VIF News Digest: International Developments (3-9 Dec 2018)

USA

‘We will work everything out’, says James Mattis on India’s purchase of S-400 defence systems
4 Dec 2018

Defence Secretary James Mattis has expressed confidence that India and the US would be able to resolve all issues related to India’s purchase of the S-400 air defence systems from Russia that could draw possible US sanctions. India risked US sanctions when it agreed in October to a USD 5 billion deal to buy Russian missile systems.

India’s purchase is subject to potential US sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which deals primarily with countries having “significant transactions” with Russia, North Korea or Iran. “We will work everything out. Trust me,” Mattis told reporters Monday as a journalist asked the visiting Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about the missile deal and the possibility of US sanctions. India needs a presidential waiver to get around the punitive CAATSA sanctions. Click here to read.... [2]

India, United States agree to accelerate defence and security ties as Sitharaman meets Mattis at Pentagon
4 Dec 2018

India and the US have agreed to accelerate their defence and security ties as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her American counterpart James Mattis reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation as a "key pillar" of the strategic partnership. US Defence Secretary Mattis welcomed Sitharaman to the Pentagon on Monday for the fourth set of talks the two defence leaders have held this year, describing India as a “stabilising force” across the Indo-Pacific and the globe.

Sitharaman, the first woman defence minister of India, is currently on a five-day maiden trip to the US. From here, she will travel to California to visit the Defence Innovation Unit of the Department of Defence and the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii.
“The United States and India, in Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s words, have overcome hesitations of history, carrying forward the legacy of friendship and making clear there is no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership,” Mattis said. Sitharaman started her official visit here by visiting the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, where she signed on the condolence book of former US President George H W Bush who died late Friday at his home in Houston. Click here to read.... [3]

Arrest triggers fresh doubts about Trump's ability to deliver on China deal
7 Dec 2018

The arrest of a top Chinese technology executive should have been a triumphant moment for the Trump administration. Instead, the detention of Chinese tech giant Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver, British Columbia, triggered a market meltdown Thursday amid uncertainty about whether President Donald Trump can strike a lasting trade deal with Beijing.

The volatility put a spotlight on doubts about Trump's ability to deliver on his promises with China -- and exposed a clash between his policy goals in China and his efforts to crack down on technology companies and other actors. The Dow crashed by as much as 785 points before recovering on Thursday. It had slipped nearly 800 points earlier this week on investor concerns about the status of the trade talks. The drop came despite clear statements from Beijing indicating that President Xi Jinping intends to move ahead with the trade talks as planned. Click here to read.... [4]

RUSSIA

Putin threatens arms race if US walks away from nuclear weapons treaty
5 Dec 2018

Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will develop new mid-range nuclear weapons in response to Donald Trump's planned withdrawal from a key arms control treaty with Russia. The statement came after secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that the United States would no longer abide by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty if Russia did not come into compliance within 60 days.
Mr Putin insisted that he was “against the destruction of this treaty,” but agreed with Mr Trump's complaint that it ties the hands of the two Cold War foes while other countries can develop short- and intermediate-range nuclear missiles. “Now our American partners apparently think the situation has changed so much that the United States also needs to have this kind of weapon. What will our response be? It's simple. We will also do this,” he said.

In fact, Moscow is already doing this, if Washington is to be believed. Barack Obama's administration first accused the Kremlin of breaking the treaty in 2014 by secretly developing a ground-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile dubbed the SSC-8, which could threaten US bases and allies in Europe. Click here to read.... [5]

U.S. Rules out military response to Russia-Ukraine naval escalation, Official Says
7 Dec 2018

The United States is not discussing the possibility of a military response to the recent naval flare-up in the Kerch Strait, the highest-ranking US military officer said on Thursday.

Russian vessels fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval ships on Nov. 25 as they attempted to pass through the narrow Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov, which lies between Russia and Ukraine. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a G20 summit over Moscow’s actions in the Kerch Strait.

“There is not a discussion ongoing right now about a military dimension in response to the Sea of Azov,” US Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a conference organized by The Washington Post.
On Tuesday, a senior U.S. State Department official warned that Moscow must release the Ukrainian sailors or face growing consequences. Click here to read.... [6]

New Japan-Russia framework set, but obstacles to territorial talks abound
3 Dec 2018

A new framework between Japan and Russia has been set for negotiations on their decades-old territorial row and a peace treaty, with a critical point in the talks seen coming sometime in the first half of next year. But the talks are expected to be tough as the two sides remain far apart over the territorial dispute concerning four Russian-controlled islands off Hokkaido, informed sources said, noting that the course of the negotiations will likely be influenced by public opinion in both countries as well as moves by the United States.

Under the new framework agreed to by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their meeting in Buenos Aires on Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and his Russian counterpart, Igor Morgulov, will mainly engage in the negotiations, with the overall framework led by the two nations’ foreign ministers — Taro Kono of Japan and Sergey Lavrov of Russia. Click here to read.... [7]

AFRICA

Guinea-Bissau naturalizes Senegalese refugees: VOA
4 December, 2018

Senegalese refugees in Guinea-Bissau are getting identification cards after years — and, for some, decades — of living in a state of limbo.

Ibrahima Ingo has lived in Pelundo, near Guinea-Bissau's border with Senegal, since 1992 when he fled southern Senegal due to unrest in the country's Casamance region. Today marks the first time he will register to receive his national identification card as a Guinea-Bissau citizen. Click here to read.... [8]

First Western Sahara talks at UN in six years begin in Geneva: UN News
5 December, 2018

In 1991, the UN helped bring an end to fighting in the territory, before setting up a peacekeeping mission there: the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

Delegations from Morocco, the Frente POLISARIO, Algeria and Mauritania are present at a roundtable meeting in Geneva. It will involve two days of talks that have been convened by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, former President Horst Köhler of Germany, the UN confirmed in a statement. “The meeting is the first of its kind in six years and takes place in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2440 as a first step towards a renewed negotiations process with the aim of reaching a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara,” the communiqué said.

In adopting Resolution 2440, the UN Security Council called on the parties to the dispute over the territory “to engage constructively” in talks, according to a Council statement published on 31 October. Click here to read.... [9]

Nigeria Contributes $710m to ECOWAS, more than 13 Countries put together: Premium Times
6 December, 2018

Nigeria has contributed more money to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) than 13 other Members states put together in the last 12 years, statistics have shown. Statistics on payment of the Community Levy showed that between 2003 and 2015, Nigeria paid $710, 497,352, equivalent to 480, 355,205 West Africa Units of Account (UA). In the same period, 13 other countries contributed a cumulative amount of 697. 947 million dollars.

The West Africa UA is the official nominal monetary unit of measure or currency used to represent the real value. The document was presented by the ECOWAS Commission as part of the Status of the Community report during an Extra Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament. Click here to read.... [10]

Niger adopts law to protect displaced people in first for Africa: all Africa
6 December, 2018

Niger has adopted Africa's first national law for the protection and assistance of people fleeing violence, floods and droughts, the government and United Nations said on Thursday.

The government says there are about 174,000 displaced people in the West African country, mostly in regions where Islamist violence has spilled over from Mali and Nigeria. That figure excludes others who were forced to leave their homes to search for grazing land or water, said Lawan Magagi, Niger's minister of humanitarian action and disaster management. Click here to read.... [11]

EU, France step up security, development aid for Africa's G5 Sahel: all Africa
6 December, 2018

A two-day donor conference in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott ended on Thursday with pledges from the European Union and France to increase their financial contributions to development and security projects in Africa's volatile Sahal region.

The EU said it would contribute an additional €125 million ($142 million) to the G5 Sahel's Priority Investment Program (PIP), bringing its total up to €800 million. France announced an extra €220 million for the program, bringing its total to €500 million. "Half of this sum is for projects already planned or under way," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the conference. "The other half will be awarded quickly over the next two years to enable you to meet your priorities." Click here to read.... [12]

G5 Sahel Countries get over 2 billion Euro Aid: africanews
7 December, 2018

The G5 Sahel countries finally exceeded their €1.9 billion target in a bid to finance their Priority Investment Programme for 2019-2021. Meeting on Thursday in Nouakchott, Mauritania, with various international partners, aid worth €2.4 billion was raised for the implementation of some 40 development projects aimed at curbing jihadist violence in this region south of the Sahara.
With its €800 million pledge, the European Union is followed by France, which will invest €500 million. Saudi Arabia, has also announced €100 million in assistance for the Priority Investment Programme in addition to €50 million for the G5 Sahel anti-Jihadist joint force. Click here to read.... [13]

Ethio-Djibouti ties to contribute to economic integration in Horn: all Africa
8 December, 2018

The bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Djibouti that the two countries have been enjoying for more than two decades would contribute to attempts towards economic integration in the Horn of Africa, officials of the two countries said. The officials mentioned infrastructures developed by the two countries to enhance cooperation such as electrified railway line, power and telecom interconnections that contribute to a possible economic integration.

Speaking at the Ethio-Djibouti Friendship Day celebrated in the city of Djibouti, Foreign Minister Mahamoud said the strong ties between the two countries and developed infrastructures will contribute to economic integration. Click here to read.... [14]