Japan and NATO to further strengthen cooperation — joint statement

Japan and NATO to further strengthen cooperation — joint statement
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo (REUTERS)
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Updated 31 January 2023

Japan and NATO to further strengthen cooperation — joint statement

Japan and NATO to further strengthen cooperation — joint statement
  • Security environment is most tense since World War Two -leaders
  • Concern voiced over Russia’s nuclear threats, drills with China

TOKYO: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Japanese premier Fumio Kishida pledged on Tuesday to strengthen ties, saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its growing military co-operation with China had created the most tense security environment since World War Two.
The comments came in a statement issued during Stoltenberg’s trip to Japan following a visit to South Korea on which he urged Seoul to increase military support to Ukraine and gave similar warnings about rising tension with China.
“The world is at a historical inflection point in the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II,” the two leaders said in the statement.
It also raised concerns about Russia’s nuclear threats, joint military drills between Russia and China near Japan, and North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons.
Stoltenberg told reporters a Russian victory in Ukraine would embolden China at a time when it is building up its military, “bullying its neighbors and threatening Taiwan.”
He added, “This war is not just a European crisis, but the challenge to the world order.
“Beijing is watching closely, and learning lessons that may influence its future decisions. What is happening in Europe today could happen in East Asia tomorrow.”
While the North Atlantic Treaty Organization groups 30 countries in Europe and North America, Stoltenberg has said its members are affected by global threats.
Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol became the first leaders from their countries to attend a NATO summit last year, joining as observers.
China has previously criticized NATO’s efforts to expand its alliances in Asia. Russia, which calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special operation,” has repeatedly cast NATO’s expansion as a threat to its security.
Late last year, Japan unveiled sweeping plans to beef up its defense capabilities, changes once unthinkable for a pacifist country that will make it the third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.
Bolstering its co-operation with NATO in areas from maritime security and arms control to cyberspace and disinformation will further help to respond to the changing strategic environment, the statement added.
The meeting comes as Japan prepares to host the annual Group of Seven (G7) summit in May, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is expected to be a major topic of discussion.
Kishida is considering visiting Kyiv in February to reinforce his support for Ukraine in the conflict, domestic media have said.


India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region

India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region
Updated 16 sec ago

India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region

India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region
  • New Delhi, Tokyo hold respective presidencies of G20, G7 groupings this year
  • India ‘indispensable partner’ to achieve Japan’s vision of free, open Indo-Pacific

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida met on Monday for wide-ranging bilateral talks and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation for peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

Kishida, who is on a two-day trip to India and this year chairs the Group of Seven industrialized nations, invited Modi to participate in the G7 Summit in May, which will be held in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The two PMs addressed issues ranging from security to climate and energy during their meeting and discussed ways to converge priorities of India’s presidency of the Group of 20 biggest economies and Japan’s G7 leadership.

“The India-Japan special strategic and global partnership is based on our shared democratic values and international rule of law. To strengthen this cooperation is important not only for both countries but also this will enhance peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” Modi said.

“One of the pillars of the G20 presidency is to give voice to the global south. We believe in carrying everyone together,” he added.

Modi said Kishida’s visit was important “to keep the momentum going” for India-Japan cooperation.

The Japanese premier noted that India was an “indispensable partner” to achieve its new plan of a free and open Indo-Pacific, as he pledged $75 billion to the region as part of the expansive new vision.

“I believe that Japan and India are in an extremely unique position in the current international relations and furthermore in the history of the world,” Kishida said at a lecture hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs.

“Japan and India have a great responsibility for maintaining and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law.”

The two nations, along with the US and Australia, make up the Indo-Pacific alliance known as the Quad that has sought to counter China’s rising influence in Asia.

“This year, as Japan holds the G7 presidency and India holds the G20 presidency, my hope is that through working together with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and other many countries we will bring about peace and prosperity to the international community which faces a time of challenges.”

India is not a G7 member but has been participating at its summits as a partner country. Japan, on the other hand, is a member of the two major groupings.

The two Asian nations are strong economic partners with bilateral trade valued at around $20.6 billion in the fiscal year 2021 to 2022. Japan has been supporting infrastructure development in India, which includes a high-speed rail project, and Tokyo’s investment in the South Asian nation reached $32 billion between 2000 and 2019.

Harsh V. Pant, head of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Arab News that both countries were increasingly looking at the Indo-Pacific through similar lenses.

“Though the two nations are on different tracks when it comes to the Ukraine crisis, certainly both feel the G7 and G20 have to work together if the global governance agenda is to be changed,” Pant said.

India has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Japan has imposed financial sanctions to isolate Russia.

“India is pivotal to Japan’s Indo-Pacific outlook and strategy,” he said.

“Japan wants G7 and India wants G20 to work for the developing world, to resolve global governance problems and to ensure that the leadership void that the world is feeling at the moment is filled with the leadership of countries like India and Japan.”


UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation

UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation
Updated 20 March 2023

UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation

UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation
  • Ministry of Defence apologizes ‘unreservedly’ over claims published by The Independent

LONDON: The UK’s Ministry of Defence has opened an investigation in the wake of a report by The Independent that revealed Afghan refugees had been asked to provide Taliban-approved documents for relocation to Britain.

The 37 applicants to the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy — launched after the Taliban takeover in 2021 — were told by authorities that they needed to show documents that could only be signed by government ministries in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The MoD’s demand was “asking them (the refugees) to sign their own death warrant,” one MP said, with charities warning that Afghans had been put in danger as a result of the request.

As a result of the newspaper’s report, the ministry apologized “unreservedly” for the error after initially denying that the demands had been made to the 37 applicants.

A ministry spokesperson also told The Independent that it would now carry out an investigation, saying: “Last month, we were notified of an error in recent communications with a group of ARAP applicants, instructing them to verify documents with local authorities.

“The 37 affected applicants were notified of the error and have since responded to the correct instructions and confirmed they are currently safe.

“The MoD is now conducting a review to identify any further remedial actions needed to strengthen policies and processes.”

The newspaper’s investigation found several instances of Afghans in hiding who had been told to request documents from various Afghan ministries.

One former interpreter for British forces was told by the MoD that his marriage certificate, as well as the birth certificates of his children, needed to be validated by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He visited the Ministry of Justice to receive validation of his marriage certificate, but due to living in hiding, has been unable to communicate with the Foreign Ministry, meaning his ARAP application is unlikely to be approved by UK authorities under the current circumstances.

The MoD told another applicant regarding his children’s birth certificates: “These documents are an essential requirement and really need to be provided. They should be in English and bear the (Afghan) Ministry of Foreign Affairs seal and other necessary department stamps.”

About 4,600 Afghans still in the country are eligible for relocation to the UK under ARAP, including family members.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last week that the UK takes its obligations to former interpreters and contractors to British forces “extremely seriously.”


Tear gas, arrests as Kenya opposition stages protests

Tear gas, arrests as Kenya opposition stages protests
Updated 20 March 2023

Tear gas, arrests as Kenya opposition stages protests

Tear gas, arrests as Kenya opposition stages protests
  • Kenyans are suffering from surging prices for basic necessities, as well as a sharp drop in the shilling against the US dollar
  • Many businesses in Nairobi were shut ahead of the demonstrations, with some employers telling their staff to work from home

NAIROBI: Kenyan riot police fired tear gas and water cannon Monday against demonstrators joining a day of action called by the opposition to protest a punishing cost-of-living crisis.
Running battles erupted between stone-throwing demonstrators and police in parts of Nairobi and at least one other city, in the first major unrest since President William Ruto became president last year, correspondents said.
Ruto’s government has vowed to take a tough stance over the protests, which opposition leader Raila Odinga insisted would go ahead despite not receiving police authorization.
“I want Kenyans to come out in large numbers and show the displeasure of what is happening in our country,” Odinga, who narrowly lost last year’s election to Ruto, told supporters on Sunday.
Police used tear gas against protesters gathered at a site near government offices in the heart of the capital Nairobi, where the major rally was scheduled to take place, and several other areas of the city.
“We came here peacefully but they tear gassed us,” said Charles Oduor, 21, who joined the large crowds in downtown Nairobi.
“They lie to us everyday. Where is the cheap maize flour they promised? Where are the jobs for the youth they promised? All they do is hire their friends.”
Kenyans are suffering from surging prices for basic necessities, as well as a sharp drop in the shilling against the US dollar and a record drought that has left millions hungry.
Odinga said he had called the rallies to protest the “skyrocketing” cost of living but also the “stolen” election last August.
In Nairobi’s biggest slum Kibera, a bastion of Odinga support, people also set tires ablaze while police used water cannon to disperse protesters.
Demonstrators and police also clashed in the lakeside city of Kisumu in western Kenya, another Odinga stronghold.
“Our victory was stolen and we are determined to get it back, we can’t sit back and watch as life becomes more difficult by the day. We want Raila in State House,” said Kevin Ojwang in Kisumu.
Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei said on Sunday that police received requests to hold two demonstrations only late Saturday and early Sunday, when normally three days’ notice is required.
“For public safety, neither has been granted,” he said.
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki warned on Sunday that anyone inciting public disorder or disturbing the peace would be prosecuted.
Many businesses in Nairobi were shut ahead of the demonstrations, with some employers telling their staff to work from home.
“We are here trying to fight for our rights. Life is so hard. If you see, these young men and women, we don’t have jobs, people are losing their jobs. So that’s why we’re talking about our rights,” said shoeshiner Henry Juma, 26.
Odinga, the leader of the Azimio la Umoja party, who described Monday as a “day of destiny,” continues to claim that Ruto’s August election win was fraudulent and denounces his government as illegitimate.
According to official results, Odinga — who was making his fifth bid for the presidency — lost to Ruto by around 233,000 votes, one of the slenderest margins in Kenya’s history.
The Supreme Court dismissed his appeals, with its judges giving a unanimous ruling in favor of Ruto, finding there was no evidence for Odinga’s accusations.
Ruto has declared that he would not be intimidated by the demonstrations, saying: “You are not going to threaten us with ultimatums and chaos and impunity.”
“We will not allow that,” he said, calling on Odinga to act in a “legal and constitutional manner.”


China’s Xi arrives in Russia to meet Putin over Ukraine war

China’s Xi arrives in Russia to meet Putin over Ukraine war
Updated 20 March 2023

China’s Xi arrives in Russia to meet Putin over Ukraine war

China’s Xi arrives in Russia to meet Putin over Ukraine war
  • Russia is presenting Xi’s trip as evidence that it has a powerful friend prepared to stand with it against a hostile West

Chinese President Xi Jinping flew into Moscow on Monday where he was expected to press Beijing’s role as a potential peacemaker in the Ukraine conflict while Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped for support against Western pressure.

Xi will be the first national leader to shake Putin’s hand since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him on Friday over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since its invasion.

Moscow said the charge was among a number of “clearly hostile displays” and Beijing said it reflects double standards.

Russia is presenting Xi’s trip, his first since securing an unprecedented third term this month, as evidence that it has a powerful friend prepared to stand with it against a hostile West that it accuses of trying to isolate and defeat Moscow.

“We can feel the geopolitical landscape in the outside world undergoing drastic changes,” Putin said in an article in China’s People’s Daily published on the Kremlin website, adding that he had high hopes for the visit from his “good old friend.”

For Xi, the visit is a diplomatic tightrope.

China has released a 12-point proposal to solve the Ukraine crisis, but at the same time strengthened ties with Moscow.

China has repeatedly dismissed Western accusations that it is planning to arm Russia but says it wants a closer energy partnership after boosting imports of Russian coal, gas and oil following Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. Western sanctions on Russian energy mean Beijing has saved billions of dollars.

Xi arrived in Moscow on Monday afternoon and was due to hold “informal” talks with Putin, followed by dinner.

Formal talks are scheduled for Tuesday.

Xi wrote in an article published in Russia that the two countries adhered to the concept of “eternal friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation” and that China’s Ukraine peace proposal, released last month, reflects global views.

“Complex problems do not have simple solutions,” Xi wrote in Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a daily published by the Russian government, according to a Reuters translation from Russian.

Ukraine and its Western backers say any cease-fire would merely buy Putin time to reinforce ahead of a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will only consider peace settlements after Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory.

China’s proposal contains no concrete proposal on how to end the year-long war which has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed cities and forced millions to flee.

Putin welcomed China’s offer to mediate and the Kremlin said he would provide Xi with detailed “clarifications” of Russia’s position, without elaborating. Putin signed a “no limits” partnership with Xi last year shortly before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine to end what he said was a threat to Russia from its moves toward the West.

The US notes that China has declined to condemn Russia and given it an economic lifeline.

Alongside growing oil and coal deliveries to China, Putin said Russia was helping to build nuclear power reactors there and the two countries were deepening cooperation in space exploration and new technologies.

As Western pressure on Russia grows, Putin’s administration has told officials to stop using Apple iPhones because of concerns the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, a newspaper reported on Monday.

“Either throw it away or give it to the children,” the Kommersant daily quoted a participant of the meeting as saying.

Justice ministers from around the world will meet in London on Monday to discuss support for the ICC and several European Union countries are expected to sign an agreement in Brussels to buy 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine.

Ukraine has identified the shells’ supply as critical, with both sides firing thousands of rounds every day. The first joint orders are not expected until the end of May but EU officials hope the plan will encourage member states to send more of their stockpiles to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, fierce fighting continued in the eastern town of Bakhmut with each side launching counter offensives. Ukrainian forces have held out in Bakhmut since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

Giving its regular morning roundup from the front, Ukraine’s military said defenders in Bakhmut, Lyman, Ivanivske, Bohdanivka and Hryhorivka — all towns in the Donetsk region — had repelled 69 Russian attacks in the past day.

“Bakhmut remains the epicenter of hostilities,” it said.

British intelligence said Ukrainian supply lines both west of Bakhmut and west of the town of Avdiivka, further south, were under pressure.

Ukraine’s military said that Russian forces were on the defensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to the south.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group which is spearheading the assault on Bakhmut and has suffered heavy losses, plans to recruit some 30,000 new fighters by the middle of May, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said at the weekend.

In January, the United States assessed that Wagner had about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts Prigozhin had recruited from Russian prisons with a promise of a pardon if they survived six months.

Ukrainian officials have said that some 30,000 of Wagner’s fighters have deserted or been killed or wounded, a figure that could not be independently verified.

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Kremlin tells officials to stop using iPhones – Kommersant newspaper

Kremlin tells officials to stop using iPhones – Kommersant newspaper
Updated 20 March 2023

Kremlin tells officials to stop using iPhones – Kommersant newspaper

Kremlin tells officials to stop using iPhones – Kommersant newspaper
  • ‘It’s all over for the iPhone: either throw it away or give it to the children’
  • The Kremlin may provide other devices with different operating systems to replace the iPhones

MOSCOW: Russia’s presidential administration has told officials to stop using Apple iPhones because of concerns the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday.
At a Kremlin-organized seminar for officials involved in domestic politics, Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy head of the presidential administration, told officials to change their phones by April 1, Kommersant said, citing unidentified sources.
“It’s all over for the iPhone: either throw it away or give it to the children,” Kommersant quoted one of the participants of the meeting as saying. “Everyone will have to do it in March.”
The Kremlin may provide other devices with different operating systems to replace the iPhones, Kommersant said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he could not confirm the report, but that smartphones could not be used for official purposes anyway.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Vladimir Putin has always said he has no smartphone, though Peskov has said Putin does use the Internet from time to time.
Shortly after Russia sent its troops into Ukraine last year, US and British spies claimed a scoop by uncovering — and going public with — intelligence that Putin was planning to invade. It is unclear how the spies obtained such intelligence.