TOKYO: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Japanese premier Fumio Kishida pledged on Tuesday to strengthen ties, saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its growing military co-operation with China had created the most tense security environment since World War Two.
The comments came in a statement issued during Stoltenberg’s trip to Japan following a visit to South Korea on which he urged Seoul to increase military support to Ukraine and gave similar warnings about rising tension with China.
“The world is at a historical inflection point in the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II,” the two leaders said in the statement.
It also raised concerns about Russia’s nuclear threats, joint military drills between Russia and China near Japan, and North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons.
Stoltenberg told reporters a Russian victory in Ukraine would embolden China at a time when it is building up its military, “bullying its neighbors and threatening Taiwan.”
He added, “This war is not just a European crisis, but the challenge to the world order.
“Beijing is watching closely, and learning lessons that may influence its future decisions. What is happening in Europe today could happen in East Asia tomorrow.”
While the North Atlantic Treaty Organization groups 30 countries in Europe and North America, Stoltenberg has said its members are affected by global threats.
Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol became the first leaders from their countries to attend a NATO summit last year, joining as observers.
China has previously criticized NATO’s efforts to expand its alliances in Asia. Russia, which calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special operation,” has repeatedly cast NATO’s expansion as a threat to its security.
Late last year, Japan unveiled sweeping plans to beef up its defense capabilities, changes once unthinkable for a pacifist country that will make it the third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.
Bolstering its co-operation with NATO in areas from maritime security and arms control to cyberspace and disinformation will further help to respond to the changing strategic environment, the statement added.
The meeting comes as Japan prepares to host the annual Group of Seven (G7) summit in May, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is expected to be a major topic of discussion.
Kishida is considering visiting Kyiv in February to reinforce his support for Ukraine in the conflict, domestic media have said.
Japan and NATO to further strengthen cooperation — joint statement
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Japan and NATO to further strengthen cooperation — joint statement
- Security environment is most tense since World War Two -leaders
- Concern voiced over Russia’s nuclear threats, drills with China
During Delhi visit, Japanese PM announces $75 billion plan to counter China in Indo-Pacific
- Kishida promises billions of dollars in investment to help economies in everything from industry to disaster prevention
- The plan is Tokyo's bid to forge stronger partnerships with countries in South and Southeast Asia to counter China
NEW DELHI: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday announced an expansive new plan for an open and free Indo-Pacific, promising billions of dollars in investment to help economies across the region in everything from industry to disaster prevention.
The plan announced in New Delhi is seen as Tokyo's bid to forge stronger partnerships with countries in South and Southeast Asia to counter China's growing assertiveness.
Kishida said the new free and open Indo-Pacific plan had "four pillars": maintaining peace, dealing with new global issues in cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries, achieving global connectivity through various platforms, and ensuring the safety of the open seas and skies.
To achieve this, Kishida pledged $75 billion to the Indo-Pacific by 2030 through private investments and yen loans, and the ramping up of aid through official governmental assistance and grants.
Indian-administered Kashmir gets first foreign investment from Dubai's Emaar
- Dubai’s Emaar Group due to build a $60 million shopping and office complex in Srinagar
- Emaar, builder of the world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, is Dubai’s largest listed developer
SRINAGAR: Indian-administered Kashmir is to get its first foreign investment, with Dubai’s Emaar Group due to build a $60 million shopping and office complex, as the government looks to stabilize a region where separatists have for years battled the government.
The 5 billion rupee ($60.50 million) development will include a shopping mall and multi-purpose commercial tower in Srinagar, the capital of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, Emaar announced at an investment summit in the city.
The announcement on Sunday of what the region’s government said was its first foreign investment comes after the central government said last week Kashmir had received record investment of 15 billion rupees ($181 million) in the first 10 months of the 2022-23 (April-March) fiscal year.
Governments have long tried to woo investors, both domestic and foreign, but with little success due to the three-decade insurgency in a region claimed by both India and Pakistan.
India says Muslim Pakistan has long supported the insurgency. Pakistan denies that.
Emaar Properties Amit Jain told reporters that the investment would have a ripple effect.
“This is the start, we should inspire people, people should aspire to follow us. This is a one million square feet mall with 500 shops and will generate around 7,000 to 8,000 jobs,” Jain said after the ground-breaking ceremony for the “Mall of Srinagar.”
Emaar, builder of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, is Dubai’s largest listed developer. The Dubai government owns a minority stake in the developer through its sovereign wealth fund.
Top administrator Manoj Sinha said the project had infused confidence in foreign investors and would boost the region’s economy.
In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government split the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federally administered territories as part of an effort to tighten its grip over the region at the heart of more than 70 years of hostility with Pakistan and integrate it more closely with the rest of the country.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but rule in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.
The reorganization was enacted with a communications blackout and a security clamp-down, with the government flooding the heavily militarised region with troops. Many of those restrictions have been eased and the Kashmir Valley, known for is snow-topped mountains and scenic lakes, attracted more than 16 million tourists in 2022, the most since British colonial rule ended in 1947.
Srinagar gets first foreign investment from Dubai's Emaar
SRINAGAR: Indian-administered Kashmir is to get its first foreign investment, with Dubai’s Emaar Group due to build a $60 million shopping and office complex, as the government looks to stabilise a region where Muslim separatists have for years battled the government.
The 5 billion rupee ($60.50 million) development will include a shopping mall and multi-purpose commercial tower in Srinagar, the capital of the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, Emaar announced at an investment summit in the city.
The announcement on Sunday of what the region's government said was its first foreign investment comes after the central government said last week that Jammu and Kashmir had received record investment of 15 billion rupees ($181 million) in the first 10 months of the 2022-23 (April-March) fiscal year.
Governments have long tried to woo investors, both domestic and foreign, but with little success due to the three-decade insurgency in a region claimed by both India and Pakistan.
India says Muslim Pakistan has long supported the insurgency. Pakistan denies that.
Emaar Properties CEO Amit Jain told reporters that the investment would have a ripple effect.
“This is the start, we should inspire people, people should aspire to follow us. This is a one million square feet mall with 500 shops and will generate around 7,000 to 8,000 jobs,” Jain said after the ground-breaking ceremony for the "Mall of Srinagar".
Emaar, builder of the world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, is Dubai’s largest listed developer. The Dubai government owns a minority stake in the developer through its sovereign wealth fund.
Top administrator Manoj Sinha said the project had infused confidence in foreign investors and would boost the region's economy.
In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government split the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federally administered territories as part of an effort to tighten its grip over the region at the heart of more than 70 years of hostility with Pakistan and integrate it more closely with the rest of the country.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but rule in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.
The reorganisation was enacted with a communications blackout and a security clamp-down, with the government flooding the heavily militarised region with troops.
Many of those restrictions have been eased and the Kashmir Valley, known for its snow-topped mountains and scenic lakes, attracted more than 16 million tourists in 2022, the most since British colonial rule ended in 1947.
Tear gas, arrests as Kenya opposition stages protests
- Kenyans are suffering from surging prices for basic necessities, as well as a sharp drop in the shilling against the US dollar
- Many businesses in Nairobi were shut ahead of the demonstrations, with some employers telling their staff to work from home
NAIROBI: Kenyan riot police fired tear gas and water cannon Monday against demonstrators joining a day of action called by the opposition to protest a punishing cost-of-living crisis.
Running battles erupted between stone-throwing demonstrators and police in parts of Nairobi and at least one other city, in the first major unrest since President William Ruto became president last year, correspondents said.
Ruto’s government has vowed to take a tough stance over the protests, which opposition leader Raila Odinga insisted would go ahead despite not receiving police authorization.
“I want Kenyans to come out in large numbers and show the displeasure of what is happening in our country,” Odinga, who narrowly lost last year’s election to Ruto, told supporters on Sunday.
Police used tear gas against protesters gathered at a site near government offices in the heart of the capital Nairobi, where the major rally was scheduled to take place, and several other areas of the city.
“We came here peacefully but they tear gassed us,” said Charles Oduor, 21, who joined the large crowds in downtown Nairobi.
“They lie to us everyday. Where is the cheap maize flour they promised? Where are the jobs for the youth they promised? All they do is hire their friends.”
Kenyans are suffering from surging prices for basic necessities, as well as a sharp drop in the shilling against the US dollar and a record drought that has left millions hungry.
Odinga said he had called the rallies to protest the “skyrocketing” cost of living but also the “stolen” election last August.
In Nairobi’s biggest slum Kibera, a bastion of Odinga support, people also set tires ablaze while police used water cannon to disperse protesters.
Demonstrators and police also clashed in the lakeside city of Kisumu in western Kenya, another Odinga stronghold.
“Our victory was stolen and we are determined to get it back, we can’t sit back and watch as life becomes more difficult by the day. We want Raila in State House,” said Kevin Ojwang in Kisumu.
Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei said on Sunday that police received requests to hold two demonstrations only late Saturday and early Sunday, when normally three days’ notice is required.
“For public safety, neither has been granted,” he said.
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki warned on Sunday that anyone inciting public disorder or disturbing the peace would be prosecuted.
Many businesses in Nairobi were shut ahead of the demonstrations, with some employers telling their staff to work from home.
“We are here trying to fight for our rights. Life is so hard. If you see, these young men and women, we don’t have jobs, people are losing their jobs. So that’s why we’re talking about our rights,” said shoeshiner Henry Juma, 26.
Odinga, the leader of the Azimio la Umoja party, who described Monday as a “day of destiny,” continues to claim that Ruto’s August election win was fraudulent and denounces his government as illegitimate.
According to official results, Odinga — who was making his fifth bid for the presidency — lost to Ruto by around 233,000 votes, one of the slenderest margins in Kenya’s history.
The Supreme Court dismissed his appeals, with its judges giving a unanimous ruling in favor of Ruto, finding there was no evidence for Odinga’s accusations.
Ruto has declared that he would not be intimidated by the demonstrations, saying: “You are not going to threaten us with ultimatums and chaos and impunity.”
“We will not allow that,” he said, calling on Odinga to act in a “legal and constitutional manner.”
China’s Xi arrives in Russia to meet Putin over Ukraine war
- Russia is presenting Xi’s trip as evidence that it has a powerful friend prepared to stand with it against a hostile West
Chinese President Xi Jinping flew into Moscow on Monday where he was expected to press Beijing’s role as a potential peacemaker in the Ukraine conflict while Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped for support against Western pressure.
Xi will be the first national leader to shake Putin’s hand since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him on Friday over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since its invasion.
Moscow said the charge was among a number of “clearly hostile displays” and Beijing said it reflects double standards.
Russia is presenting Xi’s trip, his first since securing an unprecedented third term this month, as evidence that it has a powerful friend prepared to stand with it against a hostile West that it accuses of trying to isolate and defeat Moscow.
“We can feel the geopolitical landscape in the outside world undergoing drastic changes,” Putin said in an article in China’s People’s Daily published on the Kremlin website, adding that he had high hopes for the visit from his “good old friend.”
For Xi, the visit is a diplomatic tightrope.
China has released a 12-point proposal to solve the Ukraine crisis, but at the same time strengthened ties with Moscow.
China has repeatedly dismissed Western accusations that it is planning to arm Russia but says it wants a closer energy partnership after boosting imports of Russian coal, gas and oil following Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. Western sanctions on Russian energy mean Beijing has saved billions of dollars.
Xi arrived in Moscow on Monday afternoon and was due to hold “informal” talks with Putin, followed by dinner.
Formal talks are scheduled for Tuesday.
Xi wrote in an article published in Russia that the two countries adhered to the concept of “eternal friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation” and that China’s Ukraine peace proposal, released last month, reflects global views.
“Complex problems do not have simple solutions,” Xi wrote in Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a daily published by the Russian government, according to a Reuters translation from Russian.
Ukraine and its Western backers say any cease-fire would merely buy Putin time to reinforce ahead of a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will only consider peace settlements after Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory.
China’s proposal contains no concrete proposal on how to end the year-long war which has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed cities and forced millions to flee.
Putin welcomed China’s offer to mediate and the Kremlin said he would provide Xi with detailed “clarifications” of Russia’s position, without elaborating. Putin signed a “no limits” partnership with Xi last year shortly before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine to end what he said was a threat to Russia from its moves toward the West.
The US notes that China has declined to condemn Russia and given it an economic lifeline.
Alongside growing oil and coal deliveries to China, Putin said Russia was helping to build nuclear power reactors there and the two countries were deepening cooperation in space exploration and new technologies.
As Western pressure on Russia grows, Putin’s administration has told officials to stop using Apple iPhones because of concerns the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, a newspaper reported on Monday.
“Either throw it away or give it to the children,” the Kommersant daily quoted a participant of the meeting as saying.
Justice ministers from around the world will meet in London on Monday to discuss support for the ICC and several European Union countries are expected to sign an agreement in Brussels to buy 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine.
Ukraine has identified the shells’ supply as critical, with both sides firing thousands of rounds every day. The first joint orders are not expected until the end of May but EU officials hope the plan will encourage member states to send more of their stockpiles to Ukraine.
In Ukraine, fierce fighting continued in the eastern town of Bakhmut with each side launching counter offensives. Ukrainian forces have held out in Bakhmut since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.
Giving its regular morning roundup from the front, Ukraine’s military said defenders in Bakhmut, Lyman, Ivanivske, Bohdanivka and Hryhorivka — all towns in the Donetsk region — had repelled 69 Russian attacks in the past day.
“Bakhmut remains the epicenter of hostilities,” it said.
British intelligence said Ukrainian supply lines both west of Bakhmut and west of the town of Avdiivka, further south, were under pressure.
Ukraine’s military said that Russian forces were on the defensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to the south.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group which is spearheading the assault on Bakhmut and has suffered heavy losses, plans to recruit some 30,000 new fighters by the middle of May, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said at the weekend.
In January, the United States assessed that Wagner had about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts Prigozhin had recruited from Russian prisons with a promise of a pardon if they survived six months.
Ukrainian officials have said that some 30,000 of Wagner’s fighters have deserted or been killed or wounded, a figure that could not be independently verified.
