International and Bilateral Issues

African Presidents see ‘historic chance' for stability

Kenya sent hundreds of troops into Somalia last month to hunt down al-Shabab militants, whom it blames for a string of kidnappings in Kenya.
Uganda has thousands of troops in Mogadishu as part of an African Union force, which is also piling pressure on al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group that is waging an insurgency against the Somali government.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said in a statement after their meeting that there needs to be enhanced cooperation between Somali, Kenyan and African Union forces in the fight against al-Shabab.
Somalia has been in chaos for more than 20 years. The lawless country is a haven for pirates and international terrorists, and the conflict is causing a major famine that has killed tens of thousands of Somalis.
The three heads of state encouraged humanitarian agencies to relocate to parts of Somalia that have been liberated from al-Shabab's grip.
The Presidents also said they are concerned that Kenya had been left with the burden of looking after more than 4,00,000 Somali refugees who live in Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp.

Space mission a success: China

China's mission to achieve a first-ever docking exercise in space, part of plans to build its own space station, was “a complete success”, said officials on Thursday as the unmanned Shenzhou-8 aircraft returned to Earth following a more than month-long docking exercise.
China is now only the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to achieve a docking in space, though it trails both nations, which completed this feat more than three decades ago.
The successful docking, Chinese officials said, would pave the way for China's launching of its own manned space station by 2020. That is the same year the International Space Station (ISS) is brought down — a coincidence of events seen by analysts as reflecting China's resurgence and the West's decline in space programmes.
China had invited Germany to conduct experiments with Tiangong-1 — “the first instance of international cooperation since the beginning of China's manned space programme.”

China calls for dialogue on India's NSG entry

Different parties had “concerns” over India's possible entry into the 46-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) cartel, China said on Thursday in the wake of Australia's moves towards reversing a ban on exporting uranium to India.
China has, in the past, taken the view that India not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should restrict its access to nuclear commerce, and exceptions should not be made for a non-NPT country to join the NSG — and the mainstream of nuclear trade.
China's deals to set up two reactors in Pakistan, agreed to in 2009, caused controversy as China did not seek a waiver from the NSG, and went ahead with the deal in violation of the group's guidelines that bar the sale or transfer of nuclear technology to non-NPT countries.
China supported the right of every country to make peaceful use of nuclear energy, but also called on countries to abide by “international obligations and nuclear non-proliferation.”
Beijing backs Islamabad, another non-NPT entity

Could the U.S. become a proliferator?

Even as the United States continues to chide other nations on the risks of nuclear proliferation, it suffered an embarrassment this week when an independent government watchdog said the U.S. “faces challenges” in terms of its efforts to minimise proliferation and terrorism risks associated with nuclear power.
despite numerous initiatives by the Office of Nuclear Energy (ONE) to make the nuclear fuel cycle outputs less attractive to potential terrorists, “concerns remain about the radioactive spent fuel that nuclear reactors generate”.

Afghan, Palestine activists get UNESCO award

Afghan women's rights campaigner Anarkali Honaryar and Palestinian peace activist Khaled Abu Awwad have been conferred the 2011 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence, an award instituted in memory of Mahatma Gandhi.
The award ceremony will be held at the UNESCO in Paris on December 9.
Ms. Honaryar was cited for her commitment and tireless work to improve the conditions of women and minority groups in Afghanistan and to promote the ideals of human dignity, human rights, mutual respect and tolerance.
Ms. Honaryar is also known for advocating the rights of Afghanistan's religious minorities.
After the Afghan parliamentary elections in 2010, Ms. Honaryar became the first non-Muslim woman member of Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament.
Mr. Abu Awwad was chosen for the award for his efforts to promote tolerance, peace and non-violence through his work as a peace activist and leader in the reconciliation process between Palestinians and Israelis.
The UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize was created in 1995 on the initiative of Indian writer and diplomat Madanjeet Singh to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The prize is dedicated to advancing the spirit of tolerance in the arts, education, culture, science and communication.
It is awarded every two years to individuals or institutions for outstanding contributions to the promotion of tolerance and non-violence.
The members of the international jury that determined the winners of the 2011 Prize were Ioanna Kuçuradi (Turkey), Maurice Glele Ahanhanzo (Benin), Kamal Hossain (Bangladesh), Masateru Nakagawa (Japan) and Mokhtar Taleb-Bendiab (Algeria).

After a decade, Suu Kyi accepts award

United Nations award for promoting peace and tolerance has finally been presented to its winner, Myanmarese democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi .
Ms. Suu Kyi was chosen for the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence in 2002, but it is only now that the Myanmar government has allowed her to accept the award carrying a prize of $1,00,000 .
Mr. Madanjeet Singh, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and founder of the prize, pointed to the initiative of the South Asia Foundation (SAF) in establishing a UNESCO Madanjeet Singh institute of excellence in the proposed Nalanda University, on the lines of the 12 institutions established in the eight SAARC countries.

India, Russia differ on foreign presence in Afghanistan

The top diplomats of the two countries set forth distinctly differing perspectives on foreign military presence in Afghanistan.
Moscow's strong opposition to the permanent deployment of United States military bases in Afghanistan and in former Soviet Central Asia, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna stressed the need for foreign powers to help Afghanistan fight the menace of terrorism.
[Americans] have been telling us all along that their military presence was time-bound to the removal of the specific threat of terrorism and did not pursue any long-term geopolitical goals
India's whole approach is that Afghanistan should be able to defend itself and its security forces should be so organised that they are able to take care of themselves with a degree of confidence.
In a further divergence of views between Delhi and Moscow Mr. Krishna failed to echo Mr. Lavrov's insistence that Afghanistan maintain its neutral status. Mr. Krishna voiced the hope that Afghanistan emerge as a “democratic, multiparty and pluralistic society.”
The Russian Foreign Minister voiced strong support for India to upgrade its observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to full membership “at the earliest”

Ties with Beijing no longer guided by border issue alone, say officials

India is not perturbed by reports emanating from Beijing on the supposed Indian military build-up on its border with China and maintained that New Delhi-Beijing relations are no longer guided by the border issue alone.
A major element in the ties is the phenomenal growth witnessed in the trade. In the current year so far, the volume of trade has grown by 17 per cent
there had not been a death on the India-China border since 1975.
both sides were engaged in the second stage of talks on a movement forward in resolution of border issues and were close to an agreement on a mechanism to ensure tranquillity on the border.
On trade-related issues, the officials said that there was no cause for alarm and the economic crisis particularly in the western world provided a great opportunity to both sides to strengthen ties.