| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | Sri Lankan president fled from his country and reached Singapore via Maldives from where he sent his resignation, giving in to massive public protests that for months demanded his ouster. The protestors, who had occupied the presidential palace and prime minister's office (pic above, courtesy AP) have since retreated and broken out in jubilation, though the path ahead for the country won't be easy. In this eventful week, we also track the aftermath of Shinzo Abe's assassination and other events that were consequential for India and the world. | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | Sri Lanka celebrates as president Gotabaya finally resigns after escaping to Singapore via Maldives | | Gotabaya Rajapaska, Sri Lanka's beleaguered president, has emailed his resignation from Singapore Thursday where he had fled via Maldives after facing months of sustained public protests that culminated in a stunning raid on the presidential palace in Colombo last Saturday, forcing Gotabaya to scurry out of his official residence and go into hiding. As it emerged on Wednesday that he had flown off to Maldives via a military aircraft and had appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as an 'acting president' in his stead, the crowd's ire turned to the former prime minister as they defied security cordon and tear gas shells to surge into the PM's office. The demonstrations that occupied both the presidential residence and prime minister's office provided some stunning images. After days of high drama, the protesters finally retreated from government buildings on Thursday, restoring a tenuous calm after Gotabaya at last emailed the resignation that demonstrators have sought for months, reports Associated Press. According to Reuters, the announcement triggered jubilation in capital Colombo. Crowds set off firecrackers, shouted slogans and danced ecstatically at the 'Gota Go Gama' protest site. Rajapaksa submitted his resignation by email late on Thursday and the Speaker of Sri Lanka's Parliament on Friday formally accepted the resignation. As of now, there is no clarity on whether Singapore will be Gotabaya's final destination. Singapore's foreign ministry told The Straits Times that Gotabaya has been allowed entry on a private visit. "He has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum. Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum." The Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Male in Maldives to Singapore's Changi Airport that was ferrying Gotabaya "was the world's most-tracked flight on Thursday. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was tracked by almost 5,000 users as of 7:43 a.m GMT, reports Bloomberg. BBC says that "acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe does not formally become interim president until he is sworn in. After that, Wickremesinghe has 30 days for parliament to endorse him. If they do not, MPs need to hold a vote for a new president." There are three frontrunners to the president's post, adds Reuters, and parties have vowed to choose an interim president by July 20. Sri Lanka must restore its governance structure as soon as possible because the country has run out of foreign exchange to buy essential items, including fuel and medicines and is surviving on credit lines offered by India. Governor of Sri Lanka's central bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe, has told BBC that the country may shut down if no stable government is formed soon. India on Thursday said it continues to stand with the Lankan people and hoped for an early solution to the situation, especially related to the government and its leadership through "democratic means and constitutional framework", reports The Tribune. | | UAE to invest $2 billion in India as first I2U2 summit steers focus on food and energy security | | US president Joe Biden is on a four-day trip to West, where he is visiting Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia. Biden's Israel trip coincided with the 12U2 Summit, the curiously named grouping of India, Israel (I2), UAE and the US (U2) that held its first virtual meeting on Wednesday. As Hindustan Times reports, the I2U2 "unveiled initiatives focused on food security and clean energy during its first leaders' summit, including a $2 billion programme to develop food parks across India and a $330 million hybrid renewable energy project in Gujarat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, United Arab Emirates (UAE) president Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Biden for the virtual meeting less than nine months after the grouping was conceptualised last October." The joint statement post summit stated that "The UAE will invest $2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India" and "India will provide appropriate land for the project and will facilitate farmers' integration into the food parks. U.S. and Israeli private sectors will be invited to lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions that contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. These investments will help maximize crop yields and, in turn, help tackle food insecurity in South Asia and the Middle East." On how India would provide the land, The Hindu reports, quoting an official involved in the consultation process that "as of now, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have come forward to participate in the project and that other states are also expected to join in." In his opening remarks, Modi said "Under the I2U2 framework", the four countries have "agreed to increase joint investment in six key areas of water, energy, transport, space, health and food security." | | US lawmakers recommend CAATSA waiver for India, acting on Ro Khanna's amendment | | Reinforcing the trajectory of India-US bilateral ties, an amendment supporting a CAATSA waiver for India got bipartisan approval from the US House of Representatives Thursday. Though it doesn't mean, yet, that India is certain to get the secondary sanction because the final decision lies with US president Joe Biden, but the move is a weighty signal to the Biden administration. PTI reports from Washington, via The Hindu, that the amendment, "authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, urges the Biden administration to use their authority to provide India with a Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAASTA) waiver to help deter aggressors like China. The legislative amendment was passed on Thursday by voice vote as part of an en bloc (all together as a single unit) amendment during floor consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)." Hindustan Times adds, "the House voted 330 to 99 in favour of the amendment. To be sure, this is not yet a part of the law — the Act will have to be passed in both the House and the Senate, and the different versions passed in the two chambers will then be reconciled in a compromise legislation. But the support for Khanna's amendment is seen as signal of political support for the India-US strategic partnership on Capitol Hill, the home of the US legislative branch." "While India faces immediate needs to maintain its heavily Russian-built weapons systems", a CAATSA waiver "during this transition period is in the best interests of the United States and the United States-India defense partnership to deter aggressors in light of Russia and China's close partnership," says the amendment. | | Rishi Sunak cements lead in race to become British PM, but Penny Mordaunt poses big challenge | | It is now a real possibility that Britain may get its first Indian-origin prime minister. Days after Boris Johnson was forced to quit due to an internal revolt against him within the Tories, former British chancellor Rishi Sunak has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to become the next Tory leader and British PM. Sunak, however, faces a formidable challenge from Penny Mordaunt, a junior trade minister, who now lies in second spot but is the overwhelming bookmakers' favourite. A YouGov poll on Wednesday showed Mordaunt would win a runoff to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister if she makes it to the final two candidates. As of now, though, Sunak has cemented his lead over the pack of five hopefuls. "In the second ballot of Tory MPs on Thursday, the former Chancellor won 101 votes, ahead of Mordaunt with 83. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was third with 64 votes. The next round is scheduled for Monday. The final two contenders will be in place by next Thursday, when Parliament goes on summer recess. They will then do a six-week tour of the UK to make their case to Tory members. The winner will be announced September 5," reports Bloomberg. Sunak received 101 votes, followed by Mordaunt on 83, and Truss on 64. Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated with 27 votes, Tom Tugendhat stayed in the race with 32 votes and Kemi Badenoch, who has Tory heavyweight Michael Gove's backing, received 49 votes. On who will replace Johnson and what are their pitches and policies, The Times, London, has laid out the scenarios. For those who want to go deeper, the BBC has "the inside story of Boris Johnson's downfall". Sebastian Payne writes in Financial Times that "whoever succeeds Johnson will be hemmed in by the 2019 manifesto, soaring inflation, a likely recession, war in Ukraine and a sorely divided party. The most interesting candidates, meanwhile, are the ones least likely to win: Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch." The column is worth reading. | | Japan comes to grip with the killing of former PM Shinzo Abe as India bids goodbye to 'great friend' | | The world is slowly getting over the shock of Shinzo Abe's assassination, and India is perhaps next only to Japan in mourning for the departed leader who had a deep bond with India and Indians. "Abe, the longest-serving Japanese prime minister, who made it his political mission to vanquish his country's wartime ghosts but fell short of his ultimate goal of restoring Japan as a normalized military power, was assassinated on Friday in the city of Nara, Japan. He was 67. His death, from injuries sustained in a shooting during a speech at a campaign event," goes the obit in New York Times. Hundreds had filed into the temple where Abe's funeral was held on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, prior to the private ceremony, to pay their respects. His killing on Friday by an unemployed man wielding a homemade gun stunned a nation where both gun crime and political violence are extremely rare, adds Reuters. The Economist observes, "Abe's death leaves his country at a crossroads, too. In addition to being Japan's longest-serving leader, he was its most consequential politician in decades. Even after stepping down, the course Mr Abe set remained Japan's default—in domestic matters, but especially in foreign and security policy, where he sought to counter China's rise by strengthening Japan's own defences, reinforcing its alliance with America and building ties with other regional powers." Japanese PM Fumio Kishida has said Japan will hold a state funeral for Abe this autumn and Kishida "on Monday pledged to carry on the legacy of Abe, following the ruling bloc's landslide upper house election victory. The election, held two days after the country's longest-serving prime minister was shot dead on the campaign trail, ended with Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party winning 63 of the 125 contested seats. Its smaller partner Komeito added another 13 to the coalition," reports Nikkei Asia. Abe had a special relationship with India, and the nation considered him as a great friend. Modi, who developed a deep personal bond with the Japanese leader, posted multiple tweets expressing his shock and sorrow and penned a blog, titled My Friend, Abe San where he called him "an outstanding leader of Japan, a towering global statesman, and a great champion of India-Japan friendship." India announced a day of state mourning at his passing and leaders of the Quad, a framework that owes much to Abe, put out a joint statement saying: "We, the leaders of Australia, India, and the United States, are shocked at the tragic assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Prime Minister Abe was a transformative leader for Japan and for Japanese relations with each one of our countries. He also played a formative role in the founding of the Quad partnership, and worked tirelessly to advance a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific." | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | Rajapaksa's ouster is not the end of Sri Lanka's woes | | PK Balachandran writes in The Diplomat "that the ouster of Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe is not the end of Sri Lanka's woes. It may in fact usher in an even more acute crisis in the coming weeks." | | India must engage with Sri Lanka but with caution | | SD Muni, professor emeritus at JNU, a Sri Lanka Rathna laureate, writes in Hindustan Times that India must be cautious on the crisis in Sri Lanka. "New Delhi must continue to work with other partner countries to help the Sri Lankan people. India must also keep engaging with various political factions to ensure a smooth transition to a stable post-Rajapaksa regime and polity." | | Sri Lanka-like crisis won't happen in India | | In Times of India, Somnath Mukherjee tackles the narrative on 'India becoming the next Sri Lanka'. He writes, "the key factor in Lanka's crisis is structural weakness in the economy, which made a crisis like this a matter of 'when' rather than 'if'. Anti-liberal political posturing had nearly no role. If anything, Lanka adopting some of the most treasured liberal causes may have exacerbated the crisis." | | For India, Abe will always remain a very special Japanese leader | | Harsh V Pant, president of Observer Research Foundation, writes on the passing away of Shinzo Abe and his bond with India. Pant writes, "For India, Abe will remain a very special Japanese leader. His fondness for India and his vision for India–Japan ties have been central to his vision of the Indo-Pacific. After visiting India during his first term, he gave bilateral ties a new momentum by becoming the first Japanese Prime Minister to visit India thrice." | | Abe will be remembered as a hard-eyed realist | | James Stavridis, retired US Navy admiral, writes in Bloomberg that Shinzo Abe will be remembered as a hard-eyed realist who sought greater security for his nation. | | Mordaunt is the dark horse to become British PM ahead of Sunak, Truss | | Though Rishi Sunak, the former British chancellor under Boris Johnson, is ahead of the pack to lead Britain, Henry Hill says in The Guardian that Penny Mordaunt, currently at second place after two rounds of voting among Tory lawmakers, is the dark horse. "I don't think anybody predicted she would be second-placed after the first ballot, after a rocky launch. The thing that seems to have propelled her there is her newly minted status as darling of the grassroots," writes Hill. | | Rishi Sunak as British PM may not be good news for India | | Sanjaya Baru writes in Times of India that "Indian officials are presently hoping that a Boris-like figure would be elected British prime minister rather than a South Asian brown skin" such as Rishi Sunak, a lesson India "learnt dealing with the United States and Canada." | | West must take India's position as a 'global swing state' seriously | | Sharinee L. Jagtiani and Ameya Pratap Singh of Oxford University write in War on the Rocks that "the war in Ukraine has shown that, when it comes to India's ties with the West, a revision of expectations is overdue. India's importance for maintaining the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific makes it impossible to overlook as a partner." | | I2U2 can help India revamp ties with Turkey | | On India-Turkey ties, Kabir Taneja of Observer Research Foundation argues that "India's close relations with the UAE and Saudi Arabia alike, despite some recent setbacks, can help in reviewing bilateral relations between Turkey and India despite the severity of certain outstanding issues." | | Biden's Saudi visit highlights America's moral decay | | On US President Joe Biden's upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, Kapil Komireddi writes in The Print that "Biden's only significant action concerning Afghanistan has been to seize Afghanistan's cash reserves and gift it to the survivors of the 9/11 attacks. Having callously puffed his ageing chest at a starving nation to which not a solitary 9/11 hijacker can be traced, Biden will this week pay a grovelling visit to Saudi Arabia: Home to 15 of the 19 9/11 attackers." | | PODCAST WATCH | | Ramification of Abe's murder on Japan politics | | On Shinzo Abe's assassination and the void his tragic passing away leaves in Japan, Mireya Solís of Brookings speaks to host Adrianna Pita on Abe's policy legacies, the role he continued to play in shaping the direction of the country, and the ramifications of his assassination for Japan's politics. | | | | Copyright © 2022.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
