Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar will visit Indonesia and Thailand from 12-18 July. During his visit to Jakarta, the EAM will attend the Foreign Ministers’ Meetings under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) framework in the format — ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum from 13-14 July. He will hold several bilateral meetings with his ASEAN counterparts during his visit. Following this, Jaishankar will travel to Bangkok to participate in the 12th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Mechanism on 16 July and also attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Foreign Ministers’ Retreat on 17 July.
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Regional Office of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Kuala Lumpur on 11 July. The office will enable close defence industrial collaboration between India and Malaysia and serve as a hub for the HAL’s engagement with the wider South-East Asian region. The inauguration took place during Singh’s three-day visit to Malaysia.
Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban leader without an official portfolio, appreciated Twitter on Monday, saying the social media platform had “two important advantages” over its rivals, such as Meta-owned Threads — namely, freedom of speech and credibility. Haqqani further claimed that other platforms would not be able to replace Twitter.
Iraq has signed a $27 billion energy deal with France’s Total Energies to accelerate its path towards energy self-sufficiency. The Gas Growth Integrated Project intends to boost the country’s electricity supply by recovering flared gas and deploying renewable energy sources. The US firmly supports Iraq’s efforts to increase its energy security and decrease harmful emissions to meet its collective climate change objectives.
Cuban authorities stated on Tuesday that the US recently had a nuclear-powered submarine at its military base in Guantanamo Bay, calling the operation a “provocative escalation” of tensions weeks after Washington claimed the island had a Chinese spy base. Cuba’s foreign ministry did not specify whether the submarine was armed but stated that it was stationed at the base from 5-8 July. Washington did not confirm the report.
During an economic conference on Tuesday, Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin stated that the country’s inflation rate is currently among the lowest in the world. “Inflation remains moderate. It stood at 2.9% from January to early July, which is much lower than last-year values,” the PM claimed. He also highlighted that annual inflation is not more than 3.5%.
North Korea fired a long-range missile off its east coast on Wednesday, as the South Korean and Japanese leaders are set to meet at the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Japan’s Coast Guard said the missile was ballistic and landed outside the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
A recent assault on a UN peacekeeping patrol in the northeastern region of the Central African Republic has been vehemently condemned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The attack resulted in the loss of life of a Rwandan peacekeeper serving as a ‘blue helmet.’ The perpetrators remain unidentified, as they targeted the patrol from the MINUSCA mission merely a short distance from the town of Sam Ouandia. In response to this distressing incident, the mission has promptly initiated an investigation to determine the precise circumstances surrounding the attack.