South Asia
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunwardena wrote to Wunna Maung Lwin, the military junta-appointed foreign minister in Myanmar, to arrange for a minister-level meeting of the “Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.” His decision was met with significant backlash from pro-democracy activists in Myanmar, who called upon the Sri Lankan government to stand with the country’s people and refrain from recognising the military junta as the legitimate government of Myanmar. [The Hindu]
The British High Commissioner in India was summoned by Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to communicate India’s official protest against the “unwarranted and tendentious discussion” on the farmers’ protests in the British Parliament. Earlier this week, during a debate in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, several lawmakers raised concern about India’s response to the farmers’ protests, along with the crackdown against journalists, activists, and internet freedom. [Times of India]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Uzbek government to implement “meaningful reforms” in the country’s Criminal Code, after a recent draft of the code was released for public discussion up to March 9 but failed in removing several barriers to democratic freedoms. According to the HRW, the draft “retains many provisions that violate the rights to freedom of speech, association, and religion.” [RFE/RL]
Tajikistan received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from India as part of the latter’s Vaccine Maitri initiative. 25 nations have already received India’s Covishield vaccine and 49 more countries will be supplied in the near future. [NDTV]
East and Southeast Asia
On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously called for the reversal of Myanmar’s military coup. The presidential statement was signed by all 15 council members, including China, and “stresses the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and uphold the rule of law”. [Channel News Asia]
UN human rights investigator Tomas Ojea-Quintana said on Wednesday that the international community bears the responsibility for ignoring the crimes against humanity carried out by North Korea. The investigator made the remark after receiving confirmation on earlier speculation regarding “extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, rape, forced abortion, sexual violence, political persecution and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation” in North Korea. [Reuters]
Europe
The British Foreign Office summoned senior European Union diplomat Nicole Mannion for “further discussions” on the statement made by European Council President Charles Michel, in which he accused the United Kingdom of imposing an “outright ban” on locally produced COVID-19 vaccines. Previously, the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also wrote to Michel seeking to “set the record straight”. [The Independent]
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund’s Council on Ethics has initiated an investigation to probe whether Chinese companies in the Xinjiang region, which the government of Norway has invested in, are involved in exploiting the Uighur Muslim community and violating labour regulations. According to the Chair of the Council, Johan H. Andresen, the fund has begun identifying companies that have been using residents of the internment camps as workers. [Reuters]
Russian authorities on Wednesday said that they were slowing down the speed of Twitter in response to the platform’s failure to remove banned content. The state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzo, warned that if Twitter failed to abide by Russian law, it could be banned entirely. [Associated Press]
Latin America and the Caribbean
After all corruption charges were dropped against him by a Supreme Court Justice, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took to the stage to lambast the current administration, which is headed by Jair Bolsonaro, for its economic and public health failures. However, he stopped short of announcing his candidacy for the 2022 election. [Telesur]
According to a letter obtained by Reuters, Brazil’s Executive Secretary at the Health Ministry, Elcio Franco, wrote to China’s ambassador to Brazil, Yang Wanming, requesting assistance in securing 30 million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. At this stage, Brazil has vaccinated just 4% of its population and continues to post record numbers in terms of new cases and deaths. [Reuters]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the United Arab Emirates today and meet with Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The two countries normalised diplomatic ties as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords last September. It is thought that Netanyahu will use this trip to illustrate the foreign policy gains made during his tenure ahead of what is sure to be a tight election on March 23. [Middle East Online]
The Libyan parliament approved the Cabinet nominees proposed by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, with 121 out of 132 lawmakers voting in favour. Consequently, the new Cabinet will replace the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) Cabinet and the Libyan National Army (LNA) Cabinet in the east that is headed by rebel commander Khalifa Haftar. [The New Arab]
North America
The US Congress on Wednesday gave final approval for the Biden administration’s $1.9tn COVID-19 relief plan. The stimulus package is one of the largest injections of federal aid since the Great Depression. [The New York Times]
The US State Department on Wednesday said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Tokyo and Seoul from March 15-18 “to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to strengthening our alliances and to highlight cooperation that promotes peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world.” Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will accompany Blinken on this trip, which will be the first physical official foreign trip for both leaders. [US Department of State]
Oceania
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called on his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern to agree to a two-way travel bubble. Presently, Kiwis can travel to Australia without having to enter hotel quarantine, but Australians cannot do the same. [news.com.au]
After announcing earlier this week that New Zealand has enough COVID-19 vaccines to cover its entire population, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins unveiled the government’s vaccine roll-out plan that will take place over the next 3-4 months. The first group consists of 50,000 border workers and managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) workers, as well as their “households contacts and the people they live with”. The second group comprises 480,000 frontline workers and those living in “high-risk” environments; this group includes 57,000 healthcare workers. The third group is made up of 1.7 million people who possess a “higher risk if they catch COVID-19”. Finally, the fourth group will be the general population of approximately two million people, who will be vaccinated from July. [New Zealand Government]
Sub-Saharan Africa
There are emerging but unconfirmed reports that Tanzanian President John Magufuli is seeking medical treatment in Nairobi, Kenya. It has been speculated that he could have contracted COVID-19, which would make matters all the more interesting, considering that the leader has dismissed both the presence and seriousness of the virus, and has also advocated against the use of vaccines to combat its spread. [Capital News]
The Ugandan ministers for trade, agriculture, and East African Community Affairs and Finance are set to meet with their Kenyan counterparts on March 11. They will discuss a path forward following Nairobi’s decision earlier this week to ban maize imports from both Uganda and Tanzania over concerns of high levels of mycotoxins. The ban could cost Uganda upwards of $121 million per year. [The East African]
World News Monitor: 11 March, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
March 11, 2021
UK High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis SOURCE: TOI