South Asia
Qatar formally communicated to India that Indian fugitive Zakir Naik, a radical Islamist preacher charged with inciting violence and money laundering, had not received an ‘official’ invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup. India briefly threatened to cancel Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar’s attendance, though Naik was ultimately not present. Doha stressed that third countries are spreading “disinformation” to create differences between the two diplomatic allies. [Hindustan Times]
India successfully tested an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, Agna-3, from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha on Wednesday. An Indian government press release said that the routine launch was conducted in a “predetermined range” and “validated all operational parameters of the system.” [Indian Ministry of Defence]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday criticised the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for its lack of support to Armenia amid Azerbaijan’s violation of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. “In the last two years, a CSTO member-state has been attacked by Azerbaijan at least three times, and actually, till now, we have not received any reaction from the CSTO regarding Azerbaijan’s aggression, which is a big blow to the CSTO’s image,” Pashinyan said at the CSTO Summit in Yerevan, which was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin [RFE/RL]
Kyrgyz lawmaker Omurbek Bakirov on Wednesday claimed that he has been asked by the government to vacate his office, just days after he criticised the recent border demarcation deal with Uzbekistan. Last week, Bakirov argued with Kyrgyz national security chief Kamchybek Tashiev at the parliament over the deal. Earlier this month, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement to jointly manage the disputed Andijan/Kempir-Abad water reservoir near their border. The agreement states that Kyrgyzstan will transfer the reservoir’s territory to Uzbekistan in exchange for Uzbek territory. Kyrgyz activists have criticised the deal for transferring sovereign Kyrgyz territory, saying Uzbekistan should only be allowed to use the water. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
Kim Yo-jong, the vice department director of the Central Committee of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, criticised South Korea for reiterating the United States’ (US) call for sanctions on the Kim Jong Un regime. Kim likened Seoul to a “faithful dog” of Washington. Calling international sanctions “useless,” she said that “if the master and the servant” still want to pursue the pressure tactic, Pyongyang would “let them do that one hundred or thousand times.” [KCNA]
Myanmar’s military government has increased its use of landmines since it took power last February, according to the Landmine Monitor Report 2022. 157 civilians were killed and 395 were injured by landmines between February 2021 and September 2022. About a third of such casualties were children. [Mizzima]
Europe
The European Parliament on Wednesday declared Russia a terrorist state or a “state sponsor” of terrorism over its attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. While this is the first such labelling of a country by the parliament, the declaration is essentially symbolic. [DW]
British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday that the United Kingdom would release energy market reforms “very soon” to contain surging energy prices. Apart from a push for reliance on nuclear and renewable energy sources, the reforms will “encourage energy efficiency.” [Reuters]
During a meeting with the Montenegrin Acting Minister of Defense Filip Adžić in Kyiv on Wednesday, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Ihor Zhovka, appreciated Montenegro’s “important political support and practical assistance” as well as its support for the European Union’s sanctions against Russia. [President of Ukraine]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has said his government will restart negotiations with the opposition on Friday after a year-long suspension of talks. While the opposition is demanding free and fair presidential elections in 2024, the Maduro government has called on the international community to accept him as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela and remove sanctions. [AFP]
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador hosted his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric in Mexico City. The pair discussed ‘food sovereignty’ and said they will work with other countries in Latin America to strengthen regional democracy. [Government of Mexico]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Turkish airstrikes in northeast Syria on Wednesday bombed Kurdish positions in the Al Hol prison camp that houses thousands of Islamic State prisoners and families, resulting in several prisoners fleeing the camp. Following the strikes, Kurdish groups that control the prison launched a combing operation searching for the escaped prisoners. [Rudaw]
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday vowed to find those responsible for the twin bombings in Jerusalem that killed one person and injured 18. During a situational assessment with Defence Minister Benny Gantz and the chiefs of all security agencies, Lapid said, “They can run, they can hide—it won't help them; the security forces will reach them. If they resist, they will be eliminated. If not, we will punish them to the fullest extent of the law.” [Israel Prime Minister’s Office]
North America
The United States (US) Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday sanctioned three Iranian security officials – Sanandaj Governor Hassan Asgari, Sanandaj’s commander of Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Alireza Moradi, and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) Ground Forces commander Mohammed Taghi Osanloo – for “targeting and gunning down its own children” in the ongoing peaceful protests in the country. “The abuses being committed in Iran against protestors, including most recently in Mahabad, must stop,” asserted Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson. [US Department of Treasury]
During a meeting on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya condemned the “Lukashenko regime’s ongoing support for Russia’s unjustifiable aggression against Ukraine.” Trudeau also reaffirmed Ottawa’s support for the “democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people,” urging the current administration to end the “continuing human rights violations and efforts to silence dissent.” [Prime Minister of Canada]
Oceania
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she is “deeply concerned” by reports of Australian citizens and their relatives in Iran being harassed for participating in protests against the regime, despite their protests taking place within Australia. Wong said Canberra is investigating “allegations of foreign interference” and warned that it “will prosecute if appropriate.” “We will defend our democracy and people’s right to protest and express their views within Australia just as we stand up for the rights of those to do so and elsewhere,” she asserted. [The Age]
The Australian parliament on Tuesday ratified the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), a free trade agreement. The two countries will now implement the agreement on a mutually agreeable date. Indian Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that the deal is “fair and good for India.” [The Indian Express]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Minister reached a ceasefire agreement during their meeting in Luanda on Wednesday, wherein both sides agreed to call for the withdrawal of the Rwanda-backed M23 Tutsi rebels from the occupied areas of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The talks were also attended by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye and Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio. [Al Jazeera]
Germany announced that it will withdraw its forces from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, by mid-2024. Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said the Malian military has committed a number of "human rights violations" in partnership with Russian forces. The United Kingdom, too, announced this month that it would be pulling out of the country due to the growing proximity between the Malian junta and Russian paramilitaries, namely from the Wagner Group. France, which made up the largest contingent of foreign forces in the country, officially withdrew all its troops from the country this year as well. Similarly, Egypt withdrew its troops earlier this year and Sweden, too, will pull its troops out by next June. [Africanews]