| Sreemoy Talukdar brings you the essential cheat sheet on foreign affairs covering India and the world |  | | Sri Lanka finally has a new president, but that is no guarantee of political or economic stability. We also look at what's cooking on the India-China front, trace the latest from UK, decipher Biden's signals on China and last but not the least, discuss Biden's trip to West Asia where his fist-bump with Saudi crown prince (pic above) has triggered a right royal controversy. | | TOP FIVE NEWS UPDATES | | Sri Lanka finally gets a new president, but Wickremesinghe is triggering renewed ire among protestors | | The political deadlock has broken in Sri Lanka, sort of, with old warhorse Ranil Wickremesinghe getting elected as the new President via a secret ballot of lawmakers to replace disgraced former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa who has fled the country and landed in Singapore via Maldives and emailed his resignation from there. But those hoping for political stability to return in the troubled island nation must recalibrate their expectations as Wickremesinghe is considered to be as tainted as the former president, and remains the subject of people's ire who don't want anything to do with him. Indian Express reports that "the bulk of Wickremesinghe's support came from the Rajapaksas' Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party which witnessed a split within its ranks, but not enough to dent Wickremesinghe's candidature. He defeated Dullas Alahapperuma, a rebel leader of the SLPP who was backed by the Opposition. In the 225-member House, Wickremesinghe got 134 votes, Alahapperuma got 82, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) got three votes." But Wickremesinghe's job won't be easy. It is tough enough getting the country's economy back on track with tough negotiations with lenders such as IMF, tougher still if the people distrust him. BBC reports an activist saying on Wednesday, "I am absolutely disgusted at the result… I cannot believe that 134 people — MPs that are supposed to represent the people- have completely disregarded the wants of the people." The report adds, "Wickremesinghe is viewed by many as a shrewd political operator who's managed to cling on in parliament despite his party being wiped out in the 2020 election. It failed to win a single constituency, and its only seat — for which Wickremesinghe nominated himself — was awarded under the party list system reflecting overall votes polled." In an ominous sign of what lies ahead, Sri Lankan protestors who had for months struggled to oust president Gotabaya and prime minister Wickremesinghe, is now vowing to take a more confrontational stand. Al Jazeera reports that hundreds of protesters gathered at the GotaGoGama site in Colombo on Wednesday and addressing the crowds, protest leaders refused to accept Wickremesinghe, 73, as the new head of state. "We managed to kick out Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who secured 6.9 million votes, but Ranil has now secured that seat from the back seat… Ranil isn't our president … the people's mandate is on the streets." Meanwhile, The Hindu adds that Wickremesinghe is "expected to appoint long-time Rajapaksa loyalist and senior politician Dinesh Gunawardena as Prime Minister." | | India-China talks remain deadlocked as Beijing steps up provocative moves along the LAC | | The week saw a lot of activity on the India-China front. China stepped up its military activity near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) including air drills in late June and early July, reported The Hindu. Pressed on the subject and India's concerns over the provocations, Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday called the drills "normal", adds the report. The IAF, meanwhile, said that it had responded to the provocations by scrambling jets. In between, NDTV reported, by accessing satellite imagery, that a "Chinese village, constructed 9 km East of the Doklam plateau where Indian and Chinese forces faced off in 2017, is now fully inhabited with cars parked at the doorstep of virtually every home." The report added that this development threatens India's strategically significant Siliguri corridor, the narrow sliver of land that connects the northeast states with the rest of the country. Pressed on the issue, spokesperson of India's external affairs ministry said the government is keeping a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India's security and taking all necessary measures to safeguard it. Alongside, the week also saw India and China hold the 16th round of military-level talks to unlock the border tension and work towards disengagement of troops at Patrol Point-15 near Kongka La, Depsang Bulge in Daulet Beg Oldi sector and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) in Demchok sector — that remain a sticking point in the ongoing negotiations. The talks, according to Hindustan Times, began Sunday at 9.30am on the Indian side of the Chushul-Moldo meeting point and went on till 10pm, lasting more than 12 hours. There's a joint statement in case you are interested in reading diplomatese. Meanwhile, in another provocative move that may irk India even more, South China Morning Post reports that China is planning to build a new highway close to its disputed border areas with India. "The highway, known as G695, is expected to run through southern Tibet's Cona county – which lies immediately north of the disputed India-Tibet border demarcated by the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – Kamba county, host of a noted military camp, and Gyirong county near the border with Nepal." | | Sunak, Truss enter final stretch in race to become British PM but former chancellor faces uphill task | | The race for being the next prime minister for the UK is down to the last two candidates. The last two persons standing after Tory firefight are former chancellor Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss as the week saw three more prime ministerial hopefuls — Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat bowing out. The Conservative Party's 200,000 members will now vote to select a winner and the next prime minister will be announced on September 5. Sunak has led in all rounds of the voting among Conservative lawmakers, but it is Truss who seems to have gained the advantage so far among the Tory base who will ultimately choose the winner. "Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Sunak said he would introduce "a set of reforms as radical as the ones Margaret Thatcher drove through in the 1980s". In the Daily Mail, Truss promised "tax-cutting, enterprise-boosting, business-friendly Conservative policy", observes BBC in a report, adding, "the pair emerged as the final candidates after Truss overturned a narrow lead held by trade minister Mordaunt, at one point the favourite, to secure the backing of 113 Tory MPs to Ms Mordaunt's 105. Sunak, who consistently led among MPs, topped the ballot with 137 votes." Reuters says that whoever triumphs will inherit some of the most difficult conditions in Britain in decades. Inflation is on course to hit 11% annually, growth is stalling, industrial action is on the rise and the pound is near historic lows against the dollar. Latest YouGov poll, a major indicator, among Tory members finds almost two thirds are set to vote for Truss to be the party's new leader – leaving Sunak with a mountain to climb. The poll found that 62 per cent of members are planning to support the foreign secretary, giving her a 24-point lead over Sunak, who is languishing on 38 per cent, reports The Telegraph. | | Biden hopes to speak with Xi within next 10 days, discourages Pelosi from going to Taiwan | | The Joe Biden administration seems to have decided that a 'reset' with China is in order. Biden initially continued with the tough talking and strident policies of the Donald Trump era but has since steadily climbed down from a confrontational posture and has been making conciliatory noises of late. The latest meeting between US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had indicated that the stage was being set for a Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting. The US president on Wednesday said he expects to speak to Chinese leader Xi Jinping "within the next 10 days," as the US considers whether lifting some tariffs on Chinese imports would help stem rampant inflation, reports Bloomberg. In a measure of the climbdown initiated the Biden administration, that is mulling lifting some of the Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports, Biden on Wednesday also said that he is against the idea of House speaker Nancy Pelosi's reported Taiwan visit, citing the US military's advice. Speaking to reporters after stepping off Air Force One late Wednesday, Biden was asked about the possibility of a Pelosi trip. He said that "the military thinks it's not a good idea right now," reports Washington Post. Financial Times had reported earlier that "Pelosi plans to visit Taiwan next month to show support as it comes under mounting pressure from China, in what would be the first trip by a Speaker of the US House of Representatives to the country in 25 years. Six people familiar with the situation said Pelosi would take a delegation to Taiwan in August. The 82-year-old California lawmaker cancelled a visit in April after she caught Covid-19." China, meanwhile, threatened on Tuesday that if "speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, it would seriously violate the one-China principle and the stipulations in the three China-US joint communiqués and harm China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, adding that such a visit would have "a severe negative impact" on US-China relations. | | Biden's fist bump with Saudi crown prince MbS denounced as 'worse than a handshake', 'shameful' | | Staying with Joe Biden, the US president set aside his vow of making Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) pay for his role in killing dissident Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, and the world saw him arrive in the Saudi city of Jeddah and fist-bump with the Saudi crown prince. Regardless of whether the US president was forced to eat his words and make peace with the Saudi leader owing to geopolitical considerations and rising fuel prices, the meeting will remain a marker for ages. On the epochal image, CNN observes, "much speculated about, the image itself, from a camera position that was denied to the press traveling with Biden, was even more powerful than all the conjecture that preceded it. Like the winner of a long-distance race, the Crown Prince, known commonly as MBS, snatched glory -- and reputational redemption -- at the finish line. At the press podium later, Biden confronted the Crown Prince for his role in the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The Crown Prince pushed back, denying responsibility for the 2018 killing of the US resident at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, as did Saudi officials who questioned the US' human rights record over alleged abuses at its Abu Ghraib jail, during the Iraq War. But that image of the fist bump was what the Saudis wanted — a reputational boost putting MBS in pole position in a region where rivalries and power plays are a fact of life." Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a contributor before MbS ordered his killing, quotes the dissident journalist's fiancee describing the sight of Biden greeting the crown prince as "heartbreaking." Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said the meeting "suggests the crown prince is now accepted." The Post's publisher Fred Ryan said in a statement: "The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful… It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking." The Wall Street Journal proclaimed, "this trip was worse than a missed opportunity. It damaged U.S. security interests in the Middle East by highlighting to the world that neither Saudi Arabia nor other Gulf states trust the U.S. enough to make any sacrifices to renew badly frayed relations." | | | | | | | | | | TOP ANALYSES OF THE WEEK | | Italian PM Mario Draghi's resignation is bad news for Eurozone | | Nicholas Farrell writes in The Spectator that Italian prime minister Mario Draghi's resignation (his second in the space of a week and this time for real) is bad news for Brussels and the Eurozone. The war in Ukraine was the catalyst for Draghi's fall as it tore apart Italy's left-wing populist party, the Five Star Movement. That, in turn, destabilised Italy's government. The Russian media will be ecstatic: first Boris, now this. | | Putin reminds me of Khrushchev, says Kissinger | | In an interview to German outlet Der Spiegel, Henry Kissinger says Vladimir Putin reminds him of Nikita Khrushchev, who "wanted recognition. The concept of equality was very important to him. In Putin's case, this is even more acute, because he considers the collapse of the Russian position in Europe from 1989 onward as a strategic disaster for Russia." | | Sri Lanka's troubles are here to stay | | In Firstpost, we argue that Sri Lanka may finally have a new president, but it's troubles are not going away anytime soon. | | India's involvement in I2U2 has elicited some surprise in US | | Dhruva Jaishankar of ORF, America chapter, writes in Hindustan Times that "in Washington, at least, India's involvement (in the I2U2 grouping) has elicited some surprise. This reflects the silos in which US foreign policy is often conducted: West Asia and South Asia have generally been treated distinctly." | | I2U2 summit marks the recognition of India's stakes in West Asia | | Mark Episkopos writes in The National Interest that the I2U2 summit involving India, Israel, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates "is no small part a recognition of India's growing economic and geopolitical stakes in West Asia." | | Abe's India policy continues to shape bilateral ties | | Shashank Mattoo, research assistant at the ORF, writes on Shinzo Abe's death that "For India, the passing of a leader who placed New Delhi at the heart of his Indo-Pacific Strategy is a blow. Whilst Abe's predecessors sensed India's enormous potential and moved to expand ties with New Delhi, Abe gave the bilateral relationship a framing and direction that continues to shape the relationship." | | Will 'populous' India bruise China's No.1 ego? | | Rana Mitter of Oxford University writes in The Guardian that Indians will soon outnumber Chinese, threatening Beijing's sense of superiority. | | India is signaling a change in Tibet policy | | Tibetologist Claude Arpi writes in Firstpost that "the fact that the Dalai Lama will stay for a month in Ladakh is definitively a re-assertion of India's policy vis-à-vis the Tibetan leader. Many observers see all this as a signal to China of a change in India's Tibet policy." | | Democracy in America is in terminal decline | | Brian Klaas of University College London writes in The Atlantic that "American democracy is dying. There are plenty of medicines that would cure it. Unfortunately, our political dysfunction means we're choosing not to use them, and as time passes, fewer treatments become available to us, even though the disease is becoming terminal." | | Sunak is the true heir of Thatcher, not Truss | | James Forsyth writes in The Times, London, that if Tories want a Thatcherite in power, it has to be Rishi Sunak. In this contest the former chancellor's family background, financial rigour and political bravery make him the true heir. | | PODCAST WATCH | | Lessons from Sri Lanka crisis | | The Hindu Parley podcast, where host Suhasini Haidar speaks to D Subbarao, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Nirupama Rao, former foreign secretary, on the Sri Lanka crisis and what the world can do to help, is worth your time. | | | | Copyright © 2022.Firstpost - All Rights Reserved. | |
