| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | The assassination attempt on Imran Khan, that has sparked unprecedented scenes of protests against Pakistan's all-powerful military, may change forever the civil-military dynamic in Pakistan. We kick off with the development, and also track Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif's visit of China, Jaishankar's comments at SCO meeting, Netanyahu and Lula's return to power in Israel and Brazil, respectively. | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | Imran Khan escapes with leg injury in assassination attempt, protests erupt against Pakistan's military | | Pakistan had been in turmoil for months. That just got worse. Pakistan's ex-prime minister Imran Khan had been on a "long march" from Lahore to Islamabad, mobilizing support to press for an early election. On Thursday, six days into the "long march", his anti-government protest convoy came under attack as it reached Wazirabad in east Pakistan. Khan was shot in the shin in what his aides said was a clear assassination attempt by his rivals, reports Reuters. He was standing and waving to thousands of cheering supporters from the roof of a container truck, when the shots rang out. Several in his convoy were wounded in the attack, nearly 200 km (120 miles) from the capital. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said one suspect had been arrested. The ex-PM is now reportedly out of danger. The attack on Khan, in which Pakistan's Dawn newspaper says one party worker was killed and PTI leaders Ahmed Chattha and Chaudhry Yousuf were injured triggered widespread protests across several Pakistani cities by Khan supporters and for the first time in Pakistan's 75 years of history, protests took place in front of the Corps Commander ISI Maj Gen Faisal's residence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The suspect, according to Pakistani media reports, has confessed to shooting Khan and claimed he fired the shots the former prime minister "misleading the people." Khan, however, blamed the assassination attempt on prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal of ISI. Curiously, the attack on Khan came a few days after a bizarre and unprecedented press conference where the ISI chief accused Khan of asking the country's powerful military for "illegal and unconstitutional" support for his government, in scathing remarks before the media. Bloomberg says the shooting of Khan will the raise the stakes of his showdown with the country's powerful military even more. | | Sharif meets Xi in Beijing, rakes up Kashmir; India 'resolutely' rejects 'unwarranted' references | | As mayhem rules the streets of Pakistan, prime minister is on a two-day maiden visit to Beijing, where held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Indian Express reports that "the two leaders agreed to strengthen the all-weather friendship and the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Shehbaz. This is his first visit to China since assuming office in April this year." Bloomberg reports that "Xi and Sharif agreed to launch a high-speed rail project that could cost $9.85 billion…The two nations agreed to get started on the Main Line-1, according to a statement from Sharif's office, which described it as 'a project of strategic importance.' Officials in Pakistan have previously said they expected to get loans from China for the upgrade." According to Chinese state media Xinhua, China and Pakistan have signed a memorandum on State Bank of Pakistan establishing renminbi (RMB) clearing arrangements in Pakistan. Xi told Sharif that China will continue to firmly support Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty, territorial integrity, development interests and dignity, and in achieving unity, stability, development and prosperity. That includes a jibe at India. Both nations raked up Kashmir, with China calling for "resolution of Jammu and Kashmir issue as per UN." India was quick to react. At a media briefing, India's external affairs ministry rejected the "several unwarranted references to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir." Spokesperson Araindam Bagchi said "we have consistently rejected such statements and all parties concerned are well aware of our clear position on these matters. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India and no other country has the locus standi to comment on the same. As regards this so called China Pakistan Economic Corridor, we have consistently conveyed our protests and our concerns to China and Pakistan. CPEC includes projects on the sovereign territory of India, that is under forcible and illegal external occupation." | | At SCO meet, EAM Jaishankar pitches for Chabahar, asks China to 'respect sovereignty' | | Earlier in the week, representing India in a virtual meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government hosted by Chinese premier Li Keqiang, India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar said "connectivity projects in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) region should focus on the interests of Central Asian states and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries," referring to China's Belt and Road Initiative, according to a report in Hindustan Times. India was the only SCO member state that did not reaffirm support for China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in a joint communique issued after the meeting. Jaishankar pitched the Chabahar port and international north south transport corridor (INSTC) via Iran as key enablers for growth of central Asia. "Underlined that we need better connectivity in the SCO region built on centrality of interests of central Asian states. Will unlock the economic potential of this region in which Chabahar port and INSTC could become enablers. Connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and respect international law," the minister said on Wednesday. "Our total trade with SCO Members is only $141 billion, which has potential to increase manifold. Fair market access is to our mutual benefit and only way to move forward," Jaishankar said at the meet which included Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and the Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, reports The Hindu. "The bulk of India's trade with SCO countries is with China, which crossed $100 billion this year, while trade with Russia is less than $20 billion. Trade with Central Asian countries is less than $2 billion, and with Pakistan it is about $500 million." | | Netanyahu returns to power in Israel's fifth election in four years, Modi sends congratulations | | "Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secured a majority of parliamentary seats in the country's fifth election in four years. Netanyahu and his right-wing allies won a total of 64 seats of parliament's 120 seats. His own Likud party won 32 seats, while ultra-Orthodox parties secured 18 seats, and a far-right alliance won 14 seats, the Israeli electoral commission said on Thursday. It means that the country's longest-serving prime minister will reenter office at the head of what many expect will be the most right-wing government in Israel's 74-year-history", reports Deutsche Welle. Associated Press says, "the strong showing promised to end the political gridlock that has paralyzed Israel for the past three and a half years. But the planned agenda of the new government expected to take office — including an overhaul of the country's legal system and a tough line against the Palestinians — promises to further polarize a deeply divided nation and risks antagonizing Israel's closest allies abroad." Israel prime minister Yair Lapid on Thursday congratulated Netanyahu on his triumphant comeback at the head of a solidly right-wing alliance. Tuesday's ballot saw out the centrist Lapid, and his rare alliance of conservatives, liberals and Arab politicians which, over 18 months in power, made diplomatic inroads with Turkey and Lebanon and kept the economy humming. Prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu. In a tweet, Modi said "Mazel Tov my friend @netanyahu for your electoral success. I look forward to continuing our joint efforts to deepen the India-Israel strategic partnership." | | Lula wins Brazil's presidential polls, Bolsonaro concedes defeat after two days of silence | | Brazil's electoral authority says Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva has defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro to become the country's next president, Al Jazeera says in a report. It adds: "the news on Sunday marked a stunning return to power for the 77-year-old, of the leftist Workers' Party, who had led Brazil from 2003 to 2010. His 2018 imprisonment over a corruption scandal sidelined him from that year's election, paving the way for then-candidate Bolsonaro's win and four years of far-right politics. The result marked the first time since Brazil's 1985 return to democracy that the sitting president has failed to win re-election." However, supporters of Bolsonaro called it a "rigged election" and refused to accept defeat, asking the military to intervene. New York Times reports that "tens of thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Brazil, many of them demanding that the military stop the transfer of power to President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva… They were there, they said, to save Brazil's democracy from a rigged election, and there was only one way to do so: The armed forces needed to take control of the government." Meanwhile, Bolsonaro "went silent for nearly two days after being beaten. When he finally appeared before the cameras on Tuesday afternoon, he failed to explicitly concede defeat or congratulate his vanquisher. Shortly after that appearance, he made his way to the supreme court where he met seven of its judges, including Edson Fachin, who later told journalists that Bolsonaro had indicated to them that he understood the writing was on the wall. "The president used the verb 'to end' in the past tense," Fachin said. "He said: 'It's over.' Therefore, [one must] look ahead," reports The Guardian. | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | Attack on Imran could be a turning point | | Policy analyst Sanjaya Baru writes in Indian Express that the attack on Imran Khan could transform the dynamic in Pakistan and region too. | | Assassination attempt will stoke more mayhem in Pak | | Assassination attempt on former prime minister Khan, who has been on the campaign trail since his ousting in the country's first-ever vote of no confidence in Parliament, is only going to stoke more mayhem, Uzair M Younus of the Atlantic Council writes in Dawn newspaper. | | Modi govt's foreign policy is getting noticed | | As the world's fifth largest economy with the third largest defence budget, India's material capabilities gives it an opportunity to influence the international order. South Block has been aligning the national political will with new intern+ational possibilities, writes C Raja Mohan in his column for Indian Express. | | We need more Indian perspectives on China, says Vijay Gokhale | | If Xi Jinping's China turns paranoic, that may open opportunities for India, former foreign secretary and author Vijay Gokhale says in an interview to Firstpost. | | Jaishankar's visit will help India, NZ improve ties | | The deepening of India-New Zealand after a lull in relations is important both in bilateral terms and also within the wider regional context, writes Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, director of the Centre for Security, Strategy & Technology at the ORF, in The Diplomat. | | Xi rolls out red carpet for Vietnam Communist party chief | | The elaborate ceremonials rolled out by China for the state visit of Nguyen Phu Trong (head of Vietnam communist party) are a reminder of the alternating attraction and resistance that underpin Sino-Vietnamese relations, argues Sebastian Strangio in The Diplomat. | | Sunak will be a cleaner, but not a better PM | | Rishi Sunak's competence is overrated but his rectitude offers a reprieve for Britain's despoiled democracy, argues Janan Ganesh in Financial Times. | | An assessment of US National Defense Strategy | | The recently unveiled National Defense Strategy of the United States has higher budgets, a focus on the threat from China, and the need for rapid development and deployment of advanced technologies, writes ORF distinguished fellow Manoj Joshi. | | The US will continue to dominate world politics | | The United States is not foundering. The stark narrative of decline ignores deeper world-historical influences and circumstances that will continue to make the United States the dominant presence and organizer of world politics in the twenty-first century, writes professor G. John Ikenberry of Princeton University in Foreign Affairs. | | Germany has a big China problem | | Olaf Scholz's government promised a tougher approach to Beijing. But Berlin is divided on how far it should try to decouple its economy, write Guy Chazan and Yuan Yang in Financial Times. | | PODCAST | | US block on chips will impact China's tech industry | | We recommend this edition of the ChinaPower Podcast, where Emily Benson and Gerard DiPippo discusses the recent US technology export controls targeting China's access to semiconductor chips with host Bonny Lin. Benson and DiPippo explain these recent export control regulations and note that they will impact large portions of China's technology industry. | | | | Copyright © 2022.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
