The 2023 edition of the Annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Exercise (AJHE), ‘Chakravat,’ is being hosted by the Indian Navy in Goa from 9 to 11 October. AJHE-23 will include a seminar, a table-top exercise, and a multi-agency capability demonstration. It will see the participation of the three services, paramilitary forces, as well as eight countries of the Indian Ocean Region. The exercise has been conducted by the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force in rotation since 2016.
Sri Lanka will take over as the Chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) this week, when it will hold the IORA Council of Ministers meeting in Colombo on 11 October. The Council will be chaired by the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Ali Sabry. Sri Lanka is taking over the responsibility for the next two years from the previous chair, Bangladesh. The meeting will involve 16 Ministers, including the Foreign Ministers of India, Mauritius, Iran, Malaysia, and South Africa. The Council will be attended by 23 member states and 11 dialogue partners of the IORA.
The EU has declared that it would not halt payments to Palestinians for development aid, altering its course, after an earlier statement that it would freeze all aid payments was widely condemned. The EU later stated that it would evaluate all 691 million euros ($728 million) of development funding to Palestinians to guarantee that money was not being misused. The European body gave no reason for the reversal.
The UAE has warned Syria’s Assad Administration not to interfere in the Hamas-Israel conflict or allow strikes on Israel from Syrian territory, sources reported. Several nations, including the US, are concerned that the violence would spread to Lebanon or Syria and grow into a regional conflict.
Russian legislators were given ten days on Monday to investigate the possibility of revoking Moscow’s ratification of a treaty prohibiting nuclear testing, as mentioned by the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in a statement. The International Affairs Committee of the parliament must complete its work by 18 October, the statement read.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday that it was her duty to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and its democratic way of life. She added that she sought “free, unrestricted, and unburdened interactions” and “peaceful coexistence” between Taiwan and China.
An artillery strike in Myanmar’s Kachin State, near the border with China, hit a refugee camp on late Monday night, killing at least 29 people, including women and children. The latest attack on civilians is one of the country’s deadliest since the military seized power.