalpindi that the weapon has outlived its utility. | | UN must evolve to keep up speed with modern terrorism | | The United Nations may find it hard to keep up to speed with the nature of modern terrorism unless it evolves its own structures to reflect the world of today and tomorrow, argues ORF strategic studies fellow Kabir Taneja in Hindustan Times. | | PODCAST | | Decoding CPC's 20th party congress | | We recommend this edition of Stratnews Global's 'Talking Point' where host Amitabh Revi speaks to Shikha Aggarwal, Taiwan-based scholar of Chinese elite politics, and New York-based political commentator Chen Pokongon China's Communist Party Congress, statements, speeches, outcomes and ramifications. | | | | Copyright © 2022.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
