Pakistan and Iran announced in a joint press statement on Monday that they had mutually agreed to reinstate their envoys by 26 January. The development comes after Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had a constructive telephone conversation. Both countries’ ambassadors were recalled after Iranian attacks inside Pakistan and retaliatory attacks by Pakistan inside Iranian territory. In a bid toward normalisation of ties, the Iranian FM will visit Pakistan on 29 January.
India has sent 40,000 litres of the Malathion pesticides to Afghanistan through Iran’s Chabahar port. The pesticide helps fight locust attacks and is an environment-friendly pesticide best suited for arid regions. The Afghan Consulate General in India thanked the Indian government for its concern and support for the Afghan people. The Afghan Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation said that the Indian assistance will ensure food security in Afghanistan and will prevent locust attacks coming from Central Asia.
Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar stated that India's transformation over the last decade has enabled it to be an example, a partner, and a contributor in the Global South. In his speech on “India and the Global South” at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos, Jaishankar said that the Global South is about a mindset, solidarity, and self-reliance. The EAM said that contemporary challenges today emerge from old forms of domination as well as new economic concentration. He mentioned that the current global agenda is the promotion of multipolarity and rebalancing to restore the world to its natural diversity.
On Monday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a new round of sanctions on Hamas. The fifth round of sanctions targets Hamas-affiliated financial exchanges in Gaza, their owners, and associates, the statement read. Furthermore, it targets financial facilitators from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza. In addition to OFAC’s designations, both the UK and Australia have imposed sanctions on important Hamas officials and facilitators.
China might be lobbying non-Western countries to praise its human rights record ahead of a key UN meeting where it could face questions and criticism for its actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, Reuters reported, citing diplomats and documents. According to four diplomats, China’s mission at the UN in Geneva has been sending memos to envoys in preparation for the Human Rights Council’s review of Beijing’s record, which is due on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister (FM) Sergey Lavrov met with his counterparts from Iran, Turkey, and Lebanon on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting, which will address issues in the Middle East. The bilateral meetings focused on the Gaza Strip, Syria, and “the tense situation” in the Red Sea, the Russian Foreign Ministry wrote on Telegram. The Ministry stated that Lavrov and Iranian FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the terms for providing humanitarian aid to civilians.