The 4th edition of India and Japan’s joint military training exercise — Dharma Guardian — commenced on Friday and will last till 2 March. The exercise, held at Camp Imazu in Shiga province, “covers platoon level joint training on operations in jungle and semi urban/urban terrain.” Further, participants will engage in missions including joint tactical drills and employment of aerial assets.
US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said in Islamabad on Thursday that the US is concerned about Pakistan’s debt to China. “We have been very clear about our concerns not just here in Pakistan, but elsewhere all around the world about Chinese debt, or debt owed to China,” he said.
The Taiwanese military found the remains of a crashed weather balloon on Dongyin island, a remote and strategically located island near the Chinese coastline, late Thursday morning. The balloon is believed to be from China. The army said the balloon had “meteorological instrument” written on it in Chinese characters.
Three US senators presented a bipartisan resolution on Thursday, highlighting Arunachal Pradesh as an “integral part of India” and rejecting China’s territorial claims in the region. The resolution also condemned Beijing’s “use of military force” that seeks to change the existing agreement along the Line of Actual Control.
On Thursday, Spain became the first European country to approve a “menstrual leave” policy. The law was part of a larger package that widened the scope of reproductive rights and sexual freedoms, including allowing free access to abortion for those above the age of 16.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, the Chinese and Iranian presidents — Xi Jinping and Ebrahim Raisi — called on the US to remove sanctions imposed on Tehran, and called for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal. Raisi also invited Xi to visit Iran during his three-day visit to Beijing, which concluded yesterday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Thursday dismissed US claims that Iran has been providing a safe haven to Al Qaeda’s de-facto leader, Saif Al Adel. “Linking Al Qaeda to Iran is patently absurd and baseless,” the minister stressed.
During the annual meeting of the Caribbean Community in the Bahamas on Thursday, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced that Ottawa would send naval ships to Haiti for intelligence-gathering. Additionally, Trudeau sanctioned former interim president Jocelerme Privert and ex-political aide Salim Succar, and pledged another $12.3 million in humanitarian assistance and $10 million to support the International Office on Migration to defend Haitian women and children along the Dominican Republic border.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asserted that Minsk would only fight alongside Russia if another country attacks Belarus, adding that “the response will be most severe.” He is set to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Friday.