Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina alleged on Saturday that various conspiracies are being hatched to foil the upcoming 7 January elections in the country. While addressing an election rally, Hasina said that many actors are involved internationally in the conspiracy, and they are working to bring a third party to power in Bangladesh. Hasina said that she was confident that the people of Bangladesh would give a befitting reply to the attempts by international conspirators to remove her from power. She stated that she wants the 12th parliamentary election to be held peacefully.
Punjab Police set up a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday to probe a suspected human trafficking case linked to Indian passengers on an aircraft run by Romania’s Legend Airlines. The A340 Airbus flight, which took off from Fujairah in the UAE on 22 December, was initially destined for Nicaragua. It was detained in France during its technical stopover at the Vatry airport after the local French administration received an anonymous tip-off about potential ‘human trafficking.’ The police will investigate the flight in which around half the passengers belonged to the Punjab-Haryana region and are suspected of having been trying to follow the ‘dunki’ or ‘donkey’ route to illegally enter Mexico from Nicaragua and then head north to the US, or Canada.
On Friday, the Indian External Affairs Ministry (EAM) confirmed that India has made a fresh request to Pakistan for the extradition of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder and 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The request was made some weeks ago through the Indian high commission in Islamabad so that Saeed can face trial in India. The request comes following the circulation of reports that Saeed’s son, Talha Saeed, plans to contest the 2024 general election in Pakistan. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that such “mainstreaming” of radical terrorist groups is nothing new and has been a part of Islamabad’s state policy for a long time.
In New Year messages exchanged on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to further develop bilateral cooperation.
Taiwan-China relations must be decided by the will of the people and peace must be based on “dignity,” President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday. Her comments came after Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in his New Year's Eve speech that “reunification” with the island is inevitable.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Chinese ambassadors on Friday to forge a “diplomatic iron army” loyal to the Communist Party. “Dare to be good at struggle and to become defenders of the national interest. It is necessary to [...] resolutely safeguard the interests of national sovereignty, security and development with a posture of readiness and a firm will to defy strong powers,” he told a gathering of overseas Chinese envoys gathered in Beijing.