South Asia
On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pair discussed the regional and global implications of the Afghanistan crisis and hailed India and Russia’s ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’. They also discussed upcoming multilateral meetings such as the BRICS Summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s heads of state summit, and the Eastern Economic Forum meeting. [Indian Ministry of External Affairs]
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke with his Australian counterpart, Marise Payne, on Tuesday. The two ministers discussed the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, with Qureshi stressing on the “importance of security, stability, and inclusive political settlement.” The Pakistani minister also called on the international community to deliver humanitarian and financial aid. [Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia does not want American troops in Central Asia because it will make the region a target for attacks. Lavrov added that the Afghan crisis will be the main issue in the upcoming sessions of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. [RFE/RL]
A total of 3,773 Armenian soldiers were killed during last year’s Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told lawmakers on Tuesday. He added that the fate of 243 soldiers remains unknown and that some soldiers were still languishing in Azerbaijani prisons. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte accepted a nomination by the ruling PDP-Laban Party to run as a vice-presidential candidate in next year’s election. Duterte was elected into office in 2016 and the Philippines’ constitution does not allow for presidents to serve a second term. [South China Morning Post]
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin hit out at the United States’ rushed military withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying, “The US can arbitrarily launch [a] military intervention in a country without shouldering the responsibility for the suffering of the people in the relevant country; it gets to decide when it wants to come and leave without consulting the international community, not even its allies; it can wantonly smear, suppress, coerce and bully other countries for the sake of “America First” without paying any price.” [Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China]
Europe
The United Kingdom’s evacuation efforts in Kabul are expected to end within 24 to 36 hours, defence sources told The Guardian on Tuesday following the G7 leaders’ meeting on Afghanistan. The move could potentially abandon thousands of Afghans trying to flee the Taliban. [The Guardian]
An evacuated Afghan national suspected of having links with the Taliban was arrested by French authorities on Monday. The arrest was confirmed on Tuesday by French government spokesman Gabriel Attal, who said, “The suspect was connected to an Afghan national who helped saved lives and evacuate French citizens and embassy workers from Kabul at a time that was incredibly tense.” A further five Afghan nationals who were repatriated to France earlier this month have also been placed under surveillance. [Euro News]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro once again attempted to undermine COVID-19 protection measures, this time by saying that he has ordered the health ministry to conduct a study that would justify him bringing an end to the use of face masks. The country has recorded more than 20.5 million cases and over 573,000 deaths from the virus. [NBC News]
Former Bolivian President Jeanine Áñez, who is in jail over her role in the 2019 coup to oust then-President Evo Morales and the subsequent deadly protests, is reportedly in “stable” condition in hospital after attempting suicide. She has been charged with genocide, sedition, terrorism, and conspiracy. [Al Jazeera]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Saudi Arabia and Russia signed a military cooperation agreement in the Russian city of Kubinka on Tuesday. Saudi Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with his Russian counterpart Alexander Fomin to “discuss areas of military and defence cooperation” as well as the “latest developments in the region.” [Saudi Press Agency]
United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that roughly five million people are “one step away from succumbing to famine and the diseases that go with it.” He noted that almost two-thirds of the war-torn country’s population—about 20 million people—rely on humanitarian aid for their daily needs. [UN News]
North America
On Tuesday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone conversation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. They emphasised support for the decisions reached during last week’s G7 foreign ministers’ meet, and “discussed NATO’s efforts to ensure the safe and orderly evacuation of Allied personnel and our Afghan partners.” [US Department of State]
United States (US) President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the US intends to completely withdraw from Afghanistan by August 31. Biden’s announcement comes despite efforts from Britain to persuade Biden to keep troops in Kabul beyond the deadline to help with evacuation efforts. [The New York Times]
Oceania
A group of 69 countries, including Australia, delivered a statement on Tuesday expressing concern over human rights violations across Afghanistan and called for an immediate halt to targeted killings of women’s rights advocates. The countries further expressed concern over the erosion of rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. [Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia]
Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour, the commander in charge of New Zealand’s Defence Force operations, called the Taliban’s refusal to allow Afghan nationals access to Kabul airport ‘worrying’. On Tuesday, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said, “The road to the extraction site was now only accessible to foreigners and that Afghan nationals must stay and keep their expertise in their home country.” [Newshub]
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Africa’s unemployment rate hit a record high of 34.4% in Q2 of 2021, up from 32.6% in Q1, according to statistics published by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday. This is the highest recorded figure since the survey was first conducted in 2008. [Mail & Guardian]
Health ministers from across Africa gathered in Congo-Brazzaville for the 71st session of the World Health Organization’s Regional Committee for Africa. During the meeting, the ministers and various health officials called for COVID-19 vaccine equity and for a global treaty to enhance pandemic preparedness and response systems. [ReliefWeb]
World News Monitor: 25 August, 2021
A quick look at events from around the globe.
August 25, 2021
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte SOURCE: AP