Finance ministers and central bank governors of G20 member states will convene in Bengaluru on Wednesday for a four-day meeting, the first major event of India’s G20 presidency. The sessions would involve discussions on strengthening multilateral financing mechanisms, sustainable development, regulation of cryptocurrencies, and enhancing digital public infrastructure.
Owing to the closure of the Torkham crossing on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border due to a transit dispute, thousands of trucks carrying vital goods remained stuck on either side of the border on Tuesday. According to officials, almost 6,000 trucks have been stranded since the Taliban closed the crossing on Sunday. Thousands of business owners and traders have witnessed huge financial losses due to the closure.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace during a phone call on Tuesday. The two ministers discussed an array of security issues, including the bilateral defence relationship, the Indo-pacific, and regional developments. Singh further suggested that UK companies should participate in co-development and co-production in India.
Genaro García Luna, an ex-public security secretary and former Mexican presidential cabinet member, was convicted on Tuesday by an anonymous New York federal court jury for taking bribes to protect the drug cartels he was tasked with combatting. Luna is the highest-ranking Mexican official to have been tried in the US, and faces a minimum 20-year sentence for engaging in continuing a criminal enterprise.
Amid severe food shortages and reductions in rations, North Korea’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun stated on Wednesday that taking external aid to cope with the current shortage would be tantamount to consuming “poisoned candy.” The paper warned against receiving help from “imperialists” who use aid to trap countries and interfere with their domestic affairs. International sanctions and border closures due to COVID-19 lockdowns have gravely impacted the country’s food supply and trade sources.
On Tuesday, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu of giving out orders to not supply ammunition to Wagner troops, equating it with “high treason.” However, the Defence Ministry refuted all allegations, saying, “Attempts to create a split within the close mechanism of interaction and support between units of the Russian [fighting] groups are counter-productive and work solely to the benefit of the enemy.”
During a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev on Tuesday, China’s highest-ranking diplomat, Wang Yi, said, “Chinese-Russian relations are mature in character: they are rock solid and will withstand any test in a changing international situation,” adding that both countries should discuss joint steps to ensure their own security. Meanwhile, Patrushev noted that the “further deepening of Russian-Chinese cooperation and interaction in the international arena is of particular importance,” especially with the West trying to contain both Russia and China.
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of suspending the New START nuclear arms treaty with the US on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it “deeply unfortunate and irresponsible,” adding that Washington will watch Moscow’s actions “closely.” However, he maintained that the US remained “ready to talk about strategic arms limitations at any time with Russia irrespective of anything else going on in the world or in our relationship.”
Iran on Tuesday sentenced to death a German citizen of Iranian origins over terror charges. Iranian authorities accuse Jamshid Sharmahd of being involved in a mosque bombing in Shiraz that killed at least 14 people. Iranian security forces abducted him from Dubai in 2020. Human rights groups and Sharmahd’s family said he was arrested under duress and his trial was a sham.