On Thursday, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and expressed India’s concerns over the ongoing Houthi attacks in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. According to Jaishankar, the attacks breach international law, jeopardise innocent mariners, and threaten the free flow of commerce. Highlighting that the Red Sea is a major commercial corridor facilitating international trade, Blinken welcomed increased cooperation with India in defending freedom of navigation in the region. Other topics of discussion between the two parties included the Israel-Hamas war, steps taken to stop it from getting worse, and how to get more humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population. Both sides also discussed the Russia-Ukraine war.
The US government has denied the provision of defence material to Nikhil Gupta, who is lodged in a prison in the Czech Republic on murder-for-hire charges related to the foiled assassination attempt on Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Gupta’s attorney has requested the production of “the defence materials relevant to its ability to defend the instant charges.” The US government, which is seeking Gupta’s extradition, has objected, citing the legal complications and subtleties of extradition and international jurisdiction. It stipulated that defence materials be released only once Nikhil Gupta appears in a New York court for arraignment.
The Joe Biden Administration will send an unofficial delegation of former senior officials to Taiwan soon after the island elects its new president over the weekend. A senior administration official said on Wednesday that such a face-to-face meeting was the “most effective way” to engage the new Taiwanese government and convey US policy in the region.
Papua New Guinea PM James Marape declared a state of emergency on Thursday after 16 people were killed during a public sector protest over a pay cut, which turned into a riot. Around 1,000 military personnel were on standby as violence subsided on Thursday, with the government flying in extra police to maintain order.
South Africa urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza immediately, British attorney Vaughan Lowe said at a hearing on Thursday. “Palestinians face death from continuing bombardments and shootings, and death from starvation and disease,” Lowe said. “It [suspension of military operations] is the only way to secure the humanitarian response and avoid yet more unnecessary death and destruction,” he added.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday that any Ukrainian strikes on missile launch facilities inside Russia using arms supplied by the US and its allies would result in a nuclear response from Moscow. Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, claimed that some Ukrainian military leaders were considering targeting Russian missile launch sites with West-supplied long-range missiles.