VIF Neighbourhood News Digest - 1 Feb 2018

PAKISTAN

Commanders authorized to deal with ‘safe havens’ in Afghanistan, Pakistan: US: Dawn

1 Feb, 2018

The Trump administration’s South Asia strategy gives US commanders in the region the authority and resources they need to deal with “terrorist safe havens in both Afghanistan and Pakistan”, says the White House. The strategy that President Donald Trump announced in August last year underlines the US determination to defeat the Taliban in the battlefield in order to force them to accept the current administrative set-up in Kabul. As part of this strategy, the Trump administration recently increased drone strikes at alleged terrorist safe havens in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and reports from the region suggest that several ‘commanders’ of the dreaded Haqqani network were also killed in those attacks. But so far, the US administration never spoke of authorising its field commanders to deal with the alleged safe havens inside Pakistan. Click here to read... [2]

AFGHANISTAN

Stanikzai, Barmak in Islamabad with message from Ghani: Pajhowk News

31 Jan 2018

President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday sent his spymaster and interior minister to Islamabad to share evidence of involvement of Pakistan-based militants in the latest wave of attacks in Kabul. National Directorate of Security (NDS) -- Afghan intelligence service -- head Masoum Stanikzai and Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak arrived in Pakistan around noon. The two-member delegation, a well-placed source told Pajhwok Afghan News, had strong evidence of complicity of the Haqqani network and Taliban in the terrorist assaults. Both groups have sanctuaries in Pakistan. The delegates would meet COAS Gen. Asif Bajwa and ISI chief Naveed Mukhtar and demand the perpetrators must be handed over to Afghanistan. Click here to read... [3]

NEPAL

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to arrive in Kathmandu today: My Republica

1 Feb, 2018

External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj is to arrive in Kathmandu today for two-day official visit. Press release issued by External Affairs Ministry of India on Monday reads, 'The visit is in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level political exchanges between India and Nepal, and reflects the expanding bilateral partnership and the importance that the two countries attach to further strengthening it across diverse sectors.' During the visit, Minister Swaraj will hold discussion with political leaders of Nepal on issues of mutual interest and to enhance the age old friendly relationship between both countries. Click here to read... [4]

SRILANKA

Srilanka, India need to discuss fisheries issue: Envoy: Daily Mirror

31 Jan 2018

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to India Chitranganee Wagiswara on Tuesday advised the Indian and Sri Lankan governments to discuss the fisheries issues, Outlook India reported. “Fisheries issue is something for which we need to talk to each other. We have to speak to each other. Our fisheries ministers visit each other and a joint working group is discussing how to sort this issue,” she said. Click here to read... [5]

MALDIVES

‘Top court has no jurisdiction to impeach president’: Haveeru

1 Feb, 2018

Minister of Legal Affairs at the President’s Office, Azima Shakoor, has stated that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to hear the case on impeaching the president. Her statement comes after the oppositions’ move, filing a case at the Supreme Court to impeach President Abdulla Yameen alleging corruption and embezzlement. Responding to a question on a Public Service Media program, the minister stated that Article 100 of the Constitution clearly outlines the conditions under which the president can be impeached. The article stipulates that the parliament can remove the president from office by passing a resolution with two-thirds majority of total membership of the parliament if the president has violated the specific grounds stated in the article. Referring to this article, Azima proclaimed that impeaching the president does not fall in the jurisdiction of the apex court at this stage. She also said that in such an event, the Supreme Court will only have the authority to rule whether the resolution passed is constitutional or not. Click here to read... [6]

CHINA

Xi stresses developing modernized economy: People’s Daily

1 Feb, 2018

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has called for the development of a modernized economy to push the country's economic development to a new level. Xi made the remarks while presiding over the third group study of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee Tuesday. "The whole Party must have a deep understanding of the importance and difficulty of developing a modernized economy and a good grasp of the goals and priorities of this task," Xi said. He demanded Party members work to bring out new vitality of and elevate the country's economic development to a new level. Click here to read... [7]

Confidence increases in global use of yuan: China Daily

1 Feb, 2018

Expectations of China further opening up its financial sector this year have boosted bankers' and experts' confidence in a broader use of the renminbi in global trade, investment and foreign reserves, as well as bets placed on a more flexibly floating exchange rate. A survey done by the Bank of China published on Wednesday indicated that last year, 76 percent of respondents from 3,134 overseas enterprises and 118 financial institutions in 25 countries and regions believed that the yuan will play a role as important as other major international currencies, including the US dollar, British pound, euro and Japanese yen. Click here to read... [8]

Li welcomes United Kingdom's May with ties set to grow: People’s Daily

1 Feb, 2018

China will boost ties with the United Kingdom under the Belt and Road Initiative and in fields such as nuclear power, high-speed railroads, finance and high-tech trade, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday. Both countries should further open to each other and align development strategies, Li said when meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, who started her first official visit to China on Wednesday. After the meeting, they witnessed the signing of 12 cooperative agreements, including a memorandum of understanding to grant loan credit of 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) for projects under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Click here to read... [9]

Xinhua launches Japanese News Service: Xinhuanet

31 Jan, 2018

China's Xinhua News Agency is to provide news service, including news articles, photographs and video and audio reports, in Japanese language from Feb. 1, the news agency's president said on Wednesday. Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao said at a launching ceremony here that Japanese is the eighth language in which Xinhua releases news reports, following Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese news services. The Japanese news service is also Xinhua's first multi-media news service for an individual country and has a special significance in the course of development of Xinhua, Cai said. As the first service platform in Japanese language, the news service will allow Xinhua to provide a new channel for Japanese subscribers to access Chinese news more conveniently, Cai said. He also said that Xinhua's global news gathering and editing network will provide contents for the Japanese news service.Click here to read... [10]

Protecting Antarctica is a priority: China Daily

1 Feb, 2018

China will soon publish a regulation that urges Chinese travelers to Antarctica to better protect the southernmost continent's environment. The State Oceanic Administration is seeking opinions and suggestions on the draft of the Environmental Protection Regulation on Activities on Antarctica, which was made public on the administration's website on Tuesday. Individuals can submit their thoughts on the regulation before February 7. The regulation comes amid a surge in the number of Chinese tourists to the icy continent in past years.Click here to read... [11]