Pakistani Police destroyed minarets at a mosque belonging to the minority Ahmadi community in Kala Gujran, Jhelum district, Punjab province, on 14 and 15 July. The action was taken after the extremist Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) had warned the police to destroy the minarets or they would attack it. Following the threat, the police asked the minority community members to destroy the minarets, saying that it was illegal to construct such structures under the law.
Indian External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, co-chaired the 12th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting in Bangkok along with his Lao counterpart, PDR Saleumxay Kommasith. During the meeting, the leaders announced the establishment of an MGC Business Council to take forward economic cooperation and discussed prioritising the implementation of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway. Additionally, Jaishankar met his Myanmar counterpart Than Swe on the summit’s sidelines and underlined the importance of ensuring peace and stability in the border areas.
A 43-personnel contingent of the Indian Army will participate in the 15th edition of India and Mongolia’s bilateral joint military exercise “NOMADIC ELEPHANT-23.” The exercise, an annual training event conducted alternatively in either country, will be conducted at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 17-31 July. Soldiers of the Mongolian Armed Forces Unit 084 and Indian Army soldiers from the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment will participate in the exercise with the primary theme of focusing on counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain under UN mandate.
A 14,300 metric ton Chinese military-run hospital ship, called the “Peace Ark,” arrived in Kiribati on Saturday for the first time to start a seven-day visit that includes humanitarian medical assistance. It marks the first time a Chinese navy vessel has visited the nation, which switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China in 2019.
US Climate Envoy John Kerry will hold talks on Monday with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Beijing. After a nearly year-long hiatus, the talks mark the first extensive face-to-face discussions between two of the world’s worst climate polluters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster bombs and would use them if such weapons were used against Russian forces in Ukraine. Last week, Ukraine received cluster bombs from the US, declaring that it would use them to disperse concentrations of enemy forces when trying to regain its territories while assuring that it would not use them on Russian territory.
Azerbaijan warned on Saturday that Russia and Armenia are failing to meet their obligations under the 2020 Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal to end fighting for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. “The Russian side did not ensure full implementation of the agreement within the framework of its obligations,” Baku’s Foreign Ministry stated, adding that Moscow “did nothing to prevent” Armenian military supplies from reaching separatist fighters in the troubled enclave.
Kosovo has received a batch of Turkish Bayraktar TB-2 drones, President Albin Kurti announced on Sunday, saying, “Kosovo is now even safer and always proud.” The purchase of the Bayraktars comes as Kosovo has been facing deadly violence in the north, where ethnic Serbs refuse to recognise Kosovan authorities. Turkish Bayraktars have gained immense global popularity after the Ukrainian military successfully used them against invading Russian troops.