South Asia
The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported that exports of agricultural and processed food products have surged by 30% to $9.6 billion from April to July this year compared to the same period last year, with the country hitting 40% of its export target for agricultural and processed food products for this fiscal year in the first quarter. The release said that the increase in exports was a direct result of marketing initiatives with the help of Indian embassies across the globe. [Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry]
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has recommended that the appointment of the next Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who will replace General Qamar Javed, should be conducted after the next election. Khan has previously accused the incumbent Sharif government of deliberately delaying the general elections to first appoint their own COAS in a bid to keep hold of power. [Geo TV]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Azerbaijani energy minister Parviz Shahbazov said on Monday that Azerbaijan will increase its natural gas exports to Europe to 30% by the end of this year. Shahbazov noted that since 2022, Baku has supplied Europe with 7.3 billion cubic metres of natural gas. He added that gas exports to Europe will rise to 12 billion cubic metres by the end of the year. [RFE/RL]
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili met with Philip Reeker, a senior American official for the Caucasus, in Tbilisi on Monday to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russia’s occupation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). Reeker reaffirmed the United States’ “strong support” for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. [Agenda.ge]
East and Southeast Asia
Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the United Nations’ (UN) Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), said that Facebook had provided millions of items that could support the team’s allegations of war crimes and genocide in Myanmar. He added that the evidence would be shared with the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. [The Straits Times]
While speaking at the ASEAN Partnership and Leadership Forum 2022 in Phnom Penh on Monday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said member states must avoid wars “in which no one wins and no one loses”, as they only cause “destruction and the loss of people’s lives.” “Socio-economic development cannot be achieved unless there is complete stability and peace. In this sense, we must extinguish the flames of war in which no one wins and no one loses,” he underscored. [Phnom Penh Post]
Europe
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he is in talks with Switzerland about its plan to open a nuclear waste repository close to the German border. The German Environment Ministry has previously warned that the Swiss government’s decision to set up a nuclear repository in the region will “heavily burden communities” on the German side. [DW]
The European Union has approved BioNTech/Pfizer’s second COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the Omicron variant. Citing animal testing data and other laboratory studies, the EU regulator said the jab is safe and does not require clinical trials before approval. [Politico]
The United States (US) offered to build and operate six nuclear reactors in Poland during a meeting between Polish Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa and US Ambassador Marek Brzezinski on Monday. Brzezinski also presented the Concept Execution Report containing a strategic framework for cooperation related to civilian nuclear power in line with the October 2020 Polish-American Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in Civil Nuclear Energy. [The Warsaw Voice]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Monday, Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) denied the Brazilian military’s demands for a parallel vote count in next month’s presidential election, noting that the armed forces’ role shall be limited to technical work. A senior army officer told Reuters that real-time access to poll data would ensure that the results are “statistically significant and viable to undertake.” President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly discredited the country’s electronic voting system and called for a greater military role in the elections. [Reuters]
On Monday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva described her meeting with Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa as “very positive” and praised his “strong steps” to “stabilise the markets and reverse a scenario of high volatility.” Georgieva added that Argentina is making “conclusive progress” toward fiscal consolidation, reserve accumulation, monetary reforms, tackling tax evasion, and money laundering. She reaffirmed that further disbursements from the $44.5 billion IMF credit facility would follow “in the coming days.” [Buenos Aires Times]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will visit Qatar on Tuesday for the first time since Cairo severed ties with Doha in 2017. The Egyptian economy is under immense stress due to food shortages and rising price levels. In this respect, Sisi’s visit is meant to improve ties with Qatar and increase Qatari investments. [AFP]
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on Monday rejected Iranian claims that the agency was overstepping its role by investigating nuclear activities before 2003. Noting that the IAEA found uranium traces in 2018 in places that were not declared as nuclear sites by Iran, Grossi said, “Explain to me how this is a political use of my authorities. This is what the IAEA is supposed to do.” Grossi also mentioned that the nuclear information gap with Iran has grown “bigger and bigger” and said, “Iran has to be very transparent.” [Iran International]
North America
During the United States (US)-Vietnam Defense Policy Dialogue between Assistant Secretary of Defense Ely Ratner and her Vietnamese counterpart Hoang Xuan Chien on Monday, the pair highlighted the importance of the two countries’ partnership in light of “the changing regional dynamics in the Indo-Pacific.” The two leaders also agreed to focus on enhanced cooperation on defence trade, maritime security, information sharing, cyber security, and military medicine. [US Department of Defense]
During a meeting in Mexico City on Monday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for his commitments at the Summit of the Americas, their joint work to address fentanyl, and ongoing efforts to “humanely address irregular migration in the Americas.” According to State Department spokesperson Ned Price, the pair also discussed “joint efforts to tackle the climate crisis through investments in clean energy and emerging technologies like electric vehicles, solar technologies, and semiconductors.” [US Department of State]
Oceania
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the country will hold a state memorial service and observe a one-off public holiday on September 26 to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week. “As New Zealand’s Queen and much-loved sovereign for over 70 years, it is appropriate that we mark her life of dedicated public service with a state memorial service and a one-off public holiday,” she said. [Stuff]
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing backlash from the health and hospitality industry after he announced a national public holiday next week in order to commemorate the life of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The medical industry has criticised the decision saying that there would not be enough doctors and nurses on call, while the hospitality industry has raised concern that it would cost them “too much” to pay staff for the unexpected holiday, after having suffered huge losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Albanese responded to the criticism by saying that the holiday was “not a declaration that no one is allowed to do anything.” “It’s important that you consider the counterfactual – which is the opportunity that this will give people who want to celebrate and commemorate the life and service of Queen Elizabeth II,” Albanese said. [news.com.au]
Sub-Saharan Africa
French company HDF Energy has invested $182 million in Africa’s first green hydrogen plant in Namibia. “[It] can produce 142 gigawatt hours [of electricity] yearly, enough for 142,000 inhabitants,” HDF Energy Southern Africa Director Nicolas Lecomte said on Monday. The Swakopmund project will help reduce Namibia’s energy dependence on Russia. The southern African nation has also inked similar deals in the green hydrogen sector with the European Union. [Al Jazeera]
On Monday, a study by researchers at Boston University revealed that China’s waiver for 23 interest-free loans in 17 African countries amounted to only around 1% of its total credit disbursed in the continent. The report described Beijing’s loans as “more akin to foreign policy instruments than bottom line-oriented financial instruments,” and highlighted that loan waivers are “diplomatic and symbolic tools in China’s lending practices.” [Reuters]