PARIS: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was meeting Friday in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron in efforts to mend relations following post-Brexit tensions, as well as improving military and business ties and toughening efforts against Channel migrant crossings.
Both leaders shook hands and briefly posed for photographers, smiling, as Sunak arrived at the presidential palace.
The French-British summit, the first since 2018, is set to show a “new chapter” is opening in relations between the two countries, according to Macron’s office. Such an event was previously held almost every year.
Relations between the UK and France chilled amid post-Brexit wrangling over fishing rights and other issues, and hit rock-bottom under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who took delight in needling the French. His successor, Liz Truss, ruffled French feathers last year when she said the “jury is out” on whether Macron was a friend or a foe.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought Britain and its European neighbors closer together in support of Kyiv, and the mood improved after pragmatic, technocratic Sunak took office in October after Truss’ brief and economically destabilizing term.
Sunak’s visit also comes two weeks before King Charles III travels to France and then Germany for his first state visits since becoming monarch, in further British efforts to build bridges with European neighbors.
”The summit will be above all an opportunity to reaffirm and deepen the close cooperation in terms of military support for Ukraine,” according to the statement from Macron’s Elysee Palace, as both countries are the only nuclear powers in the region.
A delegation of seven senior ministers from each country will take part, including those responsible for foreign affairs, defense and domestic issues.
France and the UK plan to strengthen military cooperation, including on supplying weapons to Kyiv and training Ukrainian Marines.
The British government said Sunak and Macron also will discuss ”establishing the backbone to a permanent European maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific” by coordinating deployment to the region of France’s Charles de Gaulle and the UK’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales aircraft carriers.
Last month the UK and the EU announced a breakthrough in talks to resolve the dispute over post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland. Britain also has cautiously welcomed Macron’s proposal for a European Political Community, a new forum aimed at boosting security and prosperity across the continent. Launched in October, it brings together existing EU members, aspiring partners in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as Britain and Turkiye.
Sunak seeks closer cooperation on measures to stop thousands of migrants crossing the Channel from France to England.
The UK and France signed an agreement in November to increase police patrols on beaches in northern France — with London agreeing to pay Paris 72.2 million euros in 2022-2023 — and Sunak hopes to cement further cooperation on Friday. tackling illegal migration.
Friday’s talks will aim at “making the small boat route across the Channel unviable, save lives and dismantle organized crime groups while preventing illegal migration further upstream,” according to Sunak’s office.
Past efforts to beef up measures have failed. More than 45,000 people arrived in Britain by boat in 2022, up from 28,000 in 2021 according to British authorities’ statistics.
On the French side, the Maritime Prefecture for the Channel and North Sea says the small-boat phenomenon has grown “in an exponential manner since 2016.” It counted last year one death on the French side and four in the British zone of operations.
The UK announced contentious plans this week to detain and deport people arriving by small boat, but almost no country has agreed to accept any deportees.
Nathalie Loiseau, a French member of the European Parliament who chairs its EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, told the BBC that there was no prospect of France agreeing to take migrants back from Britain. “This is not on the table,” she said, stressing that the issue is being handled at the European Union level and no bilateral agreement is possible.
Soon after the meeting in Paris, will come a reminder of an issue that angered France.
Sunak will fly to the United States for a meeting with President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over a three-way defense deal struck in 2021 that saw Australia back out of an agreement to buy French submarines.
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Lawless wrote from London. AP Writer Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to the story.
French, British leaders meet in efforts to mend relations
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French, British leaders meet in efforts to mend relations
- The French-British summit, the first since 2018, is set to show “new chapter” is opening in relations between the two countries
- Sunak’s visit also comes two weeks before King Charles III travels to France
UN, humanitarian agencies revise budget for Afghan aid plan down to $3.2 billion
- Aid officials and diplomats have warned of potential decline in funding to Afghanistan due to Taliban restrictions on female workers
- UN development agency in April predicted Afghan economy would contract, inflation would rise if there were a 30% drop in aid
The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have revised the budget for Afghanistan's aid plan for 2023 to $3.2 billion, down from $4.6 billion earlier in the year, the UN humanitarian office said on Monday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that a "changing operating context" in the wake of Taliban administration restrictions on female aid workers had contributed to the revised plan.
Taliban authorities have issued several orders barring many Afghan female NGO and United Nations employees from being able to work, which aid agencies have warned would severely hamper delivery in the religiously conservative nation.
"The recent bans on Afghan women working for... NGOs and the UN have added yet another layer of complexity to what is already an incredibly challenging protection environment, and further constrained the operational capacity of partners," the UN statement said.
Afghanistan remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the statement added, with more than two-thirds of the population in need of humanitarian assistance.
Some humanitarian officials and diplomats have warned of a potential decline in funding to the war-ravaged nation due to the Taliban restrictions on female workers and donor governments assessing competing global crises and economic priorities.
It was not clear how much of the revised budget would be funded by foreign donors.
Global humanitarian appeals often fall short of the total amount requested. In 2022, the humanitarian response plan was budgeted at $4.4 billion and received around $3.2 billion. The UN says the number of people in need has grown since last year.
The United Nations' development agency in April predicted Afghanistan's economy would contract and inflation would rise if there were a 30% drop in aid.
US, India agree roadmap for defense industry cooperation
- Landmark deal seen boosting Indian defense manufacturing, envisages greater technological cooperation
- US keen to wean India from dependence on Russia, also seeking counterbalance to China in Asian region
NEW DELHI: India and the United States have concluded a roadmap for defense industry cooperation for the next few years, the two countries said on Monday, a landmark move expected to bolster New Delhi’s defense manufacturing ambitions.
Washington is working to deepen ties with India and sees stronger military-to-military and technology ties with the world’s largest democracy as a key counterweight to China’s dominance in the region.
It is also seeking to wean New Delhi away from its traditional dependence on Russia for defense supplies.
The roadmap was finalized at a meeting between visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
The agreement comes weeks before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington on June 22 for an official state visit and holds talks with President Joe Biden.
The roadmap is considered significant as Washington maintains strict controls over what domestic military technology can be shared or sold to other countries.
TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION
The move aims to change the “paradigm” for defense sector cooperation between the two countries, the US Embassy in New Delhi said in a statement.
It will “fast-track technology cooperation and co-production in areas such as air combat and land mobility systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, munitions, and the undersea domain,” it said.
The roadmap includes specific proposals that could provide India access to cutting-edge technologies, it said, adding that Austin and Singh also pledged to review regulatory hurdles impeding closer industry-to-industry cooperation.
India, the world’s largest arms importer, depends on Russia for nearly half its military supplies, but has also increasingly diversified its sources to buy from the US, France and Israel, among others.
New Delhi also wants global defense manufacturers to partner with Indian companies and produce arms and military equipment in India for local consumption as well as exports.
The Biden administration is set to sign off on a deal that will allow General Electric Co. to produce in India jet engines powering Indian military aircraft.
Austin said he and Singh had discussed ways to increase information sharing and new initiatives to improve maritime cooperation, including in the undersea domain.
The US-India defense partnership matters, he told reporters, because “we face a rapidly changing world.”
“We see bullying and coercion from the People’s Republic of China, Russian aggression against Ukraine that seeks to redraw borders by force and threatens national sovereignty, as well as transnational challenges such as terrorism, climate change.
“So democracies must now rally together around not just our common interests but also our shared values,” Austin said.
UK to house hundreds more migrants on barges, Sunak says
- Two more barges will house about 1,000 migrants, Sunak said, alongside one that’s set to be docked in Portland in southern England within the next two weeks
LONDON: The UK government will house hundreds more asylum-seekers on barges, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Monday, as he unveiled the latest migration figures that he said showed that his plans to crack down on small boat crossings on the English Channel are working.
Two more barges will house about 1,000 migrants, Sunak said, alongside one that’s set to be docked in Portland in southern England within the next two weeks. The move is meant to help save millions in taxpayers’ money currently spent to house asylum-seekers in hotels across the country.
Sunak told reporters that compared to the same time last year, the number of people making the dangerous sea crossing on small vessels from northern France to the southern English coast so far this year has decreased by a fifth. He suggested that the UK was doing better than other countries in Europe, where he said unauthorized migrant crossings have increased by a third over the same period.
Figures from the Home Office show that about 7,600 people were detected crossing the English Channel so far this year, compared with almost 10,000 last June. However, it is difficult to tell whether the decrease was linked to Sunak’s government’s policies or other factors such as weather conditions. The summer months typically see much higher numbers making the journey.
Sunak also said that the number of Albanian migrants arriving by small boats has fallen by almost 90 percent, and that a deal with Albania has seen 1,800 asylum-seekers turned back.
Many of the asylum-seekers arriving in the UK each year hail from conflict zones, including Afghanistan and Syria, though a large number come from Albania, which Sunak’s government describes as a “safe” country.
Sunak has made “Stop the Boats” his flagship policy since he took office in October. His government is pushing through a controversial migration bill that seeks to dramatically curb migrants’ ability to seek asylum in the UK Critics, including the UN refugee agency, have decried it as unethical and unworkable, and some say it breaks international law.
Sixty Afghan girls hospitalized after school poisoning
- Poisoning, which targeted girls’ school in Afghan province of Sar-e Pol, comes after intense scrutiny of girls’ education
- In neighboring Iran, poisoning incidents at girls’ schools sickened estimated 13,000 mostly female students since November
KABUL: Around 60 Afghan girls were hospitalized after being poisoned at their school in northern Afghanistan, police said on Monday.
The poisoning, which targeted a girls’ school in the Afghan province of Sar-e Pol, comes after intense scrutiny of girls’ education in the war-torn nation since the Taliban took over and barred most teenage female students and after a wave of poison attacks on girls’ schools in neighboring Iran.
“Some unknown people entered a girls’ ... school in Sancharak District .. and poisoned the classes, when the girls come to classes they got poisoned,” said Den Mohammad Nazari, Sar-e-Pol’s police spokesperson, without elaborating on which substance was used or who was thought to be behind the incident.
Nazari said the girls had been taken to ho.spital but were in “good condition.” No one had been arrested.
In neighboring Iran, poisoning incidents at girls’ schools sickened an estimated 13,000 mostly female students since November.
During Afghanistan’s previous foreign-backed government, several poisoning attacks, including suspected gas attacks, on girls’ schools had taken place.
The Taliban administration has prevented most female students from attending highschool and university since taking over in 2021, sparking condemnation from international governments and many Afghans. Taliban authorities have kept primary schools open for girls, up until the age of around 12 and say they are in favor of female education under certain conditions.
US defense secretary discusses upgrading ties with India to counter China
- Lloyd Austin’s visit comes as India strengthens its domestic defense industry by acquiring new technologies
- Secretary Austin and his Indian counterpart explored ways of building resilient supply chains, New Delhi says
NEW DELHI: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday discussed upgrading partnership with India, a major arms buyer, and set a roadmap for cooperation for the next five years as both countries grapple with China’s economic rise and increased belligerence, officials said.
Austin’s visit comes as India strengthens its domestic defense industry by acquiring new technologies and reducing reliance on imports, particularly from Russia, its largest supplier of military hardware despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Austin and his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, explored ways of building resilient supply chains, a statement from India’s Defense Ministry said. They decided “to identify opportunities for the co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing and new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defense startup ecosystems of the two countries.”
They also discussed regional security issues given their shared interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, it said.
“I’m returning to India to meet with key leaders for discussions about strengthening our Major Defense Partnership. Together, we’re advancing a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Austin tweeted after his arrival in New Delhi on Sunday.
Austin, who is on his second visit to India, was expected to lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington on June 22, which has fueled speculation about a possible announcement of defense contracts.
India is looking to buy 18 armed high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. for an estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion, said Rahul Bedi, a defense analyst. The UAVs would likely be deployed along its restive borders with China and Pakistan and in the strategic Indian Ocean region, Bedi said.
Indian media reports said a joint production and manufacture of combat aircraft engines, infantry combat vehicles, howitzers and their precision ordnance were discussed last month in Washington at a meeting of the US-India Defense Policy Group.
Austin arrived in New Delhi from Singapore, where he attended the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual forum bringing together top defense officials, diplomats and leaders. Austin lobbied for support for Washington’s vision of a “free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights” as the best course to counter increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region.
China’s Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu said at the conference that the US has been “deceiving and exploiting” Asia-Pacific nations to advance its own self-interests to preserve “its dominant position.”
Li suggested that Washington has been holding on to alliances that are “remnants of the Cold War” and establishing new pacts, like the AUKUS agreement with Britain and Australia and the Quad grouping with Australia, India and Japan, “to divide the world into ideologically-driven camps and provoke confrontation.”
India is trying a balancing act in its ties with Washington and Moscow, and has been reducing its dependence on Russian arms by also buying from the US, France, Germany and other countries.
The US defense trade with India has risen from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020. Major Indian purchases from the United States included long-range maritime patrol aircraft, C-130 transport aircraft, missiles and drones.
Experts say up to 60 percent of Indian defense equipment comes from Russia, and New Delhi finds itself in a bind at a time when it is facing a 3-year-old border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, where tens of thousands of soldiers are stationed within shooting distance. Twenty Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops died in a clash in 2020.
